a lovely day

Lee got home from work at 7:00 on Christmas morning. I had a cafetiere full of Starbucks Christmas blend ready along with my favorite Christmas breakfast: smoked salmon with cream cheese on bagels with some fruit salad. (The morning would have been complete with some Montreal bagels but a girl can dream...).

We opened our stockings and our presents and then Lee went to have a sleep. I tidied up the flat and then headed out to the Worcester Cathedral for their Christmas service. Given the fact that we can see the Cathedral from our flat window, we probably tend to take it for granted, which is really a shame.


The service was lovely and it was just such a beautiful place to be on Christmas day. I didn't have the guts to whip out my camera to capture the winter light streaming through the stained glass windows or the massive tree at the front. But it pretty much looked like some of these pictures from flickr.



After Lee woke up we visited with his family and proceeded to gorge ourselves on turkey, roast potatoes, and all of the usual Christmas goodies. No mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie though - much to my disappointment. I guess I will need to take the lead next year and bring in some North American goodies.

Feeling Christmassy

I'm finally feeling like it's Christmas. Yesterday afternoon I watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, wrapped all of the presents, finished off the Christmas cards and drank 2 glasses of hot chocolate with Baileys. It was bliss.

Our little tree all decorated.


We also finished the rest of our Christmas shopping for our UK family and friends. All of our Canadian ones were posted a week ago as the Royal Mail provides a deadline of December 10th for all Canada-bound packages.

I love some of the gifts that we sent to Canada.

BBC's Cranford series.

I loved this series when it was on tv last year. You cannot go wrong with Dame Judi Dench and Imelda Staunton. (I ordered it off of amazon.ca so that there were no problems with the DVD).

A beautiful locket from Etsy seller localibrary.


A cute little change purse from Cath Kidston

A few copies of Jamie Oliver's new magazine


And of course some yummy British goodies:

Yay for Christmas!

Spoiled

We were really and truly spoiled by our wedding guests. So much so that I worry that our little thank you cards are not enough to convey how grateful we are to our guests for 1) attending our shindig and 2) their generosity...

That said, we were excited when Debenhams called to say that they will be delivering all of the items bought off of our registry next week. There is a lot of kitchen stuff so it will be just in time for the Christmas baking rush! I'm really looking forward to finally cooking with this bad boy:

We were also able to purchase some larger items thanks to our guests. We picked up this crate at one of my favorite stores. It is perfect for storing away all of our outdoor gear as our flat only has 1 tiny closet.

One of our local antique shops gave us a deal on this blanket box, which we're using to actually store blankets and as a coffee table. I love how it still has the original candle box inside.


The boy's favorite purchase is our new armchair. I love it too. It's an ex-display model so it had 2 small marks on the back but as it was almost 70% off, we decided we could not pass it up. We're saving up to hopefully buy another one in the coming year...

We also were given the queen sized version of the Hudson's bay blanket that is draped over the armchair. It has already been put to good use (no central heating and single-paned windows = cold nights) and it reminds me of home on a daily basis!

The final big purchase was our Dyson. I honestly get a perverse pleasure emptying the canister after using it. It is so satisfying to see all of the dirt it has sucked up...I'm weird, I know.

Welcome bags and favours

We assembled welcome bags for our out-of-town guests and our favours in the first few days after we arrived home. After what had happened, it was useful to have tasks on which to focus. We kept the welcome bags fairly simple and the majority of supplies were purchased at Costco. Each bag contained some granola bars, Twizzlers, Ketchup chips (a Canadian 'delicacy'), some sweets, and our welcome booklet. Each bag had a little label saying Welcome to Ontario, which was the same as the cover of the welcome booklet. The bags weren't too costly and I think that our guests were happy to receive them when they checked into their hotels.


The favours were 3 Green and Black chocolate bars simply wrapped in brown paper and tied with green baker's twine. We attached a little hand-written 'thank you' onto each favour. The whole assembly process went really quickly and I don't think my Dad's pool table has ever seen so much action...

Running before the wedding

I can't remember whose idea it was to run a half marathon a week before the wedding. It seemed rather foolish in the busy last few weeks before we flew back to Canada but it was great to have a goal that we could work towards together. This was our first attempt at long distance running and although we never talked on any of the long runs (mainly to conserve energy), it was comforting to have the other person there after 90 minutes of running.

Running the half marathon with Lee made me love him even more. He put up with my crusty self (which appeared at around 17 kms) and kept encouraging and cheering me on (even when I was telling him to shut the f* up). Even though I told him to leave me when my pace slackened, he stayed with me and we finished together, holding hands as we crossed the line. Cheesy, I know, but I was so proud of us (team McWood!).


I swore that I would never do this again but we've started looking at maybe doing the Stratford on Avon half in April... :)

Hi there

We've both been back to work for 2 weeks now and the wedding trip already seems a bit of a blur We returned back to the UK a week earlier than planned for the funeral, which allowed us to spend a lot of time with Lee's family and try to come to terms with what happened.

The wedding was a beautiful, joyful day filled with lots of love and some tears. I was worried I was going to be a blubbering idiot throughout the day but I felt so incredibly happy that I had a perma-grin on all day. It was difficult day at times, particularly when we were doing the family pictures as there were 2 important people missing (Lee's step mum decided not to make the trip).

