Sunday, December 31, 2017

So Long 2017

On this last day of 2017, I cannot help but look back on this extraordinary year.

This was really a year of changes and transitions.

My mourning was in a different stage. Less sad and more about the good memories.

I sold the rest of the books, the cds and most of the dvds . That is a great weight lifted of  my chest.

And with all those things gone we can start really occupying the space and decorating how we want.

Speaking of which....

 My Dad never decorated outside for Xmas....But I do!
So I got some turquoise wreaths and garlands from the Dollar store and
some battery operated lights...it looks really awesome at night!

 My Xmas table with Charcoal Snowflake Pyrex and canned cranberry sauce.
That tablecloth was real cute but of cheap quality.....
it is fading on some spots....
a little bit of last minute decor! I was too tired and stressed out for elaborate
decorations so I pulled that one of in less than 15 minutes.
the wooden Xmas tree was handmade by Dan as a gift for my Dad in 2015.
Dad loved it! He kept it out all year round.

I just took pictures of the tree which means that I will be able to post them tomorrow
(I hope) 

Dan being in a wheelchair meant that I was the nurse, maid, cook, butler you name it I was it and I still am but now with Xmas behind us I feel more at ease about being caregiver.

We have 4 cats: one is diabetic and has chronic diarrhea. She needs her insulin and a pill every morning to control the output.
one behavioral issued and needs an antidepressant and has stomach issues so he needs cortisone.
One is not sick but seems to spread some type of cat flu to Bandito (antidepressant) and Meghan...
so since October they need 3 applications of eye drops a day plus some lysine to boost their immune systems.

That makes for super busy mornings!

And I work full time! Bless my employer that allows me to work from home a couple of times a week. Then I can keep an eye of Dan....that fell from the chair and now has bursitis.

The company I work for moved from a dusty dingy building to brand new digs downtown
Montreal1 It is heaven! It is connected to the underground city so when the temperature dips I can go walk, or shop, or lunch in 5 different malls.

 New building, all shiny

  I got Peanuts Xmas shoes!
Thank you Santa!

I would really like to post tomorrow...
Fingers crossed!

Happy New Year!

Don't celebrate too much!

Monday, December 25, 2017

Merry Xmas!

Merry Xmas to all my readers!

I hope you all had a wonderful and safe day!

Things were quiet here....but that is very nice

I having been blogging a lot because...i spend way too much time on Facebook, I have issues with the photo transfer from my phone to my laptop and Dan my BH missed the last step of our stairs on November 30th and has been in a wheelchair since.....

 This is a view of the front of the building my office moved to.

These are the trees in the lobby

 The tree in the cafeteria....as you can see everything is brand new and modern

 This is the tree in the kitchen on the floor I work
on.

On December 11th I volunteered along 
with co-workers at Sun Youth a local food bank and charity.
our task was to decorate the room where the families were going to pick up gifts for their kids.

this really cracked me up...one of the volunteers thought this was an ornament,
but in fact it was a pack of ornaments ! so funny!

On the homefront December was one of the most stressful time I have ever experienced in my life.
The wheelchair, the fact that there cannot be any kind of pressure on the foot, so no walking, no standing , just wheelchair all the time. Dan gets depressed, wants to help (because I do everything in the house and it is Christmas, so extra work)...Dan falls from the chair and now we think there might be a collar bone issue, or muscle shenanigan...we will call a health hotline tomorrow and go from there....

let's just say that I didn't do anything today....i just was...and I ate, watched tv and made sure Dan 
was all taken care of.

I am so thankful for the good care we received and that my employer
is really on board with working from home...

Merry Xmas my friends, enjoy your family time and the season!

Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Feels like the BEST DAY EVER!

Yes it did! but when you think about it I will surely have other best days ever.....

Monday, I went to the city permit office to get a permit to change the front doors....

Let's face it the house is old (125 years old), the doors are falling off (not original but ewww) and
in the last 2 winter we had snow and rain in our entry way.

My Dad had told me (repeatedly) that it was sheer HELL to get a permit from the neighborhood because the house was considered a historical property and blah, blah, blah.....

And last month, one of the companies I had asked for a submission went to the city and were turned down flat! No new door permit, only a permit to re-do the old doors.....

AAAARRRGGGHHHH!

So I decided go and get the permit myself...

 It took 2 hours.....

 But when the clerk told me he would give me a permit
I nearly cried!

I am so happy to get new doors that won't let
rain and snow in!
I am sure Dad would approve!

This is a miracle and I thank God for it!


Have a great night!


