The Christmas Market

Last year, I didn’t get into the Christmas spirit until the holidays had more or less arrived. I always feel like things ramp up too early & it’s easy to get carried away about Christmas far too early. I was a real scrooge about it last year though, honestly. I’ll never be the first in line for my red cup on November 1, but I’m trying to find a middle ground.

When my girlfriend, Laische, suggested we check out the International Christmas Market at Spruce Meadows, I figured it was the perfect way to kick off the Holiday Season. It being our first Christmas in our new house, I’m excited to decorate. My Holiday wish list includes a wreath, some little white lights, a REAL tree, & a few simple items for the mantle.

We arrived at the market in the late afternoon, after a slow Sunday morning. It was quite busy, but we were lucky enough to find parking close to the entrance, due in part to our missing the sign for the further parking lots. Entrance will set you back $12 at the door, but I would recommend buying tickets online as you’ll save yourself a couple bucks.

The coolest thing about this market is that they have real, live reindeer. REAL LIVE REINDEER. I mean, it’s worth the entrance fee just to go see them! You can also get family photos done, which I think is way better than a photo with Santa. Rudolph is the star for me anyway. L & I were so tempted to get them done. Next year I’m definitely going to try & convince N to come down with me for a reindeer photo.

Mulled wine, gluhwein, vin chaud -whatever you call it, it tastes like Christmas. Nothing says Noel to me like wandering the market with a warm cup of vin chaud. It was my favourite part about spending the holidays in Europe. I was always eager to see the Christmas Markets pop up in squares around town – it marked the beginning of the holiday season & I’ve since found it difficult to find an equivalent in Canada. Not only do those markets have the best food, but there’s something magical about a snowy walk with a warm festive drink to get me in the mood for Christmas. When I saw gluhwein on the menu at Spruce Meadows, I knew I had to get some. It certainly worked its magic on me.

L & I were both looking for Christmas decorations, but we got a little overwhelmed by everything. There was SO much! Hopefully I can find some stuff elsewhere in the next few weeks now that I’ve had a chance to look around & figure out what we might want.

 

 

 

The market is open again next weekend & I’d definitely recommend checking it out. Do you have any traditions that make you feel ready for the Holidays?

Currently

Thinking about: Winter & everything that comes with it. I trekked to work today in my sorels & my feet were toasty, but I can’t help feeling like it’s more of shlep than a walk. It always takes me a few weeks to get used to all the winter gear & the extra time it takes to get out the door. I also really need to get my winter tires mounted on steel rims & onto my car. I’m still driving on three all seasons & one winter tire after hitting a massive rock on the highway last winter. It’s time to switch that out.

The events in Paris & Beirut last week have also been on my mind. It’s hard to go a day without hearing or discussing the Syrian Refugee Crisis. There’s a lot of fear out there, & I won’t claim to have a solution, but I am happy to have heard some balanced responses from our country’s leaders. You may not agree with me in that assessment, & that’s ok, but this is as far as I plan to delve into the subject on this platform.

Drinking: Bulletproof Coffee. We’ve been doing the Bulletproof Coffee thing for a week now & I really like it so far. I find I’m not as hungry throughout the day, but feel like I’m treating myself to a latte in the morning. It sounds weird to most, but I’m enjoying it so far!

Reading: I’m halfway through Looking for Alaska right now & it’s probably my favourite John Green book so far. I read Bringing Up Bébé last month, & really enjoyed it too. Pamela is funny & i find the topic to be fascinating. I loved reading not only about her experience raising children in France, but also her observations of French parents compared to American parents. I definitely recommend it even if, like us, you aren’t planning a family at the moment!

Let me know if you have any other reading suggestions – I’ve got a Chapters gift card to use!

Loving: New recipes! N & I took Friday off work last weekend & I proceeded to spend the rest of the weekend cooking. I literally didn’t do a whole lot else outside of workouts & a game night with friends. I was excited to find some real great recipes last week & was overjoyed when they all turned out fantastic. I will definitely be adding some of them to the rotation. & with winter making its appearance, I’m so ready for braising & roasts & all those comforting cold weather dishes!

