Summer is here and mother nature finally decided to catch up with the calendar bringing a heat wave this week.
It would have been nice if my air conditioning at home was fixed before that happened.
I went so see No Doubt and Paramore at the ACC last week and it was awesome. I bow down to Ms. Stefani's abs and stamina. And was impressed that she actually sang live for the entire show (I'm looking at you Madonna). Paramore became one of my favourite bands last year and got a visibility boost by being included in the Twilight sountrack (as with everything involved in that franchise) and were great live, especially when you consider what babies they still all are.
Lainey's annual Smut Soiree was this week and while still enjoyable, the lack of air conditioning, lousy sound set up and continued talking of other folks over the panel's discussion led to a bit of a disappointment. Thankfully the swag bag delivered. And warm gooey cookies with shot glasses of milk are a fantastic idea.
Alan Sepinwall (great TV reviews/recaps) started doing a rewind a few weeks ago and recapping episodes of my beloved Sports Night which lead to me rewatching the entire first season in a flurry. So it's entirely his fault that I've now found myself sucked in to a Sorkinthon and have begun watching The West Wing from the beginning. I forgot how much I adored that show and couldn't wait until Wednesday evenings when it aired. And it's filling the gap as the summer show pickings are slim.
Though True Blood is back and I'm thoroughly enjoying the second season, even as I can't help comparing little details to what happened in the books. Speaking of which, the latest is on it's way to my library for me to pick up according to the Toronto Public Library website...yay.
It's my birthday on Monday and I'm having a bit of a hard time believing I'm turning 33. I moved to the city 10 freaking years ago...where the heck did the time go? On the plus side, I got asked for my ID when buying beer a few weeks ago so at least there's that.
I had one of those sort of perfect quiet moments this weekend when I was at the cottage. Nothing major, just standing on the deck at dusk looking out at the water. My parents and grandparents were inside having cocktails and getting ready for dinner and my dad was about to light the BBQ. And I'm generally not one for a lot of introspection but in that instant as I just stood there I realized how genuinely lucky I am. So thank you to all the people in my life who make me feel that way.
Showing posts with label cottage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cottage. Show all posts
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Monday, 23 March 2009
End of Winter perfection
Wow. What a perfect weekend.
I took a last minute holiday on Friday and headed up to the cottage to get in on the last weekend of winter and sure am glad I did.
Two days of perfect sunny skies and hours spent outside on the lake doing some skating, playin' some hockey and curling a stone or two.
Three mornings of curling up with mom and the dog and enjoying a coffee and Baileys while watching deer scamper across the lake.
Three runs down the lake on the snowmobile with the wind rushing and the sun shining down. Not to mention the absolute delight on the faces of the kids getting a quick loop around the bay.
Great meals that I didn't have to prepare (thanks to the chefs!) with good wine and even better company.
Cooperdog running after a tennis ball on the lake and overshooting it every time never gets less entertaining.
Watching my mother win the poker game was almost, almost, as good as winning myself.
So long to the lake...see you in the summer!
I took a last minute holiday on Friday and headed up to the cottage to get in on the last weekend of winter and sure am glad I did.
Two days of perfect sunny skies and hours spent outside on the lake doing some skating, playin' some hockey and curling a stone or two.
Three mornings of curling up with mom and the dog and enjoying a coffee and Baileys while watching deer scamper across the lake.
Three runs down the lake on the snowmobile with the wind rushing and the sun shining down. Not to mention the absolute delight on the faces of the kids getting a quick loop around the bay.
Great meals that I didn't have to prepare (thanks to the chefs!) with good wine and even better company.
Cooperdog running after a tennis ball on the lake and overshooting it every time never gets less entertaining.
Watching my mother win the poker game was almost, almost, as good as winning myself.
So long to the lake...see you in the summer!
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Hey! It's November
Hello to the four of you who are breathlessly waiting for an account of what's going on in my life lately ;-)
I'm crazy surprised that it's almost the end of November. I'm not sure where most of 2007 really went. I mean, I was there and everything, but it seems to have been a bit of a whirlwind.
So, remember last month when I said I'd be heading to the cottage to rake a bunch of leaves and get further into the fall spirit? Yeah, not so much. My parents elected to head up there on a weekend when I had a wedding to go to so not only do I feel sad for missing out on the end of the season wrap up, but I feel incredibly guilty about leaving all the work for my parents. Do you think really nice Christmas gifts will make up for it??
