Favourite Fridays

This weeks Favourite Friday topic is Favourite reality competition show.

This one is pretty easy, I LOVE "So You Think You Can Dance." I danced for most of my childhood (roughly from about age 3 to 15..ish). I quit for school, the workload and classes were becoming a bit much, and I was entering highschool, so my friends were becoming my first priority (that and boys). I have to admit, quitting is probably one of my biggest regrets. I loved dancing. Its such a beautiful way to express yourself (not to mention a great way to stay in shape. So I love watching "So You Think You Can Dance" to see both talented, amazing dancers (that stuck with it) express themselves, as well as watching the choreographers who give them such amazing pieces to work with.

I'm pretty much a reality T.V junky. I watch them all, American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, Canadian Idol (of course) and so one. Although this season of American Idol has left me disappointed, so I've stopped watching.

And I will leave you with two things: Moments like make my life:

And a K quote of the Day: "Auntie, One day, when B is your age, she is going to get married like you. But I'm going to get married first. Because one day, I'm going to meet a boy and he's going to want to marry me........
........And then we're going to have to kiss......

She's 5! Where does she come up with these things?

A mid-week weekend update (and more!)

I've been majorly slacking lately. Between V's wedding, and some other news that I will talk about later, blogging has ended up being the last thing on my list of priorities.

So we are T-Minus 3 days until the big day, and life is crazy. We had her bachelorette this past Friday, and thankfully (after all of the planning) it went really well. Before I give the update, I have to give a big shout out to both the fiance and the bestest, who without either, this night would not have happened. The party kind of got dumped on my shoulders by the other two bridal party members, but its good to know that the important people in your life will step forward when need be.

Anyways, we started the night at CJ's, which is a small, family owned restaurant that none of us had ever heard of before. C has been there before and informed us that the service and food was really good and, like always, he didn't disappoint. Not only was the food REALLY good (best home fires I have ever tasted, hands down) it was pretty cheap. I love good, inexpensive food.

At dinner we gave V the game that she would be playing at Blue Suede Sues (the club) later on the night. The bestest and I spent hours searching the internet for a list of things for the bride to do throughout the night. Some of her "tasks" included "get a kiss on the cheek from a stranger" or "find someone with the same name as the fiance and have him propose to you. I recommend this game to anyone that is planning a bachelorette party at a club. It is hilarious, provides endless photo opportunities and gives the bride countless chance to attract attention to herself.

We also gave V this shirt at the restaurant. This was also a really fun idea. We put on her check list that she had to find 50 people to sign the shirt. At the top it says "Advice for the Bride." I don't think that we actually managed to get 50 people, but it was definitely amusing reading what drunk people in a bar will give a bride as wedding advise.

So overall we had a really good night, and I am relieved that it is over, and that everyone had a good time. One last photo of all the girls in front of our transportation for the night.





On top of all of this craziness, I had my final dress fitting last night (nothing major, I think we are taking less than half a centimeter off of the bottom) and while I was there, I got to see V in her wedding dress. I don't have pictures (and if I did, I wouldn't post them yet (isn't that bad luck or something) but I can not wait to post them after this weekend. She looks stunning, and definitely picked the perfect dress for herself. We have the rehearsal tomorrow (plus mani/pedi's!) and the weather is looking much better (22 and cloudy....yes I still check pretty much daily) so hold you breath and wish us luck.

On to my new news! I have decided that I'm spending three full days a week this summer watching my two nieces. K is 5, spontaneous, a little too smart for her own good, funny and independent, while B is 19 months, more reserved, quiet, and the ultimate "baby" o f our family (she is currently sitting on my lap, trying to type while I type this. These two are my life. They provide me with so much entertainment, stories and joy. This could mean one of two things for this blog. 1) that I have more time to blog, and it begins to become overwhelmed with stories, quotes and pictures (maybe) of these two or 2) they make me so exhausted and worn out that you will not hear from me again until September when school starts again (I promise at least one more blog with updates from the wedding).

