I'm late posting today - because my Mac died last night :( so sad !

But I really wanted to share my new favourite maxi dress. If you are Canadian - Run, Don't Walk to your nearest Reitmans!


This is dress is super comfy and comes in two patterns. The blue one I got last year (or a similar version of it) and some of my Blended Blog friends bought it while I Toronto as well. I can't wait to see them in it.


This is the new birds of paradise print and I flippen love it. I'll have it on repeat this wedding season.






Linking up with the Blended blog today for the fashion files (which I'm on sharing a different new favourite dress - so check it out here.

WARNING - LONGEST POST EVER.

 Before I get into the details of my weekend, I just wanted to ramble a bit. I've had very few girls weekends in my life. Not that I didn't have friends, I have a bunch of different groups, but having kids so early really limited how many of these weekends I could have as an adult. I also find as a young adult you still hang out with people who don't neccessairly make you happy or bring out the best in you. Hanging out with these people is mainly because you were friends in high school or some sense of weird loyalty that's misplaced. As I'm entering the phase of my 'late 30's' I'm realizing what it's like to chose my friends and I love this. Tanya posted a meme the other day that said:

 LIFE HACK:  you literally do not have to be friends with people you don't like.

This is so true! I'm too old and tired for forcing friendships that make me feel bad about myself. I'm too old for gossip, and drama. So those I don't like, I chose not to be their friend.  The end. But now I've chosen who I talk too and I love all my girl tribes. I feel so lucky to have people I truly love at work and that I'm super proud to call my friends. (it's a good thing cause I see them every day) I'm including Tanya in this too cause I work with her.  And my Fit Fam/Booty camp girls - I cannot say enough about them. Today I went to boot camp, and we all just chatted for an hour instead working out because some of us were having a hard day/week and we just need to do that. And then finally my blog tribe. We all chose to travel (some really far) to spend the weekend with each other and I love that. No drama, no BS, just grown ass women building each other up. Eating poutine, and drinking beer. Makes my heart full.

 Anyways - enough of me carrying on - this post is long enough:

Here's what we did in Toronto


Thursday



Shaunacey picked me up around 4:30pm, me armed with personalized cookies, her with butter tarts - and we were off. Normally would have taken about 1hour 10 minutes to get down there, but it was rush hour so it was just over 2 hours I would say door to door. I was in good company so I didn't mind. We chatted the entire way about random shit, and I tried to get as many swear words out of my system before I was on my best behaviour.

When we arrived at the Grand I was so excited and SOOOO nervous. Lisa & Andrea were waiting in the lobby for us and nerves went away but adrenaline stepped in. They looked exactly like I thought they would. Shaun and I were hot messes (me more than her) after our lengthy car ride so once we got to our room we quickly freshened up. Once downstairs the selfies started right away. One of the biggest joys of this entire week was we were all the same. We documented everything and no one judged. When food came out, so did all of the phones. It was hilarious.









The rest of the night people trickled in. Whitney who drove 5 hours from somewhere south west (I mix up her state with Alisons). And then Alison, Sarah and Katie came in. Lastly Deena & Christy (Lana's flight was delayed) and we all ate hamburgers and chatted away. All of our first drinks were on Andrea's Husband (thanks Mr. Nine!!) and Andrea and I were twinning with our Pink fizzy drinks. I think somoene else may have ordered this drink too, Sarah maybe? I later on Alison and I drank rose, but we capped it at 2 drinks that evening. ( I secretly think Alison would be a fun drinking partner....next year we'll see:) )



Friday.

We got up at the crack of dawn. I was a bit worried about how 3 women were going to get ready in the same space that quickly but we made it work! And shared make up. I also learned the skill of curling my hair while only seeing myself in the reflection of the microwave. #lifehack you're welcome. Also Shaun, Sarah & I were late every morning except the last one....Not sure what that says about us?

We spent 129830 hours on a bus. Or it felt like that anyways. It was also the day of our first group photo!



I also randomly started a photo series of my eyes, and Deena in the background. I will continue this forever.






Our day in Niagara was well spent - Just a ton of bus ridding. We stopped in Niagara on the lake quickly (and I mean quick) but enough time to get ice cream & coffee's and of course take photos.




Back on the bus we went, and then next stop wine tasting.





I've been on countless wine tastings, and this one was decent. I brought the white home with me, because it was pretty delish. I'm not a fan of ice wine (way too sweet) but others seemed to love it. Of course we got a photo. Which I had to photoshop myself into by merging 2 photos into one.



Next up Niagara Falls! Again, I've been here probably a hundred times. I cannot get sick of it. I bring the kids all the time, and am trying to convince Nick to go in July. But even though I've been here so often, I've never done the Maid of the Mist (or the hornblower now it's called). So I'm glad I lost my falls boat virginity with these ladies. So fun!




We had a lunch overlooking the falls as well, and of course quickly walked Clifton Hill. I basically ate all the foods on the hill. Popcorn, chocolate. peanut butter thingys. I know it's not possible to gain 130 pounds in one weekend, but I'm pretty sure I did.






Whitney and I passed out on the bus on the ride home, but I'm not showing you that photo Alison took because it's terrible. (not her photo taking skills, my mouth wide open sleeping )


Dinner that evening was at El Catrin and OMG - yum. They had me at the decor  - it was very day of dead-ish, and totally me. Give me sugar skulls any day. But the food? UGH so good. Also, word on the street is drinking 3 mango margaritas may give you a buzz and say things like 'Penis Knees' to bunch of strangers. So you've been warned. We also showered Shaunacey with gifts for her baby girl who's due to arrive in October and 3 of us got her the same onesie.






Saturday

The next morning I woke up with a head ache (surprise, surprise) so Shaunacey and I walked to a near by Starbucks. I felt much better after that. After coffee and a good breakfast we got changed and headed out to walk the six.





And I got in one photo:




We walked all over downtown, Kensington Market, Little Portugal, Graffiti Alley, Nathan Philips Square, and then took on the Eaton Centre. We had lunch at the Lakeview and ate poutine, and drank some beer and it was delish. Thanks for splitting a club with me Shaun.

I think we left the hotel at 10am and didn't return again until 10pm.  It was a full day of walking, shopping and talking - I loved every second of it.  We split into two groups at the Mall and half of us went to sit and eat and then shop, and the second half just went straight to shopping. Guess which half I was in? GELATO!! that's where I was.

And then we took the American's to all the Canadian stores. Hello Reitmans, RW&CO etc etc. I also had to go to Sephora because the Chrissy Teigen palette has been sold out at the one in my city since it came out and I need it in my life. AND I GOT IT (oh and the Tarte Pro Palette) and also hit my VIB with Sephora. Pretty exciting stuff.




We did dinner at the Pickle Barrel, and Andrea and I got matching Bellini's - peach of course! Katie had a beer bigger than her, and the other end of the table got desserts I was super jealous of, but literally couldn't fit into my tummy that was already muffin topping over my pants.




After dinner we headed back to the hotel and did one of the coolest things ever. We did the hot tub on the roof. Which had a giant movie screen behind us. This is where Deena set off some sort of alarm, and red lights flashed and I basically thought we were going to die, but nothing happened. It was all very straight out of Lost but no smoke monster came, and the engineer of the group managed to stop the beeping. We chatted like women do (like named our hall pass movie guys (and girls))  and took turns pressing the stupid button (see I told you it was lost, it was every 14 minutes too I swear).



