True Becoming

VACATION (?)

Ry and i recently returned from our first vacation in two years. I guess we just caught up in... life and forgot to take some time off together. It's one thing to take a night and actually have dinner together, and an entirely different story actually taking time away. with packing. and leaving the house. Things didn't exactly go as planned, but life rarely does, right? Things started out on Sunday with a whiskey tour at Forty Creek Whiskey Distillery with Ry's family. More wine tours, food and fun ensued for the remaining day. Then, on Monday Ry and I got on the road and drove along Lake Erie to start our camping trip. Our plan was to camp in one location monday night, make our way to Pelee Island for Tuesday night, stay there until Thursday and then slowly crawl back towards home on Thursday. 

What happened instead: We woke to rain on Tuesday morning and had to take down camp in the pouring rain. After a quick breakfast in town we made our way to the ferry that was going to take us to Pelee Island, only to find out that is was cancelled due to inclement weather. We then drove around to find another campsite to set-up for the night. In order to make our ferry to the island we had to take down camp at 4:30am to make the early morning ferry - the only one that was available. Once on the island we made a nice breakfast, biked and hiked all day and then I got sick. Yup. There we were on a remote island and I was having severe pains on my right side. Everything ended up being okay but there was a lot of fuss between when my pain began and when we finally arrived home thursday night.

We've spent the last three days recovering from our vacation. As much as we love adventure, we both agreed that our next trip we want to go to one spot and just relax. We're happy to be home vegging out and hibernating before our 'normal' starts up again. Lots of rest. Here's the photo-log of our trip: 

 

Life Lately: Trip to the Poconos

Once again my slippers found themselves dangling at the window for another road trip this past weekend. Ry's one sister was getting married in the Poconos, so we all piled up in the van and headed down for a gorgeous weekend. The weather was perfect, the location was beautiful and the wedding was just as lovely. So here's a little bit of life this past weekend...
There was lots of time spent with family, a trip to the local town for antique hunting, beautiful tidbits (i love taking pictures of the tidbits - or 'finishing touches'), a hallway of sparklers for the happy couple (the best part - so beautiful), breakfast at the local diner, Pacman, South Park (this is worthy of taking a picture of - we don't get it in Canada so it was a treat:), Manhattans, cake and just plain ol' fun!! Congrats to you both!

luv t.

Trip to WV

One week ago today we were enjoying our last morning in West Virginia where we met halfway with my sister and nephew. The trip was far too short and we all went through the full range of emotions, from elation to sadness, within a matter of days. That's the great thing about taking pictures and having a blog, which acts like a sort of online journal; it forces me to sift through pictures and it's like re-living the whole trip over again. So, despite the comments like "You're taking another picture?" (others), or "Wait, just let me get my camera" (me), it's all worth it in the end. One of the best things about traveling is the chance to see new terrain, new signs and new inspiration... it's why I will jump on any chance to travel even a little ways. And, to avoid "You posted that picture?" comments, I tend to take a lot of scenery photos too! traveling with Iron Man. The fam is slowly collecting all the Avengers garb so we can go way out when we to the opening. We are a family that loves to dress-up! More superheroes best salad. ever.
And yes, of course, we had to indulge in the gastro-delights that we simply cannot get up here in the north.

It was a great trip and I have loved re-living it with you this morning. Now, back to putting my house back together - currently most of the kitchen is hosting items that are on their way to the shop. I hope to do a bit of a home tour on here soon as I've never done one.

Peace to you!!!

Style: Tourist

i'm horrible at getting ry gifts. Every year i seem to miss the mark somehow - gloves that are too big (even though i carefully measured his hands one night while he slept), movies that remain in their plastic (i thought he liked westerns?) and scarves that don't go with any of his jackets. Anyway, this year i really wanted to get something experiential that we could enjoy together. Every year we try to pair down on stuff and focus more and more on experiences (although i will not turn down great stuff:) Ry loves classical so this year i got on top of things early and got us two tickets to see Vivaldi's Four Seasons. To say it was amazing is a pure understatement. The first half was a lecture on what each part of the symphony meant and then the second half we got to enjoy (and understand) the symphony. Pure magic. Plus, it meant another trip to the city... which was a great opportunity to get out of our usual patterns - we've travelled quite a bit, both on our own and together so we both get itchy to get away.

i love going to the city, even if it can be a bit overwhelming for this small city girl. it's such great inspiration to me to see the different styles and ways of life. I figured i would just be comfortable with my tourist status and wear my new tee from Paper Oliv which has beautiful screen prints. Yes, changing room photos were part of the trip as well. The rationale: if i didn't buy something, i wanted to remember i liked it. Lastly, street 'meat'; one of the things i miss most about being a meat eater is street meat, so having veggie dogs available to me is a huge treat.

The Thrill of the Hunt: Road Trip

Since I work away from the shop on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I have deemed Wednesdays to be my "Thrill of the Hunt" day. This is where i pack up the car and hit the road on a thrifting trip. I map out where I want to go and then allow myself detours. Yesterday was so beautiful it was a perfect day to be on the road. I drove all over the Hamilton region, had a lot of coffee, and found some sweet finds.

Having a nice collection of music is essential. I get very tired of the radio and can't seem to grasp the whole iPod thing, so I stick to tapes and c.d's. There's something about listening to cassettes that just fits the whole road trip experience. This Beach Boys tape only has three songs per side, so i change it over a lot! Yesterday was a perfect day to listen to Kathleen Edward's new c.d Voyageur!

Coffee. liquid energy. this is what keeps me going through the day... so having lots of change nearby is key (luckily ryan leaves his change around the house all the time).

On these trips I'm typically hunting for the shop, but I did manage to find a few things for my personal collection.

This above bull mug was by far my most favourite item I found!!

luv t.