Last night out!

We're exhausted, tired of incompetent people and ready to be in our home. So tonight, Graham let me have my choice for dinner and drinks...

The raspberry beer, pretzels and portobello mushroom sandwich are my favourite! Graham is staying true to pub form and ordering his usual curry!

Cheers to ending the night with sanity in tact!
Lee-Anne

Life turned upside down!

Chaos is one word that sums up our life right now.  Utter chaos.  Our house/condo is in the middle of a move, with packers coming tomorrow to move us on Friday.  My career is chaos as I am sitting here wondering what to do until I take up another job.  The wedding is chaos as bits and pieces are missing/not done/strewn about everywhere.  And as we stand, the honeymoon is chaos as we don't know how safe it is to fly to Thailand right now, with an earthquake in the North last week and flooding now in Koh Samui, Koh Phi Phi and Krabi.

So today, as I am exhausted this photo sums up how I feel.  It's a shame I can't drink Vodka, but the jist of it shows how I feel...

A day off in the life of Lee-Anne= 52 city blocks of walking!

It was gorgeous out today, so I decided to put on my flats, bundle in layers (it gets cold and windy in the city out of the sun!) and make an entire day out in the city with myself.  I wanted to go to a few of my favourite places, as today is my last day to do it before we move on Friday.

Here is my day, it was a fun one!  I walked 52 blocks today, and these are BIG city blocks people!  Our condo to Palmerston in Little Italy, Little Italy to Kensington Market, Kensington to Chinatown, Chinatown to Queen St. W., Queen W. to the Eaton Centre, the Eaton Centre up Yonge St, Yonge St to St. Lawrence Market, St. Lawrence Market home.  Pretty much a roundabout way of walking the WHOLE city.  I was DONE by the end of the day, but had a LOT of fun!

The upstairs view of woodlot.  It was a great view watching them put in, prep and take out every pastry and load of delicious bread!  YUM!  Happy Breakfast to me!

Himilayan Saffron tea, a chanterelle mushroom quiche, and an apple galette.  I couldn't tackle the apple tart, so I graciously saved it and walked it around all day with me, just so I could bring it home to Graham.  Now that's a good and dedicated fiance!

Kensington Market.  It is just as crazy as it is on the weekend, during the day and I LOVE the hustle and bustle of it, and the GREAT people watching.

Chinatown.  In the summer, or when produce is fresh and plenty, we do our groceries here.  It's WAY cheaper, the produce is WAY more fresh and we can get a HUGE variety of off the wall options.

Nathan Phillips Square.  It looked so beautiful today with no snow and the sun shining on it!

St. Lawrence Market.  I love so much about it, I know I will miss it immensely when we move.  SERIOUSLY, if you have never been here, GO!  And go hungry and with an open mind for inspiration!

Well, that was my day!  I had a ton of fun!

A small miracle...

This morning was my first morning not having to work. I am normally a wake up at 5am person, no matter the day. Yes, even on a weekend.

Last night we went to bed late, after a lot of packing, and I woke up to Graham's alarm at 6am. Thinking I would never fall asleep again, I turned over, ready to get up when he was ready for breakfast together.

Next thing I knew, he was giving me a kiss goodbye, calling me lazy and it was 715! A small miracle to me, early for most normal human beings!

What does tomorrow morning hold???

Lee-Anne

Packing and sushi.

Today was a FULL day of packing, organizing and getting ready for the big move on Friday.  We do have packers and movers coming thursday to help with the big stuff and packing the kitchen, but we wanted to get started on some stuff so that we can do the move a little bit cheaper.

I am lucky enough that Graham has a FREE move in day in his contract for work.  I was going to have to do the whole pack and move alone.  The logistics of that was starting to become crazy, so when he told me that last week, I was thrilled.  We have tried to organize that we get packed on Thursday morning, move Friday morning, have Leon's pick up our couch Friday morning, have Leon's deliver the new bed/mattress/couch/ottoman Friday whenever they can, and have Bell come out to hook up the cable and internet Friday evening.  It will be crazy, but great to do it in 1 day.  Mom and Dad are helping us put furniture together and unpack on Sunday, which we are SO incredibly thankful for!!!

