Sorry, someone had to say it.

I have to admit, it’s been a great summer this year. We’ve been so spoiled with sunshine-y beautiful weekends almost every weekend since May, and as we get into the “late summer” season, I feel satisfied with all the outdoor activities we’ve undertaken so far.

A few more things on the list…

1. Biking the trail in NOTL and going to check out An Ideal Husband at the Shaw Fest
2. Harry Potter exhibition at the Ontario Science Centre!
3. Bike & Wine in NOTL some time with some friends
4. Making peach jam, peach ice cream, and peach pie – ahhhh peaches!
5. Freezing the late season berries for fall and Christmas baking
6. Spending two weeks in Vancouver to sort out our wedding details! I’m not sure what that will look like yet, but will definitely be blogging about it!
7. Finishing 10K in under 60 minutes by end of September. This is a modified goal from my plans in the Spring since the summer has been so busy with moving and random work & personal trips
8. Finishing a couple of my web design projects on the side by the end of the month

Since we spent the August long weekend up at the cottage, we’ve only had this past weekend to clean up our new apartment and start putting things away. We’ve painted it a lovely shade of light gray (Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore – fantastic!) which makes the Victorian apartment feel rather modern and bright. I can’t wait to start cooking and actually living here.

  

It’s been official for more than a week now. We received a call on Alex’s phone on Friday, July 30th at 12:41pm letting us know that the sale of our beloved apartment was closed. The proceeds have since then shown up in our bank account, and our mortgage balance is now a big, fat, relieving 0. It’s been a thrilling ride, this whole first-home-ownership thing, what with the renovations and all the drama attached. Since I never got around to posting pictures, I guess now would be a bittersweet time to walk through the journey we undertook in the last 2 years and a few months…

Awesome blue-gray carpet, available only in the 90’s.

Freshly painted with “builders’ beige” / Someone took the blue theme very seriously

The solarium, another specialty from the 90’s.

The first month we owned the place, we lived in our old rented apartment. We proceeded to recruit our friends to destroy the fixtures and hoped to piece it back together in a month. Not so much. Major roadblock – needing a building permit from the City of Toronto because we wanted to take apart the non-structural wall for the solarium. Yes, I said non-structural. The end result: an additional month of concrete floors and construction mayhem.

Carpeting underneath washer/dryer = bad idea! / Taking apart beige kitchen

Ripping out carpets only to discover possible pee stains in the styrofoam lining?

We put down laminate flooring, built a second bedroom, installed a new kitchen with granite counter top, got new window coverings, painted and painted and painted some more, and laid out the apartment with our new snazzy furniture by July 2008 – three months after we became owners. The only place we didn’t venture into renovating yet was the bathroom.

A month later, the toilet upstairs burst in the middle of the day and flooded our apartment. Thankfully I was home and noticed it in time so there wasn’t a lot of damage…I heard the upstairs apartment had everything covered in a few inches of water by the time the flood got to our place! Anyway, the silver lining in this incident was that we promptly had our ceilings repainted by the condo board as part of the damages, and by January 2009 we also upgraded to engineered hardwood flooring because the laminate floorboards were starting to curl up from the moisture – all for free!! In the mean time, we also upgraded all of the lighting fixtures and put up the kitchen wall tiles to complete the renovation work.

Lastly, in late 2009, we tackled the bathroom renovations. It was a difficult month that I referenced to in this post, where we went to the gym on the 33rd floor to use the bathroom everyday. I know. The only positive thing I could see was that the bathrooms in the gym were seldom used, so at least they were most likely quite clean and well-maintained. After that month, our renovations were complete, and talks quickly turned to selling the newly renovated apartment.

  
A rain shower and a bathtub. I’d say that’s the thing I’m missing the most right now.

Anyway, now we’re in a little one-bedroom apartment in the Beaches, trying to figure out our next big adventure. We had a lot of fun with our first apartment, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next renovation project in the future where I get to play with another colour palette and look. We’ve kept some key pieces from the apartment that I love, too. This little place is quaint but so far, I have to say, I miss some of the taken-for-granted condo amenities from our previous place – free hydro and built-in AC would be nice right now in the middle of summer, for instance! Oh, and never underestimate the power of the garbage chute.

Hope you had fun browsing the pictures and thanks for sticking it out! The complete set is on Flickr here if you’re interested to see all the rooms!

