hello? is it me ...

... you're looking for? I have Lionel Richie on the brain. Okay, not really. Just wanted to give a brief explanation as to why I haven't been here lately in a nutshell: I've been sick (but am recovering!), attempting to survive the first week of my last term of classes (I've graduated but I'm just taking these extra ones for teachers college), and I'm tired of this layout so I'm slowly yet surely working on a new one! And that's a horrible run-on sentence.

Thanks to everyone who has stuck around, I promise I'll have a better update soon.
In the meantime, be happy :)

groundhog week

If there was one week I could choose to be my groundhound week (i.e., reliving it over and over), it would be the past week. And surprisingly the main reason is not because it was my birthday - thanks for all the birthday wishes, by the way! - but because I was able to spend so much time with the friends and the significant other whom I love.

With September comes the new - a new school year, going back to work, a new season - and everything seems to be scheduled which is why I covet my vacation time, where everything can be spontaneously planned. That's exactly what happened last week and I loved it to itty bitty pieces.

Sunday I had an early birthday celebration with my closest girlfriends - we went to a nearby park with a huge waterfall, ate the most delicious cake ever with banana bread and chocolate (it almost rivals my favourite tiramisu), played Partini (the best game), explored behind the waterfalls and then went off to an amazing dinner before spending some downtime at my one friend's house. 

 Corny slicing of the delicious birthday cake photo :)

About to climb behind the waterfall!

♥

Our "Dawson's Creek" photo, if the cast was all-female hehe.

Half classic pepperoni, half bacon & scallions = YUMMY.

Quick wardrobe change for dinner - it was a restaurant we've never been to before but I want to go to again and again :)

During our scrumptious dinner we made a little Bucket List of things we all want to accomplish - either together or personal dreams that we can root each other on for - I might share of my own personal things later this week :) Either way, it warms my heart to be connected to four incredible women and that no matter how busy we get, we make time for each other.

My actual birthday was spent greeted by my parents in the morning and then getting ready for a surprise from The Boy. We had only gone to the beach once before this summer, so he planned a full out road trip to Lake Erie, one of the great lakes of North America.  ROAD TRIP!

The Boy was counting on me to be the navigator with the directions and it was only about halfway into the road trip through that he realized I didn't have my glasses on and was kind of half-guessing the road signs - but we made it there after one detour to this amazingly sand-combed beach for some romantic times :)

Birthday pizza = nom nom nom :)

Making some sand castles without the tools - what an architect.

Cheesy sand shadow photo - a specialty of ours :D

After spending a good hour in the water and lounging on the sands, we headed back to get some ice cream where I discovered STRAWBERRY-KIWI ICE CREAM. It was like my birthday wish come true or something, it was heavenly. And then I tried my luck in getting a free Starbucks drink but apparently they send you a coupon in the mail or something once you register the giftcard? Phooey. Either way it was an amazing day :)

And then the boiling first of September was spent braving the heat with another close friend who I met at school and has made my uni experience infinitely better. She treated me to a day at the Toronto Zoo and it was loads of fun - our legs got a workout but it was well worth it! Her amazing parents treated us to a Mongolian grill all-you-can-eat afterwards and happy birthday in English & Chinese blasted over the PA, woot woot! 

 Posing tiger! (hidden dragon?)

Rockin' out on a hippo.

Little collage of moments - such incredible creatures.

Annnd my impersonation of a flamingo.

While the rest of the days were lowkey, those days stand out in my mind as days I'd love to relive. Ahh, fare thee well summer vacation ...

Is there a particular day you'd like to relive? annnnd...

What are you looking forward to most in September?

As weird as this sounds, I'm looking forward to more a routine when it comes to blogging - though I only have one full semester left of uni, I know I'll be filling up the breaks with writing! 

To those who celebrate it - happy Labour Day weekend!

/long post is long