Weekly Adventures 9.22.17 (Wedding Edition)

Last week was extra special because I was in Ottawa / Wakefield celebrating my best friend Mel's wedding. It was pretty magical.

I flew Porter, which meant that I was able to walk to the airport with my carry-on. I stayed in an adorable airbnb during the week whilst spending time with Mel, the bridal party and her other wonderful friends in the city.

Mel and I have been friends for 14 years, and while she's been in Amsterdam for the last 3 we've done a good job at maintaining our friendship across many, many miles.  Spending time together was bittersweet - very special to celebrate her love, the wedding and hang out together, but also sad because it made me miss her more. I know that I have a trip to Amsterdam coming up in my future, and our time together reinforced how much I need to work on making that happen ASAP.

It was a particularly beautiful week in Ottawa, which was especially wonderful since the wedding was outdoors; they couldn't have asked for a better day!

I rented my dress from Rent Frock Repeat, and since they have a location in Ottawa I didn't have to pack it with me. It was such a fun dress to wear!

And honestly, I can't say enough good things about my time with these gals. From doing Beyography choreography, laughing between courses, getting our hair and make up done together, travelling throughout Ottawa to Wakefield and back, sharing stories, hanging out in robes whilst taking photos, giving speeches - it was all a really lovely bridal party experience.

As a friend, it's such a joy to see the people you love the most find their most special people and celebrate that love. Over the last 4 years, watching all 3 of my best friends get married and being a part of their weddings has been such a gift. Mel's wedding was no different and I made a lot of memories that I will cherish for a very long time! I am over the moon thrilled for Mel and Alexei, and wish them so much continued happiness in the years to come.

I've got some fun events coming up over the weekend and then I'll spend the week prepping to head off on another adventure a week from today - more on that to come!

Cheers to love xo

Vegan Eats in Ottawa

Two weeks ago, Corbin and I took a little road trip to Ottawa! I really wanted to visit because my best friend Mel is moving across the world this week, and I wanted to give her a hug before she left. Some sweet friends of Corbin's also just moved to Ottawa, so the whole thing seemed like a great excuse for an adventure!

We spent a lot of time visiting and catching up with our friends, and planned a couple fun meals out to enjoy some highly recommended vegan restaurants. On the Saturday night we headed to Zen Kitchen with my friend Laura for dinner.

Zen Kitchen is a gourmet vegan restaurant that recently reopened after undergoing a change in owners. I started drooling over their vegan and gluten free friendly menu for about 24 hours before we actually arrived - everything sounded so good!

We decided on the black bean cakes and crispy mushroom appetizer to start.

The black bean cakes had good flavor, but were a bit dry. They came with a really tasty side of corn chips, salsa, guacamole and cashew sour cream which we really enjoyed. The crispy mushrooms were a hit! The dipping sauces made them even better. I wish I could eat these all the time.

For our mains, Laura had the Caesar salad (complete with polenta croutons and tofu), Corbin had the Royal Zen Burger and I got the lemon scented gnocchi. While everyone's meals looked, smelled and tasted delicious, I won the dinner round. The gnocchi was sublime. From the well cooked veggies, to the mushroom-leek cream sauce, I was in heaven. I loved every bite, especially since gnocchi isn't something I get to eat very often!

The dessert menu looked awesome, but the peanut butter and chocolate pie had caught my eye when I was perusing the menu on the drive up to Ottawa. All 3 of us decided to get it and we were not disappointed. It was absolutely delicious!! Unlike many peanut butter and chocolate desserts, this one was more peanut butter than chocolate, which I really liked. It had a great gluten free crust and was topped with coconut cream. I want to go back just so I can eat this pie again!



Overall it was a really lovely meal. The service was great and they were very diligent about my gluten intolerance, which I really appreciated! Definitely a fancier dinner out that we would normally do, but certainly nice as a treat with amazing company.

We had plans for brunch with Mel and her partner on Sunday morning and she suggested we go to Cafe My House.



I understand that they recently moved to a new location on Wellington Street West and I loved everything about the decor. It was so cute inside! Since it was a nice weekend, we scored a sweet table on the back patio for our brunch.

This was another menu I had been checking out in advance, though I still found it difficult to choose because everything sounded amazing! I started with the Cacao Latte, which was really good, though a little sweet for me.


I decided on the Chipotle BLT mostly because it had a waffle bun. Holy wow.

It was AWESOME. Also, gigantic. But so good. I loved every bite.



Everyone else enjoyed their meals and I would certainly love to go back there to try the dinner menu sometime.

Over dinner the night before, Laura had mentioned a vegan bakery where she had enjoyed the most amazing cupcake and we decided to check it out! Auntie Loo's Treats is Ottawa's first 100% vegan bakery. They have an amazing selection of cupcakes, donuts, squares and buns with a small selection of gluten free items. We had a great visit to the shop and scored some treats for the ride home.