Yes, it’s that time again! I’ve been sneaking in Californian strawberries from my weekly grocery trips since March, but finally the Ontario ones are here! The Farmer’s Market is back at St. Lawrence Market, and although there are many stalls that sell local strawberries along Jarvis Street on Saturday mornings, I fell immediately for one particular stand where their little sign said “VERY SWEET”. Nobody else had such bold claims written in black and white, so it must be true, right? I bought two pints the first weekend, and for the past two weekends, I splurged and got a whole flat every week. It felt like such a commitment at first, and the stress that followed on what to do with the berries has been interesting…

So far I’ve whipped up a quart of my favourite Strawberry Fro-Yo, and made a few jars of jam. Emily’s recipe is delicious, and I’m already worried about rationing the jars to family & friends!

I’ve also had some time to play around with some simple floral arrangements using peonies and other late spring/early summer blooms. After seeing a few wedding blogs feature decor using simple jars, wild flowers, and seasonal blooms, I’ve been itching to test out my preferred combo. I’m pretty satisfied with my first try here, but think I might continue on tweaking until I find the colours I want, too. I’d love to get some bright grosgrain and satin ribbons on the jars to get more texture and colour, for example. What do you think?

Strawberry

There’s definitely something in the air these days. The days are longer, people are happier, and my office has gotten brighter. It might be because I finally got around to moving to a cube by the window (only three years after I joined the company), and have even acquired responsibility of plants at work (boy are these people going to be sorry that they entrusted me with things that are “alive”). Anyway, I’ll get to the point – I love Spring.

The prospect of Summer is shaping up pretty well. This year I’ll be training for another half marathon in the Fall – race to be determined, hopefully somewhere outside Toronto. My goal is to get to 10 minutes per mile, which will get me to the finish line 26 minutes earlier than last year. So far, I’ve realized that 26 minutes might seem like a small number but the training process has taught me otherwise. Therefore, my final goal will be determined closer to the race, if my legs are still functioning then. My sister has also signed up to train with me, which may* make the race fun.

I’ll be heading home to Vancouver for a few days at the end of the month for a wedding, and it’s something that I’ve been constantly chatting about to anyone who comes across me. I think everyone will be relieved once it’s over. It’s funny; quite a few of my friends are now married, but this one seems particularly sentimental. I’ve been super-involved since Day 1, and I’m currently doing some deep soul-searching to deliver a heartfelt speech on the big day. I have so many thoughts in my head that I want to say, and when it’s over, I’ll also share it here so everyone can read about my awesome friend Jenn.

Another trip we have coming up is also about getting in touch with the past – I finally get to go to Chicago to visit my bff from elementary school! The last time I saw her in Chicago was three years ago, and it was quite an interesting experience getting to her dorm at U of Chicago…which I’ll share later. Anyway, come this September, Iggy and I will have known each other (and been friends) for 20 years! It is crazy to think in terms of decades – not only do I feel old, but it also makes me realize how amazing it has been that we have grown up in different (physical) locations, but have not grown apart at all. We still nod excitedly when we echo each other’s thoughts and squeal with delight when we finish each other’s sentences.

In terms of recipes for the summer…let’s just say, I’m exciting for the jamming season to begin! Last year we ran out of jam way too quickly, so this year I’ll make sure to savour the season and can everything that comes my way! I’ve also run out of my delicious strawberry fro-yo so as soon as those berries hit the farmer’s market, I’ll be all over them to start re-stocking the freezer!

Alex’s birthday is this weekend and I have a few things up my sleeve to share – will get around to posting them soon!

*I said “may make the race fun” because the last time we ran a race together lil’ miss speedy head ran off immediately after passing the start line. Now I’m sharing this little tidbit with the Interwebs so it’ll take longer for her to live it down.

As I alluded to earlier, we had tickets to the Gold Medal Hockey Game at the Winter Olympics, a.k.a. the event Canada had been waiting for, so we set out for a long but exhilarating weekend trip to Vancouver.

Plane tickets between Toronto and Vancouver during the Olympics ranged from $600 – $1,000+ during the games, and the $600 ones were hard to find. So we bit the bullet and did a Buffalo to Seattle trip, with a lot of driving in between.

Our tickets

We left Toronto at 2:30AM on Friday, and got to my house in Surrey at 4:00PM EST…long journey, indeed! We stopped at my mom’s work for a delicious lunch, and continued to my house for a quick nap before the Canada-Slovakia game. Due to the fact that my mother does not subscribe to cable (but she listened to the game on the radio!), we ended up watching the game downtown at one of the LiveCity locations. It was drizzling the whole time, which made it quite an interesting experience for the non-Vancouverites in my group, but it was phenomenal to share the experience with lots of Canadian fans huddled in the rain.

