WW- HALLOWEEN HUNTERS

 Check these Ronnie Wood Aftermath boots out. They are the perfect pair to wear out tonight. Have a Hunter Halloween!

TOMORROW IS

NOT TO PUT YOU OFF

Not to put anyone off becoming a parent.  A friend posted this  Mail Online article  I had a really great laugh after a lot of nodding. YES, YES & YES (especially Test 3 Nights) although I don't have to set an alarm- Romilly Rose is the alarm! I hope you enjoy it too. I love my little bugs but life is definitely different now. Enjoy every moment, with kids or without. LLBC xo

BOOK CLUB

Last night I tagged along with a friend to her book club. The book: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green.

There was a little confusion on what book we were reading. I started- Love In The Time Of Cholera and was part way through when I found that wasn't the book we were reading this month. With only a few days left until book club I asked Husband if he would be able to hook me up with the audio version. For the last few days I've been listening to it in the car, before bed, at the dinner table and finally finished it tonight an hour before Sarah picked me up. Phew!

Here are a few discussion questions suggested for the book.

Discussion Questions
1. John Green derives his book's title from a famous line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." (I,ii,139-140). What does the line mean—and why would Green have used it for his title? Even more important, why would he have altered it to read, "The fault in our stars" rather than ourselves? How does Green's meaning differ from Shakespeare's?

2. How would you describe the two main characters, Hazel and Gus? Do either of them conform, in behavior or thinking, to what we normally associate with young cancer patients? How do the two differ from one another...and how do their personality traits and interests complement each other?

3. How do Hazel and Gus each relate to their cancer? Do they define themselves by it?  Do they ignore it? Do they rage at life's unfairness? Most importantly, how do the two confront the big questions of life and death?

I was prepared for anything, because for many of us it was the first time meeting and there was rather a large group of us (16) we mostly got to know each other, drank wine and ate lovely food prepared by Liz. It was a lot of fun. Our next book is- Orange Is The New Black. I've heard a lot about this only because of it's popularity on Netflix. I'm going to pick the book up at Chapter's tomorrow; we meet again in a month.

Looks like I'm a new member of book club!

GOOD-BYE L

L wrapped up her visit today. She has a conference in Toronto next week so we took her to the Fallowfield train station this afternoon. I had such a lovely weekend. Some of the best parts of it were just getting to do the things we used to do together- talking, running, eating amazing food & lying on the couch!
We came up with a few blog post ideas and I'm excited to make them happen soon.

Thank you L-OVER for all the amazing birthday surprises! It was so nice to catch up with you and have some proper alone time. It's never long enough but always amazing. We'll miss you. xo 

SURPRISE!

I thought my birthday celebrations were over, just one last little celebration lunch with L, only to come home and be spooked by a room full of lovely faces yelling surprise!

I'm not sure how husband kept it all under wraps. I can usually smell a surprise miles away, but he pulled it off. A few strange things that happened in the last few weeks became more clear after coming home though.

This year will be one, not easily forgotten. Thank you Husband! After a week of over indulgence (cake, cake and more cake ) it's time to take care of myself a little better. Tomorrow I'll start the morning with plain oatmeal and a short run.

One year older and I have to say, life really does just get better and better. I told my Mother at the young age of 15 that I didn't want to get any older but I'm so glad I did. LLBC xo

AWESOME BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

To tell you how amazing my birthday week was in one post, wouldn't do it justice.

 Here is a little glimpse into my birthday fun.

On Monday my actual birthday: I spent the day with my loves. I woke up to chocolate & flowers from the babies and a poem from Husband. My birthday dinner was so good. We had dinner after my running clinic finished, so much anticipation, I left before stretching! The kids still asleep we had a quiet romantic dinner of  Prosciutto wrapped salmon, butternut squash & spinach lentils from JO's The Return Of the Naked Chef.

Then we had dessert which  I think was one of Steve's best yet-very decadent & he made the carrot cake in the heart shaped pan I bought him for his birthday, very sweet. He really is a baker at heart. *grin*


Laura arrived Thursday evening. I was napping while I waited for her arrival, preparing myself for a busy weekend ahead.   Friday morning we were up early and went for a hike ( just the girls ) to Pink Lake- L just happen to be wearing pink, maybe planned that way. *wink* I had been hoping to show L my new favourite place while she was here, but wasn't sure if we would have time to get there. We had an early start Friday morning, but it was so worth it. We worked hard and finished the trail in 25 minutes packing Romilly along with us- my legs are still burning! In the afternoon L was kind enough to take family photos. It was a  lot of work, thanks L for being patient with us.