Sunday 

The very very sad day. We got up early for breakfast to say our goodbye's to those who had early flights. We got a group photo in our new tops from Andrea, and then had a very long breakfast basically just chatted. The 7 of us remaining hit the mall again for round two of shopping.  I bought a dress from store I can't pronounce, and a MAC highlighter from Nordstroms. I hit American Girl as well, and a few other stores for the kids. After shopping it was time for Shaun and I to drive home, so we said our final goodbyes (more hugs) and headed home back to Barrie. We were both exhausted and emotionally drained I think. We couldn't even make it all the way home, we had to stop for coffee and donuts to get us there.


' I'm drained from writing this, and I've probably left something out.  But luckily we're all bloggers and have all blogged our take on the weekend so I'm sure between all 11 of us, we've covered it all.

And on that note, I'm off to bed.
Peace.

A fashion post from me? Who am I even?? It's been forever, or feels like it anyways. Instagram is just so much quicker for this, but here I am with a post. I've decided I need to bust out the good camera from now on, and teach a child or two to take photos from now on, but for this post, cell phone photos will have to do.

I've already posted my re-cap on what I thought on all of the Blended Blog ladies, and I'm slowly plugging away on the actual Toronto Re-cap of events, (hopefully for Friday) but here's a bit on what I wore each day.

Thursday.




Yes, 5 out of 11 of us wore the same shoes. But let me tell you my feet didn't hurt one bit wearing these (my keds the next day however...different story). I did have a denim jacket I wore with it, but I took it off most of the day and it stayed in the bus.

Friday (evening):


I didn't take a stand alone photo of me in this dress. And I should have because this dress deserves its own photo. I love it. My strapless bra was shit, but if I wear a better one next time I'll love it more. It's from H&M - but they no longer have it online -  but guys it's still in stores, so go get one. It comes in black as well.

These are the only two photos I have of me in it. Bah - blogger fail.


Saturday:

I knew I wanted off the shoulder. I had it in my head I wanted blue, nothing crazy because of the graffiti alley we were going to be shooting at. Though now looking at what others wore, I totally could have. But I did like my top, except it was so windy Saturday the peplum part kept flying up. Sorry to anyone who got a show they didn't plan on seeing:)




Sunday:

First up we all wore our TBB tanks that Andrea gave us (plus a bag full of goodies - she's amazing) and we got this shot of us all in it. This was super early as Lisa/Andrea/Lana had to hop a flight:


After breakfast, I changed - Ironically into this outfit:

I've started this post 10 times. I woke up at 4am this morning with so many thoughts buzzing in my head and jotted notes in my phone about everything I wanted to say. I can't possibly get it all out in one post, because it would be the longest post of life.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to drive to Toronto and meet 10 of (well, I already knew Shaunacey) the most amazing women I've ever met. Each unique and cool in their own way, I'm going to try and put it in words, but please keep in mind I'm tired so my grammar will suck ass.

In order of how I met you all:

1. Shaunacey.

Thanks to you I met these ladies! I think we figured out I met you about 8 or 9 years ago, but we've always had this Photographer/client/friend relationship, but I really got to know you after sharing a room with you for 3 days. I loved every minute of it. From our drive down, to laying in my bed you trying to make my half asleep self watch some video at the crack of dawn, and also opening the curtains in my room to wake me up, and also all of your shopping advice this weekend. Thank you for being my personal shopper, roommate, cuss sister, and friend. I can't wait to meet your new baby, and also can't wait till next year when we can drink ALL THE WINE.


2. Andrea

I was so nervous walking into that hotel knowing I had to meet complete strangers, but YOU ARE THE CUTEST EVER!! sorry for yelling, but I just need to people to know how sweet and thoughtful you are. Imagine if there were more people like you out there, how great would the world be? Every time I see an off the shoulder top I think of you, because no other person can rock one the way you do. I'm so coming to visit and we're going to drink all the blended drinks!


