So on Canada day we decided that we wanted to see Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge. It was a real experience and fun to see all the crowds. We arrived early and headed up to see the hill but decided to stay  by the corner of Rideau to see the Royal couple before heading off to some other Canada day events.

We waited several hours but it was well worth the wait to see the excitement of the crowd and see to see the Royal couple so close.

Once they passed we went to Major’s Hill Park and Jacques Cartier Park.

The Snow Birds

On our way back to the car, Sussex was closed as the Royal couple were leaving the hill on their way back to the GG. I got a photo of Prince William as he passed by.

“You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you.” ~ Joseph Campbell

On our recent trip to Austria we had the great pleasure of eating at the Landhaus Keller, the restaurant where my husband’s father did his apprenticeship when he was just starting out on his journey to become a chef.

The food was delicious and the service was excellent!

We sat out on the patio in the sunshine and enjoyed 3 courses of Austrian-styled dishes.

I started out with a mixed spring salad with asparagus, goat cheese and pumpkin seed oil. YUM!

My husband enjoyed beef carpaccio with asparagus.

Even though it was not the special of the day, the owner had the chef make up the vegetable strudel for me which was really nice and delicious!

My husband enjoyed a braised leg of Styrian lamb.

As you can tell asparagus was in season and wonderful! Everything was so flavorful and it was nice to be eating food fresh from the Austrian countryside.

The dessert was a real treat – pumpkinseed oil creme brulee and Styrian layered strudel with vanilla sauce.

If you are in Graz I would highly recommend this amazing restaurant!

When we were in Austria I brought along my Golden Half (my go-to travel toy camera these days) and took some photos in the Austrian hills and in Graz and Vienna.

One great spot for food is the Landhaus Keller in Graz. My husband’s father worked there for 3 years when he was an apprentice chef. The food is great and the service is excellent. I will post more information on the Landhaus Keller in a separate entry.

When we were in Graz their soccer team had just won the championship and were preparing for a huge street party. Lots of people were already out on the patios when we arrived in the morning.

They were setting up the stage and beer stations.

Locks of Love

Vienna – my favorite European city. The Dom Cathedral in the ring.

Vienna is always current with interactive street art and other cultural events going on, like Lang Nacht der Kirches (long night of churches) similar to Long Night of the Museums that we attended 2 years ago.

A sculpture near the Albertina

There were lots of horse and carriages out the weekend we were there. I’ve never done a ride but they do look like fun!

In June I will be going to a tea party with NR and everyone is supposed to wear a hat and the best hat wins some kind of prize. Since I’ve recently gotten into feather headbands I figure the next natural transition is to hats. I am going to try and make a small hat with fun accessories for the party.

Until then I’m still playing with feathers and rhinestones for feather headbands. I made a small one over the weekend.

So as a Royal Wedding Weekend project LS and I decided to try our hand at making facinators. Why? I really like them. With my short hair a hairband can add a little touch of something.

Now I’m working on other feather hairpins and combs – a little touch of hair fun!

Seasons of Love – Thank You Father J

525, 600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear
525, 600 minutes, how do you measure 14 years?

In baptism, in sacrament, in masses
and coffees after,
Our spirit grows stronger
and never does fail.

In 525,600 minutes, how do you measure
a year in the life?

How about love?
How about love?
It’s all about love
Measure in love

Seasons of Love
Seasons of Love

525,600 minutes, 525,000 services to plan
525,600 minutes, how can you measure the life of a man?

In truths that he told, or times when we cried
In candles he burns, or moments we sighed

It’s time now, to sing out, through the story never ends.
Let’s celebrate
Remember years in the life of our friend

Remember the love
Remember the love
Remember the love
Measure in love

Seasons of love
Seasons of love…

On a personal note, my priest will be leaving our parish soon to start new challenges after 14 years. Basically, he’s been my priest for my entire teenage and grown up life.

We’ve celebrated World Youth Days, youth ministry, Easter and Christmas celebrations, dinners, coffees, the confirmation of my husband, our wedding…many, many milestones in my life.

Even though I’m sure his future will be bright and hopefully we will stay in touch it’s hard to imagine any future milestones happening with someone else.

I was inspired by the Office (go figure) and felt that Seasons of Love helped to sum up all the wonderful memories I will cherish.

The Spirit of Blessed Sacrament continues to grow!

So as many of you know winter isn’t my season, I’m definitely a spring summer kind of gal. I start every spring year by attending the New Sun Conference at Carleton University. This conference brings together amazing artists from every genre to speak about their experiences, art and how it all came to be. This year was their 10th anniversary and my 10th time attending. The first year I hadn’t even started university yet but I knew I wanted to study art and so I attended with my dad – the rest is history.

This year I was so excited because Douglas Cardinal was going to speak. Some of you will know that he is an amazing architect and activist, in my opinion, best known for the Museum of Civilization. It was so interesting to hear him speak and explain how he went about designing his project and then bring them to life. Every detail symbolizes something – whether it’s a beam shaped like a canoe paddle or a water feature flowing down the side of the museum.

All the presenters were great and I really enjoyed the lunch time performance by Git Hayetsk Dancers. This dance troupe has continued their traditions in terms of dance and performance but have also started to create new dances and new costumes to represent the present. It was amazing to watch as I’ve never been exposed to come of their traditions, including dancing and “blessing” people with eagle down.

The best thing about New Sun is that I know it means that spring is coming and gets new ideas flowing for the coming year. It has become a part of my spring tradition and even though it’s freezing outside today the thoughts of the inspirational talks and interesting conversations warms my mind.

Happy Holy Week – and Happy Easter to all!

So I’ve been pretty busy on the cupcake front. A few weeks ago I did some fun peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes.

More recently trying a new lemon-cranberry recipe (using fresh lemon and cranberries) which were pretty yummy I think.

I have also opened an Etsy shop, mainly because I’ve been making homemade lip balms, tote bags etc…which I want to sell but I thought I would start with a series of photographs to raise money for the relief efforts in Japan. So far I’ve raised over $100 and I’m hoping that selling more photos will bring me closer to raising much more money for the Red Cross.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/em102?ref=pr_shop_more

GC and I discovered this little tea house located near our office building. This teashop also has a tea room where you can go to have tea and little nibbles. They have teas from around the world, including China, Japan, Taiwan, Indian and Canada. And sell beautiful tea pots, mugs, cups and tea tins. I have been several times now and it’s such a warm and inviting place – I highly recommend it.

Cha Yi teahouse

61 Eddy St, Gatineau (Hull sector), QC

www.chayi.ca