crave worthy salad

{ Roasted chickpea & Kale salad with Tahini dressing }

I only just recently (as in a few months ago) realized that I really enjoy tahini dressing! Who knew! It came on a salad I randomly chose for lunch on Uber Eats and it was delicious and creamy but still light, nutty and satisfying.

Next step: trying to use tahini at home - I'm not comfortable enough with the ingredient to just wing it, so I think this salad will be the first recipe I attempt!

just because

{ J.Crew Scalloped heels in festive plaid $314 }

These plaid J.Crew shoes are the first thing to top my Christmas wishlist. (psst, I'm size 9.5)

Only issue, I want them a month early so I can wear them to all holiday outings.  :)

happy weekend

{ beautiful mini roses that replaced the gourds earlier this week }

This week has felt long and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend. I purposely avoided making any plans and can't wait to just relax and see what the days turn into. I did a big grocery shop on Monday and we've cooked wonderful meals at home all week - we had had about two weeks of busy nights and take-out, so it felt good to get back in the kitchen. D booked a reservation at Farmhouse Tavern for a Friday date night, and I've been dying to try it since we moved into the neighborhood, so I'm excited. 

Whatever you're up to this weekend, I hope you enjoy yourselves! xx

P.S.: My Mom is currently in Australia visiting my sister and her boyfriend. I've been getting loads of snapchats and it looks like they have been having the best time. My sister sent this photo of them up for sunrise at Ayers Rock - I love their sleepy eyes :) I have to say I have a little bit of FOMO wishing I was there exploring with them! 

P.S.S: I've been listening to the My Favorite Murder podcast on my drive into work this week. Two girl friends host it and hilariously chat away like they're catching up over a glass of wine. It's light and funny, which seems funny given the subject matter is murder, but super interesting to hear them talk about murder cases. I'd recommend looking it up where ever you listen to podcasts!

ikea holiday catalogue

I'm trying to avoid getting too over zealous for Christmas so early on - which is proving really difficult for me - but the Ikea Holiday Catalogue is not helping anything...  I sheepishly confessed to D last night about my lunch time trip to Home Sense, where I had zero will power and indulged in my first holiday purchase (Christmas towels with the cutest little reindeer and festive napkins and coasters) and now I'm thinking there's some more shopping to be done... uh-oh!

wedding update

We're less then four months away now until wedding day, (later this month, the 100 day countdown will begin - which just seems crazy!) I wanted to share a few updates on recent progress...

Invitations: The design has officially been sent off to the printer! I cannot wait to see how all the elements come together. We're mailing out the invites ourselves, and I'm looking forward to sitting down to stuff envelopes and allowing ourselves to get excited about the idea of having all the people we love in one place. I cannot say enough good things about Lexi at Paper & Poste - she has been a dream to work with and it feels like talking with an old friend over the epic email thread.

Flowers: We're thrilled to be able to work with Jackie O - they're based out of Liberty Village and designed the florals at a friends wedding last year, which were absolutely breath taking. It took a bit of negotiation, but was worth every ounce of effort to arrive at our final decision. We're already on hugging terms with the staff and I truly have every confidence that Todd and his team are going to transform the space into something more beautiful than we could ever dream of.

Band: We are happy to share that Soular will have the dance floor rocking all. night. long. We've heard through the grapevine that they're terrific and they played a family friends wedding and had my Dad dancing on tables - which is always a good sign, right?!
There will be live music playing during the ceremony and throughout cocktails and then the party will continue after dinner! I think my Dad has picked a song for our father daughter dance (which I think is so sweet), but D and I still have a choice to make for our first dance (I think we have it narrowed down to an old favorite though).

My 'look': I recently returned to Sash & Bustle to shop for earrings and left with more then I bargained for. I've found the final piece to complete my bridal look and am bursting with excitement at how everything has come together. I will have some alterations to take care of once everything arrives but I can envision the final look and can't wait for D to see me!
I also found shoes, which was stressing me out slighting, so I'm glad that's resolved!. They are Badgley Mischka with a small kitten heel and girly sparkly details - very 'bridal'.


