2014 in Review

[_loveorsympathy]

as 2015 begins to unfold it's time for my annual look back at the year that was. if you can believe it, this is my 10th year doing these! 10 years!!! 2014 was a great year filled with travel (I've been on a whopping 19 flights this year!), friends and fun.



JANUARY

• I went for tea at my favourite tea spot in markville (is it markville? it's unclear..somewhere north of the city)
  
  
  
  
• I did some dancing
  
  
  
  FEBRUARY
  
  
  • more dancing!
    
    
    
    
    
    
  • the office gathered to support team canada hockey at the sochi olympics
    
    
    
    
  • obligatory food posts
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    MARCH
    
    
    • march was selfie month, apparently..
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
    • I got to hang out with my lovely friend andrew
      
      
      
      
    • it was michael's mum's birthday so a few of us dance folk joined her to celebrate and do a bit of dancing
      
      
      
      
      
      
    • also, food.
      
      
      
      
      
      APRIL
      
      
      • april was the bees' knees dance show and I helped stage manage all three shows!
        
        
        
        
      • I went to see birdy with natalie and andrew - she was great!
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • my friend ani held a fundraiser and donated all of her hair to charity!
        
        
        
        
      • then it was easter and we made some cute t-shirt easter eggs!
        
        
        
        
      • bonus "bacon" peanut butter cupcake
        
        
        
        MAY
        
        
      • I'd been working for many months with the Frankie100 celebrations in New York City (I was on the registration dream team) and the time had finally come for the event (original post here)! thousands of lindy hoppers from all over the world met up in New York City for a week of dancing, classes and celebration. it was a super fun week - I got to see lots of friends, I did some sightseeing and some dancing. it was great seeing this project I'd worked so hard on come to fruition finally! as a bonus, one of my favourite bands (maximo park) were playing in NYC while I was there so I got to check them out, too!
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        JUNE
        
        
      • in june I was lucky enough to do some travelling with work! I was sent to italy and greece with a coworker to go on one of the tours our company sells (original post here.) it was great as I'd never been to either! I got to see a lot of sights, museums, historical things - it was amazing :) we visited rome, vatican city, florence, pompeii, naples, capri, patras, delphi, athens and the islands of hydra, poros and aegina.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • once the work part of the trip ended my colleague and I headed to santorini and mykonos (original post here) - both gorgoues greek islands. we checked out oia (famous for its sunsets in the caldera), rode donkeys, visited the windmills of mykonos and did some exploring and eating (the best gyros of my life was in santorini - SO GOOD!)
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • from mykonos my colleague and I parted ways and I got on a plane to venice where I stayed for a couple days (I think I've now seen just about everything I need to in italy!) I did airbnb in venice and had an absolutely lovely host who was like my italian nona while I was there. I ate gelato, explored san marco square, the bridge of sighs and the doge's palace and did a lot of wandering around (read: getting lost. venice is virtually impossible to navigate.)
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • from venice I moved onto copenhagen - one of my favourite places! the weather was beautiful (cool coming from southern italy and greece, but sunny at least!) - I did TONS of walking, did a half-day bike tour, had smørrebrød, climbed to the top of christiansborg for an amazing panoramic view of the city and just generally enjoyed my time in denmark. I truly love visiting scandinavia and copenhagen has to be one of my favourite cities ever.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • from copenhagen my final stop was berlin - a place I'd never been to before! I did a bike tour (surprise surprise), checked out a lot of WWII stuff, joined the crowd of thousands at the fanzone in the brandenburg gate to watch a world cup football match and had a custom perfume made! fun!
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        JULY
        
        
      • july was pretty low-key; it was my sister's birthday and we went to an exotic petting zoo (though, most exciting was the bunny petting area!), I ate lots of junk apparently (ice cream, donuts and grilled cheese??!) and just hung out in toronto
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        AUGUST
        
        
      • in august my friend ani and I headed to bermuda to visit a friend we used to work with who had moved back to bermuda (original post here.) it was a great little trip, we were away for about 4 days, and got to see everything bermuda has to offer! it was definitely helpful having a friend with a car; we drove into hamilton, to several beaches, to cooper's island and st george
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • I also went cottaging for the first time in many years - a group of us from work headed up to a cottage nearby ottawa and enjoyed a weekend of swimming, making smores and relaxing in the beautiful weather.
        
        
        
        SEPTEMBER
        
        
      • in september atchara, a friend of mine from england, came to canada and stayed with me in toronto for a week (she also stayed a week in montreal with another friend) we had a lovely time walking around, visiting the island and eating lots of food :) it was so nice having her over!
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • I did a couple other things, like nuit blanche and we day. I also helped out with a big church thing in mel lastman square where I got my dinner lady on and served popcorn!
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        OCTOBER
        
        
      • in october me, my mum and my sister headed to iceland over the thanksgiving weekend for a spot of frozen temperatures exploring, lagooning and geysering (full entry here). iceland was absolutely stunning - loads of natural beauty everywhere you look, lots to do and explore and reykjavik is a fun little city. we stayed in an apartment in reykjavik and explored the city, we did a tour of the golden circle and stopped in at a tomato greenhouse, we saw the strokkur geyser, we visited the gullfoss water fall and hiked through thingvellir national park. all were very picturesque and rugged and beautiful. we also tried to see the northern lights - which we kind of did, we saw hints of green and pink in the sky but nothing like what you'd see on a postcard.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • from iceland my family went home and I headed to scotland and england to spend time in glasgow, the highlands and the north of england (full entry here.) scotland was beautiful - like iceland, very rugged and naturally beautiful - there were mountains, lochs, the ocean - it was amazing. the weather was great - I couldn't have asked for any better! glasgow was beautiful too - I really fell in love with it. in the highlands I saw ben nevis, eilean donan castle, the five sisters of kintail, the isle of skye, loch ness and urquhart castle, the culloden battlefield and inverness. I loved every minute of it! in england I stopped in liverpool, blackpool and leeds to visit my friends milly, atchara and emily before heading up to stirling castle and glasgow before heading home to toronto. all in all a really wonderful trip that I'd repeat in a heartbeat.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • once I got back to canada it was full-on halloween/autumnal celebrations time! I went on a hike through belfountain park with michael, thomas and tyler and we also checked out a fear farm in the kitchener-waterloo area
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • then it was halloween! I took the opportunity to dress up in my kigurumi at work
        
        
        
        NOVEMBER
        
        
      • november was pretty low-key - the only thing of note was swing out to victory at the warplane museum in hamilton
        
        
        
        DECEMBER
        
        
      • december is always a busy month; it's my birthday, it's christmas, it's new year's shortly followed by my mum's birthday and this year I threw in a move to a new apartment just to make things that much more difficult! I also went to a non-dance event where michael and I won best dancers, I celebrated my friend doris' birthday, checked out the christmas market in the distillery district, saw my favourite band, sloan, and had a great time at the work christmas party.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
      • to end things off right my dad, sister and I went to BC to visit our family out there. it was a super quick trip but we got to hang out with the grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncle and also did a very whirl-wind bit of sightseeing, seal-feeding and sushi-eating.
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        
        2014 has been a great year for me and I'm looking forward to filling the year ahead with more travel, adventures and memories with friends and family.