2012

Happy New Year's peeps! I can't believe that 2012 has almost come to an end! I was just reflecting on the past year and I can't believe how fast the years come and go. Boy time flies! As I get older, I'm becoming more and more mindful of the importance of setting goals and having direction in my life. I guess I have this fear that one day I may look back and realize I never got around to doing some things I've always wanted to do/experience. I don't have a bucket list per se but I definitely have goals and certain things I would like to do and this is constantly evolving. 

I feel like 2012 was an important year for me professionally and personally ...

I finally landed a permanent job that I love and I feel stable in my career and feel really lucky about this! I  also started this blog which has been a creative outlet for me. It's been a wonderful and fulfilling experience to connect with other bloggers and I have definitely learned a lot from you all! 

I think we can all agree that in 2012 I ate a lot lol! I have been enjoying cooking and feel like I'm developing a passion for cooking and entertaining.

The fiance and I also got around to making our place feel more like home. We have painted, purchased furniture and hung lighting and as time consuming and frustrating as this process was at times it has truly been rewarding for us both. We feel like we have accomplished a lot and are both happy to be finished... 

well almost ... 

I am also grateful for the opportunities I have had to travel this past year. I love travelling and I can't wait for more adventures in 2013!!!!!

"Unfortunately" my passion for fashion is growing. Let's just say I've come a lot way from those UofT days when I walked around in lulu's and track tops!

I love stripes!

  This past year I also learned a lot of new things that I had been intending to do for a while, like taking an art class and also a knitting workshop. Next on my list (hopefully for 2013) is jewellery making and pottery. We'll see!

And how could I forget one of the most exciting things that happened to me in 2012!?! The fiance and I got engaged and have begun to plan our wedding. We are super duper excited for our big day and can't wait to get hitched!

Last but not least, in 2012 I have made a huge effort to practice self-care. I'm not sure if it's being a social worker and constantly hearing about and telling client's to practice self-care but I feel like for the first time I'm finally practicing what I'm preaching. This past month I've decided to take my yoga practice to a new level by practicing mindfulness meditation. It's really challenging and I took a meditation class as part of my master's degree about two years ago and just dropped it. Let's hope that this time next year I will be meditating regularly!  

Well that's my recap and reflection of this past year. I feel happy and of course am trying to be positive by only reflecting on the good things. No point reflecting on those sucky experiences! I hope you are all having fun and spending time with those that are important to you. Cheers to another year!

Happy 2013!!

~B

Christmas Baking

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/holidays!! It went by so quickly and I can't believe I am already back at work and back to "normal" life. I had a lot of fun with family this past Christmas. We did some baking ... 

Snowball cookies - I think it's my grandma's recipe

Brownie cut-out cookies (recipe from Smitten Kitchen here).

They make yummy Christmas ice cream sandwiches

A cranberry tarte (recipe also from Smitten Kitchen)

    Check out the Christmas lights on this house!!! Crazy but also really festive and fun to see. I even got

    out of the car to take this pic. It was blinding!

bon appetit!

We went to visit family on Boxing Day and ended up having to drive back in a snow storm. It took us twice as long to get home but it was all worth it AND the snow is really pretty. We haven't really had snow in Toronto for I think two winter's now so I'm enjoying it.

Happy Weekend!

~B

Wedding Planning: One Year Countdown!

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December 21, 2013!

Yup, you read that right! We are getting married in exactly a year today, four days before Christmas on Winter Solstice! We went back and forth on the date and had reservations that it is too close to Christmas. We figured that since we are having an intimate wedding and will be sending our save the dates way in advance this should work out just fine. We trust that those important to us will be able to make it. I didn't really think much about our wedding date being Winter Solstice aside from the fact that it's the shortest day of the year and we'll have to do our photos early. People have been telling me that it's a magical day and quite fitting for a wedding since Winter Solstice is associated with a new beginning. So ... I'm gonna go with that! The fiance and I will be beginning a new life(?) as man and wife in exactly one year! SO EXCITED!!! 

Holiday Spirit

Top right: enjoying a REAL apple fritter at the Christmas Market!

