Summer Travel: Guelph, ON - July 2018

In July I took Isabelle on her first ever flight to visit some of my family in Guelph, Ontario. I had really wanted this to be a trip that all three of us went on, but we decided to use Daniel’s holidays differently so Belle and I jetted off just the two of us. It’s been over four years since I last got out to see these family members (don’t worry, they make their way to Saskatchewan multiple times a year), and it was, of course, Belle’s first time visiting their home.

My cousin, Kathleen, has been living in Saskatchewan for a few years now, but she is a teacher so she tends to head back home to visit her parents during the summer. I have been wanting to make the most of my maternity leave and get some travels in while I am off, and this definitely fit the bill.

Isabelle was a champ! I honestly could not have asked for a better baby to travel with. And we switched up the timing for the flights. The Flight there left around 5:00 in the morning, so we had to wake her around 3:30 to leave for the airport. Our flight home left Toronto around 7:00 in the evening. She was great for both!

We had a wonderful time. It was slower paced than I am used to while traveling, since I had a baby with me and all. I had to work around her naps (which were on a perfect schedule there, by the way – what the heck??), so we didn’t have the ability to go do as many things. It was really nice just relaxing and visiting, though.

The Secret Garden Tea House, Home of the Tea for Two

Tea for Two in Elora, ON
Even though we got a lot of relaxing in, we still did a few fun things! My cousin has been wanting to take me to this cute tea house in a nearby village ever since she first went herself. Oh my goodness. This tea house was fantastic, but the village was even more amazing! It’s so sweet and quaint and you honestly feel like you stepped into a little European village. I had a lovely time and I would love to head back some day.

Elora, ON

Note: When I went to look up the Secret Garden Tea House in order to link it for you, I see that they are closed as of September 30, 2018! This makes me sad. However, I would still highly recommend a visit to Elora, ON!

Outlet Mall
We made a day trip with Kathleen’s friend, Emilie, out to the Toronto Premium Outlets for some fun shopping. I almost bought a black and white Kate Spade purse, but it was right at the start and I didn’t want to carry it around. I had changed my mind by the end. I picked up a few items that had been on my wish list for a while.

Other than that, we just visited, went for coffee runs, played Settlers of Catan, and watched the first few Harry Potter movies – a half marathon, if you will.

Have you ever traveled with an infant by yourself? I hope to share my tips at some point, but if you have any of your own please share!

Isabelle and Auntie Kathleen

Ottawa Recommendations?

We are heading to Ottawa in September for my cousin's wedding and we are so excited! I have been there a couple times, but only for a few short days and always with a purpose that filled all of my time. So, with that being said, I would love to hear your recommendations for places we must go! I am more looking for restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, and bakeries, but all suggestions for what to do/see/eat are welcome! You can comment here, send me an e-mail (sarah.sweetspontaneity@gmail.com), tweet me, or let me know on Instagram!


P.S. The photo above is from my first trip to Ottawa in October 2013. You can't really tell, but all those people behind me? They're dressed as zombies. My first visit to Parliament was made all that much more interesting by the Zombie Walk that I had absolutely no idea was going to take place until I was walking out of the building and down the steps and saw all of these terrifying people coming towards me. Thankfully I don't watch many zombie movies or shows, or else I would have been terrified!

Jet-setter: Guelph, Ontario - January 1 - 4, 2014

After my visit to Ottawa over New Years, I flew off to Guelph, ON to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousins that live there.  I figured since I was in the vicinity, and flights between Ottawa and Toronto are relatively inexpensive (comparatively, of course), I should stop in to spend some quality time with them all - but especially with Kathleen.  I usually only get to see this family when they come to Saskatchewan to visit, so I really enjoyed being able to visit them at their home.

Originally Kathleen and I had a bunch of plans for what we would like to do during the few days I was in Guelph. We're both the type of people that kind of need a plan/schedule, but we also know that when it comes to our visits together we end up scrapping the plan and just hanging out. Nevertheless, we still need to make the plan (it actually gives us great enjoyment in the weeks leading up to our visits). This time was no different. We scrapped the plan and just played a lot of Clue, slept in every single day, and spent lots of time talking and talking and talking. It's what we do best.