Sunday, October 29, 2017

Museum of Natural History

This visit was on our list as well last year....

but we were so tired from walking 25,000 steps the day before....that it did not happen!

This year I was prepared! The website states that for a first visit you need to spend the entire day there....

No way! After 27 years of blissful cohabitation I know how we are...after 2 hours BH starts limping and I just get tired and bored......

And we didn't want to pay the full $36 since we were going to be there for 2 hours max.

So we choose the general admission pay as you want option. That means that you don't have to pay full price! SWEET!
But let's face it we were here for one reason only....DINOSAURS!!!!



How can you not be in awe of this?

 This is mind boggling. This creature was vegetarian????

 The shear size of the specimens is so impressive and the work
to excavate and preserve and this.

The dioramas from Africa are also quite impressive.

 The animals seem so lifelike you think they are about
to run.


 Maybe the picture doesn't do this one justice but you could
feel the depth of the scenery.




The dioramas from Asia on the other hand need to be refurbished.
they were sad and dusty hence no pictures.

After this fantastic visit we took a long walk in Central Park
at 59th street we took the subway and got off at 42nd street Port Authority.

and we got lunch...

but that is for another post

Smell you later!

Eataly and Gato

On last year visit we only walked, we walked so much that we could't walk anymore.

I wasn't ready for NYC public transit...Maybe it is because the first time I took the subway I was 21 and let's face it NY subway had a really bad reputation!
You took the subway only if you really needed or if you wanted to die.....

Anyways this year I decide to grow a pair and master the NYC public transit. The minute we arrived
at Laguardia I asked where I could buy a transit card and off we went!

Armed with our cards, we took the bus and the subway everywhere! If you go get a subway map!

It is so useful!

I had made reservation to Gato Bobby Flay's Mediterranean restaurant in the Village and on the way there we wanted to stop at Eataly Mario Batali's and Lidia Bastianich mega Italian food emporium.

Before going to NYC I asked my BF where he wanted to go. I then make a list and then plan the transit.

yeah I am crazy like that!

Italy did not disappoint! It is huge, there is so much stuff you don't know where to look and there is tons of produce I have never seen in my grocery store (Shishito peppers anyone?).

I didn't take as many pics as I wanted because there was a lot of people as well!

Eataly is a destination for tourists, a mega food emporium for neighborhood folks, a huge food court and a restaurant too!

Did I mention you can take classes there too?

 Walls of cheese people!

 Cheeses you never imagined existed!

 Those are actual wheels of Parmegianno Regianno
not styrofoam mock ups!

  More cheese!

We bought some Italian chocolates that were delicious and 
24 months aged Prosciutto and some weird paper thin cracker that Dad would've loved.

Dad was a huge weird cracker lover!

so we spent less than $20 and were happy. The Prosciutto was melt in our
mouths good ($6)

Then we hopped on the bus for our 6:15 pm reservation at Gato.

We met a fantastic little oldish lady who had lived all her life in NYC.
She heard us talking and told us to stick with her because she was getting off at the same stop.

along the way she pointed buildings where famous people live (Mario Batali we know where you live..... )
and assorted landmarks....

On to Gato.

of course we expected great things since Bobby Flay beats nearly everyone on Beat Bobby Flay....
Now I think this show is rigged!

The place looks great. It is in an old factory.
You can't take pictures because it is too dark. the lady next to me had her phone out with the light on to look at the menu.
we repeatedly tried to take pictures but it looked like crap!

We took 3 bar side amuse bouche (a better term than appetizers because of their micro size)

Seared ahi tuna, eggplant and manchego and pork belly .

Tuna good, eggplant amazing I could eat that every day, pork belly beautifully cooked but 
with a weird sauce.

for our mains we ordered lemon and clam risotto.

it was way too salty, not enough lemon rind or white wine and parsley would have 
been nice for freshness.

we skipped dessert because at $14 a pop we were afraid to be disappointed.

I think Bobby is in love with chili oil because there was some in every dish we ordered.

yes it was thrilling to be in a celebrity chef restaurant but for the price we need actual magic not 
someone going through the motions.....

since I loved the eggplant and manchego dish I looked it up on the internet and there's a version of it
on Food Network by Bobby Flay!

I did toy with the idea of visiting a Mario Batali or Lidia Bastianich restaurant in future
visits but after reading the reviews....I will abstain

The lesson learned here? When you are too famous and too big you can"t quality check the way 
you should!

Thank you all for reading through this looooong post with nearly no pics!

See you soon!

Friday, October 27, 2017

NYC OH How I love you

This will be the start of an NYC series.

We visited last weekend , October 20th-October 23rd 2017.

