My Weekly Adventures: Fun Times & Long Weekends + Upcoming July Plans

Half of 2019 is officially done! Can you believe how fast time has flown by? How is your year shaping up to so far? Our last two weeks was properly busy with work, home, seasonal things, catching up with the blog and life stuff in general just all coming at us in all directions. Something had to give and unfortunately, there were some gaps in the blog that was just inevitable. I’ve moved past the having to post daily to fulfill a quota and refuse to put something that I’m not happy with in terms of formatting and content so there were a day or two here and there with nothing but I think overall, it held up quite well when I went back to look at it just now.

Weather is looking up now and July is always my busy month so I’ll talk a bit about it to keep everyone updated as there are some changes in July. All that is at the end. For now, let’s start from  what happened over the last 2 weeks!

Pointe Claire run & New Discoveries

As usual, my friend went out for a run in the Pointe Claire races at the Pointe Claire village. Its been a tough season so despite a shorter race, I went along to make sure everything went alright. Sadly, the shop that I like at Pointe Claire village was gone but I did end up visiting a little store called Epicerie Prette which had a lot of different beers and more importantly, a good selection of kombucha. Definitely something to go check out again if I’m ever in the area.

My Best Friend’s Wedding

I did a little bit of hauls and talks about preparing for my best friend’s wedding as one of her bridesmaids. It was a great time there. A lot of our college friends were there as well and she had arranged a lot of fun stuff and hired a very fun host plus an award-winning magician. The ceremony was memorable and the weather was perfect especially for all of the bridal party to go out for pictures at the park and then the meal was very good and before we knew it, she got the speeches going and gone so I could enjoy my meal and get drinks without worrying about too much. It was a beautiful evening. I have some photo booth pictures but not sharing those here.

Hiking: Parc National de Frontenac

It was the long weekend for us as Monday the 24th was our provincial holiday St-Jean and had a day off. We headed out for a hike and decided to go to Parc National de Frontenac, which we had looked at before but it wasn’t opened completely yet before but was all good now. We ended up deciding on the Le Massif de Winslow trail. The recap for this one is coming up very soon!

Gardening Update

The garden is doing pretty good. We’ve managed to harvest some lettuce and cherry tomatoes so far. The cabbage has now settled and is growing really well (at least the ones in the pots are) especially since maybe the marigolds are really helping in the companion gardening concept. Peppers, zucchinis, strawberries and raspberries are all starting to bear harvest but not completely ready just not. The cucumbers are doing well and the bee garden is also growing quite well now also. The flower bed in the front is starting to have a nice cycle of flowers blooming giving the front yard some bursts of color here and there.

July Events

July starts tomorrow and I have a few days to get everything in order before things start up. If you have been following since last year, things are pretty much the same hectic craziness this year as I’ve gotten confirmation on all my press passes that I applied for. The first event to roll around is Montreal Comiccon on July 5th to 7th with coverage going up for both Game Warp as well as Panel recaps, Cosplay and Artist Alley highlights over here.

Starting the week after on Thursday is Fantasia Film Festival. I usually try to get about one post a day up for that one. Its a 21 day festival so its going to be a game of endurance. The schedule was just released a few days ago so I’m still working out the schedule.

All reviews will go up on both here and That Moment In. Fantasia runs all the way through to August 1st. However, no worries if movie reviews aren’t quite your thing because I should have some other posts going up (at least I’ll try).

Cute Kitty Pic  Shameless Selfie Time

That’s it for this Weekly Adventures!
How did June go for you? Lots of summer plans?
Any festivals happening around your area?

My Weekly Adventures: It’s Canada Day!

Happy Canada Day, my fellow Canadians!

These weeks pass by so fast! The second half of June was super busy! I guess you can tell since my posts are all over the place. I literally watched two movies in three weeks. I’m not lying that it felt a little empty at times but then real life does take priority here. That is probably why there’s a good bit of stuff to get through this time around! Less rambling and more fun stuff, right?

Let’s see what happened since the last time!

Pointe Claire Marathon

Of course, it goes without saying. Just support, not actual running. This was in the Pointe Claire village area. My friends went for the half marathon and did a decent time. The weather was beautiful and maybe even nearing a little hot by the end of their course. By far, the most relaxing place that any marathon has been set that even I could sit in the park nearby next to some water and catch up on some reading.

