A Birthday Party

Last weekend we threw a birthday party for my mom's 60th.

We decided not to make it a surprise, because let's be honest, she's the mom and she knows all. So since she knew she was having a party, we wanted to add lots of special touches to make it personal for her.

Enter Pinterest. What a great place to look for inspiration. See my party pin board here.

Since the party was going to be outdoors, I wanted it to be pretty without being too fussy. I used mason jars to make lanterns to light up the yard as the sun set. I decided to stick with that theme and used larger mason jars as vases for flower arrangements.

Good job dad, on choosing a variety of flowers but keeping them all white. 

Also, my mom really loves Anne Taintor, so I wanted to incorporate some of her pictures into the decorations. I enlarged some of the pictures and placed them in frames around the party. I also covered over the words on one of them with a birthday message to my mom.

Since it was my mom's 60th, I wanted to display pictures of her for her guests to see. How fun is it to look at old pictures?! So my dad and I strung up two 'lines' and clothes-pinned photos from her life.

so many picture of my mom - she's so beautiful

Add in her close friends and some delicious food/drinks and we had ourselves a party.

xx E.

Ps. love this from Anne Taintor

Olympics

On Friday night, we decided to have our own viewing party for the Opening Ceremonies. We got sushi from our favourite place, opened a bottle of red wine, and sat back to enjoy what I thought was a really well-done performance.

I was so impressed by the introductory video (directed by the same guy who did Slum Dog Millionaire), and I also really loved the part where the industrial revolution came about, and they poured the metal for the Olympic rings.

via

My favourite part was the lighting of the cauldron. All those individual petals, brought in by each country, that came together to form such a beautiful work of art. I LOVED it. 

via

Of course watching Canada walk in the Parade of Nations was also a major highlight - so proud of this country!

via

I've never been this excited about the Olympics. Ever.

xx E.

Ps. My second favourite part - David Beckham bringing the torch by boat down the Thames. Yummy ;)

via

5,000

This week I reached 5,000 hits on this little blog of mine. I know that there are blogs that get well over that many hits each day, but I'm still really humbled and thankful for your readership!

via

Thanks everyone!

xxxxxxxx E.

Ps. Happy Friday too :)

Footy

Last weekend, Husband and I went to a TFC game with two of our friends. But it wasn't just any TFC game. It was TFC v. Liverpool FC.

Despite my many trips to the UK, this was my first live football game. Since a large part of my family is from Liverpool, obviously I'm a fan of the club. Coincidentally, Husband is also a fan. So this was very exciting for us.

husband and i in our gear

pregame drinks at real sports bar; a liverpudlian and a 'faux' fan ;)

I have an old Liverpool FC jersey from their 100th year anniversary. For that year, they made them in green, but the club's most well known colour is red. So I stuck out like a sore thumb. I did get a couple compliments and a fist bump for it though :)

green in a sea of red

 My only wish was that my grandad was still alive so he could have come too. But I brought him in spirit.

for francis

The only thing that would have made it better would have been if they won (they tied, ouch).

xx E.

Ps. stay dry on this rainy day!

Girls' Week

I'm sure some of you are wondering where I was last week (I hope!)

Well I was away at our annual Girls' Week. This year marked the 11th anniversary of the trip...we started going when we were 17! Quite frankly, that first year was one of the most controversial years and I'm surprised we were even allowed back to the cottage after that ;)

official girls' week cups c/o my friend amy

Every year has it's stories and events. This year I had a couple firsts - I was stung by a bee for the first time (hurt a lot) and we all saw a fox-snake. In fact, it slithered underneath the hammock that I was lying on, eek!


Here are some other highlights from the week:

twister

the daily grind

giant beer pong - probably the sport i'm best at :)

Overall, it's just a great excuse to get together with my girlfriends, eat and drink as much as I want, dance, read and enjoy the summer.

the girls - shirts and photo cred: mel dawson

Thanks for a great week girls!

xx E.

Ps. I'm now on a mega detox!

Quick Words

I'm baaaaaaaack. Much to my own disappointment.

Let me tell you, after a week of wearing a bathing suit and having only to make decisions about what snack to eat or which cocktail to have, getting ready for work this morning was rough.

I owe you lots of details on Girls' Week 2012 and this past weekend. But this morning, I had to choose between writing a big post, or actually making it to work. Work (unfortunately) won.

So this morning, I leave you with this:

via

WINNER!

So pumped that Jef won the bachelorette last night!

Have a happy day (I'm going to have to try reallllllly hard).

xx E.

Ps. Wishing I was still here...

Stick Families

Who are the members in your family?

If I had to depict my family as stick people, they would look like this:
(I even got my new haircut in there)

me, husband, rocky
yes, i drew this. i know, it should be hanging in a museum 

But guess what? No one really wants to look at stick figures of my family. Oh and guess what else? no one really wants to see stick figures of anyone's family...especially on your car.

This family (spotted while I was on my way to work) not only shows us who is in the family, but also their hobbies (golf, shopping, soccer, photography and more soccer). Yes...I took this picture while in the car but in my defense, I was at a stop light!

I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone, but honestly, what are these about? Whoever invented them must be making money because they are on every other car out there.

The one that made me laugh the most was a lady and her two cats. That takes crazy cat lady to a new level.

The only one I've seen that I like is this one, because who doesn't like the stig? If you don't know who the stig is, you should really watch an episode or two of Top Gear.

via

That's all the ranting I needed to do this week.

Happy Friday!

xx E.

Ps. I'm off to a cottage with my girlfriends next week, so you'll be getting some lovely updates when I get back :)

Big Bangs Theory

Well, I went back and forth with the decision for a little while there, but I did put it on my summer to do list. So last night, I took the plunge and got bangs.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

a little creepy, sorry

A little Cleopatra-esque, I know. Oh well! I'll have fun playing around with different bang-looks this summer.

xx E.

