New York

I finally took the time to upload some pictures from our road trip to New York in May. Better late than never? :)

Visiting family in Brooklyn.

The colors of New York.

Central Park. Yes, the grass is definitely greener in New York. Our backyard does not look like this at the moment.

Spring in Brooklyn.

Breakfast at the hotel on a rainy morning.

Enjoying the sunshine, the city and my husband's company.

Food. It's all about the food when I travel. Lunch at Le Pain Quotidien is a treat!

I always buy these mini cupcakes from "Baked by Melissa" when I'm in NYC. The blueberry pie cupcake (on the right) was my favorite one this time.

Empire State of mind.

After a week in New York it was time to drive back home to Toronto through the beautiful mountains of upstate New York.

Home Sweet Home

It feels good to back in Toronto again after our road trip! This year our road trip destination was New York where we spent a lot of quality time with our family members who live there. It was also fun to spend a few days doing sightseeing in Manhattan and enjoy the spring in New York. I will share some pictures from the trip whenever I get my computer working again. The repairman still has my computer but hopefully I will get it back soon.

I love going on trips for two different reasons. I love enjoying the people, food, weather and sights in a new place and I also love that every trip gives me a new appreciation for home. It was fun to spend a week in New York but after seven days I was starting to long for the suburbs of Toronto again. I love that our neighborhood has a lot of green space and.......space, in general. I like big cities but after a while I always start to long for nature, peace&quiet and more space. I also think it's quite funny how annoyed we can get with our own hometowns until we see something different that helps us appreciate what we have. I find Torontonians to be very self-centred in traffic, until I go to New York. Every time I come home from NYC I find Torontonians to be so polite and kind, in comparison to the New Yorkers. I think it's good for everyone to get a change of scenery a couple of times a year if possible, trips and vacations give us a much needed perspective on life.

I also got very inspired from spending a lot of time with my husband's aunt who lives in NYC. She is one of those Christian women who radiates light, love and joy. She is a nurse and she treats every person she serves with the same honor and respect, no matter if her patient is a famous celebrity or a poor person. Hospitality is one of her spiritual gifts and she is using her gift to the fullest. She always invites you into her home with a big smile on her face, cooks you a meal and loves to spend time with you. She will always leave you feeling more encouraged than when you arrived.

Auntie is a social butterfly and I'm pretty much the opposite, I will never be like her, but we all have been given different gifts by God. Last time I took a Spiritual Gifts-test my top three gifts were Encouragement, Mercy and Teaching. When I see Auntie in action I get inspired to put my own gifts to use as much as she does. Auntie is 70+ but she still works as a nurse a couple of days a week, she loves people and she doesn't want to fully retire when she can continue to help others. I love how much we can learn from other people who have gone before us. Auntie is 40 years older than me and I learn so many new things from her every time I spend time with her.

Two Years Ago

Two years ago in May my husband and I took a road trip to Myrtle Beach,SC. It turned out our timing for the road trip wasn't great.

Three out of the four days in Myrtle Beach were cloudy and rainy. We decided to leave Myrtle Beach one day earlier than we had planned.

On our way back home we decided to visit Virginia Beach for a couple of days. We hadn't planned to visit Virginia from the start but the bad weather down south led to an unexpected but fun stay at Virginia Beach. Many times it's when life does not go according to my plan that it ends up being better than I could have ever imagined! :)

Both my husband and I liked Virginia Beach so much that we decided to take another road trip to this city a year later.

My hubby in Virginia Beach last year in May.

This is what I call a relaxing vacation.

It's the first week of May again and my husband and I are in the process of planning another road trip, but this year we aren't visiting Virginia.

The Winter Road Trip

Last week we took a winter road trip to Collingwood, ON. Put some comfy clothes on and you're all set to go!

I don't like to go for long drives in the winter when the roads are icy but Collingwood is only two hours away from Toronto so it's perfect for a weekend getaway.

Panera Bread, my favorite choice of road trip food. I love their healthy lunches!

They had some snow in Collingwood which was nice since we haven't had much snow in T.O. this year.

We took a visit to the Scandinavian Spa in Collingwood. The Spa has a Finnish sauna, a steam sauna, outdoor hot baths, cold baths and relaxation rooms to enjoy. I'm Scandinavian so I'm loving this type of Spa of course. I was probably the guest who enjoyed the cold baths the most. :)

After soaking in the cold and hot baths for a few hours I was feeling as relaxed as you can possibly get.

After the baths we decided to hang out by the fire place with some coffee and magazines to enjoy. The Scandinavian Spa is for 19-year olds and older, it's close to the skiing hills and I find it to be the perfect place to relax in February.

The Road Trip

Day 1: Comfy clothes are a must on a road trip! I'm all set for a drive South of the border.

We made it to the hotel in Pittsburgh! I'm ready to see what Pittsburgh has to offer on a Saturday night.

Day 2: Time to fill up on some coffee and read the news before we head out on the road again.

The drive from Pittsburgh to Washington was rainy but still beautiful, I love the beautiful mountain views!

Day 3: We were able to do some sight-seeing in Washington DC, you can't leave town without seeing the White House.

... and some more sight-seeing.

Day 4: Our first day in sunny Virginia Beach,VA. It felt great to be back at the beach after many months of snow and colder weather!

Quality time with my hubby, we both love the ocean and taking beach vacations.

Day 7: Time to start driving back up North. Iced lattes and good music in the car kept us entertained during our drive back home to Canada. I feel very blessed and thankful for this eight-day-long vacation that offered a lot of time for rest. Many great memories were created during this trip! :)

Summer in The City

 

 

 

 

 

Last week my husband and I took a road trip from Toronto to New York. The weather was hot during our days in New York so I was happy that our hotel had a rooftop pool. It was also nice to buy an iced latte and hang out in central park doing some people watching. The pool and the park will keep you cool during a summer in the city. :)

The Roadtrip

Today is my first day back in Toronto after a one week long vacation. My husband and I decided to take a road trip down south this spring. It became a road trip through seven different states in total; New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland. We spent a few days at Myrtle Beach,SC but unfortunately tropical storm Ana made the weather a little less enjoyable than we had expected so after a couple of days we headed up north to Virginia Beach,VA. The weather in Virginia was great during the two days that we stayed there. We got to swim in the ocean, sunbathe and enjoy some great food at the restaurants in Virginia Beach. Now I'm rested, a little tanned and happy to be back home in Toronto. We made it home just in time for Victoria Day weekend in Canada.