We're gearing up for the UK party next weekend now. It will be nice to see Lee's large extended family in happier circumstances and my family will making the trip over too.

No professional pictures yet, but we have several hundred pictures from guests uploaded to our Flickr website. I honestly smile to myself whenever I look through them all...I'll try to recap the day, if only to have a record of what happened and how I felt on the day. Some favorite pictures from our guests:

Please hug your family and tell them that you love them.

Lee's Dad died suddenly on Sunday - 6 days before our wedding. We are still in shock and my heart breaks for Lee and his family. They have decided to still fly over to Canada tomorrow as planned, so the wedding will still take place. Lee and his sister think that their Dad wouldn't want it any other way...I think that Lee and his family are incredible.

So don't stress over programs and matching ribbons, menu cards or guest books, timelines or readings. They can all begin to feel entirely irrelevant. Hug your family and tell them that you love them.

So close...

Um ya, where did 18 months go? We're flying back to Canada tomorrow and I'm so excited. We're all packed and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't get nailed for excess baggage. Gifts and wedding-related DIY weigh a lot.

I'm trying not to look at the weather but cannot help myself. It's not looking good for the wedding day but it looks like it will be nice and cool for our half marathon on Sunday. I think I'm more nervous for the run than getting married. Fingers crossed we make it over the line.

Off to make sure I've packed all of the Marks & Spencers sweets requested by the fam...

Weekend projects

Inspired by Tina's post on DIY coasters, I had a go at stamping my own. I bought them from Calico Crafts and just stamped away. It was fairly painless and I think they will look cute at the brunch the day after the wedding. (I did a wetness test after letting the ink dry all day, and there didn't appear to be any runnage, which was quite a relief).

I also had a start at our programs. They are fairly simple and at 4.25x5.5 inches, hopefully petite enough to fit into people's pockets. I've done 5 today. 75 more to go... :)







And finally....I finished my little birds today. I know they're trendy and a complete copyright-infringement, but I think they're just so cute. I followed the instructions posted by Peonies and Polaroids and used fabric I had around the house (i.e. crummy white shirt that I was going to use as a rag and a cheapo old skirt that I was going to donate).

I don't think that they're too bad, considering I was so rubbish at sewing that I used to glue my Girl Guide badges on (I obviously did not get my sewing badge). I think I'll put them either on top of the cake or just beside it. Hopefully just somewhere where I can see them, as they do make me smile...

[I've posted a somewhat far away shot of the pair as I don't want to reveal some of oh-so-far-from-perfect stitches]

Weekend purchases

We've been engaged for 18 months. Leave it to me to wait until 2 weeks before we leave for the wedding to finish my shopping.

I finally bought a rehearsal dress - a brand new with tags Monsoon dress from Ebay. I admit to having a small obsession with this style of dress, as this green one is now my third (I also own it in white with polka dots and in a silky blue colour).

I also finally found some shoes and earrings at Debenhams. Sometimes I think the shoes are a bit fugly but they have a nice low heel (which I need) and were only 15 pounds! I'm quite happy with the earrings. (Although amused that I spent just as much on earrings as I did on shoes...)




I also found this vintage golden syrup tin at a charity shop down the road. I plan to use it to hold the Sharpies for our guest book. I have a small obsession with vintage tins (I blame my Mother) and I love the colours...

Finally, my pendant also arrived from Etsy seller PiecesOfMePendants the other day. I'll attach it to my bouquet. I know that the whole Keep Calm thing is considered over done, but I really think I need to remind myself to relax. I tend to become a crusty hose-beast when stressed and there is nothing worse than a miserable bride... :)

Unique DIY v2

Remember these unique STDs I saw on weddingbells?



Well the bride has just posted all of her DIY and wedding details. All I can say is wow. More DIY pictures and non-pro ceremony and reception pics.







They had a DIY photobooth, and got a great shot of their Grandma!

Long weekend work

Today is a bank holiday in the UK so it's lovely to be at home! Although I've brought home some work to do (I need to get a lot done before a certain 3-week holiday in early October), I managed to sneak in some fun 'work' over the weekend.

I haven't been able to come up with anything fun for the cover of our welcome booklets for our out of town guests. So I decided to turn to a t-shirt that Lee bought in a random shop in town for inspiration...


I'm quite happy that my non-creative self was able to recreate most of the image. Hopefully the small happy face below the print will reveal to our guests that we're not illiterate idiots and know that the plural of moose is moose! Ha ha. (Although maybe our UK guests will think that Ontario is full of unattractive girls, as the word moose is often used to describe someone who is fat and ugly)


Inside is fairly mundane stuff. But hopefully it will be of some use to our guests. There is a list of potentially useful phone numbers, a schedule of events, directions to the church, reception venue and brunch location, and maps of downtown Oakville and the area around the hotels.




In other non-work related 'work', I finally picked up some frames for my Etsy purchases at the second hand shop down the road. Three frames for 11 pounds - not bad.

I'm quite happy with how my two Edinburgh prints and my little Gocco print of Queen E look. Now I just need to figure out where I'm going to hang them.

[The picture of the left makes me so happy as I used to live in one of those buildings! Edinburgh is such a wonderful city...]