Spending time with family and friends.

Sabrina, enjoying a raspberry molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream...I think some actually got into her mouth and belly.The kids meet Marley for the first time and have fun feeding her. Jess is developing a maternal side. Hanging out with Stephanie after Kungfu Panda and ice cream. Hopped up on sugar, she was just goofy.Michael locked in a chess battle with Uncle Gerwyn.

Steph and Samara enjoying the spaghetti and meatballs the girls helped aunt Diana make.

Michael feeling satisfied after Dim Sum at Perfect. It was just one of the many places Michael wanted to eat at on this trip. Marley and Diana hanging out at Meredith's.

Uncle Gerwyn and Aunt Diana offered Michael $10 and Ed's ice cream to weed the front lawn. I've seen cow pastures in better condition ;P Michael picked the weeds and Steph and Samara picked them up and put them in the brown bags. After a few minutes of watching them, and seeing numerous people pass by, Uncle Gerwyn joined in. He was feeling a little guilty:) They did a fantastic job. It was completely unrecognizable. Marley admiring Elijah's new summer hair cut...He's looking like a cool dude. Mad can't resist giving Talia a squeeze. She's such a good baby.Sweetie pie Talia and I hanging out on their deck. I can't resist her charms either.
Samara is picking up Stephanie's habit of posing with crazy faces...it cracks me up whenever I see it.

When I have family and friends in town, it seems like I get very little sleep and I'm never at home. Every waking moment I'm not working or sleeping or baking means I'm somewhere with them. Whether it's at Sooky's or Diana's or Meredith's or my aunt's place...or Newmarket or at a restaurant having meals out...or movies...it's non stop. The last 2 weeks I've seen 5 movies. Midnight in Paris (Good), Kungfu Panda 2 (Good) Super 8 (Very Good) X-Men Origins(Excellent) Tree of Life(Disappointing) . I've baked chocolate chunk cookies, carrot cupcakes and lemon bars, chocolate pavlova, tiramisu, meringue cookies. I'm racing around here, there, everywhere. I'm tired, but I'm not complaining. I realize I'm so lucky to have such a fantastic extended family who actually enjoy eachother's company. Friends who are fun, and who love food as much as I do. So, I'll enjoy it while I'm able to. I can always sleep later...thank goodness I can function on 5 hours.

Welcome Back Mad, Jessica, Michael and Stephanie!

On June 14th, Mad and the kids came back to Toronto for their first visit back in 2 years.

Everyone has grown up so much! Jess looks so mature, she's as tall as me. Michael, very grown up. He speaks with a slight British accent on some words. I guess going to a British run private school will do that to you. When I first saw them at my aunt and uncle's place, Jess and Michael immediately gave me a huge hug... Stephanie didn't recognize me:((( (Not that I really expected her to, the last time I saw her she was barely 3 years old. Michael said to her, "It's Aunt Carol, you have to give her a hug." She did so very reluctantly. As the evening past, we were trying to figure out what I should make for Sooky's Welcome Back dinner the following Saturday. I told Stephanie that I would make whatever she wanted. After a long look of wistful contemplation, I offered to show her some pictures of things I had made. That way she could pick something. She looked through the photos on my camera. When she saw the Chocolate Pavlova she stopped me. She said..."Now I remember who you are..." I picked her up and gave her a big hug and kisses. When she was here before, I always thought of her as "my baby". My baby remembered me!

She picked the Chocolate Pavlova for dessert.

Keeping myself busy...and Glee

So, I was supposed to have the 9th, 10th, and the 11th off. But Ron (from work) was sick, so they asked if I would be able to work a little more. I told them the only day I could do was Saturday. But, it would have to be an early shift since I had tickets to Glee in concert.

So...after dinner and birthday cake in NewMarket on friday night, I got a little less than 5 hours sleep and went to work for 8am. I worked until 4:30pm. Then I raced over to Sooky's house to meet for dinner. We had dinner at Leslie Jones, then grabbed a cab to the Air Canada Centre. The concert was fantastic! Lea Michele, Amber Riley and Darren Criss were incredible. Lea and Amber gave me chills. The cast, the whole show, was much better than I expected.

After cabbing it back to Sooky's to pick up my car, I raced over to Willie Stout's to meet my friends for UFC. I made it in time to catch the last 2 fights. After my crazy day I stumbled into bed around 2 am. I had to get up early to go to work Sunday. Suffice it to say, I was exhausted.

Pippette's birthday

The happy Birthday Girl...wearing the birthday hat.

