Just a few of the sites and places we went before and after Caroline's wedding from the iPhone: Driving in Pete's BMW with a Te Aro tea latte and a great book - Little Bee Stopped for lunch in Kingston at Pan Chancho (ohhh memories from uni) RMC arch - you walk through only when arriving and departing RMC for the first and last time. Sweet welcome bag at the hotel from Caroline and Andrew Brunch at Benny's Bakery (delicious) Fairmont Chateau Laurier (had to take it for my mom - always such pretty hotels) View from Parliament of the Red Bull Flugtag (our hotel was just behind it) Had to take some Parliament pictures Ohhhhhh Canada! This never-ending incomplete combustion is just no good for our environment... That guy. Love him. Jessica introduced me to this at the pub - it's pretty much just apple juice, or as I call "apple beer", to which Matt laughs and says "hard cider" - apple beer is a way better name. I don't even remember what this was, but it was yummy. Trying a little ombre eye for the wedding (yep, eye freckle!)
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After Caroline's wedding, Matt and I headed up to the cottage for the week for some R&R, and it was great! Sunny days, pretty sunsets, great food and wine, and cozy fires all with the husband. Here are a few iPhone shots from the week: Next stop? Vegas!
**Note to all government officials scouring blogs for keywords like "killer" - she is a person named Caroline, not a real killer. It's just a nickname. She's actually the most gentle and kind person ever. That's why it's funny. Please don't arrest her.** Matt and I headed to Ottawa a few weekends ago to celebrate Caroline and Andrew's wedding. They technically got married in Gatineau, but we spent time in both spots (a few pics from weekend wanderings will be in a later post). Had a great dinner on Friday night at the Wellington Gastropub, went for a run, saw all the Red Bull Flugtag "planes" and wandered around the By Ward Market on Saturday, then the wedding took place that evening. Here are the pictures! Gorgeous venue - Museum of Civilization in Gatineau The original point blankets! Sculpture (Matt being arty) Test shot - smile girls! (We all wore blue) Jess, Carolyn and I Matt told Jess not to lean just bend at the knee - I'm jealous of her height!!! PS - It's Jess' birthday today - Happy Birthday!!!! The boys - Matt, Chris, Ian More of Matt being arty Waiting for the ceremony to start The beautiful bride and her dad Personal vows - they were sweet and funny The kiss - I stayed out of the photographers way so this is the best I got, haha Married! Littlin and Killer Yay Caroline joined the club! Chris and Carolyn - so sweet Aww drunken love Ooooh a bit fuzzy and grainy... Matt...put the camera down... Yep, that's my man! Sings always with feeling. Exploring the museum Ohhh the picture is PG-13 - my giant thighs are showing, haha Great pose and his tie goes with the art And my necklace goes with this art Selfies with DSLRs are challenging... And a few iPhone/Instagram shots:
Matt and I decided to go to Montreal after my brother Adam and his wife Jessica mentioned they were going to go, and that they go almost every year. So we pretty much crashed their trip. After we had booked it, we realized it was the weekend before their anniversary, so we were also sort of anniversary crashing. We only spent an evening and brunch the next day with them, though, so we didn't do everything together. We decided to take the VIA to avoid weekend traffic on Friday night and Sunday evening, which was a really great decision. There was a seat sale and we ended up going business class on the way there because it was cheaper than the economy seats (which we had on the way back - no sale there...so weird). Here is a mix of Canon and iPhone pictures I took throughout the weekend. Ohhh the selfie. I took this as it decided to be ridiculously humid and raining about a half hour before I left, and I knew that even with an umbrella, there is no way my hair would have looked like this by the time I reached union. I was correct. I sent this to Matt as proof I did try and look decide for my first VIA train ride. Train food in business class - actually not too bad! Arrived - Notre Dame at night - so pretty The only view really - Saturday there was a wedding and Sunday was mass - didn't get to go in. Late night snack and drinks at Dolcetto & Co. - great tapas place Day 2 - Le Cartet for brunch - delicious Matt "you match that bridge, stay still", Me "I'm soooooo hot, hurry up!" I told Matt we could just go to Sugar Beach to get a shot like this, but he liked it Little tug boat! Just meant to shoot the background but Matt framed this power box beautifully, haha Not sure if this is used anymore, but there were no barriers... Matt loved these buildings Churches and beautiful architecture everywhere Science Centre - I immediately sent this to Marta, haha Old Montreal along the cobbles (sooooo hot) A print we were going to go back and get before we left...but forgot Stereotypical...but sad we didn't actually eat any here! Concrete and flowers Who lives here? Love all these different buildings attached together Notre Dame in the day Just beside Notre Dame This was the only thing I remembered about Old Montreal... Watching some afternoon jazz Haha, these kids were so funny. I don't think