Friday evening we kicked back and rented The Internship. We ate popcorn- made by Husband and Cadbury chocolate that Anna had brought over from England.

DARLING

L

L's coming!!!! She's on her way to Ottawa to spend the weekend with our family. We are going to go for lunch tomorrow and maybe catch a film and definitely hit Starbucks. Over the weekend she is going to take some family pictures for us.

When I said I postponed our trip to NS Laura said she would come to us- feeling pretty blessed and very excited!

My birthday week continues.. Yay!

WW-A FEW OF MY WELLIES

THERE IS

START EACH DAY LIKE IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY

For the world it's just another ordinary day, but for me, it's one of the best days of the year.

Today is my birthday. I've never felt like it was just another day, it's always been a big deal; all birthdays should be, and they are in my circle.
Whether I'm having a party, or spending a quiet day with family it's always pretty awesome. I have no doubt, this year will be any different.

Steve let me choose my birthday dinner; I asked if we could stay in, and have one of my favourite Jamie Oliver meals. My friend Candace and I made it years ago after spending the day getting all the ingredients from the Halifax Farmer's Market. I'll give you the recipe later on in the week. For my birthday-cake, I  asked my baker husband extraordinaire, to make  a carrot cake with a mascarpone, strawberry filled  middle and cream cheese icing. I made up the recipe a few years ago for Connor's birthday.

One very different thing, that I'll be doing this year on my birthday, is running. I joined a running room clinic and the first night of clinic is tonight. I'll be starting this year off healthy- after my cake of course!



I can't forget to share birthday wishes with an old friend, Taralee. I hope you have a fabulous day full of love, sunshine, blessings and cake! This is your year Lovely!  xoxo

RETAIL BLUES

I've been missing Cath Kidston this week. L and I were talking about our hand bags last week. It might be time for a new one. I love my Cath Kidston loot that I purchased before I left the UK.  I get many complements on them. I went to the website today to drool over the 2013 stock- not just the hand bags. I'm in love with everything, from the little hedgehog blouse to the Mini Ditsy button front dress; yes I'm that girl and there are plenty of us, right L?

We went to the opening of H&M in Ottawa today. My gosh, it was crazy town. I have never seen anything like it. We went for lunch and came back later. I picked out a few things for Romilly, but didn't want to wait in the cash line. If only I could order things online like I did in England. Boo hoo!


Here are a few of my favourite fabric shops that I discovered while living abroad.


 Cath Kidston,  Liberty of London and Sarah Hardaker

 I was lucky enough to take a sewing class taught by Sarah. It was lovely, she taught me to do all sorts of fun stuff on my sewing machine.

I know I'm not the only person to have the England retail blues out there. What do you miss?

LLBC xo

TBT-ROMILLY AND I

Romilly went to get her pictures done the other day and I took a few of her before she left. She wore a sweet little dress that Sally had bought for her at Gap UK. Since it's throw back Thursday I thought I would do a little collage of Romilly and I both at 4 months old. My sweet little lady bug is doing a lot of kicking and laughing these days. LLBC xox

WW-EQUESTRIAN

Balmoral Equestrian Neoprene Hunter Boots.

CHANGE

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend, maybe you were eating turkey, spending time with family and friends or just taking a much needed break from the the hectic schedules that happen in day to day life. We spent time with some great families eating! LOL, we had the Perry/Stoutenburg clan over for for a eggnog pancake breakfast & went for dinner at the Dorey/Duffley's. As Mrs. Duffley said "a meal is always better shared with company." I totally agree Corena, and thank you for sharing your home, your family and your table with us. We've had so much to be thankful for this year. Besides the obvious, great friends & our amazing big family. We welcomed two nephews to the bunch this month; Steve's sis gave birth to twins! I can't wait to see their sweet little faces in person. 

