It's hard to believe that today marks 15 years in Canada for me. 15 years ago, I made one of the biggest decisions I have ever made when I decided to leave everything I had ever known to come to Toronto. When the heart calls, I believe we should answer. Today's post is about how one decision changed my life and how you shouldn't be afraid to leave your comfort zone and leap into the unknown.
I was given the opportunity to attend 29Rooms in Toronto and a party co-hosted by Stella Artois this past Thursday. Such a fun event! I wanted to get this post up quickly for any of my local readers who might like to go or to get a further idea on what is offered here in Toronto, as well as when it travels. 29Rooms is a pop-up style event set up with art displays and themed rooms based on causes, cultures, and artistic creativity. Many of the displays travel, while some are distinct to the city it is in. After Toronto, 29Rooms will travel to Washington, DC and Los Angeles, CA. It's only in Toronto until October 6 and that date is coming up fast! You can find it at the Queen Elizabeth Building on the CNE grounds.
To not make this a picture-heavy post, I'm sharing these in collage format to fit a lot more in. There are many that I am not sharing, so I hope you'll look at what others are sharing and that you get the opportunity to go! 29Rooms is a perfect time to "do it for the 'Gram", because every room is just calling out for pictures! If you follow me on Instagram, I did share pictures on my Stories (now some are in my highlights).
Terre Bleu has been on my "to visit" list for a few years now and I finally got to take it all in! Well, not all. It's a huge place and I just couldn't see it all on such a hot day, because I started suffering from heat exhaustion (I take that very seriously) and cut our visit a little short. Honestly, I had fears that my knee injury would act up and it ended up being my sensitivity to heat. My knee hurt, sure, but it did pretty well walking through the fields. An improvement even from last summer that I will happily pat myself on the back for!
We were there for about two hours, I'd say. We took in two lavender fields, ice cream, visited the horses, posed with the yellow door photo prop, and just had a great time learning about the farm. Terre Bleu Lavender Farm is located in Milton, Ontario and I'd say it is high on many travel lists when you're coming to the Toronto area in the summer. Here are some pictures and information from our colorful day spent in the lavender!
It is cherry blossom time in the city of Toronto. There are a few places you can go to see them and I finally ventured out to do so. I have a thing for cherry blossoms and I really recommend the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, if you ever get the chance to go.
They don't last long enough, if you ask me, but maybe that just adds to their beauty! While most of the crowds were venturing to High Park in the city, I took heed of a tip on Twitter and went to Exhibition Place on Friday. I saw two people the entire time I was there and didn't have to fight to get to the trees or try to aim my camera over someone's head. For someone who hates crowds and loves cherry blossoms, I was one happy gal to learn that the Ex has a row of the trees near the big fountain.
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| The Canadian flag in the background was a happy accident! |
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| Just a girl and her dog enjoying a beautiful spring day in the best way. Happy happy happy. |
I enjoyed a nice week and a half with my husband during the holidays. I think I can count the amount of times I left home on one hand and I loved every single second of it. Is this an exciting post speaking of travels and adventures? Can't say that it is, but there's some darn cute animals in it and that's worth reading, right? Come see some pictures that I took during the holidays!
I planned on doing a post on my Valentine's Day and a few Influenster goodies early this week, but those will have to wait a little longer.
On Sunday, I noticed that Jade's paw was swollen. There was a dark bump on top, which required that I take a closer look. I discovered that the pad under her dewclaw was also swollen. She had been doing everything normal, not limping, purring, jumping up on the furniture just fine, chasing lights...she's a real trooper. This isn't the say that it went unnoticed for awhile. There was nothing to notice, not on the outside anyway. We went to bed late Saturday night and I noticed it early on Sunday.
We took her to the emergency vet that night when the pad started to ooze liquid. Apparently, she has the cat equivalent of an ingrown toenail. Her dewclaw grew into the pad and caused the swelling and infection. They were able to fix it, bandage her up, and we brought her home with antibiotics to give her. The next morning we were called back for them to check on the bandage, but they noticed that the dark bump on top was actually an abscess. So they wanted to take a further urine test because her kidney levels were high and they needed to do a surgery to get out the abscess.
We had to leave her overnight for the surgery, tests, and the IV. We are supposed to be able to pick her up tonight and they will hopefully have all of the test results back. The clinic has always been amazing with our pets. They called us twice last night to give us updates on her condition and to let us know that they gave her a hug for us. Is that not the sweetest thing? And with this move, our finances are extremely tight right now. They took three tests off of our bill to save us around $300 off the costs. Words cannot express our gratitude.
The vets and technicians have fallen for her. They can't believe she is 15 years old! Of course, she looks good. She's high-maintenance and spoiled rotten. She's living a life of luxury! What a cat. And while she drives me absolutely bonkers on most days, she's still my little kitty. Jade is a total "mommy's girl".
