Oh me oh my! I wrote this early in the month but didn’t press publish! Better late than never right?
What a difference a month makes! August was all about self reflection and friendships and dang, I’m a pretty lucky lass! A friend shared a quote from Stieg Larrson who wrote about how, “Friendship is the most common form of love.” I felt so loved in August!
I couldn’t help but have this Mindy Project line ring through my head. It’s the truth. I’m “hashtag blessed” as the kids say, with all the beautiful people I have in my life.
So many wonderful moments, I just can’t include them all so here are some highlights!
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My soul sister, Lara, came to town for the August long weekend. We had been planning to take a trip somewhere to celebrate our 25th birthdays, but with so much happening in the city, why not take advantage of it! We walked our booty’s off exploring and made the most of our stay-cation adventure. Caribana, Evergreen Brickworks and the Toronto Islands!
Growing up, I’d see coverage of Toronto’s Caribana on the news and always thought it would be fun to check out. There were colours, glitter and feathers every direction. You could tell a lot of time had been put into these intricate outfits. Lara and I discussed how lovely it was to see women of all different shapes and sizes, rocking these skimpy outfits. It was a day of complete and utter body positivity.
We then had dinner with Lara’s cousin Louis and his chum Jason. They were so kind and put together a delicious vegan dinner for us to enjoy. I had just started my vegan challenge and they went out of there way to make a delicious meal. I think they thought I was a level five vegan or something, but alas, it was only day two.
We had a very pleasant evening. Louis and I discussed how we wanted to be part of a knitting group and we both mentioned how we wanted to try pottery. I wasn’t sure how serious he was about that, but we’ve signed up to start taking classes with Clay Design this September! I’m pumped! Yay for new friends!
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The following weekend my amazing group of friends from Ottawa come up for a visit! Ali had planned the trip to celebrate Andrew’s 25th birthday. A quick 24 hour trip with a Jays game, good eats and a fun night on the town. T’was a splendid time!
It was such a treat to have them up. We might be a goofy group, but we clean up pretty nicely don’t you think?
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These girls, I just love them. Hayley, Jordan and I made our way out to surprise Jenna for her birthday. She’s the best. It took her ages to realize that we were hiding out on her deck, unfortunately, she spotted my purse and the surprise was a little ruined. I’m shocked she didn’t realize something was happening earlier with all the food her parents had prepared and ready to go for everyone. It was as if we walked on set to “My Big Fat Slovenian Birthday.” SO MANY PEOPLE! It was great.
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I had to head home in order to get my passport sorted out and decided to stay for the weekend. Sometimes it’s nice to get away from the big buildings and sirens, you know? I had a desire to get into the country and for some reason or another, really wanted to visit a lavender field. Random? Yes, but I love lavender! We were only there for a short period of time, but that’s all I needed. The country has such a re-energizing power.
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Growing up my summers were spent on and in the water, so when Jenna invited me to join her on an early morning kayak ride in Port Credit I couldn’t say no. Plus it meant some good quality time with Jenna. Having spent months commuting, watching people enjoy the Credit River from my train, it was nice to be the person on the water and not the train. We took a break during our paddle as we watched a deer cross in front of us, followed shortly after by it’s fawn. Butterflies flew around us, birds chirped, it was pretty freaking magical and then we took a selfie.
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Jenna, Hayley and I took a quick trip to the Slovenian wilderness for the Labour Day long weekend. A perfect we to cap off the month with good weather, swimming, camp fires, excessive snacking and friends.
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I’m really started to embrace Toronto in August and am looking forward to what the fall months have in store! Thanks for the adventure, Summer.
