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Friends & Family

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, go on a beach crawl

February 26, 2015 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
ABC bag with my ABC beer koozie and my Costco towel.

Forget pub crawls, I'm all about the beach crawl. And who wouldn't be? Less time to get ready, less creepers invading your space, more sun, more fun. After our Little Beach [Read more]

Posted in: Friends & Family, Photography, Travel Tagged: Beach, Big Beach, Hawaii, Kihei, Maui, Photos, Travel, Ukumehame Beach, Wailea Beach

Lost in Little Beach loveliness

February 23, 2015 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
Sunset at Little Beach, Makena, Maui, Hawaii

Little beach is full of... heart. Yeah, you thought I was going to go there, but I didn't. I say it's full of heart because entering the beach as tourists I expected to be [Read more]

Posted in: Friends & Family, Photography, Travel Tagged: Drum Circle, Hawaii, Hippies, Little Beach, Maui, nude beach, Travel

Maui wowie

February 20, 2015 by Kirsten Neil 2 Comments
Ahihi Kinau Natural Area Reserve, Maui, Hawaii

My friend Denise and her husband Greg love Maui. Like really love it. Like if ever two people needed to pack up everything and move to a tropical island, it's these two. And [Read more]

Posted in: Friends & Family, Photography, Travel Tagged: Adventure, Hawaii, Island, Maui, Surfers, Travel

Harry Potter Night IV: A loony Hallowe’en

October 28, 2014 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
Harry Potter Halloween Party

Just like the students of Hogwarts, our little HPN club took a break from magic during the summer holiday. With those warm summer days far behind us we were raring to get [Read more]

Posted in: Books, Food & Drink, Friends & Family Tagged: Books, Cocktails, Halloween, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, HPN, JK Rowling, Party, Pumpkins, Snape

Harry Potter Night III: The Chamber of Snacks has been Opened

June 4, 2014 by Kirsten Neil 1 Comment
Kreacher the house elf prepared a feast for us muggles. He was not happy about it.

Ok, so we are getting pret-tay darn good at this Harry Potter Night (HPN) thing. For the third instalment, we brought our A-game. I think we leave each party with our creative [Read more]

Posted in: Books, Food & Drink, Friends & Family, Photography Tagged: Books, Cocktails, Foodie, Harry Potter, HPN, Movies, Potterheads, theme party

A tapas delight

May 1, 2014 by Kirsten Neil 2 Comments
Whipped feta with chili honey, mint and pistachios. Two duck confit empanadas.

There's nothing like an evening out with my mom and sister. Every couple of weeks or so we try to plan a night out for just us girls (unless someone is out of town, which is [Read more]

Posted in: Food & Drink, Friends & Family, Photography Tagged: #exploremb, Dining, Foodie, Manitoba, Photography, Restaurant, Segovia, Tapas, Winnipeg

Harry Potter Night II: The Hippogriff takes flight

April 21, 2014 by Kirsten Neil 1 Comment
Harry Potter Night Part Two: The Hippogriff Takes Flight

After our first Harry Potter Night (HPN) was a great success, I was looking forward to the next. Part II took place at Lindsay's lovely home. For [Read more]

Posted in: Books, Food & Drink, Friends & Family Tagged: Cocktails, Dragons, fun, Harry Potter, Honeydukes, HPN, Movie Night, Party, Potterheads

Harry Potter Night and the Rise of the Death Eater

March 3, 2014 by Kirsten Neil 2 Comments
HPN prep!

If you know me, you know I'm absolutely batty over Harry Potter. I've lost track of how many times I've either read the books or watched the movies. Everyone has a guilty [Read more]

Posted in: Books, Friends & Family, Photography Tagged: Cocktails, fun, Harry Potter, HPN, Movie Night, Party, Potterheads

Cruising for sun and fun

January 11, 2014 by Kirsten Neil 1 Comment
Arriving at Iguana Island.

Yesterday, the family spent an amazing morning touring Providenciales by boat. And what a boat! The Kitty Kat Cruise is a gorgeous 65ft catamaran run by Island Routes.

