Holiday Hot Chocolate Bar – A Fun Simple Set – Up

by heatheracrosby@gmail.com | Nov 17, 2016 | Parties + Events, Tasty Food + Recipes

Holiday Hot Chocolate Bar – A Fun Simple Set – Up

I really enjoy Hot Chocolate, and now that I have found the very dangerous salted-caramel-white-hot-chocolate, watch out winter! I’ll be going sledding and playing outside just to get cold enough to have the excuse for hot chocolate!

I LOVE hosting people all the time, but ESPECIALLY at Christmas. The entire Holiday season is a big celebration for me and I like to always have something “at the ready” so there can be something festive and fun if people come by! Not that we get a tonne of drop-ins but life is busy, and often we invite people over on the fly, so its nice to have cookies in the freezer (hello Cookie exchange!) and this fun Hot Chocolate Bar that can now be set up in less than 5 Minutes.

Almost everything I had on hand, but presenting it in a fun way is what makes it feel so special! I hand lettered the “Baby its Cold Outside sign.” and grabbed a few of the decorative Christmas trees we had around the house. I made a tree tower of cups and then got out the good stuff. I chose to use mason jars for the tasty treats so I could seal them back up and put them in the cupboard, and the next time I set up, its just taking the lids off! Caramel and chocolate sauce went into little plastic squeeze bottles I picked up at Bulk Barn. (I have seen them at Michael’s as well) Labels were Christmas tags I picked up at Dollarama and I just covered the can of whipped cream in scrapbook paper so it would look a little fancier.

Marshmallows, whipped cream, sprinkles, crushed candy cane, sea salt and mini chocolate chips make a nice variety of options. I got white hot chocolate mix at Bulk Barn as well (I did have trouble finding it in the grocery store) and then went for classic milk chocolate a second base. I was going to make dark chocolate as well, but since there were only six of us, I thought it might be a bit of overkill.

Of course the salted-caramel-white-hot-chocolate was my favorites, but peppermint-marshmallow-milk-chocolate or triple-chocolate-chocolate-chip are great options as well! You can add as many toppings or mix in’s as you like but this makes it super simple with some great flavor options!

A simple set up, easy to replicate and do over and over, and who doesn’t love hot chocolate!

Happy hot chocolate creating! (and enjoying!)

How to Have the Christmas you Really Want

by heatheracrosby@gmail.com | Nov 12, 2016 | Real Life. Real Thoughts., Tools for Awesome Living

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a long time, but things kept taking me away. However, as Christmas approaches and I see people looking panicked in the stores, and speaking to friends who are getting overwhelmed already, I realized how timely this post would be.

Oh how I want us all to enjoy this beautiful season together.

Take a deep breath. Christmas is supposed to be filled with joy and happiness, yet often it ends up being stressful, overwhelming and tiring. Feeling like you need to do it all, please everyone and measure up to Pinterest at the same time lend themselves to a Holiday filled with busy but not enjoyment. In fact, a recent study showed that 45% of Americans dread the Holiday Season (that just makes me sad!). So instead of drudging through it, let’s work on changing it to be something to look forward to and enjoy.

I suggest you grab a cup of tea, a pen, paper and a calendar.

The first thing I want you to do is FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU WANT. What do you want your Christmas to look like?

If you close your eyes, in the quiet, and dream about exactly what your ideal Christmas would look like. If ANYTHING was possible, if you were able to make it exactly what you want , what would it look like? What would it smell like? Who would be with you? Where would you be? How would you FEEL? Any thoughts of people’s expectations or the way things have been in the past, acknowledge those and let them go. Bring yourself back to thinking about your dream Christmas would look like.

Don’t have a picture yet? Try again. Set a timer, take deep breaths, and then try again.

Now write it down. Write down all the details you can think of. Focus on all the senses. What does it feel like? What do you smell? What do you see.

It may seem silly, but this stuff can really work! I put together a little mindfulness activity voice recording that may help you to visualise. It’s my first one but hopefully you like it!

Take five minutes and write down every single detail you can. Make it as clear and vivid as possible.

Now take a look at the notes you made. Does it all seem unachievable? Impossible? Or does it see more simple than you thought?

Remember, this is YOUR life. You can make the choices. Just because things have always been done a certain way, doesn’t mean that they always have to go that way. I know sometimes that is easier said than done. Often asking action seems more difficult than just letting things be, but the payoff is great.