After that, they got freshened up and brunch time! 🙂

Father’s Day

Suffice to say, that first weekend was crazy busy. I came home on Saturday and had to start preparing for Father’s Day baking. Thing was, I had no idea what to make. The initial idea was to make Chocolate Mousse for my father in law but then I lost track of time and ended up making these cupcakes that kind of failed. They tasted really good apparently since it was Vanilla Cupcakes with Marshmallow and chocolate. The concept was like a S’mores cupcakes but with a marshmallow centre but that didn’t work out. Its why I didn’t post about it. Here’s how they turned out.

Project Ravin’ Rabbits

Talk about an efficient Father’s Day! My friends came over along with their little girl to help me out with the garden reinforcements and also have dinner together.  The afternoon before, my husband and I had attempted to put up a quick fix but it turned out to not be too helpful since apparently bunnies can hop pretty high.

First reinforcement which failed

It was hopeful thinking that they wouldn’t put in the extra effort to get delicious organic lettuce/kale/broccoli leaves/okra leaves.

Final reinforcement!

Its been two weeks and I think its working! So far, there hasn’t been any issues. My lettuce and kale are growing. Even my okra plants are doing better well, the two that survived this rabbit invasion.

Grand Opening of Restaurant

I don’t know how my friends get news of all these cool things but they invited me to go with them to this grand opening of a restaurant called Jerry  Ferrer. On their first day that we went, it had a time frame where it was opened and would serve free food until their kitchen was empty. We didn’t end up getting there early enough to try everything but we did manage to get a few things to share. It wasn’t enough to fix the hunger and we had to go grab something else to eat but it gave us a good vibe of the restaurant and the decor and the food.

A great concept here for those of you who don’t read French, for children under 12 years old, they pay their age. Their meal will include one dish plus an ice cream plus a surprise. I like surprises and it makes me wonder what it is. Unfortunately I’m not under 12 so that doesn’t help.

We tried their hot dog and the pulled pork sandwich. My friends also had the ice cream which I didn’t get so I forgot about taking a picture. I have to say that they have a cool twist to the food and I like the flavors quite a bit. I’m interested in dropping by for an actual meal.

Bistro Le Mechant Loup

Part two was at a little restaurant near Le Fagotin that I did a piece on before. I probably should have done one for this one but I didn’t see the need for it probably because it was a rather quick meal and since I was starving, it really didn’t make a difference. The night we went (Wednesday’s) was also the evening they have selected main meals at $15 each. I expect that maybe I’ll head back here eventually. Here’s what we had!

Fish and Chips

Smoked Meat Poutine

I’m not exactly sure of the verdict of my friend’s Smoked Meat Poutine but I liked the Fish and Chips a lot! The service was decent but I think it was slower just because it was a busy night. However, the dishes did seem to have a flair and I’m interested in trying out other items on the menu if I get a chance. Not to mention the decor is really rustic and matches with its small and cozy environment quite a bit.

Game Warp Review Episode: Life is Strange

Seems tireless and probably won’t appeal to a bunch of you but Life is Strange was a huge hit last year and if you’ve played it, maybe you’ll be interested in hearing us talk about it. Its pretty much an interactive movie so maybe it’ll be your cup of tea! 🙂

Cute Kitty Pic

Upcoming:

• Workout Roundup
• Book Reviews
• Netflix A-Z
• Baking Through Disney
• Montreal Comiccon & Fantasia Festival Schedule coming up!

Happy Friday everyone! What have you been up to?

The next Weekly Adventures might land in the middle of Fantasia Festival craze so I can’t guarantee it’ll be on time or lengthy!
I’ll be sure to try my absolute best!

Adapting to a New Pace & Attending a Book Launch!

Nanowrimo has started for a week now.  Surprisingly, a lot of my life has been consumed with it.  I can’t help but to be drowning in my own story.