We spent the afternoon in the sunshine at a Provincial Park and I got to give Mel all sorts of hugs. It's been awhile since we've lived in the same city, but this move is going to be a HUGE change and because she's my best friend I want the best for her. I'm so glad we were able to sneak in a visit and have some lovely time together before she left. Love that girl!

The vegan scene in Ottawa is up and coming and it's neat to try out some new places each time I visit. It was an incredible weekend with some wonderful people and some really delicious food!

Top Moments of 2013

Wow 2013, you've been quite a year! I can hardly believe that another 365 days have passed as I lived the year of serendipity. And serendipitous it has been, in so many ways. Here are some of my favourite things that happened this year. 

I started off the year with a super fun trip to Ottawa to visit my bestie, Mel. I'm so thankful that Mel and I both work hard to keep our relationship strong and it was such a blast to visit her in snowy Ottawa. I can't wait to go back - hopefully sometime this year! 

This year included being on the cover of The Grid, being auctioned off for charity, being on the cover of a magazine highlight women in the arts and co-hosting a cooking show in my home. Really neat and a whole lot of serendipity to make it all happen. 

I discovered the Lovebot and have since become an unofficial ambassador of sorts to this incredible project. 

It's so lovely to see them all over the city and great to get into conversations with people that start with "So what's the deal with these Lovebots?!" I've since gotten to meet Matthew Del Degan who created the Lovebot and am thrilled for what's in store in the land of love for 2014!

In other love news, my sweet friend Lindsay got married in June and her wedding was absolutely one of my favourite moments of the year (if not my life!) It was so special to be a part of their day and all of the festivities leading up to it. I'm thankful that our friendship strengthened as a result. I will also never look at fuchsia the same way. 

I got to interview two of my favourite bands from my childhood - New Kids of the Block and Hanson!! Also got to see both of them in concert. 8 year old me and 13 year old me would have died (or at least started screaming their faces off) if only they knew what was to come 15+ years in the future. I also saw a slew of other great concerts including the Joni Mitchell tribute at Massey Hall, James Blake, Natalie Weiss, Jason Robert Brown and Rich Aucoin x2. 

I sold out my first solo cabaret, raised $1000 for CAMH and was asked to revamp the show for 2014 to be performed at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. 

Putting the first Life is Sweet show and blog series together was an incredible experience and I'm so proud that I get to do it again this year as a result. 

I also had an amazing time with my second solo cabaret I Know it's Today where I talked about boys, dating, relationships and everything that has happened since that time I was engaged. 

Speaking of boys, 2013 brought some ups and downs in my love life (hence the cabaret) but was so lucky to connect with my incredible boyfriend, Corbin, towards the end of the summer. I've fallen so head over heels in love with that man and am so excited to be heading into 2014 with him next to me!

In addition to performing in a bunch of shows, I saw 32 shows, which will become 33 after I see Les Miserables this afternoon. From plays at Fringe to cabarets by friends to huge musicals, I've seen a bit of everything and continue to love supporting the theatre community in Toronto and being inspired by shows in New York. I can't wait to see what's in store for 2014!

Oh yah, I went to New York. It was pretty magical. I still need to blog about all the wonderful things that happened. It's coming, I promise! 

Today I'm celebrating the end of 2013 and new beginnings for 2014 with a lovely friend date this morning and a sweet Corbin date to see Les Mis this afternoon. I think I'll have a quiet evening, but I'm looking forward to what's in store for this new year. 

Happy New Year - see you in 2014!

BFF reunion in Ottawa

In August my dear friend Mel (aka Melanie, or Melly as only I can refer to her as) packed up her bags and moved to Ottawa to do her Masters. We've been great at keeping in touch through iMessaging and regular Skype dates, but I was definitely missing her presence in my life. This past weekend I hopped on a Porter flight and headed to Ottawa for a visit! 

I'm so thankful for Porter and it's ridiculously often sales and hospitality. While my flight was a bit late, I was happy and cozy in the Porter lounge complete with tea, snacks and wifi.

When Mel picked me up at the airport, I couldn't help but be reminded of when she found me in an airport in Hannover, Germany during our European adventures. Finding Mel in the Ottawa airport was a heck of a lot easier thanks to its smaller size, affinity for the English language and the popularity of iPhones. I didn't cry when we found one another (like I did in Germany), but it was pretty amazing to give one of my best friends a huge hug after five months apart!

Melly and her boyfriend were amazing hosts and did a wonderful job at feeding me! Some of the highlights included "bachelor slop", incredible steel cut oats with carrot juice, walnuts & raisins and a delicious lentil dahl.

We also visited a couple of sweet Ashley-friendly restaurants in Mel's hood including The Table and Simply Raw. The Table is another pay-by-weight place similar to The Green Door that I visited during the summer. I think the gluten free vegan butter tart was my favourite part of the meal.