I planned this trip on my Dad's dime.....

After  his passing in January 2016, 
I learned that I could transfer his frequent flyer miles
and use them...

He had 900,000

In May 2017 I gifted hotel stays to my daughter.
She went to Atlantic City and NYC.

Now it is our time!


Being the crazy planner/vintage lover 
that I am...I needed to visit 
The Salvation Army!

 This SA is on 46th street near 11th avenue.
this is one of the smelliest SA
I've ever visited...
the stairs are so worned and old. The threads are all slick
and you can see the damage generations of thrifter have
done to the stairs....


Great big space and not much to thrift


 

That is the only interesting i found,
I left it there for others to cherish....


This was my 6th visit to NYC in 40 years.
I find that each visit has a theme and for me NYC is so
much more than attractions to visit.
SA was a let down but not NYC!

Have a great night night




Thursday, July 20, 2017

Summertime

And the living in easy...Fish are jumping and the cotton is high

Summertime is one of my favorite song of all time!

Summer on the other hand is not my favorite season....I don't like the heat and humidity and of course I sweat a lot!

Did I mention that I didn't sweat in Gaspesie?

 Just looking at the Rocher Perce cools me off!

 I saw this rock on the beach, actually that is part of the beach
I love the striation of the rock. This is something you see a lot of in 
Gaspesie.


 All along the road there are cute rest areas with picnic tables and
really clean bathroom.
I was so surprised by the bathrooms because we visited a lot of awful ones in Maine....
Sorry Maine, I still love you but that one is Sunday River was disgusting!

 Here in Perce , there is a boardwalk along the river
so you can take leisurely walks.

 This is the room in Hotel St-Germain in Rimouski.
The exterior of the hotel look like much but the rooms
are all renovated and all have a full kitchen.
Super clean too! a lot of storage for your luggage.

 This is the bedroom in Gaspe.
no kitchen but a mini fridge and a coffee corner

 This is the living room in Gaspe. The sofa converts in a Murphy bed!

And this is a happy camper!
The purple necklace is actually my personal
fan! It really helps cooling me off and is 
the best $9.99 I've ever spent!

Until next time.....
stay safe and keep on thrifting

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Vacation!

It has been a really longtime since I posted anything....

What can I say? Life continues.....

Right now I am on vacation and it feels wonderful!

Instead of going to Maine or New Hampshire this year because the currency exchange is so crappy we decided to visit a part of Quebec I'd never been to....

Gaspesie!

 on our way we stopped in Rimouski. this is technically
the St-Lawrence river, but the water is now salty and
subject to tides.



 I was so excited to see so much driftwood!
and sea glass!
Of course I brought some home.....

 This is the view from the hotel. Gaspe is so quiet....
Rush hour is non-existent!
It is a great place to take walks.....

 Of course a visit to the Perce rock (rocher Perce)
is a must when you're in the area.
Unfortunately we arrived when the tide was coming in, so we were 
not able to take pictures of the hole!

I also took this pictures because this is where Samuel de Champlain
laid claim to Canada, thus it is the birthplace of Canada.
It made me feel really proud to stand in the same spot as the founder 
of our great country.

I hope to post soon with more pictures of the trip and some thrifting I did.

Be well!

Monday, June 12, 2017

Woohoo!

I am really happy to announce that the books in the green room are gone to their new home!

WOOT!

200 boxes....OMG


All gone!

 A big weight is off my chest!
I feel I can move forward, enjoy life and have fun!

 Speaking of fun....
we went to an amazing church basement sale....
and of course we are not even out of the car that we spot these beauties...
I need to add Charities to our list of vintage addictions....
the wood will be refinished and we will enjoy those in our 2 living rooms.

 This sweet thing I spotted in a container in a flea market in eastern Ontario....
I just saw the color and knew I had to check it out! 
The seller wanted $7 and I offered $5.....
DEAL! 
I kept it close to my heart until we came to the car...
Good thing I always pack bubble wrap and newspaper in the car!

 This past weekend was actually the first weekend in a long time without rain
and really cooler temperatures.....So we went to garden centers for supplies!
I bought a new papyrus plant for the water garden as well some water lettuces and originating plants.
It doesn't look like much now but as they grow it should look good.

One fountain started...one more to go!
this one is the easy one.the size is manageable and not
too heavy...the other one another matter!

The rhododendrons are in full bloom.
My Dad loved them so much.
And he was always pushing me to buy some...
To tell you the truth they scared the bejesus out of me!
But now that I have 15 in the garden...it is okay.
we do our best and that's it!

What more can we do?