new york...

on july 19th, i turned 28 and got to ring in my birthday in new york city! i figured that if dylan got to turn 29 in italy, it was only fair i got a small getaway for my birthday! we decided to drive and started our morning around 5:30 to then get into the city around 4pm.

on the road again.

i love snapchat stickers.

woohoo!

we stayed at the eventi hotel and loved it.

view of the empire state building from our room.

love this city.

the best part of the hotel? every night from 5-6 they have a wine reception on the terrace, meaning free wine and sangria (unlimited) for that hour. awesome.

high line sunsets.

saturday morning started out rather gloomy, but turned right around by 10am.

beautiful soho.

we made sure to be back for another wine hour.

have you ever heard of those silent clubs? you wear headphones and that's where the music is played? we were walking by a park one a free one was happening and  figured we had to try it out for about 5 minutes.

 * please note * there were actually people older than the children that happen be in our shot! we didn't join a kids party. anyways, it was funny and totally weird.

when in new york, a comedy bar is a must.

 goodbye new york. you were fun.

on the long journey home.

we walked and walked and walked, just like we do every time we visit; from the west village all the way up to central park. we come back with sore feet, but it's always worth it.

early birthday surprise...

back when i had graduated university 3 years ago, i had grand plans of finding a job somewhat easily and being able to get my parents a few nice things as a major thank you for all they've done for me. i wrote here about all that, but as we all know, i was not knocking down job offers and had to go back to school. well now that i do have a good job, as with dylan, we're finally able to spoil my parents a bit.

my mom's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and i'm always completely stumped as to what to get her for special occasions; she's someone who buys pretty much everything she wants, within reason. she loves jewelry, but i can only get her so much. a fewweeks ago, we were at their house and my mom handed me her little point and shoot camera to show me pictures and that's when the light bulb went off. it was finally time to get her that camera she's always wanted. dylan was all on board and even upped the budget from what i originally had in mind (of course he did, he loves buying gifts and spending money ;)). dylan did all the researching and we settled on the canon t3i with a lens kit and also got her a case that happened to come with an extra battery.

my parents are going away to quebec city on my mom's birthday weekend and so we wanted to give this to her early so that she could have time to play with it before they go and get used to all the settings. we gave it to her under the guise of, oh we're not sure if we'll make it back the next 2 weekends with dylan's work and all.

the moment she knows what it is.

:)

the reason we chose canon over nikon (which we have) is because my parents have a canon film camera from years and years ago (probably the 80/90s) and have a few lenses and a flash. because the lenses are automatic, they still work on the new camera, which is awesome!

after charging the battery, the obvious thing is to take photos, and chloe makes a pretty cute subject.

//

i know she think it's too much, but at the same time, she absolutely loves it and couldn't believe we did it. i better get my smiles ready because i know there are going to be even more pictures in my life now.

happy birthday little one...

my, my how time flies. my little baby is now 7 years old today! i really lucked out with this dog; she's the biggest people dog/cuddler/face-licker there is. i remember when i was searching for dogs years ago - i was looking at breeders, i was looking at the humane society, and i was even looking on kijiji. it was new years day i think, and i was browsing the local newspaper online and i saw an add for a dog that sounded like what i wanted (a yorkie, or a yorkiepoo), so i gave them a call. they wondered how i knew about it already, since it wasn't supposed to be in the printed paper until the next day when papers were back up and running. i guess it was my luck that it was online before it was in the paper because they said the next day they had multiple calls. i think it may have even been that same night that me and my mom went to go see her.

the couple was only a short drive from my parents and when we got there, i just remember seeing this little black bullet flying around the entryway and the hallways. the couple had gotten her while the wife was sick (not just flu sick) thinking it would help her and make her feel better, but the little one was just too much work. even though i could see what a little terror she was and that she looked nothing like what i wanted, i knew right away that i wanted her and i told them that. we went back the next night to pick her up and the husband was just a wreck, bawling so bad that he couldn't even come to the door. a few nights later, my parents even got a call from them saying that if we changed our minds, they would like her back. sorry, but no. she was ours now!

