this weekend (my bonus holiday weekend, as a result of my cancelled trip to florida) was a great, busy, sun and hike filled, weekend. it started a bit early this week…. but hey, what’s the point of having a life if you aren’t going to live it, amiright?
arriving at my parents on Thursday night to find my dad and
next door neighbor having a ‘meeting’ in the pool; slip and slide day with the monkeys;
my four little monkeys; sharing bubbles with me; outside hanging with some
music, and some sun; afternoon hike with jeff the white speck (middle left);
swimming at the reservoir; the forest cover; my bike/hike partner in crime; brooklyn
summer ale; our sampler pack of craft beer - I chose my 3 based on labels; late night jenga; me pining after my board
that I can’t reach in my parents garage (and my sister’s hello kitty board –
clearly bought awhile ago); clothes from jamie – picking out
the bright colours, and going home with black grey and dark grey; the
bachelorette, 2 jamies, and snacks in bed; my michelle starbucks mail surprise!
Wednesday: my little sister darcy was down, and so we met
for lunch outside my office – we had a picnic, and ate veggie burgers and salad
outside in the gardens. the weather was perfect – though it started to rain
just as I went back inside – so anytime I can get outside for lunch, I’m happy.
I worked the rest of my day, and then met darcy after work. we did a quick stop
in at lululemon (can’t blame us), and then walked a bit before hopping on
the streetcar. stopped at my place to put her stuff down, and then introduced
her to Granville island beer, before heading to…. of course… pizzeria libretto (sorry not sorry). put our name on the wait list, and then
went over to lakeview for some muskoka ales – then were called
over to enjoy the slices of heaven at PL. Food was – as usual – incredible. we managed
to sit there long enough to have couples on either side of us leave, and then
reintroduce new ones. and then leave. (apparently we talk too much). then,
walked home, and went to bed.
Thursday: after work, darcy met me, and we drove home
through rush hour (have I mentioned how much I hate driving into or out of Toronto
in rush hour traffic? It’s 98% of the reason I live downtown), to get her home
for her ultimate Frisbee game. then, jeff stopped by to pick me up, and we
headed to Guelph for the important task of choosing a motorcycle helmet for
him. once we procured the all important helmet, we headed into downtown to have
vegan dinner at the cornerstone and then headed back to our respective parents (feeling a
bit like we were in high school).
Friday: blessed day off – first in so so long. So, I woke
up, dilly dallied, stopped for a bit to chat with my mom and sister post
pedicure, while they packed for the cottage, and then headed off to my friend’s
place to hang with the ‘babies’ (which I suppose I will have to stop calling
them sometime soon, as one of them is 5 now). spent the majoriy of the day just
hanging with them – eating lunch (‘auntie jamie, would you like to eat lunch at
OUR house?’), playing in the slip and slide, sampling vegan almond yogurt (all
of our first times), and reading. I had to tear myself away at around 4…. Sigh. then, sat outside at my parent’s for a bit in the sun, while reading and
listening to music (I understand this is what people call ‘relaxing’). after a quick surprise visit from a dashing man on a motorcycle, i headed over to
jeff’s to pick him up, and make our way to Ellicottville. After a short wait at
the border, a quick stop at wegman’s for groceries, and jeff’s cherry popping
trip to chipotle (I know, I know…. I was appalled as well), we arrived late
in Ellicottville, and promptly went to bed (party!).
Saturday: woke up fairly late, and made a big breakfast of
scrambled tofu (me), eggs (jeff), toast, tempeh bacon (me), and inhaled it
around noon. we then packed some snacks, some water, and some beer and headed
out for a hike/bike – jeff on bike, me on shoe. we hike/biked up the ski hill,
and then settled at the water reservoir at the top for a while, went for a
swim, ate and ‘rehydrated’. headed back down the hill (and found the tiniest
toad I have ever seen in my life), sweating every step of the way. when we arrived back to
the chalet, we made some snacks and started watching ‘the great escape’. apparently the hike dominated us both, and we had a nap
(apparently mono has not left our bodies – I was out cold for 3 hours). I woke
up to dinner being prepared – and we had dinner and watched the rest of ‘thegreat escape’. played a rousing game of jenga,
then built some forts with our jenga blocks (really mature
people), and played some labyrinth game…. once finishing we both promptly said, ‘that was an awful
game’. bored us both to bed.
Sunday: woke up pretty early to jeff’s parents arriving –
had some breakfast while chatting with his dad as he unpacked a few things. got
packed up, and an early start on the road (after stopping for our customary
iced coffees) to get back home in good time. when we arrived home, hung out
while he packed up again, and had some snacks before heading home. spent the
rest of the day catching up on emails, planning a bit for my upcoming vancouver
trip, and watching criminal minds marathons. darcy arrived home from the cottage late, and we
ensured a proper watching of empire records was in store.
Monday: woke up late ish, and watched some diners drives inand dives (I don’t have cable, so I NEVER get to watch this stuff!),
and then headed out to meet my friend jamie and her fam at rib fest in
waterdown. did some major people watching while her family ate sauce covered
ribs (jealous), and tried to keep my clothes from becoming too soaked in sweat
(I love summer). Then, we walked back to my parent’s, and laid by the pool –
avoided a major floating dead mouse in the pool mishap (jamie s saves the day
while jamie p maintains a distance), and listened to music, laying in the sun.
then got dressed, and headed out in search of a patio that could feed us both. Had
dinner at the watermark, and then went up to Jamie’s place to rifle through her
donation bags of clothes (I’m not above free clothing handouts), and watch the
bachelorette (only on long weekends do I watch so much crappy reality
tv). drove back to my parents, and decided to stay the night after packing, and
a rather precarious situation with a wind up flashlight, and a skunk scare.
Tuesday: woke up this morning to meet jeff early for a
morning tea, before driving back into toronto for work (against rush hour –
remind me of this, next time I think it’s a good idea to stay at my parents). Made
it back home in time for a shower, change, and to receive my michelle starbuckdesigns necklace that I won in a 20 best 20 giveaway! great start to the week.
on another note, two of my closest friends were hitched this weekend – not to
one another, but to two great men. one in nipegon, and one in naples. congratulations
are in order to both Emily and karli – mostly for not turning around and
jetting (which is likely more my style), but also to making a commitment to
another human being to be as selfish with their needs as their own. This is
something that never ceases to impress me. (man – I have awesome friends who
promise awesome things to awesome people. Awesome).
hope everyone had a fantastic long weekend - safe, fun, wonderful. and, on the empire records note, i'll leave you with one of my favourite scenes: