A day at the cottage

Yesterday was a holiday here in most parts of Canada, so my husband and I went to the cottage to spend the day BY OURSELVES for the first time. (One day we might actually get to spend the night too!) We hung out with some ducks and a flock of about 50 Canada geese that didn't seem to want to leave. It's not uncommon for the ducks to eat from our hands, but this was the first time geese decided to stop by and several of them ate from our hands. They are hilarious (did you know they hiss when they're pissed off?). I have some videos on YouTube (here). We had a great time, and I brought back some souvenirs I cut from trees on the property (along with a handful of goose feathers).

P.S. Did you get to see my post over at themourningcloak.com of my Vegas purchases?

My dad's sangria recipe

My dad worked on perfecting his sangria recipe for years. Him and my mom have been vacationing in Mexico at least once a year for the past 20 years and they always made sangria to bring down to the pool, and it is a staple at their house when we're all hanging around their pool.  

First start with a 3 litre jug that is air-tight (needs a decent lid). Pour in 2 packets of Crystal Light lemon-lime drink mix. Then add 750 ml of cheap/house red wine. Mix it up to dissolve the drink mix. Then add 2 litres of club soda. Stir. We discovered recently that fortifying it with some gin works really well. And that's it!

(Sorry for the shitty photo, it was the only one I could find and I didn't think to take one yesterday of any of the several glasses I consumed).

New song obsession

A big thanks once again to my music-saavy brother-in-law Dave (who happens to be at the Osheaga music festival in Montreal right now with my 'lil 'sis) for sending me the link to this awesome song. 

anniversary dinner

I thought I'd share some pics of the awesome dinner we had last night for our 2nd anniversary at Union613. Yes, I ate there twice in 5 days. :-) OMG I was so stuffed when we left (how do southerners eat like this all the time?!?!?!) 

Here was my appetizer which was actually a side dish but I figured why not. Cornbread & bourbon brown butter. Very filling but very gooooood. 

The hubby's appetizer of rodney’s radishes, watermelon, garlic croutons, clarmell feta, arugula, lemon vinaigrette.

My main dish of cornmeal dusted lousiana catfish & creole remoulade with a side of cheddar & roasted garlic grits.

The hubby's main dish of buttermilk fried yardbird & hot sauce with a side of cheddar & roasted garlic grits (and the cornbread).

We shared a dessert - some chocolate mousse with peanut crunch something or other and bacon powder ? Whatever it was...YUMMY!

And check out how they serve coffee!

a couple little things

I am really trying to avoid buying stuff for the house because hopefully by the spring this house will no longer exist and a new one will be built in its place...and I am trying to decrease the amount of crap we have not add to it. (Once the good weather ends I do need to go through everything and sell alot of it). But sometimes a girl needs some knick knacks. Especially when they're on sale. Chapters has a pretty decent selection of home decor products considering they're a book store. Right now just about everything there is on sale, and I REALLY wanted to get one of their funky desk lamps (30% off I think) but instead I just got this chevron inlay wooden frame and box. These are my colours so I couldn't resist (although I am pretending the stripes on the box and black not navy). They were about $10 each. Stuck them on my new coffee/end table for now.