Summer in the Six is Coming - Sangria in the Park!

This past Sunday was beautiful in Toronto! It was upwards of 20*, so after church and a great workout at the gym, we made some sangria and headed to the park.

Nic wasn't too happy that I bought this thermos from the grocery store last summer, but now he loves it. We can bring hot coffee on hikes, or delicious sangria to hang out.

Of course I brought my KOBO and colouring book.

Black leather ball cap - eBay
Crop top - H&M
Black maxi skirt - Costa Blanca
Birkenstocks

Allan Gardens with Ryan and Deanna

Yesterday I posted the first half of our time this weekend with Ryan and Deanna. Today I wanted to post some photos of Allan Gardens, which you should absolutely visit if you're in Toronto. It's free, and there are tons of awesome plants. Also, if it's winter, it feels like summer in the greenhouses. That's sweet.

A Sunny Saturday in Toronto with Siblings

Saturday was a beaaauuutiful day! My brother Ryan and sister-in-law Deanna came to visit us, and we didn't even wear coats! We went to Allan Gardens first, then through to Nic's lab, and Kensington Market. A plethora of pictures from Allan Gardens will come out soon.

Nic gave Ryan and Deanna a tour of his lab at UofT, which was cool for them. I'm still only getting an understanding of his Master's, and he's almost done!

We walked through to Kensington Market and looked in a bunch of stores. These pillows are at the Blue Banana Market.

We stopped for drinks at Trinity Common, and my ceasar was perfect.

Dinner at Pho Hung in Chinatown.

Easter Weekend in Ottawa

For Easter this year we got to go back to Ottawa. Because of the freezing rain Thursday night, our friend drove us in on Friday morning. We arrived too late to go to the Good Friday service, so we went to a GoodLife near my parents' to deadlift. (Yeah, not going back to that club, it's overrun with bros who wear cutoff Popeye's shirts and improper form.)

We had a relaxing day with my parents talking, colouring, crosswording, reading, and "watching" March Madness (I went on Pinterest and probably read more).

Saturday morningwe got to go see Kelsey (and her dogs!) then went to get coffee.



Where would we go for coffee except Suzy Q's for doughnuts! I had the carrot cake doughnut, the one in the middle. It was phenomenal.

It was so great to catch up with Kelsey and show her both our wedding album (she was my maid of honour, and we haven't seen her since I made the album) and the 2015 album.

Saturday afternoon Dad went for a bike ride, so Mom, Nic and I went to the Greenbelt for a nice walk. The sun was so bright, so the snow was slowly melting.

Poor squirrel was being chased down. He had to run for his life.

A bag of seeds had obviously exploded, and this chipmunk was LOVING it.

 
We drove to Nic's parents for dinner, and then went to Hogsback Falls with them for a nice walk. The sunset was beautiful.

Nic wore an adorable bowtie for Easter Sunday.

This is Flopsy. One of the youth brought his adorable bunny to church, and Mom and I were so happy to hold a bunny again.

Gypsy hated being held like that, but that's the only way Flopsy likes it!

Happy Easter from us! We had Easter lunch at Nic's parents', and my parents came over. It's so convenient having our parents live in the same city, and be friends! #InLawGoals

Sunday after my parents left, we went for a walk along the Ottawa river with Nic's parents. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. SO bright.

What a wonderful walk and a wonderful weekend!

Spring Afternoon & Settlement Co in Waterloo

Wychwood Barns

This past Saturday was beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I'll be so depressed if winter never really happens in Toronto, but I wore a spring coat over a t-shirt. It was beaauuutiful. We were planning on driving to Kitchener-Waterloo fro a friend's engagement party, and decided we had to take advantage of the warm weather before we drove down.

Back alleys

I found Settlement Co on Instagram a month or two ago, and have been very excited to go ever since. It's the sort of coffee shop I wished had been in Uptown Waterloo when I was living there (other than DVLB, which is great, but their lighting is super low and my eyes always hurt). One of my friends put it well: it's like a downtown Toronto coffeeshop, but in Uptown Waterloo!

Of course, the place was packed, so we waited a while to get a table so we could order since we were expecting friends. It seems like lots of students love to do their homework there, so keep that in mind.

As always, Nic ordered a cappuccino, and I got a chai tea latte. His capp was really great, and my chai was pretty good, maybe top 10 I've had recently?

Don't you love the blue dishes? They're so cute!

Settlement lets you rent the "back room" for events, so that's cool. Look at the awesome faux moss writing, and the cool planters on the ceiling!

Who doesn't love french presses? You can get an individual for $3, or one to share for $6. I was drinking it out of my latte mug, so I'd like to try their blends again to know what it was really like.

I posted this photo on Instagram a few days ago, and everyone loved it. The plant wall is so awesome! It was interesting how they have the second row of benches behind the first, which is higher. A few of us were crouched there before other tables emptied out, but I think it's probably for when it becomes more of a bar in the evening.

I snapped a quick picture of the front end,but I didn't want to weird out everyone. It's always a fine line between "I'm obviously taking a picture of the architecture and decor" and "I'm going to post your face all over social media."

Family Day Coffee Date at Box Car Social and a Walk in the Park

I love finding gems through Instagram! I found Box Car Social through someone's Instagram post, and screenshotted it, to save it for another coffee date. For Family Day/Valentine's Day, Nic and I decided to go there! It's pretty close to us, just south of St. Clair on Yonge street.

I'd say that my chai latte was the best I've had since coming to Toronto: nice and spicy and lots of warmth. Nic also tests his coffeeshops by their cappucinos. He loved it.

We sat at the window, but there are big tables at the back, and then also more sitting upstairs, which we only noticed at the end (too bad... next time!). Box Car Social has lots of coffee and tea selections, as well as a bar, which will be cool to check out again later.

We really enjoyed our time there, and I'd definitely recommend it!

We're a Blundstone family.

My friend LJ nominated me for a #stopdropandyoga, so I figured I'd do a dancer pose on this tree trunk. That was silly, it was pretty steep and I was terrified I'd fall over!

I set up the camera for a Family Day picture.