an ode to august

Oh August - how I love you. I might be a little biased since my birthday's on the 31st of August which is  tomorrow(!!!), but I've always found myself enjoying the days more, taking the most pictures during this month, and reveling in free days, planned nights, and spontaneous Skype dates. The air is not as humid and muggy as July in southern Ontario, and there's a slight crispness in the air in the evenings as the sun sets earlier; but it's a nice reminder that layered knits and pumpkin spice lattes are right around the corner.

My simple smile for this week - besides finding sweet birthday cards and surprise packages in the mail from dear friends - is finding my own little bit of paradise this month in the form of a road trip to Bruce Peninsula National Park. We drove through towns that had a higher population of cows than actual people and made it to crystal clear (and freezing!) waters and exploring a grotto (and coming up with a song called "Otto the Grotto").

The waters looked all Caribbean-like but were so cold.

The Grotto and my freshly dyed strawberry-blonde hair! (:

When I haven't been searching for or enjoying paradise, I've been baking a lot thanks to my parents' friends who have a ton of fruit trees in their backyard. Two weeks ago I made plum cake, and just last night made a peach cake, all using the same basic recipe (which I'll probably share soon)!

The times that I'm not baking, I've spent catching up with schoolmates from university and teacher's college, either at a restaurant, cafe, or a 10km hike which kills my legs but feels so good at the same time. There's this trail that my friend introduced me to that has running streams, crazy hills, and close encounters with deer and I wish it was closer to my home so I could walk it every day.  

Two of these lovely ladies are leaving me for London; 

I unfortunately could not fit inside their luggage.

The times that I'm not catching up with schoolmates, I've spent doing an overdue reunion with two of my workmates - and crashed a TV set in the downtown for a show called Bomb Girls. Lots of 1940s garb, fake snow, and posters for 5 cent burgers and trendy fashions.

WOMANPOWER -- we can do it! We can ... cook things over a stove?

And when I haven't been doing all that, I've been trying to plan out as much of my fall as I can while also working in The Boy's soon-to-be-open shop! While we'd love to get our ideal jobs right away, this is kind of our back-up/let's-make-ends-meet route for now, and it's pretty nerve-wrecking and exciting at the same time. 

I find that I can look back at every August of my recent years with fond memories; it'd definitely be my month of choice to relive over and over if I could.

if you could choose a month to relive whenever you wanted, 

which one would it be & why?

and if you haven't yet,

please mosey on down and join the postcard project!

Tomorrow involves a surprise day from The Boy (all I know is that I have to bring my bathing suit), and then hopefully a beach day with my girlfriends on Saturday. Hope you all have a great rest of the week! (: