Summer Jar

This is what my summer looks like. A little jar of colour, that I’m not allowed to open until May 1st. It’s like Pandora’s Box, I’m telling you!

I pinned a date night jar a few weeks back, but I thought it’d work well for summer plans. I realize that it’s not likely for us to be at much of a loss for things to do during the summer, because there’s always something happening that’s fun. I still kind of like the idea of emptying the whole jar before September 1st!

My best friend and I sat in my bed, scrolling through our brains and online summer activity lists to come up with all the most fun things we could think of. I scrawled them all onto multicoloured slips of paper with a black sharpie, and she folded them in quarters and put them in the jar. Teamwork!

We used a little colour-coding system (because I’m more of a nerd than you know) to keep track of which activities take more planning (ex. camping) and which take less (ex. making sangria). We ended up with:

  • Red = we can do it today! (ex. swing on swingsets)
  • Pink = we can do this in a day or two! (ex. throw a dinner party)
  • Orange = we just need to plan a little, but we can probably do it this weekend! (ex. go camping)

Like I said, I doubt we’ll ever be at a loss for what to do, and I’m sure a lot of activities listed in the jar will be ticked off without even having to look at the slip of paper – they’ll just happen naturally. But just in case we do need inspiration, my little colourful jar of summer will be there to offer it.

This is an amazing thing to do on a study break, because it makes you so optimistic about your life post-exams!

Happy studying, my loves. It’s almost summer!

Lemon Meringue Pie

My father came to visit last week. And since I haven’t been posting anything of consequence, I would like to take this opportunity to blame my blog’s dry spell on my Dad. You see, had I not been touring contemporary art museums, imbibing tequila shots (yes, with my father), and generally being the best tour guide known to man, I would probably have been sitting alone in my apartment, writing useful content.

Instead, all I have to show for my lack of posting is this pie. This lemon meringue pie, which tastes of love and summer, that I specifically prepared for the arrival of my father and the remains of which have been heartily consumed by my boyfriend since the departure of said father. People, I whipped this meringue by hand. With a whisk. That’s love. Don’t tell me it’s not until you’ve reached minute forty-five of meringue whipping. It should probably be noted that I don’t own any manner of electric beaters, but that makes no difference. By hand! By hand!

You should make a pie for someone that you love. People love pie. People love the fact that you baked them something. People love you. (Are my daddy issues showing? Just kidding. Kind of.) Either way, here’s what happened.

Continue reading

Summer Scenes

  1. The most incredible lunch, at Jean Talon market
  2. Favourite delivery food, eaten curbside with M
  3. Soul Rebels Brass Band at the Montreal International Jazz Festival
  4. A flypass in honour of the Royals visiting Ottawa
  5. My little housewarming party, complete with fruit-filled sparkling sangria and wonderful friends
  6. Battling live lobster
  7. Pints of cider at the perfect window seat, on Canada Day
  8. The fireworks display from Major’s Hill
  9. Remnants of outstanding nachos
  10. An espresso at one of many Starbucks runs

Life has lately been a blur of picture-perfect scenes, not all of which I’ve been able to capture on film. Between work, moving into a new apartment, running errands and spending time with friends, my blog (as well as various other beloved hobbies) appears to have fallen by the wayside. I am experiencing severe blog guilt, but can’t seem to find an hour to just sit down and write. I hope you’ll accept my photo journal as a suitable replacement – at least until I get my act back together.

You might be happy to note that I’ve been ticking things off my summer bucket list, which, to me at least, indicates that I’m actually out there living, instead of just sitting around writing about it. Does that count for something?

This is the best summer of my life, by far. I hope that yours is equally wonderful.

What memories have you made these last few months?

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie!

Oh hot damn, this is my jam. It’s got me partying til the A.M. Y’all don’t understand! It’ll make you throw your hands in the ayer, ay-ay-ay-ayer.

You know what’s awesome? What’s awesome is when you walk into the grocery store and are literally barraged by the scent of fresh, local, intoxicating produce. Like, for example, these beautiful Quebec strawberries: they were begging me to take them home. And although they weren’t big fat GMOs with all that swagger, they were cute, humble, far-more-flavourful nuggets of juice that took my breath away. I lopped off the tops and have been using them to trap my fruit flies ever since. Amen.

Continue reading