Hello again, Monday!

Happy Monday! 

To save you from my usual babble, I will summarize my weekend with a short-but-awesome list of what my weekend looked like:

1) We went for a midnight stroll on Thursday night to grab some Whistle Stop dessert poutine. Yum.

Strawberry Dream Poutine

2) I was able to use up a few more of our absurd amount of too-ripe bananas by making these muffins. I used 1/2 cup of white sugar & 1/4 cup of brown sugar instead of the full 3/4 cups of white sugar, and I added about a teaspoon of vanilla to the banana mixture. Next time, I'd replace even more of the white sugar with brown (I'm a bit obsessed with brown sugar), but these were still very very delicious!

Mmm Banana Crumb Muffins

3) I spent Friday night having Vodka Friday with the girls, however I decided to drink pretty much everything BUT vodka, and ended up with a Hangover of Death all day Saturday. No, I do not have photographic evidence of this one.

4) Despite my liver trying to kill me all day Saturday, I was able to acquire two new pieces of art for our walls, created by the ridiculously talented Ashley Wilson.

So much going on in this one!

I have wanted this one since I first saw it. The colours!

5) Hangover of Death finally (mostly) subsided by Saturday night, so we went to a late screening of the newest Happy Madison film, That's My Boy. As usual, Adam Sandler knows how to cause side-splitting laughter. Hilarious movie with a great cast, which happens to include Blair Waldorf Leighton Meester to help me out with summertime Gossip Girl withdraw...

6) I decided to have craft time, so I went on Pinterest and decided to make these Father's Day cards. Super-easy for anyone who may be craft-challenged!

Aaaaand that just about sums up my weekend. How was yours? What did you do to amuse yourself in this heat? 

Blondes and Boobies: Some Local Awesome

I had my first true "girly-gossipy hair salon" day today. Not that they aren't normally a bit chatty as my stylist is also a long time friend... but the two clients who came in just after me were (coincidentally) also girls I had known forever. We discussed everything from male strip clubs & Passion Parties products (totally unrelated stories) to crazed murderers & stalker fans. As cheesy as it sounds - it was kinda refreshing. The only thing missing was vodka....*sigh*.... Anyway, my hair is officially ready for summer, thanks to the one and only Miss Jess of Fusion Hair Studio . I am blonde. Really really blonde.

And sometime in the next 24-ish hours, my hair will also be pink for this weekend's Dragon Boat Festival . My grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, is one of the original members of the hosting team "Survivors Abreast". Typically my mother and I take care of putting together lunches for the 100+ volunteers the night before the festival, and this year will be no different. There have been some years we have also paddled on supporting or community teams, but this year we are both sitting it out... as far as we know anyway. 

Nanny :-)

Now this is where I'm gunna get serious for a moment: To anyone who knows me, you know that my grandmother, "Nanny", is a very important part of my life. Without her influence, I'd never have discovered my love for at least three different activities - riding horses, acting and sailing. She has always encouraged me to follow my heart and live my life with a smile on my face. The love and support from her are so unconditional, so genuine and so uplifting on the darkest of days. She is funny, and clever and so very brave, and she lives her life to the fullest in ways that I only hope I'll be able to match. Nanny has overcome so many obstacles in her life and never lets anything take her down. Most recently she beat cancer - again. Her clean bill of health is still very new, so seeing her fellow dragon-boaters this weekend is going to be even more special than it usually is. And that Nanny, ever the go-getter, has not just one dragon boat team to support her, but TWO. See, she is also the founder and president of Canadians Abreast, Canada's national breast cancer survivor dragon boat team.They have traveled the world over, fiercely paddling for their cause. Consequently, I have treasures from every corner of the globe but my favourite are my photos and memories from last July, when Nanny took me to Sydney, Nova Scotia to celebrate the 10th anniversary of a local dragon boat team. We didn't get to spend much time together, but I was able to mingle with some of her beloved teammates and even catch some good photos of the adventure. Plus, a little bit of sea-air does wonders for a soul in need of a break from reality.

All mushy stuff aside, I had better see some of your faces out this weekend to cheer on the local dragon boat teams as they race to raise funds to kick cancer's ugly ass. 

Now, I sleep.