"merci buckets"

My Easter Long Weekend began like the airport scene in Home Alone... you know, the one where Catharine O'Hara and the rest of the McCallister family is running with bags through the airport to catch their plane.

Okay. i wasn't running through an airport...nor was I running in general, but in my mind i was.

The Londoner and I are packing our bags for our first long weekend away as a couple -- and our first long weekend away with my parents. He's met the parents and of course they got along splendidly, but you know these things can always be a little nervewracking.

I turn to the Londoner (who is half asleep after spending 3 nights on the couch, 3 double shifts at the bar and a night out until 5 am - in celebration of my girlfriends visiting from Toronto. I know. he's a keeper, right?)  "Do you have your passport packed?"... silence. I look up at him. "No." He says. It's in Victoria. At his parents.

Okay. Not a complete disaster. But our train is leaving at 11am -- which means we need to add another hour to our journey the next morning to pick it up. So we headed for St. Pancras station with our bags and flowers and my mother's birthday hamper from Fortum & Mason in tow.

Everything was fine in the end. We made it - with time to spare and after a much needed nap on the Eurostar, the Londoner and I made it to Brussels.

I couldn't have asked for better hosts (my parents), who made us feel relaxed from the second we stepped off the train. Note to self: visit Brussels more often!

Obviously, if I went into every detail of the weekend, you would be here for hours reading, but I will sum it up and say that despite being kicked out of one Belgian cafe in the Grand Place (don't worry, the Londoner defended my honour), it was the best weekend I have had in a long time. It was filled with rest, relaxation, sunny and warm weather and of course, it was filled with love.

we're from canada, eh?

april has been an INTENSE month with tons going on. Not only has work been pretty hectic, i've had the Londoners birthday, my two best girlfriends visiting from Toronto, Easter weekend away at the parents and a royal wedding to attend (okay. not attend. but definitely watch).

My two BESTEST best friends visited from Toronto the weeks leading up to Easter. I can’t tell you how good it was to see them. You’d think after almost a year apart it might be awkward, or you might have nothing to talk about… but I can tell you that this wasn’t the case. I am so lucky to have friends like this in my life. I unfortunately had to work the first two days of the week, however my evenings were theirs as we attended Wing Night at the Maple Leaf and late night chats after drinks at the local. Wednesday was my first day off and we spent the day wandering around the Camden Markets (picture Queen Street W on steroids). It’s a really cool place to go when you’ve got the urge to mellow out, enjoy the fresh air, have a pint by the Regent’s Canal and watch the world go by. This is exactly what the three of us did. Really amazing to catch up – plus the weather was amazing! Wednesday night was a big night out. Things got going at the Leaf (where else, of course!) and then moved onto O’Neills. It was the most fun I’ve had in a very long time. Much needed night out. Thursday was mostly a recovery day… the girls had to move their stuff from my place in Ealing to their hotel in Russell Square for a Contiki meeting. Thursday afternoon, we put on our Sunday best and headed to a traditional English Afternoon Tea = thanks to the Londoner, who purchased the afternoon outing for my birthday back in March. We spent the last few hours of our visit catching up on stories from the night before. They are currently traipsing around the UK… somewhere in Ireland now, I believe and set to arrive back in London on Saturday. Thank goodness for that! I don’t know what I am going to do when they go home to Toronto next week...but until then, let's see what shenanigans we can get into!

The girls at afternoon tea in Green Park

call of duty.

To the Londoner... 

Thank you for being one of those boys. 

april.

For the past two days in a row, I have walked underneath a ladder that seems to be permanently propped up against a building that I walk by on my way to the office every day. I realise what the superstition says but I hope it's all boloney!

Welcome April... and hello sunshine!

march 10

to me...

big celebrations in London over the next few days -- first birthday away from home and friends... feeling a little homesick. Nothing a little bubbly can't fix, I'm sure.

Thnx for the lovin.

my to do list

This week is hell week at work. I have three projects I am managing that all launch on Friday... on top of that, I also have an offsite team build that I am planning for the organisation (thank goodness it's a small company!) Did I mention that the offsite is scheduled for Friday as well?! That's 4 projects, all due in one day. I have had a headache since Monday morning, and I don't see it going away until Friday at 5:30pm when this is all over and done with.