On Thursday, I had a moment walking to work where my mind was still waking up and I found myself feeling like my character in my story.  Weird feeling, ladies and gents.  I pulled myself out pretty quickly but thats what happens when you have to cough up 1666 words a night, I guess. I usually aim for more.  It also marked the first day I had to stand on the way home and scribble in the upright position while balancing myself.  Probably didn’t look too elegant 😉 Still extremely efficient.  That fell apart when Friday came around and I was a full day behind and haven’t been able to catch up.  Right after this post, thats what I’ll be doing until I pass out from fatigue.  The pacing is alright in my book. With almost 12,000 words in the bank,I’m already pretty proud of myself especially since I’m using this Nanowrimo to experiment with some new stuff: a new genre (*ahem* romance) and third person narration (usually I just do first person).  Challenges all around! Another update next week!

Plus, I have my whole workout challenges that I’ve set in place and those will be more in detail on Monday’s post 🙂

One of the highlights of this week (and maybe a bit sad and cold realization) is that winter is sneaking its chilly arms into Montreal.  Snow is expected soon and its been getting cold.  Even the first of my Christmas cactus have started blooming.

White Christmas Cactus

I probably sounded like a crazy lady when I leaned over and had a heart to heart conversation with it about how they were blooming a bit too early.  Christmas is more than a month away, no? But then, the only witness was my cat looking at me through the plants by the window.  Although her main focus wasn’t me, which has lead us to focus a lot on bird-watching.  I actually say in one week, the abundant robins but also, one Blue Jay and an red cardinal. I haven’t seen one of those in so many years.  Imagine my excitement!

Bird!

Another from last weekend that I forgot to mention in the last personal update was that I made another batch of those awesome Peanut-BETTER Gingersnaps! That recipe just total rules! If you missed it before, check it out HERE! This time, I made it for the Halloween party and I believe I made the best batch so far.  They were the perfect size and shape 🙂

Peanut-BETTER Gingersnaps

There was another reason why my word count dropped on Friday.  I tried to write as much as I could but I was out pretty much from right after work till midnight with my best friend.  We went for a delicious dinner at our normal hangout, Les 3 Brasseurs and shared a pitcher of Sangria. Those look even nicer in the pitcher than in a glass. Plus, I finally had my fix of BBQ ribs that I’ve been wanting to eat forever!

Les 3 Brasseurs Sangria!

Ribs! Yummy!

After that, we made a late decision to go do some long-awaited karaoke just the two of us! I did make some recording but I’m a tad shy to post it up.  So if you ask, maybe I’ll put it up in a separate post, or I’ll whip something up at home, of course, my system is not as awesome but I do have the gear. 🙂 It was really fun and thats what counts!

I ALWAYS leave the best news for last, right? You already know from the title but I attended a book launch this afternoon of an awesome girl friend that I’ve mentioned on multiple occasion and also a dear blogger, Day’s Lee! She did her official book launch for her young adult novel, Guitar Hero at a cute little bookstore called Babar Bookstore in Pointe-Claire.

Her books, Guitar Hero on display on top of a fireplace

Signing books for attendees of her launch 🙂

The food table 🙂

Day’s offered us some very delicious snacks and in addition, she made the almond cookies.  They are pretty awesome. She actually posted up the recipe the other day, check it out HERE if you want to give it a shot! There’s no milk in almond cookies so I could have it. YAY! You rule Day’s! 🙂

My own signed copy! 🙂

I’m all for supporting my friends plus Day’s is my inspiration (she probably doesn’t know that).  She reminds me that no matter how hard it is, its perfectly okay to pick up our courage and follow our dreams.  A huge congrats to Day’s! I’m going to review the book in December (in case you were wondering).  I’ve already read it once before it was released last year but I’m not sure if she fixed anything, so I’m going to read it a second time.  I urge you to give it a shot.  Show her some love! 🙂 

This week has been pretty eventful.  Since I’ve taken up enough of your time (and well, my novel is calling out to me), I’m going to leave you with some music that I’ve loved this week!

Who is tempted to watch some Pirates of the Caribbean now, eh? 😉

This is my thoughts right now!

If you want some more reading, I actually wrote a post about something similar to encourage my writing in Nanowrimo the first year, it helps me till now (not so much the first time).  Its right HERE! These 300 reminds me to keep going!

Have a great rest of the weekend! 🙂