A Year of Seasonal Lists

While I have been able to complete about half of the things on my seasonal lists, I haven't felt most of them deserve its own post and because I am weird, I don't like having similar things right after the other, I haven't shared what I have done on my seasonal lists the past year. So below you will find what I was able to check off on them. Some things will have been on previous lists because I don't always get to the activity or I like to do the same activities every year during that particular season.

Spring 2022 (Mar. 15-Jun. 12)
Read a new book
Have ice cream with cousins
✔ Wake up early for a sunrise
Search for murals in your city
✔ Eat strawberry shortcake - my cousin made a really good strawberry shortcake for dessert after our Easter dinner
Try two new recipes
✔ Check out a new beach - visited crystal crescent on the first hot day of the year for a couple of hours, did a bit of reading and people watching 
Visit the immigration museum 
✔ Play glow in the dark mini-golf - this can be done at Putting Edge in Bayers Lake
Do zip-lining and a ropes course
✔ Hike on the Kentville trails
Yard sale day
✔ Learn about the Titanic - Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has a permanent exhibit on the Titanic and its relation to Halifax 
Spring cleaning
✔ Road trip with my grandmother - I took my grandmother on a weekend road trip to the south shore as she hadn't been in a long time
Eat at 3 new restaurants
✔ Photograph the cherry blossoms - you can see the cherry blossoms on Park Ave in Dartmouth during the month of May
Complete two Conqueror challenges
✔ Grill outside 
Have a no screen time day

I had started a new job in April and was working weird hours so it became difficult to make any plans meaning I didn't do as much in the summer as I was planning. The only thing I did really was my birthday trip which you can read about here. 

Summer 2022 (Jun. 13-Sep. 7)
Visit a new to me bakery
✔ Have a wiener roast - we had a big family wiener roast to celebrate my grandfather's birthday
Eat from a food truck
No screen day
Search for murals in your city
Take a photography class
✔ Road trip for my birthday
Go on a picnic
Play board games I did as a child
Hike a new trail
Do a random act of kindness
✔ Walk on a red beach - my cousin and I visited Argyle Shore provincial park on PEI
OnTree Fun & Adventure Park
Visit the immigration museum
Touch a waterfall
Read a new book
✔ Check out a national park
Go to Georges Island
Have a yard sale
Put together a summer photo album

Fall 2022 (Sep. 8-Dec. 3)
✔ Visit a pumpkin patch - decided to go somewhere else (Riverbreeze Farm) and I took my little cousins for the afternoon
Drink hot chocolate from a local cafe
✔ Participate in Maritime Race Weekend
Take photos of fall foliage
Go on a scenic drive 
✔ Have a Hallowe'en movie night
✔ Cheer on an original six NHL team - I saw the Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Blackhawks on a Saturday night which was pretty cool, especially since both teams wore their new Reverse Retro jerseys
Eat from a food truck
✔ Navigate a corn maze
Look at vintage cars
✔ Visit my best friend
Burn a fall scented candle
✔ Decorate for fall
✔ Spend Thanksgiving with family - so nice to have so much family at my grandfather's for the weekend, there was 12 of us I believe
Make a pot of chilli 
✔ Walk in the Valley Harvest Marathon
Explore the immigration museum
✔ Check out the bean
✔ Take the kids to the zoo - we went to Magnetic Hill zoo in Moncton for the afternoon
Go for a hike in another city

I never posted my winter list which was originally going to be winter and spring together but I ended up wanting and doing more during the cold months. So I decided to split up the seasons again. Hard to believe we are done another year, hoping 2023 will be a better one.

Winter 2022 (Dec. 3-Feb. 28)
Put up holiday decorations
Do a jigsaw puzzle
✔ Visit the immigration museum - hadn't been to Pier 21 for a number of years 
✔ Try a new restaurant
Have a family game night
✔ Eat from a food truck - got some mini donuts from Ol' School Donuts, they were really good and not just sugar
✔ Walk around the north end
Go bowling
✔ Look at Christmas lights - my mom and I drove around the city to look at how people lit up their houses
✔ Sip hot chocolate from a local cafe - got hot chocolate from Rousseau Chocolatier, I didn't really like it but only because I don't like dark chocolate
Pay for a strangers meal at a restaurant
✔ Watch a live world juniors game
✔ Check out the ice festival 
Do a winter hike in the woods
✔ Make your goals for 2023
Take my friend's kids out for the afternoon
✔ Eat at 3 Dine Around restaurants
✔ Have a Christmas movie marathon 
Ring in the new year at grand parade
Finish Conquering 1,011km - I did get the Conquer 2022 medal but I had to lower my goal to 975km

February is for foodies: Dine Around 2023

Every year in the month of February, the city hosts an event called Dine Around Halifax where participating restaurants have special menus that cost either $10, $20, $30, $40 or $50. The event is a also a fundraiser for Feed Nova Scotia and in 2023, over 100 restaurants across the city took part. There weren't many places that had menus I liked this year which kind of sucked, but I still enjoyed the ones I went to. 

On February 12, my mom and I went out for the afternoon because one thing I wanted to do was explore the north end of Halifax. It was a beautiful day out and we started out at Rousseau Chocolatier in the south end. Rousseau's is a chocolate shop and I had never been to it before this day. Their Dine Around menu was called 'Pause Parisienne for two!' which included two drinks, two chocolate tasters and two madeleines or cookies for $20. We got there right after they opened which was a smart idea. I got hot chocolate and a chocolate chip cookie while my mom had a coffee and ginger cookie. I forget what kinds the tasters were but they were really good. I mentioned we were there when it opened and I'm glad we were because the cookies had just come out of the oven and they were delicious; soft on the inside and a crunchy outside. The only thing I didn't enjoy was the hot chocolate, only because it was made with dark chocolate and I find it really strong. 

Then we drove up to Gottingen Street and parked near the library to walk along the street to see what was new. We walked from Staples to the bridge and back to our car. Then we drove further north to the Hydrostone to walk up the hill to Fort Needham Memorial Park. I hadn't been to this park since I think 2009 or something and it has changed from what I remember it being back then. The North End was ruined back on December 6, 1917 by an explosion and the city decided to put a big bell structure to memorialize it and honour the people who passed away and were injured in the blast. There is now a pretty cool playground there now along with benches/metal pieces that have information about the explosion. If you want to learn more about the Halifax Explosion I recommend visiting Fort Needham along with the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic plus there are stories on the Halifax Public Library website. 

To end our afternoon out, we went back to the south end and tried a new restaurant; Halifax Pier Pub. We didn't even know this restaurant existed until I saw it on the Dine Around menu. It is a sister company to Cafe Chianti which is right next door and both restaurants are at the end of Pier 20 where the farmer's market used to be. Their menu was a burger and a pint for $20. I don't drink wine or beer so my mom drank both. I had the Pier Burger which was a 7oz Atlantic beef patty with garlic aioli, aged white cheddar, onion and pepperoncini slaw & arugula. I normally steer clear of slaws but this burger was really good, definitely worth the twenty dollars. My mom also enjoyed hers, I think she got the Haddock Burger, so much that we went back a week later with my younger cousins. 

The following Friday, I met up with a friend for dinner after work and we went to The Auction House. We had a three course meal for $30 and you had two options each for the appetizer and main course. Both my friend and I chose the fried brussel sprouts, pear & bacon grilled cheese and beer battered Oreos. 

Winter fun
- Try a new restaurant ✓
- Walk around the north end ✓
- Sip hot chocolate from a local cafe ✓
- Eat at 3 Dine Around restaurants  ✓