So much has changed in 1 year. I'm not a huge fan of change, but when you have babies in your life change is inevitable and constant.  This is Euan and I last year in one of my favourite parks in NS. Euan wasn't even a year old yet and I was pregnant with Romilly. We are back at the same time of year again. One thing that will stay the same though, L is coming to visit and said she would take fall family pictures again. I have a few  beautiful places in mind. We've started to get out a lot more and because of that I'm enjoying our new home more. I have some pretty great dates on my calender this fall. One of them as I mentioned is L's visit. We talked about seeing Flash Dance while she is here. My friend Carri also mentioned the Legally Blonde is playing, so I'm going to see if I can book tickets for that this week.  

If you get a moment let me know what your thankful for or what great things you have planned this fall, I'd love to hear about it. LLBC xo

REFLECTION

It's a great weekend for reflection. An excellent time of year to grow ( Romilly is going through a growth spurt), but I am also growing. I have been reflecting on the past year and have been thinking of family and friendships, and can say without a doubt on this Thanksgiving weekend that I am truly thankful for all that we have.

GOBBLE ON

MAYBE SO.

WW-GOOD MORNING WELLY LOVER

PINK LAKE

About 17km past the entrance to Gatineau Park you will find the most beautiful little hike at Pink Lake. It's a short hike 2.5km but it is mighty. 

I was happily surprised to see a lot of "baby wearing" Moms & Dads out. There were so many that I thought it was a planned group outing, sadly no-just a few friends getting out on a gloriously warm fall day! 

I often see groups of new born mothers together and wonder how they met?

Maybe birth classes? I didn't take any birth classes for Romilly. I am regretting this decision now after seeing some great bonds and friendships that form through them. I have met some really great moms at play group with Euan though and I am looking forward to developing those friendships more this fall. 

We had such a busy summer that I didn't get a chance to do much with anyone. I am really feeling ready to get back to some of the things I love doing. I think the biggest reason for this is the fall beauty around me. The weather has been perfect for getting out and enjoying some trails. Euan was awesome on the hike he almost walked the entire trail on his own. I think we might go back today and try it again, or maybe find another great trail a little closer to home. LLBC xo

DESTINY

IT RAINED

It rained, we didn't make it to the pumpkin patch like I had planned, instead we spent the morning at Wakefield Inn and Spa for some much needed TLC. Anna and I went for massages and after met the boys for the Sunday brunch. After four months of breastfeeding, it was nice having someone work the knots out.

We came home fed Romilly and I crashed on the couch for an hour while the Tranter's did one last tour of Ottawa. Our British friends leave tomorrow. They haven't done too badly for a two week visit; Hockey game, GG's garden party, Parliament Hill, ByWard Market, The Canadian Mint Montreal F1 track and Biosphere, Gatineau Park- Pink Lake, Wakefield and now they are off to see Niagara and Toronto before flying out late next week. I've had such a lovely visit with my dear friends and feel pretty blessed that they came to see Canada. Our kids were very sweet together, and provided some great entertainment the past few weeks. Travel safe Tranter's! xoxo

I will be crawling under a rock for a few days hoping to recover before birthday celebrations ensue. We had planned to spend my birthday in Halifax but Steve and I are both feeling the effects of a long summer of entertaining and will be taking some much needed down time this month.

PRAISE HIM IN THE HALLWAY

DEMONS

FRIDAY

The first weekend of October. The plan is pancakes and pumpkin patch with the Tranter family. Steve bought a big ham the other day. I am pretty sure that is in our plan for the weekend too. Happy Friday! xo

HELLO

I haven't been fully committed to my blog the past few months. Romilly was born, Connor spent the summer with us and we have had endless company ( which I love ) We don't sleep much these days. It means blogging has been on the back burner. This is the first time I have not made my blog a priority, other than a few short mini breaks over the past three years. I miss writing and sharing our life. I miss a lot of things; calling my parents every day, endless hours of alone time, shopping, friends, movies, date night, TRAVEL.  I have a lot to be thankful for in place of the things I miss. Yesterday Euan held his sisters hand and they smiled at each other. 

One of my angels of the north is visiting from England and we've been spending time this week showing them around Ottawa. 

This morning we are all going to Montreal. A lovely trip to check out the trees changing colour, eat some good food, do a little shopping. We might do a little more or a little less. Going with the kids for me, means spontaneous adventure based on how they are feeling. 

Happy October!