THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - June Edition
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
*WARNING!* This is a picture-heavy blog!
Let's get right to it and talk about May.
I went to Toronto! I was very glad to attend my lifelong friend Sarah's Baby Shower (that baby is gonna pop ANY minute now!) and spending time with my Toronto BFFs Colen, Sarah and Melanie is always my favourite. I feel SO glad that I'll get to be around way more often now!!
We stopped at The Big Apple on the drive home. It's a big apple.
That whole hockey thing was happening. You guys know me: I detest sports and could not care less whatsoever about any of them. BUT I have to admit that in 2006 when the Edmonton Oilers were in the playoffs (and almost won) it was a ton of fun. I enjoyed wearing a dress that I had fashioned out of a flag, and running around in the streets like a rowdy maniac. It was exciting to be a part of a city that was experiencing something fun and exciting. So when it "all started to happen again" with the Montreal Canadiens, I got on board. It was fun. I was going to make a new flagdress if they got to the final round, but they did not. I still wore an outfit in their colours though. Go sports! (PS - Sports are now once again dead to me.)
I've been working my butt off and going around being bendy!
We finally got everything back from the framing store and put this wall up in our living room! I love it because it depicts my style perfectly, and who Tim and I are. I want our home to be a reflection of that.
Our first visitors from further away than Ontario visited!! Katie and Tommy from Regina!
Then my cousin Marissa and her boyfriend Omar visited from Ottawa!! We went to see Cirque du Soleil: Kurios together and we all LOVED it! It's so amazing to be close to my extended family again.
THEN I up and left to Europe!
Nicole and Rachelle flew from Edmonton to Montreal, I met them at the airport, and then we caught our flight to London and then onward to Berlin, Germany! This was my first time visiting Europe EVER, so I was pretty excited about the entire thing. Carrie happened to be in London at the time, so she flew to Berlin also and met us there!
The reason this trip came to be is because Hedley was playing shows there. The idea of showing up in Europe and seeing them play was too amazing to pass up. Our first show was in Berlin at a venue called Maschinenhaus. There were about 150 people at the show, and we were right up front. As soon as the band came out and saw us, they were visibly surprised! Tom (the bassist) looked at us and said "WOW." Mission accomplished!! After the show we got to have some really nice chats with all of the guys, and they were all extremely appreciative of us being there. Jake said that it was like "we all took a vacation together." It's difficult to get this sort of one-on-one time these days in Canada, so it was a lot like old times. The whole thing was wonderful.
We stayed in a hostel called EastSeven Hostel Berlin which was totally awesome. Highly recommended.
We only had one day (not even) in Berlin to see AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, so we crammed it in! We did a bus tour, which really helped us cover as many of the key sights as possible. If you're short on time like we were, I would highly recommend doing this as well.
Berlin is decidedly a very eerie place. It was beautiful and welcoming (especially in the weather that we had), but it also feels very much like a place that has had an extremely tumultuous past. The people are very aware of this past and they do not hide it or gloss it over. Berlin was never a place that I was much interested in visiting, but now I'm very glad that I had the opportunity.
And of course... There was EURO YOGA.
Even though my visit was very short, I felt as if I still saw a lot of important things.
Next we flew to Paris, France! Paris IS a place that I'd always wanted to visit, so I was glad to have more days there (although still not many). We stayed at a hostel called Hôtel Le Régent Montmartre, which was located in, you guessed it; Montmartre. Montmartre is the home of the bohemian revolution - think of the movie Moulin Rouge. The whole neighbourhood totally spoke my language, and while it was a bit more gritty, it was TOTALLY the side of Paris that I was excited to see. We all agreed that we LOVED our area very much.
We saw Hedley play in Paris at a venue called Nouveau Casino, this time to a crowd of about 200. Again, amazing. After the show Tom told us that we were "the best surprise of his whole trip." It was really nice that they were so happy to see us there.
And of course we also saw the Paris sights! We had about 3.5 days to cram in as much as possible, and cram we did. I really feel as if I saw all of the most important things. We used the metro a TON and walked a TON.
There is a bridge called Pont des Arts that is known as the "love lock bridge." Lovers come and attach their love locks to the bridge. You then throw away the key into the river, and it's supposed to symbolize that your love will last forever. First of all, the amount of locks on this thing is INSANE. You've really gotta see it! Secondly, we attached a lock for the Core Four, and I also attached a lock for Tim and I. You may remember that we attached a love lock to the Highlevel bridge in Edmonton as a part of our engagement photo shoot - so it was really nice to have the opportunity to put another one in the REAL place!
