thank you for being a friend

Had such a good weekend. 

A few farewells: Mandy was off to Toronto early Saturday morning and then Sarah and Brandon 

went back to Scotland on Sunday evening. 

But while they were here we had fun celebrating Caitlin's birthday Friday evening, 

then later we got refused at 24 hr Celtic Hearth (unspeakable!), Subway was out of bread (unbelievable!) 

and thus had hotdogs and wedges freezing outside instead (unbearable!). 

Saturday was sleeping in, brunch with Tony, hanging out with Catherine (and Alicia) 

at her apartment watching Brandy's Cinderella (remember that one?) 

and then some late night take out from "Momma Bellies" aka "Mohammed Ali" 

nom nom for falafel pita sandwiches and Golden Girls. 

Sunday was more hanging out with everyone listed above, 

driving home in time for church, visiting a recovering Aunt Dorothy, then having soup & grilled cheese 

and a movie with Aunt Ollie & Uncle Frank.

Basically my heart is aching right now because so many of my favourite people are everywhere but here. 

I'm on moons and clouds 

where worlds wrap around

 

year in review

Read the entire Harry Potter series for the first time (yes, that deserves to be first!)

Took over the school with Brittany

Had the best Winter day ever

Strolled along Quidi Vidi with Tony

Spent Valentine's Day with some lovelies

Finally let go of a rollercoaster relationship

Had a time at the SASF Paris Ball - some of the decorating crew priming with some Mickey D's haha

Sister survived a car accident without a scratch

Two cuties got married

I quit my job and moved home for the summer

Had many fun sister roadtrips.

Started sketching again 

We lived long and prospered

Many new baking experiments

Weekend in St. John's

Another beautiful wedding

A fun Canada Day in PDG

My favourite family picture to date taken at my cousin's wedding

Early morning fishing trips//whales!

Volunteered at VBS at church

Lantern Festival

Hey Rosetta concert with a few pals

Girls nights

Spent four months living "the Disney dream"

Had amazing roomies- Jenni from Canada and then Melanie from England

Travelled more than I have in my entire life: 

Canada: (Vancouver, Victoria); 

USA: Alaska (Skagway, Ketchikan, Tracy's Arm, Juneau), California: (LA, San Pedro); 

Mexico: (Puerta Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, Ensenada)

Experienced 'dry dock'

Crossed jetskiing, ziplining and parasailing off my bucket list

Danced like a pirate with friends from around the globe

My sister got engaged!

Came home in time for Christmas

Got to spend a day with Robz while she was back in town

Rang in the New Year with these lovely folks!

I have mixed feelings about 2011. I debated whether or not I even wanted to do this but in looking back, despite the constant shadow of the bad, I can see that there was a lot of goodness to be found as well. The second half of the year certainly redeemed the first and I am so very thankful for that. I am incredibly grateful for the friendships that helped me through it. I said goodbye to certain dreams but now have a more exciting future set for myself than I'd had at the start of 2011. As painful as it was, in many ways I am relieved; 

I've learned that I am strong. I look forward to more happiness in 2012!

hey rosetta!

Last night we got to take in Newfoundland's own, Hey Rosetta! at another festival downtown.  

Plants and Animals opened up for them, and I liked their sound too. Despite the massive amounts of second hand smoke inhaled, and damage inevitably done to my poor ear drums, it was a fun night!

hp

Went in with these ladies to see Harry Potter (FINALLY!!!) on the 23rd. We drove in just in time to make the 9:00pm showing. Waiting to see it on any day other than opening night was a mistake. The crowd's enthusiasm did not match mine and my sister's and that was unfortunate. But that did not change the fact that it was phenomenal. That lady can sure write a good story. 

Oh and since our wipers suck, here I am cleaning off the windshield for Catherine,
who amused herself by taking these pictures. After all, it was up to her drive us all back home safe again
(since she nominated ME to get up at 4am that morning to go fishing in her place--can you say tired).
She made me do an embarrassing dance to regain access to the inside of the car. 

All in good fun, right?

Thrilling. I know.

After my cousin's wedding on July 9th, I stayed in a couple of extra days so that I could see dear Robzie who was visiting from the Brook for the weekend.

We caught up over cool summery drinks at Second Cup and watched Monte Carlo! (I'm a Selena Gomez fan, not gonna lie!)

The next day we wandered around Bowring Park doing what we do best (despite the disappointingly harsh lighting conditions, but who am I to complain about the sun showing up?!), and even caught ourselves an outdoor concert for Festival 500 (This group was from St. FX)! Later, with Alex in tow, we joined Jeremy, Jeff and Steve at Sunshine Park to throw a frisbee and kick around a soccer ball. It was a pretty relaxing afternoon if I do say so myself.