Watching: We just finished the first season of Narcos, which I really enjoyed. Now that we’re done, I haven’t moved on to a new show though. There isn’t anything I’m super excited about & I’ve been trying to fill my time with other things (like cooking & games & workouts & reading). Do you have any good Netflix recommendations for our arsenal? I like to have some for those really cold days (& our new couch arrives this weekend, just in time for us to cuddle up & watch some quality TV! haha)

How about you? What have you been up to? This post was inspired by Sometimes Sweet. Find previous Currently posts here.

Halloween

It being our first Halloween in our new house, I was  quite eager to actually partake in some typical festivities. There aren’t nearly as many kids going door-to-door for tricks or treats as when I was a kid, but I figured I’d still get to see some cute costumes & hand out candy, which is more than I can say for Halloween night in a condo.

The weekend before, friends invited us over to carve pumpkins. I honestly don’t remember the last time I carved a pumpkin so the moral support seemed like a good idea. They made some delicious caramel apple squares for us to snack on as an added bonus. It was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I have very little skill when it comes to drawing so I went with a simple warning on my pumpkin: BEWARE. (Of my knife skills? Probably a good bet.) I was pretty impressed with everyone else’s creations though – next year, maybe I’ll be a little more adventurous with my artwork. Haha.

Unfortunately, my pumpkin didn’t quite make it to Halloween night. I’m pretty disappointed that I didn’t ever get a photo of it all lit up, but it disintegrated in N’s hands while I was out of town. Next year, we may have to carve them a little bit closer to Halloween!

At least N’s pumpkin made it!

Halloween night, we ate dinner pretty early so I could anxiously await our first trick or treaters. I really had no concept of what time they’d arrive. (& looking back now, I couldn’t tell you when the doorbell first rang, which will be really useful for next year.) We wound up with about twenty kids over the course of the night. That number sounds like a pretty average turnout for our neighbourhood. We had some adorable costumes – batmen, spidermen, princesses, cookie monster, a couple fairies – but my favourite was a little boy dressed as a blue recycling bin. When I asked him about it, he proudly told me he’d made it with his dad. How awesome is that?! I loved it!

Once the kids were done making the rounds, our grown-up party began. This year, I went as the Spartan Cheerleader from SNL, Arianna. My coworker & I had dressed up together & recorded a little routine for a work contest. He totally nailed Will Ferrell’s character in our video!

N’s mom made a festive Mexican Dip!

penguin, owl, & pizza rat

Veronica from the Heathers & Ryu from Street Fighter

Creepy KG (I think..) & a Unicorn

Everyone showed up in costume, which I was quite impressed by. With adult parties, costumes can be a bit hit or miss. Luckily, our friends always seem to be down to dress up. We had a good variety, but I loved my friend’s little family dressed as sriracha.

Baby Chili Pepper!

Predictably, N’s costume was a bit of a play on words. It also proceeded to morph over the course of the evening – by the end of the night, I think he was an Uber driver with a man bun (& yeah, that’s an edible bun on his head.).

Getting Rowdy

I’m pretty excited for all the firsts in this house & to share more as the house itself evolves. The physical changes are pretty cool (new furniture this week!), but I think having friends & family over are what really makes it a home.

& on that sappy note, I hope you all had a fantastic All Hallow’s Eve!

Honeymoon 018 \\ Milano

Well over a year after our honeymoon, I’m finally wrapping this series up. I didn’t set out with the intention of taking so long to blog about our adventure, but that’s how it wound up going down. At this point, I’m mostly blogging this as a souvenir for myself. Some people scrapbook. I like to journal so these posts have served as an extension of that. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride – it’s been fun reminiscing with you.

On to our final day in Europe: Milan. Let me preface this by saying that I had absolutely no expectations for this stop. I didn’t think I wouldn’t enjoy Milan, but I also didn’t put a lot of thought into it when we booked – it was a city with an airport, the final destination before heading back to reality.

If it hadn’t been for our incredible host, I doubt we’d have had half the experience we did. Marina was amazing & I highly recommend you stay with her if you’re ever in Milan. I certainly know I will. As soon as we arrived, she made us feel incredibly welcome in her great flat, introducing us to Milan using an extra large map on the back of the door & giving us the most wonderful suggestions for how to spend our evening. The flat itself had drinks, coffee, & breakfast as well. Marina had even taken the time to assemble a guide to Milan, complete with hand-drawn maps. Honestly, she went above & beyond in every way. I could have stayed so much longer in her homey flat.

My night photography doesn’t quite do it justice – it was such a bright & airy space during the day.

