Between Brush Strokes
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Artwork
  • Food & Drink
  • Random thoughts
  • About Me

fun

All I learned about history I learned reading historical romances

June 29, 2017 by Kirsten Neil 2 Comments
All I learned about history, I learned reading historical romances

So, you know, just sitting with the boy watching Jeopardy when a bunch of questions about history come up, as they do. I start riffing off a few answers, but not in the form [Read more]

Posted in: Books, Random thoughts Tagged: Books, fun, Historical Romance, History, Johanna Lindsey, Reading, Romance

Harry Potter Night V: Stay gold boy who lived

October 15, 2015 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment
Harry Potter Night V (HPN V)

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 [Read more]

Posted in: Food & Drink, Friends & Family Tagged: Books, Food & Drink, friends, fun, Harry Potter, HPN, Potterheads

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

Oooh yeah, it’s WWE time, brotha!

March 26, 2014 by Kirsten Neil 2 Comments

So there's this guy I like and one day I found out that he has a hankering for this thing where gigantor men chuck each other around and yell and pound their chests and yell [Read more]

Posted in: Out and about Tagged: Events, fun, Manitoba, Photography, Winnipeg

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

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

Spinning our wheels in the Interlake

June 1, 2013 by Kirsten Neil Leave a Comment

This week, my coworker and I got drenched in art as we drove through a downpour to attend the "Mug Shot" media event put on by the wonderful and welcoming artists that [Read more]

Posted in: Artists, Work Tagged: Artists, Artwork, fun, Interlake, Manitoba, Tour, Travel, WAVE

Map it out!

August 12, 2011 by Kirsten Neil 3 Comments
My travel map

Yesterday I spent my evening placing a new world map on cork board. The reason? I want to do that thing where you pinpoint all the places you've been and places you want to [Read more]

Posted in: Travel Tagged: Adventure, fun, Map

Subscribe to the Blog

Artwork by Kirsten Neil on ETSY

Top Posts

Lost in Little Beach loveliness
A natural beauty
Sun-drenched in Samos
Captivated by Cape Breton
A very English road trip
Ants!
'Oh, the places you'll go.' A magical morning in Cappadocia

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
Follow on Instagram

Pinterest

Travel Books

Between Brush Strokes 2018 Italy Between Brush Strokes 2017 Between Brush Strokes 2017 Between Brush Strokes 2017 Between Brush Strokes 2017 Between Brush Strokes 2017 Between Brush Strokes 2017 Between Brush Strokes 2017 Between Brush Strokes 2017

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
Follow on Instagram

Top Posts

Lost in Little Beach loveliness
A natural beauty
Sun-drenched in Samos
Captivated by Cape Breton
A very English road trip
Ants!
'Oh, the places you'll go.' A magical morning in Cappadocia

Me. Hello!

1

Copyright © 2026 Between Brush Strokes.

Lifestyle WordPress Theme by themehit.com

Loading Comments...