2017 in Review

It was full of happy times, a lot of reflection, goals met, busy times, relaxing times, and a strengthening of our priorities.  Nothing too crazy happened this year; as Christopher described it, it was a sort of a stay the course and keep our eyes on the prize kind of year, and we both left 2017 behind with a sense of calm happiness.

Our 2017 started and ended by the ocean.

Other trips throughout the year included 10 nights in NYC, a camping trip, and some time in Vegas.

Our new nephew was born, and many of our friends welcomed babies too!

Christopher's band released an EP:

Canada turned 150 and we celebrated!

We met our goals of reading more (although still not as much as we want to, so that is a continuing goal for 2018), and paying off my car.

Our friends Fanta and Keith got married in a surprise ceremony, which was so fun to be a part of.

A lot of time was spent with family and friends.  We had many delectable meals at Christopher's parents' home, and the best jerk chicken dinner ever at our friends Colin and Erica's.  We had some people over to our house for meals, and also a fun snacky evening.

  
Supper in the Orchard this past summer was a fond memory for us, and we can't wait to go back and visit this place again.

I did a lot of baking this year, and we also tried quite a few new recipes.

We had an Irish weekend, an Indian weekend, a tapas weekend, and made all things beet!

 

Christopher wrote his first blog post this year (and he's planning a return)!

All in all, I'd say we had a great year, and we are excited to see what 2018 will bring.  Here are some other happy (and tasty) memories from 2017:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope 2018 brings many blessings to you all - cheers!

What was the highlight of 2017 for you?

Hello Sunshine

Friday was my last day of work for a while, and we ended the day with a fabulous dinner.  We had bacon-wrapped scallops:

Olive bread with oil and vinegar:

And crab legs with golden beets:

On Saturday we had our busy Canada day.  If you missed that post, click here to see how we celebrated the day.

On Sunday morning Christopher made breakfast and then we got to work on some adult responsibilities.

I ironed, and Christopher re-filled a couple little foundation cracks.  Since our house is old, and our city was built on a swamp, a few minor cracks are inevitable.  They needed a refresher, so he chiseled away the old stuff, and re-filled them.  We were done our chores and yard work in no time, and were kicking back with blended bevvies in the yard by the early afternoon.  Nothing but relaxing for the rest of the long weekend ...

For lunch we shared a Montreal smoked meat poutine, with homemade fries, cheese-curds, and buckets of pepper gravy.

Dinner was just smoked salmon with paratha and cream cheese.

Monday was a holiday (in lieu of Canada day), so we were both home, and spent pretty much the entire day in the backyard.  After scrambled eggs, bacon, and duck-fat fried potatoes, we parked ourselves on the patio furniture and turned up the tunes.

Lunch was snacky:

For dinner we had salad, with BBQd honey garlic chicken thighs, and portobello mushrooms.

It was nice to get up this morning and have nowhere to be.  I had a yogurt bowl with watermelon, pineapple, granola, PB, and cacao nibs for breakfast, while watching the first episode of Big Brother, that I had PVRd.

I whipped up a few trays of lime cookies:

And made pita pizzas for when Christopher came home at lunch:

After lunch I hit the spa for a pedicure, and long massage - ahhhhhh.

This evening we had a veggie/noodle curry for dinner, and then went out to the theatre to see Beauty and the Beast.

The forecast says that rest of this week, and the weekend ahead are to be as sunny as the tropical smoothies I was enjoying last week.

I'm looking forward to enjoying every bit of the sunshine.

How was your weekend?  Is the weather gorgeous where you are too?