A little hometown pride just after we crossed the border

The big event came on Sunday morning, when we eagerly showed up at GM Place, or Canada Hockey Place, at quarter past ten – the game didn’t start until 12:15PM. The enthusiasm had all of us on pin cushions that we had to leave Surrey ASAP (well, except me, because I had caught a cold and wanted to stay in bed until the last possible minute).

My favourite sign. If you think about it hard enough, it could have been a double-entendre because of the Canadian gold mines….but that’s way too much thinking, I know. And way too geeky. I know.

Just after clearing security – Go Canada Go!

Yeah, we got there super-early.

Our seats were in the 300’s, and considering the categorization of tickets and the face value, I found it slightly disappointing when we realized where our seats were. There were 3 categories for ticket prices, and I think if there were 4, it might’ve been clearer for people to decide on their bidding price – i.e. 2 categories in the lower bowl and 2 categories in the upper bowl.

That said, once the game started, it felt like I was right there in the middle of the action, anyway. I think I took 10 pictures altogether during the 60-minute regulation time, including during intermissions – it was that captivating.

Face-off at 12:15

A little scuffle that got the crowd all riled up

During the last intermission between third period and overtime, you could tell the crowd was tense. The split between Canadian and American fans was about 70-30 at the game, I would say, and everywhere you looked, people were holding their breaths. There were fewer people lining up for drinks, fewer visits to the bathroom, and fewer lighthearted conversations between fans.

It’s OK, though, we won. If there was one medal Canada really really really really really wanted, with a cherry on top, this was it. AND OMG WE GOT IT!!

The moment I realized we had won. No good pictures needed. I love how blurry this is…it reminds me of jumping up and down, having a giant group hug, and celebrating with strangers all around me.

The team celebrating the win – this was the first opportunity I could get a clear shot.

  
We left Canada Hockey Place with big smiles, and lots of renditions of our national anthem, as the celebration poured into the streets

We joined the crowds at Robson Square – it was a fantastic party!

Yay Canada! I wonder if this bus stop is still standing…

Our experience at the Olympics turned out in the best way possible. I could not have asked for a better ending to the game, with all the tension building up for a great big hurrah to finish off our weekend. Being a part of the crowd that celebrated with the team moments after the game finished is something that I will always remember. It was a heart-thudding, never-ending-smiling kind of experience that brings goosebumps now when I look back :-)

How did you celebrate the win, fellow Canadians?

We went to see Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s Day, and I LOVED IT! It wasn’t super cheesy like I had expected, and it was funny, touching, realistic, and sarcastic when it needed to be. I highly recommend it! It’s put such a big smile on my face :-)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

…8 more days to pile the mountains around Vancouver with snow…

…8 more days until I spend Friday night glued to the TV watching PVR’d daytime programming…

…8 more days to clean out a certain clothing section at the Bay…

Yep, 8 more days till the Winter Olympics in my hometown, Vancouver! I’m so stoked that I just bought the “I believe” theme song soundtrack on iTunes – English, French, instrumental. Yay!

I’ve always liked Winter Olympics better than the Summer games, because the sports in winter are much more, for lack of a better word, exotic. I mean, watching four people shoot down a giant ice slide for hours is just much cooler than watching a sport I actually understand, like basketball.

This time around, not only is it better than it’s taking place in a city I love, but I’m also going to be at one the games! We’ve had the tickets since round-one bidding, but recently just finalized…We totally lucked out (completely, utterly, one of the luckiest things ever to happen to me) and got tickets to the MEN’S GOLD MEDAL HOCKEY GAME!!!! Okay, everybody now, HAPPY THOUGHTS towards seeing the Canadian boys win on “home” ice!!!!!!!!

We’ll be making a whirlwind trip (this is what I get for traveling with people whose work revolves around “Q1″…bah). We’re flying in on Friday and leaving on Monday for the weekend, and I hope to leave in a state of exhaustion from celebrating all day on Sunday :-)

Anyone else excited about the Winter Olympics? Just slightly? ;-)

Just like chocolate, English toffee was another delicacy that my mom rationed in small quantities to me when I was little. She had her reasons, and now I have my reasons for why I pick up a box of Almond Roca once in a while.

It’s never Christmas without my candy thermometer, and this year I decided to put the little thing to the ultimate test – candy making. After a quick search, I realized that toffee is actually pretty easy to make, so after a Christmas party where I had already drank a few glasses of wine, I began heating up butter and sugar in my kitchen at 10:30pm on a Sunday night. Surely enough, even with alcohol in me, this recipe was hard to mess up – now it’ll be a staple for Christmas time next year!

