Sewing Project for the Wedding

I am thinking about making my own napkins or table cloths for the wedding...but I do not have a sewing machine. I actually know very little about sewing machines and want to buy a fairly basic machine that will be good for small projects. I know that some good quality ones can be upward of $600. Clearly I don't have this kind of money...

Anyone have any suggestions on where to get one at a fairly good price? Brand name suggestions would also be greatly appreciated!!!

Honeymooning in Bruce

In the midst of wedding planning we have also managed to plan a wonderful 4-night 5 day honeymoon in the Bruce Peninsula. When I was younger my parents used to rent a cottage in Sauble Beach on Lake Huron nearly every summer. I loved going there. I haven't been in quite a few years though and Ryan has never been. His one criteria for a honeymoon was a beach... mine was staying local and saving money while having a romantic experience. As you can see above. Sauble Beach has one of the top ten sunsets in the world!...truly amazing. I don't even feel bad in the slightest that we will not be going to some far off grand destination for our honeymoon. Ontario can be quite beautiful and it is all about spending time alone with eachother. Best of all... we're supporting Ontario tourism in this economic recession. I love it!

We are staying at bed and breakfasts for the 4 nights. The first two will be spent the closest to Sauble Beach so we can unwind from the wedding and sit on the beach. This B&B is the most private but also has a nice area outside for a nightly fire where guests can mingle (see below!) The other two B&B's will be further up the peninsula and are eco-friendly! The first one is an Edwardian style home (Same as ours - only much much larger) and we'll have a whirlpool tub and our own private balcony. The last B&B we'll stay at is a farm house that serves local and organic food :) For our meals, breakfast will be covered, we'll have a light lunch - maybe some picnics on the beach or wherever we are and then splurge for some fancy dinners. We usually do this sort of thing on all our vacations.. breakfast in the hotel..pack a lunch and have a very nice dinner. It will definitely be nice just the two of us.

So far our list of activities includes:

- Sunbathing on Sauble Beach

- Golfing

- Hiking the Bruce Trail (we plan on seeing the grotto). Likely we'll do outdoor activities every morning. We usually do when we vacation.

- Touring various historical light houses

- Taking a boat out to see the shipwrecks off Tobermory

- Visiting the Southampton Market

- Going to a drive-in movie (something we always used to do before Brendan)

- Buying some local artwork - a tradition my parents used to do on their anniversaries from Niagara-on-the-Lake or various places they travelled. This is something I'd really love to do with Ryan.

- Finding a live band to enjoy

SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME!

Big Wedding Update

The wedding is in a little over a month and I haven't posted any updates lately.

Firstly, we have been getting many compliments on our homemade invites. Ryan and I spent two whole days crafting them and then several weeks gathering up the addresses, writing personal messages for some and addressing the envelopes. We ended up paying probably the same as a basic wedding invitation made. I can definitely see why most brides leave this to stationers. Never the less... we were quite happy with them too.


Ryan wrapped the ribbon on them so that they looked like little gifts.

Other exciting news.. we got a trial version of our cake in time for Canada Day. For those of you that remember, I was planning on making my own cake but those plans went out the window when I got a job. A collegue of my mom's who just happened to take the same decorating courses as I did is planning on starting up a business on the side and is going to give us a great deal on the cake. Here is the mini version! (chocolate inside - Ryan's request - and thinly rolled fondant on the outside because some people don't like the taste/texture of it but I like the look)



We have picked out the music for the ceremony and I'm quite happy with it. The procession will be the same song that my parents used at their wedding which is meaningful. Also, we asked my grandfather to do one of the readings which he happily agreed to do and then mentioned that he had been hoping to maybe sing a solo at one of his grandchildren's weddings and we happily agreed to having him do so :)

On the attire front, I bought a pair of shoes! My mother wasn't too thrilled they do not have a high heel but really I just wanted something where my feet wouldn't kill me by the end of the night AND most importantly something I could wear again. I have been dying to wear them to several outings this summer but refrained from doing so because it just wouldn't be right. This is a good sign that I will indeed wear them again.


And now, off to sort out Ryan and Brendan's outfits for the big day!

Happy Canada Day!

Oh Canada!!!

From this half of the year on, I plan on blogging way more. I have been so busy with work I have little time for much else. This is part of the reason why I posted this beautiful picture of dawn in the country taken just 20 mins north of Oshawa at 6am one morning while I was driving Ryan to work at a site nearby. I have decided that unless I get the super awesome contract job I have just applied for, isn't worth it to work full-time, away from Brendan and with little time to garden, bake, blog etc. which I really enjoy. 

Latest developments with Brendan:

- Running around behind a walker is his favourite activity. Close seconds are swimming in his kiddie pool, playing in his sandbox (a birthday gift from Ryan's sister) and climbing stairs or anything else he can climb

- His vocabulary consists of - Mama, Dada, Baba (bottle), Car, and Nana (for Banana). He has been trying to repeat many words we say to him.

