Happy January, Happy New Year!

Hello friends!  It feels good to be back after several weeks since my last post.   Let me begin by wishing you a very happy new year!  I do hope 2015 is off to a great start for all of you!

I want to say a big thank you to my blog friends and followers who come to visit every once in a while,  read my posts, and take the time to leave a comment.  Your comments make me smile!  They let me know that yes indeed, there are people out there who enjoy reading what I post!  So, again, thank you for your friendship and support this past year.  I hope to see a lot more of you in 2015. My world is a happier place with you in it! 

Are you curious as to what I have been up to these past few weeks?   Well, let me show you! 

December is a very busy month for our family.  Both my husband and I celebrate our birthdays in December, and of course there's Christmas, and the holidays!  Those two precious weeks of Christmas holidays are my favourite time of the year.  My husband tries to schedule the same time off  work as our girls have from school, so that we are all home together for Christmas break.  Lucky for us, it worked out perfectly this year! 

My darling husband, Nuno, celebrated his birthday on the 14th of December!  I baked him his favourite cake, Victoria Sponge (filled with homemade buttercream and raspberry jam) and decorated it with vintage cake toppers - evergreen trees, chopped wood and an axe, He recently taken on a new hobby - collecting and restoring old axes - so it was the perfect theme for his cake!

These are some of the presents waiting to be open on Christmas day.  Isn't the tree skirt beautiful?  I especially love the ruffled edge!  I had been searching for a red/white gingham tree skirt but to no avail.  One of my dear friends found one and mailed it all the way from the USA to my door!  How lucky am I?

And this is what Christmas morning looked like at our house!  These were the first gifts my girls wanted to open - their gifts to each other.  Annabel bought Peter Pan for her sister with her savings (Anita LOVES Peter Pan) and Anita bought her little sister this giant Mickey Mouse stuffy because "Mom, she always hugs it whenever she walks into The Disney Store!".

This is me with my husband and my girls celebrating my 38th birthday in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.  This is where I spend my birthday most years.  It's my favourite little getaway! A place that's far enough away, but close enough to home.  Niagara-on-the-Lake is a couple hours drive from where we live and has become a much anticipated birthday tradition for all of us!

This is the famous gazebo situated at Queens Royal Park, overlooking Lake Ontario.  On clear days, you can see the CN Tower and the Toronto skyline across the water! Many couples choose to perform their wedding ceremonies here.  Isn't it romantic?  This gazebo was actually built for a movie filmed in the 80s, called Dead Zone,  When the movie was finished, the gazebo was donated to the town.  Whenever I visit NOTL, I always stop here to take a picture.  

This is Queen Street and in the center is the Memorial Clock Tower/Cenotaph .  This heritage district has plenty of shops, one-of-kind boutiques, galleries, and eateries.  It's quaint, historic, romantic, and I fall more in love with it each time I visit!  I took this photo before the sun came up, around 6:30 am on a frosty morning stroll through the deserted streets. 

This is the lovely hotel where we stayed for two nights.  It's our second time staying here, and we hope to visit again soon! 

I will leave you with one last photo.   I took this shot the morning before we left for home.  As you can see, it started to snow!  Niagara-on-the-Lake always looks so magical in the snow.  The snowflakes fell fast and furious and within minutes, everything was covered in white.  I couldn't resist taking a photo at the corner of King and Queen Street where the glorious Prince of Wales hotel lies.  Isn't it a beautiful scene?  It was pure magic!

Here's wishing you a magical 2015!  May this new year fill our homes with love, peace, joy, and laughter!  Happy January, friends, and happy new year! 

  

Cheers to a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my friends and followers!  May 2013 fill your lives with an abundance of love, good health, and happy days!   I hope you all enjoyed a merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season!  I expect you spent precious time with friends and loved ones; opening presents around the Christmas tree; talking, laughing and reminiscing.  Did you share a delicious feast with all the trimmings?  Did you sleep in and stay in your pyjamas all day long?  Did you take a drive or hop on a plane to visit family or did family come to visit you?  Oh, aren't the holidays wonderful?!
 

Our Christmas tree

We at the Antunes residence have been keeping busy, hence, my blog absence for several weeks.  December was filled with many blessings.  We celebrated birthdays...four of them to be exact - my husband's, my father-in-law's, my sister's and mine!  We attended the school Christmas concert, exchanged gifts, spent precious time with family and friends, AND we still managed to get away for an overnight trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake to celebrate my birthday.

Singing happy birthday to Nuno at my in-laws' house

 

 

 

Annabel singing the Hawaiian Christmas Song

at the school concert 

A glimpse of early morning snow outside my kitchen window

Celebrating my birthday at

Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

 named "The prettiest town in Canada" in 1996

Prince of Wales hotel, where we stayed ovenight

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A special birthday breakfast

 

 

 

 

Birthday morning horse and carriage ride through town

 
 

A little birthday video...