I was extra excited to go to Simply Raw, despite the chilly temperatures and neverending snowfall. Laura met Mel and I for lunchy and the three of us caught up over sweet potato ginger soup, yogi tea and raw chocolate cherry cheezecake.

I had a lovely conversation with Simply Raw's owner Natasha Kryssa about my favourite restaurants in Toronto and New York as well as the premise of raw food. She was incredibly kind and I loved the cafe. I can't wait to go back and try more and definitely have another slice of cheezecake. It was pretty divine.

We didn't have any crazy plans for the weekend outside of some exploration, catching up and seeing Les Miserables. I think we succeeded in our objectives with some good food, late night wine, a lot of laughter and reminiscing of the fun we've had together along with quite a few cat pictures thrown in for good measure...

Because Lego is pretty much the cutest thing I've seen in 2013. I couldn't get enough of him!

The snowy view from Mel's balcony

I felt calmer this weekend than I have in awhile, likely because it was the most vacation-esque thing I've experienced of late and aided by the presence of such a good friend. I'm so proud of Mel for kicking ass at school, but it's definitely been tough without her in my city. Thankfully Ottawa is only a short ways away and both of us are making a concerted effort to stay connected.

Love that girl.
And her sweet boyfriend.
And adorable cat.

I had a really lovely weekend with one of my very favourite people. Ottawa was good to me once again and I'm looking forward to returning again soon.

Off the Market, In the Market - Adventures in Ottawa

The last time I was in Ottawa, I was 15. We were on a school trip for the 9th grade and I have memories of going to a whole lot of museums, getting my ears pierced at the Rideau Centre, visiting the Hard Rock Cafe and having one of our teachers advising me to "not go to bed angry" after she found out my boyfriend and I were fighting. When I found out that my sweet friend Laura would be celebrating her upcoming wedding with a bachelorette in Ottawa, I knew I was bound to make new (and better) memories and give Ottawa another chance.

Laura is one of my oldest friends. We actually met when I lived in Belleville for a year and we attended the same school for the sixth grade. Through letters, then emails, then social media we have remained friends we I moved back to Toronto and I am so very thankful for that! I can't believe it's been almost 17 years since we met. 

I scored a great deal with one of the Porter sales and found myself in Ottawa in under an hour. Laura picked me up at the airport and we enjoyed a sweet afternoon of catching up over a delicious picnic lunch. 

Kale salad with falafels, cherry tomatoes & cherries

I took a bit of a nap before we spent some time getting ready for a night on the town. Laura had prepped a great playlist of Backstreet Boys, N SYNC and the Spice Girls. It was reminiscent of our teenage years and put us both in an exceptionally good mood.

I knew the details of the party, but it was all a big surprise for Laura. We arrived at The Upkeep Shoppe to get our nails done, enjoy some awesome treats, play silly games involving underwear and of course, sip pink champagne! 

the bride to be!

pretty pretty nails

Laura took the underwear guessing game very seriously. I brought these ones - pink & fruity!

Kristy with the cupcakes and Ashley-friendly brownies

The gals at the salon took amazing care of us and Laura's friend Kristy did an awesome job of organizing and hosting. Feeling pampered and giddy, we were off to "the market" for some dancing fun. It was a really great evening filled with silly dares, awesometown music, using our hashtag #offthemarketinthemarket and sightings of 8 other bachelor/bachelorette parties. It was fantastic to spend time with some of the other gals who will be at the wedding - we're definitely going to have a very fun night in September!

Kristy & Laura - we somehow managed to acquire feather boas

Laura and I spent the next day suitably recovering with movies (Lilo & Stitch and Love Actually) and snacks, only leaving the house to face the world for a yummy dinner at The Green Door restaurant. The website says they are Ottawa's oldest and best known vegetarian restaurant, and I was happily surprised by their gluten free and dairy free options.

Many veggies, tempeh, rice & various salads - so delicious!

My dessert plate! Berry goodness, rice pudding & pecan cookie - all gluten free & vegan

Laura's rockin' chocolate cake

It was an awesome meal and a great way to cap off a super fun weekend with Laura. We had a lot of fun talking about the wedding and the shenanigans of the prior evening. It was sad to say goodbye, but it will be amazing to see her again so soon at the wedding!

I had a lovely Monday wandering around Ottawa, checking out the Van Gogh exhibit at the National Gallery (and trying not to cause trouble) and having lunch with some awesome friends who were also in town. I spent a bit of time reading my book and tweeting in the Porter lounge before enjoying a glass of red on our 45 minute flight home.

Monday afternoon wine = win

It was such an honour to be a part of Laura's bachelorette - there's now less than a month until the wedding! Ottawa, it was fun. I look forward to the next time!