Canada Day Long weekend + a giveaway!

This has got to be one of the top ranked weekends in 2012 thus far. For one, it was incredibly relaxing and two I got to spend it all with my Boyfriend. Now, you’d think I’d always spend weekends with my Boyf. But I don’t. Many of you already know this about him but he’s an Ironman Triathlete and is always on the go, training on his bike, going for long swims and pounding the pavement going for long runs.

I managed to go for a run during the early morning on Canada Day and ended up doing more km’s than I ever have in two years. I think it’s due to the fact that I didn’t know where I was going, and I could keep going and wasn’t thinking about how fast I could/should be going. I ran 7.5km’s in total.

I came back pretty sweaty.

I didn’t run it as fast as I usually like to go, but that wasn’t the point of this run. It was just to get out there and go.Our dog Alfie was looking pretty antsy on Canada Day and the Boyf and I then decided to venture out on a walk with him.

We ended up going for 90 minutes in total. So long but so relaxing!

I even found a set of swing stets and started squealing with excitement and going high in the air. Then Scott reminded me it wasn’t all that high and started poking fun at me ;) It sure felt high ….

Of course Canada Day wouldn’t be complete without Fireworks and some treats! We also heard some hoodlums setting them off at 3:00am that night as well. It woke us up and we were pretty angry about it to be honest, ha..Seeing as we had intended on waking up early to drive to Grand Bend beach!!! YEAHH.

We arrived super early in the morning and reserved some prime real estate on the beach. The boyf and I stayed there til mid-afternoon, cooking in the sun, then cooling off with a quick dip in Lake Huron. It was the perfect day anyone could ask for on a beach. It wasn’t too hot when you were laying down but you did get hot, and ended up quickly cooling off in the water. A light breeze, not windy at all.I’m kind of glad I didn’t bring my iPad or kindle to the beach that day because my Blackberry had to be put away for fear of covering it in sand. Danger bay!

We even brought along some popcorn supplied by Orville Redenbacher, sandwiches, water and apples to chaw on while we were there.

We were done for the day and decided to venture on back to our homeland. It wasn’t long after this photo was taken that I took a big chunk out of my middle finger. I accidentally rolled up the window with one hand while my fingers were still at the top on the other hand. Blood. Everywhere. I silently cried, and I felt like such a little girl with tears streaming down my face while Scott pulled over the car and bandaged me right up. It wasn’t deep enough for stitches, and I think it was just the initial shock and pain that threw me over the edge. I’ll spare you the details and any photos. But I’m all good now, with a nice band-aid over top for a few days :)

Back to the grind tomorrow. Back to reality.

Now for the fun giveaway part of this huge massive blog post!

One of you lucky readers will get the chance to win one of Vanessa‘s tank tops from her Etsy Store at Ruffles With Love.

I could definitely see myself sporting some of these tanks to my local CrossFit box. Love them!! They’re not just for women either, there are some men’s selection on there as well.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enter using the rafflecopter form above. Open to residents of the USA & Canada and it ends on Saturday night at Midnight (EST).

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Saturday solo trip

What did your weekend look like?

I got my Boyf to drop me off at the bus station bright and early on Saturday morning, so I could take a day and just explore shop Toronto. I love navigating the big city and taking the subway and feeling super independent. Sometimes I do get lost, but everyone’s friendly and will help you out if you ask. Though I didn’t feel like asking anyone on Saturday… and of course, got lost.

I snapped a bunch of photos with my blackberry. So let’s just go in for a re-cap!

First stop: Luminato Vichy “tent”.  I met up with Priya, a friend I’ve met online as she previously worked at Glymm in Montreal. Now she’s with L’Oreal and we finally had a chance to meet!

Vichy booth (courtesy of Vichy’s FaceBook page)

I got my skin analyzed. It was interesting to find out that I have dehydrated skin, and not dry. My skin’s moisture level was at 30.6% and should be anywhere between 40-50%! I also got a UV filter snap shot of my face. It was scary looking, but I didn’t have any sun damage on my face, luckily. Since I tanned for about 5 years in tanning beds a number of years ago.

Priya and I went for iced coffees together, spotted the Beibs singing at Much Music, and giggled about how he was actually here and we don’t even like him! Ok, I lied. I like one song. His newest, where he sounds like Justin Timberlake.I wonder if that was really Sarah McLachlan singing next to the Vichy booth after all? Some random guy walked up to me and asked who was practicing singing. I blurted out immediately that it was her, but I got the strangest what the f look from the guy. I laughed so hard, but I mean it sounded just like her! Who knows.

I thought this stage was set up especially for the Lil’ Beibs but apparently the Much Music Video Awards was about to happen that weekend. I got yelled at for going back and stopping to take this photo. On this side of the street, you weren’t allowed to stop and look. Had to keep on keepin’ on. The other side was filled up with teeny-boppers screaming.

One of my favorite places in Toronto: Young and Dundas Square. It’s always soo busy. There was even a 8 foot Spock (from Star Treck) standing around. I jumped a little off to the side when I saw him, and he just stared. Stared! I wanted to take a photo but I didn’t. I have to admit. The only reason I snapped this photo was because I saw a CrossFit billboard :)

Next I went to Forever 21. Sure I may be classified by some as being too old to shop in this store. But I have to disagree. I can’t help but get sucked in. They have such nice, trendy, inexpensive clothes. I have some expensive clothes, mixed in with some not-so-expensive clothes. I like my style and pairing things to make a good outfit. It’s not like I’m shopping at Hollister or Abercrombie plastered all over my t-shirt. Forever 21 has some really nice pieces, without it looking like it’s from there. Know what I mean? If you can make it work, shop there. I wear my Forever 21 jeans way more often than my $100 jeans from Fidelity. I love their $11.30 jeans. I wear them every Friday to work, including yesterday to Toronto. May I repeat myself? They were $11.80.

I spotted some Nike Free’s 3.0 at the Nike store in Toronto. I kind of want them. They’re not as nice as the one’s I already own though ;)

I did a bit of browsing around at Urban Outfitters for the first time in a really long while. There was a band playing upstairs called Young Magic. The music definitely wasn’t for everyone. But I enjoyed it while I was there, and contemplated buying their CD. You can listen to their music on the link I provided just above.

After doing some shopping I grabbed some food…

That was basically it. My entire day revolved around mostly the Young/Dundas area. I had a quick bite at the Food Court (chicken ceasar crepe) and hopped on the greyhound back home. 

What did your weekend look like?

I’ll have another blog post coming up this week of what’s inside those two shopping bags above! I must sort through all of my receipts from the past few months and shred them. Looking for paper shredder ratings is silly. I don’t know why I’m doing it. All shredders really are pretty much the same.

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