Wedding Bells

On Saturday, we attended the wedding of our close friends. This is the first wedding we've been to of mutual friends. Previously, it's been my friend or dC's friend but this one was of mutual friends. I know that sounds unimportant but it actually makes it that much better. Our entire group of friends (and others) celebrating two great people that we all know.

What's also awesome is that their story is so similar to ours! We met around the same [just over 3 years ago] through our corporate softball team and we started dating just before them. They did get engaged much sooner, about 9 months before us, and [clearly] got married a year before us.

It's totally cool and insane for us have grown together like that & it was amazing to take part in their special day.

But let's face it - pictures are the best so here we go! Fair warning, there's only one picture here where I am/have not consumed alcohol.

Taking a {drinking} break while we wait for the reception!

Dance, dance!

With the groom...

...and with the bride!

The night may have been a blur, but it was surely one of the best blurs ever! 

Birthday à la Asian

Remember it was this guy's birthday on Friday?

I love it when birthdays are on a Friday because they really let you milk the whole birthday weekend! I know, it's not even my birthday but it's Mike's and I get pumped up enough for the both of us.

Friday morning started with cake for breakfast!

The Napoleon Cake I made

Birthday boy blowing out his candle :)

After work we headed to a beer market with live music - and got zero pictures of course. You'll just have to trust me when I tell you that we had a good time with good friends :)

Saturday was relax day - despite not being hungover at all! #winning - and watched lots of Breaking Bad. We're now on the final season - supposed to be the best one! No spoilers!

That night we went for our just-the-two-of-us birthday dinner & got dim sum in Chinatown. Honestly, I've barely been to Chinatown and never eaten there but it was great! Next time I want to go to one of those places where the bring you dim sum on carts!

Dim sum & chinese buns

My mango pudding desert #favesies

Chinese lantern lights in Chinatown

We ended the night in Toronto's ultra mini Times Square - Dundas Square:

Big, bright lights

Sunday was family birthday lunch and went for Korean BBQ. Have you had it before? So much fun and so delicious! For those that are unfamiliar, you cook your own food (usually mainly meat and some veggies) on a grill in the centre of your table.

We didn't end our Asian-ing there however; instead, we headed to the popular Asian flea market mall, Pacific Mall. It was incredible. I mean, I love flea markets because they're crazy but this one was so organized! And so much stuff! Granted, there was definitely an overload of phone cases but there was also a giant selection of knock off purses. And I'm all about the knock offs. $500 for MK purse? No thanks. $60? Sure! While I didn't pick any up, it was purely out of indecision and I will certainly be going back!

Finally, we hit a popular Asian grocery store, T&T, before heading home and ran into these guys:

Overall, a crazy fun birthday weekend and it wasn't even my birthday! See, the post title wasn't just because of birthday boy's background! :P

#Cali2013 - The Video

This 9-minute video is the best representation of just how fantastic our trip was. In a way, it's also an ad for doing a California road trip, which I cannot recommend enough!

Thanks to dC for shooting* & producing this. Also, for putting up a good fight to buy a GoPro before we went away. It was worth it.

*Some is shot with a regular digital camera (most often by me)

Cat Nap

I can't believe how little I post about Koko, compared to how much I thought I would when I first got him. It's definitely not because there's nothing to say, trust me, but it's hard to capture it tangibly! He's so fast & crazy when he's running around - he's still a kitten! - that it's hard to get him on camera. By the time I try to, it's over. Plus, I enjoy just playing & cuddling without worrying about taking a nice shot. I'll try harder though! 

That being said, I do get some great shots when he's all tuckered out and/or napping. Like this one - where he progressively stretched out more and more across my bed & finally fell asleep.

Gosh I just love this little fluffy guy so much!

Lushin', Lovin', Lakin'

This past weekend was quite eventful!

Friday started off with Toronto's Annual Beerfest. We've attended the last couple of years with our group of friends but this year wasn't nearly as much as prior. Not sure why but I still can't complain about many-a-refills of this...

Saturday we headed out of town for the  wedding of one my university friends She looked stunning & I can't believe these are the only two pictures that I got! This is just my ceremony dress (that we were late for thanks to traffic) :(

On our way back on Sunday we stopped off in Oakville since we realized neither of us had been there. It's right by the lake & I'd heard great things about it's little downtown. It was definitely a cute little place - totally felt like Niagara-on-the-Lake.

I love busy weekends filled with lots of fun instead of los of responsibilities...Ah, adulthood...

Montreal 2013 Sneak Peak

Last week, especially for a short week, was insaaaaaaanely crazy! So here's just a little 'preview' of our recent Montreal trip; more to come.

We flew out of the small Toronto City airport for the first time and it was glorious! So much easier get to & awesome waiting lounge - aka free snacks & drinks!

