Short Visit Home

I was lucky enough to spend some time home (near Toronto) this weekend for Easter. I got to visit with a few friends, relax and spend time with family. Pictured above are some old trees that line the driveway of my childhood home. After the ice storm this winter many of these trees lost their branches but they seem to be going strong now! This picture doesn't really put it into perspective but these trees are so tall and beautiful. We are lucky to have them.

 One of the best parts of the weekend was a visit to my old university town, Guelph. I met a friend there for lunch at one of our old favourite vegetarian restaurants and it felt so surreal to be back there. I hadn't been back to Guelph since I graduated almost 4 years ago! When we move back to Ontario I hope to spend more time visiting that area, it really is a nice town. 

Easter was great. My parents hosted 30+ of our family and I made these bird nest macaroons which turned out awesome! They were very easy and look so cute, I may make them again. We don't celebrate a big religious Easter, for me its more about welcoming spring and all of the changes that come during this time. It's also just nice to have a reason to celebrate with family and friends. 

After a long winter it felt really nice to get away from the city for a few days. I've been a bit frustrated with Montreal lately due to a number of things: ridiculous politics, the language barrier, unfriendly atmosphere, etc. I found myself desperate for Halifax numerous times, missing the friendly people and the ocean breeze. Everyone keeps telling me that the summers here are wonderful and will make me feel more at home. I really hope so! Coming home (back to Montreal) actually felt exciting this time. On the train ride home I read a blog post about a couple's trip to Montreal. They had never been before and were so enamoured with the city and all it's charm. They went to lots of interesting restaurants and shops in my neighbourhood, just raving about all they had to offer. This blog post really put things in perspective. I am so fortunate to be able to live here! I hope I can embrace this city like I was able to do in the fall during the summer. Things will be very, very busy with me wrapping up school but I know I'll find some time.

Hope you're all enjoying this lovely spring weather. It is so sunny here today and I went for a great, long run up the Mount for the first time since moving here. It felt amazing!

Weekend at Home

This weekend A and I went to Ontario to visit my parents, sister and her beau. It was my mom's birthday and we had a lot of great family time and way too much rich food! We also went for a really nice walk along Lake Ontario where we saw a rainbow over the Toronto skyline in the distance, so lovely. Its a bit warmer in Ontario and a lot of the leaves are still on the trees. I just love fall, I am truly trying to enjoy every last little bit before it's over. As soon as we arrived back in Montreal the temperature began to feel much colder. It hasn't gone above 0 degrees in a few days now, it seems winter might be approaching faster than I'd hoped! Still, with winter comes awesome things: skating (I am so excited to skate on the ponds in Montreal's parks), hot chocolate, Christmas, snow, skiing adventures, warm soups and stews, etc. 

My mom was kind enough to give us a few ikea frames she had lying around and we were able to frame some art we bought on our adventure to the Eastern Townships a few weeks ago. They look lovely (and very fall appropriate) in our bedroom. 

It was great to be home and spend time with the family. It got me all excited for the Christmas season, one of my favourite times of the year! Still though, it is only November.. I have to pace myself.

wild

I can't recommend this book highly enough. It was so great! I haven't read an adventure novel in a long time and it felt so refreshing to read one coming from a female perspective, someone who was honest and relatable. I am certain that one day I will hike the Pacific Crest Trail, it sounds so challenging and beautiful. What an incredible accomplishment.

If you're in the mood for a good read, read Cheryl Strayed's Wild.

the ending of summer

Once again, summer is coming to a close. This summer has definitely been an interesting one, filled with lots of happy memories but also a lot of sadness and boredom (mostly due to the lack of full-time job thing).

 A few weeks ago, Alex and I went to PEI and it was an awesome get-away. Above is the famous Green Gables house, it was so lovely to see it in person!