this fountain is actually meant to swim around in... Now this is a great version of Street Meat Mmmm sandwich Stumbled onto Montreal's version of Caribana Pretty architecture Trois Brasseurs for a refreshing beer (I picked the girliest one) Being real for a moment - this is what melted off makeup, pulled back hair, and sweaty from walking around in 40 degree weather for 6 hour ME looks like....not pretty. We were about the cross the road and then passed hundreds of naked bikers...yeah... In Adam & Jessica's Lobby at Le Crystal Hotel (beautiful boutique choice) Cheers! Sorry these next few are a bit dark... Dinner at Bocata - they had the most amazing food and wine ever - highly recommended!!! Cheers to family and great wine! Some late night jazz for Matt (this guy's piano technique was awesome) Adam drinking espresso like the queen Last stop of the night? Schwartz's Deli (boys loved smoked meat) Day 3 - I honestly was not posing for this, I think I was looking at something... Moose kiss Adam decided to love the other end, haha Jessica - always looking pretty even after a night out Breakfast at Le Gros Jambon (all looking a bit tired this morning) A very cool gallery wall Haha, great menu pic Piggy plate filled with delicious french toast BIODOME!!!! Hey, I really wanted to go to the science centre too... Parrots cleaning each other = love Sooo blue A bit blurry but such a happy penguin! Emperor penguins (looks like a vignette but really is just foggy glass, haha) They really know how to pose! Penguin kiss Love the crazy art along St. Laurent **Not featured - lunch at the Ice House - such good mexican food!** Pretty boutique filled with vintage finds - Hope would have LOVED it! Overall an amazing weekend and I can't wait to go back next year. So much we didn't do - like go to any of the nice parks, take a bike ride, go to the science center (haha), eat poutine, and more old Montreal side street wanderings for nibble and wine. We stayed at the Marriott Chateau Champlain which was central and the room was nice. Adam and Jess stayed at Le Hotel Crystal which was amazing! They had their own DECK (not just balcony, but an actual cedar deck). Best restaurants were Bocata and Dolcetto & Co for food, and Le Cartet for brunch. Ice House was really good too - just more a casual place with lots of fresh ingredients plus a little deep frying, haha. Note to ladies - heels and cobblestones are tricky!
Hope's first wedding shower - we did it early because her mom was visiting from England! Ohhh Canadian bridal traditions Love cookie Cozy September weekend at the cottage One of the last summer sunsets Butters and I hanging out Matt had a course in Niagara so I went with him for the weekend for a little getaway Reading my uncle's books and drinking the first salted caramel hot chocolate of the season in Niagara By the way - the books are awesome! Buy them on Amazon HERE Butters trying to get in He loves me more than the squirrel a few feet away Hope and Meg out for a rainy day adventure at the cottage on Thanksgiving weekend Rainbow landed in the lake - quick - dive in and get the pot o' gold! Fall colours Bye bye cottage! See you at Easter at the end of March! Matt about to cross the finish line for his second marathon. So proud of him! Mmmm fajitas and guacamole! Trying out a new recipe! Using the herbs from France (from Adam and Jessica's honeymoon) The finished (delicious) product! Butters blending into the foliage
*By the way I found out his real name is Bib...I don't like it. I'm going to keep calling him Butters.* So I finally got around to blogging. I'm sorry to all my (7) loyal readers. Once we got back from New York it was back to school mode with prepping all week, actually going into school, then trying to relax at the cottage (which turned out to be somewhat hard when you have the worst cold ever - thanks to my darling husband who had it earlier in the week). Feeling better today although still a bit sniffly with a low raspy voice - hopefully for the first day of school tomorrow I am back to myself - so I thought I would do so blogging on my Labour Day off. So this is the story of our New York City trip. We were there for 5 days, 4 nights, and did a lot of sight-seeing. We were exhausted every night! Some pictures I used the DSLR, some were on my phone. It's hard not to seem touristy when you have a big camera slung around your body, but oh well, everyone was exactly the same as us. Day 1 - Flight, Hotel, West Village Sushi We arrived at LaGuardia in New York around 1pm and headed to our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Mela on 44th between 6th and 7th. It's a small boutique hotel, but it was right in the heart midtown and was pretty and clean, though small. Since our hotel check-in time was 3, and the room wasn't ready, we wandered around Times Square (sensory overload) and random surrounding streets. I also forgot to unstrap my neck pillow from my purse, so though we had stored our luggage, I was the image of tourist with a stupid neck pillow, wandering New York City, for a good hour. We stopped at Magnolia Bakery for a cupcake, which was really just okay (I had red velvet). Finally it was 3pm so we could check in and freshen up. Hotel Room at Hotel Mela Even the bathroom was cute - great wallpaper Our view was less than stellar, but like most of New