Here’s some questions to answer while you have that beautiful ideal picture in your mind.

What are things that you can eliminate out of your normal Christmas hustle ? Things that you feel you SHOULD do but don’t go towards your ideal Christmas.
What things can you do NOW to help you relax as the Holiday’s approach? Can you start wrapping now? Finish your shopping? Start baking and put it in the freezer?
How much of your vision was related to STUFF? Like what was IN presents? Did it matter to you what was opened? What financial value gifts had? My guess is that it didn’t even come up. If it did, that’s cool. If it didn’t, then stop worrying about spending more money on more stuff. Focus on EXPERIENCES, on Time with the people you love.

4. Print off a calendar, or take yours out and get a couple of pens. Block off some time. Some time for you. Some time to keep you grounded. A date night amidst the busy. A play date with your friends. If you love being social, schedule a movie and wrapping date with a friend. If you love quiet time, block off an evening for a long bath and book reading.

5. While you have the calendar out, add in the events that you want to take part in. The ones that line up with what you want your Christmas to look like. You don’t HAVE to do everything. You can decide. It’s not up to you to make everyone else happy, but to take care of yourself and your kids if you have them. Showing your children that you value your time, and their time is a gift!

Some examples of things that we have already added to our calendar are : hosting a Christmas brunch (One of my favorite things to do! Entertaining is stress relief for me) Going to the Christmas tree lighting and the Parade of lights. Taking a drive to look at Christmas lights together. Going shopping for gifts for underprivileged children. These things line up with my ideal Christmas. Spending time with my family. Watching my kids light up with excitement. Teaching them about giving. Your things may not be the same as mine, but they are valuable to you, so make time for them.

It can be amazing how much GIVING can add to our lives. So in what ways can you GIVE BACK this year? A donation? Volunteering a couple of hours? Dropping groceries off to a friend you know loves to bake but doesn’t have the $ to do so? Random acts of kindness? I haven’t mapped mine out yet. But this post is a great reminder that I need to!
What did you enjoy MOST about last year’s Christmas season? Can you pinpoint why you enjoyed it so much? Can you do more of that this year?
What did you dislike most about last year’s Christmas season? Is it something that you can avoid or plan around to make more enjoyable?
Have you set a Christmas budget? On average people who are already in debt add almost $1000 in debt at Christmas, and most people are still paying off Christmas gifts in August. The stress that comes along with it, just not fun stuff. Talk with your partner, or family, make a plan together that you can stick to.

10. Don’t worry. Literally. It’s not going to change anything. You may not be able to make this Christmas “perfect” but a lot of the beauty is in the imperfections! But carry your notes with you or take a look at them anytime that you feel overwhelmed as Christmas approaches.

If you have any suggestions on how to make the season better, I would love to hear them! I hope that you all have an amazing Christmas season full of joy and love and all the happy things!

Always Time for Tea – A Collaborative Outdoor Tea Party

by heatheracrosby@gmail.com | Nov 5, 2016 | I like Pretty Things, Parties + Events, Tasty Food + Recipes

You may have guessed by the title, but we had a tea party! The last one I had was a baby shower for my beautiful friend Naphtali something like 4 years ago and I was itching for another, and who better to do that with than friends who love to create pretty things!

I absolutely adore the gals at Duly Noted. I love the little shop too. (Well I guess it’s not so little now, they recently moved!) It’s a great little shop in Halifax with stationary and pens and other lovely local find! You should check them out at their new location on Doyle Street in Halifax!

Rebecca rocks invitation and graphic design at Duly but also has her own beautiful line of cards called Paper Chain and does design work of her own! Lisa consults with all the couples (or families etc) on what they’re looking for in invitations and is so artistically talented it’s incredible. She used to be an art teacher and currently launched a website for her beautiful calligraphy work!

This summer…well September…we joined forces to set up a special outdoor tea party! We all used our skills and contributed treats to a tasty tea! Rebecca made the baked goods and beautiful naked cake, her amazing neighbor volunteered her backyard and we carted almost all of the contents of Rebecca’s apartment across the road and up the hill to create the outdoor design. Lisa made cucumber canapés and beautiful calligraphy pieces. I brought the fixings for a charcuterie board and sparkling lemonade to round out the feast.

