Life update!
On Sunday morning I participating again in the Ride for Heart. I biked 50km from Exhibition Place all the way up to York Mills on the DVP then all the way back. It was a great ride. Very tiring, and gave me a matching pair of giant bruises on my butt thanks to my cheap bicycle seat, but it was all worth it because I managed to raise $280 for The Heart and Stroke Foundation. Thank you to all of the wonderful people who sponsored me!! Couldn't have done it without ya!
I couldn't have asked for a better day. It was nice and warm (except in the shadows of condo buildings) and the shine was shinning ever so brightly. Probably too brightly because I definitely got sun burned. Last year it was horrible weather; cold and rainy; so this year I made sure to pack some warm clothes just in case. I didn't even think to bring sunscreen... guess I'll have to remember that for next year. I big thank you also goes out to my riding buddy Shawn who kept pushing me to complete the 50km.
On June 7th, I was privileged to attempt Shawn and Kim Drape's wedding. It was beautiful! I first met Shawn in 1st year at Queen's, and he was always talking about Kim. They were high school sweethearts! It was really nice to see it all work out. It was a very traditional white wedding, with the ceremony in a church and a wonderful reception afterwards. Unfortunately Ashwin and I had to leave early to catch a flight.
My company is spread across different sites in North America. They organize a big annual general meeting where we get to see people from other sites and hear the latest news on the company; like a conference of sorts. This year it was held in San Antonio, and for a couple short days I got to experience the Texan lifestyle. Unfortunately I didn't really get a chance to see the city, but I get to see how life was like without a body of water to normalize the temperature. In the mornings and in the evenings it was pretty cool, but during the day it was blistering hot!! It was such a weird temperature variance.
Went to Anime North again this year, but I was too busy with work and other hobbies to complete my Valefor costume in time. I wore my Trunks costume very briefly (litterally just over an hour) and then donned my stage ninja garb. For the months leading up to AN, I wasn't feeling very inspired to cosplay, or really to go to the con at all(I really only go to see friends now). After seeing so many people in costume though, a little inspiration came back; hopefully enough to get Valefor together in time for the Cosplay Picnic.
I took on Ninja Paul's typical role to feed my fellow ninjas though. I baked some tiny buns and made little PB&J and nutella sandwiches. Also baked up some white chocolate chip and almond oatmeal crandberry cookies. I tried out a vegan right-side-up pineapple cupcake recipe which sorta didn't turn out as expected, but with some coconut icing and flakes and a bit or reorientation, managed to salvage them into these concoctions:
My sister is getting married in August, so my parents invited my family and the family of her fiancé to dinner. For the special occasion, I got a chance to attempt my mother's strawberry rhubard crisp recipe and it turned out delicious! If I were to make it again though, it would be in a smaller dish in order to have a bigger layer of fruit on the bottom.
Also baked a classic favorite for a work potluck: chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. Put a raspberry and some chocolate shavings on it to spice them up.
Recently I tried out a Curry deviled eggs recipe that came out delicious! (I've been on a curry kick recently) I really enjoy baking, cooking and trying out new recipes. I have a bunch of food intolerences, so it's really hard to find stuff that I can eat. It's great to make thing things yourself cause then I can control what goes in and what stays out. Involves a lot of time, but Im' doing it more and more and I'm really enjoying the tasty results. I'm realizing how unhealthy processed food is, and trying to stay as far away from all the salt and unpronouncible chemicles companies throw in there. For example recently I read that a lot of blueberries in food is actually faked! o_O