Ps. Happy Hump Day!

Bachelorette Recap - Ep. 9

Well I can honestly say that I've never been this attached to a group of people on tv, who I don't even know.  I think my friends and I were almost in tears by the rose ceremony.

they would have been the ken & barbie of the bachelorette world

Even though they were all great guys, I was hoping it was Sean that would be going home. Although after his interview in the car on the way home, I'm thinking he may have actually been the perfect guy for her. That letter he wrote to Ricki? Adorbs. 


Emily/the production crew were playing with us on last night's show though. She was making all those horrible faces while she was watching their 'final pleas' on video. Plus, Arie was acting like more of a bachelor (talking about sleeping in, and partying with friends) and we were worried that was going to ruin it for him.

As always, I was very proud of Jef. Way to bring up the serious questions and put yourself in the lead there buddy!

As if she had read my last episode recap and wanted to contradict me (riiiiight), Emily chose not to stay overnight in the fantasy suite with any of them. And more surprisingly denying Arie the option to even go to the room at all. Talk about self control.


My heart (still) lies with Jef. Arie takes a pretty close second. Either way, I'm truly concerned for the final episode. I will cry for one of those boys (more so if she turns Jef down, obviously). In the words of my friend Jeannette - Team Jef for the win!

it's like emily is that wooden stick and now jef and arie are left to fight for her

My girlfriends and I will be up north for next week's episode, so we'll have to see if we can catch the Men Tell All. 

xx E.

Ps. One of my friends heard that Emily and Chris Harrison (aka. the host of the show) get together...

All photos via abc.com

The Hangover

Yesterday I woke up feeling relatively ok, considering the alcohol combination that was consumed the night before (Prosecco, white wine, red wine, beer...yikes). But what started off as just 'tired' transformed itself into a full on hangover that hit its peak around 7pm.

This is what is known as the hangover of the nearly-30 year old people (according to my friend Justin). Characteristics pf this new type of hangover: surprise onset; nausea, long duration (sometimes even carries on to the next day).

So what I needed was a hangover kit:

via

But there are a few things missing from this little kit (in the order that I would typically need to consume them).

1) Gatorade
2) Coffee
3) Kraft Dinner
4) Fruit /Smoothie mix
5) Permission to take a nap
6) A good (read: easy to watch) movie...

Yesterday I watched Dirty Dancing and The Hangover 2 (that one made me feel a lot better about mine).

Luckily, I was able to sleep well and wake up feeling MUCH better :)

Here's to a good week!

xx E.

Ps. Congratulations to my Husband who is starting a new job today! Way to go babe! xx

Savages

Tonight, Savages comes out in theaters. Not that I need to go, because thanks to a lovely friend of mine, we got to see an advanced screening earlier this week. This movie was awesome. Salma Hayek plays a very convincing drug lord and Benicio Del Toro is scaaaary (as always). 

photo cred goes to my friend sarah - via

If you like Weeds and Breaking Bad, you will like this movie. Watch the trailer here:

Happy Friday, All!

xx E.

Ps. Just a warning, this movie is intense and has some really gruesome parts (although I still managed to scarf down a bag and a half of popcorn)

Bachelorette Recap/Obsession

I have to admit it - I'm really loving this season of the Bachelorette (in case you couldn't tell already from here, here or here). I actually feel invested in these people and I'm worried about the outcome.

Should I get a life? Maybe. But we're all allowed to have a guilty pleasure or two.

So this week's episode certainly did not disappoint. Emily visited all the families of the top four bachelors. After a visit with his brothers and sisters, Jef, my favourite, read Emily a love letter that he had written and I just about died (along with every one of my girlfriends). If he doesn't win, Emily is NUTS!

jef and his sister-in-law

Arie, my second favourite, took her home to his scary mother who decided to exclude her by speaking Dutch. Not the greatest first impression, however I think she came around in the end. I'll feel really bad for Arie if she doesn't pick him (but not as bad as I'll feel for Jef).

arie - via

The other two hometown dates weren't as exciting and I have to say, of all the guys, I liked Chris the least...something about his non-existent lips and his bad attitude really didn't work for me. Bye bye!

Next week - special fantasy dates where we'll all wonder, did she or didn't she sleep with the top three guys? She may say no, but I'm thinking yesssss.

Good thing I'm surrounded by other people who care about this show as much as I do!

xx E.

Ps. Not sure if I should admit this or not, but I follow both Arie and Jef on Instagram...I prefer to think of it as admiring, not stalking.

Long Weekend Snaps

What a glorious long weekend! It was so nice to have three days off.

I was able to check a few more things off my summer 'to do' list over the weekend. On Friday we drove up to our friend's cottage in Collingwood. The idea was for all those who went up to play in a softball tournament on the Saturday. Except for me. I had decided well in advance that I wasn't going to play. You see, Sports + Emma = bad news and a lot of anxiety.


So you can imagine my upset when I was 'asked' to play, because if I didn't, the team would be disqualified. I  didn't even have running shoes. I had to play in Toms. 


Because we only had the minimum number of girls, we all had to be on the field for each inning. I had to be back-catcher, which seemed ok until I realized that if anyone was going to throw to home, I would have to catch it. I never caught it and I've been sore for two days, but I can honestly say I had fun. So thanks friends, for making me play!

dusty toms - proof that i played four softball games in them; canada day fireworks; pimm's - so delicious

We also managed to get home in time for some lounge time by my parents pool, complete with Pimm's and lemonade.

Since Sunday was officially Canada's birthday, we watched fireworks down by the lake, followed by drinks with friends.

Luckily, I had Monday to recover from the busy weekend.

xx E.

Ps. we also swam in Lake Huron this weekend...brrrrrr!