We saw more sights... Went up l'Arc de Triomphe and went in The Louvre Museum and saw the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.
The BEST thing that I ate in Paris was Gnocchi alla Crema di Tartufo e Bresaola from a restaurant called Caffe Soprano. It was covered in black truffle sauce, and I will dream of it forever.
One evening we went to Champ de Mars and laid under the Eiffel Tower for hours until it got dark and the tower lit up...
We also visited a church called Saint-Étienne-du-Mont at midnight because the movie Midnight in Paris was filmed there! It's one of our faves! Everyone should see it if you haven't already. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't seen it, but Owen Wilson's character wanders to this church one night and something magical happens. We were hoping to have the same magical experience. ;)
Again, while our time was short, I still felt as if I got to see all of the main things. One of the neatest areas was a place called La Place du Tertre in Montmartre where the road is all cobblestones and lined with artists selling their work. It was an incredible place. One of the artists propositioned me and said: "What are you doing later this afternoon? I would like to have romance with you. You are just my style." I told him that I was flattered, but no thank you. He said: "Your smile was enough." So yeah. The French are AWESOME.
Other things that were pretty great: I got to speak French almost the entire time and it felt amazing to be able to understand everyone. People would ask us if we were American, and as soon as we told them that we were Canadian they would apologize profusely for their awful mistake. LOVED THAT. Also, the stereotype that people in Paris are rude assholes is COMPLETELY false because we were constantly remarking at how out-of-their-way friendly and helpful everyone was, from servers in restaurants to strangers on the street. It probably helped that we spoke French. But still.
Aaaaaaaaaand lastly... I busted out EURO YOGA... EVERYWHERE.
To see the entire album of photos from this trip, click HERE.
Upon returning home to Montreal the fun didn't stop. Nicole and Rachelle remained in Montreal and Amy, Ray and Rhett arrived the next day. The Core Four was reunited for a week of Montreal fun!!! We took them to see as much as possible and eat as much as possible!!!
Aaaaaand there was more of this...
Their trip actually went into June, but I figured that I would just cover the entire thing in this entry. The fact that those girls made the effort to come all the way to Montreal just to see us, see our new house, and spend time with us means SO MUCH to me. It's the definition of true friendship and I love them so incredibly much. Distance means nothing.
So THAT was May and now I intend to sleep for about 3 days in a row.
...Thankfully June is pretty low-key for the most part, until the end of the month.
There are a bunch of fun street fairs happening in and around my neighbourhood that I'm looking forward to checking out. But the biggest thing is that I'll be in Toronto for about a week at the end of June!! I'm looking forward to more amazing time with my Toronto friends - Sarah's baby will have been born by then! The main reason for the trip is that Tim's best friend Andrew is getting married to a girl named Sarah (they were the two that sang at our wedding reception) and of course we are attending their wedding!!! Me and Tim's FIRST wedding anniversary is also on the last day of June, so we're going to stay in Toronto for it. It blows my mind that an entire year has already past. I can't believe it! Married life is incredible and I am grateful every single day that Tim is my husband. It's been a wild and crazy year for us, but it has been PERFECT. It has been US. Our anniversary plans include doing the CN Tower EdgeWalk, which I have been dying to do!!! (They tether you to the outside of the CN Tower, and you walk around OUTSIDE of it!) And we're spending the night at The Drake Hotel which is a super trendy, ultra-hipster hotel. We're getting a couples massage in our room, and the hotel also offers a "pleasure menu" of sex toys. :D
THIS MONTH'S SHOUT OUTS!:
June 14th is Amy Bull's 6th wedding anniversary!
Time sure has flown and I'm still honoured that I was a Bridesmaid in your wedding in Edmonton! You and Ray are the BEST and everything is so perfect now with little Rhett. I love your little family, and I love all of the happiness that you all share!
June 24th is Sarah Turnbull's 32nd birthday!
I can't think of anyone else who could have been my Maid of Honour and that's why you were the only choice for the job! We stopped calling each other "best friends" a long time ago and now just use "sisters." I love you like family because that's what we are to each other at this point. From the first day that we met, I knew that we were going to be forever. We've been by each others' sides through the biggest highs and the lowest lows, always knowing that we could find support in each other. You mean everything to me and you deserve the most incredible birthday! I LOVE YOU!
June 30th is MY 1st wedding anniversary!
WHOA! I love that I can post this! The best day of my life so far was the day that I married the best person that I'd ever met. Sometimes I just stare at him and can't believe it. I just love him SO MUCH and I feel eternally lucky. He understands exactly who and what I am... And he's cool with it. He loves it. I'm so excited for this adventure to continue!
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