We took her suggestion to wander the pedestrian street, Corso Como, towards Porta Garibaldi, which features a beautiful arch. She’d also recommended a little restaurant called Sciatt à Porter. Specializing in Italian street food, we grabbed a cone of their namesake specialty, Sciatt. If these deep fried cheese balls were any indication of the rest of their menu, we should have ordered a few more things!

One of the cool buildings near our flat

Corso Como

Porta Garibaldi

Clearly excited for fried cheese (I mean, I travelled to Prague for fried cheese in 2009.)

Fried cheese to go. Genius!

Sciatt! This makes me hungry. For cheese.

Instead, we continued over to Eataly – the giant upscale italian supermarket & eatery. We picked up some food to bring home & another snack from the road. N’s snack selection makes his cured meat obsession quite apparent – it’s not the easiest on-the-go snack, but it sure is delicious! Housed in an old theatre, Eataly even hosts performances sometimes. We happened to catch one while we were there. It definitely makes for an interesting shopping & dining experience.

Pasta at Eataly

Whoa back flexibility

Meat snack!

From there, we continued down the pedestrian street to the castle – Castello Sforzesco. They were planning this as the entrance for this year’s Expo & there were celebrations & preparation happening all over the city. The castle itself is huge & mostly brick, something you don’t often see.

I love a yellow tram

Castle

Our next stop was the beautiful Duomo. The square & church are just incredible. We arrived at dusk, snapped a few photos, & decided it had been awhile since our last drink. We found a spot near the Duomo, but if we are even in Milan again, I’d love to go to area around Porta Genova. Marina told us it has a great atmosphere in the evening & considering how much we loved the rest of her suggestions, I think it would be right up our alley.

Duomo Selfie!

Expensive wine in a very touristy area

We had chosen a restaurant near Marina’s flat for dinner. When we arrived, it was packed & we were a little worried we may not get in. Luckily, they took pity on us (it seemed to be mostly locals) & found us a table within 15 minutes. Osteria dei Vecchi Sapori was spectacular. We ordered Osso bucco, a specialty of Milan. The meat was melt-in-your-mouth tender & the flavours were incredible. I’d recommend it to anyone!

The only (terrible) photo I have of the UNREAL osso bucco. 😦

We capped off the evening relaxing in our wonderful flat with a couple of beers. I hope to find myself back in Milan someday – we only barely scratched the surface. In fact, I hope to find myself in all our honeymoon spots again someday. Blogging each of them over the past year has further intensified my wanderlust. We’ve even begun talking about a trip to Northern Europe in 2017 (& I’ve already started drafting up some ideas!).

Goodbye, Milano!

October in Instagram

I have such good intentions on posting these recaps, but sometimes the days just get away from me. Anyway, better late than never! Here we go…

I think the game night was the theme of the month of October for us. We played board games more often than ever before – in part in an effort to host people in our new home (& save money), but also because we added a new game & two settlers expansions to our collection. N is obsessed & wants to play Catan all the time now. It’s become his go-to suggestion. Here’s what else we got up to this month, according to Instagram:

1. N bought the new expansion packs & immediately invited friends over to play that night even though we also had plans to play the following night.
2. Gaux was in town for Thanksgiving so we got together at our house for drinks & then hit up the very cool Good Luck Bar. Cheap drinks & good music in a tiny space remind me of our party days at B Side in Montreal.
3. We hosted Thanksgiving with both our families this year. N & I were in charge of the turkey, stuffing, & gravy, while everyone else brought sides. Thirteen of us squished into our little dining room for a delicious thanksgiving meal – I’m so happy for what a success it was!
4. The sunrises on my morning commute were pretty spectacular this month. I managed to capture a few examples of the incredible colours we saw this fall.
5. Obligatory voter selfie. I watched the election results from the lobby of the YMCA that night. What an interesting race this year!
6. The very first Meet, Eat, Compete event at Nicastro’s pub was a great success. I can’t wait to try more games at the next event. Thanks to A Couple of Couples & Connect More for organizing!
7. It’s been years since I carved a pumpkin, but considering we’d be giving out candy on Halloween this year it seemed fitting. Everyone’s pumpkins turned out great, if I do say so myself!
8. Volunteering at the Drop In Center with my office, serving lunch to over 1500 people.
9. Dressed up as Spartan Cheerleaders Craig & Arianna from SNL with my coworker.