THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - August Edition
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
Okay, this is really late. I've been way too preoccupied with all sorts of happenings.
I hope that everyone is doing great, feelin' fine and loving summer!! I feel like this has been (so far) the most "summery" summer that I've had in a very long time. I think that I even have a tan. It's weird.
Melanie came to visit at the beginning of the month from Toronto along with Jessica, another girl that we had gone to school with in Toronto. We all had a TON of fun together!! It's so amazing and nice to be able to get back in touch with my Toronto roots and to be more a part of it all again. You can never change where you come from, and I would never want to.
We also had Andrew and Sarah come to stay with us, the newlyweds, on their way to and from their Maritimes honeymoon. I love how many people have been coming by for visits so far! We love showing people around this town. ;)
We went to the Just for Laughs comedy festival, and it was super cool. This is clearly where the city is investing their efforts, unlike the Fringe. The whole Just for Laughs grounds downtown were super crazy and fun. We saw Aziz Ansari perform and his show was hilariously good!!
We went to the Golem cottage in Muskoka for a weekend and it was my first time going in the actual summer. It was super lovely. The lake was gorgeous and we spent most of our time lazing on the dock, swimming in the lake, canoeing, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding, and hanging out with everyone. There are 10 of us, and I'm very much not used to such a big family, but I enjoy all of them a lot. SPEAKING OF WHICH, we got some extremely exciting news!!! My sister-in-law Angela is expecting a BABY!!! I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!! She's only about 5-6 weeks along, so it's still being kept on the down-low and isn't "public" knowledge yet. This is especially big news because at this point there isn't a single child AT ALL on either side of Tim or my immediate families. In fact, there are no children in my entire extended family either. So this is really going to change things! It's starting!
I had mentioned that I was super excited to try stand-up paddleboard yoga while in Muskoka and awesome newly-pregnant Angela came and did it with me! It was such a cool experience. It was a lot more difficult then I'd imagined, and very challenging to keep balance! But neither of us fell in (other people in the class did) so we felt pretty proud about that. ;)
The next day at our own lake I tried some more yoga poses on my own time on our own paddleboards. It was easier to go rogue without an instructor watching! I really, really, really love stand-up paddleboarding in general, to the point where I would really love to own my very own board!
We then flew off to Regina. It was a pretty short trip (and Tim left earlier than I did) but it was still so nice to be with my family and Regina friends. Most importantly, we attended Nadine and Kyle's wedding and it was wonderful and super emotional!!! Nadine deserved to have the most special day and I'm so glad that she got to have it. She looked gorgeous!!! I loved the whole blingy style of the wedding so much! She did such a great job!
Of course Carrie and Sarah and I also took a yoga class together like a bunch of champions as well. ;)
Back in Montreal we went to a book signing + conversation with graphic novelist Bryan Lee O'Malley. This was especially cool because we are obsessed with his books, namely the Scott Pilgrim series. Lots of things in me and Tim's life and relationship have had a lot to do with the books. For example, our cat Ramona is named after one of the characters. One of the tables at our wedding reception was called "Scott Pilgrim." The list goes on. Anyway, it was super neat to meet him in person.
You guys might be interested in these, if you haven't already seen them! I posted THIS POST: A tour of our Montreal home! It also shows before and after photos from the previous owner. Everyone come and visit!! Also, THIS POST is a pretty neat project that I started working on when I visited Edmonton in April. Everyone should try it - I would LOOOOOVE to see that! :D
August! August things!!
Well there was the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival. It was amazing. I'll blog photos about it next month, but we LOVED it. The festival is held on an island and the whole thing was laid out and organized really well. Plus we saw so many bands that we really enjoy! Bleachers (they were my favourite), The Mowgli's, Childish Gambino, Foster the People, Band of Horses, Kevin Drew, Local Natives, Phantogram, HAIM, Modest Mouse, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Jack White, Vance Joy, CHVRCHES, The Temper Trap, The Replacements, and Lorde. There was a lot of bang for our buck.
Rachelle is coming for her SECOND Montreal visit from Edmonton!!! She's wonderful. We're going to do all of the things that we didn't get to do when she was here in April/May. But most importantly, there may or may not be a Hedley concert happening while she's here...
We're going BACK to Muskoka! We're headed to the Quinn cottage with my Toronto besties to enjoy more wonderful lake time. Can't wait to take a mini vacay with you girls!! We may also pop back over to the Golem cottage as well. Also, remember how last month I said: "We're then spending two nights at Hay Lake Lodge in Algonquin Park (the opposite side of Muskoka) - it's a place that I used to go to in the summer with my family growing up, so the fact that I could go there again is pretty incredible." Well, we didn't end up going last month because Tim was too crazy at work. BUT we rescheduled and we're going to Hay Lake Lodge on this Muskoka visit instead. Hooray!
THEN my parents are coming from Regina to visit us in Montreal for the first time since we moved here!!! I'm looking forward to their visit a lot because they were both born here (they only left Montreal when they were about 30 years old) so it'll be great to "do" Montreal with them. It'll be SO different from the tons of visits that we used to make when I was growing up! We're also going to spend a few nights in the Laurentians with them while they're here. (The Laurentians are an area of mountains about an hour north of Montreal. My Mom's family used to have a country house there, and I used to go there as a small kid!)
Lots going on as always! Places to go and people to see!
THIS MONTH'S SHOUT OUTS!:
August 3rd is Zena Domanski's 63rd birthday!
She's my Mom. ;) And WHAT a Mom! If I look as good as her in 30 years I'm going to be quite pleased! I could not ask for a better mother or someone who is more caring or selfless. I often wish that I could be more like her in many ways. I always know that she'll have my back no matter what and is always in my corner. I love you so much Mom and I have no idea what I would ever do without you!!!
August 5th is Krystie Coutu's 2nd wedding anniversary!
I can never get over what a stunningly gorgeous bride you were Krystie! Just perfect! It feels like celebrating your wedding in Abbotsford was just yesterday - funnest wedding ever! You and Trevor are adorable and so is your little family. I can't believe how much we've all grown since the day we first met.
August 8th is Lacey Suttie's 5th wedding anniversary!
I REALLY can't believe that it's been FIVE whole years since celebrating your wedding in Calgary!! I'm so excited for your next chapter - adding #2 to the family, and I am dying to see that gorgeous baby girl. SO SOON!!! You and Dallas make ridiculously attractive humans.
August 9th is Robin Sanders' 7th wedding anniversary!
Wishing you and Julian a wonderfully special day! I am 100% on board with the high school girls wedding dress photo idea, and I have no idea how we'll ever be organized enough to do it, but it would be AMAZING if we did!!! I hope that your new house and city (except not exactly a "new" city) is coming along beautifully!
August 11th is Crystal Maffenbeier's 7th wedding anniversary!
I can't believe that your wedding in Kenosee was already so long ago! It was a wonderful day. Have you completed your move yet?? I grant you and Jared the night off to celebrate and to forget about packing and moving for a little while. ;) Look at all of us being so grown up and married with our houses and children! I swear that we pre-drank in a parking lot and went to a school dance just yesterday...
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