To great friends and sad farewells...

Aileen and Jurg are two of the closest people to us. After spending a week with them, we keep asking ourselves why we aren't in Europe where we can see them more often. It was such a pleasure to have spent some really valuable time with them. This morning, we had a wonderful breakfast together at Sunset Grill and shared more laughs together. Dropping them off at the hotel was really emotional, it was truly difficult for me to hold the tears back.
Aileen and Jurg, we hope you guys are going to have a great remainder of your vacation in Miami. Amanda and I love you guys and can't wait to visit you guys in Switzerland.

CNE

Visited CNE yesterday. What great weather and the crowd was managable considering it was the opening day and $1.75 admission. Aileen, Jurg, Amanda and I had such a blast. We spent the day there and then had dinner at Jack Astors before we stepped into the world of Inglorious Bastards. The movie was so smart and hilarious, Quentin has got some mind in that big head of his. We all got home late and then spent some time together as it was the last night Aileen and Jurg were at our home b4 they fly to Miami. This week has been so fun and seeing Aileen and Jurg was so great, we're so happy that they'd decided to visit and stay with us.

Paintballing with Fam, Friends and Strangers...

Went paintballing at Camp X today with a bunch of us. It was the first time all of us had gone and it was extremely fun. Getting shot hurted like a b1tch for the first few moments but that's all part of the fun. We were talking later about how it would totally take the fun out if you had full gear to block the shots. First shot was the worst because we didn't know what to expect, especially with my first shot being right at the nipple during a showdown with someone with in 20 feet of me, I thought I'd got him but I guess it wasn't the case. When we got home, I had realized that I had multiple welts on my body but never had noticed being shot there during the game. It was really cool to be in the combat situation, really gets your adrenaline going. Had dinner at one of our favs Bella Notte and as usual, food was yumm! Catch up more later chums, chao!

Niagara...beautiful weather, wines and friends...

Amanda, Aileen, Jurg and I came back last night from 2 days of Niagara wineries, foods and relaxation. We started out the 2 days trek with a hearty breakfast at Amanda and my regular Sunset Grill. The traffic was actually not too bad compared to the usual backlog. We first hit Vineland Estates and what a beautiful place, service was great and Katherine spent more than half an hour explaining their wines with us, we were more than happy to have bought 12 bottles of wine from them. We had also visited Flat Rock and Strewn. I bought 2 bottles of my usual beloved Terroir Strewn Three at Strewn. Did sooo much, let's do a photo blog instead of me making you read... enjoy friends...

Seeing, shopping, eating and drinking...

Aileen and Jurg are finally here and staying with us. We dropped off Tatlim at Amanda's mom's house yesterday afternoon after much tidying of the house. Tatlim was stressed but we managed to stay a few hours with her to get her acquainted with her new surroundings. We then went to Fressen for a really nice dinner, one hint, don't bother with the vegan caesar if you appreciate a real caesar.
We went to pick up Aileen and Jurg's luggage at the hotel afterwards, we're so glad we'v got the new CRV, the 9 PIECES of luggage just fit. We settled in and caught up at home, it was so nice to start our vacation.
Sunday...
We grabbed breakfast at Bagel Stop then headed down to the Beach. It was such a hottttt day, the sun was just blaring. Lots of people at the beach and checked out a few neat stores. We had dinner at the Distillery after some more shopping but what an experience that was. The servers were in space and messed up our orders, and when asked about which burger was which, the waiter had the audacity to open up both burgers with his filthy hands, MANAGER, COME OVER HERE NOW, WE'VE GOT A FEW ISSUES OVER HERE. The food was good and the beer was delish, unfortunate to have had to deal with a few dimbos who's replies to MSG was "most things now have MSG in it", UNACCEPTABLE for any restaurant, especially at the Distillery!!! On the way back from dinner, we happened to have driven by a closed off Church Street and the Fetish Festival was happening, got a few interesting shots but the spirit was GREAT, everyone was just having fun and living it up. Gotta go to bed now but will for sure post some pics when I get a chance. Going to wine and dine some more tomorrow in Niagara. Keep posted for more...
Elson

Eating and Cleaning Up...

So, what did I do this weekend? Seemed like lots but the weekend still flew by.
Friday...
Dropped off our Cervelos at Wheels of Bloor for full tune ups so they're in pro shape for the second half of the season.
After dropping the bikes off, we had dinner with Amanda's dad and family at Bella Notte. We love this restaurant but unfortunately my mushroom risotto was made with chicken stock so being a pescetarian, NOT GOOD. Oh well, just have to keep reminding myself to ask some questions. The dish tasted good anyhow and the salmon carpaccio app was delish. Drinks wise we opened two bottles of Wolf Blass Yellow Label Cab Sauv, their latte was good finish to the night's meal. After dinner we went back to Amanda's dad's place and had a swim and water gun fight, food was good and weather was great, it was a wicked night.
Saturday...
Woke up early to go to St.Lawrence market. Picked up Amanda's cousin and aunt on our way there and had a great morning. The local produce were beautiful and smelled so fresh, just seemed like everything was in season. Came back home and then started cleaning the house to some great jazz on the radio from the digital box. The two bottles of Amanda's new love, Pierre Sparr Riesling were wonderful in heat. Had a relaxing dinner on the patio as the storm blew in and just chilled for the rest of the night.
Sunday...
Woke up early AGAIN! Went to grab breakfast at Sunset Grill and then went shopping for everyday stuff and some stuff we didn't need but got anyways, hahaha. Grabbed some decoration for the walls around the house that we thought were just wonderful. We'd been looking for a chalk board or chalk board paint for one of the kitchen walls but we found this peel and decorate chalk sheet instead...












we also found these to go on the main entrance hallway wall...












And of course I found something to treat myself with, yep, finally Riedel. I'm ashamed to say it's taken this long. SO EXCUUUUUSE ME you wine snobs, I actually drink to enjoy and not for the la-di-da factor.
Wow, see I did do a lot and I'm already skipping lots. Let's wrap it up, we continued to clean the house and then went out for Japanese, came home and then started to prepare for the week ahead.

And the most important thing about this week... AILEEN AND JURG ARRIVES ON WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!

Trained, Drank and Getting Ready for Holidays...

Hey, wow, it's been a few days since my last post. The long weekend was great, weather held off and finally a long weekend that was fully enjoyable.
Trained...
Went out for a long ride on Saturday morning in a group of three. Did 75k's and averaged a respectable 27km/h. What a work out but felt damn good for the rest of the weekend. Hopefully I can get that average speed up very soon. I'm trying to drop a few pounds before the winter (that's when the weight piles back on), stay tuned and keep track of my fitness here with me.
Drank...
I'm sure the wines aren't helping the point above but damn if I will ever give up my Venetian and Alsatian wines and German beers.
Getting Ready for Holidays...
Amanda and I started to tidy up a few areas around the house to welcome our bestfriends Aileen and Jurg in a few weeks. We're totally stoked. Worked on the garden and lawn to get it back into shape from all the storms and constructions through the earlier part of the year. We also stripped down two big windows, recaulked everything and then repainted them. Hope they'll last us a few more years before replacing them, although they do need to be replaced soon. It looks tip top now and a few more windows to go.

Gardening...












Window before...












Window after...

Oh ya, painted the garage door trim too...