A Wedding, Some Goodbyes, A Lighthouse, A Thunderstorm, and A Lost Purse

And so, I have come to the end of my East Coast entries. (About time, I know...)



Steph and Andy's wedding was absouletly beautiful. Natalie and I headed to the Ceremony location early to help set up some things, then she set off to help with the girls hair and make-up and Laura and I got ready at Mamma Jan's (who by the way was the most wonderful of women).



The ceremony was fantastic. I don't think there was a dry eye in the crowd. The bridal party looked great, the ring bearers and flower girls were adorable, the bride was glowing, and the groom..well..he was crying too. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I love when my friends are in love. And I was so happy for the two of them. The Reception was also fantastic, the food was delicious, the candy bar was a hit, and the dance was a blast (even if it was just a handful of us on the dance floor!).



After saying goodbye to the newlyweds some people headed off for some late night adventures. I instead decided to SLEEP since I knew we were powering through on the trip home. The next morning we headed back to Peggy's Cove since a few people had never been. Then we had some fish and chips from Andy's fish and chip stand. Then we said goodbye to Natalie who was headed off to England to teach (Hey! You can read about her adventures here... ) THEN we started our trip home.



It started off pretty good. And then. We hit a HUGE rain storm. So our plans of camping out were shot down. But not without heading quite out of our way since we were caravaning! Yikes. We ended up trying to drive through the night, but pulling over at a motel to get a few hours of shut eye before getting back on our way. By mid-morning/early afternoon we had just made it into Ontario and decided to stop for some food and coffee. As we left, I didn't realize that I left my purse hanging on the back of my chair. In fact, I didn't notice until about 4 and a half hours down the 401. Needless to say, I was freaking out. Thankfully, Cassy happened to be driving by JUST as I discovered my mistake, and was able to grab my purse and express mail it back to me! Crisis averted.

And so, by 4pm we had made it to Bowmanville, where I was dropped off at Allyson's, and my exciting and adventurous road-trip came to an end. It was a sad feeling, I had gotten quite used to Bappy. But I was pretty ready to have clean clothing and not live out of a suitcase.

So. Until my next adventures! (big, or small)

Peace and Love.

In the Land of Anne and Peggy...

Okay fine. I never actually made it to Green Gables. But..that only means I get to go back someday, right!?

Regardless, our time in PEI was awesome, an adventure at times, but awesome none-the-less. Our experience of PEI was an adventure right from the start. As we drove over the confederation bridge it was pouring rain, and we couldn't see a thing. Our first stop in PEI was the visitor center. We had little sleep, and all our sleeping bags and camping equipment was wet, and we heard from the news that it was supposed to be a rainy day. So, we thought that we'd fore-go the camping for the night and book ourselves a hostel. Turns out that last minute hostel-bookings are pretty hard to come by. And we ended up in a "guesthouse". A guest house is pretty much just a nice way of saying a room in someones basement. And what a house this was! The man was partially deaf (approximately 85 years old) and ALL the other guests were at least 65+. When he signed us in we informed us that he usually went to bed around 10, and that if we were going to be later just to ring his doorbell and the lights in his room would turn on, he would wake up, and then let us in! Strange. We quickly changed, got ready and were out to explore Charlottetown ASAP.

I LOVED Charlottetown! It has a pretty small-town feel, but there was still lots to do! We talked to lots of locals and figured out the best places to go, and the best places to eat! Several locals recommended the "Downtown Deli" to us, and we were NOT disappointed! We had panini's full of deliciousness! The owner was friendly and helpful, and the staff was great as well!



After the downtown deli we explored the city a little more, found some cute shops, consignments stores and eventaully stumbled upon an adorable cafe called Leonhards which we spent some time sitting having a little tea party. Fantastic :) We even met the owner and chatted with him for a while. Turns out he and his wife came from Germany for a visit, loved it, ended up staying and opening a bakery/cafe! Pretty cool guy.



After out time at Leonhards we headed to the harbour, ate some ice cream, walked around, and took a nap in a park :) Then it started to rain so we ran for cover and then decided to go have some local brew and fish and chips at a pub some locals had told us about. Man, those locals know their stuff! Brown bag fish and chips and a pint of wheat beer. Yum! To end the night we headed to a club where a few bands were playing. They were so fun! A great way to end our night in Charlottetown!

The next morning we packed up our stuff and were out of our "Guest House" as quickly as possible. We drove (and got lots a few times) to a hidden little gem of a beach off the beaten path. It was great to just spend some time relaxing and soaking up some sun! We even braved the FREEZING cold water to catch some waves. It was great. We left just in time to drive through a rain storm, and ended up at a RED SAND BEACH after grabbing some locally grown (are you sick of the word local yet?) veggies, buns and cheese for a picnic! Along the way we made a few pit-stops to some cool lighthouses, etc. It was AWESOME.