Toronto Christmas Market 

Christmas is my favourite holiday by far and this year I'm really feeling the Christmas spirit! Christmas has been stressful for me the past few years, simply because I was a student and would spend all my time up to Christmas basically writing essays and studying for exams. This year has been completely different. I decorated my place a couple weeks ago and have had the time to enjoy it. I've done all my shopping and enjoyed wrapping gifts. I am now looking forward to doing some xmas baking this Friday and Saturday! If you celebrate Christmas and like the holiday season I hope you are also feeling the holiday spirit!

~B

Wedding Planning: OUR VENUE!!!

Hey Everyone! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. It's a rainy Sunday here in Toronto and I'm taking full advantage by hibernating inside :) I am finally able to announce the venue for our wedding since we finally signed the contract and are all set to go! We are both super excited since we'll be getting married next winter in front of a fireplace at .... HART HOUSE (at the the University of Toronto)!!!

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As I mentioned earlier, the fiance and I met when we were both students at UofT. We spent a lot of time together on campus and both have many memories of the times we spent at Hart House (both together and separately). When we visited the venue we knew almost immediately that it would be where we would get married. It was pretty funny because I had basically decided that Balzac's would be perfect and didn't want to go for our tour of Hart House. That all changed when I realized that the room we would get married in had two fireplaces and is basically perfect for a winter/xmas wedding. I love xmas and think that there is something really romantic and magical about winter. I can't wait to be photographed in front of the gothic style-buildings on the UofT campus. I'm picturing a candlelight dinner and hot chocolate! I'll definitely be doing a post soon about my inspiration and vision for the wedding.

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Alright, let's talk business ... what really sold us on this venue is that the catering is all done in house. The other venues we considered would require us to get a catering company and we really value the convenience of not having to do all that work. Also, we get a wedding planner to help us plan our day. Our planner, Devon, has an amazing personality and I trust that she'll make sure everything runs smoothly. She'll also be the one helping me set up the decor and so far her ideas are great! We liked Balzac's but it really was too small for us. With the 40 or so guests we're hoping to have we would have to forgo a sit down diner and do only cocktails. Not happening! Another plus of going with Hart House is that we get access to a whole wing of the building, which includes two rooms right across from one another. Our guests will be able to move from room to room and hit the dance floor or lounge on a couch if they feel like it. I was originally concerned about seeing other brides on my big day but for now we are the only party booked on our wedding day and it's likely it'll stay that way since we are getting married super close to Christmas. 

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Don't worry, we won't be using these ugly floppy chairs lol!
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We went back and forth on our decision for a few weeks but this had nothing to do with the venue and was more about finances and budget than anything else. We are both happy with our decision and feel like a huge weight has been lifted now that we have a venue and a photographer! Not bad given the wedding is still over a year away :) I am excited to move forward with the planning and it all feels so much more real now that we have a date!

Wedding Planning: Eshoot!

All photos by Camilla Pucholt Photography

Hey! I hope everyone is having a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I spent yesterday celebrating my mom's birthday. We went to the Toronto Christmas Market were we enjoyed Christmas carols and apple fritters. We had a lot of fun and now I'm REALLY in the Christmas spirit!

Anyways, posted above are some of our engagement photos!!! We used Camilla Pucholt Photography since we heard great reviews from two of our friends. We love Camilla for her energetic personality AND wonderful photos. Photography for our wedding is extremely important to me and I'm so happy that the shots turned out great! I think I'd rather spend my money on a good photographer than anything else for our wedding so I'm super excited that we have a great photographer. If anyone is not sure whether they want to do an eshoot prior to their big day I recommend you do it! U get an idea of how you and your partner work together for the photos and more importantly if you're a good fit with the photographer. I think that if we hadn't done an eshoot I would be super nervous for the shots on our wedding day, which would TOTALLY SUCK!

