.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. 

.travel: drumheller, ab.

about a month & half ago, peter + jack and i took a little getaway over my birthday weekend to visit some old dinosaurs. it was a perfect mini holiday with my family of three [and our last as a family of three!] and i found it rather fitting considering i'm starting to feel like a 'fossil' as well ;)

we packed up our new vehicle and drove the 3.5 hours south to the tiny town of drumheller, ab. i can't really say much about the city itself [sorry, drumheller!] but the landscape was beautiful and the town filled to the brim with activities for the youngsters. jack was in heaven. 

we visited the suspension bridge, the hoodoo's [and attempted to snap a few maternity pictures in the badlands], visited the world's largest dinosaur, walked the tyrrell museum, and played on the hotel waterslide. we also had a rather delicious greek meal at a local restaurant, which reminded pete and i so much of our europe trip a few short years back. the food was so authentic it was like we where on the island of santorini again!

here's a load of iPhone pictures of our mini trip. it was just so lovely, but then again i truly think doing anything with these two people is lovely.

royal tyrrell museum

.fancy napkin on instagram, june 2014.

life has been crazy busy lately. i know that's probably obvious or because from time to time i might whine a little about it, but i really don't know where the time has flown by. i ask myself daily how i am already 5 1/2 months pregnant? it just can't be true! 

then i remember. i'm still working full time in my day job. managing a house and 20 month old toddler. working tireless hours on 'the skinny'. doing my maid-of-honor duties like organizing a out-of-town stagette for my sister. and also a bridal shower. selling our rental property. car shopping. oh yeah, and brewing twins in my belly. 

and that my friends, is why i love instagram. daily snippets of life for a busy momma who definitely has 'baby brain' forgetting the beautiful daily small things. come follow along. 

here's life lately.

from left to right. 

top: attending our nieces petting zoo birthday party || snuggles for dada [and a whole lot of love] || hot tubbing in kelowna for the bride-to-be with a great group of girls

middle: stagette planning and party prep [assembling the welcome gift bags] || a recent photoshoot break from capturing 'the skinny' to document my growing bump with the incredible els photography and my handsome hubby || a family selfie

bottom: getting the opportunity to finally 'meet' some amazing ladies in my internet world [cindy, caitlin and sara] || a winery baby bump picture at quails gate in kelowna || a sneak peek into our upcoming project 'the skinny' with meg and our littlest assistant jack

**middle photo by meg henderson for els photography

.fancy napkin on instagram.

i sometimes forget that not everyone is on instagram and as addicted to it as i am. which is quite funny as i just joined myself recently. that being said here are a few things that have been going on around these fancy napkin parts that deserve a little update.

we celebrated jack's 1st birthday with a lumberjack theme || playing with new birthday presents after everyone went home || a little outfit-of-the-day inspiration, and loving my new leather skirt from h&m || my first [of many] christmas stocking hauls || brunch with my two favourite boys at cafe bicyclette located in the building peter and i where married, bonus! || more brunch snaps, this time with my boy and i || grammy and jack, two peas in a pod || walking the 'all is bright' on 124 street, and freezing our butts off || handsome little fur baby 

how jack and i spend most mornings, pushing buttons on the washer || bath time fun || when jack kindly ripped up all my beloved christmas flyers [:(], guess he takes after his father with hating those things || trimming the tree with lights || another morning ritual, playing panda || and this boys newest funny face. i adore this squishy-nosed face so much || jack lounging on his 'couch'. and he does it so well || our h&m ad in today's parent magazine. so cool to finally see it in print. beyond awesome experience and memories to last forever || this kid hates his snowsuit. i think his face here really says it all

and don't forget to follow me for daily updates [click here]. hey! you never know what that crazy kid of mine might do next, because he's just so darn rad. and i guess there may be a tad about peter and i too....

.thankful.

just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a very happy [canadian] thanksgiving! i know i'm already down one turkey dinner, with 3 more looming before me, which i am both incredibly thankful and incredibly excited for. things just don't get much better than a houseful of loving family and a belly full of turkey. 

in saying that, today i sit here thinking of this exact time last year. i was 10 months pregnant, over due by a 5 days and just ready to meet our sweet, jack. he, in his usual fashion, was late to the party and although we were surrounded by family i remember thinking we were missing one vital piece of that puzzle. our boy. 

now, this thanksgiving, he is here. and almost a year old! goodness! but everything feels so damn right. and so damn great. and i, for one, am so damn happy and thankful for all of it. each and every day i thank god for that little beautiful boy and all the joy he brings me. for my beautiful husband. for my beautiful family. for my beautiful friends. for it all. 

i hope you get to spend a few minutes being thankful for something that brings joy to your life. something that makes life beautiful.

xoe

*photo's by jessica leigh photography

.jack's firsts: camping.

this post is late in getting to you, but i didn't want to miss out on posting it and sharing another one of jack's firsts! camping! 

this was a 'cheat' camping trip as we just spent 1 night over in my parent's fifth-wheel, but there was a fire and s'mores so i'm counting it.

jack handled it like a champ, staying up as late as he could before falling asleep in grammy's arms as she sang him my childhood song, edelweiss. we also survived freezing to death [in the fifth-wheel no less!] after grandpa dan decided that april was warm enough not to turn on the furnace [it wasn't!!!].

all-in-all, it was a fun overnighter with my family. i guess its these simple and sweet memories that i want to preserve forever, and it makes me so grateful that i have this little blog to solidify them. 

^^^trust me jack's bottle was empty! and what a cheeky daddy^^^