PUMPED UP KICKS

Hey guys!

I was just going through some old photos trying to find something to blog about before heading out for the weekend. I found these outfit photos from back in the spring. Sadly the trees are going to look like this again soon!

T-shirt and pants from Aritzia. Jacket from Garage (my sister went back and bought the same one in burgundy). Scarf from my mom. Shoes from Converse (all the rage in Switzerland, coincidentally).

Have an awesome weekend! I hope it's a little less rainy wherever you are.

LOCAL TALENT

You might remember a few weeks ago I was going on about my cousin's local business - MairiRyan Textile Designs. (If you don't remember you can see it back here.) At the time I was promoting shopping local and mentioned the Fredericton Fall Craft Show.

I will gladly admit supporting local business has not normally been high on my priority list. However, after many discussions with my cousin about the frustrations of being a local artist, I realized I should be supporting people in my community! Colour me changed. So forgive me if in the future I'm a broken record about it.

When we went to the craft fair a couple of weekends ago I was determined to turn over a new leaf. Shopping local all the way. Here is a little showcase of the craft fair! And to be fair - I'm showing you products from three booths and two of them are a friend/family member. But I still think they're awesome.

1. Courtney's Creations - find the facebook page here.
My friend Courtney makes beautiful decorative eggs - yes, that's right - eggs. They are an art form called "Pysanky" or Ukrainian Easter Eggs. This is very similar to batik, using a wax and dye method. The eggs are beautiful and a great decoration to put on display or hang on your Christmas tree. If you like, she even makes custom orders. And if you're nearby, she will be at Rhoda's Christmas Festival in Saint John from Nov 14 - 16.

2. MairiRyan Textile Designs - find the facebook page here.
As I mentioned above, I wrote a post on my cousin Dara's largest project to date a few weeks ago - a collaboration with a fashion designer using MairiRyan fabrics. Dara also creates a variety of other products that she sells including Comfort Cathy dolls (microwaveable for aches and pains), hand-dyed silk scarves, headbands, and notebooks. If you are looking for Christmas or birthday presents I would highly recommend a hand dyed scarf! Or even a headband as a stocking stuffer! She makes baby sized headbands too, which would be adorable for a newborn photo shoot.

3. Megan Billings Pottery - find her website here.
I have to tell you - I have no bias here. I don't know Megan, but I have been admiring her work at the Saint John City Market (at The Butcher's Daughter, specifically) for the last four years! When we found her at the craft fair I was so excited to meet her! Her pottery is gorgeous - bright and happy. The colours she uses make me happy. Nothing feels too precious or fussy but there is beautiful attention to design and detail.

Hopefully this will also inspire you (at least a little) to shop locally! Keep it in mind when you're buying Christmas presents this year. I'm definitely trying to!

BANANA BREAD THREE WAYS

It's no secret I love to bake.

Special breads are one of my favourite things to bake and recently I have been making a cream cheese banana bread I found on pinterest. Then I started to think about comparing new banana bread recipes to find a favourite. So I tried out my current fave - Cream Cheese Banana Bread - and compared it with a Coconut Banana Bread and Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread. My mom has a classic recipe she has always made but it's kind of nice to add a twist.

Now, I have to warn you. Hubby was very evasive and wouldn't tell me which one he liked best. He was all, "Why do I have to pick a favourite?" "Why do you always make me pick a favourite?"

So I'm just going on one opinion here (my own). Maybe if you try them you can let me know what you think. :)

1. Coconut Banana Bread. The clear loser. It is a healthy version so it really wasn't sweet at all. I really like coconut but we both agreed it didn't add anything. However, if you're into the healthy version of things, it's definitely the one for you. Personally, I won't be making it again. It just doesn't feel like the treat that banana bread is. I know that isn't exactly a ringing endorsement, but if you're looking for something healthy to bake, here's the recipe - LINK HERE.

2. Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread. We haven't eaten the whole loaf yet (because as you can see we were in banana bread overload so this one went to the freezer) but it was delicious. I would consider this one more of a dessert with its sugary cinnamon topping. In all honesty, I would cut the amount of cinnamon "swirl" in half because it was a bit excessive and didn't all bake into the bread. If I was trying to have a relatively simple dessert at a dinner party, this would be on my list. If you like sweet, this is your option - LINK HERE.

3. Cream Cheese Banana Bread. This is the one I've been making for the last year or so. It takes a stick of cream cheese and it is really so delicious. It is moist and thick and just perfect, really. This is definitely my favourite (although jury's still out on hubby's choice). You can add pecans (which I've done before) or leave them out (which I mostly do). And when you lick the batter off the bowl at the end - someone else must do that too - it is AH-mazing. Since I recommend this one so highly I know you'll go make it this weekend so...you're welcome - LINK HERE.

I hope you enjoyed this! It really is fun to compare recipes and see if you can find one you like best. (One of my best friends spent a summer trying to find "the perfect chocolate cake" and "the perfect chocolate chip cookie" with her mom!) Happy baking.

A FEW THINGS

Hello! Nothing too exciting around these parts at the moment - just looking forward to Thanksgiving long weekend! (And I'm taking Tuesday off to give me an extra long weekend with my boys.) I'm waiting to receive a couple of parcels in the mail that will be big blog contributors in the next week. Hopefully they come soon!

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos I snapped last week!

1. My birthday card from hubby. It's no secret I love princesses - of the Disney and real life variety. And this princess card talks. So cool. When I read it a little closer I had to laugh. I think someone might be hinting I'm a bit of a diva? Or princess if you will? ;)

2. Halloween washi tape I put on cards for my family!

3. The last hydrangea of the season from the abandoned house next door. They're especially pretty when they turn pink! (Our bridesmaids carried white hydrangea in our wedding so I have a soft spot for it.)

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! See you  next week.

SWITZERLAND - POST THREE

This post is going to combine the next two stops on our Switzerland trip - Zermatt and Gruyeres.

As you might remember, the Glacier Express Train took us to last stop - Zermatt. This is a pedestrian only town; the only vehicles were golf cart sized electric go carts. With a glorious view of the Matterhorn (trust me - glorious is the only word that fits there) it is just the most majestic thing I have ever seen.

We spent a few nights in this town and spent most of our time hiking. If I had to choose my favourite activity in the world hiking in the Alps is definitely top three. Besides hiking we ate a delicious meal of flambe steak which felt very fancy and exciting, did some shopping, and went to the Matterhorn Museum (our Swiss Travel Pass was also a free pass to museums)!

I could have stayed there forever. Again, it is a town known for skiing so I like to imagine us going back there some day. The skiiers in the family can ski and I can lie in a hot tub and eat Swiss chocolate.

From Zermatt we made a quick stop in Gruyeres. We only spent one night in the home of Gruyere cheese - the key ingredient in cheese fondu. Yum. We did a little tour of one of the cheese factories but they were done making cheese for the day so we didn't get the full effect. (Again - free with our Swiss Pass.)

This was an adorable town (and tiny!) with one cobblestone street through the center flanked with restaurants and hotels. At the end of the street is a chapel and behind that a medieval castle (and a weird alien art exhibit??). Every restaurant sells cheese fondu made from their own special blend of local cheeses.

The medieval castle in Gruyeres (not to be a broken record but again free with the Swiss Pass) is open to the public so we did a little tour and video which was a good way to kill some time before our delicioussss fondu dinner. Hubby and I keep a mental list of the favourite meals we've ever had (who doesn't?) and this was totally top ten. During dinner a glider plane (it looked like a life sized version of a paper airplane) was flying around the hills and was actually pretty cool dinner entertainment.

The only downside to this stop on our trip was this is when it started to get hot. Like smoking hot. Like make you fight about stupid stuff hot. And we had to carry our backpacks from the bus station up a gigantic hill to get to the town. First world problems, I know, but really you could add this to our list of marriage challenges. ;) Yikes. But it was an adorable town and the cheese was crazy amazing so totally worth it. If you ever make it to Switzerland, it is worth a stop but one night was enough to see it all.