i had a heck of time training this darn dog. the puppy stage seemed to last forever, she chewed basically every cord in my apartment, multiple sandles, and hated being crate trained at night and during the day when i went out. but i kept it up, as i think crate training a dog is super important and worthwhile. over the years, she's totally calmed down (though she still has lots of spunk in her, especially for 7), and she's so well-mannered.

happy lucky number 7, chloe!

a kiss for 27...

the one thing i didn't post about my birthday was one of the gifts my parents got me, errr, rather made me. i had opened my gifts (a housecoat, pajamas, wine, some candy) and i thought that was it. but then my dad went and grabbed one last thing...

say what?!

a giant hershey's kiss!

delicious ice cream cake.

inside of the 'kiss' was a rice krispie square that my parents had made and dad molded and then they dipped in melted chocolate. you should know that hershey's kisses are one of my favorite chocolate treats (and m&m's); put a bag in front of me and i will eat it all. it's my kryptonite.  inside the white paper that sticks out, they had rolled some cash money! now i just have to find something special worth pending my birthday money on.

turning 27...

i turned 27 on saturday. i think that officially makes me in my late 20s, right? it must because i actually feel older now, and i can't say i've ever really felt older on any other birthday. while the getting older part may suck, birthdays involve presents, and that's always ok. i can fully admit that i am a very hard person to buy for, whether it's for a birthday, anniversary, christmas...i'm tough. i don't feel like i need anything and i'm just not someone who wants a lot of things either. unlike dylan, who at any given day of the year can run off a list of 20-30 things he absolutely needs/wants right this moment, when he asks me for ideas, i draw a blank. this could be a problem for some men, but lucky for me, dylan has pretty good gift-giving abilities. plus, i like a surprise.

woohoo presents. the biggest one was the lightest and i was told to leave that to last.

i'll wait and read this one in the lunchroom at the law firm while doing my placement ;) kidding.

my "you've got to be sh*tting me, what did you do" face.

an hermѐs bag?!

an interlocked ring.

love.

he got it from a new vintage/consignment store - lxr & co - located in hudson's bay on queen street. we're not sure what year it's from, but it's still in great condition. i love it (and surprised he was able to find something that fit my ridiculously small hands) and am pretty shocked that i have a little orange box and bag in my possession. i'd say he's setting the bar pretty high.

dylan is 28!

my main man and best friend turned 28 yesterday! he was pestering me for the last 2 weeks to let him open his gift, so i finally gave it to him friday evening before all our friends came over. my parents pitched in to help me get him the gopro black edition and i feel like it's probably the best gift i've ever given him, if i do say so myself! he's been playing with it since he opened it and i must say, it's pretty darn cool. the quality is amazing and there's just so much you can do with it. what's extra cool is that you can download their app and sync your phone to the camera and you can control the camera from your phone and also view the photos/videos you take right away through the app.

what could it be?!

such a cutie.

naturally, one of the first things we did was try to figure out a way to attach it to chloe's collar. we're going to try to find the proper harness (yes, they make dog harnesses for a gopro!). in the mean time, we just attached it with a piece of string. while it's a super shaky video because it it's not stable, she didn't even mind it hanging there and we found the video just hilarious.

hope you had a great birthday, dyl! love you.

a fiesta...

last week, my bff turned 27 (crap, we're getting old!) and a bunch of us got together for a fiesta. lots of friends, lots of food, and a lot of mustache pictures. unfortunately, me and dylan had to peace out early since there was a snowstorm (and an hour drive) and he had to leave for work at 3am. but no worries, we still had a good time.

 ready for movember.

 a few condiments for tacos. and now i know i need to plan a taco night week for dinner.

 we got the birthday girl some patron. drink up!

 friends for 25 years.

 i don't even know...

why hello.

happy birthday to youuuu.

and no, dylan certainly wasn't the only boy there. there were plenty others. happiest of birthdays, girly!