Happy. Happy. ♥

Wishing love and happiness always to J. Happy Birthday to you. xo

Hello friends!

Hello out there in blogland! Just wanted to write a quick note to say "hello". It seems like I haven't written anything in ages. We have a guest staying with us until Monday so we'll be busy doing the tourist thing this weekend. (We've already initiated her into one of our Friday night favorites - dinner at Korean Grill House and dessert from Sweet Tooth on the Danforth!)

I've been having a wonderful summer and eating lots of good food. I also celebrated a wedding anniversary (or as J calls it, "a family anniversary") a few days ago which I'd like to dedicate a whole post to. J orchestrated the most special and elaborate surprise ever! It involved a little scavenger hunt around the city and ended with a really special dinner. (Love. ♥)

(I have lots of pictures to share!)

Hope you're having a lovely summer and treating yourself well. Talk soon and take care. xo

Hump Day

Is it really only Wednesday?! I feel like I'm in slow motion right now. Grrr...

Breakfast for dinner

I've been thinking a lot about breakfast lately. (Is that weird?)

I love how creative and fun breakfasts can be from fancy cheese omelets with hot sauce and shredded purple cabbage to fluffy, fruity pancakes with maple syrup and whipped cream; crepes filled with hazelnut sauce and bananas or spicy sausages with black beans and avocados wrapped tightly in a soft tortilla shell. The combinations are endless and the dishes as individual as those sitting down to their morning feast.

Of course, breakfasts needn't be complicated. In fact, they can also be the simplest of meals. Why, there's that comforting bowl of oatmeal with a teaspoon of brown sugar and warm milk that greets you on a cold winter morning or that perfect slice of toast with the raspberry jam from that cute little shop off the highway or even easier still, the black cup of coffee and donut that you hesitantly admit to devouring yet that filled you up just enough to get through that boring meeting first thing in the morning.

(No, breakfast needn't be too complicated...unless, of course, you want it to be.)

I think what I especially love about breakfast is that you don't have to be a master chef to prepare something special and hell, you don't even have to have it first thing in the morning (like today's dinner). And it can be shared with others or enjoyed in silence all alone.

Yes, breakfast really is the perfect meal. ♥

Breezy afternoon walk

The weather is really lovely today - a bit breezy and not as muggy as it's been this past week. It was the perfect day for an afternoon walk.


I've been craving some Cinnamon Heart tea from David's, so we dropped by the shop. I'm sure I've raved about David's Tea in previous posts but it really is one of my favorite places to visit. Their selection of teas is amazing and their customer service rivals that of Japanese merchants. I especially love that they offer you a shot of tea upon entering and that every customer is acknowledged and greeted when they visit the store.

We decided to try an iced latte while we were there. J had a Fruity & Green latte which was a rooibos blend with mango and papaya while I had a white tea blend called Malibu Beach which was infused with coconut and absolutely delicious. Once the tea was steeped, ice was added to it then topped with frothy warm soy milk (much tastier than it sounds) and sweetened with agave. Mmmm.

We thought it would be a nice treat to drop by Max's Market and each pick out some goodies for dinner and dessert. There was so much to choose from! These are some of the items that made it to our basket: three different salads (I chose seaweed, J choose rice salad and H choose tuna), a bean enchilada for H, three different kinds of barbequed squash with a brown sugar glaze, a mushroom and risotto patty for J and a beef bourguignon tarte for me. For dessert, H chose a really rich piece of chocolate cheesecake, I chose a lemon tart and J chose a bag of plump and juicy Washington cherries which he purchased at another market. When we got home, we set up an impromptu picnic on our living room floor and I prepared a container of sangria with some of the cherries we bought and slices of lemon. Ahhh.




Hope you're having a lovely Saturday and enjoying some nice treats. Talk soon. xo

Friday night, I've missed you!

I've never been so happy that it's Friday night! It's been a really full week. Where I work it's extremely busy and there's always something happening. By the time Friday rolls around, I feel like I've really earned it. And I'm so happy that it's here! (My glass of sangria never tasted so good!)

Hello dear Friday night! I've missed you terribly! xo

I'm looking forward to having a nice evening with my two favorite people; eating pizza, having munchies, catching up on our favorite show and possibly watching a movie into the wee hours.

Hope you're enjoying the start of the weekend! Talk soon. xo

Delicious

I'm spoiled. (I really am.)

My husband cooks all of our dinners (save Fridays which is "treat night" and the odd "experimentation" on my part). He's very creative and adventurous so our meals are usually interesting, often visually appealing, as well as incredibly tasty. He's not professionally trained and is quite modest when complimented - "I just follow the directions" is what he'll usually say - but trust me. The guy's got mad skills.

Tonight he plated up some avocado and tofu gyozas (for the second night, no less) alongside a bed of white rice sprinkled with furikake. The recipe was courtesy of our friend D in London...the same friend who introduced us to butternut squash pasta and who's also got mad skills in the kitchen (he's practically a gourmet cook!).

Hot in the city

It's almost 11:00 pm and it's still 29 degrees out! Thank goodness for air conditioning and sangrias.

This weather reminds me of a lovely little snapshot I took a few years ago on a Swiss beach.

(And no, this is not my husband slathering up but just some oily sunbather in a banana hammock.)

Toronto Island

The weather has been really gorgeous lately - sunny and in the high twenties. Next week it's getting even hotter and will be in the thirties! (I love it!)

To make the most of this beautiful weather, we decided to spend the day at Toronto Island. On our way, we made a pit stop at St. Lawrence Market to pick up some goodies - three different cheeses (Comte for me, smoked Gouda for J and Swiss Havarti for H), two baguettes (one crusty French stick and the other olive), sundried tomato hummus and spicy hot Genoa. For dessert, we picked up teeny tiny peanut butter cups and one vanilla caramel (which H graciously shared with us...well, sort of).

There was a huge lineup to get onto the ferry going across to the island but luckily, we were able to squeeze onto the first one going out. It was a really lovely way to spend the afternoon. J + H kicked the soccer ball around while I laid on the blanket. We also walked around and explored the little amusement park, beach and gardens. Here are some pictures I took of the afternoon.

Ahhh...Friday!

It felt really strange going to work this morning after having two days off. My mind and body were totally in weekend mode. In fact, I think I was operating in that mode all day long but I was certainly in good company. ;)

Now it's Friday night and I'm sipping a glass of sangria while I wait for my blueberry-peach tarts to come out of the oven. (I can't wait to have them for dessert with some vanilla ice cream!) For dinner, J made butternut squash pasta - one of our favorite dishes. Thanks to our friend, D for sharing this meal and recipe with us! We love it!

Bon appetit!

Four years ago

Today is our four year anniversary of moving to Toronto! (Wow, has it really been that long?!)

I feel so fortunate to be here with J + H welcoming each day and each new experience. It's been really wonderful creating a life here with the two of them and I can't wait to see how the years ahead unfold.

Thank you, My Loves. ♥

(This is one of my favorite shots taken when we first moved here.)