Look, we know this Harry Potter Night has gotten out of control. It’s like we’re this happy little trio that comes together to set the next date, then we narrow our eyes and look at each other shiftily (more-so Laurenda because she’s full Slytherin), sizing each other up, asking ourselves “what’s up their sleeve for treats and how can I … [Read more]
“Travelling — it leaves you speechless then turns you into a storyteller.” When I started this blog way back when, my goal was for it to force me to write more often, become more comfortable with writing and hopefully help me become a better writer over time. Through the years I’ve found the easiest stories to write about are my … [Read more]
You know what’s silly? Trying to book a trip to Alberta three weeks before heading there. Especially during the height of high season. Because of such silliness, the amount of time I spent contacting hotels was too damn high! — furiously shakes fist — Luckily, at some point it all sort of fell into place for us — whew … [Read more]
Writing content that people will be into is no easy task, but it’s a hugely worthwhile one. When Manitoba Hot fell into my lap four years ago, there wasn’t much to it. Oh sure, there were a few informative posts here and there, but not many pageviews to speak of (oh, Google Analytics, always speaking the … [Read more]
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… Oh, who are we kidding, the Medieval age looked to be pretty much the absolute worst of times in human history. There were crippling plagues, unsanitary living conditions, insane rulers, and everyday life was full of extreme hardship, except for maybe 1% of the population. Hmmm, wait, … [Read more]
Usually when you hear the marketing lingo for spas it’s all a little cliché, isn’t it? Something along the lines of… nurture your body, calm your mind, rejuvenate your soul, etc, etc. I honestly roll my eyes when I see those words describing a spa on a brochure — they all say the same thing in … [Read more]
Chuck and I absolutely love living the road trip life. We’ve tackled quite a bit of this magnificent country by car (west coast in 2010, east coast in 2014, Ontario in 2015), but we haven’t road tripped so much here at home in Manitoba. Before you begin throwing shade and shame at us, we are trying to … [Read more]
Weekend getaways are the best, aren’t they? A short trip away from work, home and any type of responsiblity is just the ticket to rejuvinating the soul. Our latest adventure took us to Ottawa and Niagara over the Thanksgiving weekend to experience one of the loveliest times of year. We started in Ottawa, road tripped to the Niagara … [Read more]
The absolute highlight of our “San Fran with the Fam” girls trip was hands down the day we spent touring Napa Valley. We arrived thirsty, we left cloudy. In between, we sampled wines, delighted over inspired dishes by Thomas Keller and had a Taylor Swift sing-off in the limo. Yeah, that day was a memory lifer.
Just in time for spring, here is a photo journey of our girls spring trip to San Francisco…from 2015! What’s that about blogging your travels in a timely manner? Pshaw. San Francisco was a perfect place for a girls trip with my crazy family. Probably because first and foremost it included lots of wine. LOTS OF WINE!
I’m so darn late on this, but 2014 was a fantastic year of travel adventures. Highlights included Turks & Caicos, New York City and The Maritimes.
Hello world! It’s been a long time since I’ve been here. Between Brush Strokes has been sorely neglected over the last few months as I’ve been busy blogging elsewhere. I find the last thing I want to do after a day of writing is to write even more. Writing is hard, yo. At least for me … [Read more]
They kind of look like timbits, but couldn’t taste more different. Energy bundles are like squishy, chocolatey granola bars. They are no-bake and take less than 30 minutes to whip up. Woohoo!
You know those days when everything aligns perfectly and you end up living a most amazing moment? And when you’re in it, you know it. That happened to us in Maui on the Island Rhythms cruise.
The Road to Hana, a drive so nice, we did it twice! For this year’s journey through the jungle, we decided to hit up different places than we did on our first go-around. Not a hard task since there are many, many ways to explore the legendary Hana Highway.
