Midnight flight to Heathrow

I love the app Timehop. For someone who has the memory of a goldfish like I do, it helps me remember life events and things I've done or seen in the past. Like this little gem from two years ago:

I was hopping on a plane to jet off to Europe for two weeks with a good friend of mine. I hadn't taken a real vacation like that in years and was so looking forward to getting back to Europe, with all its history and delicious food and fantastic sites. I think about the places I visited on that trip pretty often, and can't wait to get back there again soon.

Nice is nice this time of year

I spent a few days in Nice, France this time last year. My best friend's sister has lived there for a couple of years and always raves about how beautiful it is, so I've wanted to see if for myself for quite a while. When planning our trip, my girlfriend and I wanted to travel to a couple of places we'd never been before, so Nice, France and Florence, Italy made the cut.

Arriving in Nice, we spent a couple of days wandering around the city, exploring some historical spots and taking in the beautiful scenery. Something else we did was a pastry baking class. Our teacher was actually a chef who'd been on Masterchef France!

I really enjoyed Nice. The architecture, the food, the atmosphere - it's somewhere I'd like to spend a bit more time in the future. I have a sneaky feeling I'll be back again some day.

Paris

My heart is heavy tonight for Paris and the terrorism that's taken place there this evening. For the people I know in Paris and France, I hope you're all safe and your loved ones are safe. I pray for the dead, their families and a country left to heal as they undoubtedly struggle to make sense of the horror they experienced tonight. 

Hopping back in time

There's an app that I recently downloaded that I check almost every day. Timehop is an online time capsule that connects to your social networks and shows you what you were doing one, five, however many years ago on that day.

I checked my Timehop today and this time last year, I was waiting for a late night flight to London for a fantastic two-week vacation with one of my closest friends. It was one of my favourite trips. I'll most likely blog about it more in the days to come, considering I'll have lots of Timehop throwbacks coming up over the next two weeks. :)

I also scrolled down further in the Timehop app and it showed me what I was doing nine years ago today. Funnily enough, I was with that same friend and some of our other friends on a night out on the town. Thanks to Timehop, I'm reminded of some fun nights we had in the distant past, and some more recent fun nights we've had, just a year ago.

For someone who's memory isn't the best, I like having Timehop remind me what Elizabeth was doing four, six, nine years ago. It lets me reminisce about the person I was then and how much I've grown and changed since those years. If you don't have Timehop yet, why not download it and check it out? You might be surprised with what you find!

Because I'm all about the crepes

As I mentioned in my Year in Review post, I jetted off to Europe for a couple of weeks back in November with a friend of mine. It was so good to get away from home and experience a different city, different people, even a different language. I'm ashamed to say my French isn't as good as I'd like it to be, but we still had a nice few days in Nice. Even in November, the south of France is lovely.
When travelling, I think it's a good idea to try some of the local cuisine, so while in France, I wanted to eat French food! This included fresh french bread and scrumptious cheeses, crisp wine and amazing pastries, and of course, crepes. 

If you don't know, crepes are very thin pancakes that you can eat sweet or savoury. I've always preferred the sweet crepes, filled with fresh fruit and cream, but savoury crepes are quite good too.


While walking through Nice one day, we passed a cafe where they were making crepes in the window, and I knew I had to have one. Especially since the filling of the crepe was one of my favourite dessert spreads: Nutella. Now, some people I know go absolutely bananas over Nutella (actually, banana and Nutella crepes are really tasty, now that I think about it...) but I can't say I've ever been a huge fan. It's not that I don't like it, it's just not something that was a staple in my pantry growing up. But that day in Nice, nothing sounded more delicious than a warm, fresh crepe filled with rich, creamy chocolate hazelnut spread. 

When I returned home to Newfoundland a few weeks later, longing for days spent wandering foreign cities and eating wonderful food, I decided to try my hand at making my own crepes, and luckily, I knew just the person to ask for an authentic recipe. One of my good friends has spent a couple of years living in France and is well-acquainted with French cuisine, so I texted her one Saturday morning, and thanks to the magic of Skype, she provided me with the instructions to make my own crepes.





I had previously picked up a jar of Nutella in preparation of my crepe-making session, and once fresh from the pan, ate my homemade crepes with some of that chocolate deliciousness and a couple of clementines. Chocolate and oranges? A magical combination. 

The recipe for crepes is not difficult, but the execution of making them can take a few tries before you make a successful crepe. Just remember: hot pan, lightly greased with butter, and as soon as you ladle in some batter, swirl it around your pan to evenly coat the bottom to form a thin layer. Once the edges go a little crispy, flip and you'll see a lovely pattern on your crepe. Give it another 30 seconds on the pan and then, voila! Your treat is ready!

I really like making crepes and have made them a number of times since returning from Nice. With a recipe so simple and a dish so tasty, give it a try and treat yourself to a little taste of France!

2014: The Year in Review

2014. What a year. It was a year full of big changes for myself, my family and my friends. Some changes were amazing and came in the form of new jobs, new living situations and new relationships. Others came in the form of illness and disappointments. Looking back on the past twelve months, I can say without hesitation that it's been one of the most eventful years of my life.

This year was definitely the Year of Weddings for me. With half a dozen close friends getting married over the past twelve months, and me standing or participating in some way in almost all of those weddings, to say I'm a bit wedding'd out is fairly accurate. Still, I'm so grateful to all of those friends for asking me to be part of their special days in some form or another.

Weddings weren't the only events that took place this year, though. Let's take a look back at some of the highlights of my 2014:



- Being bridesmaid for a close friend in her glamourous Toronto wedding in February. A long weekend in Toronto is always enjoyable, but when it includes a spectacular wedding of a favourite friend, it doesn't get much better than that. It was fabulous!

- Moving into a gorgeous new apartment with a spectacular view of St. John's. Though this is a small city, living in the east end instead of the centre or downtown areas of town has been a big adjustment for me. Still, it does have its perks - I can see the ocean from my window and have a beautiful view of Signal Hill!







- Taking off on a spur of the moment long weekend to our nation's capital to visit family and friends and escape the island for a few days. Sometimes, the best trips come out of the blue with very little planning. This wouldn't be the only time I did that this year...






- Helping my best friend of 25 years plan her beautiful garden wedding, and stand by her side as her maid of honour. As I'd said to Meg on her wedding day: we've been through a lot, and through it all, we've grown up together and shared each other's biggest and littlest moments. I was truly honoured to be with her as she went from Ms. to Mrs.






- Escaping to Europe on another spur of the moment trip for two weeks with a good friend. As I'd said before, sometimes the best trips come unexpectedly. We experienced the simple things in life: good food, somewhat good wine, lots of history and loads of beautiful scenery. Italy and France, I'd missed you.






- Finally returning to where I left my heart almost a decade ago: London. Breathing in that crisp, English air and feeling the rush of that beautiful city was magical. I felt a constant hum of excitement pulsing through me every day I was there. I know I'll be back again soon.







- Celebrating a different kind of Christmas in my new home. Instead of going to my folks' house, they came to mine, where we've enjoyed making new traditions.





As I said before, 2014 really was one of the most eventful years of my life. Lots of changes came my way, both positive and negative. But overall, it was a really great year. As 2014 comes to a close, I look towards 2015 and what it will hold: a big wedding for my family, a big birthday for me (30! Yikes!) and more challenges ahead, both personally and professionally. But that's okay. I'm ready for it all. I'm going to face 30 head on and take whatever else comes in stride. 

Welcome, 2015! It's time to be fierce.