we never thought we'd be writing a post about toronto on our travel blog, but here it is!
after a LONG day of travel on thursday (the 22nd), we finally arrived home to a comfy comfy bed. as much as we wanted to stay up and chat with chris' family, we were so tired we couldn't keep our eyes open. we knew we had a huge weekend ahead of us, so we got a good night's rest and prepared ourselves for what was to come.
up bright and early on friday, we had loads of errands to run. chris got his hair cut (he looks even more handsome than normal) and then we went to visit my mom. it was SO GOOD to see her and the pets. and we were very happy that: 1. tux didn't bite us and 2. we had cheese dogs (not related to willow). hahaah. we then had to run to an alterations place to get chris' fabulous new suit hemmed and steamed and we went to B&R's toronto office (SO GOOD TO MEET EVERYONE THERE, FINALLY!!!) for 4pm beers. when we saw steamwhistle beer, we almost shed a tear...what a beautiful sight :) then we quickly visited sick kids. no one knew we were coming by so when we were walking down the hall we got a lot of double takes...czaee's reaction was the best! it was really strange being back there as a visitor but so nice to have seen some familiar faces :) then we scooted up to sweet pete's (the visit did not last the 5 mins i was promised....chris!) but it was great to see them too. but, as promised, chris didn't touch a single bike :) then it was dinner time - SUSHI!! we were insanely excited for the sushi portion of our evening...and the company that was meeting us there was even better. rob and sam, walker, daniela, matt and dawn, dave phan and amy, lindsey, andrew...what a great time! i was so excited to have avocado that i ordered it in everything i had! it was so nice to see everyone that i nearly cried! walker and daniela running down bloor street at the sight of us was my favourite part! :)
after a LONG day of travel on thursday (the 22nd), we finally arrived home to a comfy comfy bed. as much as we wanted to stay up and chat with chris' family, we were so tired we couldn't keep our eyes open. we knew we had a huge weekend ahead of us, so we got a good night's rest and prepared ourselves for what was to come.
up bright and early on friday, we had loads of errands to run. chris got his hair cut (he looks even more handsome than normal) and then we went to visit my mom. it was SO GOOD to see her and the pets. and we were very happy that: 1. tux didn't bite us and 2. we had cheese dogs (not related to willow). hahaah. we then had to run to an alterations place to get chris' fabulous new suit hemmed and steamed and we went to B&R's toronto office (SO GOOD TO MEET EVERYONE THERE, FINALLY!!!) for 4pm beers. when we saw steamwhistle beer, we almost shed a tear...what a beautiful sight :) then we quickly visited sick kids. no one knew we were coming by so when we were walking down the hall we got a lot of double takes...czaee's reaction was the best! it was really strange being back there as a visitor but so nice to have seen some familiar faces :) then we scooted up to sweet pete's (the visit did not last the 5 mins i was promised....chris!) but it was great to see them too. but, as promised, chris didn't touch a single bike :) then it was dinner time - SUSHI!! we were insanely excited for the sushi portion of our evening...and the company that was meeting us there was even better. rob and sam, walker, daniela, matt and dawn, dave phan and amy, lindsey, andrew...what a great time! i was so excited to have avocado that i ordered it in everything i had! it was so nice to see everyone that i nearly cried! walker and daniela running down bloor street at the sight of us was my favourite part! :)
we ate and ate and ate, which made us a little late for our "coming home half way through" party at the james joyce. not only were there MORE wonderful people there to meet us (which made me shriek with excitement more than once), there were canadian beers to choose from (can you tell we miss canadian beer?) and $15 mixed drink pitchers. even though we were SO TIRED by that point, seeing everyone's lovely faces made us both so happy. seriously, each one of you that came made our hearts smile. it was a long night of drinking and talking...and worth the exhaustion felt in the morning. WE LOVE YOU ALL FOR COMING OUT!!!!!!