Posted in: Friends & Family, Photography, Travel Tagged: Beach, Caribbean, Family, Holiday, Photography, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos

Turks part deux

January 9, 2014 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
Cast off into the great blue.

Here we are again in Turks & Caicos! Our family thought it was so nice, we visited twice. We couldn't have come at a better time too. We left -30°C to arrive in +30°C. [Read more]

Posted in: Friends & Family, Photography, Travel Tagged: Family, Holiday, Photography, Providenciales, Travel, Turks & Caicos

A moveable feast

September 20, 2013 by Kirsten Neil 3 Comments
Eating dessert on Portage and Main, not too shabby.

Over the summer, Travel Manitoba invited the super-sweet and fun-loving blogger, BCRobyn, to spend 28 days exploring, tasting and enjoying all the great things a Manitoba [Read more]

Posted in: Food & Drink, Friends & Family, Photography, Work Tagged: Dining, Fairmont, Foodie, Manitoba, Photos, Travel Manitoba, Winnipeg

You’ve got a friend in me

July 16, 2013 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
Walking to the beach in Gimli, Manitoba.

Last weekend was our 5th annual Girl's Weekend at my sister's cabin near Gimli, Manitoba. It's two days of relaxation, food, drink and hilarity. We started with wine and [Read more]

Posted in: Food & Drink, Friends & Family, Photography Tagged: friends, fun, Gimli, Manitoba, Photos, Summer, Wine

EXperiencing the Red River Ex

June 18, 2013 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
The good ol' Polar Express.

So who knew there was lots of learning to be had at the Red River Ex? Last night we spent the evening at Winnipeg's mega fair touring mobile homes (yep, we actually did that), [Read more]

Posted in: Friends & Family, Furry beasts, Photography Tagged: Artwork, Manitoba, Photos, Summer, Travel, Winnipeg

2012 – My year in pictures

March 24, 2013 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
Turks and Caicos

2012 was another fantastic year of travel adventures. Last year's highlights were Gimli, Orlando and Turks & Caicos.

Posted in: Books, Friends & Family, Home, Photography, Travel Tagged: Adventure, Gimli, Orlando, Photography, Photos, Travel

Be cool, my babies

July 13, 2012 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment

We’re having a heat wave! Summer in Winnipeg is extraordinarily hot right now. It’s tough to just sit outside without disintegrating into a pile of overheated [Read more]

Posted in: Friends & Family, Random thoughts, Work Tagged: Summer, Travel, Work
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Artwork by Kirsten Neil on ETSY

Top Posts

Discovering Naija's vibrant roots
A very English road trip
Tis the season?
Captivated by Cape Breton
Something wicked's lurking in the dark
Oh Hana -- Part II
Manitoba roadies
Shooketh in Santorini

INSTAGRAM

Madrid, in like a minute. 🇪🇸♥️ We only had one day Madrid, in like a minute. 🇪🇸♥️ We only had one day in Madrid, which was a shame as we found the city to be quite charming.

As we had so little time, our only excursion was a guided tour of the Museo del Prado, which houses the best collection of Spanish Art. We saw some amazing pieces both light and dark. 

Swipe to the end to see the two pieces from the Prado that floored me. The bright and chaotic triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, and the dark and fraught Saturn Devouring His Son by Goya. I’m still thinking about the room that housed Goya’s “Black Paintings.” They are gut-wrenching, harrowing masterpieces the public was never meant to see. (He painted them all on the walls of his home)
—
#ckvacays #madrid #pradomuseum #spain #kirstentravels
Short and sweet in Barcelona. 🇪🇸🐰🙏🏻 On our way ba Short and sweet in Barcelona. 🇪🇸🐰🙏🏻

On our way back to Canada this year, we stopped in Spain to see Bad Bunny’s show. We only had two days to look around this city that’s full of so much life and beauty. 

We stayed in the super walkable Eixample district and also made our way to Sagrada Família to be wowed by the most amazing church that’s over 150 years in the making…so far! And also dealt with celebrity Chuck posing for photos with all his fans. 😂 

We also ate so well here. Not one miss. 

