Spa Day!

Yesterday John whisked me away for a full day at the spa.

It was beyond amazing!

And even sweeter was that it was what he asked for as his graduation present!

We left around 8 am and drove out past Coburg to get to the spa by 10 am - with the required stop at Tim Horton's for breakfast.

We checked in, got into our bathing suits and bath robes and hit the eucalyptus steam room and the outdoor warm pool, hot tub and cold plunge (twice, yikes!).

At 11:45 we went for our couples massage - my RMT was not impressed with how tight my back is. Whoops. He also basically called me out on studying by sitting cross-legged on the couch hunched over my books/computer.

The massage was heaven though. I was afraid because it was more of a deep tissue massage that I would scream or start laughing - which I do.

I didn't thankfully!

After that we had a delicious lunch which we ate in our bathrobes in a lovely dinning room. Quite the experience.

Then we missed our yoga class (whoops) so we rescehduled ourselves into a meditation class. Basically we lay on a mat, under a blanket, with essential oils and eye masks and fell asleep as a woman with a very calming voice spoke to us.

We had tea before that, again in bath robes.

All in all it was a very relaxing and overwhelmingly amazing day!

It's pricey but I want to go back!

If you want to go to a beautiful and luxurious spa I HIGHLY recommend Ste. Anne's!

I think I might take my mom there for her birthday!

'Good Things' for January

It's been too long since I did a 'Good Things' post for the month.

So let's start 2011 off right: with some Good Things for January!

1. Resolutions

I think the general trend for resolutions is to pick something you'd like to do/change and then give up on it a few weeks into the year. I do it every year. Stop cracking my knuckles ... eat less sugar ... exercise more and on a more regular basis ... I'm sure you've all been there at least once before.

This year my resolution is a two parter. The first is to be healthier and to take better care of myself (physically but also emotionally, spiritually, etc). The second is to make sure that the people I love and appreciate know that they are loved and appreciated.

And I guess also to try and stop cracking my knuckles.

2. Artisan Breads

I sort of declared the last half of 2010 as my year of artisan breads but really only did it for about a month. Then school get hectic and I stopped doing too much baking. But if I can find the time, or maybe on the weekends, I want to get back into baking bread. There's something very therapeutic about kneading the dough and waiting for it to rise. And bread that you've baked yourself somehow always tastes a bit better than bread you buy.

That's not true, but there's great satifaction in eating a sandwich that you helped make possible.

3. Wine and Cheese Parties

I really want to have a formal wine and cheese party. One where each pair of my friends is responsible for bringing one specific type of cheese and one specific type of wine. Then we all eat our faces off and drink like champs. But it's okay to get drunk because it's classy. See the trick there? Classy. But I also really love both wine and cheese. And I got a brie baker for christmas along with cheese plates and a cheese tray. And I have cheese markers that I bought last year and haven't used yet. I may create a facebook wine and cheese event in the next few days.

4. Mad Men

I googled January and found pictures of January Jones, an actress in the show Mad Men, which is a show on AMC that I have been meaning to start watching. I want to dress like the women in this show and I also want to marry Jon Hamm, a card carrying member of the Handsome Men's Club.

Never heard of it?

Oh, my lovelies.

Watch.

Watch and love it.


That's it for this January.

I'll be back with the recipe for those cheesecake truffles tomorrow!

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year!

May the best of 2010 be the worst of 2011

2010 was a full year of fun, family, and happiness.
Two of my good friends made a lifetime commitment to one another and we all got to go to Jamaica to celebrate.
Then they bought a new house!
My cousin and his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.
My cousin and his wife celebrated the first birthday of their gorgeous baby girl.
My sister fulfilled a dream to travel and experience life half-way around the world.
I turned 25 (shudder) and crossed a few more items off my Life To-Do list (half marathon!).
John graduated with a Masters degree.
My best friend's boyfriend put a ring on it.

Yep, 2010 was a good year and I'm sad to see it end.
Here's hoping 2011 is filled with the same (and more) happiness and more adventures!

Happy New Year!!!

Christmas Recap: Part II

Ask anyone what comes to mind when you say 'Christmas' and I bet the answer you'll get is 'gifts'.

Well, that or Santa most likely.

In that vain, I'd like to share with you my gift intake this past Christmas.

I got some good ones.

