NYE 2014

Courtney and Mike invited Chris and I up to their home in Huntsville for New Year’s Eve. I had never visited before, and was eager to see Court, their new place, and how Muskoka celebrates New Year’s. We drove up in the morning on the 31st, and toured their chalet/condo. It is absolutely beautiful! Three floors, overlooking the lake, with a big fire place and lots of balconies. A ski hill is right behind them, and it was so crazy to look out the windows and see people skiing by. We headed out to Deerhurst for lunch and ciders. I had a wild trout salad with Strongbow. Delish! Then we rented snow-shoes and spent the rest of the afternoon snow-shoeing on the lake (aaah scary!) and through the golf course. I loved snow-shoeing, and desperately want a pair! What a great way to enjoy winter outdoors.

It was pretty nerve-wracking stepping onto the icy lake for the first time. Despite Mike and Chris’ constant assurances that we were definitely safe, Courtney and I were super nervous the whole time! Little did we know that it was literally 2 ft thick. They had so much snow up there, which made everything look like a winter wonderland! I can’t believe they live there year-round!!

When we returned to their chalet, Court set about whipping up a spread fit for kings and queens. Seriously, she went allllll out. We had veggie trays, cheese platters, charcuterie boards, and a nacho dip. We ate for like, 3 hours straight. No joke. We played Jungle Speed and Cards Against Humanity, which kept us occupied for hours! So hilarious. We had a great time playing those.

Near midnight, Chris tried to “saber” the champagne bottle with a little axe Mike had. Needless to say, it did not end well. The bottle ended up exploding in pieces, covering Chris in champagne.

Down to one bottle, we popped it just in time for Ryan Seacrest to say “Happy New Year!!!”, and Chris and I kissed leaning over both sides of the island, laughing hysterically at the over-flowing champagne bottle. Below is my attempt at “couple” shots to commemorate 2013. I think our personalities shine through here, don’t you? hahah, my boyfriend is insane.

Then we quickly slipped on our snow gear and ran down to the frozen lake, where we laid down and made giant snow-angels to ring in the new year!

The next morning, we enjoyed a nice breakfast at a nearby hotel, and then Chris decided to partake in the “polar-bear dip”. It was –25C outside. We broke through a crowd of people who were watching, to find a 6 x 6 hole cut through the thick ice in the lake. Chris immediately stripped down to his bathing suit and vibrams, and canon-balled in! Yikes! His skin immediately turned purple-red, and he had a hard time getting up the ladder because his fingers were frozen. He met me over on the dock, where I draped him in towels, removed his vibrams, and helped him get on his Columbia snow-pants and thermal shirt. Then we warmed up in the hotel lobby with hot chocolates and an interesting conversation with a crazy old man. It was hilarious!

The perfect way to spend New Year’s Eve! I can already tell 2014 is going to be the best yet.

2013 in Review

2013 was one of the best years yet. This was the first time that I truly began to feel like Toronto was “home”, and not just some intermediate-living-place that I was just a student in. I settled down here, didn’t take off to Niagara for weekends as much, and began to build a life in the city. I took two business trips to NYC, and spent time working there this summer. I had lots of visitors while there, which made the time go by super fast. With my career plan finally figured out, I began to settle even more into Toronto life. I had regular girls’ nights and couples’ nights with friends, tried out some great new restaurants, and cooked a ton. We travelled to Newfoundland and Prince Edward County, and I flew to Ottawa to visit April. In my 3L year, I wrote the MPRE. I worked part-time during school, and still managed to find the time to see Chris 3-4 nights a week. All in all, I think it was a good balance. In 2014, I’m determined to soak up the last semester of student life, enjoy the free time, savour the flexible schedule, and try new things that scare me. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order! Happy New Year xo!

December Round-Up

December was a busy month all around. I was immersed in final exams, Chris got a really bad cold/flu, and then had to write a big exam. We kind of traded off in the stress department.  There were definitely some high-lights though, like my work Christmas parties at Scarpetta and L’Unita, sushi nights with John and Irene, Broughie Christmas, and receiving my “thanks for staying in Toronto/I love you” gift from Chris: a Kate Spade purse!

This was my go-to hairstyle for Christmas parties this month.

I scored this brocade dress at H&M for $30 and wore it to all my work parties.

Mom and Dad visited for an afternoon and we popped in and out of all the decor/Christmas shops in Rosedale!

Kate, in all her glory. My mom and Jacquie now have matching purses! Thanks Kate Spade

Christmas with Chris

This was me and Chris’ second Christmas together as a couple. I was determined to think up some sort of Christmas tradition that we could share with each other every year, and I finally thought up something good. It was inspired by a sock monkey stocking I found at Sears when shopping with Amanda. I always call Chris my sock monkey, since he has this sweater he loves that looks like one. I bought the stocking, and then thought it would be cute to surprise each other with stockings full of little goodies each year. Chris liked the idea, and set out to find me a quintessentially “Heather” stocking. He put a lot of effort into it, and I am IN LOVE with what he came up with. It just so happens that the day he gave it to me, I was matched it perfectly!

We snuck away to a quiet room in my parent’s house and unwrapped them under the glittering tree. I had filled Chris’ stocking with a travel Bodum mug, a coffee card, some of his favourite candy, and treats for Sphinxy. Mine had some Starbucks chocolate covered almonds (my fave), Williams & Sonoma chocolate pomegranate seeds, a book holder, and a Daniel Wellington watch!!!!!

I have been coveting a Daniel Wellington watch for close to two years, and Chris picked out exactly the one I had hoped for (the Classic Lady Sheffield with a black band and rose gold details). Ah, he did good. His big present from me was a scrapbook of our last year together, and some crazy t-shirts (since I always shrink his). I loved this stocking tradition and have carefully stored them away for next year.