On concert day, we bused it over to the pinchos area where we walked the street going from place to place noshing on little pinchos and drinking beer before walking up the hill to reach Estadi Olimpic for the concert. 

What a gem Barcelona is. We didn’t get nearly enough time to discover all her charms, but consider us completely charmed nonetheless. 
—
#ckvacays #barcelona #sagradafamilia #spain #kirstentravels
Bad Bunny! 🐰🔥 Most joyous concert ever! I said I Bad Bunny! 🐰🔥 Most joyous concert ever!

I said I wasn’t going to take video because I never watch concert videos after I see a show. Couldn’t help but take many. It was such a spectacle. And I’ve been watching them all on repeat since last night. The artistry of the camera work and lighting was a thing of beauty. Benito was as good a showman as they say. The vibe was unreal. 

The reason we visited Spain on our way back to Canada was for this show. I was hoping it would live up to the hype. Boy, did it ever. 

Also, not one word of English for the entire show. Not one. And it didn’t f’n matter. 
—
#ckvacays #badbunny #barcelona #badbunnybarcelona #kirstentravels
March & April in Lagos. 🇳🇬♥️ — #ckvacays #kirstent March & April in Lagos. 🇳🇬♥️
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #lagoslife
What a morning at Oshodi Market in Lagos looks lik What a morning at Oshodi Market in Lagos looks like. @ezechalzz 
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #lagoslife
Jan & Feb Lagos photo dump. ☀️🇳🇬♥️ — #theckhome #l Jan & Feb Lagos photo dump. ☀️🇳🇬♥️
—
#theckhome #lagoslife #awoyaya
Golden sunsets, golden sunrises, wind-whipped dune Golden sunsets, golden sunrises, wind-whipped dunes, gassy camels, desert camps, deep gorges, high mountain peaks, friendly Berbers, an even friendlier tour guide, all contained within a terrain that screams “STUNNING!” around every bend. What more can one ask for on a three-day journey? How can one fit all that in in just three days? 

Hands-down, the biggest highlight on our Moroccan adventure (besides AFCON, but that’s sports) was a journey from Fes to Marrakech via the Sahara Desert.

We found a highly-rated three-day trip from @moroccofabuloustravel via @tripadvisor. I didn’t know Morocco’s beauty could stun even more after our first few days in Fes, Chefchaouen and Tangier, but boy, did it ever. We were left enchanted…

Read my full recap at betweenbrushstrokes.com
(link in profile)
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #morocco🇲🇦 #moroccofabuloustravel
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A petit taste of Tangier. 🇲🇦 Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A petit taste of Tangier. 🇲🇦

Tangier was not originally on our agenda for Morocco. But once we saw how pretty Chefchaouen (see previous post) was, and that it was conveniently situated between Tangier and Fes, we altered our plans to visit the coastal city that’s situated on the Strait of Gibraltar. 

We actually didn’t do a heck of a lot in Tangier as we were already spinning from a hectic first few days in Fes. Instead, the city became a place where we could slow down, relax and breathe in the fresh sea air.

Read my full recap at betweenbrushstrokes.com
(link in profile)
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #tangier #morocco🇲🇦 #afcon2025
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Madrid, in like a minute. 🇪🇸♥️ We only had one day Madrid, in like a minute. 🇪🇸♥️ We only had one day in Madrid, which was a shame as we found the city to be quite charming.

As we had so little time, our only excursion was a guided tour of the Museo del Prado, which houses the best collection of Spanish Art. We saw some amazing pieces both light and dark. 

Swipe to the end to see the two pieces from the Prado that floored me. The bright and chaotic triptych The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, and the dark and fraught Saturn Devouring His Son by Goya. I’m still thinking about the room that housed Goya’s “Black Paintings.” They are gut-wrenching, harrowing masterpieces the public was never meant to see. (He painted them all on the walls of his home)
—
#ckvacays #madrid #pradomuseum #spain #kirstentravels
Short and sweet in Barcelona. 🇪🇸🐰🙏🏻 On our way ba Short and sweet in Barcelona. 🇪🇸🐰🙏🏻

On our way back to Canada this year, we stopped in Spain to see Bad Bunny’s show. We only had two days to look around this city that’s full of so much life and beauty. 