p.s. thanks to matt and dawn for letting us stay at their place!! patty was a wonderful snuggler with her half shaven body :)
p.s. thanks to matt and dawn for letting us stay at their place!! patty was a wonderful snuggler with her half shaven body :)
so, saturday was the big day. the very reason we came tramping all the way back from italy to our homeland. doug and erin's wedding! on our way to hamilton, we stopped off at one of chris' new coworkers' houses for lunch. lindsay and greg were such wonderful hosts. greg made an amazing lunch - beef bourgonese (even BETTER than in france, might i add) with mashed potatoes and a super yummy experimental dessert (apple turnovers from scratch). and lindsay proved she was the master of pink lemonade :) i'd heard so much about lindsay that it was great to finally meet her and chris had heard so much about greg that it was great to finally meet him! a great way to start the day :)
at their house, christine worked her magic on my hair and josh was gift organizer extraordinaire with chris. christine took a fabulous photo of chris and i all dolled up in our italian outfits (as we promised everyone) and then we were off - thanks for driving us (and later picking us up) josh!! on our way to the wedding (literally in the car halfway there), i went to see what our photo looked like and our camera wouldn't turn on - our digital slr just stopped working. camera-less on our way to the wedding, i was pretty much crying in the back seat. but having stopped for disposable cameras, i calmed down. we figured that i was probably using disposables as my means of photography the day i met doug, so it was appropriate to use one on his wedding day! we got there just in time (finding kaitlin and joanna on the way - awesome surprise to see them!). the ceremony was as beautiful as i'd imagined. doug and erin looked incredible...and so did their boys and girls, of course. seeing doug, dave and mike all dressed up like that was crazy - the last time i remember them looking so handsome all together was our high school formal! dinner was SUPER yummy and boy did they keep our wine glasses full! but let me just say that the speeches - KILLER! i am 100% sure that i've never EVER cried that hard at a wedding in all my life. dave got me going, then becky kept me going, then doug's mom (who looked like a queen that day - beautiful!), then erin and then by the time doug got up there we were done. such amazing words by such amazing people. i'm so happy that we were able to be there for this...of course, there was no where in the world we could have been that would have kept us away! then we got to party party party with dancing and cake! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE NIGHT!!! we are so happy for doug and erin, we could burst. we can't wait to see you guys when we get back and be part of your lives as a married couple. BEST!! oh, and we can't wait until we come home and develop our disposable camera so we can actually see the pictures we took - oh film!
at their house, christine worked her magic on my hair and josh was gift organizer extraordinaire with chris. christine took a fabulous photo of chris and i all dolled up in our italian outfits (as we promised everyone) and then we were off - thanks for driving us (and later picking us up) josh!! on our way to the wedding (literally in the car halfway there), i went to see what our photo looked like and our camera wouldn't turn on - our digital slr just stopped working. camera-less on our way to the wedding, i was pretty much crying in the back seat. but having stopped for disposable cameras, i calmed down. we figured that i was probably using disposables as my means of photography the day i met doug, so it was appropriate to use one on his wedding day! we got there just in time (finding kaitlin and joanna on the way - awesome surprise to see them!). the ceremony was as beautiful as i'd imagined. doug and erin looked incredible...and so did their boys and girls, of course. seeing doug, dave and mike all dressed up like that was crazy - the last time i remember them looking so handsome all together was our high school formal! dinner was SUPER yummy and boy did they keep our wine glasses full! but let me just say that the speeches - KILLER! i am 100% sure that i've never EVER cried that hard at a wedding in all my life. dave got me going, then becky kept me going, then doug's mom (who looked like a queen that day - beautiful!), then erin and then by the time doug got up there we were done. such amazing words by such amazing people. i'm so happy that we were able to be there for this...of course, there was no where in the world we could have been that would have kept us away! then we got to party party party with dancing and cake! WHAT AN INCREDIBLE NIGHT!!! we are so happy for doug and erin, we could burst. we can't wait to see you guys when we get back and be part of your lives as a married couple. BEST!! oh, and we can't wait until we come home and develop our disposable camera so we can actually see the pictures we took - oh film!