Sabrina thinks this is funny
The birthday hat made the rounds.
Gar and Viv look so cute.
Ron....so happy in the hat.
I'm so tired and so far behind on my posting...:( I figure if I get a little bit done at a time, I should be caught up by the time I leave for Cat's.
Pippette's birthday was June 10th. The plan was to have dinner with the friends on Sat the 11th. Since Sooky and I had tickets to Glee, I went to the "Family" dinner on the friday night. Mandarin for Crabfest...I have to say, I did eat my share of crab...maybe more than my share:)

Cutie pie Sabrina.

Sabrina is getting so big.
Oddly, this picture reminds me of the 70's. She wants to be read to all the time.
I know it's a little dirty but, who can resist this face?

Pippette, Steve and Sabrina were back in town. It was lovely to spend some time with them. Sabrina is just getting sweeter. Unlike before, she spontaneously gives kisses, whenever the mood strikes her. She is so bright. She loves to read. I sang the rhymes in her books until I was hoarse. Then she would give me a hug and a kiss for my trouble. That's the kind of payment I can agree on! Could just eat her up!

Baking for a Trio of Birthdays and New Packaging.

Williams-Sonoma Chocolate Brownies, Chocolate Chunk cookies and White Chocolate, Toffee and Oatmeal cookies.

I made the labels on the computer and backed them with card stock.

The different ribbons signify different people. Red for the birthday boys and girls. Blue for boys, green for girls and black...for Nick. He is allergic to peanuts. No nuts for him!

Alain, Pippette with Vivian and Nurit (a little sleepy...or is this due to alcohol consumption?)

I'm still in catch up mode. A couple of weeks ago, (June 4th) we finally celebrated Alain's, Nurit's and Vivian's respective birthdays. Because of vacations and various circumstances during the month of May, we decided to celebrate on the 4th. That way Steve and Pippette would also be able to join us. I was supposed to be off on the friday before. But, since Ron was sick, they asked me to come in at 5-10pm. My plan had been to bake my friends favourites in their honour, as a treat to go with their gift. Everyone else is just lucky to be on my baking list. :) I woke up and started baking at 10am. I hadn't checked the day before and realized I only had 4 eggs. Damn! I would need 7 to be able to bake everything I wanted to. So I only baked the cookies since they were the most work, (and the brownies take 4 eggs on their own). I could have stopped at that but the brownies are absolutely Nurit's favourite. So, after work I went to Metro for the eggs and baked the brownies. I also felt a little inspired and made the labels. I drifted off to sleep around 2am. After work, I raced over to the Miller Tavern to meet everyone. It was nice to finally all get together. It has really been ages since all 14 of us have been in the same room. Dinner was lovely. The conversation entertaining. Definitely a memorable evening.

Aria, Tiffany and Jean Philippe Patisserie

The exterior is all metal and glass. Very light and airy.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the poster for Tiffany. She was performing at Gold Lounge. Caesar's has Elton and Celine...Aria had Tiffany...:)Those "daisies" are made of white and milk chocolate. Protected behind glass in a climate controled environment.

Besides the usual cookies, flavoured marshmallows and other usual bakery items...they make the most spectacular cakes. You can pay thousands...

...Or for $6.50 you can have a beautiful treat. I tried the White Chocolate and Raspberry Cheesecake on the far right side...It was absolutely delicious.

When I visited Vegas last year, Phyllis had started a new job as a butler in the High Roller Baccarat room at the newly opened Aria. I had wanted to visit her and see what Aria and the new City Center was like. I never got the chance last time but made sure I did on this trip. So the day before I left Shani, Jhanine, Diamond and I went to visit Phyllis at Aria and have tea and cake at Jean Philippe Patisserie.

Picture frames and Decorating.

Jhanine and Yale's bedroom features her family momentos and keepsakes.

Diamond's bedroom has pictures of her friends and family.
The upstairs hall has momentos from their wedding and her favourite tins.
The guest bedroom has a shrine to Diamond and the pups, Casino and Mirage.

Jhanine has been storing picture frames for almost 2 years now. She's been waiting for me to take new pictures and organize the frames. She been waiting for me to actually put them up. I developed some of the photos I took while I was there and some that she had on her computer. It took an afternoon and a trip to Target for more picture hanging hardware to complete the job but I think it looks pretty great. Jhanine seemed genuinely pleased and mentally relieved to have it all done. She's at peace with her house now. It has become a shrine to her daughter until next year when I plan on forcing her to take pictures of herself.