Is this the beginning of Summer????

First off, let me just say that I am LOVING the weather we have been having these days. High temps of 28 degrees and nothing but pure sunshine make me excited to get up in the morning to face the day ahead - no matter what the day might hold. In celebration of this amazing weather, I have been packing my days full of things that scream SUMMER! Here are some of the things I have done to celebrate so far this week.

1. Breakfast on the Cora's patio this past weekend was perfect in every sense of the word. I mean, you can't go wrong with breakfast at Cora's. When we first got there, the line-up to be seated was insane. I looked out on the patio and noticed that it was completely empty. The sun was shining, the air was warm and all these people were sitting inside??????? I asked the host if we could sit outside and we promptly moved to the front of the line and got seated immediately. It was beautiful thing. Within 10 minutes, the patio was full. I guess everyone else decided to follow our suit and enjoy the beginning of summer.

2. This week at Canadian Tire, Adirondack chairs were on sale for $15....And they were pink. What screams summer more than hot pink Adirondack chairs????? Dominika, Courtney, mom and I headed over there on Sunday afternoon to get our hands on some before they sold out. 

We tested them out in the store and were impressed with their comfortableness. We didn't look silly at all!

We purchased them, 4 in all, and proudly left the store. Upon walking to our cars, it dawned on me that we might have some difficulty getting these home. None of us had thought about the fact that we had 2 cars (small cars at that) and 4 relatively large chairs to fit inside them. We approached our cars with confidence, determined that we were going to get these home. 

The whole process of getting these chairs in our cars was a tad harder than we thought. Eventually, after about 1/2 hr of trying to jam these chairs in with no success, we decided we needed to take a break. So, we grabbed a chair and contemplated our next moves in the middle of the Canadian Tire parking lot. 1 hour later, we had 4 chairs, all of us girls in a car (not comfortably) and eventually made our way home.

4 hot pink Adirondack chairs...$60. The memories in the Canadian Tire parking lot trying to get the chairs into 2 cars....Priceless.

3. Starbucks dates and afternoon walks have been very much welcomed. Especially while in the company of great people. Yesterday it was Miss H's 1st birthday, so Aimee and I figured we should celebrate with iced chai lattes. Perfection.

Gotta train 'em young!

4. Last but not least, this upcoming weekend marks the first weekend of the season that I get to spend up at the lake. It doesn't get much better than that. I am anticipating hours spent reading on the deck, puzzling till the wee hours of the night, evening walks and just enjoying the wonderful feeling that being at the cabin brings. 

Hooray for Summer!!!!!!!!!!!

Miss H

It seems unfathomable that exactly 1 year ago, little Miss H entered the world. It's amazing how fast this past year has flown by (although I'm pretty sure her parents would say otherwise). While reminiscing with Aimee this afternoon about Hayley's 1st year, we thought it was seriously just yesterday that we were visiting Aimee in the hospital while she was on bed rest and now she has a beautiful 1 year old girl. 

Words cannot adequately describe how I feel about Hayley. I love her to bits. I love her sense of curiosity and adventure. I love her eagerness to enjoy life (if only those legs of hers could keep up with her ideas and ambitions). I LOVE her giggles, her fake laugh she puts out when she thinks she is sooooo funny. I adore that cheesy grin she plasters across her face when I walk into the room. I love her stubborn attitude - I have no doubt that will carry her through life and become a wonderful quality. She knows what she wants and I like that (although I'm sure that same attitude will cause many disagreements and trouble for her parents)!

Hayley I have loved getting to know you this year. I have loved watching you grow and discover the world around you. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching your personality emerge as you have grown. Heck, I just love you! I am excited to see what this next year has in store for you and even many years down the road. I am honored and extremely lucky to be your Auntie.

I love you lots Miss H!!!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY HAYLEY!!!!!!!

And the cakes continue...

As of 2 weeks ago, Lavonne, her sister Julia and myself embarked on a new cake journey - the Wilton Cake Class Level 3 - Fondant and Tiered Cakes. The first cake we made was surprisingly not too ugly, however our last cake class we are making the most hideous cake of all time. Yup, that's right. It's worse than the clowns. Stay tuned for the last Monday in May when the photos are revealed. 

The classes were not entirely what I expected. I thought we would be learning some cooler techniques with fondant, but it looks like I might have to take another class, such as at the High Tea Bakery one of these days. I've learned I'm just not a huge fan of the Wilton cakes. You would think that with the craze of cakes and cupcakes like Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss, a big company like Wilton would adapt their classes to cater to some of the new trends. Oh well. You learn something new everyday.

Anyhow, this was my first cake of course 3.

This summer I have the privilege of making my first ever cake for pay. I'm pretty excited and honored that someone would think that I am good enough to make their wedding cake. Because this is my first go at a paid cake, I thought it might be a good idea to do a mock up of the wedding cake. The bride happens to be having an engagement party this upcoming weekend and asked if she could use the mock up for the event. I figured, I had to make the cake anyway, so why not. The cake I made for the mock up is not entirely what the actual wedding cake will look like. The wedding cake will be 3 tiers and will not have flowers, but seashells (from the beach the couple got engaged at) on the cake.

Mothering Day

I am thankful and blessed to be able to spend a day celebrating some pretty neat people in my life. I will be the first to acknowledge that I have been incredibly blessed with a number of remarkable women who play a vital role in my life and have shaped who I have become over the last 25 years of my life.

I learned early on that biological family is great, but sometimes highly over-rated. Genes and DNA do not necessarily make a family. I am extremely lucky to have my mom be someone who did a pretty good job raising us 3 kids (mostly on her own too). She has sacrificed a lot over the years for us and will continue to go beyond the call of duty to make sure we are taken care of. However, I think we both would tell you that we don't have the ideal "Mother-Daughter" relationship. We often butt heads, but that in no way diminishes her importance in my life. We will also readily admit that I was not the easiest child to parent (shocking, I know :). Thank you to my mom - who loves me, who put up with me for all these years and who gave so much of herself for her kids.

Throughout my teenage years and into my twenties, I have been fortunate to have been adopted into other families and those women have been incredibly influential in me being who I am today. I am a very lucky girl!

I think it's a neat thing when you can have a bunch of different women in your life - friends, mentors, etc, each who bring a unique offering to the table in how they "mother", but when compiled, their gifts and influence in my life brings out the very best in me. I have incredible friends who are mothers themselves now - who I have had the privilege of walking beside as they parent. They are phenomenal mothers and have taught me much already in how I will strive to parent one day. 

If I'm being honest with myself, I will admit that this isn't always the easiest day of the year for me. I would love to be on the other end of the giving/receiving on Mother's Day and be a mom myself. Unfortunately the time has not come yet, but in the meantime, I will joyfully celebrate the lovely women in my life who love me, who I love in return, who have encouraged and supported me and who have taught me so much.

So, to Mary, Sandra, Nicole, Rose, Sandra, Sabrina, Kristy, Aimee and Heidi, I thank you for being an example of what being a mom looks like. Thank you for loving me, for encouraging me, for pushing me, for kicking me in the ass when I have needed it and for praying for me regularly. You are all amazing women and I am beyond blessed to have you a part of my life.

Happy Mothering Day!