signing off

{ fancy eclairs to celebrate our engagement }

This week was a great lead up to vacation... We caught up with friends at Joey Sherway and went to two Jays games! We are now officially on vacation and ready to head to Costa Rica tomorrow morning. I'll be logged off for the week and look forward to sharing our adventures when we get back! Have a great weekend xx

music finds

I feel like I've had a few albums looping on repeat lately and I'm constantly humming along to some tune I have stuck in my head. Here are a few of my favorites:

Beyonce,  Lemonade - Sorry & 6 Inch (ft. The Weekend).  This album is in a word, badass.

Mumford & Sons, Wilder Mind - Just Smoke & Snake Eyes

The Lumineers, Cleopatra - Cleopatra & Gale Song

One of my favorite things to do, with bands and artists that I love, is listen to their albums from start to finish. They've worked on this piece of art and created an album, so while they might have their radio singles, they've hand picked what song to put first and paid attention to how the songs flow together. I'd suggest trying it!

little white dress

{ Zara dress with frills, $25.90 }

With our Costa Rican vacation only a few sleeps away, I popped over to Zara on my lunch break yesterday. I loved the shoulder cut outs on this little white dress, and the A-line skirt makes it comfortable and easy to wear. Plus white seems like the perfect color to wear on a trip where we will be celebrating our engagement ;)

{ this dress in red would be adorable for a summer wedding! }

the best day ever

As I mentioned last Friday, Drew and I had our first bike date planned and we had reservations to check out a new Greek restaurant on Ossington. When I got home from work on Friday, Drew enthusiastically made me a cocktail and I mosey'd around, changing my outfit five times and fixing my make up. We have a Polaroid camera and have all our beloved photos posted on display in the back hall and Drew mentioned that he hadn't made an appearance on the polaroid boards in a while and suggested that we should take a photo. I'll happily take advantage of any opportunity for a photo together, so I set up the camera for a timed selfie. Little did I know what Drew had planned.... As I set it up and went to press the button he asked "how much time does the timer give us", to which I replied "10 seconds" and ran back to stand beside him. He looked me in the eye and told me how much he loved me right before getting down on one knee, just in time for the best photo ever. 

We stood crying and smiling in the kitchen for the next hour and called to tell our family. We sipped on champagne and I was shaking as I kept saying "I can't believe we're engaged!". I had hoped he had something in the works but Drew certainly caught me off guard, in the best way. Drew did a wonderful job on having my ring custom made, and its far exceeded any idea of what I had imagined I wanted, it's absolutely perfect. We ended up missing our reservation but met up with my parents and continued celebrating over dinner and drinks. We privately enjoyed the news together last weekend and have slowly been sharing the news with friends and family over this past week. We've had so much fun announcing the news and it's been so great seeing peoples reactions. It's amazing to be surrounded by so much love and excitement and we can't wait for all that lies ahead. 

This is easily the happiest time in our lives and I feel so lucky to be sharing it with Drew. We're headed to Costa Rica next weekend and we've chosen to forego any serious wedding talk until after we get back and are just enjoying the engagement with friends and family.

{ This has got to be the coolest blog post I've written to date :) Thanks for sharing in life's milestones with me. xx } 

happy weekend

{ the cutest little palm }

What do you have planned this weekend? D's Dad flies into town for two nights tomorrow and we're looking forward to catching up and hanging out. I'm hoping the weather might cooperate for the first bike ride of the season, I'm so eager to get back out on my bike! Other then that, I look forward to sleeping in and perhaps enjoying some wine :) What ever you get up to, enjoy yourself. xx

{ the medals from our 10km run, proudly on display }

{ delicious avocado toast }

  

{ a surprise treat, gift card for a facial }

{ the most exciting fourth quarter of basketball }

{ homemade cookie dough (that got consumed far too quickly) }

just because

{ nike sneakers $100 }

Summertime is fast approaching and sneakers look cute with just about everything. 

best restaurants

Anyone who knows me well is aware of my love of food. I love cooking and trying new restaurants and really anything foodie related. We subscribe to Toronto Life, and they always send out an annual Best Restaurants guide. I go through the guide checking off the spots we've tried and highlighting the places I want to check out. Toronto has some amazing restaurants and I think I've been to about 30% of the suggestions in this guide, which feels like an accomplishment, but also means there's so many more meals that need to be eaten! They also include a star rating system and a budget guide (tip: If the restaurant has 3 or more $ signs, it should have the same stars to match!)

Here are some of the restaurants on the top of my "I've gotta eat there" list!:

The Commodore (to have a cocktail and soak up east coast vibes)

Patois (to order the entire menu with three friends (yes, it's a thing you can do there))

Figo (simply to enjoy the beautiful space, apparently the pizza is really tasty too!)

Here are some recent spots that I've checked out, which were worth going back:

Bosk (winterlicious menu was delicious and affordable + great service)

Buca Yorkville (call ahead for the chef's tasting menu, a memorable experience)

Home of the Brave (forget the guilt, order extravagant ice cream)

mission accomplished

Yesterday, I checked a personal accomplishment off my bucket list - I ran a 10km run! I've been plagued with a knee injury since high school and running has never been my thing. My knee started acting up last summer and it forced me to search out a new physio. I've found a great clinic with therapists who have helped me tremendously which has allowed me to start running. D and I have spent the last few months training on loops through High Park and jogs by the lake. A friend mentioned she had signed up for the Mercedes Benz 10km run in Oakville, which winds through the beautiful neighbourhoods and along the lake and I knew it was a great goal to work towards. My fitbit helped keep me motivated and it was so much fun to feel myself progressing and building endurance. My goal was to finish in under an hour and my official race time was 58:31. It was an amazing and fulfilling experience and I'd love to sign up for another run later in the summer!

happy weekend

{ vegas selfie }

What are you up to this weekend? D surprised me with a reservation tonight at a Greek restaurant I've been dying to check out. We're going to go see the Jungle Book tomorrow and plan to keep it low key before our 10k run on Sunday morning! We're praying for good weather and a quick finish time :) Wish us luck...

+ + + + + 

This coffee + chocolate pavlova looks amazing!

I'm especially dreading being asked #6

Adorable shoes for summer

I'll take one of each please, for the most epic pool party ever!

A beautiful and affordable one piece 

We're spending an overnight in Van enroute to Kelowna in June and I'd love to stay here 

Have you watch Taylor answer 73 Questions?

+ + + + + 

I was a little sleepier then usual this week, but for good reason. The bachelorette in Vegas was more fun then I could have imagined and we all had such a great time together. I didn't take many blog-worthy photos, but here's a little peek if you care to see....

{ a beautiful flower garden in ceasars palace}

{ dinner at Rose.Rabbit.Lie }

{ American Must-Eat: In-N-Out cheeseburgers + choco shakes }

{ supergas (ie. italian converse) + miller lite }

{ the most elegant shopping mall ever }

{ the maid-of-honor surprised us with the sweetest gift bags (heart shaped sunnies included) }

{ a vegas worthy manicure from HMP }

{ PSA: Jaclynn gives the best gel manicures }

worthy of a switch

{ Eagle Blanket from Joinery NYC }

Our bed is draped in crisp white sheets with a fluffy white duvet on top, and typically I wouldn't dare stray from all-white-everything, but this blanket just might give me reason to stray from the norm. I love the aztec pattern and muted grey paired with the cream. This would be perfect for a guest room, visitors would feel like they're at a cool hotel like The Drake or The Ace.