Living Life Lately

So, it looks like I didn't post anything in June. I guess that's what happens when you're busy living life!

I have been up to a lot in the past month, and this last week especially!

We had our engagement party, which turned out to be a great evening, complete with some DIY projects like this tassel garland.

I did makeup for a couple weddings, and attended a few as well.

 Chelsey Dawn Photography

Chelsey Dawn Photography

Laura-Anne Photographer

I bought many succulents for our wedding centrepieces, I repotted a couple succulents and cacti, and I prepped the small terracotta pots for our centrepieces.

In this last week, I did graduation makeup and hair for one of my dance students and attended her graduation in Hepburn, SK.

On Wednesday, Dan I attended the free screening of The Wizard of Oz at the Bessborough Gardens to celebrate 30 years of the Sasktel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we had a fantastic time!

Then, on Thursday morning, I was off to Gravelbourg, SK to get ready to celebrate my best friend's wedding. The weekend went by so fast, but it was absolutely beautiful. Friday was Canada Day, but we were so focused on the prep for the wedding that we didn't do much celebrating with the red and white. The rehearsal dinner was a tasty barbecue, though, which is very Canada Day-esque.

Tann put so much thought and work into every little moment and detail, and not bit of that was lost in the total effect of the day. She was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen, and I definitely had trouble keeping my eyes dry. I cannot wait to have her stand beside me in December as my matron of honour.

We even started the wedding day with a mimosa bar courtesy of yours truly while we got ready.

After a fantasticly fun night of celebrating and dancing, we all pitched in to take down the decorations at the town rink, and then Dan and I were off to head home.

How was your weekend? What have you been up to lately? Did you do anything for Canada Day/are you doing anything for the Fourth of July?

Jon Bryant at the Bassment with special guest Kristan Couture

Definitely not the best quality photo, but pretty great for an iPhone in the Bassment!

Last night Daniel and I went to the Bassment to see Jon Bryant perform. We went to see him last time he was in Saskatoon because Daniel's sister had invited us, and we were so glad she did! Since we enjoyed it so much last time, we definitely wanted to go again.

We really enjoyed both performances. It was particularly neat to see Kristan Couture open the show, because I knew her a little when we were young girls.

Jon Bryant gives off an easygoing feel while on stage, and comes across as very personable. His maritime roots (Halifax, NS) show in both his music and his demeanor, which is what I am pretty sure I am really drawn to. He reminds me of when I lived in Halifax and the people I met would bring me to house concerts and jam sessions in old yoga studios. At one point he even came out into the audience and then, when he finished the song, rolled with it and hung out with the crowd for a bit during the next song. Simply put, he's super chill.

Have you ever seen Jon Bryant perform? Do you like his music? What was the last live performance you went to?

Please note: I am not a music critic, and I am definitely not musically trained. I am just sharing about something I experienced.

May Long

This past weekend was a long weekend in Canada, with Monday being Victoria Day, celebrating the birthday of the late Queen Victoria.

My weekend was pretty relaxed, which was great. My fiancé (still feels weird to call him that!) and I drove out to Bruno, SK for the Commissioning Mass and celebration at St. Therese Institute on Saturday. Daniel's sister was in the program these past nine months, so lots of his family came out to celebrate with her.

I have visited St. Therese quite a few times over the past few years. The first time ever was for a retreat with Catholic Christian Outreach in the fall of 2011. I went to school prior to this in Muenster, SK for my first year of university and it is super close to Bruno, but I had never visited before! Then my next few visits were to see Amanda while she attended the program two years in a row. And, most recently, Daniel and I made a trip up to see his sister in Bruno before heading to St. Pete's for a visit.

On Sunday my cousin Kathleen came in to visit and before she left on Monday, I took her to City Perks. If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that it's one of my favourite coffee shops in Saskatoon, but Kathleen and I hadn't ever visited together before.

And that's it! It was super relaxing, which was definitely needed. On to the short work week ahead!

How was your weekend? Did you do anything exciting?! :)

Pre-Wedding Events - To Gift, or Not to Gift?

I'm continuing on from my recent post about Bachelorette Party Gift Ideas and bringing you an overview of gift-giving for pre-wedding events. I hope to hear about your experiences in the comments!

There are many pre-wedding events these days; I have heard of engagement parties, wedding socials, combined stag and does, separate stags and stagettes (or bachelorette parties), wedding showers, and a quick Google search turned up even more festivities. How does one decide which events to bring a gift to? And what is an appropriate gift for each event?

The short answer is, it's completely up to you! The bride and groom are honoured by your support and attendance, and expect nothing more. That being said, if you desire to give the couple a gift (or multiple gifts for different events), what is appropriate?

Each geographic area and social group has a slightly different set of guidelines when it comes to gift-giving at these pre-wedding events. If you are truly at a loss, you could ask someone in your social circle what they think, or you could do a Google search including your particular area.

I am from the province of Saskatchewan in Canada, and I have found some generalities that usually ring true, but there are still some slight differences that I will try to note.

Engagement Party
The engagement parties that I have attended have usually been pretty low-key; it's an excuse for everyone to get together for a good, prairie party, and gifts are generally not given. Close friends and family have sometimes been known to bring a card which can be accompanied by marriage advice or preparation books, a bottle of wine, or something small to help the party along (think a cheese board, food for the party, a specialty liqueur, etc.)

Wedding Social / Stag and Doe
To be honest, I had never heard of these until some of my friends and family from Manitoba and Ontario were getting engaged and married. This just isn't really a Saskatchewan thing. However, from what I've been able to gather, these events serve as a fundraiser for the wedding where both the bride and groom attend with their friends and family. Guests purchase tickets to attend and there are fun activities at the event such as casino games, carnival games, 50/50 draws, a cash bar, and more. These activities vary based on the provincial licensing board (which may explain why Saskatchewan doesn't really have these events). This event often (but not always!) takes the place of both the engagement party and the next event I'm going to talk about, the bridal shower.

Bridal Shower
The bridal shower was once a pretty big deal around here, but in more modern times it is sometimes skipped in the pre-wedding festivities. Traditionally, this event was hosted by the bridesmaids and/or the mothers of the bride and groom for the bride, and a very wide and general invitation was sent out to women of the community (the older ladies from church and the little girls once babysat by the bride included), whether invited to the wedding or not. The gifts for this event were typically purchased off of the registry, or were simple/small things that are often overlooked but quite necessary to help a home function (lots of tea towels and wooden spoons!). These days, houses are often well-equipped by the time a wedding happens, so gifts of this nature are not as necessary and sometimes the event does not happen altogether. I have still attended quite a few bridal showers, but they have usually been for brides that have not lived with their fiancé before marriage. Even if the couple has not created and filled a home together, they often have their own household items to combine, so the gift giving has still changed. Gifts directed more towards the bride are extremely common, like aprons, beauty products, spa gift certificates, date night packages, hobby sets, etc. Sometimes the person organizing the bridal shower will give ideas for gifts, if you wish to bring one, or else it is appropriate to ask them if nothing is shared directly.

Stag & Stagette/Bachelorette Party
These are the parties for the groom and the bride where the other is typically not invited. Seen as a "last wild night" for the soon to be married, these parties come in all shapes and sizes. Gifts are rare for the male parties, but the stagette (or bachelorette party) sometimes has a gift-giving component. If there are gifts at the bachelorette party, it is typically lingerie for the bride, or something in that vein. If this is something the group does, there is usually mention of it by the bridal party or the person organizing the event. They will typically share the brides sizes and mention what her tastes are. This party is usually for the younger women, and those closer to the bride - but sometimes the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom, and other important, mature women are included (which might affect what type of gifts are received lol). Check out my post on Bachelorette Party Gift Ideas to help you decide on a gift!

