Friday, October 30, 2009

The Epic Bread Battle

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that when I'm stressed - I bake. It probably accounts for the last 10 pounds I've not been able to shed off since.......ever :P

This week I decided to try my hand at making bread with my brand new bread maker! In theory, it's supposed to be easy, right? Get ingredients, measure ingredients and dump said ingredients into bread machine -- press start.

My results:
  1. The first loaf came out looking good, but the measurements for the salt in the recipe seemed weird from the get go = Salty Bread
  2. My second loaf was a veggie bread and I had dropped the ball and incorrectly put in 2 TABLEspoons of yeast instead of TEAspoons = Burning Veggie Disaster Bread Nightmare = Ugly Veggie Pizza Scone (I didn't want to waste the dough, so I stuck it in the oven to finish cooking)
  3. My third loaf was a sad attempt at getting back some dignity with the veggie bread. It came out better than my first stab at it, but something was still off = Sky High Veggie Bread
  4. The fourth loaf was back to basics and I re-visited the first recipe. Less salt, but I'm thinking there's something weird with my yeast being used straight from the fridge. This resulted in = Sky High Good Tasting Bread
That being said, the last loaf came out the best - minus the appearance. But I was still left a little wounded by the whole experience. Soooo.....when life gives you bread failures, you make bread pudding ;D And that's exactly what I did tonight.

YUM!!! The bread pudding came out fantastic! Finally after 4 failures, I got something right :D And all is right with the world again.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Glee = Happiness in Songs


When I want to take a break and enjoy some witty sarcasm, good music and love triangles, I try to watch this show. I can't tell you how much I love this series :) Just thought I had to share.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Playing Catch-Up

Hey folks, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I've not been the greatest blogger lately - whoops.

So what have I been up to? Well, I just finished wrapping up one of my last weddings of the season (which I'm a little bit sad about) but that doesn't mean I get to breathe any easier (haha!). I still have lots of stuff on my plate to complete --- but it's allllll good ;)

In time I will share with you what I've been working on....so dear readers, don't leave me yet!!!! LOL! I still have posts to share with you all!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Elvie & Jayesh Wedding (09.26.09)

***This blog post is long overdue - sorry guys for the wait! And it's quite a lengthy one too....hahhaha....

What can I say about this couple? Just that I simply adore them. (Really E & J, I do. Not only are you great friends, but you set an example of what good love can be). I actually knew Jayesh (what? 4 years ago? from work) primarily as a wicked & talented illustrator. Seriously, his illustrations rock!! And when I met Elvie, she was the most laid back, coolest girl I've met in a long time. Leather jacket and all ;)

Their love story started allllll the way back in highschool. Elvie had a crush on Jayesh, and Jayesh thought she was hot. But nothing happened! Go figure. So they stayed friends. But as fate would have it, they would eventually date, fall in love and 6 years later, were planning their wedding.

When Jayesh found out that I was starting to shoot weddings a couple years back, he booked me on the spot. No questions, no hesitations, he didn't even see my stuff before! - he had that much faith in me. So you can imagine that when their wedding day arrived, I was sweating bullets from the pressure....hahhahah.....I had to rock this shoot out!

Elvie & Jayesh, I hope I did your day justice. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for letting me create these memories for you and for believing in my work :)

The day started early in the morning at Elvie & Jayesh's house:


I totally fell in love with Elvie's dress! J's shot (on the right) totally captured all the romantic details:



Make-up and hair were done by the fabulous charmartistry; Christine (make-up) & Chuana (hair). These ladies were hilarious!!! And I love this vintage necklace that Elvie used as a hairpiece:


Elvie had a spectacular henna artist draw these AMAZING designs on her hands and feet! Did you know (according to tradition) that before the wedding night could commence, the groom had to find his name hidden within the henna design? Hey Jayesh, did you manage to find it? ;P Here's a clue (thanks J, for this next shot):





Their ceremony was held at Sunnyside Pavillion - such a beautiful & calm location by the way. It was around this time that it started raining (b0o!) but no worries, the ceremony took place on the Observation Terrace facing the lake:






Officially husband & wife; their union was greeted with loud cheers and applause:


There's just something that I love about this next shot. It's one of my favourites from the day :) It was Elvie's first opportunity to sit down and soak everything in:



Ladies & gentlemen - WORK IT! ;)




Hmmm...how do I even start? Originally the reception was booked at M*****N, but after a huge fall-out a MONTH before the wedding (grrrrr!!! I'm still angry about the whole situation!!), E & J had to scramble to find a new venue. Luckily, everything worked out for the best and their reception was held @ 5th Elementt. To be honest, it was one of the best restaurants I've been to in a long time - fantastic choice! Great food + laid back atmosphere = awesome venue:




Okay, how cool is it to have freakin' LION DANCERS?! OMG. Love it!


Toasting the guests & a quick costume change:


And heart warming speeches:



Elvie's bridesmaid, Becky, wrote a heartfelt song instead of a speech. Definitely a first in my book and the song was crazy good:


First dance as husband & wife:


...and then the party started! Hands down, Indian people sure know how to PAR-TAY!




Elvie & Jayesh, thanks again for an unforgettable experience! We'll get together for beer sometime, k? Much love :)

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Elvie & Jayesh Wedding (Teaser)

Just wanted to post a quick teaser before I head off to work ;) Full post coming very soon.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

CIBC Run for the Cure

I just want to thank everyone who donated to this amazing, amazing cause! You guys rock! :)

So today was the day of the run @ Richmond Green, and we were all expecting the worse.....rain. But surprisingly, it stayed away just long enough for the event to be over (with even breaks of sun!!! OMG!).


There was a huge turn-out:

The volunteers were pretty great at keeping morale up:

The release of balloons at the end of the race:
*Ok, I don't really condone the release of helium balloons into the atmosphere...poor ozone...but for the symbolic reasons in this case, it was kind of nice.

This run was dedicated to the women in my life & Nelly's mom:

*Side note: I also bumped into Sue & Derek at the event, which was an awesome surprise :D Hey guys!!! I'll be photographing their wedding next year, and it's gonna be great!

Friday, October 2, 2009

Dear Autumn,

...welcome back :)

I always look forward to....
  • your yellow-orange-red transformations
  • your cool & crisp weather
  • fall harvest
  • wearing my long sleeved coats & scarves
  • sipping on hot apple cider
  • kicking the leaves on the ground
  • another birth year....
That's what I love about you Autumn. So why have you been cold, grey & rainy for 2 weeks now? PMS? Mood swings?

Please don't hate on us - don't let me down during my favourite season! And tell Winter to keep at bay for a while. I'm not ready for snow yet. Seriously. Not yet.

Thanks :)