Life and Stuff

Hello it is me! The MIA blogger!

I thought I would give an update into my life the past few weeks.

Wedding stuff has been going great and not-so-great.

Great stuff first!

1) I got my "real" ring
When Cam proposed he used a fake ring, and then he and I went together to the jeweler to design my forever ring. I ended up modelling the real ring to look very similar to the one he had picked to propose with- it basically has a different setting for the main stone, which is traditional at first glance, but very modern from the side angles. I love it!! It finally got it a couple weeks ago.

2) I BOUGHT MY DRESSSSSSS!!!!!!!

Ahhhh I am so excited! I went to about 4 stores, and still had the first dress I ever tried on in my mind, but then I stepped into a dress at the last store and immediately knew it was the one. I wouldn't say it was a huge, crying spectacle like what you see on TV (at least on my part, haha, not naming names on others who were there :P), but it was very beautiful, comfortable, in budget, and there was nothing I didn't love about it so I said yes to that dress! Clearly I am not going to show it here, so here is a dress that didn't win, from The Brides Project. The store is actually a charity that gets donations of wedding gowns from brides and from stores and sells them for a minimum 50% off and the proceeds go to cancer charities! I didn't end up buying from there, but maybe I will end up donating my dress or time there. It really is a great idea and I recommend people try it out.

The Bad:
Cam and I have been having a tough time with venue hunting. I thought we had finally found one that seemed in our budget and I loved everything about it, and then I found out that they had a minimum spend on Saturdays that put it way out of our budget. Work has been pretty stressful lately (we are in a huge crunch time), and the stress of venue hunting has NOT been helping!! Thankfully Cam is actually pretty into wedding planning so he has been so supportive and optimistic. But ya, I cried over that venue. I need to get my head back on straight.

However in good news we go to see another venue next week that we both have a really good feeling about so fingers crossed!!!

Now moving on from wedding stuff...

I ran a marathon last weekend! Naw, just kidding. I actually paced my friend Steph in the last 11.5km of her 3rd marathon. I dressed up like Pikachu and was waiting for her at km 30.

She did so so well! She trained so hard for this race, but race day ended up being unseasonably warm and humid and basically her body couldn't take it and she didn't hit her goal time (which she totally could have on a better day!), but she DID finish. Honestly, running a marathon is super hard in and of itself on a good day, but running a whole marathon when everything is going wrong and your body is rebelling against you?? That takes way more guts and deserves way more admiration in my opinion. She never gave up!! I am so glad I was there to help (in whatever way a girl dressed as Pikachu yelling motivational phrases at you for 11.5km can help).

I also was part of the RunTOBeer cheer squad at km 5.5 and it was a lot of fun! I made a sign that said "My Fartleks are powered by Beer" (fartleks being a type of run training). However it rained the whole time we were there so my sign got kind of ruined. Even if you have no inclination to run, cheering at races is a good time! The runners love it too!

I still don't have my next big goal race booked. I have a 10K in December though! But I think I would like to give the marathon another shot some time. Steph has also been dropping hints about a 50K trail race next spring, and I must say that I am intrigued... I actually have been taking it pretty easy on the running since my half in July. I did a couple 20 km runs with Steph, but my knees definitely disagreed with that and I was pretty spent by the end. I need to start getting back into it! And weight training because I have a wedding dress to fit into now!!

Engagement Photos!

We have not yet booked a venue for the wedding, so we do not yet have a date, and therefore we have not yet hired a wedding photographer, but Cam and I both wanted to get our engagement photos done on the Toronto Islands before winter hit. Thankfully my cousin is a professional photographer, and he offered to come out and do the engagement photos for us before we ran out of time!

The islands are actually a very special place for Cam and I- we love to visit there whenever we can. Cam actually planned to propose there a couple weeks before our trip to Nova Scotia, but I cancelled on him to go to RunTOBeer with my friends. Oops :)

I was hoping the fall colours would be out, but it looks like the leaves are either late or not happening this year. Oh well, at least everything was still green and pretty! We had a great day on the islands with my cousin, Steve, from Mint to Be Photography. Steve was so great in helping us laugh and look less awkward (Cam and I are the epitome of awkward when a camera is out) and we had so much fun. It was so cold and windy, but the photos turned out absolutely amazing and it was all worth it!! I wanted to share a sneak peek at the few I have gotten back from him with you guys!

The last one is one of my favourites!! The sun was setting when we were on the beach and it was a beautiful sunset so we just lucked out (no photoshop!). However it was also SO COLD and windy and my hair was unruly and it took forever to get this shot- but I love it!!

I know Steve is my cousin, and I am undoubtedly biased, but he really did an amazing job. He is so funny and personable, in addition to being a great photographer, and I would recommend Steve and Jennie at Mint to Be to anyone for their special event!

Adele!

Way way back in the early days of December 2015, my friend messaged me to see if I wanted to try and get tickets to Adele. My work is a bit more lenient about taking time out of my morning to try and get tickets online (ha!) so I said I would try to get us a pair. By some miracle, after over 45 minutes of waiting in the Ticketmaster queue, I actually managed to score us a pair for the nosebleeds section for her last Toronto show!!

Well finally, after over 10 months of waiting, Adele finally came and we got to watch her live! It was honestly such a good show. I wasn't the biggest Adele fan (only knew her couple #1s), but I bought a couple of her CDs last winter and really grew to love her music by the time the show came...however I didn't expect her to be so personable! She is really funny and loves to talk between songs- she really is quite the entertainer!!

I've never really been to a big "real" concert before and I really enjoyed it- especially since there weren't many theatrics, no costume changes or backup dancers- just Adele singing and talking with a few special effects now and again.

