My cousin reminded me that I haven't posted lately (hi Kayla!). I realized it was true. I guess I have a bit of the winter and end of term blahs. I've been doing a lot of homework lately, and it's still winter. And do people really want to see another dozen photos of snow?

In any case, I need to think more positively. Spring is on its way - and with it, my graduation from university! Much to look forward to.

I took a little break from homework a few days ago and we went out for breakfast. The best part (better than the food, I'd say), was sitting in the sunroom. All that natural light! It did our weary Winnipeg winter souls good.

We then wandered around the shops. I pretended that I wasn't procrastinating, and it ended up feeling a bit like we were tourists visiting Winnipeg.

Oh dear. I've been meaning to post these photos for forever, but I've been busy bidding on film canisters, madly throwing together an application for a scholarship that I forgot about, and booking condos for the honeymoon. I realized today that whenever I have a spare moment, I immediately launch into "to-do" list mode and begin reminding myself of the mile long list of things I have to do. Oh what a crazy season this is. But it's seriously so much fun. I have another DIY project party slated for Saturday night with my lady friends - always a great time.

Now about these photos, they were taken at my favourite breakfast place in the city. I realized as I was sitting there with these lovely friends that I have met every single one of them through Mike. A few years ago, I didn't know any of them! It's really lovely how dating someone opens up a whole new circle of friends. I'm so blessed.


*Thanks for all your kind words about the invitations. This is such an amazing, supportive community!

The original plan was to go out for brunch with Mike's family, but it turned out they needed to stay home so that a repair man could swing by. So they suggested having brunch at their place. Within an hour, the table was covered with crêpes, sauces, a variety of fruit, bacon, and roasted baby potatoes. I was a happy girl.

I mentioned earlier that I am doing my teaching block right now. It's going really well and I'm having fun. However, I am so excited to be able to enjoy a long, luxurious weekend brunch without worrying about all the planning and prepping I have to do later on that day. I am anxiously awaiting this sweet sweet summer. It's my first summer at home in four years AND I'm getting married. It's destined to be one of the best.

Sophie's cosmic café - a retro diner with self-described "garage sale décor". It's a wacky and wonderful place to have breakfast. I thought at first that the décor might be their primary focus and the food second. Wrong. Their food was amazing. I was completely smitten with my waffle and heaps of fresh fruit.

And then we met the most unbelievably cute puppy on our walk home. After a few minutes of petting & cuddling, I realized that it was a seeing eye dog. Whoops!

Have a lovely weekend!


*Explanation for huge delay between posts = started my teaching practicum block. It's taking over my life.

"all happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast"
-john gunther

I don't know if all my happiness depends on it,
but I do know that the combination of breakfast & girlfriends is very good for my soul.

breakfast in the usa.

this evening, i'm packing for a little weekend trip to the states. my mom, brothers, sister-in-law, nephews, niece, mike and i are all heading down south to visit my grandparents in iowa. trips to iowa are often a bit dull, but i'm so excited to go with my whole big family!

truthfully, i'm probably most excited for the road trip down. life is so darn busy that 8 hours in a car with mike sounds like an absolute dream!

buying food for the road trip down made me think about when mike & i were in minneapolis last month. which made me think of all the delicious meals we ate. which made me think of yum! kitchen & bakery. the restaurant is so fresh and clean! the food is scrumptious! the desserts look incredible! i can't wait to go back!

abra cadabra.

..........................................................................................................................................................

here at the summer camp in istanbul, we have officially finished the first session! this past weekend, my roommates and i took it very easy. we enjoyed a nice late breakfast at the adorable café abra cadabra. beautiful décor, fantastic looking menus (it sounds silly to admit, but that's sort of a big deal for me), fantastic view of the bosphorus, and delicious breakfast options. remember, i love breakfast so this basically made my weekend.

afterward, we headed to a traditional turkish bath,  çemberlitas hamami. we were scrubbed down and washed by turkish woman (an interesting and incredibly wonderful experience) and then given an oil massage. it was absolutely just what we needed!

breakfast feasts.