That's my experience with pre-wedding festivities and gift-giving! How about you, what are your experiences? Are there any pre-wedding events that are typical for your area that I didn't mention? Topics such as this fascinate me, so I would love to hear what your areas and groups of friends do!

City Perks - Saskatoon, SK

City Perks has been around for quite a while; I remember walking past when I was in ninth grade thinking how cute it was and wishing I was sophisticated enough to have coffee dates at a place like that (it was a whimsical and very adult prospect for my thirteen-year-old mind). After that, I remember sitting in City Perks many times while in university. I was usually reading, sometimes I was studying or doing homework, but I was always just so happy to be there - it's one of those places that brings about those lovely feelings of peace and contentment. Around that time, however, it was quite often very busy - I wasn't the only person in Saskatoon who had fallen in love with this place - so there were times I would arrive only to find there was no seat for me that day.

Then came the renovations. When I first heard of them my heart dropped a little, thinking the magic of the place would be lost, but I was so wrong. City Perks was updated to allow for more catch ups, study sessions, coffee dates, family outings, first dates, and so much more to take place all at once. They maximized the square footage and added in some beautifully unique touches to the décor, all without losing the essence of what it already was.

Now City Perks has expanded to a second location, which I still haven't had the opportunity to visit yet, located in Ens Toyota in the C.N. Industrial area (just bordering Stonebridge), in the south part of Saskatoon.

Another thing to mention about City Perks is their amazing food, especially their dessert - I don't always let myself add a treat to my order, but I am definitely always tempted!

Have you visited City Perks before? What is your fondest memory of the place?

Valentine's Day 2016

This weekend was amazingly relaxing! Most of Saskatchewan is off today as a statutory holiday for Family Day, but my workplace, being federal, does not recognize it (we get Easter Monday instead!). I don't mind, though. The streets of downtown Saskatoon were eerily quiet on my drive to work, and walking from my car to work was so beautiful. It was quite warm this morning, so warm that the birds were out chirping, which is one of my favourite things. I walked slowly in to work, breathing the refreshing, crisp (but not too cold!) air while enjoying their tune. Also, free parking downtown on a work day? I'll take it! (Side note: it has since begun to snow A LOT, but it's still quite pretty).

As I'm sure we are all aware, yesterday was Valentine's Day. My boyfriend and I celebrated by going for dinner at 2nd Ave Grill and then curling up on the couch to drink wine while watching some White Collar on Netflix. The meal was super tasty and we are so absolutely wrapped up in White Collar.

He also surprised me with those beautiful flowers above, isn't the bouquet unique? I love it.

How was your Valentine's Day?! Have you been to 2nd Ave Grill before? Have you watched White Collar? (No spoilers, please! We're not done yet.)

Citizen Cafe & Bakery - Saskatoon, SK

I recently visited Citizen Cafe & Bakery with my friend Jackie. I have been here quite a few times before, but it seems I haven't shared it on the blog. To be honest, this is one of my most favourite places in Saskatoon, so that's actually quite surprising.

Jackie and I have been friends since our first year of university when our rooms were right next to each other and we learned that we share a love for dance. Even though we live in the same city again, we don't get to see each other as much as we would like, so this was a much needed catch up lunch :).

Citizen Cafe has an amazing menu - I always have trouble choosing what I want to order. They even have a great selection of gluten free and vegan options. Aside from their great coffee, food, and treats, they also offer a warm, inviting atmosphere that happily caters to children and families.

I definitely recommend visiting Citizen Cafe if you're ever in the area!

Have you been to Citizen Cafe before? What's your favourite thing to order? I really like the homemade Oreo - so delicious!

13th Ave Coffee House

My boyfriend and I made a quick trip to Regina this past weekend to see some of my friends for the holidays. We met up with Jessica and Jessica at Malt City for lunch on Saturday and it was great! I was so happy to be catching up with them that I didn't even think to get photos, but I'm sure I will be back.