A proposal!

Actual water pouring around her during "Set Fire to the Rain"

 

I hope to see her next time she is in town!!

Wedding Planning!

I've been engaged over a month and have thus far not really written much about wedding planning on here, so get ready for an update!!

Cam and I have decided to get married next summer so we are busy looking at venues. We are both fairly frugal people, and Toronto wedding prices are NOT for the frugal-hearted, so it has been a bit of a challenge but I think we have found a couple of good options and will be able to book something soon! Then I can actually have a date to tell people instead "...oh next summer sometime".

We also have our wedding bands (we each have a family heirloom as our bands), so that is at least one thing off the list while we figure out venue! I also have a lot of other fun little things planned in my head for the wedding to make the day very special, but not break the bank- but I kind of want to keep them a surprise for our families!! I have been having too much fun on Pinterest.

Oh and last weekend I went dress shopping with my girls and my mom and Cam's mom!! I don't want to share a lot of photos because a lot of dresses were in a certain style and I don't want to give it away, but, here are a few no-gos.

My career is modelling is really promising

Dress shopping was so much fun!! I found so many that I liked and one that I really really liked- but I want to check out a few more stores first! We had a great time though- the girls all had little paddles to hold up if they liked or disliked a dress. The consultant was not at all pushy and never pressed to end the appointment or anything (I think we were there for almost 2 hours) And the prices were all so reasonable! I totally would recommend Bliss Bridal to anyone out in Whitby!!

And then on Sunday my mom threw me a small engagement party! It was really a chance for both sides of the family to meet and to get the wedding party together (though a couple of groomsmen couldn't make it). My "team" is my sister-in-law Tammy, my best friends since grade school, Ginny and Steph, and my best friend from Toronto, Jeni!! They are such great ladies and already so helpful with everything. Plus they are all the same height, which will be nice for photos :P

The engagement party was also sooo nice! My mom made a slide show of all these photos of Cam and I from babyhood to now- which was totally adorable and sweet!! We had a great time chatting and eating our way through the afternoon. It really makes me excited to have everyone together for the wedding next summer!!

My cute flower girl on the right

My Stepdad and Mom

showing my future brother-in-law the wedding dresses I tried on

Mother in Law and Mother!

Daddy-o and my Brother

My other little flower girl 

Champagne toast!

My little ring bearer in front!

Kayaking the Islands!

If you recall, last summer I went canoeing with Cam around the Toronto Islands. My friend Jeni mentioned she would love to do that as well some time, so I booked us a tandem kayak for her birthday this year! Now, her birthday was about 6 weeks ago, but due to scheduling and one raincheck, we didn't get a chance to go until last weekend- but it was worth the wait!

The weather was absolutely perfect- we have had quite a warm start to fall and the Saturday we went was 18 degrees and 100% sunny- super comfortable for getting our kayak on! Also, the winds weren't too bad to crossing the channel to the islands was smooth sailing.

We had a great time out on the water from about 10:00am to 4:30pm. We went all around the islands, stopped in at the little boat-access-only beach for a snack break, and we beached our kayak on Centre Island and had lunch on the patio of the Carousel Restaurant (which, by the way, is my favourite island restaurant for a decent lunch and a cold beer!).

I seriously can't say enough good things about the Harbourfront Canoe and Kayak Centre, where we rented our kayak. This is the second time I booked with them and their customer service is great. We had originally planned to go a couple of weeks ago but the forecast was thunderstorms. The day before the rental place called AND emailed to let me know that they had already made the call not to do rentals that day and offered to reschedule us or completely refund us!

Oh- and I know you can rent canoes and kayaks on the island itself, but the island rental place is a little more expensive (not to mention the $15 for two people on the ferry to the island) and crossing the channel is so fun because you are right by the airport and planes take off right over your head! Oh- and we saw a blimp!

I seriously recommend any visitors to Toronto spend a day at the islands- either by boat or on foot! It is a little oasis from the city! And don't be afraid of the kayak either- I had very limited experience in one and Jeni had never been in one- and we did just fine! Much less tippy than a canoe!!

Thank you Jeni for the fun date!! It was such a nice way to close out the summer!

Edgewalk!

I feel like I have so much to talk about with engagement and wedding shenanigans, but first let's talk about Edgewalk! For the 30th birthday I wanted to get a bunch of my girls together to do Edgewalk at the CN Tower- it is an outdoor walk 1,168ft up in the air- not even a handrail in sight!! Unfortunately I am friends with a bunch of chickens, so it just ended up being me, my Mom, my friend Erika, and Lindsey from Happy or Hungry! cam actually got me a giftcard for it for my birthday, but it just took until September to find a date that worked for all 4 of us.

Myself, Mom, Erika, Lindsey

It was so much fun! You get ready on the ground floor and there is VERY thorough security to make sure nothing unsafe is brought up and anything that can fall is removed or secured. Then you suit up in lovely red jumpsuits and uncomfortable harnesses and ride a private elevator all the way up!

Our team! Ready to go!

Then before you know it, you are doubly secured to the track and you just walk on out! They made me go first :|. I was super nervous at first and the first "activity" was standing on the very edge with your toes hanging over- eeeek!! But after that I really got comfortable and enjoyed the other tasks, like leaning back and leaning forward over the edge! It was also fun to point out landmarks in the city- like my condo! I live practically next to the CN Tower!

I totally thought I would be terrified and feeling the adrenaline, but I felt pretty cool out there! You learn to trust your equipment and your guide. It was a great 25 minute walk and then we were back inside!

All in all, a very cool experience and a great morning with my mom and friends!! I totally recommend it to anyone coming through town!