John stuck with a theme and equipped me with almost everything I'll need when we go camping again in the spring/summer. I got a sleeping pad, a travel towel, my first ever swiss army knife (I used to covet my parent's knives since they had toothpicks and tweezers - now mine does too!), a head lamp (really excited about that one cause I always always steal John's), and water proof storage bags plus some extras. I also got a new super cozy bath robe, a Best Buy gift certificate, a pan and cookbook for Ebelskivers, a brie baker, cheese plates, a beautiful sweater, homemade cold remedies (greatly appreciated!), a charm to add to my bracelet, a Michael's gift card plus cupcake decorating kit, and my parents along with John's parents went in and got us a brand new flat screen TV. It's heaven. I got John a PS3 so we're all set.

He's playing Red Dead Redemption while I attempt to tidy....maybe the gift wasn't the best idea....

Anyway I got some other things as well but they're in the box that I can't see and therefore cannot recall. I know there's dish towels, lots of great hand cream, OOOOOOO! I don't know how I forgot about these until just now!

Arguably one of my favourite gifts -

ballet flats that fold up so you can keep them in your purse when you go out on the town and can put them on when your heels start to rub the skin off of your feet. THE BEST IDEA EVER!

I read awhile ago about vending machines I think in London that have them but now I have my very own pair and a stylish litle drawstring bag in which to keep them.

Hope everyone else got great stuff!

Christmas Recap

My family is big on tradition.

My birthday dinners (save for one year) are always spent sitting down to a giant bowl of spaghetti and meatballs at the Spaghetti Factory.

Christmas is the time of year where it becomes apparent how closely we hold our traditions to our hearts.

It started well over 10 years ago, though I can't seem to pin down the exact year. I know we were doing it the Christmas I was 12 and we likely had done it the year before.

Each Christmas Eve, my family (including John, now a 4 year veteran) gets into the car and we drive downtown to Nathan Phillip's Square. It used to be that Robin and I strapped on our skates, toes frozen, and circled the rink a few times. Nowadays tradition has become watching the other skaters and taking pictures of all the lights.

Once we've had our fill we walk to the Spadina Garden Restaurant for dinner, being sure to pass by the high rise buildings, prompting Dad to tell us the story about the old woman who froze to death on her balcony when she accidently got locked out of her apartment. Morbid? Yes, but my dad's need to tell a really good story even though he's forgotten that he told us the year before means that it's tradition.

It used to be that we went to the Hoo Wa (I'll check spelling at a later date) but that has since closed down. I even cut out the article in the paper that accompanied it's closing down.

Nathan Phillip's Square on Christmas Eve

The Christmas Tree was moved to the other side of the square this year. We had a momentary panic, thinking it was gone. John made a funny joke about Rob Ford really stopping the gravy train.

This year was weird without Robin. But we'll hopefully be doing it all over again for Christmas round 2 when she comes home in a month.

This year in an effort to save money, I put together Christmas goodie tins for people.

The tins I got from Dollarama (natch) for $1, $1.50, and $2 depending on size.

I adorned them in gold ribbon and added a jingle bell, an ornament, and a cracker, all from Dollarama.

Inside the tins were coconut lace cookies, chocolate espresso snow-caps, sugar cookies, peppermint fudge, and chocolate cheesecake truffles (AMAZING, will post recipe!).

Okay I have to go pick up John from work!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

I'll have to fill you all in on my gifts tomorrow :)

Santa Came Early!

Congratulations to my best friend Tracy and her wonderful new fiance Tyler.

Tyler proposed to the most amazing girl in the world on the 23rd in England in the same place where his own mother got married.

Tracy - you are the most beautiful, caring, fiercely loyal, entertaining, and amazing friend I could have ever asked for.

You've gotten me through some rough times and been beside me through the great ones. Never once in our 12 years of friendship have I ever questioned our bond.

You've got yourself a good one who will treat you right and will love you forever.

He's a romantic at heart - and has great taste in rings!

You're a lucky girl, Tracy.

And Tyler's a lucky guy to have you as his soon-to-be wife!

And we are all lucky to have you in our lives.

Congratulations to you both, Tracy & Tyler.

I love you both soooo much and I am completely overwhelmed with happiness and love at the news of your engagement!

Hope everyone else has a Christmas Eve with as much love and joy as those two :)

Christmas Movie Clip Countdown: What's This!?

LOVE this song