Ah, a long weekend awaits

Happy long weekend! Last long weekend of the summer (sorry, hopefully that didn't upset you) so make the most of it! If I thought last week was a doozie, this week was bananas a very busy work week. So let's just say this long weekend is most welcome in my world. We'll be spending some time with these two beauties (above). That's right folks, the in-laws are Burlington bound for a visit. So we'll be checking out this festival with my parents on Saturday, which should be lots of fun. Where the rest of the weekend takes us...not sure yet, but it may involve the CNE and/or an airshow.

Here are some other distractions for you on this fine Friday...

Stylish City-Hall weddings.

What a cool tree-house.

Gotta get me one of these before Movember.

This Train song is super catchy (if you ask me).

I can't stop thinking about this apple dip. Just trust me, you should make it.

xx E.

Ps. Did I mention that I'm so happy it's Friday?!

Happy Hump Day

Well it's Wednesday - aka Hump day (because we're half way through the week, thus over the hump).

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Did you know that Tuesday is the most hated day of the week?
Monday = you're still living a bit of the weekend that just passed
Wednesday = Hump Day!
Thursday = tomorrow's Friday
Friday = Friday, duh!

But Tuesday...there's just nothing good about it (except my date night).

Here are some Hump Day songs for you today

Humpin' Around - Bobby Brown
My Humps - Black Eyed Peas
Alice the Camel (has five humps) - Children's song
Hump de Bump - Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground

Have a great day!

xx E.

Ps. Hilarious T-shirt

The "If" Game

Do you ever play the 'If' game?
Like, if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life what would it be? Or, if you were stranded on a desert island, what would you bring?

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I was playing it by myself the other day while I was driving...because focusing on the road would be just too boring.

So I asked myself, if you could only listen to one musician for the rest of your life, who would it be?

I didn't even have to think about it for long before I decided...

Elton John.

He's the greatest! And his music covers so many different decades and there's so much variety, how could you ever get sick of it?

Here are my Top 10 Elton John songs:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Tiny Dancer

I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues

This Train Don't Stop There Anymore

Don't Go Breaking My Heart

I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That

I'm Still Standing

I Want Love

Rocket Man

Something About the Way You Look Tonight

If you could only listen to one musician for the rest of your life, who would you choose?

xx E.

Ps. #11...

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Finally Friday

TGIF could not be more true today. This week has been a doozie.

My co-worker sent me this little video to make me smile, so I'm passing it along to you to make you smile too :)

It helps if you watched the latest season of the Bachelorette.

Have a great weekend everyone! I can promise you I will be soaking up every minute of it.

xx E.

Ps. This is my 100th post!

Bad Days

How do you handle bad days?

I just had one. A close-the-door-and-cry-in-your-office kind of day. I'm sure all my colleagues thought I was quite prickly (to put it nicely).

So at the end of the day, you just want to feel better, right?

Here's my list of things that can help fix a bad day. *Warning: These are neither inspiring nor healthy*

Sweatpants. The first thing you should do when you get home is grab your baggiest, coziest track pants.

photo via roots.com

Hugs. No explanation required.

Pets. Snuggle your dog or cat. There's actual scientific proof that petting an animal reduces stress. (Don't ask me where to find the article, I just know I've read it). My pup always makes me feel better. 

Tea. A cup of tea always makes things better (any kind, just a nice, warm, cup of tea)

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Comfort Food. Pick your favourite and have it for dinner - guilt free. Obviously I have mac'n'cheese.

Chocolate. Someone walked by my office with a try of sweets, and I grabbed the chocolate croissant before anyone knew what was going on.

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TV or Movies. Again, choose your favourite show or movie and watch it without feeling badly for 'doing nothing'. 

Sometimes you just need to give yourself a little TLC and know that tomorrow, everything will be ok.

xx E.

Ps. always good to keep this in mind :)

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One Tough Mudder

As mentioned, Husband was participating in the Toronto Tough Mudder course this past weekend.

Honestly, this is something I don't think I would EVER want to do. That feeling was solidified when we arrived and had to climb a ski hill in order to see some of the event. I almost died climbing 2/3 of the way up the hill. ALMOST DIED.

