niagara falls in winter...

having family day off this past monday, i tried to think of something we could do to end our nice weekend together. paying no mind to the fact that it was approximately -20 degrees celsius, we decided to go check out the falls (thinking maybe they were frozen) and make a quick trip to the casino. unfortunately,  the casino was a bust and we lost the little bit we went in with in about 1.5 minutes playing war.

canadian falls from the skylon tower. 

pretty sure the american falls were frozen. 

the amount of ice on the railings gets much thicker the closer you get to the falls.

brrr!

wintery wonderland. 

i can't believe how turquoise the water looked.

ice. lots of ice.

shards of ice flowing.

even though it was so cold, there were still plenty of people around looking at the falls. it's so different than seeing it in the summer, and certainly beautiful (if you can look past a few frozen fingertips).

a snow globe...

yesterday was quite the uneventful day and it just kept going. i knew we were supposed to get snow starting early wednesday morning, and the weather network called for a big storm. but the thing is, the weather network never seems to be right, so i kind of blew it off. wednesday morning, i awoke to a snow globe outside. my class started at 10:45 and normally i would leave around 9 (getting me to school around 10:20), giving myself approximately 30 minutes extra time (there's always some kind of delay with public transit). but this time, i thought "nah, i'll leave at 8:45. that'll be fine."

now, if it wasn't for a test i had, i totally would have stayed home. i kept checking my email thinking that for sure, based on the fact that i know my prof comes from further north, she'll cancel the test/class. that would be a no. so i bundled up and headed for my 20 minute walk to the subway, snow pummeling my face. before i go into no-service-land, i check my email again - still nothing. on the subway i go. every time there's a pocket where we're outside with service, i check. still nothing. 'wow, she's persistent', i'm thinking.

walking to the subway in the storm. 

i get to the end and then get on a bus to school. still no email. normally this bus ride is 10-15 minutes. i quickly see it's not going to be that. not long after getting on the bus, i get the email; yes, class is cancelled. a notice at 10am. a little late, no?! without making this much longer, i was on the bus for 2 HOURS. and i didn't even make it to school. i was going to go all the way to recharge my phone and grab a coffee, but knew it would add on another hour or so. i should have gotten off the bus earlier, but i finally had enough, got off at a random spot, trudged my way through knee-high snow to a stop in the other direction and took an hour-long bus ride back to the subway station.

all in all, i commuted for 5.5 hours roundtrip for a class that was cancelled. i told dylan i felt like on of those grandparents telling little kids, "you know, when i was your age, i was walking 5km uphill to school, with snow up to my knees." :P

so, how did you enjoy a snow day, if you had one??

a dusting...

well, toronto has seen it's first bit of snow and i'm quite happy about it. i love the winter, the snow, the cold weather, the bundling up, etc. unfortunately, nothing has really stuck for too long once it hits the ground (even though saturday was an absolute whiteout and i felt like i was in a snow globe all day), but we're slowly getting there.

i think we're off to my parents this weekend where my will be baking away over 3 days. we'll only there on day 1 of 3, so we won't be heading back home with too many goodies just yet, but her christmas baking is just the best. bring on the #winterweight.

a storm called nemo...

we were right in the thick of that storm that hit this weekend. i was at work thursday and apparently the storm was supposed to start at 1pm. then 3pm. then 7pm. i went to bed at 11pm and still not a drop of snow. i had high hopes that the weather warnings that were all over the tv were right, but i was starting to doubt them. when dylan got home from work at 2am, i got up and looked out the bedroom window; still nothing! i fell back asleep, a little sad, because i love the snow and was looking forward to it, and we just don't get the good old storms like we used to. i woke up again at 6am, looked out, and it was a winter wonderland. i was too excited and couldn't fall back asleep. i opened the blinds and just watched it fall for an hour until i got up and made some coffee and muffins. i think we had almost 2 feet, as it fell for nearly the whole day. and it was glorious.

 7am; just the beginning.

go, chloe, go!

 "can we stay out a little longer?"

slowly losing our steps. good thing we have a front door, too.

 she can't get enough.

 even more.

up to my knees.

nose.

snowed in all day? might as well start it off right.

how was the storm where you were? did you enjoy it, or wish you could transport yourself somewhere warm? 

snowed in...

no, not really snowed in, unfortunately, but we got a bit of snow yesterday and last night, and they're calling for a bit more today. woohoo! and it's going to be just a bit cold at about -10! pretty safe to say we'll be hunkering down for the weekend and i plan on trying to make my first crème brûlée on saturday. i'm a  little scared, but i'm totally hoping that i can pull it off. full report to come monday ;)

sun shining through this morning.

happy weekend!

the first snow...

right after christmas, we got our first dumping of snow. of course, we couldn't wake up to a white christmas, it had to come 2 days later!! either way, i'm just glad we finally got some beautiful, white snow. which also meant it was time to take out chloe's little red boots. i know i say this every year, but she loves wearing them and runs so fast in them. and she always gets compliments on them when i'm walking her.

the shoveled pee spot in my parents backyard.

lotsa white stuff.

trudging through the unshoveled park.

"i know i'm so cute." her coat it a little small, too..

we're supposed to get a little more today, but only under 1cm. that said, the temperatures are pretty cold, reading at about -10C (14F). yikes.

pretty lights on the tree...

just a few christmas-y things around our place lately..

eggnog and nail painting.

a light dusting of snow.

a little bit of wrapping. still more to go.

what we've got going on thus far under the tree.

secret santa gift for a night with  my girl friends. 

as of yesterday, i *think* i'm done all my christmas shopping. i've got a few extra things to wrap, and that's that! i was somehow given 5 days off (monday to friday) next week, and i'm super excited about that. working those days before and after christmas sucks, in my opinion, and i'm happy to have them off. 8 more days!

snow pup...

you know how the weather network always calls for snow, and it never comes? just like they 'call for' rain and it doesn't rain, or they say it'll reach Xtemperature and it never does? basically, they're never right. but this time they were. we got quite a bit of snow a couple weekends ago, and i was thrilled. it's definitely the most we've gotten this season, and it finally seemed that winter had made its way to canada. if you can't count on snow for christmas anymore, you can always count on a storm around valentines day. seriously, there's been one every year i think. and chloe? well, she loves it.

ready, set...

GO!

my dad and his favorite (and only) grandchild.

"i'm back home, mom."

she's like a bullet running through that snow.

my little snowy nosed girl.

obviously, this wore her out, and she spent the rest of the day and night sleeping by the fire. oh, the life of a dog.