We stayed in the super walkable Eixample district and also made our way to Sagrada Família to be wowed by the most amazing church that’s over 150 years in the making…so far! And also dealt with celebrity Chuck posing for photos with all his fans. 😂 

We also ate so well here. Not one miss. 

On concert day, we bused it over to the pinchos area where we walked the street going from place to place noshing on little pinchos and drinking beer before walking up the hill to reach Estadi Olimpic for the concert. 

What a gem Barcelona is. We didn’t get nearly enough time to discover all her charms, but consider us completely charmed nonetheless. 
—
#ckvacays #barcelona #sagradafamilia #spain #kirstentravels
Bad Bunny! 🐰🔥 Most joyous concert ever! I said I Bad Bunny! 🐰🔥 Most joyous concert ever!

I said I wasn’t going to take video because I never watch concert videos after I see a show. Couldn’t help but take many. It was such a spectacle. And I’ve been watching them all on repeat since last night. The artistry of the camera work and lighting was a thing of beauty. Benito was as good a showman as they say. The vibe was unreal. 

The reason we visited Spain on our way back to Canada was for this show. I was hoping it would live up to the hype. Boy, did it ever. 

Also, not one word of English for the entire show. Not one. And it didn’t f’n matter. 
—
#ckvacays #badbunny #barcelona #badbunnybarcelona #kirstentravels
March & April in Lagos. 🇳🇬♥️ — #ckvacays #kirstent March & April in Lagos. 🇳🇬♥️
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #lagoslife
What a morning at Oshodi Market in Lagos looks lik What a morning at Oshodi Market in Lagos looks like. @ezechalzz 
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #lagoslife
Jan & Feb Lagos photo dump. ☀️🇳🇬♥️ — #theckhome #l Jan & Feb Lagos photo dump. ☀️🇳🇬♥️
—
#theckhome #lagoslife #awoyaya
Golden sunsets, golden sunrises, wind-whipped dune Golden sunsets, golden sunrises, wind-whipped dunes, gassy camels, desert camps, deep gorges, high mountain peaks, friendly Berbers, an even friendlier tour guide, all contained within a terrain that screams “STUNNING!” around every bend. What more can one ask for on a three-day journey? How can one fit all that in in just three days? 

Hands-down, the biggest highlight on our Moroccan adventure (besides AFCON, but that’s sports) was a journey from Fes to Marrakech via the Sahara Desert.

We found a highly-rated three-day trip from @moroccofabuloustravel via @tripadvisor. I didn’t know Morocco’s beauty could stun even more after our first few days in Fes, Chefchaouen and Tangier, but boy, did it ever. We were left enchanted…

Read my full recap at betweenbrushstrokes.com
(link in profile)
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #morocco🇲🇦 #moroccofabuloustravel
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A petit taste of Tangier. 🇲🇦 Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! A petit taste of Tangier. 🇲🇦

Tangier was not originally on our agenda for Morocco. But once we saw how pretty Chefchaouen (see previous post) was, and that it was conveniently situated between Tangier and Fes, we altered our plans to visit the coastal city that’s situated on the Strait of Gibraltar. 

We actually didn’t do a heck of a lot in Tangier as we were already spinning from a hectic first few days in Fes. Instead, the city became a place where we could slow down, relax and breathe in the fresh sea air.

Read my full recap at betweenbrushstrokes.com
(link in profile)
—
#ckvacays #kirstentravels #tangier #morocco🇲🇦 #afcon2025
Follow on Instagram

Top Posts

Discovering Naija's vibrant roots
A very English road trip
Tis the season?
Captivated by Cape Breton
Something wicked's lurking in the dark
Oh Hana -- Part II
Manitoba roadies
Shooketh in Santorini

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