My pictures didn't turn out so great, but let me tell you PEI is a gorgeous province. We spent a lot of time at the beach enjoying the perfect summer weather and swimming in the ocean. I find the ocean waters near Halifax to be too cold to swim in, but near Cavendish it was a lot warmer which was awesome! One of the highlights of the trip for me was when Alex and I were walking back to our room late at night in Charlottetown and we saw a silver fox! No, it wasn't an attractive older man, but a black fox (normally red) with a white tip. We saw the little guy or gal on our first and second night, it was very exciting, especially for a nature lover like myself.

Last weekend Alex and I went home to visit my family and it felt so good to see them. I hadn't seen my sister since April (for us this is too long!) and it was great to catch up. My parents threw a huge pig-roast (weird.... I know) party for my Mom's side of the family and I was able to catch up with lots of people I don't normally see which was really nice. As much as I love living out of province, I definitely miss seeing my extended family and immediate family more often.

Next week Alex and I move into our new apartment and we move in together. I am both excited and petrified. My close friend reminded me that I am indeed moving in with a boy! It seems strange to really think about but I can't wait to wake up beside him every morning and to start this chapter of our lives. We have been preparing for our new place, we bought some frames today to host these lovely prints, which we had custom made to showcase where we are from and the places we've lived (Alberta, Ontario & Nova Scotia). I'm hoping we'll be able to add a few more provinces to the lineup as life goes on.

I'm slightly stressed about how teeny tiny our new apartment is but reading up on Apartment Therapy and reading my tea leaf's survival tips has made me feel as though this new change will be a welcomed design challenge that I am ready to take on!

Updates and pictures of the new place will follow, maybe one day I will have some tips of my own!

new birks

I finally got some much needed birkenstocks! Its been years since I've had a new pair and the past few summers I've been getting by on knock offs or pretty but less walkable sandals and man, does it feel good to have some practical shoes back in rotation! I will never be getting knock offs again, they are not even close to as good!

In other news, I had a lovely patio party with some of my social work friends last night. It was my first time having this circle of friends over and it turned out to be a lovely time. I had planned to serve an almond cake with balsamic strawberries and ice cream but my cake burnt due to me awful oven (this oven has ruined many a good dessert). I also served veggie kebabs though and they were a big hit. I made my dear friend Gillian's famous Sangria and that was also very well received. Over all it was a great night, we may have waken the neighbours being loud and talkative on our porch but oh well! It was nice to hang out with my friends without the stress of school looming over us, everyone seems much more relaxed and at ease.

Today some friends and I went to a lake nearby and soaked in some sun. We've been having some lovely weather lately and it felt so good to be in the wilderness, even if there was a highway a few kms away. We even went swimming, which was so refreshing! I can't wait to bring Alex and show him this gem of a spot.

Heres Gillian's famous Sangria recipe:

Liquids:
1 bottle of white wine (preferably Sauvignon Blanc)
1 bottle of peach schnapps
1 bottle of gingerale

Fruit:
1 cored pineapple, cut up into 1.5 inch pieces
I pint of raspberries
2 or 3 kiwis cut up
1 large pint or 2 smaller pints of strawberries (preferably when in season!) cut in half's or quarters depending on their size.

First cut up all the fruit and place it in a large pitcher. Then add a few ice cubes, about a third of the peach schnapps, half of the white wine and as much gingerale as will fill the pitcher. Stir and let the drink sit in the fridge for around 10-15 minutes before serving! When serving, make sure you scoop some fruit into everyone's drinks for a yummy treat at the end! Once the first batch is done, continue adding more peach schnapps, wine and gingerale with the old fruit until you are content.

And there you have it, the best (in my opinion) white wine Sangria there is! I think I may have drank a little bit too much last night...

hair wish

I want to do my hair like this for my graduation on Tuesday. I think its possible... we'll see!

I had the most lovely weekend with A. The weather was lovely. Today we had a picnic at Point Pleasant (had the most amazing cheese croisants and juicy watermelon) and we got a bit of sun which was nice. I'm excited for my parents visit this week. My dad and I have some gardening plans (since he's quite the expert) for my cherry tomatoes and snow peas. We're going to separate the tiny plants into their own big pots so they can blossom! I just love plants, A had to pry me away from all the flowers and herbs at the market today, I could easily spend 20+ dollars on some new gems.