In mid-November Marta, Dawn and I (all colleagues) headed up to Marta's parents' cottage in Barry's Bay. The first morning I woke up and saw a beautiful sunrise and colours outside. Despite being -5 outside, I could not help going out all bundled in my PJ's and taking some pictures while a dog across the Bay barked its head off at me. Most of these pictures are completely unedited - some are lightened just a bit because they came out too dark. It was just that great light that showed up in the photos! Sorry for the sheer volume of pictures - I couldn't just pick a few. They speak for themselves. This last one was taken later in the afternoon. Dawn just looks so far away and haunted, but it was still so pretty. Thanks so much to Marta's parents for letting us use the cottage - we had a great time eating, drinking, and watching SATC, along with a lot of relaxing!
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We didn't host a Christmas dinner this year, but we did decorate, and a bit earlier than usual - right at the beginning of December! Here are a few pictures from around the main floor: Our Christmas tree was a bit taller than normal (but still tabletop to fit in our little living space), and I decorated in silver and white, with some fuzzy soft touches. Most of the ornaments are from West Elm and Pottery Barn from the past few years Matt wrapped the ones with red ornaments, I did the grey and white. He is better than me. Spoiled. Next year we are going to save our Christmas present money for a trip together. Rosemary chipotle mixed nuts - a favourite every holiday. After seeing so many Christmas mantles and not having a fireplace, I made my own on the sideboard. It's real greenery! The scotch still has a home in the decor I liked the Chalk Pens this year! Ohhh pretty tree bokeh in the background! Mistletoe!
(West Elm) This past Thanksgiving weekend Matt and I headed up to the cottage as usual, but this time it was just us kids. Specifically, us plus Jamie and Hope and their friend Jordan. So we had to cook all of Thanksgiving dinner without any parental advice, but it was really fun! Fall salad - arugula, apple, craisin, toasted pecans and toasted pumpkin seeds, cranberry relish vinagrette Jamie did the turkey Stuffing (and bacon from the turkey) There was also root mash - potatoes, parsnips, celeriac pureed instead of just potatoes Daily dose of Moose Oh yeah, I also have a post of just pretty leaves coming up...
My aunt Karen is getting married in October and she asked me to take a few engagement pictures of her and her fiance Ian. At first I told her no and freaked out a bit because although I LOVE taking pictures, I am in no way a professional, I don't know how to use Photoshop, and I just didn't want to disappoint her with horrible pictures. She assured me that they just wanted a few shots and that I should try it out, and so I agreed. I actually had a lot of fun doing it! Although the pictures are in no way professional, they at least capture a little bit of the love I saw today which made me really happy. We took the pictures at Mount Pleasant Cemetery (in the gardens, relax). Here are just a few of the pictures I took: They hadn't seen me yet The one above is my favourite! She has a pretty iris claddagh ring with an emerald It looks like Ian is dripping from the fountain here Oh wow - the hair and the wall are great together (I see my grandma and my mom in her) Had to include a random bike and basket Ian was trying to make Karen skip - she was having none of it. This made me laugh a lot. Crazy lovebirds... Yes, a bit morbid but I was testing the light and it turned out really well.
There is an even better one but it says "Barber" on it and I didn't want to freak Hope out! We went to The Ex on Friday night with Jamie and Hope (who called it a fun fair). I took lots of pictures - brought my 50mm lens and went to town. There were just so many colours! Fair Grounds in the Evening Okay so the first two are actually me just playing with my lens - sun in front Sun behind - much better! We've arrived! This game is always in the same spot each year - Mr. Frog! Gondola Rides With the CN Tower beyond This is one of the few I could do when I was little Row upon row of games and rides and food You could not pay me enough to go on any roller coaster here I remember riding the Polar Express when I was younger Pretty...but so scary Ferris Wheel (warning, there are a lot of pictures of this) Swing set for grown ups! I wish I went on this to get a view from above The "sweet spot" for this game Aliens? Only the start of bright lights to come Shooting water...this was harder than it looked Ring toss! Food & The Farm No thank you, Epic Bacteria. No cronut burger for us! I did, however, eat poutine for dinner and mint chocolate chip ice cream! Matt had 3 tacos - 99 cents each! And then Jamie and Hope arrived. He got a deep fried Twinkie. Gross. To the animals! Hello, Alpaca. Baby turkeys! See you at Thanksgiving! Hen-Turkey hybrid. Don't ask. Ohhhh so many cute piglet butts!!! Since it was promoting farming, this pen was not titled "pigs" but "pork." Sad Cow. I would be too if I was cooped up and milked multiple times a day...bet it's a lot like maternity leave! This goat was great. He was so jealous of the goat in the other pen getting attention! Hope & Jamie Being Silly You steal my camera, I post your pictures. Jamie and his piercing eyes, haha. Dancing? Least blurry of 59 shots. Hope's planning something... At the end of a great dance/rap session. Thanks for the 80 pics. I thought of making a GIF out of all of them. Foot massage! Fair Grounds at Night Lights!!! Oh that's not the end of the ferris wheel... Carousel # 3 Crazy ride I guess? Matt took this. And this. I'm really not mad, I swear. Look how long my hair is getting!!! Minions!!! # 4 Only clear shot I got - it was moving around fast without a great pattern. Hope says "Oh gross. Don't post that picture. I look like a fat disgusting 10-year old boy" I don't see it. I think its amazing. So fun. Just love the colour combo - turquoise and red! The boy. I love this lens! Great end to the night. Hello tiny donut - I will cover you in cinnamon sugar and eat you very soon!