Pre-flight latte before boarding the little plane!

From left to right, by row:

Notre Dame Cathedral at night

Famous smoked meat sandwiches

Beautiful macarons

Photo op!

Delicious peach & banana 'flammekuche'

Photo op!

Mango flower - yes edible

The last performance we saw at the Jazz Festival - really great!

My favourite part of all:

The beach!!!!

It's actually a man-made beach just steps away from Old Town & the Old Port of Montreal.

It was free to get in & we were lucky to find lounge chairs near an umbrella to relax.

Live DJ + a bar & wonderful weather...what more could you ask for?!
I wish this existed here...

Stay tuned while I get my camera pictures organized :)

two years happy.

We've officially made it past our 2 year anniversary! I'm kidding, obviously we were going to.

Gift giving was an unspoken 'yes' because I knew that even if I tried to enforce a 'no gifts' rule, dC would still go ahead with his own plans. It seemed pointless.

Glad I didn't fight it because I'm so excited about what I got:

It's a Fuji Instax Mini 8 - who knew polaroid-type cameras still existed! It's super cool & I'm so excited to use it! I just need to remember that I only have one chance at taking a good picture, unlike what I'm used to. Haha!

Naturally we went for dinner - I don't know why it took us as long as it did to make a decision but we finally went to this Brazilian steakhouse we'd been dying to try.

If you love meat and have never been I urge you to go to one right.now. Similarly, it's a vegetarian/vegan's hell so might want to stay away if that's the case.

The premise is that there is a buffet for salads & apps, and servers come to your table with skewers of meat. Until you feel like you're going burst, because it's all you can eat meat (and salads).

I was too busy with my steaks and filet mignon to take my own pictures of dinner, but I think this is all you need. At your table. #omnomnom

{via}

Full or not, we still came home for our champagne & slice of cake...

Happy 2 years to us :)

Anniversary morning & anniversary evening...both sleepy haha :)
[with the new Instax of course!]

two years strong.

I can't believe how fast time has flown by, how much has happened and where we were two short, long (that's not a typo) years ago.

All I'm sure of is that there's no better partner for the roller coaster of ups & downs that we've experienced & the ride ain't over yet!

#MusicMonday

This to get me through today:

Catnipped

So we gave Koko catnip for the first time last night in a little mouse toy pouch. Below is what ensued - for like 30 minutes.

Catnip affects all cats differently (and some not at all). In Koko's case, he was super energized and I think he had a lot of fun. We also had quite a bit of fun watching :)

One Spoiled Birthday Boy

This was a weekend of epic birthday celebration proportions...and it wasn't even my birthday!

Thursday evening celebrations had all of dC's friends come out for an evening of fishbowls & schooners that culminated in the birthday boy getting his free birthday sundae...

Friday was a lazy recovery day with pre-Easter treats & too much time spent on a Vine video. That you can't see because dC doesn't share his social media. One day guys, one  day.

Friday evening we had birthday dinner with his fam & finished off with Olympus Has Fallen. Go. See. It.

Saturday we went to an indoor trampoline park. That's exactly what it sounds like. Trampolines, indoor, all over. No pictures because my stuff was put away in the locker, but you can see it for yourself here.

Trampoline fun was followed by a free tour & tasting of a local micro brewery. Amazing. 

Then I needed to sober up with some froyo. I'm not even kidding you LOL

Saturday evening it was finally time for our birthday dinner date at PF Chang's. Awesome North American Chinese cuisine and their first location in Canada. Loved it. Obv we had mini desserts.

Dinner was followed by partying with an outfit I loved! 

#ootn

Sunday was all relaxing, all day long. With a wild variety of TV shows. Who knew Sunday television could be so entertaining.

Yeah, dC was pretty spoiled this weekend  but he deserves it :)

Special Birthday Shoutout!

This guy...

...has the best sense of humour.

...has an extreme tolerance for my craziness.

...randomly brings home little gifts for no reason.

...helps me let loose when I'm being uptight.

...doesn't mind that I suck at video games [and has to bring my character back to life every 2 minutes].

...enjoys watching mindless TV as much as I do (or more!).

...is great at mixing drinks ;)

...helps out around the house all the time!

...makes my lunch when I'm feeling tired & lazy on occasion.

...is the sweetest & most caring guy I've ever met.

...pretty much just makes me a better person...

I Love You!

Bon Jovi, The Show

I can't believe I was able to cross off this major item off of my to do list: see Bon Jovi live in concert.

Thanks to dC for finally convincing me to buy tickets, because I put it off every time he comes to town. I can't imagine why.

It was incredible...see for yourselves...

First of course you get to see our pre-concert excitement!

This close, no zoom!

The End.
I'll be back.

Love.

You can also check out the Preview & Video posts.