{"id":4938,"date":"2015-06-11T22:19:07","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T02:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/?p=4938"},"modified":"2015-06-11T22:19:07","modified_gmt":"2015-06-12T02:19:07","slug":"things-i-love-thursday-being-outside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/things-i-love-thursday-being-outside\/","title":{"rendered":"Things I Love Thursday – Being outside"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since returning to Toronto from Austin, I’ve been working on something, with a sense of both urgency and excitement that has also resulted in me being a bit of a shut in. I’m lucky that I’ve been able to work from home for the last year or so doing freelance web-development work, but a new, and more personal project\u00a0is my current work in progress.<\/p>\n

That said, I’ve been dreaming of sitting outside, even with my laptop, and maybe a nice glass of tea, or a zevia. Today, was the first day I’ve done that for a while. Why the sudden change? JC and I have been trying to build an outdoor table for the last few days. We bought this Applaro table from IKEA<\/a>\u00a0this weekend. A semi impulse purchase after going to have a dinner of Veggie Balls<\/a> in their dining area. Our existing outdoor table has been shifting with the weather, and had become pretty unstable (to the point where trying to rest both a laptop and a mug of tea was inviting disaster. So, step one, buy a new table.<\/p>\n

\"Veggie<\/a><\/p>\n

Step two involves actually putting the table together, and we both did it, but separately. I opened up the box and did the table, JC attached one of the legs, and one side of the brace, and I finished it up today. This piecewise construction worked out great, and letting myself leave it alone for a while had a positive impact on my life. I’m usually a finisher, this includes books, projects, movies, and tv shows (even when I don’t like them) or if I don’t finish something, it bothers me. It lingers. I think about it, and all the other projects I didn’t finish (frankly it’s kind of exhausting.)<\/p>\n

\"Sitting<\/a><\/p>\n

So I sat outside today, with my computer, a glass of rooibos tea with a piece of lemon in it, and a zevia. For at least four hours. I got fresh air, and some work done. A little bit of sunshine. Feeling the energy of the neighbourhood was nice. Birds chirping and slightly older baby squirrels, and cats (which have homes, which I’d prefer they stayed in<\/a>) wandered around, people with dogs, neighbours chatting. It was a great chunk of time, and while Emmiecat, my usual work side-kick would have preferred if I stayed in all day, I’m going to do the outside thing more often when I can.<\/p>\n

\"vegan<\/a><\/p>\n

Yesterday JC and I went out for roti and Sweet Olenka<\/a>‘s ice cream on Queen Street West. I’m happy to say that they’ve been offering really phenomenal vegan options for a few years now. And now have three locations (Queen W, Etobicoke, and in Kensington Market.)<\/p>\n

Other things I like:<\/h2>\n