lovely meals, fresh flowers & beautiful friends.

back in february i received a message from steph, a very special long-time friend, inviting me to spend a week with her and her husband neil at their lovely home in ottawa sometime during the summer months. we decided on this past week, so they booked it off from work and when monday morning came i was up with the birds and made the 6 hour trip to visit her all alone. having never driven farther than an hour and a half away by myself, i was nervous but excited to be a big girl and get on the road, and it totally paid off when i arrived safe and sound with not a care in the world but a sore throat from all the singing belting-it-out i had done. i was actually surprised i hadn't danced a hole straight through my chair. 

i was greeted by steph & neil, their sweetheart of a pooch cork, and the most beautiful lunch prepared and ready to devour. we drank wine and picked up exactly where we left things off when we had seen each other last in january, and we agreed that a friendship in which you don't necessarily see each other or speak to one another everyday, but can feel natural and warm and just as it always was when you are together is the best kind of friendship. the rest of the week panned out just the same as we enjoyed ourselves and each other's company; yoga in the living room each morning, making & sharing gorgeous meals together, bike rides through her neighbourhood, an afternoon at the beach, a day of thrift and antique shopping, a few meals out and even a dirty night in with fun visitors. the week flew by and before we knew it we were saying goodbye with tears in our eyes. i am incredibly lucky to have a friend like steph in my life, 
and am more thankful for her and our friendship than ever.