On Sunday morning we met up with Jessica and Leah at Holy Rosary Cathedral for Mass and it happened to be when they were blessing the Holy Doors for the Year of Mercy, which was a nice surprise!

After Mass we went across the street to 13th Ave Coffee House for some coffee and to catch up. I had just said to my boyfriend as we were walking to the cathedral for Mass that I wanted to try it soon, so I was more than happy to oblige when Leah suggested it.

The coffee house is located in a refurbished house in the Cathedral Village area of Regina, which is probably my favourite area in all of Regina. If you're ever in Regina I highly recommend checking out 13th Ave Coffee House and the surrounding area - there are some great stores and sights, especially on 13th Avenue.

Have you ever visited Regina? Where is your favourite place in Regina? Have you tried 13th Ave Coffee House?

Girls Day

Last weekend my friend Sylvia and I got together for a girls day. We don't get to spend a lot of time together, so when Sylvia got in touch and asked if I'd like to join her for a manicure and a pedicure I of course said "Yes!"

We met up at 10 am to be pampered and spent a couple hours catching up, talking about her pregnancy, the sex of her baby, and the wonderful men in our lives, among many other things. The time went quickly and we were super impressed with the girls at Sunsera on 22nd St. W. in Saskatoon.

After our pampering morning, we had plans to go for lunch. I had been thinking of taking Sylvia to Capanna Pizzeria (always a favourite of mine), but since she's pregnant I figured I should ask where she would like to go (in case there was a super strong craving present lol). All she said was "somewhere cool." I know she meant somewhere with an awesome atmosphere, an amazing menu, and somewhere that isn't just the same old restaurant with a different name and a slightly different menu. I knew my original thought of Capanna Pizzeria was the perfect place.

Sylvia is living in a smaller city about an hour away from Saskatoon, so there aren't many new or different restaurants to experience there. She loves trying new and different places, though, so she really enjoyed Capanna!

The menu has changed a bit since I was last at Capanna Pizzeria, and it was even harder to make a decision! Everything sounds so tasty that I just want to try it all! The menu hasn't been updated online to include the pizza Sylvia ordered, but it had pickled onions, beets, peaches (I think?), arugula, and a lovely sauce. I went with the Calabrese Salami, Pickled Pepperoncini, and Provolone pizza. It is quite spicy and absolutely delicious!

After eating we walked back to the car, with a wander through Garden Architecture and bumping into a bubbly acquaintance first. From there we went home decor shopping and it was fun looking at baby and children's decor and dreaming up ways Sylvia could furnish the nursery.

As always, I absolutely recommend trying out Capanna Pizzeria! Have you tried out any unique restaurants lately? Any recommendations - especially in Saskatchewan? Hope to hear from you!

Have A Lovely Weekend

As of after work today I am officially on holidays! I am so excited to take a week to recharge, spend time with those I love, and enjoy my city (even if the beautiful weather missed me by a week - darn!)

The above photo is from my weekend adventuring last weekend with Amanda. We went to Drift Sidewalk Café and then wandered the Saskatoon Farmer's Market and the nearby Garden Architecture & Design store. Amanda and I tend to wander that store (especially the outside portion) whenever we're in the Riversdale area, it's just so fun - as shown by the interesting piece pictured above!

What are you up to this weekend? Anyone else on holidays?

Summertime Weekend Adventuring

Last weekend found me with an abundance of time that I had not originally planned for. What's a girl to do? Make use of that time, of course! I got in touch with old friends and was surprised to find many of them available pretty last minute (always a novel concept for my over-planner mind).

I failed to get photos of this, but on Friday night Jackie and I met up at the Saskatoon Fringe Festival to head to Loon by WonderHeads. The performance was really sweet, but made my heart feel a little heavy. The character loved the moon so much that it started shrinking... He loved it so much that it became less of itself. I really, really liked how the entire performance did not involve speaking, though; it was emotions shared purely through movement and music. If you ever have the chance to see a WonderHeads production I absolutely recommend that you take advantage!

