Monday, June 13, 2011

Furniture Shopping - Ugh!

One of the most important people in my life (my sister) is an interior designer. I've always been in awe of her talent and ability to throw together a room (and an outift, for than matter). Well, until now, I did not truly appreciate how good she really is - and how inept I really am.

Mark and I moved in to our new home three months ago, and our living room has been sitting empty (except for a beautiful Crate and Barrel bar) since then. Whenever our doorbell rings, I cringe at the thought that the neighbour, Chinese food delivery man, or welcome wagon lady will think we're strange for having an empty living room! That being said, I've been putting off decorating the room, but we finally bit the bullet and decided to start some furniture shopping. We've been browsing for a few weeks, and decided that we would purchase a sofa, arm chair, and area rug this past weekend. Well, eight hours later, we came home exhausted, having only purchased a sofa. Ugh - I am indecisive and incapable of visualizing what things will look like together.

So far, this is what we have:

Kenton Bar - Crate & Barrel

Petrie Sofa - Crate & Barrel

I think we're going for a mid-century look (can you say, Mad Men). If anyone has any ideas for area rugs or arm chairs, feel free to let me know. Please keep in mind we have white walls, light hardwood, and a red kitchen that can be seen from the living room.

For now, I will spend hours on the internet, obsessively looking for exactly what I need. After all, if the internet worked for finding my husband, I'm sure I can find a stupid rug!


Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Good Times in the UK

After our once in a lifetime trip to Eastern Europe, we spent a little time in the UK. Dad, Tara, Mark and I explored London for a day, before Mark and I headed to Northern Ireland for 5 days.

Tara, Dad and I at Trafalgar Square

Dad and Tara had never been to London, so it was a day filled with sightseeing, and more importantly shopping! I'm pretty sure Tara was in her element, and will want to go back again.

Westminster Abbey - just a few weeks late for Will and Kate's big day

Parliament and Big Ben - my very favourite building

 I learned something very interesting while walking around London. Mark admitted to me that our trip to London just before our engagement was a very important one - if I hadn't fallen in love with the city, and more specifically Parliament and 10 Downing Street, he may not have proposed. All jokes aside, somewhere deep down, my husband still wants to be Prime Minister of Great Britain.

After getting Dad and Tara on a flight back to Calgary, Mark and I headed to Newcastle, NI to visit the Annett clan. We attended a lovely wedding of one of Mark's old school mates. And, Mark's Mom, sister and sister in law planned a 'homecoming/wedding reception' for us and all the relatives that couldn't make it across the pond for our wedding last year. It was a wonderful evening, and I was lucky enough to get to meet several Annett relatives that I had yet to meet. Mark has a huge family - something I'm not used to!

The sign that our nieces (Emily pictured) made for our party


All in all, it was a great trip, but a tiring one. It was nice to get back to Canadian soil (especially because Toronto temperatures have been soaring since we returned). Hello, summer!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Pallays (and Annetts) do Hungary

Well, we're back in Toronto and have mostly recovered from the jet lag. We had a fun, busy trip - we covered a lot of miles!

Budapest was beautiful. We spent lots of time walking around both the Buda and Pest sides of the city, took a bus/boat tour, visited a museum, an art gallery, the central market, the opera house, and ate some delicious Hungarian cuisine.

A view of Pest from Buda

We also rented a car and spent some time driving through the countryside, both in Hungary and Slovakia. We visited both of the towns that my grandparents came from. A dream come true for my Dad!  We stayed at a lovely winery hotel and enjoyed tasting some of Hungary's finest.

A lovely hotel, with beautiful rooms and delicious wine!
On our last day, we enjoyed a bus tour out to Lake Balaton. It was a warm day, and we soaked up some sun and took in all the sights.

Lake Balaton
Finally.... before we left, we had to enjoy another cone of gelato! The trip was unforgettable (especially for Dad). I would highly recommend Budapest as a vacation destination.

My three favourite people
That's all for today! I'll post more about the Northern Ireland portion of our trip later.