This is Moose - he is Jamie and Hope's kitten. These pictures were taken the first few weeks they had him. I'm kitten-sitting this week too, so expect a lot more, haha. Ohhhh just wait to die of cuteness in the next few pictures... Hope you enjoyed this post of cute!
Next post is of a cottage weekend in June - just a few pretty pictures of nature, and of Jamie and Hope before they went to a wedding. Made Matt stop because of a rainbow A full arc (double rainbow) - very rare Playing with some macro photography I totally saved this butterfly from the boggy ground Pretty flowers along the retaining wall The owl supposedly keeps away the ducks...the bird poop would indicate otherwise... Stormy skies but still beautiful Blue wildflowers Liked this picture a lot... Until I turned around...this one was better Some pre-wedding pics with Jamie & Hope, John & Connie (why are you not looking, Jamie?) Change of scenery Such a pretty family Jamie and Hope solo Did you know these two are getting married in 2 days???
My dad retired last Friday. He had a work party with his TTC friends that I posted about here, and this weekend my brother and I threw him a party for friends and family at Mill Street Brew Pub in the Distillery District. We headed down early to set up and meet my parents for dinner before the other guests arrived. Cab ride over - balloons!!! Distillery + balloons = fun Adam and Matt with their flights of seasonal beer (I like the lemon tea beer the best) Even mom drank beer - Frambozen! My aunt Andrea made a toolbox cake with cookie tools!!! Incredible! It was really good - thanks so much Andrea!!! Party decor - see my post on DIY Paper Bunting here Adam was in charge of the balloons He also framed a picture of my dad that was in the paper years ago, and got everyone to sign the matte around it Matt cut a slot in a memory box I got and people wrote messages about what they thought my dad should do now that he is retired - a lot had to do with renovations and house work! Very convenient that the Mill Street decor matched mine! My brother and I were proud of our party! ...and then I gave my camera to Adam and Jessica. They then proceeded to take about 400 blurry pictures. The following are all that I could salvage, haha. In the end, there were only 10 of 430 pictures that THEY took that were NOT blurry, and they are all in this post!!! My mom taking a picture of Adam taking a picture...I want to see the other side of this! Dad talking with family The girls...and he really liked that "yeast" sign for some reason... BEST pictures of the night award goes to Jess Dad with Margaret and Frank Thomas and Annick Me realizing that I may not have that many pictures to work with... Best of 10 blurry ones Adam took...this one is kind of cool. Only when I saw this did I ask "are you licking me?" Grandpa and uncle Pat - grandpa had a great night, though the Distillery has changed a lot since he was last there Aunt Francis and Andrea Adam with my cousin Mischa Matt talking with my dad's friends - Ross, Peter and Frank Party scene More party scene Cake cutting! Dad with Adam Dad and I Adam eating a hammer Family photo! Cheers to a great night at Mill Street! The moms The moms and dads Adam wanted to take home 2 balloons He had a hard time putting his coat on... Success (with Matt`s help)!!! Pretty lights of the distillery Raiding the leftovers when we got back home He popped these right before he left...I did not enjoy that.
Once Christmas was over, I pretty much went into hibernation mode - I caught up on sleep, ate way too much food, and just lounged around like a sloth. It was bad. I am slowly coming back to life, haha, but here's what did happen the past few months. Started off 2013 with a Harry Potter marathon - thoroughly enjoyed by both Matt and I! This happened. Ugh snow. Mmm delicious meal of shell pasta, white beans, sausage, and kale with lemon and parmesan. Morning stroll and shop in St. Lawrence Market Just one of the few flower selections from The January Cure (plus the weekly flowers are still going strong!) This is when I hate Canada and want to move to South America. Matt's speaker mounting plans 7 Year anniversary dinner at Fare Bistro Family dinner with both sets of parents - drinks in the Shangri La hotel, dinner at Reds Wine Tavern Moms and vintage barbie collection - including Midge! Found a bourbon chicken recipe..without bourbon...so we fixed that! Big hunk of pork shoulder covered in chipotle-coffee dry rub And the finished product with some coleslaw and Mill Street Coffee Porter One lazy Sunday of catching up with some home decor friends Day of closet-cleaning Dress shopping with Hope at Sash & Bustle Matt got an iPhone and I lost him to a world of distraction Delicious breakfast quiche in the making Brunch with my work wives Marta and Dawn Matt re-painting our pretty story board Me showing the world what an in love geek I am... Yay new cases - mine from MadebyGirl's Jen Ramos via Society6 From today - starting the kitchen prep - tore apart some bubbling plaster and patched the resulting spots Coming Up this Month: birthday celebrations in a week, kitchen painting and re-grouting of backsplash tile, March Break fun, World Skating Championships with my mom, and Easter! Should be a great month!
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