English Toffee with Chocolate & Hazelnuts

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of chocolate chips if you’re going for easy, or 1/2 cup chocolate to be tempered
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted, slightly peeled where you can, and chopped roughly

1. In a heavy-bottomed pot, melt butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla at medium heat. Stir constantly, using a heat-proof spatula if you have one. Keep the candy thermometer clipped to one side of the pot.
2. Once mixture reaches threading temperature, just over 100 degrees Celsius, reduce the cooking temperature so that it is not a hard rolling boil, but still boiling nonetheless. At this point, you don’t have to stir as much – just temper the mixture once in a while.
3. While this is cooking, line a 9×9 square dish with parchment paper, making sure to cover all sides.
4. When the thermometer registers at about 140 degrees Celsius – pay close attention! This is all going to happen very fast – it’ll reach the 300 degree Fahrenheit or about 150 Celsius hard crack stage very quickly, and as soon as it does, remove, stir mixture and pour into the square dish lined with parchment paper.
5. If you’re going for an easy toffee recipe, wait about 2 minutes for the mixture to start setting, and throw the chocolate chips on top. The heat will melt the chips, so smooth out the chocolate evenly, and then sprinkle the hazelnuts.
6. If you’re going for tempered chocolate goodness, let the pan cool and stick in the fridge if you can, while you temper the chocolate. Just before throwing the chocolate onto the toffee, dab it first with some paper towel to get rid of excess oil. This will help the chocolate stick better. Sprinkle on hazelnuts.
7. Let chill in the fridge overnight or at least a few hours, then break apart and enjoy!

As of today, Alex and I have been dating for 7 years. We met in first year university while living on the same floor, and just haven’t gotten tired of each other yet. I think that’s a good sign.

Since our backpacking trip to Europe in the summer of 2004, we’ve been calling ourselves a “team”. (Nerdy, I know, but apparently I put nerds to shame so what’d you expect?) We have seen each other through all kinds of challenges, and have created our own independence since graduation. We’ve traveled together without killing each other, and last year we also bought our own little home together.

We have our moments, of course…like putting objects next to where they’re supposed to go, or hiding receipts in the most remote pockets so we get lint rain from the dryer when laundry’s done.

As mentioned earlier, we went to California about a month ago over the Thanksgiving long weekend – that was our annual trip together this year.

We stayed in a farm house with its own organic garden in Sebastopol. There, Alex surprised me with a proposal that was the most unexpected turn of events ever! I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen this year (or next), let alone on this trip. In fact, I said “No” because I was so flustered and taken aback. Note: I don’t deal with surprises very well. Plus, I hadn’t even figured out what kind of ring I liked, and there he was, with one in front of me that I obviously didn’t pick out. Those few minutes = a very overwhelming time in my life.

Anyway, it’s been about a month now, and we’ve been trying to tell our friends and family in the most one-on-one way, so no grandparent had to find out from Facebook or random neighbours. I hope we did OK, and no, there are no wedding plans/dates yet! I was fine being the girlfriend, so give me some time to get used to this new status!

Two years and some days ago, we had a big group together for Kasia’s baby shower. This month, she’s back in town from Brisbane to visit friends & family, so we decided to round up as many girls as we could and have another ‘do for her in my party room.

I recruited Ali P to help me bake the cupcakes, and we knew that Red Velvet had to be on the list. Then we picked a pretty one – the coconut cupcakes from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and finally, since we had so much confidence in Ina Garten, the chocolate cupcakes but minus the peanut butter icing.

Choosing the cupcake liners was one of my highlights. As you can see from the photo above, I have a bit of a problem…Most of them are from Layer Cake Shop, which I’d highly recommend.

The morning of the party, I was sad to discover that the florist from the Farmer’s Market part of St. Lawrence Market had already folded up shop for the season. After some browsing and debating, we settled on the totally-out-of-season-but-still-pretty tulips. I also picked up some pink tissue to help with the table runner that I’d fashioned out of doilies – an idea that I’d seen from a magazine a while back.

This is the best picture I have of the cupcake table…icing everything up until the last minute didn’t help with the photo taking.

I think everyone had a great time catching up. It was mostly friends from university who don’t see each other too often, despite the fact that we live in the same city. Lots of cupcakes were consumed, which I was excited about – couldn’t tell if people were up for eating multiples, but clearly, we were a group of fearless women who are probably all hitting the gym this week!

Thanks everyone for making it out to the party!