And what a fun long weekend it was! Even with a Tuesday print deadline, I didn't have to work on Monday so I was able to take full advantage of three whole days of time off! And it was glorious.
It all started Friday night. I finished work at 8:30 pm, giving me enough time to hit up the LCBO and buy some delicious perfect-for-the-long-weekend beer. I grabbed a six-pack of Flying Monkeys Smashbomb Atomic IPA, a six-pack of Amsterdam's Boneshaker IPA and two bottles of Trafalgar Ales & Meads Irish Ale. The Smashbomb I'd had before but on draft, not bottled; I'm happy to say it's just as delicious when bottled. It's got a nice hoppiness to it but nothing too strong; it's rather delicious. The Boneshaker was a new one for the Beau and I and it was also really good, but very hoppy. It's the kind of beer you drink when you want one or two, or that you start with before switching to something a bit lighter. The Irish Ale was also really good, but more my Beau's speed than mine. So Friday night we tucked in with some beers and started watching Shutter Island. The Beau fell asleep before the end but it didn't matter - it was on Netflix so we just paused it until the next day. I love me some Netflix.
Saturday morning dawned warm and sunny and beautiful. I had been meaning to go bathing suit shopping for awhile and figured there was no time like the Saturday of a long weekend. While that may sound crazy, I was shopping in the 'burbs; Sherway Gardens was incredibly non-busy for a long weekend Saturday, which was perfect.
I had my mind set on getting a tankini for the summer. I'm not quite confident enough in my tummy to rock a bikini but I've also had trouble finding a one-piece that fits well, being long-torsoed. We're also planning a canoe trip this summer and I thought a tankini would be perfect for that: able to wear a bathing suit to keep cool and minimally dressed but also make it easy to pee in the woods. Now bathing suit shopping has never been a favourite activity of mine but I persevered and managed to buy two suits! There are bottoms that go with these, but they're just black (and I couldn't figure out a good way to hang them below the tops, so there you go).
Saturday night we finished Shutter Island (good movie, but works better as a book), then finally watched The Muppets, which as all kinds of amazing. I love me some Jason Segel. We also watched Chronicle, which is amazing and you should all go watch it right now. Right now!
Sunday brought with it a family outing to a Blue Jays game! It was a blazing hot day but lots of sunscreen made it okay. That and the foot-long, peameal-and-cheddar-cheese-topped hot dog I had. We lasted until the seventh inning when the nephews were ready to go (being toddlers, they did very well!) and the Beau and I were ready for some shade. We came home, showered and settled in for more TV & movies: The Killing (which is finally getting good but barely holding my interest) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (which does not hold up 20 years later, though Keanu Reeves is hilarious).
Which brings us to Monday. We had planned to head to High Park but opted to stick closer to home and hit up the Discover Trails and parks near Old Mill. Even though we didn't have a view of Grenadier Pond, it was still beautiful and peaceful. We spread out a blanket, got into some snacks and read our books. Around us, people walked, biked, ran, played with their kids and relaxed like us. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the weekend.
The whole weekend was made all the more relaxing because we stayed in the city. The siren song of cottage country rang loud, but we opted to make minimal plans (our only commitment was the baseball game) and just do whatever we felt like for three days. We slept in, watched movies, drank beer, got LOTS of vitamin D, ate delicious food and enjoyed being with each other. It was perfect.