York, it was under construction Once checked in, we headed out for some refreshment (it was very hot outside). We found the Beer Authority, which conveniently was located beside the Port Authority, about a 5-minute walk from our hotel. We sat on the rooftop patio which overlooked the New York Times building and the bustling city below. I even had a blueberry-infused beer (which tasted more like beer than blueberry, but was still pretty good). Rooftop view of the Times Looking over the extensive beer menu That night we headed to the West Village to meet our friend Kyle and his girlfriend Jillian, for dinner at a sushi place called Amber. It was really good sushi - between the four of us we had 10 rolls, some edamame, a free dessert and 4 bottles of wine. Highly recommended! We also went to a bar called Willfie & Nell, which I probably would have really liked had I been about 5-8 years younger, haha. Very loud and crowded for my taste but I can see the appeal for others. I didn't take any pictures...because I didn't want to seem like a tourist in front of them, haha. I wish I did. I think I made up for it over the next few days anyway. Day 2 - 30 Rock, FAO, Broadway Our second day started off with brunch at a place close to the hotel called Maison. Great prices, quick, and good French-inspired food. We then were off to live out our geeky 30 Rock fantasies of seeing Kenneth and Jack and Liz at the NBC Studio Tour and Top of the Rock. On the studio tour, we saw Brian Williams nightly set, the Jimmy Fallon set, and the SNL set (really big!). It was a typical touristy thing to do, but I still liked it. Right after we went up to the top of Rockefellar Center and saw the city from above. It was a good alternative to the Empire State Building. 30 Rock! Yep, it's tall! NBC studio tour - no pictures allowed so this is all I got! View from the Top of the Rock Needed to Instagram of course Central Park - crazy that there is a huge park in the busy city We could see the New Year's Eve Ball A random Italian guy took my phone and insisted on taking a picture - thank you random! Did not see Kenneth, but still a good 30 Rock experience After the 30 Rock stuff, we decided to walk up 5th and Park Avenue a bit and headed to FAO Schwarz. It was busy but a lot of fun seeing all the tops and acting like 5 year olds for a few minutes. We saw the Lego land and the giant piano and tonnes of stuffed animals. They had a Harry Potter area too, but since there were no magic wands, I was not impressed. I almost got a geeky science puzzle as well, but figured it would be hard to get back to Toronto with it. My two favourite men FAO Schwarz view from above - so many stuffed animals! Haha, so geeky Matty He did love his Lego Didn't mean to be a creeper taking pictures of random kids, but this was so sweet Tiny brownstone sandwiched between the concrete That night we had some Italian food before our night on Broadway. We went to a place called Scarlatto, which was in the basement of another building but surprisingly bright and best of all, it had great pasta. Dinner was quick, and then we headed to Eugene O'Neill Theatre to see The Book of Mormon. It. Was. Hilarious. I was laughing so hard I was crying at some points. It is very off-side (makes sense - the guys from South Park wrote it), definitely Rated R, but it was really funny. Not recommended for any sensitive Christian people - it offends pretty much everyone but it was all in good fun. It is coming to Toronto in 2013! Once it was done, we had a quick walk around Times Square at night (even more sensory overload, but pretty spectacular), had a drink at the pub beside the hotel called The Long Room, and called it a night. Book of Mormon!!! Was not supposed to take a picture of the stage...I did not know this at the time... We were at the VERY BACK of the theatre - it was small, so the view was still great! Times Square at night It was packed even at midnight! Day 3 - Highline, Greenwich, SoHo, Natural History Our third day we decided to wander around all the neighbourhoods. We started off with brunch at Pastis in the Meatpacking District. Really good brunch, and it was really busy. I had some brioche french toast - yum! From there we walked along the High Line, which is an old railway track that has been converted to a garden pathway that goes from the Meatpacking north through Chelsea along the west side. We then found Greenwich Village and wandered around that area, and then got to SoHo, and did some more walking. We had lunch there at a place called Cipriani. It was expensive, and we didn't know that beforehand - Matt's rash decision, haha. We just had some sandwiches, which were good, but expensive for what they were. Mmmm brunch Waiting for coffee Appropriate picture for the Meatpacking District Along the High Line I look very fat here, but it's just windy and my dress is billowing... Moving along through Chelsea Matt taking some arty pictures Random sign...I bet they judged my flip flops a lot... Lots of random art Matt liked all the old water towers At an old church - good background And here's the church Colourful Greenwich houses Subway art Once we couldn't take the heat anymore, we decided to head uptown to the American Museum of Natural History. We got there just over 2 hours before it closed, thinking that would be more than enough