And then...we headed back over the Confederation Bridge ($42 later!) and onto NOVA SCOTIA! We arrived at Steph's house around 6 and were reunited with Steph, Andy and Cassy! So nice to see some more familiar faces, and it got us excited for the reason we were in Halifax, the wedding!



Over the next few days the wedding party were all pretty busy doing wedding-y things, so Natalie and I got some time to explore Halifax and Area! On the Thursday we went to an adorable fishing village called Prospect, then onto the tourist ridden Peggy's Cove (still amazing though), and then out to Halifax for what else...seafood dinner!



The next day we went into Halifax again to explore, do some shopping, get some coffee and then pick up Laura and Chris from the airport! After grabbing Chris and Laura we went out for some GREAT food at a place called the "Wooden Monkey". Natalie insisted that she had the BEST soup of her LIFE. Pretty bold statement if you ask me! I honestly LOVED Halifax. Totally a city I could see myself living in!







We headed back to Stephs and then to the hall to help set up for the reception after dropping Chris off to play some mini-put with the boys. We took the rest of the night (okay so like past 10pm) easy...since Saturday was...WEDDING DAY!

To the East!

Yes. This has been a while coming. But I am finally getting around to it!

This summer was great. I got the opportunity to do all sorts of fun and exciting things. One of those things was take a road-trip out east with two friends! The furthest in Canada I had been before this was Montreal, but it seemed like everyone I knew was making the trek out east this summer, and I had only heard wonderful things. The end goal of the trip was to arrive in Brookside, Nova Scotia and attend the wedding of Andy Sanchez and Stephanie Fraser, two friends who have meant a ton to me over the last several years!

On August 12th Lindsay picked me up in Oshawa, and we set off to Ottawa to meet up with Natalie at her parents home. This trip, as big as it was for me, was even bigger for Natalie, she packed up her whole life into two huge suitcases and prepared to move to the UK right from Nova! So on Saturday morning we spent some time packing and repacking everything to fit into our little car, and away we went! We mapped out a general route, but had nothing specific planned or booked, just going with the flow. Exciting...and a little out of my normal planned, list loving personality!

By about 4pm we arrived in Quebec city, and just by chance we happened to end up wandering into one of the most historic parts of the city. I loved Quebec city, it was beautiful and had so much history. It also seemed a lot more laid back than a lot of cities I've been in (well..I guess compared to somewhere like Seoul...haha). We walked around, took some pictures, stopped into a few shops, and finally decided to get some real authentic Quebecois poutine. Yum. Finally we decided that we should probably get a move on since we had no idea where we were going to spend the night. We drove a few more hours and then decided to look for a place to spend the night. Our first stop was to a property full of cottages where we asked the owner if we could pitch our tent for the night. Well..Natalie asked, since she's fluent in French. Lindsay and I felt a little out of our element with our gr. 9/10 French. Yikes. We were unfortunately unsuccessful in our pleas, and ended up stumbling upon a campground at 10:30pm who let us in even though they were close. So, using our headlights, we set up our tent in the dark. Good start to our adventures.

The next morning however we realized we may have taken longer than we thought to set up the tent as our car battery was dead and our car wouldn't start. We recruited some help from a nice guy from Guelph who was staying one campsite over, and after boosting us he stood and waved as away we went! This day was probably my favorite of the entire trip. We decided to take the highway along the Gaspe penninsula. And honestly, if you ever get the chance, I'd highly recommend this drive! It was probably the most beautiful drive I've ever taken. We (being girls) would squeal around every turn and yell "let's stop!". We'd jump out, take in our surroundings, snap a few pictures, get back in the car and keep driving. By the evening we had arrived in Gaspe. Our original plan was to camp in the National park, but some lovely locals told us of a "cheap" campground, so we decided to go check it out.

What we found was the COOLEST campground in the world...I'm sure of it. The staff were great, there was a main building with kitchen facilities, games, and ping pong. Out the back there was a fire pit, and hammocks which were on the edge of a cliff overlooking the mouth of the St. Lawerence river. Amazing. We went out for some awesome local seafood and then hung out and met people from France, Italy, England, the States, and all over Quebec! The next morning we took it easy, ate a nutritious and delicious meal, and then were back on the road! The east side of the peninsula was also beautiful, but we found it a little more touristy (yes. even though we ourselves were tourists.) Halfway through the day we made it our goal to get into and stay the night in New Brunswick.