We also have a tradition of giving Chris’ canned goods to family and friends. Chris cans a lot – pickles, jams, jellies, relishes, etc. I love this, because I reap the bounty on a regular basis! But at Christmastime, it is a time to pry my hands away from the rare green tomato relish jar and be a lil generous. My contribution is fancy-ing them up. Last year we used slate cheese boards to display the goods, and this year I found cute baskets at Indigo. I bought a ton of labels from Martha Stewart’s new line at Staples, which immediately refreshed the look of everything.

They were a hit with everyone, I think because they are hand-made and people recognize the amount of work that Chris puts into making them. He’ll toil away over the stove for hours just to get 4 jars of something amazing, like roasted tri-colour peppers. I love and fully support this hobby of his!

I’m so happy we got to spend Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day together this year!

Home for Christmas

I arrived home for Christmas in Fonthill on December 18th. My mom always makes the house so beautiful during Christmastime, and this year was no exception.

Every year I wrap presents in a “theme”. I’m somewhat of a gift-wrap obsessed person (Chris constantly makes fun of my gift-wrapping drawer and my re-using of all wrapping items). This year I found cute sweater/knit patterned wrapping paper at Winners, and used that to decide my “rustic” theme. I finished everything off with some rugged jute and cute country gift tags I got on sale at Anthropologie last year.

One evening, when my parents were out at a Christmas party, my little niece Kendra came for a sleepover. She’s basically my mini-me and BFF, so this was super exciting. We spent the evening making and decorating Christmas cookies, drawing tons of pictures, and watching Chimpanzee (the documentary-style Disney movie about chimps that is so so good).

I always love the pre-Christmas festivities the most, even more than Christmas itself. You know, baking cookies, watching a ton of Christmas movies, doing last-minute shopping, wrapping presents while listening to Christmas carols, etc. Love it all. This year was no exception – I think I watched more Christmas movies this year than ever before, like Serendipity, Elf, The Wishing Tree, and It’s a Wonderful Life. We had a lot of snow in Fonthill too, which made things seem even more Christmassy than in years past. No Christmas vacation is perfect though, and between my bedroom flooding in a major rain/ice storm, breaking my patella (by cracking it on the kitchen table while drawing with Kendra…dramatic, I know), and being gluten-poisoned every other meal, this Christmas definitely had its drawbacks. All that was made up for though by the incredible love of my family, the warmth of our home, and the joy in seeing Kendra and Maxx unwrap presents and eagerly search for their names under the tree!

My family celebrates Christmas on December 24th (it’s a Dutch thing) by enjoying a big steak and seafood dinner. This year we had shrimp cocktail, steaks, Caesar salad, mashed potatoes, and a ton of desserts. YUM. Then we all piled into the front living room to open presents. I bought Kendra and Maxx matching real children’s guitars, and hopefully one day my mom will be able to teach them how to play! Tyson and Krista gave me a calendar and a Starbucks gift card, and Chris and I gave them a basket chock full of canned goods made by Chris. I gave my grandma a framed graduation picture of myself, which had everyone laughing. What type of a vain person gives someone a picture of themselves?! Bahaha. Whoops. Along with giving my parents a two-night stay at a fancy hotel in NYC, I gave my mom a pale pink fur stole, and my dad the new John Grisham book with some of his favourite chocolates.

My parents’ big gifts to Kendra and Maxx were a hockey net (for Maxx) and a mechanical mom and baby furry cat (for Kendra). I love her expression in the photo above, when the cat starting moving around and meowing! Hahaha! Once everyone had gone home, my parents, Chris, and I retired to the family room to relax. Chris gave my mom a brand new Kate Spade purse (she cried.), and my dad a bottle of premium tequila (he did not cry). I always like opening my presents after the little ones leave, so that I can be fully present in their Christmas unwrapping during the short time it takes them to rip through everything. Plus I have a habit of savouring my gifts. You know, open one here, one there. It annoys my parents and other people who want to see me open everything rightnow, but I like to have gifts for days! Muhahah.

The next morning, we had a big pancake breakfast (which Chris slept through), and I unwrapped my stocking from Santa and the rest of my presents. My dad had hand-built me a coffee table, out of a beautiful walnut slab of wood and some reclaimed steel and bolts. My uncle helped, and the bolts were all from a table built by my great-opa. It is truly a beautiful work of art, and it is all the more special because my dad built it. Here are some other things I received this year: the Mindy Kaling book, “I am Malala” book, the Smitten Kitchen cookbook, a Martha Stewart file folder for organizing all my important papers, and Clinique make-up. My parents bought Chris an awesome Columbia thermal tweed jacket/shirt, suspenders, and cuff-links. Swank-kaaay. By the way, doesn’t he look like such a gentleman in the photo above, sipping his port in his little bow-tie?

For Christmas dinner my parents made a big turkey, with all the trimmings, and marmalade-glazed green beans. SO GOOD. It was a pretty low-key and quiet evening, just the way I like it. We spent most of the night fixing some damage done to my bedroom in the flood…not exactly what we had in mind for Christmas, but it was made nonetheless entertaining by a certain boyfriend of mine who discovered my high school collection of CDs and felt the need to blare Backstreet Boys while loading all my stuff back into the room. It was hilarious, complete with vocals and tight dance moves. Love my man.

On Boxing Day, we drove through an icy wonderland up to Grafton to celebrate with Chris’ family. They have a huge boxing day party with 30 people! It was awesome, and I loved seeing everyone again. Chris and his brother-in-law wrestled in the living room, we watched all the nieces and nephews open presents, and indulged in way too much amazing food. All in all, a wonderful Christmas holiday!