Who here is comfortable trying out beds in the middle of a department store in front of random strangers? Lying down, clasping your handbag across your chest, trying to blend in while dying a little on the inside? And then when the suggestion is made that you curl up on your side in a fetal position to make it more “natural”? Oh please! I might be blonde, but Goldilocks I am not…

Happy Canada Day, one and all! Who doesn’t love a celebration? Canadians really know how to celebrate their country, and everyone seems to get into the “It’s summer and we have a day off to eat poutine and party and wave our flags and watch our fireworks!” frame of mind. How awesome is that? I love living in Canada, but I’ve only truly appreciated it this past year or two—since we became REAL Canadians, eh?

Ever had a week when SO MUCH HAPPENS it’s like an overload of monumental moments? Good or bad or a mixture of both, you appreciate it all but kinda wish you could have spread it out over, say, six months or so? Yeah, that was my week last week in Montreal—so many amazing things happened it was hard to take it all in, so now I’m unloading thoughts and uploading pics and just, WOW!

Everyone loves to be let in on an awesome secret sauce recipe, right? Those special ingredients that will give a delicious, knock-your-socks-off amazing result. Sometimes secret sauce recipes are passed down from generation to generation, keeping the joy alive to be shared with loved ones. Well we have a secret SOURCE that has been passed down to us, and it’s way, way better than Grandma’s crème brûlée recipe…

If you came into my office right now, I might just die on the floor a little. I’m totally all over the place—notebooks (granted, they are pretty), binders, books, boxes, and piles of “to do” stuff all over the place. It’s not how I usually roll, but this week it’s just how my head is. All over the place. In a good way…

I don’t know about you, but when someone begins a sentence with, “No offense, but…” I brace myself for what is to come—I’m pretty sure at this point that I actually WILL take offense!

Today is a very special day for a certain four-legged, furry friend in our household: Ginger Lily, the English bulldog, is celebrating her fifth birthday! Now when I say “celebrating”, what I really mean is napping most of the day on the (Lily-fied) leather couch interjected by sporadic eating, drooling, and snorting, which is the norm for the day in the life of a bulldog. She’ll get belly-rubs, love, affection, and whatever crumbs drop her way. To be honest, every day is like a birthday to one who is The Princess.

It may be the after effects of the mountain of Easter chocolate I consumed this week, but I’m thinking about my heart. Yes, I’m hoping it’s healthy (in spite of said chocolate) but more than that, I’m kind of hoping it’s a bit shattered. A bit broken. Ready for more love…

So it’s officially spring on Sunday, and not a moment too soon. Do I hear a “yay!” or a “finally!” or an “Amen!”?

I’ll admit, I’m a sappy, happy, hopeless romantic, and one of my favourite things to do in the whole, wide world is go for beach walks with my man. Yes, I am a living, breathing “I enjoy long walks on the beach” cliché…