Beating the Winter Blues

If there is one nice thing about winter, its taking a little walk after a snowstorm and seeing all the freshly fallen snow. I took Whiskey to the park yesterday and it was blindingly white, but also incredibly quiet and serene.

In the summer, this place is packed with people picnicking all day, but right now its quiet and empty. The only evidence of anyone coming through here is the tracks that go from the sidewalks over to the little hill that kids like to toboggan down.

All this grey and white winter weather can also make it easy to get a little down. While picking up groceries, I grabbed a $10 bouquet of flowers to add some colour to the apartment. Its amazing what a pick-me-up fresh flowers can be. Even Whiskey likes to stick his nose in and smell them.

I'm hoping to keep this tradition up for the next few months until the flowers in the garden are ready for clipping. Spending $5-10 a month on a small bouquet or a little houseplant isn't much, but its worth it to come home to it every day.

What do you do to help beat the winter blues?

Hibernation

Every morning I try to remember to make my bed so that it is nice and neat for when I get home. But sometimes I have a problem getting out all of the "lumps".

See this little bump?

No matter how I move it around, I can't seem to get it out of the bed. After some poking, prodding and the promise of "treats", the "lump" finally emerged....

It was none other than my super lazy pup, Whiskey. It gets harder and harder to get him out of bed in the winter.

For a dog that spends his whole day sleeping at the office, you would think he wouldn't have so much trouble getting up in the morning.

Look at that "bedhead". He usually has perky ears, but you can always tell when he has been sleeping under covers when you see these floppy little things.

I can guarantee you that the second that I walk out of the room, he'll be back under the covers. Wish I could join him!

Warm on the Inside and Cold on the Outside

This past weekend I was back in my hometown for the wedding, I took the time to enjoy the beautiful winter white of the country.

Despite the bitter cold weather, I bundled up to go walk around the property and see the freshly fallen snow…..which was up to my knees! Talk about a workout!

I had two friends who were more than eager to join in for a walk. I love how even on his hind legs, Whiskey isn’t as tall as Shadow. Poor guy just can’t compete.

Shadow loves the freedom of running around in the yard, bounding through the snow.

Considering how bad her life was when she was much younger, its nice to know that she lives such a happy one now. Full of lots of running, lots of snuggles and lots of cheese!

Whiskey is more content to follow around in my footsteps and avoid the snow at all costs. If he'd be more willing to wear his boots my grandmother gave him, I'm sure he'd be happier.

Walking through the property, I came across a tiny little tree that was just trying to make it through this winter.

With plenty of love and care, hopefully he'll be a big strong guy one day.

Walking down to the river, I saw the canoe covered in snow and longed for lazy summer days on the water.

Now our little river is covered by a thick layer of ice and a ton of snow. My brother and I have cleared off the ice a couple of times to make a rink, but by the time we get it all cleared off, we’re too wiped to actually lace up our skates. Hopefully there will be less snow and I'll have more energy when I get home next time.

As I walked, it was incredibly quiet and calm. I’d sometimes hear the occasional bird singing a song, or a distant snowmobiling making its way along the river. It’s a fresh change from the hustle and bustle of the city that I am used to these days. Its this calmness that makes me love winter in the country so much.

A Winter Wedding

It may have been a cold outside over the weekend, but inside there was a party heating up for my friends’ Sadie and Trevor.  On a crisp January afternoon, these two lovely people became man and wife! Its still so crazy to say it out loud.

The wedding was beautifully decorated, and I'll get to more on that further down in the post, but first I want to share some photos from the ceremony.

The ceremony was held at a big church, with a packed crowd, eager to see these two lovebirds tie the knot. When the bride arrived everyone was beaming. She looked so pretty and incredibly happy.

I love this photo, because this is the exact moment that she saw all of us in the pews. It captures all the happiness that just seemed to be bubbling over her.

The reception was held at a nearby banquet hall, gorgeously decorated in lovely blues and white, with delicate snowflakes everywhere. The head table was gorgeous with fluffy tulle with little lights under it, looking like freshly fallen snow.

From afar, this crystal garland and lights looked incredibly enchanting in amongst the tulle "snow".

The cake was done by the groom’s extremely talented cousin, Sam. This lovely lady is the same mastermind behind Amy’s gorgeous birthday cake.

These cakes almost look too good to eat, but when I know that they are peanut and nut-free, its hard for me to resist! I did end up having a piece of the grooms cake (made to look like a baseball diamond, complete with the wedding party on all the bases). It was just as delicious as it looked :)

The centerpieces at each table were large frosted hurricanes with snowflake designs, with smaller tealights nestled in amongst fake snow. Seeing the whole room lit by candles really added to the romantic feel of the night.

At each place setting there was a take out boxes, decorated with navy and silver ribbons. Guests were encouraged to go to a candy bar to fill up on goodies.

Sadie was incredibly sweet and filled mine up with plenty of peanut-free goodies, including these Cookies-n-Cream Hershey Kisses. These are so unbelievably good. I was addicted by the end of the night.

I went as my friend Amy's date for the evening and we had a blast talking and dancing the whole night.

The great thing about weddings, is that you get to catch up with friends that you don't get to see very often.

My good friend Ashley and her husband Adam made it to the wedding too. This little lady is a powerhouse. She is eight months pregnant, but she still managed to get up super early that morning, do all the wedding party's hair beautifully and make it through the evening. I hope that she went home and got to bed early that night because she sure deserved the rest! I still can't believe that in only a short six weeks we'll be adding her little bundle of joy to the gang. I can't wait to meet him!

Before we knew it, cocktail hour was up and the wedding party arrived.  Dressed in beautiful scarves, they made their grand entrance.

Sadie had on a beautiful white faux fur shawl with a big satin bow in the front.

A great way to look fabulous and warm on a cold winter night!

They had a beautiful first dance that got everyone a little misty.

The wedding party enjoyed their dinner up at the head table, where everyone could see the glowing couple.

At the beginning of the speeches, the groom father warned all the ladies in the room that his cousin was a bit of a handful and that we should watch out. Sure enough he made a beeline for Amy.

But in true Amy fashion, she had a comeback for everything that he said.

As soon as the food was served, it didn't take long for everyone to be on the dance floor.

It doesn't seem to be a wedding unless some of the classic dancing songs are played, including Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Jump On It". Gotta love a throwback to Will Smith's days on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Every chance we got we were out on the dance floor, celebrating with the happy couple. This photo really cracks me up, and it sums up how Amy and I just totally get into our dance moves.

The little flower girls loved spending the whole night twirling their full dresses around and around.

They must have felt like little princesses. So cute.

What can I say? We like to dance...alot.

You have to admit, this is one hot mama! I swear that the kid is going to come out dancing already.

As the night started to come to an end, everyone started filling their little takeout boxes with delicious candy goodies.

Here is Amy demonstrating an excellent pour of Almond Joy bites. I loved how most of the candy was in the theme of the colours, including homemade biscotti and chocolates.

It was time to cut the cake, and everyone gathered to cheer them on.

Thankfully there was no cake smushing going on here, just nice bites. I never really got the whole smashing cake in each other's face thing.

The ladies with the beautiful bride. I'm so happy for her and how wonderful her wedding day was.

Of course we had to show the handsome groom some attention too and admire his new ring.

It was a great evening spent with wonderful friends, celebrating the love of two amazing people. It may have been cold outside, but there was plenty of warm love inside. Who knew that a winter wedding could be so great!

For family and friends, if you'd like to see more pictures from the wedding, click here.