weddings, sisters, mothers

 (george street wedding planning)

(las vegas wedding dress shopping)

there is a truth about wedding planning that i wasn't expecting. it has brought me even closer to my mother and my sister. we have always been a close trio, but for the past year we text and talk every. single. day. i love it. when i could not look at one more pair of cream/white slightly wedged sandals that would suit all my bridesmaids, my sister was able to find something perfect. when i made the decision to keep the wedding really small, inviting only my most supportive and positive friends and family, mom was all about that. when j and i wanted to go paperless, they were on board. feeling pretty grateful for them, and looking so forward to marrying j.

side note: j played our "wedding song" last night, and we cried. well, i cried, and he looked more emotional than usual. love him so much.

healthy chocolate banana pie

this pie is the best thing ever. i used this recipe for the crust, this recipe for the chocolate amazingness, and i layered in some bananas. this should be made.

chocolate banana pie:

crust:
2 cups almond meal
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon honey

heat oven to 350. mix ingredients in the pie plate. add a tiny bit of water if it is a little dry. push into pie plate and up sides with fingers. bake for 10 minutes or until browned. cool.

filling:
1 package silken extra firm tofu (must be silken. i have tried regular tofu, and it does not work)
1 tsp cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp almond milk
tiny shake of salt
1 and 1/3 cups chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar, melted on the stove or in the microwave
2 tablespoons honey
1 banana

place all ingredients except the banana in the food processor. slice the banana and spread the slices on the almond crust. pour the chocolate filling on top of the bananas. smooth it. i drizzled some extra melted chocolate on top. put in the fridge for at least an hour.

gander's coffee scene

the coffee situation in gander is the most major issue j and i have with living here. so this is what is up: there is this one little coffee shop that used to be an extreme pita. they have not changed the decor, so when you go in, you feel like you are in the extreme pita, not the coffee shop. there is coffee, some saran-wrapped baked goods, some wraps. this one coffee shop closes at 4:30 pm, and is closed on sundays. this is all not great, but ok. BUT. the very first week we moved here, we visited this coffee shop. the tap at the sink by the cash was going full blast for no apparent reason. j asked about it, and the owner/manager said that it was broken and they just never bothered to get it fixed. we have stopped in every month or so since then, and the water is always running. today we walked by and the water was still running. that is a lot of water. 10 months of constantly running water. SO. we go to mcdonalds for coffee now. the coffee is good. and we use our bodum all the time. i really miss sitting in a coffee shop reading on a saturday afternoon though.

on this weekend

 (j at a lobster restaurant near Summerford, NL)

(what i am assuming is lobster catching paraphernalia outside the restaurant)

 (dad recently gifted us this album. my absolute favourite album of childhood)

(the situation in the backyard) 

(post 5K run sunday morning) 

(medals. ps: j came in first, i came in 25th or so) 

(the latest book we are reading to each other)

it was such a good tiny town weekend. saturday we drove a few hours to check out a lobster restaurant that recently opened for the season. we listened to cheap trick on the way. i grew up listening to this record, and i know every word, even the little comments they make between the songs. sweet road trip music. soo the lobster restaurant was pretty cool and we will totally go back even though it is two hours away. sunday we did our 5K, which was a breeze for j, but a struggle for me. it felt awesome to finish. i was trying to keep pace with this one 10 year old girl. she totally beat me. then sunday afternoon we did a little reading out of our latest book. i am looking forward to watching the movie now.

when we drove by the airport this weekend (which is at least twice a day since this town was basically built around the airport) we both looked longingly. there's nothing quite like jumping on a plane to somewhere. our next trip is our costa rica honeymoon, which i am basically already packed for. quite looking forward to that one.

happy weekend

i think this is the weekend that gander is finally going to have a bit of warmish weather. j and i have big plans to eat outside a lot and go hiking. and we are running a 5K tomorrow morning. this is a big deal for me, not so much for j. i am even a little nervous about it. and as the wedding gets closer, i get more excited. how often do you get all your favourite people in one place? my florist sent me pics of a trial bouquet with peonies, hydrangeas, roses. i am completely in love. distance wedding planning is not so bad.