The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve
The Piano Tuner
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Strawberry Fields by Marina Lewycki
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Angels by Marian Keyes
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas
Fall on your knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
The Painted Kiss by Elizabeth Hickey
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Lost Hearts in Italy by Andrea Lee
Late Nights on Air by Canadian author Elizabeth Hay
Saturday by Ian McEwan
We are planning to check out a couple of the films this year..Portugal and Spain look good. See the link here
Yolanda and Paco and their little girl, Vega, visited us in Ottawa this September. They came from Madrid, Spain. This was their 4th trip to Canada. We had a great time catching up and getting to know Vega. Marc and I both think she is pretty great. We hung out at the apartment, took them to our favourite neighbourhood italian spot, Il Vagabondo, and met up for lunch. They went to Nova Scotia for a week after Ottawa and then back to Madrid. See more pics here.
Marc and Dave have been talking about doing a canoe trip down Tay River, very close to Dave and Shirl's (our next door neighbours) cottage (on Crosby Lake, near Perth). So, they did it! Shirl and I followed them in the car. It was a rainy day. So, they started off, did ok, then the river bottomed out. There was not enough water to go further. Good thing Shirl and I were following them in the car to pick them up. We went back to rest at the cottage for the remainder of the rainy afternoon. Dave and Shirl made us a beautiful dinner and gave us tips for a road trip through France, Spain (potential honeymoon trips). We also did a Canadian trivia quiz. I totally lost. Next day, Dave took us out in his boat to tour Crosby Lake. Marc and I went for a swim in the lake before getting back to city life. We had a great time, as always. Check out beautiful Ontario wildlife...here
Mom and Dad hosted a beautiful engagement party for us in June in Leamington. There were about 50 people there: friends from my childhood; family; neighbours. We had a great time and I was able to introduce Marc to some important people in my life. It was also an opportunity to talk to people about the upcoming wedding. There was a ton of food; good company and drink. Thanks mom and dad. See pics here.
Ava Cowan came into the world in June. She is the little baby girl of my brother Michael and his wife Kelly. We were so lucky to get to meet her when we were visiting Leamington in June. She was later than expected to come out into the world, but she made it. We are so happy for Michael and Kelly. See more of this lovely little baby here.
En route to Leamington this summer, Marc and I stopped off at Bruce Peninsula for a camping trip. We were amazed at the amount of wildlife we saw...birds, a beaver!, snakes, fish...it may have been the time of year, but I don't think I've seen so much wildlife in Canada. We also took a night tour to better understand nature once the sun goes down. We learned about frogs, fireflies and had the semi-creepy experience of walking alone through a stretch of pathway at night by ourselves. Bruce Peninsula is breathtaking. I loved the rocky terrain and the crystal waters...I kind of felt like I was on a Greek island. The campsite was ok, we ended up next to a creek, which is not so nice when it comes to mosquitoes. We also received a visit by a raccoon at midnight which scared the pants off both of us. Check out more of our beautiful country here.
Marc and I went to Winnipeg for a few days to celebrate Marc's godson, Isaac's baptism. Marc is Isaac's ninong (Phillipino for godfather)...After several mafia-related godfather jokes, Marc held his new godson. We also got to visit with Marc's mom and brother, Danny and also meet Sasha, our new niece. She looked super healthy and beautiful. It was a short visit, but a nice chance to catch up and talk about the wedding. Click here for some more pics.
This May, my friend Tanya and I took a trip to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico for a week. I had never tried an all-inclusive resort before, so I was game to give it a go. My sister, a travel agent, helped us find the right spot. We decided on Riu Tequila, one of the "Club" resorts, known for its discotheque. Since Tanya and I love to dance, we thought it would be a good fit. We were impressed with the resort. The food was excellent; the pool was amazing; Tanya enjoyed the tequila shots; I enjoyed the margaritas. We absolutely loved the shows, which were performed every night (Casino show, Horror show, Mexican traditional dance)...we missed out on the Moulin Rouge show. 
One last time to Vienna this spring for the UN Crime Commission meeting. This time, I was there for 10 days. One of our friends from the UN who is from Poland, Slawomir, took us to Slovakia for the afternoon and evening. He also took us to see the Opera: "The Elixir of Love". An italian opera involving a poor boy who tried to convince the woman he loved to love him back by drinking this elixir punch. She soon caught on that he went to such extremes to win her love and she totally took the bait. They lived happily ever after. I googled the story before hand, since the whole thing was in italian with german translation. The opera house was quaint, small, very simple. I loved it. Slovakia is quite charming. We went to a little place called Lumbach where we dined and I bought some white wine. I have to say the white wine is marvelous. We opened a bottle the other night, and I was loving it. I also worked of course. We worked hard day and night. I took the final Saturday to visit the Belvedere and also hang out with some UN friends for lunch. That's me and Slawomir in the photo at the Opera House. Here are some more pics.
It has been SO long since I updated. I am going to have to rack my brain for memories. We were in Leamington for Easter this year. We went to church on Good Friday, visited my Grandmas, and had a beautiful and busy Sunday with the family. My sister's kids are at a really fun stage. We played charades and guitar hero. I took many photos with my DSLR. Click here for photos.
Marc and I visited our neighbour's cottage one week-end this past winter and we went cross-country skiing. The conditions were not 100%. It was actually a bit too warm and the snow was sticky. Nevertheless, it was my first time trying and I did ok. I fell many many times. There were some semi-scary hills. Marc fell many times. And Dave fell once. Dave and Shirl's cottage is so lovely. We love visiting them. Please see more photos here.