On Saturday morning Jackie actually came over to my place for a mid-morning coffee so that we could catch up. It was so nice to see each other two times so close together! She is one of my closest friends, but we both have very full schedules and very diverse groups of friends, so sometimes we go awhile between seeing each other. I truly appreciate every moment we get to spend together.

On Sunday afternoon my friend Aaron and I ended up heading to the Saskatoon Zoo. The weather was absolutely beautiful and Jackie had mentioned that I should go see the baby goats. They weren't so "baby" anymore, but they were nice to see.

Aaron and I enjoyed wandering the grounds and catching up while enjoying the sun and clear Saskatchewan skies. Aaron is another friend that I don't get to see too much, especially now that she goes to school in a different city, but we always pick up right where we left off.

We especially liked this lookout point that we stumbled upon. We were a little sad there were no passers-by to take a photo of us together, but look at that view! It's hard to believe that this is in the middle of Saskatoon!

Then on Sunday evening I headed out to Wakaw Lake to a friend's cabin where a bunch of people were getting together. I ended up missing the Aberdeen turn-off because the highway I was on was the same highway towards St. Pete's where I spent my first year of university and I was feeling all nostalgic. I barely missed it, so I totally could have turned back, but I figured I would take a dirt road to connect to the other highway but when I turned off there was a sign stating that the road did not connect to the exact highway I was looking to get to, so it had probably been washed out in previous years of flooding. I decided to keep heading the way I had been going, and meet up with where I needed to be via two perpendicular highways instead of a diagonal one (sort of a triangle situation)... Google Maps said that route added only 12 minutes on anyway. I am SO glad I stuck with my original route, because I came across a beautiful Ukrainian Catholic Church right on the side of the highway. The sun was starting to set, giving the prairies a beautiful glow and I just couldn't resist pulling over to take a photo.

I had a great time at the lake and left to head home around 12:45. It's about an hourish to get back to Saskatoon, but I love solo road trips, as I'm sure I've shared before. Minutes in to hitting the highway, I saw a falling star and then a shooting star. I don't know if there's actually a difference, but one was sort of passively falling downwards, whereas the second one moved upwards and then almost accelerated by leaving some light behind as if it were a cloud of dust behind a fast vehicle. I don't know if that makes sense, but either way, it was a welcome sight and brought a smile to my face as well as my heart.

What started off looking like a very slow weekend ended up being wonderfully full! Have you had any summertime adventures lately?

Cathedral Bakery - Regina, SK

As you may have seen in my recent post about my recent visit to Regina, I stopped in at the Cathedral Bakery for some treats for our girls night. I've been to Cathedral Bakery before, but I haven't really highlighted it here on the blog.

Cathedral Bakery is located in Cathedral Village in Regina, right off of 13th Avenue (which is definitely an area you should visit if you're ever in Regina). I first came across this bakery one summer when I was wandering the area on a beautiful, sunny day, and after walking in and seeing the awesome selection of cupcakes I was completely hooked. This time around I went with a dozen cupcakes for the girls night. We cut them into halves so that we could try more flavours. I wasn't able to try all of the ones I picked up (it's a good thing I had to share), but they were all hits with the group.

Have you ever been to the Cathedral Bakery in Regina? Any other dessert or treat recommendations for next time I visit?

Road Trip Recap: Regina, SK - March 27 - 29, 2015

The first trip of my #take12trips challenge was to Regina - nice and close to home. I've technically already taken a few trips, considering I was in Regina when I wrote the original post and we've also been to visit my boyfriend's family in Prince Albert a few times too, but I won't be including those - mainly because we just relaxed and enjoyed everyone's company so there just isn't much to share!