So today, we packed, packed and purged.  We felt very cooped up by the end of the afternoon that we decided to head out and get some sushi, sashimi and dumplings to have at home with a few drinks.  It was a perfect way to end today in order to relax and eat something light.

Making our house a home.

We ventured off to the new house today to paint the HORRENDOUSLY UGLY spare room (the poo coloured one) and were REALLY pleased with the results!  It felt so good to be there.  So quiet, so homely, so peaceful.  I really felt like we are finally going to have a place where we can make ours.  We can hang pictures, we can decorate and we can just be.  At one moment, we both laid on the floor of the livingroom and just listened to NOTHING.  Oh man, I haven't had silence in a long time.

We really enjoyed taking the room from this:

To this:

And then this!

And then the final result!  Only a coincidence that my tank matched our paint colour! So much brighter and homely!  Made the whole house feel so bright and light!  While painting today, we discovered that when we opened our blinds, so much daytime light comes in the back of the house, we needed to turn the heat off.  It made us both feel so happy to have so much light and peacefullness!  We can't wait to make this room, our new guest room!

Last day...mixed emotions.

Will Blog today's day tomorrow, when I'm not so drained and emotional...

Enjoy the kids opening their gifts! So cute how excited they were!!!
Lee-Anne

A Night to Destress...

I have been dying for a night like tonight for weeks now, but this week, it's especially needed, as I am feeling VERY apprehensive and REALLY stressed out about my last day with the kids tomorrow.  It's been VERY emotional for me this week, and I have been trying to take every cute and silly moment and bottle them up to save forever.  I hate thinking that tomorrow is my last day, and want to take every moment with them tomorrow I can to watch them play, laugh, learn and cuddle up.

So tonight, I get my favourite Thursday nights back, finally!  It couldn't come at a better time!

"Sprinter"- I was SO done with winter!

Today was a good day for some indoor play at the play place near work with the kids.  We walk by it everyday that I am at Cayenne's house and I was so excited to use today's relentless snow day to play indoors with some new toys (and toys that I didn't have to clean up after :).  They loved it so much!!!!!

ynotplay was a fun time for us all, with lots of squealing from the kids and lots of joy from me!  I loved seeing them play with the other kids and with each other, and really play!

Enjoy!

I miss GOOD mexican.

Living in the south, I used to have some amazing Mexican food.  I miss it so much.  The corn tortillas served to you free with salsa, the homemade corn chips, the sopapillas, the $1 beers...I miss it more and more everytime I try to make the best tacos ever, but never achieve it...SAD.

When Graham and I lived in England, I was determined to find a Mexican restaurant to satisfy my cravings.  Not tex mex, but good spicy mexican that serves some killer tequilas.  I achieved this and we still miss Cafe Pacifco/La Perla Bar BIG TIME!  We have a lot of memories there (we took Mom and Dad there and Graham still does not let Mom live down their margarita drinking competition- best margaritas we've ever had, I had my final family dinner there with Graham's family before I emigrated home, and we had many meals there with friends who came from Canada who we wanted to take out for a great night in London).

Every once in a while we have taco night.  I LOVE taco night!  I am a sucker for chips and guac and I especially love making myself a taco salad.  A giant mess of everything under the sun in one bowl, so lazy and so delicious!  Graham has come to LOVE taco night and tends to wait for me to get home to make guac, as "your guacy is the best".

YUM!  Anyone ever want to come over and have taco night, you know how to reach us!

Happy Birthday to a Best friend, a maid of honour and an amazing cop!

I love you Day!  We have been through so much and have so many memories!  I wouldn't change anything for the world!  We have each been across the world and back, and can still come home living in our friendship like nothing's changed.  Life has gotten busy lately, and we don't get to spend as much down time with each other as we'd like, but the moments we have together I cherish so much!

Here's to our last year in our 20's.  Let's make it a memorable one!