In October, I went to New York to work at the United Nations General Assembly for a few days. Besides working super long days, I had an opportunity to visit with Mark and Karen, some friends who recently moved to New York and are living it up NY style. They took me to an awesome restaurant called Bone Lick Park, where 5 Canadians managed to drink 17 margaritas in a 2 hour time span. We then moved along to Florent, a French restaurant where we dined and partook in further alcoholic consumption. And I magically had another birthday at Florent...don't know who authorized that. Thanks to Mark and Karen for being such lovely hosts. I had a great time! Only one picture turned out...the rest were pretty blurry, I think it was the margaritas.
Who says Cleopatra doesn't have a thing for doctors in military fatigues?
As if we didn't get enough portaging in July, we decided to risk the September temperatures and go canoe camping in Algonquin. This time, we brought along a bigger crew. The weather held up for us, thank god. We took a different route this time, relaxed more and enjoyed the sunshine. We had an amazing Moroccon couscous one night, and a couple of people on the team risked their lives jumping off a cliff. We watched.
We're back from our Nova Scotia trip with some happy news...Marc proposed while on a hike at Cape Split (kind of ironic, I know) in Nova Scotia..see google maps link. I said yes! Here's a pic of us just after the proposal. In the interim, Marc has made me a ring out of birch bark (a Finnish tradition) and at the proposal site, he used a piece of grass/wheat...so we'll see what the real thing ends up looking like. We had such a great week on our vacation. We drove from Ottawa to Truro, Nova Scotia on Day 1 (14 days) and spent the rest of the week zipping around the province. We went from Annapolis Royal to Lunenburg to Halifax and then on up to Cape Breton Island. It was gorgeous weather and such a beautiful part of Canada. Hope you enjoy our pics from the trip.
Marc and I took a drive down to Elora, Ontario (near Guelph) for the week-end to car camp and explore the area. On our way, we stopped in Peterborough to see the elevator lift locks. The campsites at the Grand River Conservation Area in Elora were not so great...we were basically sharing a site with another group, and the sites were not super clean, but we did back onto the Elora Gorge and you could here the rapids below. (And there were flush toilets!!) On Saturday, we spent most of the day tubing down the Grand River...there were a few rapids and lots of relaxing, enjoying the cliffs and sunshine. We also stopped in at the Elora Quarry, where Marc decided to jump off a cliff...crazy boy. We then went into the town for a local beer and back to the campsite for a late dinner. Sunday morning, we took a hike and then made our way to see friends Kelly and Pruyn in Toronto. Pics of our Elora week-end here.
What better way to end my 2 week vacation than to canoe camp for the first time. We went to Algonquin Park and started up the Barran River. This was one of the most exhausting, fulfilling trips ever. We portaged several times, made camp, collected firewood, made dinner, and by 9:00 PM, we were completely wiped out. We left Friday morning and were back in shower/toilet civilization by Sunday night. it was totally authentic canadian camping. Marc and I went with Sandra, who is an expert canoe camper, and Ihab, who had never been in a tent. I named him an honourary Canadian by Day 3. enjoy the pictures...Mr. Canoehead, Canada's aluminum-headed crime-fighter, made a cameo appearance...
I took my second trip to Vienna this April for the UN Crime Commission meeting. The days were full and so busy, but I found some time on the week-end to enjoy Vienna's beauty. I spent my second and final week-end in Budapest. I took the 3 hour train from Vienna, the view was spectacular. Spring must have arrived a month earlier as everything was in bloom. Budapest was lovely. A day and a half was a tease...I will go back one day. There is so much to explore. I spent a morning at the heavenly Gellert Spa, taking the warm waters and a Hungarian massage (more relaxing than the Thai), and drank red wine on the Danube in the sunshine (which for me is a very good place to be). Photos.
This morning, Marc and I joined my friend Mandeep and a group from Foreign Affairs to Papineauville, Quebec to a Caban a Sucre (Sugar Shack). This is a Quebec tradition involving horses, maple taffy and a lot of really good food. We had eggs, oreilles de cris (Christ's ears), baked beans, crepes and sugar pie...everything covered with maple syrup. I learned that maple syrup starts off quite watery, and once they boil off the water, the thicker, brown syrup remains. See here for pictures.
Last night, a group of us went out for dinner in Little Italy to Il Piccolino's to celebrate Deb's birthday. Deb had the falafal, oh no, I mean the farfalle with brandy sauce. See here for pics.
Marc and I went up to Montreal this week-end for an action packed day. We visited Pippa, Pierre and their new baby Alexandra, and had some phenomenonal Honduran coffee in the cup, on our croissants and clothes too! We checked out the Marche Jean-Talon for the first time--good crepes. John joined us for lunch at Schwartz'. Long line up, but smoked meat was worth it. Marc then took me to see Thomas Fersen perform at the Theatre Nationale...known for his poetic, silly songs.
We are back from our three week vacation to South East Asia. We have so many stories to tell. I will be updating my blog with a commentary on our experiences shortly. We started off in Bangkok, Thailand for a few days, where we stayed with John, Marc's friend from Winnipeg. We then left for Singapore, where we stayed with Marc's friend Fergus, from Winnipeg, but who lives there now. After 4 days of shopping, eating gloriously and visiting, we left for Ko Lanta, an island in the south of Thailand. It was heavenly, sunny skies, snorkelling, sunsets and more good food. We then made our way to Siem Reap, Cambodia where we climbed over temples from the 10-11th centuries and witnessed history being overtaken by nature (see the pics). Our final stop back in Bangkok for a few days before we headed back to Ottawa. Click here for pictures from our trip. Once you get to the webpage, you can click on Slideshow.