I just have to say, it’s pretty awesome to find like minded people who enjoy the same things that you do. And if you don’t have those people in your life yet, I recommend trying it out! I know it sounds silly, but putting it out there and trying to connect with people in a new way, it doesn’t always work out the way that you wanted, but it is certainly worth it when you make a connection and find common ground! (If you didn’t catch that ladies…I am thankful for you!)

We brought a collection of furniture, blankets, pillows, candles, linens, and other “odds and sods” in laundry baskets and Rubbermaid totes over to the neighbor’s backyard. I think that we must have taken at least twenty trips for set up and another twenty for tear down… but I didn’t actually count! The first thing we did was set up our blankets and tables. Using a variety of Rebecca’s books we propped up the tables to make them flat (or so we thought… the falling candlesticks all day may have proved us wrong on that) to provide our low table so we could sit on the ground in our sea of pretty pillows.

We used the clothesline to hang a variety of sheets, curtains and tablecloths to create a kind of boho background and added a little glass jar banner from Rebecca’s. Lisa cut some greenery from The Flower Shop and gingerly placed them in the jars. It was glorious to push the clothesline and have the flowing linens become the backdrop for our table. ***swoon***

We placed the beautiful centerpiece in the middle of the large square table we created and then set up dainty table settings using Rebecca’s china (she is the tea party master and has all the essentials). We also used my mom’s crystal glasses to have sparkling lemonade and berries, a simple touch that added some glam to the glasses! We brought over the food. grabbed a couple of photographs and sat down together to enjoy the spoils of our hard work. The ONLY downside to this endeavor was the swarm of wasps who were eager to be close to all the sweets, and Addy who had recently been stung being extremely scared and screaming every thirty seconds or so. Thank you ladies for having tea with me, and thank you for being amazing and letting my Addy girl join in!

I’ll share some tripod taken photos of us girls enjoying our tea but for now I hope you enjoy the beautiful set up we put together!

Come. Let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things.

Chaim Potok

I’m Fat AND I Matter

by heatheracrosby@gmail.com | Oct 28, 2016 | Real Life. Real Thoughts., Tools for Awesome Living

I matter. You matter. It’s a hard concept for many of us to hold onto.

I went to therapy today. And if you’ve never been, I would be in a huge “don’t knock it till you try it” boat here. Honestly it has been a huge game changer! My Psychiatrist mentioned something the other day about not being magic (though I might disagree) but that she just takes the things that we say and says it back to us. Sometimes in a little different framing and sometimes that is all that it takes.

Now, here is the thing.

I have been TRYING to lose weight off and on since my son was born. He’s three and a half now, and I believe I am heavier now than a month after he was born.

It might have to do with postpartum, anxiety, car accidents, concussion, medication and many other things. Actually I am sure that it does. But I also have learned that sometimes things don’t change because we need to do the work.

I’m not talking about doing the work to lose weight like eating clean, smaller portions and moving more. I have done all that. I did things that have always worked for me in the past, like weight watchers, beachbody, fast metabolism, clean eating, junk food cleanses. And nothing. No change. And I’m not saying I ate well for two days. I mean MONTHS, and no change.

I started running (and ran 4-5 times a week for a month or more) and still, no change…. In fact, I have gained MORE weight.

Yes, stress and hormones and fight or flight responses are in effect, but I actually feel like I am supposed to be learning something in this. Alex laughs because I always feel like their is a meaning behind the things that happen or why they happen. But it’s how I feel things, it’s how God has spoken to my heart many times in the past.

What if I can’t lose weight until I accept the fact that I am beautiful even if I’m obese. (yes obese is the weight class that I am currently in. You can all simmer down, I’m not body shaming myself this is just the real deal)

What if I can’t lose weight until I accept the fact that I am LOVED regardless of my size ?

That I MATTER even if my jeans are tight or I have a muffin top.

That the NUMBER ON THE SCALE doesn’t make me better or worse, a success or a failure.

It is in NO WAY related to my worth.

Woah.

That’s big stuff.

And how do I get there? How to I truly start to believe that I matter. BIG FAT PERIOD. Not IF I lose weight or IF I get stuff done. RIGHT NOW I matter! Right now YOU matter.

I do the healthy things. And I do the work. I treat myself like I matter right now, at the heaviest I have ever been outside of pregnancy. How do I show myself I matter? How do I grab hold of this? Here are five practical thoughts/actions I have taken to let myself believe I matter.