We've successfully made it through the major decisions and have come to a place where we just have to keep working away at the smaller decisions (minus D's suit - which is just as important as the dress ;). I actually had a dream (read: nightmare) earlier this week about the wedding - all the decor was pink, my hair style had completely fallen out and I showed up without writing my vows! I woke up and was relieved to realize that with all the planning we've already done, and the time we have left to attend to the details, we are sure to avoid the disaster in my nightmare and will be able to pull off a near perfect wedding day!

Left to Do:

- Plan ceremony & write vows (which I expect to be a very emotional exercise) 

- Suits & dresses for the bridal party

- Make favors

my favorite scent

{ No. 5: Spruce }

There are always candles burning at our house. Within twenty minutes of getting home from work, I've usually lit a candle in each room. I love the glowing warmth and soft scents that waft through the apartment.
The P.F Candle Co. makes the loveliest soy candles that burn clean and have wonderful natural aromas. I have burned through many amber jars filled with their Teakwood & Tobacco scent but recently came across Spruce. It is woodsy and comforting and exactly what winter should smell like.

the impending swap

Ok, it's official - Christmas is coming!!! The bucket of Halloween candy was emptied by all the little kiddies tonight and the countdown for my favourite holiday is now on!

I'm always invited to at least one cookie swap every season and do my best to find an interesting recipe that might stand out amongst the gingerbread, shortbread and sugar cookies (not that I have anything against those traditional favorites). I just came across this recipe for white chocolate dipped peanut butter stuffed chocolate cookies... #amiright? The recipe seems a little labor intensive, but I think the final product is worth the extra time. My mouth started watering the minute I came across the recipe!

What are your go-to recipes for the annual cookie swaps? 

(PS. I promise to take a break on the Christmas posts until later in November, I just had to share a little bit of my excitement!)

weekend in wellington

We just got home from our second annual Halloween weekend with Acadia friends in Wellington. We rode bikes around to local Prince Edward County vineyards, feasted on some wonderful meals and danced the night away at the Hayloft Dancehall. We won the costume prize last year with our shark week costume, and attempted to reclaim our title this year with our taxidermy costume (unfortunately I didn't get a great photo of the final look). We lost to a group of girls who dressed up as Cats from the broadway musical, who were very deserved of the title. 

It was nice to get away and spend time with great friends. The brainstorming has already begun for next years costume!

{ Wellington has the most beautiful homes and B&B's }

{ tasted lots of wine at my favorite, Norman Hardie }

{ we brought home a few bottles to enjoy over the winter too! }

{ we had brunch at the local Courage Cafe }

{ turns out rubber masks are very hot and don't have great visibility, 

but we had some good laughs dancing around in them! }

a beautiful gift

I was lucky enough to celebrate my bachelorette with a close group of girlfriends last weekend. We went up to a family friends cottage and I couldn't have dreamed of of a more perfect getaway!! My bridesmaids and a close friend had planned the weekend, and among all the other surprises, surprised me with a beautiful monogrammed leather tote bag.

I had mentioned in passing a few times, about how when I got married, I wanted to get a good quality everyday tote bag with my new initials (I plan on changing my last name to Gray). Well, I'm lucky to have friends who picked up what I was putting down because they chose a beautiful eggplant colored Baggu leather tote, and had K G discreetly monogrammed on the side. D joked that I couldn't use it until we got married, but I haven't been able to resist and have carried it with me everywhere this week. The leather is buttery soft and I can already tell it's going to be a favorite wardrobe staple for a very long time!

happy thanksgiving

{ beautiful view of the six }

Thanksgiving always feels like the official beginning of Fall and I'm loving the sunny, crisp weather we're having here in the city. We're going apple picking tomorrow and have two family feasts to look forward to! We've had fun celebrating the Blue Jays victories this week and although it's been a busy couple of weeks, they've been very fulfilling. 

I hope your weekend is filled with time spent with family and pumpkin pie!

Happy Thanksgiving! xx

{ ps. a beautifully touching article that had me in tears }

{ there's something about new workout gear that provides major motivation }

{ a beautiful marble notebook we will use to recite our wedding vows! }

{ delicious desserts to finish off an amazing meal at Richmond Station }

{ prep for a recent girls night at home }

{ my first hot chocolate of the season, one of my favorite treats }