Portrait of the Blogger on Her Birthday

Funky, right? Taken from the rooftop terrace of the Hotel Nelligan in Old Montréal.

This is where the celebrations began...

And this is where they continued the following morning...

Sparrow. Yum.

That's rhubarb and strawberry french toast. Oh yes.

Neighbours, friends, Liliane's favourite people.

This photo gives you a good idea of the general chaos.

Rose and Liliane each had a chocolate beignet and then sparks starting shooting out of their butts. In a good, although energetic, way.

My kid, the Energizer Bunny. Only noisier.

This little guy was pretty calm. Hi Sam! Glad we didn't give you a chocolate beignet!

My faithful pals and dining companions, veterans of many a birthday meal.

Ariel and I comparing pedicures and silver sandals.

In the end I went to Candy and had a good time.

Stephane and Pierre comparing toys iPods.

I have no photo evidence for the rest of my day, including a movie date with Stéphane (we saw the Twilight movie, don't judge me! Although we only went because the times for A-Team weren't working out so you can totally judge me for that. ANYWAY.) but we had a great time and I felt thoroughly celebrated. Thanks everyone!

In other news:

*It's been captial-H HOT around these parts (sorry, Forrest Gump is on in the background so I'm typing with an accent) for the last week so my evening activities have been restricted to having a shower and watching the Big Bang Theory on DVD with the fan on full throttle. I'm only blogging now because I'm out of episodes. True story.

*My Grandfather has moved to an assisted-care facility close to my Mom (and two of my three uncles) and is doing pretty well. Grandma is still in the hospital but she is supposed to be released soon and the next step is to ensure that she can get into the same place. They can't live together since she'll need more help than he does, but they can live closer. I'm making peace with the changes from afar. I talked to my Grandpa this week and he sounds pretty good. I asked for a cozy blanket from their house. That makes me feel better.

*We have decided to plan our vacation this September to.. Disneyworld! Liliane will be almost 3 years old and it seems like a good time to just go for it. If you have ANY ADVICE AT ALL, please for the love of my sanity, share your thoughts! I'm in full-on research mode and feeling the anxiety. What if I choose the WRONG theme resort with the WRONG dining package resulting in the WRONG sparkly-magical-park-hopping-drain-your-savings Disney experience?

*Hey! I went to my first Outdoor Cardio class! I LOVED it. To confirm my newfound commitment, I completely bailed on my two classes last week. Call me a weenie, but I wasn't up for the HEAT STROKE section of the class that would fall somewhere between "Welcome everybody" and "Hey, who's the wheezing, sweaty, chubby chick back there?" I was managing to walk to and from work in 40+ degrees, but that was IT. So take a hike humidity, Mama has a double chin to work on.

Stay cool!

Mah Birfday

I'm turning 36 on Saturday. Boo.

But there is the possibility of presents!

Yay!

So here's mah list:

I know I'm only a year or so behind, but I love this grey nail polish from American Apparel.

Dying to read this book. Those two were a hot mess.

I read Kathy Reichs every summer - the perfect beach book. Even if you're nowhere near the ocean.

My brother and SIL told me about this cookbook. Pretty sure that I must have it.

Speaking of books - did you know that there is a Netflix but for books? In Canada? And they have gift certificates. Just sayin'.

This is my favourite massage destination. Not the floaty hippy baths, just the massage. In case you were wondering.

I saw a woman walking around in these on the weekend and my shoe envy went through the roof. I didn't even know I wanted obnoxious yellow flip flops, but it turns out that I DO. Size 9.

I've been wanting to try this new nail bar but I think Stéphane has got this covered. I'll let you know how it goes.

I don't think these would even look good on me, but I drool over nice sunglasses that do not come from somewhere that also sells cotton balls and shampoo.

I am in love with these kooky earrings from Etsy:

Fresh flowers are in my top five all-time favourite gifts. Can't go wrong with that.

*EDITED TO ADD*

I covet these amazing cupcake transport thingys. I have a dream to be able to bring cupcakes somewhere without involving my roasting pans.

Aw, shucks. Who needs presents when I have these two?

Just kidding. Bring on the booty.