Encore Montreal

Way back in July, I went to visit my friend Nicole in Montreal. I never finished posting all the photos from that trip, so here's the last batch. I figure I aught to at least finish doing that before I start getting into my festival photos from Pandemonium. Not to mention in less than a week I start my pastry classes and I'll probably have tasty things to share with you all too. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Montréal!



We went to a record and book shop, and got a bit lost in the Old Port area trying to find an art supply store. Chinatown was also quite amusing for me, and I probably enjoyed all the cute happy things a little too much hah. But hey, check out this happy little ravioli?!



On my last day we went to the Tam-Tams with some of Nicole's awesome friends. It was a gorgeous day and it was really nice just chilling in the shade and listening to the music and watching all the happy people doing much the same.



I had such a great weekend with Nicole. I just wish I'd been organized enough to go visit more than once this summer! I did so much with my summer though, I can't really complain. If you ever find yourself in Montreal on the right day for the Tam-Tams, I totally recommend going. Cheers!

Pandemonium

I just got back yesterday from the Pandemonium outdoor electronic music festival in Quebec. I had an absolutely amazing time once again. And I even managed to take more than 6 photos this time!

I've been having computer issues though and I'm heading back to the shop a second time to trade up for a stronger unit after replacing my old dinosaur of a desktop. My poor hard drive kicked the bucket (thank goodness for my external hard drive). I hope you're all having a good week, and I'll leave you with this until I write something more later. Cheers!

Meli-Melo Montréal

Here are some slightly-more-random photos from my time in Montreal. We did a lot of exploring in little shops, and I am easily amused by the smallest of details, which explains some of the stranger things I decided to photograph. You'll see...



We stopped to enjoy tasty crepes - so tasty I started eating before photographing - because clearly a day of wandering around the Old Port requires chocolate sauce and whipped cream and bananas, amirite?! We popped into the Christmas Store (where black bear ornaments caught my eye) and a few kitschy tourist shops I can't help but explore. I also really liked the banjo-playing busker with his boat and fishy...



We then wandered through Chinatown but I'll keep those for the last post. This is probably only really interesting to me anyway but I'll thank myself for putting these posts up years from now when my memory is too foggy to remember all the awesomeness on its own!



Happiest street light ever! If more street lights smiled at the world, maybe the world would be a little happier? I hope your week is treating you well so far! Cheers!

Temagami Trip

I was visiting my parents over Labour Day weekend and we decided to make a small day trip up to Temagami to climb the fire tower there. We stopped at a lot of the scenic rest areas and little trading posts that litter the highway along the way and I found plenty to amuse myself.



Skunk fur mitts, anyone? I swear, if I'd have had the $175 to spare, I'd have bought those puppies. I have a peculiar fascination and adoration for strange furs, skunk in particular. It's actually quite soft and there's no icky smell at all. Or how about a hand-carved moose statue? Everybody needs one of those...

My other fascination with mushrooms (come on, mushrooms are adorable) tends to have me falling behind the group whenever I go into the forest. I'm always taking another photo of some sort of fungi or other.

The fire tower was supposed to be a money-making endeavor for the town, but the buildings at its base were closed and we learned from a local that it had been so the entire summer season. A shame that something like this isn't being taken advantage of and enjoyed by more people.





I really don't wear pants, to do anything, even climbing fire towers. My leggings helped protect my decency, and a good thing I had them on. It was so windy up that tower! My dress was flapping about like nobody's business.

The view at the top was fantastic, even if my knees were kinda wobbly by the time I got to the spiral-staircase section of it. I'm not particularly afraid of heights, but I'm not used to them either and it can still make me rather unsteady.





And to think, that when we headed out that morning, it was dark and rainy and cold. It turned into an absolutely beautiful day, warm and sunny. We definitely got lucky! Especially when you consider that it went back to raining cats and dogs on our way home again.

Afterward, we wandered around the town a bit - there really wasn't anything to do, - and decided to go check out a small pond we'd gone to on our first visit years before. I have a memory of walking across the boardwalk through the pond and seeing dozens of turtles everywhere.

Clearly, the place hasn't been maintained as the boardwalk had collapsed and beavers had incorporated a chunk of it into their dam. It's amazing how much nature can do in a few years. I actually find it comforting that our mark on this planet is so easily broken down.



It was a lovely weekend, and a nice way to end the summer months. I'll leave you with this last photo, one I took at a rest stop on my drive back to Ottawa. Oh Northern Ontario, how you capture my heart! Cheers everyone!

Motion Notion Part 1

I finally got around to sorting through all my festival photos. There are still a ton I want to share with you guys though, so this will be a two part deal. I hope this doesn't bore anyone too much, what with being a little out of the ordinary compared to most of my posts.

But first thing's first! What is Motion Notion? As I'd mentioned in a previous post, Motion Notion is an electronic music festival, molded after similar European festivals experienced by the event founder. It's a haven full of free spirits, love, charity, art, giving, friendship and great music!

We arrived to the site early - land leased from a Drayton Valley rancher - and were able to snatch up a cozy campsite down in the woods. The later you show up, the more likely you are to be stranded camping up in the bumpy unshaded field, or worse, next to the road! Instead, we had these lovely birch trees surrounding us. And once everything was set up, I promptly blessed the campsite with some bubbles!

Afterward, as we surveyed the festival grounds, we got swept up into last-minute sign and decor painting. Some friends of mine from Ottawa - originally from Alberta - were already there and had been volunteering to help set up the festival. It was nice seeing them there but due to several unfortunate events and unforeseen circumstances, we didn't get to spend much time together.

After we were done painting, we made our way back through the vendor area and toward the beach. I got slightly sidetracked on the way though, after spotting an amazing leather mask, made into a spider! I wanted it so badly, but not for $88! Worth the price perhaps, but not in my budget.

The Pembina river flows through the land where Motion Notion is held, and we were blessed this year with a lovely sand beach! The high water level and strong spring currents had washed up several hundred feet long and several feet deep's worth of fine white sand. Wonderful!

We took it easy that night but were up and about Friday afternoon, dancing to a set by King Kornelius. It's a bummer more people don't show up to the daytime sets, some of them are amazing!

And then of course we went to the beach again. Because seriously, how gorgeous is this beach?! Not to mention there was a stage there too, so music was pumping and people were dancing here as well.

Once back to our camp again... I got everybody into a little bubble-blowing fun! Someone had had bubbles around the fire at the festival last year and I knew I wanted to bring some with me this time around. It was such a great idea! Everybody had fun blowing bubbles.

After spending a little time at the Main Stage for the Psy Amigos set, we capped off our Friday night by spending some time at the Woods stage (last photo). We were dubstepping ourselves into madness listening to Subvert. It was packed back there, and the sound was crazy amazing with a great vibe.

The next photo is my favourite from the WHOLE festival. It's nothing amazing, but it's myself and my boyfriend, and we are happy, and we are together, and it means a lot to me. I plan on framing this and hanging it somewhere I'll be able to see it all the time, as a reminder of what I'm working toward.

Yes, our hair is practically the same colour!

I hope you enjoyed this post! I'll be back with the rest of the photos soon. Cheers!