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.

NaBloWriMo: whoops...

Well, I started off NaBloWriMo with a bang, full of intent and determination, ready to go...and then I went on a trip. It's not that I forgot, I just ran out of time each day. But, that's changing now! I've been in Ottawa for the past few days, so to catch up, I'll be blogging about my mini-break with my mother and some of the great spots we've been since arriving!

Here's a little snap of some crazy-looking clouds from my flight Wednesday evening as I headed off west to chase the sunset. 

Stay tuned!

It's that time of year again...

NaBloWriMo time! National Blog Writing Month is the time of year when I put my blogging skills to the test. When I see if I can actually blog once a day, every day, for an entire month. I did it last year and while it was a struggle at times, I made it. So, I want to try it again this year. Blogging is something I really enjoy but struggle with, due to work, personal, life in general. But, NaBloWriMo (based off of NaNoWriMo) forces me to dedicate myself to my writing and to the upkeep of my blog.

You can expect a lot of random entries about the oddest little thoughts that pop into my head, as well as some longer, more thought-out posts. Sometimes all I'll have time for is a quick musing over a photo I've taken and posted on Instagram, and others might be a bit more in depth. It's going to be a mixed bag, but that's kind of the fun of NaBloWriMo!

So, here we go, off to the races. Entry #1 = DONE. Hope you enjoy this month-long journey with me!

2015: A Year in Review

It's that time of year again - my annual year in review. I've done this a few times since I started blogging and I like doing it because it forces me to reflect on the past 12 months and take in all that's changed in my life. So, let's go:




- I hit the big 3-0 this year and celebrated with family and friends in style with a fancy pink and gold sparkle party. The glitzy glam night was exactly how I wanted to enter into my next decade. 






- I spent some time in the hospital and had emergency gall bladder surgery! What a whirlwind three weeks that was. As painful as the experience was, I know I'm much better off now that the ordeal is finally over. 







- My wonderful brother married the love of his life and I finally gained a sister. The wedding was one of the most beautiful I've ever been to and I was so honoured to be involved as a bridesmaid. 

- Some of my girlfriends and I began a monthly brunch club, where we tried different restaurants around the city. It was so good to have a regular date with friends, to catch up over delicious food and of course, obligatory mimosas. We love brunch club!!

- After a hectic first half of year with work and surgeries, I finally took a vacation in August and went back to my second home, Toronto for a week of friends, food and familiar haunts. It was so good to be back and to get the city into my blood again. 

- I celebrated the ten year anniversary of the term that changed my life. I've mentioned time and time again in the blog how my experience in Harlow changed my life. During the autumn, I remembered where I'd been on a particular day or what I'd been doing during a certain period of time. It's hard to believe ten years has passed since I was with this group of people. 

- I took another last minute trip to Toronto in December, this time meeting up with my folks and taking my mother to a taping of one of my favourite television shows, The Social. We had a great time! 

- I also popped outside of Toronto and spent a weekend with two of my favourite gals, shopping and visiting wineries in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. Lots of laughs were had those couple of days! 

- I enjoyed a magical Christmas break packed with brunches, lunches, coffees and parties with friends from home and friends from away. It's always a whirlwind time of year, but it's always so good. 

So there you have it. 2015 is in the books. It was a good year with me turning 30 and my brother's beautiful wedding, but I have a feeling there's big things to come next year. 

I usually like to come up with some kind of motto or quote to live by for the upcoming year. This year, the one I'm really feeling is one I've used before and even blogged about recently during my #NaBloWriMo challenge. "More fun, less fear" is what's going to push me through into 2016 and stay with me throughout the next 12 months. Let's see how it goes. 

Here's to new beginnings, new experiences, fresh perspectives. 

Welcome 2016: more fun, less fear!

Whoops...

So I know I said I'd blog every day this month, but sometimes, life just gets in the way. Let's see if I can get caught up again and get all 30 entries in before November 30!

A wedding to remember

My brother got married this past July to the love of his life, a girl who I'm so happy to now call my sister. The wedding was a beautiful affair full of love; it was everything they'd hoped for.

The photographer was fantastic, a fella named Mark Oakley, who was creative and organized a shot that's probably my favourite out of the hundreds taken that day. 

Doesn't it look like something out of a magazine? I love it! 

Sunshine on a cloudy day

There's nothing like opening your curtains first thing in the morning to see a beautiful sun shining down on the lake. Here's to a lovely day!

Dear Jamie, I Love You

So by now, if you've read past entries of my blog and especially the Transatlantic Tastes section, you must know that I'm a big fan of Jamie Oliver. I've been an admirer for quite a few years, always tuning into his different television series on the Food Network and buying a number of his books (I've lost count but I have at least five, I'm sure of it.) I even had the pleasure of meeting him five years ago while living in Toronto!

I've cooked my way through a number of his recipes and shared them with friends and family. Some of my favourites include a classic Tomato Soup, delicious Crunchy Garlic Chicken and my absolute favourite that I make on a regular basis, Cherry Tomato Sauce with Cheat's Fresh Pasta, the first recipe I tried out of one of Jamie's cook books and one that has remained in my recipe box for years.

Are you a fan of Jamie Oliver? Have you tried any of his recipes? Let me know in the comments below!

NaBloWriMo, here we go!

In the writing world, November is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, where participants spend the month of November writing a novel. Even though I know every year that October is always followed by November, it always catches me off guard and I never have an idea for a novel prepared. 

This time three years ago, caught in the same cycle of forgetting about it until it's too late, I undertook a blogging challenge instead. For every day in November of 2012, I wrote a blog entry. Some were long with a bunch of pictures while others were only a couple of sentences. Regardless of how tired I was or of how blank on what to write I was, I wrote an entry every. single. day. And you know what? It was hard! But, I did it and I felt a little bit better for it. 

So, after a few failed attempts at restarting my blogging, I thought that this would be a good way of trying to get back into it. Instead of NaNoWriMo though, this month is going to be NaBloWriMo - National Blog Writing Month. Apparently I'm not the only person who's tried this before - there's even a hashtag on Twitter about it! It's kind of nice to know that I'm not the only one who's going to be attempting this. 

Okay. One down, 29 to go! Wish me luck!