So....Stay tuned!

A Rant....

I'm currently reading Chosen, by P.C and Kristen Cast.

This is the third book in the series, and I have to admit.....they are driving me nuts. I didn't really like the first book, I found it slow, but it picked up enough at the end for me to continue on. Now that I'm at the third, I'm not anymore impressed.

The first half of all of the books are exactly the same. She gives the same backing information, explains the same characters and the same situations the they have been "struggling" through for the last three books. They are telling me the same crap, that I ALREADY KNOW. It's like they are assuming that some new follower is going to pick up the series and start reading it from the third book. No reader (avid or not) will do that. I honestly feel like just flipping to the halfway point in the book and starting there, at least at that point they get moderately interesting.

To top this all off, Zoey, the main character is also successfully driving me nuts. I just passed a point where she was whining (again) that her life sucked and she was so stressed. This was brought on by the fact that she has 3 (yes 3!) boyfriends that she can't seem to keep her hands off of. Now granted, I realize that these books are written for an audience of people that basically have the mental capacity of a 12 year old, but really, 3 boyfriends is the reason for a mental breakdown, give me a break (is this really the best message for a 12 year old anyway). P.C and Kristin Cast should introduce REAL stress into the characters lives, like bills, and work, and future plans and real life in general. But no, they choose to give us characters that live cushy, pleasant lives, in a pretty school, who are well fed, and spend their days making out with not one - but 3 - "hot" guys and determine that this makes their lives suck.

I am going to finish this book, because I don't believe in giving up. But I also don't believe in not finishing a series of books, but yet I'm not seeing book four in my near future.

P.S - If anyone really likes these books, I apologize. I'm not having a good day (could you tell??) and this book is really, seriously irritating me.

The Dress

So the dresses for V's wedding have finally arrived.



What do you think?

I Just Finished Reading

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audry Niffenegger.

Audrey Niffenegger returns with Her Fearful Symmetry, a haunting tale about the complications of love, identity, and sibling rivalry. The novel opens with the death of Elspeth Noblin, who bequeaths her London flat and its contents to the twin daughters of her estranged twin sister back in Chicago. These 20-year-old dilettantes, Julie and Valentina, move to London, eager to try on a new experience like one of their obsessively matched outfits. Historic Highgate Cemetery, which borders Elspeth's home, serves as an inspired setting as the twins become entwined in the lives of their neighbors: Elspeth's former lover, Robert; Martin, an agoraphobic crossword-puzzle creator; and the ethereal Elspeth herself, struggling to adjust to the afterlife. Niffenegger brings these quirky, troubled characters to marvelous life, but readers may need their own supernatural suspension of disbelief as the story winds to its twisty conclusion. --Brad Thomas Parsons

I loved The Time Traveler's Wife, and was really excited to read this one. Audry Niffenegger just seems to come up with such original ideas that are so out there that you literally have to keep reading because your are dying to know what happens. That was how I read The Time Travelers Wife, and Her Fearful Symmetry was no exception.

I have to say I really liked this one as well. The story is original and different, with a slight hint of a love story, as well as unexpected supernatural elements, and deep, dark twin secrets. It kept me interested and I read it in a little over a week (a good sign for any book). I found that I had a hard time putting it down and that I was always wondering what was going to happen next.

This being said, I found the ending a bit weak. I won't give it away, but I found it very unexpected, and was left with a few questions, something I don't like when finishing a book.

In any case, I am officially announcing myself as an Audrey Niffenegger fan and cannot wait to see what she comes up with next.

On a different note, I have been obsessed with checking the 14 day forecast for V's wedding. As of about an hour ago, they were calling for rain from the 25th to the 30th....and the ceremony is scheduled to be outside.....I'm a little worried....

I also picked up my dress today! I will be putting it on tonight for C and my mom, so I will take pictures and update everyone then.

Hope everyone is having an excellent week!