On to this visit to Regina. It started out as a trip for a girls night with some of my friends, but I ended up fitting in some time with family and Santana and I finally got to see each other again too before I went on home to meet my future roomie so she could tour my place. It was a pretty quick weekend, but so much fun.

Jessica decided last minute that she wanted to make our girls night a Frozen themed evening, so that's what we did! I picked up some cupcakes from Cathedral Bakery, Jessica, Sylvia, and I ran some errands to pick up supplies and food, and along the way we stopped in at Party City, where we picked up the majority of our Frozen items: a "gliding" Elsa helium balloon, props for the photo booth, and streamers! The store was so awesome, and the aisle with all of the paper cups, plates, and napkins was essentially an organization enthusiast's dream.

The evening shaped up well with about ten of us in attendance. We had appetizers, desserts, drinks, a photo booth, pin the nose on Olaf, and some wonderful conversations mixed with some dancing (of course).

 

What did you get up to this weekend?

Capanna Pizzeria - Saskatoon, SK

I had the day off on Friday, so Amanda and I decided it was time to meet up for a long overdue lunch date. We chose the new Capanna Pizzeria, which is just around the corner from the Riversdale Deli. Chef Darby Kells is at it again with a wonderful restaurant - the atmosphere, the food, and the drink selection are top notch.

We both decided to go for the sangria and it was super tasty. It came topped with a lime and a few drop peppers - the drop peppers were a unique addition that neither of us had tried before, but that we both really enjoyed.

Since it was lunch and we were really wanting to have room for dessert we decided to skip the appetizers this time around, but you can be sure we'll be returning to try out their selection! We had trouble choosing which pizzas to order; they all sounded delicious and Amanda was seriously tempted by the onion, fig, and blue cheese pizza (mainly because of the blue cheese), but we ended up settling on the wild mushroom pizza for Amanda and the prawn pizza for myself. Amanda compromised by stopping by Riversdale Deli to pick up some of the blue cheese to take home instead.

We shared our pizzas and I truly cannot choose which one I liked better - they were both crispy, delicious, and filled us up just enough that we could share some tiramisu for dessert.

I would absolutely recommend Capanna Pizzeria and I will definitely be returning. Let me know if you try it out!

Mary's Wedding

On Sunday I went to Mary's Wedding at the Persephone Theatre. My good friend Jackie played Mary so I was really happy to be able to see this play, although I left it right to the end - it was the final show!

The play takes place the night before Mary's wedding in a dream. It's about herself and Charlie, who meet and find love while seeking refuge from a sudden storm. Her dream is about her time with him and the trenches of the Great War, with the transition between the two being perfectly seamless.

I really enjoyed Mary's Wedding. I don't typically enjoy anything to do with war, but the way that this play comes in and out of reality, mixing events that did happen or at least could have happened with others that definitely couldn't have - such as Mary speaking through her love's sergeant while still in her nightgown - just made it flow so seamlessly that it kept moving from one setting to the next.

Overall, I am glad I went and the cast and crew did a wonderful job!

Have you been to any plays or productions recently? 

Riversdale Deli and a Toddler Tea Party

This past weekend was absolutely wonderful. It was a perfect mix of being busy or having places to go and relaxing with people that fill me with joy.

Saturday was especially enjoyable. My friend Maria (whom you've met before) and I made plans to meet up for a visit in the Riversdale area of Saskatoon. There are so many unique restaurants, bakeries, and coffee shops (and soon a juicing storefront - Thrive) in the area that it was difficult to decide where we should go. After running late and then assisting my neighbour who was locked out of both her house and her car I finally met up with Maria - over an hour late. She's super patient, that woman!