3. Lisa
How did we not get more photos together? You were exactly how I imagined you would be, but better. I love your style, and your perfect hair that not even a hate could ruin. How is that possible? I told you I loved your instagram, but honestly I'm obsessed - I often check it for style inspiration. I loved your idea for next year, and all the themed nights. Bring on Halloween in May! LOL

4. Alison

Okay I'm realizing I need to up my selfie game cause Alison, besides group photos, this is the only one I could find of us. What? Not cool. We need to fix that next time. We're the non huggers of the group, so that makes you secretly one of my favourites.  I love that you are quiet but so funny and also really loved every single outfit you wore. And how you pulled your hair out of a pony, did a hair toss and looked picture ready in 4 seconds flat. That's skill. I like how you say the word pop, and wander random cities to find mountain dew.

5. Katie
I can't believe this is the only photo of just me and my blogging soulmate Katie. The pretty girl from Long Island, who's the same age as me. We're the only two born in 1980 so officially that makes us best friends. Well that, and the fact we have the same taste in Movies, Shows, and books. You also brought Prosecco into my life so obviously I will love you forever. You are hilarious and watching you drink the worlds biggest beer was one of my favourite parts of the weekend. I promise to come to the city, we can go see a musical.

6. Sarah


I hope the above video works. Sarah - I'm so glad you were our other roommate. Not only because we shared make-up and you helped me with my bra, but because instantly as soon as I met you I felt like I'd known you forever. Also you've met famous people and live in Cali, so I want to be your best friend. Besides having the best hair, and awesome make-up application, and awesome sense of style - I loved how genuinely kind you are, and funny. You trying to find someone with a nicer camera so they didn't steal mine was a highlight of the weekend. Also I dig your love of ketchup chips.


7. Whitney
I don't have a selfie with just you and I but I have tons of photos of just you. The girl who in seconds can pose and then change pose again. Remind me to show you a photo of me trying the 'Whitney' pose today.You'll die. I'm so glad we got to sit together on the bus. I liked chatting with you and Alison and getting to know you both. You were so easy to get along with, and obviously our love of the same music and dancing (we totally need a Fitness Marshall Party next year) solidified our friendship in my mind. Realistically you are only 5 hours away so we could totally have a dance off before next year.



8. Christy
Again - another one with no selfie - I need to up my game!  You are hilarious. I loved listening to you talk, and almost felt guilty I didn't go to the gym with you. Though I should have totally. I wish I had more time chatting with you. Listening and watching to you and Deena was hilarious. Especially when you got embarrassed. I love your awesome hair cut, your graphic shirts, the fact that you also don't like All the light we cannot see and the fact you get the 'need' to exercise and the life long battle of keeping the eating under control. Your support and comments while I was on optifast/weight loss program last year meant the world to me. I should have told you that in person but I'm the worst. So instead I'll type it here for the world to read.

9. Deena.

Where to begin here. I'm totally crying as I type. The person I was most excited to meet. More beautiful in person (best smokey eye ever) and just as kind. Someone who could command the room or just sit back and watch us all and take it all in. So effing funny, and curses just as much as me (fuck ya!) and boy do your boobs look good in that tank top from that store I have no idea what the hell the name was. But you dragged us in there, cause the girls held up in that tank top. Thank you so much not only for organizing this thing, but for the kind reminders to get my ass in gear and sign up for things, but you never once judged me for dropping off the face of the earth when I need a break in blogging. Shit, now I'm really crying. I need a drink. Ps. Find me a Jaime, worst case a Roger.


10. Lana

Lana, this is going to sound weird, but I'm so glad you were also tall. Ha! But everyone was so short, I felt like a giant - so I'm glad I could be tall with you. You were so sweet, and kind, and I knew you would be. I liked our chats, though I feel like we didn't get enough time!!  There is something about your voice that I love. I find it soothing. Is that odd? I hope that doesn't sound creepy. haha. I'm going to need you to inspire me now so I can get back on track and work out.

Oh gosh, I think that's it. I'm done. It took me 3 hours to write this post. I need a drink and bed. I'm going to do a Part 2 with details on what we did over the weekend later this week once I can get my emotions in check.

LOVE YOU ALL .