Use my faith.

Wow that sounds selfish. But my faith is a huge tool in my toolbox that I don’t always remember to hold onto. The fact that I am here is enough to mean that I matter. That God created me, formed me, and has brought me to the here and now. Pretty incredible. Especially when I think about my kids, and the moment they were born, actually from the moment that I knew that they were inside me and how much they mattered and how LOVED they were.

Photographic reminders.

I LOVE photographs. And though they are not always an accurate representation of what I look like (or maybe they are) but more importantly they are reminding me of the things and the people that matter. Fun times. Events. Moments. Hugs. The pictures remind me that I matter to the people in my life.

Anchor.

I am going to do a post about this soon, but finding songs, quotes, verses, words, anything that makes me feel stronger. That reminds me that I matter. Good stuff. Hold onto those things, post them, share them, place them on my desk!

Celebrate success.

The little things. Accomplishing a goal, making a connection, helping someone. Take note of the good things I do. The good things that happen.

Take time to do things I love.

When I am being creative, getting outside, spending quality time with my munchkins… I don’t have the time to really think about not mattering. It ends up just being about those things I am doing and creating.

Do you have any tips or tricks that help you in your journey? I’d love to hear them!

Fall Harvest Soup – A Quick, Healthy and Frugal Fix

by heatheracrosby@gmail.com | Oct 21, 2016 | Uncategorized

Soup. So simple. Or at least it can be. I can’t remember when I first started cooking, but I know I have been watching my dad cook soup since I was a kid. And I’m not going to lie, he ROCKS at it. So much so that I think I kind of avoided soups. I wouldn’t ever make them as good as him, and when he makes them I get to take litres home. So soup was off the list. I make all kinds of Asian inspired cuisine (all dishes my dad has never made…just hitting me now…lol writing is such a wonderful thing) and I bake a TONNE now, but soups, they were kind of off the table.

That is until Mike or Jackie made the Eat Clean Diet’s carrot ginger soup. I had to make it. And so it began. I still am more prone to make chili, but soup is definitely now on the radar in my kitchen.

I was home the other day, looking in the fridge for what I wanted to use up. I have been making a much more conscious effort to not waste food, even if it means eating something I’m not really “feeling”.

The fridge was pretty bare. Five already peeled carrots from muffin making earlier in the week, half a peeled sweet potato, the remainder of a little bag of mini potatoes that had been spilled all over the fridge and floor multiple times (maybe I shouldn’t have torn a hole in the SIDE!) and some apples we picked last weekend in the Valley at Mason’s.

Thinking of the ingredients in the Carrot Soup I so much enjoy, an Instagram post from Kyla of Shanti Yoga and a picture my friend Avril shared on Facebook I think last fall, I took these lackluster ingredients and made a plan.

I chunky chopped the veggies (doesn’t that sound fun…chunky chop…no wonder my kids are silly!) and apple, added an onion and a couple cloves of garlic. I put it all on my pre-heated Pampered Chef baking stone (my absolute favorite kitchen thing! I bake everything on these (with the exception of runny or messy things…like no lasagna in mine because it doesn’t have edges!) at 325. I drizzled a couple tbsp’s of olive oil (would have used coconut of I hadn’t run out, knowing that I was going to add coconut milk in the end to make it a bit Thai style) sprinkled on a 1/2 tsp of ground ginger, a couple tbsp of curry powder and some garlic powder, pepper and sea salt. I let them cook in the oven for 20 min and then flipped and left them cooking for about 20 more minutes.

Once the fork went straight through the veggies with no resistance I knew they were ready. I scooped all of the veggies into the blender, added a cup of organic chicken stock and a cup of unsweetened coconut milk. Blender blended. We enjoyed. And it was healthy. AND it used up veggies that would probably have gone to waste otherwise. AND well that’s it….it is just soup!

I could have handled a little more spice in my soup, and added some green onions and pepper when I sat down to nosh, but it was a pretty easy way to use up the veggies and it fed four of us perfectly

(If you count my mom, Alex and myself as one each… and letting Addy check off her bites to make it to 15 bites, and Finn eating tuna….)

And my words of wisdom. You know, because I am so wisdomus….(FRIENDS reference anyone?)

Just because someone does something, doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

Someone else’s success doesn’t mean your failure.

So go ahead.

Try it.

Make soup.

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