 

But along with all the joy and celebration of the season, our family have been struggling with some difficult news.  Early last month, we learned that my dear father-in-law had a brain tumor. He has since had surgery to remove most of it.  The surgery went well.  He won that battle, but the war is not over.  We as a family are here for him and each other, as we realize there are tough days ahead of us.  We are strong and united.  The love, hope, and courage we share are going to help us get through this trying time.

One might think that this news put a damper on our holidays .  One may say that we couldn't possibly celebrate the joys of the season with this revelation looming over our heads.  But, then I might say, I guess you don't know my father-in-law.  He is a strong, happy, courageous man.  He celebrated his birthday, Christmas, and new year's eve in the same manner he has celebrated in previous years.  If anything, this Christmas was even more special than those of years passed.  We celebrated with every inch of our being.  We enjoyed each other's company and did not take for granted, not for one second, that we were all here, together, today, right now! 

This is how I want to begin this new year - feeling thankful for all of life's blessings, each and every day.  I don't want to take anyone or anything for granted.  Each morning, I am going to say THANK YOU!    Thank you for another day, another sunrise, another chance. 

 

 

Cheers!  To a fabulous new year!  Here's hoping all of our dreams come true!

 

 

 

My birthday and New Year Giveaway!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my friends and followers a very happy New Year, filled with all that is good - love, health, and happiness.  This year, I spent New Year's Eve with my in-laws at their home, together with family, cousins and friends.  We ate dinner, nibbled on desserts, drank and celebrated the first minutes of 2012 together with a champagne toast.  On New Year's day, we had lunch at my parents' home and spent the afternoon together with them. I am thankful to be here, alongside my family and friends, with a clean slate and a fresh start to another year.  I am already making plans for this year and thinking about all that I want to do and make happen. 

A few days before New Year's Eve, Nuno, the girls and I went on a little getaway to Niagara-on-the-Lake to celebrate my 35th birthday!  We left our snowy city of Barrie and drove approximately two hours southwest, to the town of Niagara-on-the-lake (20 minutes from Niagara Falls).

I've celebrated many of my past birthdays in Niagara Falls because it's one of our favourite getaways.  It's far enough away from home, but still close by, and the girls and Nuno are always on holidays this time of year, so it works out splendidly!


Before arriving in N-O-T-L, we stopped off at Niagara Falls to visit one of our favourite shops - the Hershey store!  No visit to Niagara is complete without a stop in here. 

In my bag is a little something for the giveaway. You will see it at the end of this post!

Our beautiful room in the historic

Prince of Wales Hotel

This painting was hanging in our room.  It reminded me of

the girls and I.

 

Shortly after checking in, Nuno and Annabel enjoyed some relaxing time in the room.  Anita and I, similar, the way we are, couldn't wait to get out there and browse the shops.  Here are a couple photos I took along our walk. 

Exiting our hotel

The Cenotaph town clock is located in the centre

of the main road.  It is a memorial built to honor
those who died during World War 1

On our little walk, we went into one of my favourite hat shops
and I bought myself an adorable knit hat with a rose on it.
And in two other shops, I found a couple of other things for my giveaway! 


Once we arrived back at the room, Annabel was already waiting for us, with her swimsuit on

I took this shot of our hotel late at night, after we arrived from
our dinner.  Isn't it beautiful?  This was our first time staying here.  Some of you may remember
 we had a "proper" tea in this hotel last year, in the tea room.  It is incredibly beautiful, inside & out!

On the day of my birthday, we drove across the border into the State of New York.
We had lunch at The Olive Garden in Amherst and browsed one of the huge outlet malls in the area.
We didn't find any better deals on the US side, so we headed back over to our side.

A slice of Tiramisu!  YUM!!

In the evening, hotel staff delivered this beautiful rose to the room.
They did not know it was my birthday, but how fitting!

It was time for dinner, we hadn't made any reservations, so we went out for a walk.  And look...it started snowing...just for me (one of my wishes, by the way)!

We ended up having dinner at Bistro Six One.
I was pleasantly surprised with their food and ended up eating
THE best grilled salmon I've ever had!  I will defintely be stopping
in here again.

On our way back from dinner, we saw this horse and carriage outside
the front doors of our hotel

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant on the morning after

Nativity scene outside of the Trisha Romance Gallery

The Trisha Romance Gallery in N-O-T-L
houses her beautiful paintings and prints!  She's a favourite of mine!

Greaves Jam, where I found one of the giveaway items!

And...one last stop in Niagara Falls before heading home again.

And Now...

My New Year Giveaway...

Everything you see here, I purchased in Niagara Falls & Niagara-On-The-Lake (except for the candle).  You will receive one Hershey's Black Cherry & Almonds milk chocolate bar, one package of 3 assorted dish towels, a 64 ml jar of Greaves pure strawberry jam, and a champagne bucket candle to officially commemorate the start of the New Year! 

All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this post and become a follower, if you are not one already.  I will enter all of your names in a hat, and my girls will help pull out the winning name on Friday, January 6th!  I will anounce the winner later that day!

Good luck, everyone!

Happy New Year to you all!  Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful first week of the year!

I will be in touch again soon. xo