Easter Weekend.

I am always a fan of holiday weekends. 

Especially when they involve lots of family time!

This past weekend was full of family, and I loved every minute of it. 

Below are some pictures from my family's Saturday in the park. 

We were able to walk around the dog park and then visit the high park zoo.

After our afternoon in the park, we had BBQ on our deck!

{this weather has been ridiculously amazing}

It was fantastic spending time with everyone and seeing how much 

Madeline has changed in the past month!!

Sadly - in the Rob Ford era, the funding for the High Park Zoo has been pulled. 

(current it is a free zoo, with free parking - which is fantastic for families)

It is set to close June 1st. There are many efforts to try to keep this free zoo open. 

Check out here for more details - it is such a great place for families to go. 

I hope something can be done to save it! 

1 - madeline, her tongue trick and her mommy / 2 - beauty babe in a hat / 

3 - madeline and her handsome daddy / 4 - men with dogs / 

5 - me and my mamma / 6 - save the high park zoo!

It's a{nother} four day week for me!

oh - and I finally read the Hunger Games today. 

Gotta go see the movie soon!

xo.a

5 things to be {very} happy about

1. This really delicious breakfast sandwich (pictured above). 

A lovely treat for a Thursday/Friday. 

2. It is a week of 3 days on (working) and 3 days off. It has been a great week with very positive work wise and at home. (i.e. got some new work projects, went to a conference, did our taxes, made some delicious meals, matty's hockey team went onto the next round in the playoffs, the blue jays start their season, sens clenched a playoff spot, Matty and I have been running and there has been LOTS of sun!)

3. It is mini egg season, enough said. 

4. It is a Fam Jam weekend! Matty and I are hosting my fam on Saturday for some fun in the park and BBQ dinner. Sunday we are headed to Matt's for some delicious turkey and family visiting. Family time makes me HAPPY.

5. Rick Mercer announced the winners of the Spread The Net contest. My younger brother's school (PCVS) raised the most amount of money! Sadly, the school is set to close at the end of the school year. I am so proud of the students for accomplishing what they did and really going out with a BANG on National television! Check out Rick Mercer's rant: 

xo.a

burger and fries.

This past weekend was wonderful.

Matty and I went out of town to visit with my bestie from University. 

We spend a relaxing weekend with her hubby and baby Gwen. 

Sometimes one needs to be forced to slow down and relax. 

That is what this weekend did for us. 

Upon our return to the city, we helped my brother move.

(for the last time this year ~ he's been on the MOVE this year!)

and then he treated us to a tasty burger at the Stockyards. 

It was unbelievably delicious. 

I ate the Green Chili Pimento Burger and fries. 

The boys had the Animal. 

We were also there when it was chicken and ribs night. 

So we got some ribs to taste. 

It was a great way to end the weekend. 

Check out their website here. 

xo.a

{Luckily, I have tomorrow off as well...so I am enjoying this evening with the wonderful thought of having a productive day tomorrow. The list is made, the plan of attack is ready, after a good night sleep - I'll be ready to go!}

Exercise.

Lately I have been pretty good about doing regular workouts. 
Most of the time I am running, and I have been seeing some improvement and a significant change in my mood. Even though it is {sometimes} hard to make the move to actually put on the clothes and get out, I always feel better after. 


I saw this image on this blog and had to repost it. 
 

(I do not know the origin of this image)

It is significantly colder today than our recent temperatures, so it is going to be a little harder to get out. But after seeing this message and laughing, I will head out with the dog and likely be glad I did. 


So here's to exercise, feeling good and sunshine! 
xo.a




Ps...I need some new workout music - any suggestions!?

5 things.

1. We have broken a few weather records this week. That makes me very happy. 

2. It's a week of work for me. I am taking on a new project, which requires training. So on top of my normal week, I am in training Thursday evening and Saturday. It will be good to start something new! 

3. Went and had our first patio beer last night. It was wonderful, and chillier than I had anticipated (read: I did not wear enough clothing and was slightly freezing!). 

4. Pizza is by far one of my favourite foods.

5. I recently started listening to Emeli Sande. If you haven't already, check her out. She is great. 

Color challenge

so last week my friend Erin and I did a colour challenge.

I'll say it went ok, although it is tough to not wear black!

It is definitely my go-to, especially for sweaters (aka party cardi's). 

I wear a lot of sweaters...I barely go anywhere without them.

We didn't do so well on getting pictures, but here are 4 of each of us.

If I am to ever do this again, I will need to work on my pictures...they are terrible!

(some of Erin's pants might look black but one is actually purple 

and the other are tights that were acceptable according to the rules)

Anyways it was fun. 

Currently I am going bananas over this amazing spring/summer-like weather we are getting. Our timing was perfect to get us all hyped up for spring and summer. 

And I am spending as much time outside as possible! 

xo.a

Spring vs. Winter

The sunshine these days is incredible. 

Everyone is outside, smiling and doing fun things!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

(like Christmas for a lot of people, but it's spring for me!) 

It's my favourite. 

The colour challenge is going well - minus Monday when I was too sick to get dressed at all. 

And my pictures are horrid, but I'll still do a recap next week. 

Here are a few pictures to share.

{today - beautiful spring weather}

{had a lovely photo session with baby Gwen - isn't she adorable?!}

{baby Robin - it was winter just 4 days ago!}

{Matty reenacting National Lampoons}