Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly was a girl from Pennsylvania. She became an actress then married a PRINCE. I am just saying… the dream is still alive people.

In Monaco, we visited Saint Nicholas Cathedral, the church where Grace Kelly was married to Prince Rainier III on April 19, 1956. The two met at the Cannes Film Festival and were married eleven days after Prince Rainier came to meet her family and bring them back to be France to be married. The church was also the setting of her funeral. She tragically died in a car accident when she suffered a stroke while driving and lost control of the vehicle on September 14, 1982.

The country is generally very small but the hills and history make it a beautiful principality. If you get the chance to go I highly recommend it. We also went to visit the castle which is open to the public. Sadly you can not take any pictures while inside and I haven't figured out how to upload my memories. 

The biopic below is short video on Grace Kelly's life. It is in black and white which is kind of fun. 

Source

just hanging out in our sunday finest

Princess Erika of Monaco

Nous avons Mangé

France food, food France… it’s basically the one in the same. Of course it was wonderful. I chose to focus on my positive experiences as oppose to my cheese sandwiches with a side of bread (in my opinion the bread to cheese ratio is suppose to be 90 10, I don’t need a brick of cheese on a cube of bread).

A baguette a day keeps the doctor away; or a tropezienne depending on your sweet tooth. Our hotel was fairly central in Cannes and surrounded by lots of bakeries and restaurants. A baguette was only 80 cents, euro cents but still inexpensive.

One of my favourite nights/restaurant, which might have had something to do with the amount of wine that was consumed throughout the meal, was at Le Caveau30. The restaurant had a fun atmosphere and I had pesto tortellini so my food was green which made me laugh. 

Standard

This smell here is indescribable... use your imagination 

little mice 

This restaurant is gorgeous (locking that away for future home decor)

Maybe ill start drinking coffee if they all look like this 

The restaurant below needed its own section because we went there three times! With all the restaurants available to us I would say that makes this one pretty special. As soon as you sit down you get a glass of champagne in your hand. The waiter who is from the south of Italy was sweet and he knew Guelph therefore a keeper. The food... there are no words. I love spicy food and the fact that my pasta wasn't over cooked and my mouth was on fire equals an A+ in my book.

Da Stefano

Caprese salad at its finest

Pennette all’arrabbiata

The spiciest pasta I have every had! It was amazingggg

Mia famiglia 

Guess who was in the South of France pour deux semaines?

I cannot get over how amazingly gorgeous Cannes was. In the past I would get home sick whenever I would go on vacation but now that I am older I appreciate more the privilege of travel. I am not going to lie; whenever we would get in a car in France I would still loose my mind. It makes me feel claustrophobic and impatient and when I am not driving I feel a bit out of control, which can make my mood most unpleasant for those around me.

We started off week number one with a standard car. I laugh at the most inappropriate times so when my dad would stall the car in the middle of the intersection and cars were honking and people were giving us the figure I was hysterically laughing in the back (very rude I know I would stop if I could).

After a day trip to Monaco the car broke down... that was special. After that it was automatic all the way. He was very brave for driving because we got to see all these beautiful cities in France. 

Gordon

A lookout on the way to Gordon

Monaco

Monaco

Nice, rooftop picture from the Musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain

Nice

Waterfall at the top of Nice Castle Hill, the elevator was broken the day we went so it was quite the hike to the top

Nice

Eze

I just love this picture... coolest kids in the water

E

Champagne Birthday

This Wednesday Taylor and I ventured back to Toronto for Shaunas’ birthday dinner! We had some time before dinner so I made her come with me to St Joseph media where a gift bag full of goodies were waiting for me as a thank you for an event I volunteered for. Queen street east and west are not as close as you would think.

Dinner was at La Carnita. I was obsessed with the food, so much so I made Jon promise we would go back on Friday! Sadly when getting ready to go I decided best to check if they were open for lunch and of course they only opened at 5 pm (I worked at 4:30). So we went to El Catrin in the distillery because they serve similar food.

I loved Shauna’s gift and it was fun to buy. I love using a real bag instead of a gift bag and writing in a book instead of a card!  The fact that everything was color coordinated was just the cherry on top. Happy Birthday love, I hope the day was amazing.

Typi(K)al

Necklace from Aldo, I'm in love

Shauna's Birthday Goodies, Necklace from Aldo, everything else from Chapters 

No card needed here

These lights are on my DIY list for a room at my house

Birthday Girl, 23 on the 23rd 

E

Come on, French it Upppp

What TV show is my title from? If you know it we can be best friends.

Emma left for France at the end of June and with three weeks until the rest of our family joins her, I have discovered a new dessert that I love making, Crème Brûlée. I was using a recipe from youtube by Dishin' with Di.  Burning sugar with fire is so much fun and the recipe is easy to make and tastes delicious. I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and purchased a starter kit for 14.99 it came with the torch and 4 oven safe dishes. What I didn’t buy was the fuel for the small torch so I had to improvise with a plumber’s torch (not very dainty).

The most important thing I found out was the importance of letting them cool, otherwise you are serving warm pudding, which Nathan, Robin and Taylor did not seem to mind.

Finally, I went back to Bed, Bath and Beyond to purchase the fuel and while I was there I found little metal dishes for a dollar each. I decided I was going to make them for my Dad’s annual canoe trip. This is no ordinary camping trip he is a fantastic cook and prepares gourmet camp meals for his buddies. Rumor has it they loved my Crème Brûlée, obviously.

This is our relationship at the moment

I have dainty wrist therefore could not hold the torch myself

Papa Bear loved it but he is lactose intolerant so his stomach was pretty upset after. On a side not I did end up using lactose free cream for his camping trip and there consistency was just as good as the ones with lactose for all you with special dietary requirements 

Taste tester 

My beautiful babies glistening with sugar. Stunning. 

Carte postale envoyé par ma pretite soeur  

Final thoughts: Dessert is the best meal.

E

Saint Lawrence Market

Now that I am back in Guelph and out of Toronto every time we go to Toronto we have to make the most of it. I went to the saint Lawrence Market with Taylor the week after we moved out.

Then my parents wanted to see what it was also about. I accidently spent 30 dollars on macaroons. I went up to the counter and said “one of every flavour please!” (Without asking how much they were its not my fault I assumed it was like a 10 for 10 of 10 for 15 kind of deal). What are you going to do, live and learn, or ask before you buy?  Im not going to lie the Atwater Market in Montreal is better and has a bit more variety. It also might have something to do with the city, Montreal for the win. 

Both days were beautiful and we took the go train from Aldershot and Mimico the second time. 

My favourite building and my favourite dad

Expensive but delicious

E