These Kids Are Alright.

One of the most important things about staying in Canada for a while was getting to know our niece and nephews a bit better. Here they are in order of appearance:

Georgia the Gorgeous, who we had met before. We remembered her, of course, but I am unsure if she knew who these two grown-ups were that suddenly started hanging out with everybody. It took us the full two weeks to go from fist-bumps to conversation to kisses on the cheek (which finally happened when we said goodbye at the airport, yay!). 

Renzo the Mellow, who is just the happiest baby you can imagine. This was the first time we got to spend time with him, and he is just the sweetest! He even forgave me for knocking his head against a canopy when I picked him up once. Bad Aunty Annika, bad! Renzo kept babbling and chuckling to himself every time we saw him.

Greyson the Newby, who has just arrived in this world and is only a few months old. He did what babies do best and smelled nice while being cute. I managed to keep him quiet for a long while when I was holding him in my lap, whereas he always got cranky when he was with Marco. Do I have baby mojo or what?!

Apart from Vancouver obviously being the most beautiful place in the world, these little people make me wish we lived nearer to see them grow and for a chance to become their friends. Marco's brothers and their wives make such good parents, too, and it feels like these three kids are bringing everybody closer together.

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).

What I've Been Busy With.

Hello, hello. Sometimes (though rarely) I do have a good excuse not to blog. It's those times I'm busy living! My parents stayed over for the first week of May, and it was my birthday, and we went to the seaside and had a lovely meal, and then a party with my friends. And there was cake. A lot of cake. And a tragic hedgehog and shells (more of these later). And to be honest, I have also been alternately watching Being Erica and Parks & Recreation, both of which are very, very captivating TV shows. Alas, here are a few phonos (phone-photos, I'm so funny!):

I discovered my new favourite bubble tea flavour: rose milk. I think the boba was strawberry-flavoured. To die for!

My birthday started off with just one cake. The normal amount. I also got presents. My parents gifted me a night alone in a book shop. How ace is that? Had I known such opportunities existed  I would have put that on my bucket list for sure. Marco gave me speakers for my phone (I am recently Spotify-addicted) and the River Cottage Handbooks, which I had been longing for for a while.

I couldn't have eaten a slice of my one cake after a big breakfast of pancakes and delicious lunch sandwiches from The Cupcake Cafe in Margate. 

Margate panorama. There is nothing better than spending your birthday by the seaside. In my book at least. 

Margate wildlife.

Margate art.

After trawling the charity shops in Margate and hanging out at the beach, we had some time to kill before dinner (not pictured), so we took a little drive and watched the sun set over Ramsgate marina.

Dude knows how to accessorize!

The beach in Ramsgate and I being a happy birthday girl after the amount of cakes that I got given had grown into a buffet by Saturday.

Would you look at this. See that little white cake on the left? Quite inconspicuous, n'est-ce pas?

Look what it was!!! Only a rainbow cake, made by my super-duper amazing friend Christina! It made me so happy! We're still eating it now, although it's diminishing quickly.

I had a truly happy birthday week. My friends and family made me feel really special.

What about you guys? Has anything exciting happened in your lives? How do you like to spend your birthday? I'd love to know, so leave me a comment.

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).

The Mood I'm In

Hi Folks.
I'm in a funny mood these days. I just feel like I want to ball up somewhere and think, think, think. I took this week off work, so I should really have a lot of opportunities to sort out the things that have been on my to-do list for the longest time (like, blogging?!). 
But all I managed to do yesterday is to spend most of the day on the sofa in my comfy pants, with my novel and hot chocolate, the cat Mae sleeping beside me and the wind blowing scatters of snowflakes around the house. I did not even have the energy to make myself some food, so that I was really hungry at dinner time and ended up ordering Indian takeaway for Marco and me. I'm in a funk.
In in little while, Marco and I will drive up to his English family north of London and I will have to attend my first ever funeral. We will be burying Marco's great aunt Ann, who passed away at the age of 93. I had only met her a few times, but she had always been very welcoming, warm-hearted and full of spunk and stories. 
Even though she could not move around a lot anymore, her mind was quick and she gave audience to her family from her sofa, with everybody sitting around her in her little living room. I am really sad that Marco and I did not take the chance to say goodbye to her in person, as she was sick for a little while before she died. Life got in the way, and maybe we hoped she would get better, but I had a feeling that she was not going to be here much longer, and I should have listened to my heart.
I have good things to share as well, like more photos from my travels, something of an amazing job opportunity (which I also have to make my mind up about), some happy mail. I hope I will get myself sorted, soon and be more present here. In the meantime, maybe go visit Jennifer at Grits & Moxie, as I hung out around there on Saturday. Have a little read around her blog if you do not know her already, she's lovely!

Much love,

© Text & Photos - Annika - All The Live Long Day (unless otherwise stated).

The Carnival Comes To Town

I am still sitting on so many photos that I took over the last few months, so I thought I would slowly work my way back across the summer. I have shown you what I went up to during the Olympics, so now I would like to tell you about an event that took place just before the Olympic Games... The whole of London was abuzz with cultural, arty happenings in the run-up to the big event. My borough had a Carnival parade coming through the streets one weekend. The parade's name was Godiva Awakes, and it consisted of many local groups in amazing costumes, quite a few music floats, a cornucopia of dancers and performers and a gigantic Lady Godiva riding on a metal horse.

The carnival slowly moved through the streets of my neighbourhood and then ended at the town hall in a big party finale. The grounds of the town hall had been dressed up by a collective of local artists and there were floating sculptures, installations on trees, and pompoms and ribbon everywhere.

My in-laws had just come over from Canada for a visit, so we brought them along to watch. I hope my photos reflect some of the happy atmosphere of the day.