The Weekend

It's cold and dark in Toronto this time of year, and since it's still two more months left until spring you gotta come up with fun things to do.

Getting all dressed up for our weekly Date Night with my husband is one of my favorite things to enjoy every week.

I've also enjoyed doing some decorating and shopping during the month of January. When all the Christmas decorations went back into the storage room our home felt very empty. I decided to replace the Christmas decorations with some new accessories. On Saturday I bought a new orchid and a candle for the breakfast table.

I also took the time to shop a pair of new winter boots from Steve Madden. During the month of December I spent all my weekends on Christmas shopping, so in January I'm enjoying having time to shop a few things for myself.

Healthy eating is one of my goals in January, but you gotta balance that up with a few macaroons every Saturday. Coffee and macaroons is my favorite sweet treat in January.

On Sunday evening I enjoyed a glass of red wine from Wayne Gretzky Estates and a new magazine.

The Weekend

A moment of stillness. One of my favorite relaxing things to do during this season is enjoy a big cup of coffee and read some new magazines in our family room.

I also enjoy looking at our pink Christmas flower, it lights up my world!

My weekend diet included a couple of bags of popcorn. White chocolate & peppermint flavored kettle corn and two episodes of Big Little Lies made my Saturday evening relaxing and enjoyable.

Saturday morning was all about fun and games at our house. Who's hiding behind the couch? Hubby has energy for some Hide and seek right away in the morning, I'm impressed!

On Saturday afternoon we needed to run some errands in downtown Toronto.

Running errands always becomes more fun when you add some toffee hot chocolate.

As we were driving past the CN Tower I thought of all the sweet memories I have from this tower. We celebrated Mom&Dad's 30th wedding anniversary in the CN Tower restaurant and my husband proposed to me in this tower. Seven years ago Toronto was a brand new city to me, today this city is filled with happy memories. God is so good to me!

The Weekend

I have lived in North America for ten years but I have never gone shopping on Black Friday. This year I ended up doing some shopping on Black Friday even if I wasn't planning on it. I only bought one thing. When I noticed that the stuffed animals size XXXL were on 50% sale I decided to buy a teddy bear.

On Saturday I wasn't feeling well so I spent most of the day relaxing, then in the evening I started feeling better so we went out to buy some more Christmas ornaments. We have now decorated the tree in white, gold, silver and pink, it's a very girly Christmas tree this year but my husband still approved it. :)

I also bought a new wreath for the front door this year, I love it! Our home has now been completely transformed into a winter wonderland full of the Christmas spirit. I'm ready for December now!

On Sunday morning I had to take a picture in church because I was so proud of myself for being at church 30 minutes early for once in my life. We went in early to have a little Christmas photo shoot at church.

This week we are having a Christmas party at our Women Connect gathering at church. "Bring a snack and wear a Christmas sweater" they said. My "Christmas sweater" is either a plain white sweater or a black one, you can't find much else in in my closet at the moment. Maybe I should have done some more shopping on Black Friday after all? Oh well, my all-black outfit is going to have to do, even if it's a Christmas party. Red and green are clearly not my favorite colors. :)

Life Right Now

November usually offers the most lovely weather; rain, wind and around +7 degrees Celsius. I felt so cold during the weekend that I decided to put my winter jacket to use. On the other hand, November is the perfect month to stay indoors and try out some new recipes! I bought a couple of new cooking books this Fall and every week I enjoy trying 1-2 new recipes. A book called "Oh She Glows Every Day" by Angela Liddon is filled with yummy vegan recipes. Angela's "Comforting Red Lentil and Chickpea Curry" is my favorite weeknight dinner at the moment!

An event I always look forward to in November is my weekly Date Night with my husband. On Sunday evening we had a nice Date Night at Scaddabush, an Italian restaurant in Toronto. We made some plans for the future together while we were enjoying a glass of red wine and gnocchi gorgonzola.

Decorating is my favorite little hobby in November. During the weekend I was adding some new pictures to our Family Picture Wall in the Dining Room. As I was looking at our wedding picture from Jamaica and the picture of Mom&Dad I felt so grateful for what I have in my life. Growing up I used to dream about finding a man who would treat me with the same love and respect that my Dad has for my Mom. Although I was almost ready to give up on that dream and settle for less at one point in my life, I'm glad I held on to hope. My husband is all I ever dreamt of and more. He is my greatest encourager in life and helps me become a better woman every year. I hope to do the same for him.

Quotes to live by:

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain. But first, coffee."

Let's be honest here, there is no way I will take on "dancing in the rain" before I've had my morning coffee. Good coffee is a must in life!