I did get around to partaking in some Halloween festivities this year thanks to the encouragement of D, who elevates the enjoyment of the holiday to a whole new level. Her four costume tribute to Maria Von Trapp was inspired...fully augmented by the 7 carved Von Trapp children pumpkins. I also discovered that I have quite the talent for the shooter luge...who knew? :-)
I also managed to get around to my shopping trip to Buffalo with mom and sister-in-law which was fantastic. We were pretty much run off our feet at the end of the Longest Shopping Day Ever on Saturday but scored some fantastic deals and got a start on our Christmas shopping. I managed to make a couple of early Christmas gift purchases for myself with a snazzy new wa
tch and purse. Isn't it pretty?? Shopping savings are definitely there to be had by crossing south of the 49th. First of all, the Canadian dollar being at basically par (which, I know, isn't quite as good as it was a few weeks ago) means that any brand is automatically going to be cheaper just because they haven't adjusted the 'list' price to account for the change in exchange. Coach purses that were $500 here were less than $400 there. But our biggest savings came from spending about 3 hours at Macy's. I had assumed the 'international savings card' 11% (who comes up with these numbers?) discount was only available at the Macy's in New York and Las Vegas, where they had visitors centres, but no, they had them right at the service desks at the Galleria. And then they had a 'sign up for a Macy's account and get an additional 20% purchases' thing going on. 31% off everything in the store?? Let me at it! We also stayed at a really cute hotel and managed to eat lunch at the Cheesecake Factory without an hour and a half wait for a table (here's a tip...ALWAYS check to see if there is seating available at the bar). Thanks to Vickie, the cross border expert, for the advice on the best border crossing spot, location for hotel and the Targets to avoid we had an absolutely no stress weekend. Well, except for the usual anxiety about getting back across the border ;-).
Otherwise I have been enjoying the fall television offerings (and am preparing myself for the ugly near future of a reality television bonanza for as long as the strike goes on). I'm *loving* the new Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Gossip Girl and Reaper. And really enjoying the returning Friday Night Lights (why aren't more people watching this show??), Heroes (for the most part), The Office, and House (for Hugh Laurie).
And now we're coming up on December and I should be getting in the mood for Christmas. Part of me is feeling too lazy to bother to get all the decorations out...which I know I'd regret since I love coming home to the twinkling lights on the tree once it's up. My mom's planning on visiting next weekend to help with the decorating and do some Christmas shopping so I really shouldn't complain about the work, but it's never stopped me before.
And now, the top five things I'm looking forward to in the coming weeks:
I'm crazy surprised that it's almost the end of November. I'm not sure where most of 2007 really went. I mean, I was there and everything, but it seems to have been a bit of a whirlwind.
So, remember last month when I said I'd be heading to the cottage to rake a bunch of leaves and get further into the fall spirit? Yeah, not so much. My parents elected to head up there on a weekend when I had a wedding to go to so not only do I feel sad for missing out on the end of the season wrap up, but I feel incredibly guilty about leaving all the work for my parents. Do you think really nice Christmas gifts will make up for it??
I did get around to partaking in some Halloween festivities this year thanks to the encouragement of D, who elevates the enjoyment of the holiday to a whole new level. Her four costume tribute to Maria Von Trapp was inspired...fully augmented by the 7 carved Von Trapp children pumpkins. I also discovered that I have quite the talent for the shooter luge...who knew? :-)I also managed to get around to my shopping trip to Buffalo with mom and sister-in-law which was fantastic. We were pretty much run off our feet at the end of the Longest Shopping Day Ever on Saturday but scored some fantastic deals and got a start on our Christmas shopping. I managed to make a couple of early Christmas gift purchases for myself with a snazzy new wa
tch and purse. Isn't it pretty?? Shopping savings are definitely there to be had by crossing south of the 49th. First of all, the Canadian dollar being at basically par (which, I know, isn't quite as good as it was a few weeks ago) means that any brand is automatically going to be cheaper just because they haven't adjusted the 'list' price to account for the change in exchange. Coach purses that were $500 here were less than $400 there. But our biggest savings came from spending about 3 hours at Macy's. I had assumed the 'international savings card' 11% (who comes up with these numbers?) discount was only available at the Macy's in New York and Las Vegas, where they had visitors centres, but no, they had them right at the service desks at the Galleria. And then they had a 'sign up for a Macy's account and get an additional 20% purchases' thing going on. 31% off everything in the store?? Let me at it! We also stayed at a really cute hotel and managed to eat lunch at the Cheesecake Factory without an hour and a half wait for a table (here's a tip...ALWAYS check to see if there is seating available at the bar). Thanks to Vickie, the cross border expert, for the advice on the best border crossing spot, location for hotel and the Targets to avoid we had an absolutely no stress weekend. Well, except for the usual anxiety about getting back across the border ;-).Otherwise I have been enjoying the fall television offerings (and am preparing myself for the ugly near future of a reality television bonanza for as long as the strike goes on). I'm *loving* the new Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Gossip Girl and Reaper. And really enjoying the returning Friday Night Lights (why aren't more people watching this show??), Heroes (for the most part), The Office, and House (for Hugh Laurie).
And now we're coming up on December and I should be getting in the mood for Christmas. Part of me is feeling too lazy to bother to get all the decorations out...which I know I'd regret since I love coming home to the twinkling lights on the tree once it's up. My mom's planning on visiting next weekend to help with the decorating and do some Christmas shopping so I really shouldn't complain about the work, but it's never stopped me before.
And now, the top five things I'm looking forward to in the coming weeks:
- Dirty Dancing the musical
- KT Tunstall
- weekend visits with Shawna and the munchkin and my mom
- Bon Jovi
- The multitude of Christmas parties, gatherings and brunches filling up my calendar
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
