The fall season tends to give me two types of feelings. One is the need to organize all the things. This feeling is usually fulfilled with cleaning every inch of our apartment, sorting and donating a bunch of the stuff we no longer use (mostly clothing) and creating new organized ways to live our lives (i.e. cupboard organizers). Previously in our university days, this type of feeling used to be achieved by watching an Oprah special or a particularly depressing episode of Hoarders. Now, I find that the organization bug hits me twice a year: once in the spring and once in the fall. Our apartment has never looked better.
The other feeling that hits me is a weird type of nostalgia. I could blame it on the fact that its September and this time of year is usually reminiscent to those returning to school. However, it’s been 5 years since I said goodbye to my post-secondary career and graduated my way out of tuition fees and overpriced “mandatory” textbooks purchases. Now that I think about it though, this feeling started last week when Trevor and I spent a rare, quiet evening at home enjoying some scotch (him), red wine (me) and flipping through old bands and songs generated from a recent BuzzFeed list. Sometimes I feel so muddled down with trying to keep track and remember things on a daily basis that I am shocked to find out that I can recall lyrics from songs I haven’t listened to in probably a decade. It leaves me with a feeling of wondering “what part of my brain did I drag that information from?”
A couple weeks ago, Trevor and I decided to use a few of the gift cards we received from our wedding and went a little crazy. Along with the usual new set of dishes, kitchen gadgets and cupboard organizers (aka my new obsession) we also purchased a little waffle maker. I had been looking to buy one for a while now, so to say that I was excited for this purchase was an understatement. Let’s just say photos were taken before this thing was even out of the box. It was even the last model in the store. I think it was a sign.
I’ve used this waffle maker twice so far, so it’s already become a nice part of my kitchen appliance family along with my blender and my KitchenAid mixer. Besides making perfect little waffles and being super easy to clean, it also folds up nice and small and can be neatly tucked away in my cupboard. As anyone knows, bulky appliances can be such a pain especially when you have to drag them out to use them. But not this little guy.
One of the reasons I’ve wanted a waffle maker for quite some time is because it’s a nice change in our breakfast routine. We take our breakfast very seriously, especially on the weekends when the morning atmosphere is more relaxed. No getting up at an ungodly hour when it’s still dark out. No carefully sipping hot coffee as to avoid spilling on our work clothes. No rushing to catch the public transit to get downtown before the insanity of rush hour. Just sleeping in and enjoying some breakfast on the living room couch while we watch Netflix in our pajamas. This doesn’t happen all the time, but we try to set aside one day on the weekend to have a relaxing morning.
I’m embarrassed to admit how long I’ve been holding to this recipe. Remember when I went to visit my Grandma’s house and we made cinnamon buns? That’s how long. Trevor and I didn’t even have a wedding date picked out yet. And now here we are, as newlyweds, and I’m proud to say that I finally made my Grandma’s honey castella cake recipe.
Is it just me or did it get colder the second the calendar switched from August to September? Not that I’m complaining though, fall is my favourite time of year. I’m starting to crave warm sweaters, comfy boots and fuzzy pajamas – not all as one outfit, mind you. As for food, my taste buds are leaning towards hot mugs of tea, pumpkin spices and all the chocolate I can cram into my face without getting a headache. That last one may not be weather-related. We think it’s just a side-effect of too many kale salads in August.
I’m back! After one glorious week of wedding madness, along with a healthy dash of family and friends, and one week of honeymoon bliss in New York City, I finally have time to sit down, flip through photos and reflect on everything.
We had a fantastic wedding photographer who also did a great job on our engagement photos. However, since our wedding photos will not be ready for a couple months, I included two beautiful photos taken by our friend Emily, who is also a talented photographer.
Our August 16th wedding took place at the White Oaks Conference Resort & Spa at Niagara-on-the-Lake. Everything was perfect, from the beautiful sunny weather to the friendliness of the staff and, of course, the delicious food. As a nod to the Niagara area, each of our guests took home a little glass bottle of loose Niagara Peach Green Tea and instead of a wedding cake, we had mini pumpkin cheesecake, strawberry rhubarb and blueberry pies. To have something to cut, we had a small Saskatoon Berry pie. Trevor was thrilled when we found out they were able to source out Saskatoon Berries for us. (Saskatchewan guy at heart!)
After a salmon and roast strip-loin supper, we had a good laugh and teared up over the speeches made by our wedding party and both sets of parents. Right after the speeches, we opened the dance floor. Trevor was the one who chose our first dance song “First Day of My Life” by Bright Eyes. I’ve loved this song since the first time he played it for me and the lyrics have always been a perfect fit for us. The father/daughter and mother/son dance was to “Fine As Fine Can Be” by Gordon Lightfoot, which was very emotional moment for both parties. The mood lightened up once the dance floor was open to everyone and soon I had to ask Kacie, my sister/maid of honour, to help me out of my wedding shoes so I could dance properly.
The dance floor was packed for most of the night, especially with the kids who seemed to enjoy the bubbles and glow-sticks we had set out. We danced until the late hours of the night and then happily retired to our honeymoon suite at White Oaks. A jacuzzi tub was waiting for us and I was never happier to pull all the bobby pins out of my hair, wash my face of all the make-up and soak my tired feet.
Canadian food blogger, baking and eating her way through life. Musical theatre fanatic. Personal finance nerd. Sometimes runner/yogi. Green smoothies are pretty amazing.