The first night involved a large portion of the talking, exchanging Christmas gifts (between Kathleen and myself), and a couple games of Clue.  Kathleen got me quite a few things within our limited budget we had set before the holidays, but my two favourites were:

 Bonbons

Pickle Ornament

Kathleen is really thoughtful and likes to have meaning behind each item she includes in a gift.  The bonbons are from our trip to Europe that we went on in May together with my uncle (her father).  The last part of our holiday was England where we spent time with family in the Blackpool area before heading down to London for the last few days prior to returning to Canada. When I discovered the "sweets" cups that were located at lots of grocery stores and movie theatres (probably elsewhere too, but that's where I encountered them) I went crazy. I love five-cent candies here at home and these were even better. Especially the bonbons that I found. I had never had them before, and I became hooked. Kathleen managed to find some in Guelph and got me a whole bag!  Now, the pickle has a couple meanings. First, I love dill pickles. And I do not use the word "love" lightly. They are literally my favourite food.  So, when my aunt saw this ornament she knew it was for me.  The second part of this gift is that it is actually a tradition where you hide the pickle on the Christmas tree and the child that finds it receives an extra gift. It's actually a German tradition, and we're not German. But I like it and I really like finding things to add to my growing collection of items that are for when I finally get my own place. (The laundry room closet is the home for those!)

The second night that I was there we went for dinner with the family and some of their family friends.  It was a really delicious meal and amazing company!  This was also the only night that Kathleen and I got a photo together. We always say we need to take lots of photos each time we get together, because we never do, and then we just don't end up doing it. Our favourite ones were from my first year of university... five and a half years ago!

We went out that same night, but it was a little bit dead. Guelph is very much populated with students because of the university in town, but they weren't back from the holidays yet.  I really didn't mind to tell you the truth, I'm not huge on going out anyway so it was nice to be able to chat with Kathleen.

My last night in Guelph was just a chill night, with more Clue played after I finished packing. Then, on the Saturday morning, my uncle and Kathleen drove me to the Toronto airport and I returned home (with much better timing of flights and no baggage issues).

I had a wonderful time visiting family, I always love seeing them. I also really enjoy traveling, so it was a nice mix of the two!

Do you have family that you travel to visit? How far do you travel to visit them? I love hearing about travel adventures, adding family in is a wonderful bonus!

Jet-setter: Ottawa, Ontario - December 28, 2013 - January 1, 2014

I had mentioned in this post that I was headed back to Ottawa at the end of December for the annual New Years conference hosted by Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO). After major delays and baggage being purposely left behind by Air Canada, I finally made it to Ottawa!

The conference took up nearly all of my time while I was there, and my breaks were used for catching up with people that I haven't seen in a really long time. I had many wonderful coffee and lunch visits that left my heart full and my spirit at peace. I have some of the most amazing people in my life, and I am so thankful for each and every one!

I actually didn't take many photos while I was in Ottawa this time, I was really focused on being present and experiencing every moment with people that are important to me.  There were over 800 people at this conference, and while I don't know more than half of them, there were still so many people to hug, laugh with, and catch up with.

We celebrated Mass each day. On the first day we walked to the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica.

I actually spent most of my evenings with Amanda and other people from Saskatoon (and area).  It was a great balance of catching up with lots of different people at the conference and during the day breaks and then spending time with those that I would get to see back at home too.

My entire parish team from Impact Halifax was at the conference, but we didn't manage to get a photo together.  It was pretty great being able to see all of them so soon after David's wedding!  

One super exciting part about the conference was seeing most of the wonderful women that were my housemates on Impact.  There were nine of us that lived at Waterloo (most of the houses on Impact were just referred to by the street they were located on) and seven of us were at the conference!  We live across the country so this is a pretty fantastic ratio!  I had seen some of them while making road trips to Calgary or while visiting Ottawa for David's wedding, but I hadn't seen my old roommate Rachel since our last day in our house. It was a wonderful moment being able to hug her and actually talk to her face to face!  Over the course of the summer while living in Halifax we grew so close.  It was kind of funny actually, when we first moved into the house I was shocked to have been placed in a room with her, because we were the most different out of all of the people in the house. But things totally happen for a reason and I could not have been more blessed than I was by having Rachel as my roomie.

Waterloo Ladies

The conference ended with a banquet and dance on New Years Eve.  This is my third year ringing in the New Year with hundreds of young adults at Rise Up, and I loved every minute of it!

Have you ever been to Rise Up? What did you do for New Years this year? I would love to hear about it!

Jet-setter: Ottawa, Ontario - October 25 - 28, 2013

I spent this past weekend flying off to Ottawa, ON to be present at the wedding of my friend David and his beautiful wife Flora.  David was my Parish Team Leader during the summer of 2012 while I lived in Halifax from May to August for a mission trip with Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO).  The summer mission was called Impact Halifax 2012.

I stayed at the house of two of my friends who were also in Halifax with me, Angèle and Maria, and so did my friend Adriana, who - you guessed it - was in Halifax too.  Angèle and Maria have three other roommates, so it was a wonderfully full house for the weekend with seven women.  About four doors down from the women's house is a men's house, where two men that were also in Halifax with us - Zachary and Jeremy - happen to live. A large portion of the people who were on Impact Halifax were either from Ottawa (or nearby), going to school in Ottawa, or had moved to Ottawa after the summer mission, so I was super excited that I got to see so many wonderful people whom I hadn't been able to see for over a year.

(Check out this post where Maria and I, along with some other friends, went down to the Halifax Harbour for sun rise)

Our first night in Ottawa happened to also be the night that CCO was hosting men's and women's nights, so Adriana and I joined Maria, Angèle, and many other young Catholic women in Ottawa for the evening that consisted of a potluck, testimony sharing, a talk, and then a girly evening of chatting, painting nails, and just hanging out.  After women's night a bunch of us went to a house party that was spread out over two houses that are connected through the corner of their backyards. One house had a live band and the other was full of people with a dance floor in the basement.  I ran into so many people I knew there, it felt like I had already been to Ottawa before.

Saturday was wedding day! Maria, Adriana, and I quickly walked to a nearby mall to get cards and some makeup before getting ready for the wedding.  The ceremony was so beautiful. I just love witnessing people that are important to me take part in the sacrament of marriage!

As I am living in Saskatchewan and the rest of the people who were on my parish team are all living in Ontario, the last time we were all together was the very last day of mission, August 11, 2012.  It was so awesome to see Jeremy, David, Beverly, and Marie all in the same place. Actually, it was the first time I had seen any of them since Impact ended.

Our parish team got a little bit bigger this weekend!

I'm actually a little disappointed that I didn't get more photos, but I was totally enjoying myself as I caught up with everyone, met new people, and danced the night away.  

P.S. I wore the same dress to this wedding as I did to Brandi & Kyle's wedding, and I am totally okay with it! Do you wear an outfit to multiple events? I certainly try to, it just seems so wasteful not to!

My weekend didn't end there! I decided to make a little vacation out of the weekend and booked Monday off of work. Since Friday was my EDO I had a nice little 4-day weekend to enjoy Ottawa for the first time ever.  On Sunday morning I slept in then Jeremy, Maria, and I dropped Adriana off at the airport to catch her flight back to Halifax. After we left the airport we stopped off at the Farmer's Market across from Carleton University. It was pretty chilly and we decided that we wanted to sit down somewhere warm to eat, so we didn't stay long. I did manage to snag some macarons, however, and they were delicious. Jeremy had one that was mocha-flavoured, Maria chose pistachio, and I got raspberry, vanilla, and two salted caramels (there was a deal for 6 that I just couldn't pass up). YUM.

There were three others, but they didn't quite last until the photo was taken.

We made our way to the ByWard Market and grabbed some lunch at Cafe 55 before heading towards Parliament Hill.  We decided to head inside to see if there was a tour time that would work.  We hung around inside for a little bit before deciding that we didn't want to wait. I'm heading back to Ottawa at the end of December anyways, so I can take a tour then when I have a bit more time. 

I really wanted the typical tourist photo in front of Parliament Hill, so we went outside to do just that. As we walked outside and towards the steps we saw a bunch of people in strange costumes and makeup walking towards us (towards the building really, but it totally felt like they were walking right. to. me.). Oh lovely, Ottawa's Zombie Walk had to happen right when I was first experiencing Ottawa and Parliament Hill.  I'll tell you, I doubt I will ever forget it!  I managed to get my photos and you really cannot tell that the people in the background are all dressed as zombies, it just looks like a bunch of tourists.

After my tourist moment was over we hopped back in the car and headed off to Jeremy's parents' place for a belated Thanksgiving dinner and then went to evening Mass at St. Monica's where Jeremy was playing in the band. We were there early for the band to set up, so Maria and I went on what ended up being a very long walk on the path that winds through the surrounding trees. It was quite beautiful, but we really didn't realize how far we had gone until we figured we should turn back. We still made it back with plenty of time to spare before Mass though :).

That's about it! The next morning I had the cab pick me up shortly after 4:00 am so that I could get checked in and through security before my 6:00 am flight back home.  Even though the trip was quick, I had a wonderful time. I cannot wait until I get to head back at the end of December!

Have you ever been to Ottawa? What was your favourite experience while there?