- He has become the biggest fan of his daddy and sometimes wants nothing to do with his mama!. See evidence below!

Limbo....

I cannot lie.. I am missing being a stay at home mom a lot. As I mentioned in my last post, I gave up cake decorating twice a week to spend time with Brendan since we only get 2 hours/day to see eachother. On the other hand...I also enjoy working and spending my days with adults having adult conversations. The two jobs I interviewed for which both sounded really promising didn't come through. For both I was the second place candidate. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I've been reading through many many job boards and sending out resumes with not a lot of luck. My contract at my current job is up at the end of this month so hopefully something good will come along before then. But I really don't know...

The wedding is fast approaching. We got our quote for the alcohol from my brother (he owns a bartending company) which isn't nearly as expensive as we had budgeted for AND Ryan's parents have offered to pay for the alcohol which is pretty nice of them. So far we are on budget. I am hoping to get a nearly complete budget posted soon. I'm getting a little stressed out from all the planning and I think I will be really happy once the wedding is over and I can relax.

For now I leave you with some photos of what we've been up to lately:

Working Gal

I feel as though I have been absent for a little while in the blogging world. This week was my first week in a summer job with an organization I've worked for in the past and was it ever exhausting! Unfortunately, my new position involves an hour commute to work. Luckily I am against traffic both ways which is nice and it is somewhat relaxing to have that time to myself to gather my thoughts and clear my head. Although I do not love my job in this department as I did the previous department I worked in the summer before Brendan was born, I am happy to be back in the same organization, greatful for the experience in my field and have been applying for some year-long contract positions within the building. Last week I had two interviews (my boss has been more than accomodating giving me time off work in the first week to interview for other positions). Both interviews went well and sound fairly promising but competition is fierce and in this economy I really consider myself lucky to have even secured a summer position. So many of the people I know are without work right now or as young professionals entering into the workforce do not have much experience in their field and therefore cannot find any employment in the field in which they had hoped to work.

As far as smooth transitioning, this week did not go as I had hoped. I found when I got home from work I was so exhausted that on the two nights where I usually have cake decorating, I couldn't get organized enough to make it to the class and all I really wanted to do was spend the 2 hours I could with Brendan after not seeing him all day. Note daily schedule below...

6am - Wake-up --> frantically get dressed, wash face, put make-up on, make the bed
6:30am - Brendan wakes up/gets dressed/eats breakfast
6:50am - Load up the car and drop Brendan off with my sister
7:05am - Leave for work/eat breakfast on the road
8:30am - Start work
4:45pm - Leave work
6pm - Arrive home exhausted
8pm - Brendan's bedtime
9pm - Ryan's bedtime (I usually spend that hour with him)
9-10pm- Get everyone ready and packed for the next day/shower/clean up

On Wednesday, our daycare provider gave us 2 weeks notice, saying that Brendan wasn't happy there because he couldn't interact very well with the other kids as he isn't walking or talking a lot and the other kids range from 2-5. Consequently he was proving to be a lot of work for her and she would prefer to watch only older kids.. so that SUCKED. But obviously I want the best for my son and for him to be in an environment where he is happy. Luckily my sister is not working and she said she would watch him for as long as we needed and Brendan is quite happy there. I think this will work out better for us anyway.

To top it all off.. I was sick as a dog from Mon-Thurs and now Ryan has gotten sick. We're spending our long weekend recovering. We also had a nice visit with my brother and his girlfriend last night.

Hopefully next week will be better.. much better if I get good news from one of the positions I am hoping to get!

Brendan's Birthday Festivities

So I didn't make the cake after all!

We have been fighting off some sickness.. high fevers and coughs = not too much fun 'round these parts lately.

Last Sunday we celebrated the little man's birthday by hosting a BBQ for close friends and family. The little guy loved his gifts. Brendan enjoyed a homemade Turkey burger and a slice of store bought, sugar-loaded vanilla cake. I was really planning on making him a carrot cake for his birthday but Ryan and I were at a marriage preparation class all weekend (a requirement from the church in order to be married) and so my sister convinced me to let her buy him a cake from the store. The marriage prep course was not religious in the slightest and both Ryan and I walked away from it feeling that it was incredibly worthwhile and helped us to talk about things that we hadn't yet talked about after 4 years of being together, living together, and looking after a baby and toy yorkie (that needs almost as much attention as the baby). I think that it has strengthened our relationship and opened our eyes to areas of improvement and healthy conflict management. Also noteworthy...Ryan has done a significantly larger share of the household tasks since attending this course!!

I am knee-deep in job search/interviews/small contract work offerings. I should have more to say on this after next week.

On the plant front, I need to plant some more tomato seedlings. I don't know what happened but I am left with one little tomato plant. Lately my plants have been basking in the nice weather and sun on our front porch. I even leave some of the larger ones outside overnight now.