Let them eat cake!

One of the easiest choices to make was to get a cake or cupcakes from Cocoa Locale in Montreal.

The last time we went we trekked up to this bakery with intentions of getting some cupcakes, instead we got a wee cake! It was beyond delish and our intentions of saving some for the ride home were quickly thrown out the window! I think we had a banana cake, but I remember for sure, we are suckers for a good banana cake! It's a one woman show at Cocoa Locale, everything is baked fresh each day and once she's sold out the shop is closed..and apparently she sells out often!

(Both photos from Google images.)

Look at how cute the shop is too! It's beyond adorable! Obviously some photos need to be taken in there! I hope they aren't sold out by the time we get there!

Loves it!

One of the things I cannot resist is vintage cook books. Books written in a time when things like lard and fat were common ingredients and lobster, whipped cream, scallops, chicken and peaches all appeared in the same recipe! I love looking at the "casual" parties that housewives of yore were instructed to whip together and at the same time look calm, happy and stylish.
Don't you love how happy the woman in the first photo is? It's breakfast on the patio! She's already fully dressed and coiffed and has presumably made muffins, two omelets, some meat looking things and a pot of coffee! AND she's not even eating! He's totally digging in like the hungry man he his but you know she's totally just having coffee for breakfast and maybe some Valium to help take the edge off. Also she's having her coffee black because sugar and cream will obviously go straight to her hips! I love it! I love the deck with the yellow flowers and orange table set. LOVE IT!

Then there is that cake! Which is like it says "Pure Gold"!! I used to browse my moms cake cook books all the time when I was a kid. I'm not sure why she had so many because she certainly didn't just make cakes! How sweet would it be to have just another tier on top of this one with the simple piping? Although you'd lose that chilled out sun who makes me happy with his whole "I am the sun, be happy, stay tanned" vibe. I dig that sun.

Oh and look everything is orange and yellow!

It's sooner than I thought.

In one hundred and sixty seven days I will be getting married.

It's funny how when we first got engaged our time line was spring 2010 and our budget was 10grand. I'm not even sure when our budget got chopped to 6500 but suddenly I was brainstorming DIY ideas and cutting our guest list.
Then all of a sudden it was 2500 and the wedding was this fall on a Friday afternoon followed by dinner...then it changed to tea. We only made the switch to high tea after realising that the only cuisine that everyone across the board seemed to like was Italian and our favorite Italian places were either closed for renovations or in Montreal. Also people tend to drink at dinner and even if certain relatives swore up and down that they wouldn't get drunk I could not trust them to do so. Tea instantly got rid of that option. There will be two glasses of champagne but that is it.

It wasn't a matter of we couldn't afford our first and second options which is probably why I had such a hard time wrestling with my emotions over giving them up. Certain traditions that I was so looking forward to, first dance, cutting the cake, dancing with my father, now are all gone from my actual wedding day. Sure we will most likely do them next summer at the reception party but will it feel the same? I'm not sure. I'm incredibly fearful that the reception party won't even happen. It has to happen though. Has to. Here is one reason why....

Image from: Better Homes and Gardens
Seriously if that cake is not at the reception party I will shed many tears. I will make it a special invitation and it better RSVP yes or else!

Say Cheese!

I LOVE cheese. I have loved cheese as long as I can remember, my dad even taught me the alphabet by cutting out letters from cheddar and if I knew what letter it was I could eat it! I swear that this is the reason I could read by the time I was 3.

Without a doubt our wedding will have cheese involved during the meal at some point..probably more than once! Then I saw this.

It's a cheese cake! Honestly when I first saw it I thought "Wow they've made the cake look like cheese!" and then I saw that it was actually made of real different cheese wheels! This "cake" is from a company called A Cheesy Alternative based in Niagara region.

Everyone knows about Niagara Falls, which are pretty spectacular to behold. Well not that far from the falls is Ontario's wine region and some of the most beautiful wedding spots around. Niagara on the Lake is one of my favorite towns to visit and if you ever get a chance to visit it I highly recommend it, it is a bit touristy but in a quaint way and not in the same way that Niagara Falls is. If you were looking for a sweet place to elope that has it all or even a destination wedding Niagara has it all.