But the day finished off with a supper kindly hosted by Jill (reason #2 for prolonging my stay in SJ). It was really good to have so many friendly faces back in one place again. (Afterthought: I wish we'd taken a huge group picture.) We were lucky to have everyone visiting together!

I feel pretty confident when I say that my uncle's backyard is the best spot for roasting hot dogs over a fire. 

After bowling with YA on Saturday night we gathered around the fire pit, making s'mores, talking about old stories, plans for the future, even said a goodbye to a friend moving away for a new job the next day. It was nothing big, but for some reason the weather, the atmosphere, the company--everything--felt really good that night. I think I'll put this night up as one of the highlights of Summer 2011.

happy list

Things that have made me happy this past week:

-sitting and reading in the sunshine

-eating my first popsicle of the summer

-shopping around with Ashley M 

-watching Monte Carlo with Catherine on cheap night

-spending an afternoon at my cuz, Jocelyn's house

-movie night at the park with my extended famjam

-my cousin's beautiful wedding
-having Robz and Jermz back visiting in the city
-delish suppers prepared and hosted by the awesome, Jillian
-officially getting a JOB

Yeah, this week kinda rocked.

nikki and matt's wedding

 

the ceremony

 alex put together a delicious dessert table

 we were asked to write notes to the couple for them to put together a scrapbook. we had some extra paper. 'couldn't find my pants' was a joke on the guy who was supposed to be at our table, who supposedly stayed home because he had no nice pants to wear and I wouldn't be surprised if it was true.

 wedding shenanigans: the next bride to be?

 ashley and jordan

 grant and joy

 scott, me, and alex

jess!

Another set of beautiful friends got married last week, June 30th. It was a beautiful ceremony and the reception venue was classy. I'm always struck just how the little details of a wedding show off their personality so well, (like the song he wrote and played for her, the coffee beans in the flower vases, and the names of their fave places as table markers) at least that's the case for the two I've attended so far this year. I think what I took from the wedding the most was just how lovely Nicole is as a person. Hearing all of the stories of them growing up and what they've been doing lately reminded me just how much her friendship means to me. She was such an incredible encouragement when we worked together side by side as co-counselors at CWJ in 2009 and continues to be especially whenever she's been back in the province from BC and we've grabbed coffee and caught up. I'll never forget it and I wish my friends all the happiness in the world.

Nice day for a {snowy} white wedding

My beautiful friends, Sarah and Brandon got married on March 26th. It was seriously the most beautiful traditional-non-traditional wedding I've ever attended. The wedding ceremony was short but not lacking in the sweet; the "in-between time killing" was lovely, since I was in the downtown area with my friend; the reception was relaxed; the food was delicious. Even though I knew how stressful everything was leading up to the big day, and even some details went overlooked or forgotten, everything came together almost seamlessly as far as I could tell.

And I had such a good time celebrating with them all night. In fact, we didn't stop celebrating until three in the morning! I've never wanted to stick around that long after a wedding before. Makes a difference when you're having blast with your friends. The atmosphere was so relaxed. Even the wedding photographers were in that frame of mind. They weren't the usual kind you sometimes have, that stand off, getting their shots. These guys were easy going, and you felt like you were among friends. After taking a few pictures with and of friends one of them approached me and pulled me aside. Adam started scrolling through his images giving me a lil peek at the pictures they had taken that afternoon. Breathtaking of course. I felt like such an inexperienced wannabe, but I loved taking to them about photography, hearing their advice on lenses, where they travel and the unanticipated conversation in general. Turns out these guys were based in Georgia, and I felt reconnected to my southern home away from home. Makes the world feel so much smaller and closer together.

They posted a blog about S+B's special day just yesterday and I'm dying over how completely beautiful the final photos turned out. Almost hard to believe that they were taken here in our city! And, not gonna lie, I'm excited that the simple little sign that I painted for the reception made the cut--made with her wedding invites in mind--and that I showed up in a couple of the pictures too.

Here are a few of my favourites from the lot, you can find the rest of them HERE.

Once again, congratulations you guys! Lots of love!

v-day weekend

I spent Saturday, Feb 12th with a bunch of people that I love. I got to go for a walk around Quidi Vidi lake with my good friend and old roommate, Tony. Later in the evening I technically went to a singles party at Janessa's haha, but it was just a few girls getting together to chat and eat yummy treats surrounded by lots of pink!

Peace, Love and Valentine Ninjas!