The participants had to climb up various ski hills 6 times (and back down 6 times). Ouch. Some of the other things they had to do were crawl through pitch black tubes, jump into pits of ice cubes and ice water (aptly named the Arctic Enema) and run through an area of live wires hanging down while being sprayed by a fire hose.

Here are some highlights:

getting ready to run up 'everest'; they all made it on the first try!

at first, i thought the hanging wires were streamers (a la crocodile mile) 

the burlington beauties celebrating a job well done

I, of course, was a loyal spectator. Even the spectators had to sign a death waiver!

proof that i was there

so proud, but clearly don't want to get too close because of the mud

Overall, I'm proud that he did it, but so glad it's over!

xx E.

Ps. Husband in a giant, people filled washing machine

Summer Transition

Well I know there's still a month left of summer, but I'm starting to get excited for fall!

Doesn't that kind of happen with every season? Part way through, you start talking about what you love about the next season? It's kinda nice really - always something to look forward to.

Anywho, so the transition from summer to fall can be difficult because the temperature can be all over the place. Some days are as hot as the middle of summer, but then the nights can be cool.

Summer/Autumn - Sautumn, as I will now call it - is a good time to mix your favourite summer basics with some cozy fall pieces.So take your favourite coloured denim, and add a light-weight sweater or a heavier weight blazer on those cooler days.

It's also a really great time to get some great transition items on sale. Stores may categorize them as 'summer'  items, but let me tell you, they're Sautumn (I'm gonna keep saying it until it sticks).I happened to snag some great transitional finds from Joe Fresh.

i was eyeing this one up at the beginning of the summer, but who buys a sweater at the
beginning of the summer?! it was meant to be because i got the last one :)

and ya, i have a lot of blue clothing...

Each of these little gems was...wait for it...$6.94!

So get out there and start hunting down those Sautumn finds :)

xx E.

Ps. Have a great weekend! I'll be watching Husband take on the Tough Mudder obstacle course...yikes!

Exercise

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm probably the laziest person on the planet. I absolutely despise working out.

I've tried. Oh, how I've tried. I have had numerous gym memberships. I tried a learning to run group. I did Zumba for a while there. But sadly, they all end the same way...with me making any excuse not to do it.

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Seriously. It's a problem. Here are some excuses I've given (to myself):

• It's raining out (I don't want to get wet on my way into the gym)
• I got stuck at work (on purpose)
• We don't have any groceries 
• I really want to cook an elaborate meal
• My favourite tv show is on
• Someone has offered an alternative activity (any activity)

So, on a happy note, I've found something that I actually like. Walking. And not just walking alone. Walking my dog.

It's a bit of a mind game, you see. My dog needs a walk, it's only fair. So I owe it to him to walk him. Ta-da! Exercise paired with a purpose.

Every day, I wake up at 6:15, lay in bed and check out facebook/instagram 'wake up' for 15 minutes, and take Rocky for a walk at 6:30. It's really peaceful being up that early and it's a really nice way to start my day. Plus, we have one happy pup.

Why didn't I think of this before???

xx E.

Ps. It's very important that I do get some sort of exercise because of my love of all things carbs, including mac 'n' cheese.

Closing Fashions

It's Monday morning and I'm going to be honest, I am super tired and can barely type.

So I will leave you with this. I loved loved loved so much about the 2012 Closing Ceremonies last night (Hello! the Spice Girls were there).

One thing that I didn't love was the Canadian outfits.

While I realize that it must be difficult to design an outfit that is flattering for both men and women, with all different body types, I really wish we didn't have to go for the soccer mom uniform.

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In theory, it looks good (as above), but in practice, it's a little less flattering - especially paired with running shoes. Don't get me started on running shoes...

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Don't get me wrong, I love a denim jacket as much as the next person, it's the combination with the t-shirt and khaki pants that brings me back to grade 6.

Maybe next time Canada...
xx E.

Ps. Lots of people are calling it the Canadian Tuxedo. These outfits are NOT the Canadian Tuxedo.
This is:

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Rainy Day Football

Despite the pouring rain yesterday, my whole family went to a Hamilton Tiger Cats (CFL) game last night. I had given my dad tickets for father's day. I was surprised how many people weren't deterred by the rain.

the game

great view - check out the beautiful church on the right

perfect outfit for fishing a football game

I'll be honest, I don't find the sport all that interesting to watching. The good news? It was a great venue for people watching. It was definitely the place to see many styles of mullets, teen moms and die hard fans.

people-watchers (aka mom and i)

Have a great weekend!

xx E.