And make it to New Brunswick we did. We had called ahead and booked a campsite, but at the last minute we decided against it and ventured off the beaten path to a beach were we decided to pitch our tent for the night. So we set up our tent on the beach at midnight. We thought we were being super adventurous, a little rebellious, totally cool. We envisioned waking up in the morning and eating muffins as we watched the sunrise. All of those were good thoughts, and probabl would have happened if a huge storm didn't roll in about an hour after we had gone to bed. So instead of waking up to the sunrise we woke up to a storm, high winds, and the tide creeping closer and closer. Not as idealistic as we had pictured....

BUT. We moved on. Across the Confederation Bridge and to PEI to be exact!
So, up next. PEI and Nova Scotia. Stay tuned!

A Wedding Weekend in Lindsay!

A couple weekends ago I was part of one of my dearest friends wedding! Nicole and I have been friends since high school, but became a lot closer when we decided to be roommates at Redeemer. We were in the same circle in high school, but not extreamely close, so at first I was a little nervous. But after spending most of the summer before university together I knew it would be great.

About half-way through first year, I knew Nicole had met the guy for her. Adom Postma. Dorm 24. Our late-night hang out, pranking, trouble making friends.

This past year as I was off in Korea, Nicole sent me an urgent message while I was at school telling me that we needed to skype asap. I ran around to find a computer with skype on it. And when I did I made a fool out of myself as I screamed with joy in a staff room full of people as Nicole told me that she was engaged! A week or so later Nicole asked me to be part of her special day. Very exciting stuff.

Because of my unexpected early return home, I got to spend a little more time with Nicole this summer, and I asked question after question about wedding-related things.


The wedding could not have been more beautiful. I just love when my friends fall in love and seeing them soo happy makes ME soo happy! I was really excited to be a part of Nicole and Adom's special day. Nicole was also THE most calm and collected bride I have ever seen. Nothing seemed to faze or upset her. A very easy wedding to be a part of! Nicole, you made a beautiful bride, and I love you!

A Girls Weekend

We said "okay, now...let's take a good one!"




Obviously that did not happen. Awkward.

Can`t get enough....

I`m going to stray a little from my Korea focused blogs and just highlight a few of my favorite addictions at the moment!

1. The Grand Magnolias.
This band is seriously kick-ass. Yes...it took American Idol to introduce me to them, but I`m alright with that..because at least I know about them now. I`m the type of person who makes playlists for everything, I have one for getting ready, cleaning my apartment, the gym, cooking, work, etc. That being said, there are very few bands who can be in all my playlists. The Grand Magnolias are one of those good for everything bands. I bought their album a few weeks ago and haven`t stopped listening to it since. Fantastic.

Check them out! http://thegrandmagnolias.com/

2. Anything Coffee related: Okay, Okay, Okay. We all know I`ve been addicted to coffee for some time now. But lately it`s been outrageous. Anything remotely coffee related has priority in my life (sad, but true). I`m especially loving all the ridiculously cute coffee mugs you can find here in Korea. It makes brewing your own coffee at home, instead of buying it out, SO much more appealing.

3. Korean Mandu`s (Dumplings): Sad but true. They are my favorite korean lunch or snack. Dumplings filled with glass noodles and pork with soya sauce. You can just follow the street side stands with steam rising for a delicious treat. I have to lay easy on them though if I want to fit into my dress for Nicole`s wedding :) haha.

4. SHOES. I`ve become addicted. Finding shoes in Korea is SO difficult for those of us with bigger North-American sized feet. HOWEVER, ordering them wholesale from China...AMAZING. All us girls from school got together a few weeks ago for some wine, cheese, and online shoe shopping. Pretty awesome, and SO cheap. I`ll admit...I bought too many pairs. But they are beautiful. Check out this awesome website, especially if you live here in Korea and have big north-american feet like I do!! **Warning** -You have to buy over $100 worth of shoes!

http://www.lovelyshoes.net/


5. SEOUL!!!: I don`t know how I could possibly express my feelings towards this city. I love it! The busy-ness, the people, the hustle and bustle! It`s totally wonderful. If I decide to come back to Korea after this year I think I want to live on the outskirts of Seoul. Although I think I would spend WAY too much money shopping if I did that! I whole-heartedly agree with their slogan - Seoul, the soul of Asia - LOVE IT!


And that`s all! Those are my 5 big addictions at the moment. I would have added chocolate to that list, but I gave it up for Lent. (YIKES! SO DIFFICULT!)

Peace and Love friends! :)