a new summer bag!

a new summer bag! by vodka-caviar featuring a satchel bag

Settled...

I apologize in advance, this is going to be a lengthy post!*

It's been awhile since my last post, everything has been so crazy! I didn't mention this on my blog before because it was a sensitive subject and not a lot of my friends and family knew but I have moved back to ONTARIO! After my Las Vegas trip my best friend flew from Vegas to Calgary and we road tripped back to Ontario {more on that later}! Things in Calgary were just not working out for me. I missed my friends and family more then I ever thought I would, I quit my job because I was so miserable and not treated with respect and I didn't feel at home or comfortable with the city and the people. So my boyfriend and I came to the decision that it would be best for me to move back to Ontario and start to get established for the both of us. He is planning on making the move back after the summer!

Road Trip! Driving from Alberta to Ontario is not a short drive, 3400 kms and 36 hours to be exact! We wanted to do it as quickly as possible, spend as much time on the road and as little time sleeping! My jeep was packed to the top and little Effy had a cute little "loft" as we called it all set up with her toys, bed and food!

Day 1:
We left around 11:30am and drove through Alberta, Saskatchewan and into Manitoba on the first day! These provinces are super boring with really nothing to look at besides cattle, wheat and farms...*yawn*. We stayed at a hilarious little motel and had to mission impossible Effy into the room, the room also had no heat or hot water... 4 star all the way!

 Naturally....

 

Welcome to Herbert, Saskatchewan 

 

the only game in town...

 

we stuck out like a sore thumb

 

delish though! 

 

never.again.

 Moose Jaw!

 

princess Effy!

 

cutest!

 

"Spirited Energy" 

 

our half canoe for the evening.

Day 2:

Our goal on day 2 was to make it to Wawa, Ontario. If you don't already know, driving through Ontario is literally half the trip, it takes forever. For this to have happened we would have had to sleep literally 2 hours and then hit the road again, but we slept in and sadly didn't make it as far as we wanted. We did make it to Thunder Bay, Ontario! In Thunder Bay we were forced to stay in the sketchiest motel due to "Night Danger" on the Trans Canada Highway, aka Moose. {For those of you that don't know the TCH is a highway that goes from coast to coast in Canada, and once you hit Northern Ontario becomes a 2 lane highway littered with Moose and trucks at night...very dangerous}.

 

tuckered out

 

only 1500 kms to go!

 

Manitoba - Ontario Boarder

 

i'm in Manitoba they're in Ontario!

 

MADE IT!

 

Thunder Bay Sketchy!

Day 3:

On day 3 we got up super early, because we had to make up for lost time. We literally had to drive for 16 hours on the last day, From Thunder Bay to Niagara Falls. We were hoping the last day would be the shortest and easiest of the 3 but...nope! Driving in Norther Ontario is beautiful and very refreshing from the none stop farm lands of the prairies. Lake Superior was beautiful! It looks very similar to Vancouver, B.C with the water and the mountains, but after 4 hours of that we were beyond over it! We finally got to stop in Sault Ste Marie for 30 minutes to grabs some food then we were onward to Niagara. Between the Sault and Perry Sound there is literally NOTHING. It was defiantly the hardest part of the drive. Reaching Toronto was like a breath of fresh air! I felt HOME! We finally rolled into the drive way at 1am driving a total of 36 hours, 3553.4 kms and only 1 speeding ticket!*

 

HOME!

VEGAS BABY!

Wow! What a crazy few weeks this has been! As you all know I went to Vegas for my Birthday with a few friends and it was absolutely amazing! I cannot believe I've never ventured to sin city before this....! Tanning, drinking, eating, tanning....so amazing but so exhausting all at the same time! I feel like I haven't slept in weeks! We stayed at the Monte Carlo right on the strip! It was just the right amount of crazy and relaxed. It isn't as massive and confusing as the other hotels like the MGM and Bellagio which was such a relief {I had enough trouble finding my room daily!} and the pool had NO CHILDREN which was great and there was an awesome DJ and pool games on the weekend which kept things interesting and fun! We also got amazing tickets to Rock of Ages which I totally recommend it was so good, we got guest list to see Calvin Harris DJ at the MGM grand with 10,000 of our closest friends and we walked up the strip to Fremont Street {old Las Vegas}! Here are a few photos from the trip!*

 

heaven

 

beach babes*

 sisters!

 

friends!

 

Kicking Cowgirl!

 

Vegas' Best Party Indeed!

 

Calvin Harris craziness!

what's in my carry on? by vodka-caviar featuring a goodys

Well, this is it! In 24 hours I will be desert bound! I am beyond excited to get out of Calgary for the weekend! It's been snowing all week can you believe that!? I always have so much trouble packing. I'm one of those people that think there is going to be a need for every single item I own, and always end up over packing. This time around I laid out clothes by day to make sure I ONLY pack what I need! However, when it comes to packing my carry on I usually just throw everything that I normally have in my purse; in addition to my IPad, camera and passport into my carry on bag.  Normally my Lululemon gym bag does the trick, but tomorrow I will be taking my new Michael Kors tote! I'm not one to travel with extra essentials {toothbrush, underwear, change of clothes, etc} encase my luggage gets lost like most responsible travelers, but I do travel light, one day when my luggage gets lost I'll be cursing myself.... {knock on wood this doesn't happen tomorrow}! I hope everyone has an AMAZING weekend and Happy Cinco de Mayo! I will re-cap my weekend when I get back!*