Easter in paradise!

 

Who wouldn't want to wake up to this on a long weekend?! Amazing right? This post is a little late but I've been busy! Easter weekend in Bermuda was so fun! The weather was perfect {as usual}, the water was warm{ish} and the drinks were cold! Good Friday in Bermuda is always a big deal with a Kite Festival on Horseshoe Bay Beach! Endless dark and Stormys' and and fish sandwiches! We were able to cook a somewhat traditional Easter meal on Sunday and just enjoy having 4 full days together! Oh and we also stayed at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess for a night and had expensive martinis! Here are a few more snaps from the weekend!*

fun with hats at Mad Hatters

 Easter din din...yummy right?!

 

beach day...love it!

 

martini's at the Fairmont

 

Kite Fest at Horseshoe Bay!

hello 2014!

Now that the total craziness of the holidays is over I think I can now try to focus on blogging more frequently! The holidays are such a crazy time for EVERYONE! Your eating, drinking and driving {not at the same time} all over the place to see people you love and miss! I hope everyone had an amazing and {hopefully} relaxing  holiday and that Santa was good to you! I had a solid 9 days off from work which was amazing! I didn't feel like I had to rush rush rush and I could take my time getting places and wrapping presents! It was nice to be able to spend the holiday's back in Ontario for the first time in 2 years! I missed getting together with my girlies and maybe having a bit too much wine...or waking up on Christmas Morning in my parents house.... so weird! Here are some snap shots of the past few weeks! I'm planning on doing a holiday gift round up a bit later! Happy 2014! Here's to new beginnings and happy changes!*

the ladies at our Holiday Craft Party!

we crafted wine glasses and champagne flutes! The goal was to resemble these Bubbly Gold Flutes sold at Chapters!

The Griswold's never get old...!

Just  call me Martha! A little holiday spread for some festivities!

I made marinated bocconcini {recipe}, sea salt & vinegar sweet potato chips {recipe}
and chocolate stuffed frozen raspberries {here}! I also made frozen fruit skewers for the wine and sugar dusted rosemary for an eggnog garnish!

 

Christmas Vacation Commencing!

Christmas dinner at the parents...

 so.full.

 

little Effy in her new Canada Pooch coat from Santa!

 

totally loving my new Bodum French Press from my sister

us skating at Nathan Phillips Square!

I didn't fall which was a bonus!

New Years Eve outfit!

{BCBG Onesie old - seen here}

Happy New Year!!

 

 

Friday Favorites!

Friday! These past few weeks have been so busy I haven't got a chance to post...! BUT...I got a lot accomplished around the house and in life! I finally received all my shot glasses from out west, so we attempted to hang those up on floating shelves... {photos to follow later}, we painted the wall in the kitchen with chalkboard paint which I'm so excited about... but you have to wait 3 days for it to dry, so once it's completely finished.... photos! I got some Christmas shopping started, and even started decorating the condo! The balcony is basically a Griswold Christmas compared to all other  balconies! Below are my favorite things from this past week! Have a happy weekend!*

Christmas lights on the balcony!

I decorated the office tree!

The Sunlife Building put up a tree in our lobby!!!

found this AMAZING romper at Top Shop - $88

I died when I found this AMAZING plunging dress at Mendocino! - $299

back to reality

Coming back to the city and then back to work after a relaxing long weekend away is almost tortuous. You look so forward to the weekend for weeks and it goes by in a flash.....we seriously need at least 2 long weekends a month to stay sane! This is my fourth Thanksgiving away from my family... which is fine {during University I was always working anyways}. This year like I mentioned earlier I went up to Manitoulin Island! I love love love going there! The ferry ride over is the best part, it really breaks the trip up so you're not driving the whole time and you can drink delish Caesars and watch Lake Huron go by while doing it! Once you're on the island life is literally at a standstill, it's so quiet the days linger on and the weather is almost always perfect! It was the best Thanksgiving setting for sure!  Hot apple cider, board games and turkey! Here are a few snapshots from the weekend! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving..... next stop... Christmas!*

Chi Cheemaun docking at South Baymouth

Bridal Vail Falls

afternoon drive down the island

Thanksgiving Dinner Table

my wonderful craftsmanship!

sun setting over Lake Huron

hiking down the river

Bridal Vail Falls {again}

Happy Thanksgiving!

YAY! Finally the long weekend! This week went by so slowly but it's finally Friday and Thanksgiving weekend! Tonight I am heading up to Manitoulin Island for the weekend! So excited to cottage this time of year, its so cold and you get to be so cuddly and warm....and eat lots of turkey! I love summer and dread the fall and winter but once the fall arrives I really enjoy it! All the awesome falls clothes, crisp air, beautiful colours and pumpkin spice lattes {pumpkin spice anything!} ...yummy! To get in the spirit of fall and Thanksgiving, I've shared some of favorite DIY's! Happy Thanksgiving!!*

Gilded Harvest Place Cards from {here}

Pumpkin Spice Biscotti from {here}

Glitter Pumpkin Candle Holders from {here}

Easter Eggs!

Easter is just around the corner I can't believe it! We are heading out of town this year to a condo in Banff so I'm not going to do too much decorating. But my favorite part of Easter as a kid was obviously the Easter egg hunt, but I loved and still do love decorating Easter eggs! I was always trying to find creative and unique ways to make my Easter eggs look amazing....adding glitter, using wax to draw and write, using tape to create stripes and zig zags, thanks to Pinterest {follow me here} I found these amazing ideas to make your Easter eggs stand out! What techniques do you use to make your Easter eggs different?!*

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Spoiled*

I hope everyone had an amazing Valentine's Day! I got super spoiled this year! I woke up to fresh red flowers, breakfast, and was treated to an amazingly deslish 4 course meal at this great restaurant Q - Haute  As if that wasn't enough, I got an extra surprise....*

Holiday Highlights!*

Our Christmas Holiday's this year were so crazy busy! So busy in fact we forgot to put the turkey in and ate dinner ar 10pm....ooops! My family flew in from Ontario for 5 days and it was pure craziness hosting Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Years Eve, I feel like I blinked and it was all over :( Here are a few IPhone snap shots of our Christmas Holidays!

wrapping complete*

Christmas Eve Cheese Board

{Bouclair Home $7.99}

Santa Came!

YEEEHAW! New boots from Santa

Turkey's Done! at 10pm....ooops!

Banff Beauty....

snuggle time!

giving snow-shoeing a go....

3...2...1

                                                                        Happy New Year!