time. Then I discovered Matt has never been in a planetarium, so we had to do the Hayden Planetarium which took up a half hour of seeing the stars (although it was quite educational), and then we quickly looked at the dinosaurs, some apes, and of course the big WHALE! WHAAAALE! Hall of Biodiversity - the 11 U bio classes would love this! Pigwidgeon and Hedwig were stuffed I think... Ohhhh T-Rex Apadasaurous - my brother liked these ones when he was little Main foyer of the AMNH Spiders have taken over the museum? For dinner we went to Murray Hill to have dinner at Les Halles, which is where Anthony Bourdain used to be the head chef. Since Matt and I watch No Reservations whenever it is on, we figured we would try out one of his places, and it didn't disappoint. Great french food and excellent wine. Brasserie Les Halles Day 4: Central Park, Upper East Side, Grand Central, Met Opera We saved Sunday to wander around Central Park. We started off with breakfast at a little diner called The Flame Restaurant. We didn't know it was a diner, but it sort of looks like a Denny's, but the food is a lot more fresh. I had a waffle with loads of blueberries, bananas, and strawberries (called the Red, White and Blue Waffle). It was cheap and quick, and then we were off to the park. We actually wanted to ride bikes around the park, but it was a beautiful day and every one was rented out. So we walked a bit and saw Strawberry Fields, the row boat area, lots of little bridges, the little sailboat pond, and some turtles. One of many monuments in Central Park Skywriting - only made out the "United We Stand"...it could have said anything else for the rest... Strawberry Fields Forever Dedicated to John Lennon Row boats (wanted to do this too but the line was really long) Also it had many fountains Random family and band singing Andrea Bocelli - it was beautiful and the area had great acoustics! Sailboats Really just wanted to rest my feet We have very few pictures of the two of us Lewis Carroll "Alice" statue TURTLES!!! I really liked staring at the turtles... Once we were done in the park, we went for lunch on the Upper East Side at Serafina - more Italian - we split a pizza and had a drink. By then my new boat shoes were pinching my toes so we wandered back to the hotel. Along the way we saw some incredible (and very expensive) apartments, and The Plaza Hotel. Once I changed into some flip flops, we went out to see the New York Public Library (yay books), Grand Central Station, and the Empire State Building (just the outside, we didn't go up). We just looked around the basics of all of these, the library was closed but we originally planned to go in the following day (didn't end up having time, sort of). Upper East Side apartments The Plaza Hotel - Fairmont run! Teacher at the library Grand Central It's a much larger Union Station MUCH larger The ceiling had zodiac signs on it Empire State building For dinner we went to the Upper West Side to Rosa Mexicano. They had the most incredible guacamole served in a giant bowl. I could have eaten it for hours. The best part was that it was right across from the Lincoln Center, and there was a Metropolitan Opera playing on a screen for thousands - we could here it throughout the meal. Of course afterward we walked over there to see a bit of it. We grabbed a cab back to midtown, and saw a bit more of the Times Square area after grabbing a coffee at Caffe Bene. Mmmm guacamole! Outdoor opera night at the Met Real dark hot chocolate Day 5: World Trade Center, Stock Exchange, Rain, 6-Hour Airport, Home Our last day started off with Dean & Deluca - remember that's where Felicity worked? We then headed downtown to see the World Trade Center (lots of rebuilding is occurring), Wall Street, and the Stock Exchange. We wanted to walk around TriBeCa, but it started to pour rain. So we grabbed a cab to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and ran in the pouring rain to the front door only to find it was closed. By that time I was soaked and was no way going into it anyway in a wet sundress and squeaky shoes. So we ran back in the rain to the bottom of the stairs to get a cab and back to the hotel. We had actually checked out at this point but had stored our luggage, and changed in the gym area into our airport clothes. We had to be there around 3pm anyway, and it was one, so we had lunch at The Long Room, and of course, the sun came out and it was a beautiful day once again. So with an hour to kill we again wandered around Times Square, and went to M&M's World (so many colour M&Ms). Finally we headed to the airport, only to find out our flight was cancelled, and we had to wait an extra 3 hours - 6 hours later we were off - it was the LONGEST WAIT EVER, but we made it home safe, and spent the next day recovering from our crazy busy few days. No Felicity or Javier in sight, but still good coffee New World Trade Center tower Downtown New York - Financial District Taxis everywhere TD Banks have infiltrated NYC NYSE - very few Occupy NY people around now Matt called this the cow, I corrected him. More subway art MMmmmM&M's! Overall it was a great trip. Really REALLY busy, and we could have spent another week there easily and taken our time with things. This is definitely a city where we will return multiple times, and hopefully explore new places each time!