The Weekend

I had this weekend off of work (yay!) because for Christmas, my mommy got herself, my sister and I tickets to see Grease at the cannon theater downtown.

I LOVE Grease. It's probably my all time favourite movie. I've watched a million times, and could probably recite the entire thing for you from beginning to end. So when I heard that the play was coming so close to home there was no question that I had to go. And I'm glad I did.

The production we saw featured Taylor Hicks from American Idol as the Angel.

He was the headliner of the night, and seemed to be promoted more than either of the actors that played Sandy or Danny.

The play was awesome. I recommend it to any Grease fan. Some of the songs were in a different order than than the movie, but in the end they were all there and no major changed were made to the story. Definitely well worth the time.

Afterwords we headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. I have probably mentioned this before, but this is my favourite restaurant, hands down. We don't go very often because it isn't exactly close to us, but when we do I am always satisfied. The food is phenomenal, the service is excellent, and the atmosphere is beautiful. I know many of my followers are from the states, but if any of you have future plans to visit Toronto area at some point, I would definitely suggest making time to stop here. You won't regret it.

As for today, I'm classifying it as a lazy day. With V's wedding only 13 days away (!), C and I have a very busy two weeks ahead of us. I have to pick up my dress and shoes on Tuesday, a hair appointment plus, the bachelor/bachelorette on Friday, mani/pedi's plus the rehearsal dinner on Thursday, and of course the big day on the 1st of May. So today we are simply lazing around at C's, watching TV, I'm reading my book and mentally preparing for the craziness ahead.

I think you should all expect many blog posts relating to all of this pre-wedding stress that is sure to arise throughout the next 13 days.

Until then!

Favourite Friday: Guilty Pleasure Snack

So it's favourite Friday again

This weeks topic is guilty pleasure snack.

I'm going to go with Chocolate. Not a specific type of chocolate either, I'm pretty much good with anything. A few favourites that could top the list would be chocolate covered almonds, turtles (at christmas), Aero, twix, kit kat. Yeah I could go on.

Basically to make a long list short, you will make a friend if you bring me chocolate :)

I ♥

....manicures....

.....especially those done in my wedding colours.


It hard to see here (they look kinda blueish) but they are actually dark purple, and there is silver in the design.

Motivation

As I mentioned here, last Friday a very good friend of ours (as well as the talented photographer that did our engagement pictures) wanted us to travel to her school so she could take studio style portraits of us for her final assignment. Being that we were SO pleased with our engagement shoot, and we are willing to do anything to help out said friend (and I'm not going to lie, more free pictures were involved....I like pictures...I can't help it) we readily agreed.

...and I'm not impressed.

It's in no way T's fault. I knew as soon as she said "studio shoot on a white background" that we were going to have issues. I am the palest, whitest girl that you will possibly ever meet, so me on a white background just has horrible written all over it. Despite this, I decided to still go for it, frantically called the bestest and stole two of her gray sweaters, so that I could still dress semi nice without wearing black or white. It didn't help.

To top all of this off, looking at the teasers that she has posted on faceboook, I look huge. Like a good 10 -15 pounds bigger than I thought I looked. This has set off an official "Leanne is now going to go obsessively crazy about her weight fad." C, being the sweetheart that he is, is trying to convince me that the camera lens makes me look wider, and that it also adds 10 pounds. I'm not buying it. He doesn't look 10 pounds heavier in any of his pictures. Still, he's cute for trying.

Either way I'm looking at all of this as a positive. I hate to exercise. I find it painful and tedious and a whole long list of non fun points. On the other hand, I am also diabetic, and exercise is a very important part of staying healthy for everyone, but especially for me. So if these pictures can motivate me to eat better, and exercise regularly that I'm looking at it as a good thing. I have been doing well (it's only the third day, but that is completely besides the point. I'm also using this post as further motivation. I feel if I am telling a whole bunch of people that I'm committing to a healthier lifestyle then I have to go through with it.