 The day of the shoot I got my makeup done at MAC. I was really happy with the natural look the artist gave me and was super psyched for the shoot. Right before we got started I got super nervous and Camilla made me feel comfortable right away! The fiance is a natural (believe it or not) at taking these photos!! He's normally the one whose eyes are always closed in photos but apparently it has to do with the flash from point and shoot cameras :) I am super excited about our shots and am in the process of deciding which photos to print out for framing and which ones to put into an album that will double as a guest book for our wedding. There are 300 photos so this is quite the task. I love doing projects like this and have made albums in the past so I'm excited. 

I'll keep you posted on other wedding planning developments. We are yet to sign the contract for our venue but I'll let you know once we sort that out!

Lately ...

Sunday morning walk in the Distillery District

Enjoying the snow on the way to meet some friends

at the cottage this past weekend 

Also made some time for Scandinave Spa

We played lots of Wii

More snow!

Watching the fire makes me feel all xmassy!

I learned to knit last night and I think I may be hooked!

Hope you're all having a great week!

Wedding Planning: Choosing Our Venue

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I have a wedding planning update!!! 

After sitting on it for almost two months we decided that we would prefer to have an actual wedding with about 40 of our fave people. We have thrown out our ideas of going to an awesome destination to get married, just the two of us. Call it eloping if you want but in my books when you inform your family and friends and throw a dinner party when you get back it's not eloping. Anyways, we seriously considered doing this but decided against it because it just doesn't feel right getting married without our family and friends there. We also consider getting married at city hall to keep things simple but that just didn't feel right either. We thought about having a destination wedding but then we felt it may be harder to plan given the distance. Sooo.. over the past week or so we researched lots of possible venues for our wedding. We considered many restaurants but in the end decided that we wanted to get married at a place that has meaning to us and that we know will also be around for well ever I guess :) We wanted a historical space.

Here are the three places that we were most interested in and decided to visit:

Balzac's Cafe (Distillery District)

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I would not normally think about Balzac' as a wedding venue. It's is a coffee shop! That all changed one afternoon about a year ago when I was informed that they would be closing early for a wedding. I love the ambiance of the space, especially the chandelier and the brick walls.  A plus is that it's located in the Distillery District, a place I visit almost every other week and also a place that would be perfect for wedding photos. Another plus is that this space is small. Now that I've done my research I know how hard it is to find a nice small space for an intimate wedding of about 40 people. Many venues say they can do a wedding for 40 but in reality the space is way to big and the wedding would end up being far from intimate. It 's also walking distance from our house so obviously we would walk to our wedding. You also get the whole venue to yourself and don't have to worry about seeing other brides. A negative of this venue is that it is two floors. I am also unsure if there really is enough space for dancing. I am also not the most sturdy on my feet and walking down the stairs to meet my groom may not be the best idea!

Hart House (University of Toronto)

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The second place we visited was Hart House. Hart House is located at the University of Toronto where the fiance and I both went to school and first met. Both of us have spent a lot of time at Hart House, together and separately. We have many memories of those UofT days when we both started dating. Another plus is that the architecture of the campus and Hart House specifically is absolutely beautiful. It's a lot more formal than Balzac's and the music room pictured above (where we would have the ceremony, dinner and dancing) has two fireplaces. The idea of getting married in front of a fireplace excites me! I am an art lover and there's some wonderful pieces that have been lent by the Art Gallery of Ontario. Another plus is that when you book this venue the catering is all done in house. Also, you get an event planner who is hired by the university and whose full-time job is to plan your wedding. The only negative I can think of is that this venue is very busy (several rooms you can book aside from the music room) and I may run into other brides on my big day.

Enoch Turner Schoolhouse (Corktown)

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Enoch Turner Schoolhouse was the first free school in Toronto. It's a nice airy open space that we could also walk to from our place. I love the green wooden beams and the fact that you get the whole school to yourself (including the outdoor space). A negative is that there is virtually nothing in this space and everything, such as chairs and tables would have to be rented and brought in.

Stay turned to see which of these venues we have chosen for our wedding!!! Which one do you think we chose? *** If you already know please don't comment to that effect. We have put a hold on one of these venues but have not yet finalized everything. I can't wait til it's final so I can take a deep breath and move on to other fun wedding planning stuff, like finding an officient, NOT! But honestly having a venue picked and almost finalized has made it all seem so much more real. I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!