I try to think of different types of gifts to appease different people each year. This is my third year doing a holiday gift guide and I generally focus on beauty and fashion lovers in these posts. It gets to be a bit more difficult each year as I try to come up with new ideas! But hopefully some of these will give you some ideas of what to give. And if you're not interested in this type of post, here's my cute kitty Jade to entertain you. She's my own little Puss 'n Boots! :)
Today is the American Thanksgiving, so I'm taking today and tomorrow off from blogging to enjoy the holiday (I'll be back next week to share my Christmas wishlist and gift guide)! I may be in Canada now, but I don't stop celebrating...I just enjoy extra holidays! You're not going to hear me complain about having two Thanksgivings each year. :)
We already had our Thanksgiving here in October and we had a big ham dinner. Today also happens to be my MIL's birthday, so I'm having the in-laws over for a big batch of chili! A bit untraditional but with snow on the ground outside and football on the TV, I think it fits the bill perfectly. I also thought I'd share a few things I'm thankful for in no particular order!
On Sunday, we went to Toronto's Centre Island. I don't go to them often, as this was probably my first time in maybe three years. You have to take a fifteen minute ferry ride to get to them and you're subjected to beautiful views of the skyline. This post works hand-in-hand with today's post on my photography blog, so if you want to see more pictures- click here. Please? :)
Toronto has an end-of-summer fair that we call the CNE or the Ex, which is short for the Canadian National Exhibition. We went this past Sunday, because I wanted to see The Beach Boys again. They were so good last summer that I could not pass up the chance! Anyway, here are some pictures and video from our day. And also, there is a post on my photography blog showing more pictures from the garden show! Link will be below. :)
Yes, you read that right. I met KISS! The best part? It was free! My husband scored us tickets through his job that got us two seats and a wristband for a photo with the band. How exciting! I won't share that picture on here, because being my own worst critic, I don't like it. And I do not typically share photos of my husband on here due to his own wishes. But hey, we have it as a memento! If you are on my personal Facebook, it is on there. :)
We were treated like royalty while at the concert. Actually, that is probably an understatement. We met with their marketing manager before meeting the band for the photo and he really hooked us up with some huge bonuses. For most of the concert we were further back in the venue. He came and grabbed us from our seats and took us down to front row stage for a song! I couldn't believe it. I was thisclose to Paul Stanley!
After that, we headed back to our seats and enjoyed a few more songs. Then, the manager came back and grabbed us again. This time he took us to the sound pit and we got to see a behind-the-scenes look at things, before he dragged us out and took us to a VIP seat area where we remained for the grand finale. It was amazing with the pyrotechnics and confetti coming down around us!
Seriously amazing! Words can't describe how wonderful the concert was. The only thing that would have made it better is if they had played my favorite KISS songs- I Want You and Sure Know Something. But hey, I am not complaining at all! I would have been happy with just the free tickets, everything else was just icing on the cake! Here are a few photos from the night. So much fun!
I have not done one of these in a while, so I thought I would share a few of my recent Instagram pictures. I love Instagram posts on other blogs! If you're on IG, look me up ("wendybanner") and we can add each other. :) That is, if you don't mind frequent pictures of my cat and outfits!
My birthday is not until Friday, but my sister-in-law and I share our birthdays five days apart. And this past Saturday happened to work for both of us to have an early joint family cookout. Thought I would share a few pictures from the day! I'll be sharing more pictures on my photography blog soon, as well.
I've lost a few followers lately and I'm so sorry if it is due to lack of posting. My plate has been full, but I still try to get a post or two out when I can. I know my blog has taken a bigger turn toward a lifestyle type of blog, but I have always included a nice mix of posts on here. I assure you that I will continue to have a mix with makeup, hauls, music, and more. I hope that this is okay with you!
This past weekend, we celebrated my husband's birthday. On Friday, I took him to see Star Trek Into Darkness in IMAX 3D. AMAZING! Loved it, and I don't always think it, but I found the 3D to really add to the movie. On Saturday, I planned an outing with him and my in-laws to go to a Toronto Blue Jays game and to dinner. Thought I'd share some pics from the baseball game. We had some pretty decent seats and a lovely view!
One of the benefits of living in a big city is having awesome events often. One of those awesome events happened on Monday, which was Victoria Day here. Lady Antebellum put on a free concert at Dundas Square and I just had to go! They are one of my favorite bands and even better that it was free. That's the best price!
We all have at least one. A favorite band. I have quite a few, because music gets me through everything. I listen to music when I'm happy, sad, mad, whatever. It has gotten me through some tough times and it's gotten me through some great times, always providing me with memories. And sometimes a certain band just keeps making music that makes you want to dance, think, or just get lost in the lyrics.
I must apologize in advance for what is sure to happen in the upcoming weeks. We are in the process of looking for a new place to live, cleaning up our condo, packing (yuck!), putting it on the market, etc. That means that I may not have as much time to get up a lot of posts until we're settled down or during the odd day here and there where I find time during everything to sit down and write one up. I hope you all understand! Wish us luck!
To see more pictures, please keep reading.
My orange green-eyed kitty is always ready to celebrate...or nap...a real party animal, that Jade! ;) I hope you have all had a lovely holiday and remembered to wear green to avoid being pinched!