Wish me luck

Oh, and I'm not posting any of the above mentioned pictures. I think enough of the facebook world has already seen them. Maybe I will use them as a before and after thing if I actually manage to loss some weight.

Favourite Friday!

Jen over at A Girl in Pearls hosts a weekly feature title favourite Fridays. This week's topic id Favourite Dramatic Novel.

This one is easy. It would have to be The Time Travelers Wife by Audry Niffenegger. Everyone was telling me how good this book was, so I got it to find out what all of the hype was about. I literally read it in two days. I couldn't put it down. It was such a new and interesting idea, and her writing kept you wanting to find out more.

I also saw the movie, and while I would recommend reading the book before you see the movie, it was still good. The book was just better!

A New Obsession

Miss Mojito, at With this ring, I thee blog, one of my favourite blogs (and someone who is getting married in just over a week!) posted about this yesterday, and my life has been revolving around it since.

Wedding Chicks, is offering on their website free custom monograms. C and I were actually just talking about this and what we wanted to do for it, so when I saw this, I will have to admit, I immediately went over there and played for at least an hour. It's so fun, and super easy. You literally just pick a template, fill in the names, choose you colours, give your e-mail address and they send it to you within minutes. The templates they have currently are limited, but I'm hoping they add more. Here are two that I did last night while fooling around.



They also offer similar designs, with the message "will you be my bridesmaid/maid/matron of honour." I really wish I had seen something like this a year ago. One of my biggest regrets is not asking my matron of honour/bridesmaids in a more creative way. I was so overwhelmingly excited when C finally proposed that I pretty much just came home and asked everyone where they were standing withing the first week. Granted, pretty much all of my bridesmaids knew they were bridesmaid long before C proposed, I still wish I had done something fun to ask them, and included some kind of keepsake that they could keep.

But whats done is done.

If your looking into doing something like this, you should check this out.

Even if your not, go and take a peak, it seriously provides hours of entertainment!

Progress

I went on a bit of a break, but I'm back

This week has been a bit crazy, between exams, final assignments and school coming to a close, but I am now officially done, and hopefully that means more time for blogging.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. We traveled to the cottage on Saturday, to have a fun filled day of Easter egg hunting and games with the kiddie's (My two beautiful Nieces, not sure if I have mentioned them yet.) It was a good trip, but it is definitely exhausting. Driving three hours, each way, in one day is hard. Next year we are going to need to consider staying until Sunday to break it up a little bit.

Other than that I have been pretty busy with wedding stuff. For some reason finally booking the venue has made me go on a huge wedding kick. I have most of the paperwork for the venue filled out, and have an appointment with them on Sunday to go over some little details that I would like to have ironed out. We have contacted the church and are trying to set up an appointment to come in and put our deposit down on that and I have contacted my cousin to see if she is willing to do our flowers for the day. Oh and I finally got a start on our wedding website, and posted it, and am now sitting back and enjoying all the people that sign our guest book. I have definitely had a productive week, wedding wise.

On top of all of this, V's wedding is rapidly approaching (24 days!) and we still do not have bridesmaids dresses. They are (of course) late. She is surprisingly calm, I'm the one that is freaking out.

We are going crazy planning the bachelorette party. V is the first one of our friends to get married, so we have never done this before and are kind of at a loss. The job has basically been passed off to me (as if I don't have enough to do!), and with the help of the bestest, I have managed to nail down times and locations, as well as some games to keep us occupied through the night. I must say without google, this party probably would have turned into a total mess.

I have a couple more weeks of planning left, so do any of you have any suggestions that you have seen or done at a bachelorette, that you liked?

This week brings another trip to Oakview (these people are going to hate me by the end of these two years) and the wonderfully talented T who took our pre-engagement pictures found here, asked us to model for her again, for one of her final assignments for school. So this Friday we are off to Humber college for a full studio shoot. I', very excited and I can't wait to show you all the final results.

And because I like posts with pictures, I will leave you with yet another one of my beautiful venue (♥)