.12 acres: a restaurant review.

a few weeks back, meg and i had the pleasure of visiting the new pasture-to-plate concept restaurant, 12 Acres, in st.albert days before they opened to the public. and let me tell you, we were absolutley blown away!

having this intimate setting for media, family and friends allowed each of us to experience the real concept and feel of 12 Acres. it allowed us to hear the passion of the owners chef nathan and courtney henry and staff, taste the delicious food prepared from scratch, and experience an atmosphere that was like having dinner around my grandmothers farm table back on range road 262 [only more modern and without the napping uncles on the couch]. 

the concept is relatively simple. meat, poultry and vegetables fresh from a local farm straight to your table. that's it. but in a competitive market where food is frozen and bought at the cheapest dollar, this concept if both refreshing, needed, and worth every penny. it's truly a far cry from the frozen stuff and you can really taste the difference. 12 Acres farms, located just outside of st. albert breeds hormone and antibiotic free animals who are all free range, pasture raised. Their laying hens and chickens are not kept locked up only to mass produce eggs, but are allowed to roam freely and are fed top quality all vegetable feed. i simply cannot tell you the quality and love that is poured into this beautiful farm run by the lovely Mendieta family, Jen and Brian. 

aside from the freshest ingredients available, the restaurant itself is comfortable, inviting, far from stuffy, and even kid-friendly. they want to serve you and your family. which is an idea, with my own three kids in mind, very welcoming! we were served a 6 course drool-worthy meal over the course of the night, all of which was made from scratch. things such as homemade pasta, mustard, pickles and even meat smoked that very week. 12 Acres farms will only be producing enough meat to serve the restaurants needs, meaning if they run out of a certain cut, they'll be cooking up something different for that night! even the menus are sustainable by using iPads rather than forgoing the printing costs required to update the menus with this ever changing lifestyle of cooking.

having a sustainable restaurant with this concept in a city growing with chain restaurants is absolutely refreshing. needless to say, i am smitten. i have boughten the juice [freshly squeezed of course!] and want to help spread the word of this amazing new spot in my hometown. you seriously need to check this place out.

|| Thank you to my old friend Brian and his beautiful wife Jen for the invite. We had a blast and will be back to 12 Acres very shortly! cheers to many years of success!

|| all photos via meg / els photography , with hair and makeup [we just came from a shoot for the shop!] by senstudios. 

.feeling folky.

so my birthday was yesterday. 

at this point i'm not sure if i should still be getting as excited as i do when my birthday rolls around, but i mean, what can i say? i quite enjoy the love and attention! ha! it was a busy week filled with dinners, drinks, bonfires, music and lovely conversations. i also got spoiled rotten! geez, i have some really beautiful people in my life who make me feel loved [and not just because they know how to pick a sweet gift out! ha ha! i mean that in attention and thoughtfulness too!].

as for my actual birthday yesterday, it was a gorgeous sunny day and we spent it at the edmonton folk fest with some equally gorgeous and sunny friends. it was also jack's first festival and i was perhaps, even more excited about the thought of that and showing him what a joy music can be.  after chels & her family treated us to some birthday tickets [and cupcakes! thank you! and yum!] we packed our bags and nabbed a spot on the hill to catch a few tunes and soak up some rays. as i said, it was a super sunny and hot day out where a little shade was appreciated. jack was slathered in sunscreen and we lounged around in the open air. it was just awesome. we also ate, drank, and people-watched till our hearts content. we soaked in some live music from the various 7 stages and walked the site numerous times. i seriously think my legs wanted to beat me up after walking up that hill a couple times.

the folk fest is one of my favourite events in the city, located in our gorgeous river valley and i am just so happy to share this day with our son. he loves music and his little bopping body was bouncing away once that beat was heard.

unfortunately, taking a 9 1/2 month old to a full day music festival turned out to be a little too much for the tired little fella, so we packed it in a little early and headed home to rest from the busy weekend. peter may have had a little pout about leaving earlier than when the avett brothers where to take the stage [bummer for us both, actually] but that's what you do when you're a parent. and in the end, we had a little family snuggle, which is actually just what this 31 year old wanted. and frankly, needed.

.red shoe crawl 2013, whyte avenue.

this past sunday, my little family and a couple close friends of ours attended the red shoe crawl on whyte avenue. i have to tell you, as this was my first time attending, i was so pleasantly surprised at how well organized and how fun it all was! i knew going in that the proceeds went to a great cause [the ronald macdonald house, a charity that helps give sick children what they need most - their families] so i was on-board 100% with whatever the outcome was, but then actually enjoying myself the entire time!? well, that was just a double bonus!! this year the event sold out, which is amazing, and i was just happy that i was able to participate in it.

we strolled around the streets of whyte ave, popping into participating stores for samples of wine [thanks eyecare group!], beers [thanks mkt!], frozen coffees [thanks second cup!], an assortment of appetizers [thanks to the food fighter truck, chianti's, mkt, naanolicious, the tinbox, sabzy, and the keg!] and an assortment of sweets [hello! cookies from crave, ice cream from marble slab and frozen yogurt from [my fav] tutti frutti!]. and that was just to name a few [we actually didn't even make it to all that stops!].

the weather held off for most of the day, with it only sprinkling on us the last half hour which worked out great because it was the little man's nap time then anyways ;)
a big thanks as well to the red shoe society for putting on a great event, not only for the ronald macdonald house, but for the city of edmonton too! i will be definitely signing up for the 124street crawl in the fall [september, to be exact!].

^^ our attempt at a selfie family photo!^^

^^a sleeping babe is evidence of a successful day! yay!^^