after that wonderful night of doug and erin, and more hangouts with josh and christine (and cool ranch doritos) after the wedding, we were up bright and early AGAIN for another busy day. we had a highly anticipated breakfast at cora's with sarah!!!!! i was so so so so happy that we could coordinate a hangout with her - catching up and learning all about our new cities of residence. even though i wish it wasn't such a short visit, i was glad that we had that time at all. and i can't wait for your birthday weekend (though it makes me sad :( that that will be the next time i'll see you - in 4 months). good luck becoming a frenchy!!!
after breakfast we scooted on over to jenn's house for an INCREDIBLE family bbq. pretty much everyone was there (kim, chris' sister, and dave, my uncle, were the only ones missing). we got to chat it up for a few hours, eat LOTS of food (cheeseburgers!!!!) and just spend some well needed time with each other. chris' parents and grandma finally met the rest of my family and they all loved each other. i guess now we can officially get married - hahahaha. it was a great afternoon that we're so glad could happen. jenn and ryan - thanks for the hospitality! we always love visiting you guys! oh, and thanks for having andrew because I LOVE HIM!!! :)
after breakfast we scooted on over to jenn's house for an INCREDIBLE family bbq. pretty much everyone was there (kim, chris' sister, and dave, my uncle, were the only ones missing). we got to chat it up for a few hours, eat LOTS of food (cheeseburgers!!!!) and just spend some well needed time with each other. chris' parents and grandma finally met the rest of my family and they all loved each other. i guess now we can officially get married - hahahaha. it was a great afternoon that we're so glad could happen. jenn and ryan - thanks for the hospitality! we always love visiting you guys! oh, and thanks for having andrew because I LOVE HIM!!! :)
to end the day (after sad goodbyes with my mom *tear*), we went out for some nachos and beer with andrew and dave - you can't complain about ending a long day with that :)
after even MORE errands on monday (and yes, we bought a new camera to replace our dead on - a canon t2i), we got to have lunch with justin - which completed our visits...we got to see pretty much every single person that makes our lives complete! it was a great way to spend 4 days, that's for sure! in toronto with our families and friends!!!
and then the traveling began again...our flight was delayed 2 hours in toronto, which meant that any time we (and our luggage) had to get on our connecting flight in amsterdam would be limited. we ran all the way across the airport and made the flight - but our luggage did not :( that was not a happy surprise when we got to rome. we waited over 4 hours to check if our bags had come in on other flights from amsterdam, but they didn't. we left rome empty handed (which made for easy train travel) and got ourselves back to arezzo by 845ish. luckily, this morning, we got a call that our luggage had arrived in rome last night and they would be mailing them to us within 48 hours. what a disaster!
after even MORE errands on monday (and yes, we bought a new camera to replace our dead on - a canon t2i), we got to have lunch with justin - which completed our visits...we got to see pretty much every single person that makes our lives complete! it was a great way to spend 4 days, that's for sure! in toronto with our families and friends!!!
and then the traveling began again...our flight was delayed 2 hours in toronto, which meant that any time we (and our luggage) had to get on our connecting flight in amsterdam would be limited. we ran all the way across the airport and made the flight - but our luggage did not :( that was not a happy surprise when we got to rome. we waited over 4 hours to check if our bags had come in on other flights from amsterdam, but they didn't. we left rome empty handed (which made for easy train travel) and got ourselves back to arezzo by 845ish. luckily, this morning, we got a call that our luggage had arrived in rome last night and they would be mailing them to us within 48 hours. what a disaster!
so, our whirlwind 4 day trip back home was as amazing as we had hoped! we got to see everyone that we love, we got to eat yummy food we can't get here (sushi, nachos, doritos, arizona iced tea, beer!) and we got to see doug and erin get married. SUCCESS!!! it will tie us over until november when we come back...we miss you all already!!