Sister Bonding Time

I can count on one hand the number of times my youngest sister and I have been alone together. More specifically, I can count the number of times on two fingers. The first was around a decade ago, when I brought her to Take Our Kids to Work Day, less than a month before I switched to a new job. The second was this weekend, when we spent several stomach-bursting-definitely-not-eat-at-home-challenge hours together, the night before her convocation ceremony. I wasn't sure what to expect during our sister bonding adventure, but the hours flew by, and I had so much fun! In the past 24 hours, I discovered even more what an incredibly smart, hardworking, funny, open, generous, and kind person she is. Also, I can't believe my littlest sister is so much taller than me now.

Following tradition with us three girls at convocation, we had to take some requisite jumping photos! Here's a little flashback to 2014 with both my beautiful sisters.

Today's jumps didn't work out so well, but the new grad sure looks good in this one. That jump is impressive especially considering her high heels!

I ended up being straight-legged in pretty much all our jumping photos. I swear I made an effort. Too bad this photo didn't turn out, but it's proof I can still bend my legs. Congratulations on your shiny new master's degree, littlest sis! Our whole family is so very proud of you. x

Nation's Capital

Greetings from our nation's capital! I'm in Ottawa for the night, and I'm cozied up in my hotel room, waiting for my sister to arrive. Thankfully, the weather held up for my walk from the train station to the hotel--I wanted to get those steps in! It's been snowing steadily for the last couple of hours, so it's pretty soggy out now. Stay dry, my friends!

Puffins Bring Me Joy

When I was looking through our many photographs from Iceland yesterday, it occurred to me that I haven't blogged about our travels in a very long time. Similar to how vlogs are my favourite type of video to re-watch, travel entries are my favourite type of blog post to re-read. During my gap year, I would like to catch up by sharing some of our vacations of yesteryear, starting with Iceland.



Hubby and I had such a good time photographing the Atlantic Puffins during our trip last May! Many of these silly, clownish birds nest in the cliffs of Iceland between April and September, so we were there at the perfect time of year. I pretty much had a continuous smile on my face as I was going through our photos - these funny, little birds make me so happy! It was the perfect pick-me-up on this rainy Monday in Toronto.













Hubby's photos were particularly stunning! I wanted to post them all, but I decided to exercise a little restraint, so here are a few of my favourites.













Where to find puffins in Iceland
We first tried to find them in Dyrhólaey, but were unsuccessful. A few days later, after our trip to the beautiful East Fjords, we took a rather long detour to Borgarfjörður Eystri, and we were pleasantly surprised to find tons of puffins. We highly recommend this location! While it's a little more remote, the drive is absolutely beautiful, and there are numerous walkways and viewing platforms where you can watch the puffins go about their day. It's an incredible place.

Busy Boycott

Courtney Carver (creator of Project 333) will be leading another Busy Boycott challenge starting tomorrow. I've signed up, and I'm very excited to be partaking in this! I've seen how being "busy" distracts you from what really matters, and I am increasingly aware of how feeling "busy" or being in the presence of "busy" changes the environment around you. While I've already taken great strides towards reducing my "busy-ness," I'm eager to learn more.

To put myself in the right frame of mind for this challenge, I took a look at some photos from our recent trip to Iceland. If I were to pick a moment to embody the Busy Boycott, I would choose a moment during our road trip around Iceland via the Ring Road last May. There were many times when we were the only ones on the road, and there were so many beautiful vistas to nourish the soul. I felt less busy there. I slowed down. The air was magical, and I stopped to breath it all in. I'm excited to make room for more moments like this in my daily life.

Travel Tuesday . Food & Wine . France . September 2013

1. M. Chapoutier winery (H)
2. Grapes (M) & vineyard (H)
3. Picking (F) & pondering (H)
4. Nibbling (H)
5. Vineyard (H) & door (F)
6. Pouring (H) & tasting (F)
7. Peek-a-boo x 2 (H)
8. Le Saint Mort (F) & our table (H)
9. Nougat Savin (H)
10. Sign & factory entrance (M)
11. Making nougat x 2 (H)
12. Sorting (H)
13. Storefront & rabbit detail (M)
14. Truffle x 2 (M)
15. Dogs love truffles (M)
16. Sweet lab (H)
17. We missed our reservation so we had to join a huge tour group (M)
18. Sliced truffle on crostini x 4 (M)
19. Nom x 2 (H)
20. Truffle close up & path (H)
21. Dinner at Abel (F)

Note: the letter in parentheses = source of the image (M = my camera, H = hubby's camera, F = friend's camera).

Travel Tuesday . Le Puy-en-Velay . September 2013

1. View of Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe Chapel in Le Puy-en-Velay (M)
2. View of street in Le Puy-en-Velay (M)
3. My lunch (M)
4. Hubby's lunch (H)
5. Friend & her lunch (F)
6. Views in Le Puy-en-Velay (M)
7. Views in Le Puy-en-Velay (M)
8. Entrance (H)
9. Church details (M)
10. Church details (H)
11. Fun in the sun (H)
12. View of town en route to the chapel (M)
13. Chapel entrance (M)
14. Side of chapel (M)
15. Chapel & details (H)
16. Stained glass (M)
17. Looking out (H)
18. So many steps (H)
19. Artisan lace (H)
20. Driving back to Lyon (M)
21. Lyon at night (M)
22. Dining al fresco (M)
23. Yum (M)
24. Double yum (F)
25. Lyon at night & bridge detail (H)
26. Lyon at night (H)

Note: the letter in parentheses = source of the image (M = my camera, H = hubby's camera, F = friend's camera).