My Weekend Plans

This weekend I'm hoping I will be able to take another trip to the beach on either Saturday or Sunday. Last weekend was warm and wonderful and I spent most of my Sunday at Wasaga Beach. This Friday my husband and I have offered to babysit the cutest little baby boy we know, it's going to be a lot of fun! :)

I plan to treat myself to at least one iced latte this weekend. During the summer you can never have too many iced lattes if you ask me. :)

I'm also planning to have a date night with my favorite guy in the world on Saturday.

In case it becomes a rainy weekend I'm planning to lay in bed and read one of my favorite books right now: "The Good and Beautiful Life" by James Bryan Smith. This book really challenges me to keep growing with chapters like: "Learning to Live Without Worry" and "Learning to Live Without Judging Others".

I'm also hoping I will get the chance to enjoy at least one beautiful sunset during the weekend. This picture is from Sunday evening at Wasaga Beach last week. I'm wishing you all a fun and relaxing weekend! :)

My Weekend

The highlights of the weekend were...

The sunshine! I love living in a country with four seasons, it helps me appreciate every season. I definitely think that I would take the warm and sunny days for granted if I lived somewhere where it's sunny all the time, after a long winter I'm always super happy to see the blue skies again!

The Sushi! Last week we had March Break in Ontario but we didn't book any vacation this year so I thought: "Why not make the beach come to you?" The "Hawaii roll" at Izakaya never disappoints!

A day downtown in our beautiful city Toronto always makes the weekend fun! I also found a nice Key Lime Pie at the grocery store that continued the "vacation theme" of the weekend. The best thing about that pie is that I still have a few slices left of it to enjoy during the week. A slice of Key Lime Pie can take a Monday evening from ordinary to special. I love to look for little things that can make life beautiful and special, whether it's a walk along the beach at sunset on a Wednesday evening or a tasty dessert on a Monday. I think life is too short to only live for the weekends! :)

My Weekend

The Canadian weather continues to surprise me although I've lived in Canada for almost six years now. On Saturday we had very warm weather in Toronto, +11 degrees Celsius. The week before we had -26 degrees Celsius on Saturday and I didn't go outside my house all day.

Here's a picture of the weather in the middle of the week last week.

Just a few days later the weather looks like this, and you could almost have a picnic outside. The funny thing is as we were taking our morning walk on Saturday I saw three people out windsurfing on the lake. They were wearing wetsuits of course but still, Canadian people are not afraid of some cold water that's for sure. :)

Lake Ontario, my "Spa". I grew up on a small island so I have to be able to spend time by the water and listen to the waves roll in a couple of times every week to stay balanced.

I got a cold last week so I spent the weekend eating a lot healthier foods than I do usually. I tried to have two juices or smoothies every day to help my body get well again as quickly as possible.

My husband and I like to go out for brunch on Sundays but this weekend we stayed in and made a healthy bowl of oatmeal instead. We make our oatmeal with coconut milk and coconut water. I like to eat my oatmeal with berries, cacao nibs and some coconut yogurt on top.

The weekend also means running a thousand little errands, here I am shopping some pens and notebooks. I fill up about 4-5 notebooks full of dreams, ideas and thoughts every year.

I also made some homemade tomato sauce with chicken and fresh pasta during the weekend. Cooking has become my new little hobby. I love trying fun new recipes and right now I have a phase when I make a lot of Italian food. I bought a new cooking book on Sunday so now I have a lot of inspiration for new recipes to try.

The Weekend

On Friday I started the weekend with a Date Night at Il Fornello with my husband. I enjoyed a glass of red wine and a very tasty pizza with pesto, grilled chicken, red onions, plum tomatoes and pine nuts.

On Saturday morning I enjoyed being able to relax with a big cup of morning coffee and the newspaper for a long time. The month of December was a busy month so I'm really enjoying that our weekends during January are not booked up. My goal this weekend was to have a slow weekend.

After breakfast I took a walk along the beach by the lake. It was sunny on Saturday so I got a good dosage of the much needed day light.

This time of year it's too cold outside to sit on a park bench and relax, but I still enjoy just being able to be outdoors.

Views like these are what keeps me sane, time in nature is a must-have for me to stay balanced and joyful in life.

After a makeup free Saturday I got all dressed up on Sunday morning and went to church with my husband.

In church we got the chance to listen to a sermon inspiring us to live less selfish lives and we were able to catch up with some friends after the service.

We went to Cora's for brunch on Sunday afternoon and enjoyed some more couple's time. We had brunch at Cora's for the fist time ever on our 3rd date five years ago. I love the wonderful memories that come to mind every time we spend time at Cora's.

I had Eggs Benedict with an extra side of fresh fruit. After brunch we headed to the grocery store to shop all the food for next week. On Sunday evening we continued to relax with dinner at home and some TV shows on Netflix. It became a very relaxing and slow weekend, just the way I like it! :)