almonte - so historic

After the Herb Fest (see post here), Almonte was only a 10 minute drive away. So we decided to spend a couple hours and check out this tiny little town. It is so cute and simple! A quaint little one street downtown with a few block stretch of window shopping, tiny cafes, and restos all surrounded by beautiful historic mills. It's perfect for an afternoon gateway!

It was such a hot day, and we stopped for a homemade cheddar red pepper scone and some delicious ice tea at Palms Coffee Shop. The staff were super nice and it was a cozy little coffee shop. I highly recommend their ice tea, it was freshly brewed and just sweet enough!

The Heirloom Cafe Bistro's menu looks fresh and local. We were in town too early for dinner, but we will be back to try their menu!

This tea room was so cute. Too bad it is closed on Sunday. Like I said, Almonte is tiny! :)

the herb fest

A couple weekends ago, my Mom and I went to the Herb Fest in Almonte. Both of us, being new to this city and its surrounding nature, were so excited to go to this event and spend the afternoon together.

It was hot hot hot, but everyone was so happy and welcoming in their shaded booths surrounded by the dried up herbs. The event was at the Herb Garden and was loaded with local vendors from all over serving free samples of honey, herbs, pepper jelly, and tea.

We finally got some rain this week, but as you can see in the pics, the drought we had was pretty bad.

We also had a ton of fun in the air conditioned gift shop where I bought these cute little herb containers below filled with dried herbs. They were also nice enough to giving away free water to keep everyone visiting hydrated.

Beside the lavender booth, my favourite vendor served us some tasty samples of Aunt Lulu's Pepper Jelly. My Mom introduced me to this stuff and we left with two jars of Thai and Sweet Jelly that goes amazingly well with crackers and cream cheese!

After the Herb Fest, we made our way to visit the city of Almonte. I will post our pics soon!

just for laughs turns 30!

In the same year I was born, so was the Just For Laughs Festival. In celebration of a milestone (since 30 is a doozy), we decided to head to Montreal to see Bill Hader. We are big SNL fans! And I will be forever 29, well... at least for another 6 months.

In a quick 2 hour drive, we were back in our old French hood eating (no scarfing down) delicious Italian pizza from my all-time favourite resto - Pizzeria Napoletana.

Then we were off to the JFL.

This dude creeped me out! What the...?

Bill Hader scored the big boy! The show was jammed pack.

But thanks to my tweeps in the twitter verse, I was able to snag pre-sale tickets and was in the 4th row. What an experience!! Plus, it was a great 1st year wedding anniversary present.

Throughout the show, Bill Hader hosted different impressions and yes...there was Herb. This poor lady in the audience got ripped on by Herb, I felt so bad for her - but it's Herb, what can you do!?

The show ended with Bill Hader's 'Stefon' skit that was just hilarious. I can't believe that's even him when he's in that character. If you haven't seen that skit on SNL, check it out here.

Great show, great laughs - Thanks #JFLthirty

our first trip to gatineau

This past weekend, my hubby and I ventured off into Gatineau Park on a search for lakes, beaches, and nature. Oh...did we find some beautiful nature! We couldn't believe this gorgeous park (or a mountain as we saw it) was only a 20 minute drive from Ottawa. It's almost a part of the city, which is why Ottawa-Gatineau is considered by many people the same city. Major difference - one side is English and the other side is French. That's all.

Pics taken at Meech Lake

On the way to Champlain lookout we saw so many bikers climbing the mountain. It's crazy how fit these people are, and there are so many of them!

We made it to Champlain Lookout! In the Jeep of course :)

We celebrated with some Jack Johnson tunes, and munched on a fresh baguette with roasted red pepper feta dip as we looked onto Kanata... ah, the simple life! 

Some serious graffiti at the lookout.

Pics taken at Pink Lake

If only we had a cottage for the summer! Gotta luv the weekends.

our week-day in montreal

Oh, Montreal. It was nice to be back for a couple of days. Knowing you only have 2 days to hit up your favourite restos takes some planning.

We arrived in the city Monday night, only a short drive away from Ottawa. The most delicious pizza that we have ever tasted is in this little apportez votre vin house on Dante Street in the heart of Little Italy called Pizzeria Napoletana

Check this out...

So yummy!

We took a short weekday trip to Montreal to see a Black Keys concert. It was unbelievable! It's amazing to see just two guys from Ohio put on this crazy show.

And of course, we couldn't forget to stop by the Distillerie for Happy Hour!

It's always nice to take a couple of days to get away from life!