We just booked a trip to New York City, leaving the 23rd for 4 nights! Matt and I have both wanted to go for a few years, and so we finally decided to do it! Got a pretty good deal on Hotwire and are staying in midtown. We are definitely going to try and see "Book of Mormon", and perhaps "Nice Work if You Can Get It". We also may try to get tickets to either Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert on the first night we are there. We'll do some bike riding in central park, and wandering around all the different areas in the city. We also want to each some great food, so please recommend some places, and even things to do!!!
Here are just a few more that were on my camera (not my phone), and aren't directly wedding-related. Catch 122 in Gastown for brunch The birthday boy! Random photo moment on a brick wall, haha Picture that Emily took of the post-wedding brunch A few of many coffee places around Vancouver (Matt wants to make some sort of arty collage out of them)
I didn't take a lot of pictures this day - didn't have a good viewing angle during the ceremony to get clear pictures without standing in front of everyone, but here are a few shots from the night at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club: Beautiful bride Emily with her dad The vows Their colours were navy and white with a bit of pink, plus polka dots! The rings Mr. & Mrs! The legal stuff Beautiful music The music was obviously conducive to dancing... During cocktails there was a bald eagle (Stephen Colbert - is it yours?) Great seating chart! There's the bit of pink! Listening to speeches Jack was the emcee - he did an incredible job! Who wants cake? He was nice and didn't squish it in her face (like my brother did at his wedding) First dance There has to be a finale dip! Father-daughter and mother-son dance together The one picture of Matt and I (SLR selfies are hard to do!) Matt and Steve (two of the three roommates of Adam's - Cable is nowhere to be found) Personalized napkins - great little detail Grandparents getting into the music Beautiful mom-to-be Christine getting some practice Best picture - three children getting candy, haha Indeed it is.
*On that note, happy anniversary (yesterday) to my husband of two years!* Row 1: Getting nails done in preparation for Vancouver at Tips Nail Bar, first pretty leaf latte from Coffee Bar in Gastown, and amazing porchetta sandwich from Meat & Bread - all on our first day out west!
Row 2-5: Shots of the Grouse Grind - 2.9 km straight up a mountain - took 89 minutes and it was pretty hard - another first day activity! Row 6-7: "Hell" sign from Bin 941 - great tapas place we went to on the first night (also went here on my birthday in March), rest of shots from Stanley Park and along the walk to 3rd beach (where I spent Friday while Matt was golfing with the boys). Row 8: Cable playing jenga at Guilt & Co on friday night, other two of us each getting ready for Adam & Emily's wedding. Row 9: Shot from my SLR at the wedding at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club (the only one of us together that night), the "Love is Sweet" candy box filled with salt water toffee, swedish berries, and navy M&M's that I ate the day after, and Matt relaxing at Chill Winston's Sunday evening. Row 10: The water drop down by the water, last latte from Cafe Medina on Monday, and belated birthday cupcakes from the Cupcake Girls shop on Thurlow! **Not pictured Vancouver activities: dinner at Revel Room on Friday night, brunch at Catch 122 on Saturday morning, dinner at La Casita on Sunday night, and some anniversary shopping on Robson for our 2nd year (the gift is cotton) at J. Crew and Banana Republic on Monday before we left. As you can see we did a lot of good eating but also a lot of walking and hiking to try and balance it all out between!** *Wedding post to come for Adam and Emily's wedding, though I didn't take that many pictures* |
KathleenAdventures in married life, cooking, teaching science and new home renovations in the city! LinksArchives
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