..........................................................................................................................................................

this past weekend, mike & i took a little road trip to saskatoon, saskatchewan to visit some friends. 
the province of saskatchewan gets a bit of a bad rap, but we had SUCH a good time! 
isn't it nice when a city surprises you? 
mike & i both agreed that saskatoon's downtown is a whole lot prettier than winnipeg's.

we all stayed at my friend danae's condo & she was the most gracious/fabulous host! 
she and her boyfriend cam whipped up delicious breakfast feasts two mornings in a row...
how are we so lucky?! 

oh janelle & danae -- let's get together again soon!

scrambled eggs + new friends

tjjjjjhis this morning, i had a lovely little breakfast date with two new friends rosie & linda. they have a cute monday morning breakfast tradition which they graciously invited me to this week. lots of laughs + stories + trouble with the ketchup bottle + spilled water. and they let me take pictures of them eating - always a bonus!

hope you all had a good start to your week. i have a HUGE portfolio project due on wednesday (SO STRESSFUL!) but then mike comes home on thursday (SO EXCITED!). can't wait!

afternoon brunch.

You may recall that i love love love breakfast, so a sunday morning waffle brunch bonanza with mike sounded simply parfait! it took us a little while to get cracking - grocery shopping to be done, holgas to pick up (OOOHH I CAN'T WAIT TO POST THEM - holga stopped being so darn finicky and finally produced some AMAZING photos...), ate a snack, oohed and ahhed over the holgas for about an hour - all before finally starting on the waffles.

but once we got rolling, pure breakfast magic occurred: rich buttercream waffles, heart shaped bananas, white béchamel sauce (two attempts), and smoothies (again, second smoothie was considerably better than the first attempt). aaaaaaaaahhhh, c'était absolument délicieux...

(and you may be wondering: why are these pictures a million times better than janis' usual attempts? well, it may have a little something to do with this boyfriend of hers...he has pretty mad skills...)

edit: mike wants me to mention that i took some of these pictures. we are a talented duo!

make me laugh over breakfastand i will love you forever.

there was a time when breakfast was my least favourite meal.

crazy, i know.

i think this was before i discovered how delightful it is going out for breakfast with friends.

this breakfast i had last week with my three best friends was simply amazing.

it was maybe not the most delicious breakfast i've ever had,

but i don't think i have laughed so hard in a very very long time.

i sometimes think i have the best friends ever.

i know i didn't include any pictures of us killing ourselves laughing...

this was completely intentional. 

believe me, they were not flattering photos!

sunday breakfast.

it's easy to get into a breakfast rut once you find a fantastic little breakfast nook

for me, that rut is called fresh café -
a bright sunny little café with amazing fruit smoothies
& heavenly chocolate chip banana bread french toast...
{oh you read that correctly.
i had never even dreamed of such a thing until i tried it at fresh}

however, it's always good to try new things & de-rut oneself.
so yesterday, my friends & i decided to breakfast at
the frenchway café

it's a tiny little café
{about fourteen spots max}
run by a lovely french couple
{le monsieur is parisian while la madame is from winnipeg!}.

kd & i decided to split strawberry & chocolate crêpes & the eggs benedict.
the eggs benedict, while a little skimpy on the hollandaise sauce, was excellent.
but the crêpes...
oh the crêpes!
to.die.for.
i could NOT stop gushing about them
- to my friends, to the waitress, to myself -
it was difficult to control myself.
maple syrup, real melted chocolate, fresh strawberries, paper thin crêpes...
complete bliss.
next time i go to the frenchway café
{which will hopefully be BIENTÔT!}
i will definitely not be sharing my crêpes.
it was pure torture having to pass over the plate to kd...
{but i did since i am a good friend}

after our delcious breakfast, we took a lovely autumn stroll at assiniboine park
it was by far one of the nicest mornings i've had in a long while...

xo

ps. kari just got a fancy new canon rebel
and her park pictures definitely put my little snaps to shame.
i will post them as soon as i get my hands on them...