My Bachelorette was amazing and a TOTAL surprise!

I'm not one for surprises as I get anxiety over the unknown and tend to get REALLY excited when I know what is going on, but the girls managed to keep everything a secret till the very end!  I loved so much about the last 24 hours, I don't even know how to thank them from the bottom of my heart, or tell them how much it meaned to me!  What a great night with amazing friends and sisters!  Thanks ladies!  Tonight's blog is all about photos!

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!  You girls are incredible!

The night started off with me blindfolded and being walked to who knows where!  I don't have the photos of that...one of the girls must have them!  It was hilarious!

We got to a hotel (the Westin, which was so nice) and popped some champagne and I got all dressed up by the girls in my bachelorette gear.  I loved chilling at the hotel before going out!

These girls know me so well!  I love to snack (I don't have a big appetite and eat small meals all day), and I LOVE LOVE LOVE candy.  I also loved the cupcakes at Kathryn and Gary's wedding so much, and was THRILLED Kathryn surprised me with them!

Jenn (my sister), Leslie and Jen.  Such a great sister and such great friends!  Without Jenn, I never would have met Leslie and Jen, and I am so greatful to have them all in my life.  I felt so honoured and excited for them to be there to celebrate with me!  Thanks ladies!  We always have so much fun "in the big city"!

Jolene, Dana and Kathryn.  Jolene and I go WAY back and have gotten into our fair share of trouble with each other, and our fair share of support with/for each other.  Dana and I have been best friends for what feels like FOREVER and I love that!  She and I went to high school together and no matter where I am in the world, I know she will always be there when I get back, having just as much fun as we always have!  Kathryn and I have so many memories over such a short time!  It is incredible how much we celebrate together, and have shared and I can't wait for many more years to come!

My sisters.  Stephanie, my sister-in-law, is one of the most passionate, loving, people and I love her so much.  She is so creative and so much fun!  I get jealous sometimes of how fun and creative she is and I wished we lived closer so that I can steal some of her ideas and talent :)  My sister, has been by my side through so many laughs and struggles.  I wouldn't want our past or present to be any other way (other than spending more time together, as I really miss her!), I can't wait for the fun we will have in the future!  Love you sisters!

We went to Dazzling for sushi!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE sushi and was so excited to see some of the girls try it for the first time! 

I had the most DELICIOUS rainbow roll I have EVER had!  It came at the end, once we had already had so much tempura, spring rolls, satay, dumplings etc, but it was SOOOOOO good!  Thanks girls for trying something new!

Jen and Jenny!  Jen had a carrot so long on her plate, it was CRAZY!  They did a little lady and the tramp eating to please me, and it made for some cute pics!  Love you girls!

We went to Second City, the comedy club.  It was HILARIOUS!  I love live comedy and after having a few drinks, it was even funnier!  Again, a first for some of the girls and they really seemed to enjoy themselves!

Dana, my maid of honour and I.  She and the girls planned the night so perfectly, and I enjoyed every second of it.  It was really hard to express how much I appreciated it and enjoyed it, but it really makes me feel emotional just writing about it and thinking about it.  Thanks ladies again, it was a night I will never forget!

Dana, hooked us up, and got us rides home in 2 Cop cars.  It was hilarious and made for a HUGELY memorable end to the night!  Even better to wind the guys up, letting them know we got picked up by the cops and not answering why, or what happened until today!  What a memory and what a great night for the girls!  The lights, the sirens, for a few of them, really made for a killer end of the night!

Thanks again ladies so much!  You'd think I was lucky enough to crash at the hotel with the girls that could stay (I didn't sleep much, but was SO excited), but even luckier when I woke up and we were finishing the weekend with brunch at the hot house.  I don't have pictures of it, but it was delicious.  I woke up feeling...a bit iffy this morning (no hangover, just tired and a bit gross...:), so I couldn't eat everything I would have loved to, but it was a weekend of so much fun, so many memories and some really fun GIRLY gifts.

I love you all ladies and can't wait to celebrate with you at the wedding!