Ps. During the game the commentator kept going on about the ball carrier which I thought was a job akin to the waterboy...you know, some guy who carries the footballs around for the team. I didn't understand why he was getting so much attention. Then I realized they meant the player who was running with the ball during the play. Riiiiight.

Gorilla Cheese

Attention Burlington dwellers (and anyone who wants to venture into Burlington this evening):
Gorilla Cheese - the grilled cheese food truck - will be in town from 5:30 - 8:30 tonight.

You can find them at 380 Brant St, next to Mirella's boutique.

via their facebook page here

Check their menu out here.

Unfortunately I won't be able to indulge, but I'm hoping some of you will!

xx E.

Ps. I hear they have a grilled cheese with jalapenos and Zesty Doritos...just sayin'.

Plane Spotting

Some people (ahem - my father-in-law) like to watch trains.

My Husband? He likes to watch planes. In fact, he can see a plane coming from what seems like miles away and will tell me what airline it is and what model.

I've never been with him to go plane spotting, but on our way home the other day, we were driving right past the airport and we decided to stop for a look.

For the first few minutes, we were only seeing planes take off...

a special find in the world of plane spotting - a very big korean air plane

there we are...at the fence...watching planes...

Then all of a sudden, Husband looks over and says 'ok, here's one that's ready to land, prepare to be scared' and I was thinking...scared? until it flew right over the fence. Yiiiiikes but also pretty cool.

the plane landing

It might seem a little nerdy, but it was actually really fun. Next time, we're going to go when the wind is blowing in the opposite direction, so we can go to the other runway (and stay in the car - my request)

xx E.

Ps. we were not the only people there to watch these planes. There's a Wendy's across the street and people park up, grab a snack and watch...who knew?

Long Weekend Snaps

Hmm a positive thought for this morning...it's already Tuesday - only 4 days this week :)

This long weekend felt extra long. Maybe it was because our a/c still isn't fixed and we're living in a giant sauna. Or maybe it was because we packed a lot in.

It was my mom's actual birthday on Friday (you can see details on her party here). So my family got together for a celebratory dinner. We decided that we wanted to send her on a trip for her birthday, but since we didn't want to just buy her a plane ticket, we got her this globe so that she can choose where she wants to travel :)

On Saturday we drove east of the city to visit our friends who recently moved there.

loves!

enough meat to feed a small country; a pretty caprese salad;
boys being boys (watching sports and playing with bbq tools)

We managed to keep pretty cool (except the boys, who decided to golf in the 40 degree weather), and ate very well. It's so nice being able to get together good friends!

On Sunday, we nearly died at our place, but luckily we were able to escape to an Olympics viewing party - which was more like, the girls watching the Olympics while the boys sat outside and drank beer.

We didn't want to waste the holiday Monday, so we drove down to Port Dalhousie.

We walked down the beach, checked out the carousel that you can ride for 5 cents, stopped for lunch and even took in some rowing at a regatta.

We made sure we were back in time for the Women's soccer semi-finals (Canada v. USA). What a game! Such a disappointing result for our Canadian women, but they played so well that they did our country proud.

Now...back to work!

xx E.

Ps. How was your weekend?

Food Trucker

I'm obsessed with everything on the Food Network and I've seen pretty much every show on there. Lately I've really been into Eat St. Never has the food truck industry been so exciting. You can get pretty much any type of food from a food truck these days

Unfortunately, Ontario doesn't have much going on besides the regular french fry trucks. So you can imagine my surprise and delight to get an email about a wood-fire-oven-pizza-truck for one night only in Burlington.

It coincided nicely with the fact that our a/c is broken and our house is a sweltering 30C and so we didn't want to turn on the oven. Don't even get me started on how I feel about that.

Husband and I ventured downtown for some 'za and it was super delicious and quite a cute little atmosphere. They had set up long picnic tables for everyone to sit at. It was really busy, but it was definitely worth the wait. We ordered the 'Meat me in Burlington' pizza :)

I'll be sure to let you know when the next food truck is set to arrive.

xx E.

Ps. Happy Friday and an even happier long weekend!