We settled on the Riversdale Delicatessen & Market on the corner of Idylwyld Drive and 20th Street. I had the Motherlode Sandwich and a cappuccino and Maria had the Oven Baked Trout sandwich. The food was great! Both Maria and I really enjoyed what we had ordered. I had never had a sandwich quite like the Motherlode and I'm excited to go back and try the other sandwiches. It turns out that I know one of the partners, Chef Darby, who is the brother-in-law of a friend that I went to school and dance with. He caught me snapping some photos for Instagram and pointed it out - yes, I might have been standing on the rungs of the bar-height chair to get a good angle; please tell me I'm not alone in this?! Anyway, if you ever have the chance you really should visit the Riversdale Deli and let me know what you think!

After lunch with Maria I went to my boyfriend's brother and sister-in-law's place for his niece's 2nd birthday party. His sister-in-law (who recently started blogging over at Joy Observed!) decided she would like to try having a real tea party with the little ones; as in, using the real china. It was so much fun, absolutely beautiful, and the children all did so well! Head over to her post about the afternoon to see some more photos of my boyfriend's nieces and nephew being oh-so-careful while using their tea cups!

I know we're closer to next weekend than last weekend already, but how was your weekend?

City Walks

On Saturday I went down to River Landing to check out Saskatoon's first ever food truck festival. We're a little a lot behind on the food truck scene, but this year saw quite a few trucks pop up and take over the streets and Instagrams of Saskatoon. I didn't end up getting any food because I went right at 6 pm and the lines were crazy long and I just wasn't really all that hungry.

I had went alone because, well, I like doing things alone. Since I had no one else that I needed to work around, I just let my feet lead me and I found myself wandering along the river, still close to downtown. The sun was getting low and the water was like glass, making for some beautiful sights. The sky was absolutely stunning too.

I found a little path that led from the walkway to right along the waterfront. From that vantage point I had even better views of my beautiful city. The photo above is of our Broadway Bridge, one of 8 now, I believe. We aren't called the city of bridges for nothing.

What did you do this weekend?

Weekend Adventures - September 5 - 7, 2014

This weekend was full of lovely little adventures around my beautiful city of Saskatoon. After my love letter on Friday it just seems fitting that I would get to enjoy what may have been the last warm weekend we will have this season while taking in some of the wonderful things Saskatoon has to offer.

On Friday I got up as usual but instead of heading to work I had my day off, so I drove my roommate to work on campus then went shopping for the morning before heading home to wait for the delivery of my couch. I had to be home for noon, but I had a little time on my way, so I stopped in at Starbucks (I’m trying to only treat myself to Starbucks on my EDOs, to be a little more frugal) before heading home. My favourite drink is the Salted Caramel Mocha and it is back!

I got home and started moving a few pieces of furniture to make room for my couch, and the delivery guys arrived right away. I have been so spoiled with every single delivery or scheduled visit during this move and setting up this place... The longest I have had to wait after the start of the time frame given to me was fifteen minutes, so instead of having to stick around my house for 3-6 hours, they were all over and done with in less than an hour.  

After the delivery guys left, I spent the afternoon getting the living room set up and cleaning a little bit and then I just sat on my couch and read – something I haven’t been able to do all summer. It’s one of those little luxuries for me. Later in the evening my parents stopped by (on their 27^th Wedding Anniversary!) to drop off a dresser my dad had painted for me to use as our TV stand. Our living room is finally starting to resemble a living room; there are a few things I’d like to get (a tray for the ottoman to make it double as a coffee table, a little table for under the window, a basket for blankets), but it’s absolutely functional exactly as is, and I am more than happy with how it has come together.

Saturday morning (nearly afternoon) found us at The Local Coffee Bar on 3^rd Ave, where we ended up each having one of their fancy grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch in addition to our intended coffee and latte, before wandering around downtown and along the river. It was one of those perfectly adventurous while still relaxing afternoons. On Sunday we were back downtown for Mass at the Co-Cathedral with some friends before wandering along the river again and then heading to Hudson’s for lunch. The weather was perfectly beautiful for a September day, with the warm sun shining from a clear blue sky.

What did you get up to this weekend?