.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. 

.dear, jack.

hey, bugg. it's momma.

just checking in to let you know that man - i love you. i know the twins are coming soon and your little world is about to change, but this insane amount of love dada and i have for you isn't going anywhere. that will never change. never ever. in fact, it seems to grow more and more with each passing day. i can't even explain it. you are just so darn awesome.

even with all those lovely toddler-two tantrums you've been showing us. we still love you.

even with all those insanely stinky diapers you love to save for momma. we still love you.

even with the refusal to eat anything healthy lately. we still love you.

even with the nightly 2:30 am wakings where you won't go back to sleep unless it's in our bed. we still love you.

even with the mess you make right after momma has tidied up. we still love you. 

even if you refuse to enjoy a bath alone and one of us has to crawl in with you. we still love you.

see, jack. we still love you no matter what you throw at us and these little siblings of yours, coming so so soon, are only going to make our family even better. i hope you know that. 

i also hope you know that if you ever just need a little alone time with momma or dada, we're here. anytime. we will still have our special moments like we do now, just the two of us [or three of us] if you need. anytime. you are our little bugg man and that will never change.

so remember that we love you, no matter what. forever and always. 

[and i am so incredibly lucky to have meg henderson [els photography] in my life to capture these amazing pictures of me and my boy. these mean the absolute world to me, hormonal or not, and i cannot thank her enough. and her talent....i mean, it's pretty incredible right?!]

.morning hopes.

photo || els photography for shoptheskinny.ca

early this morning, with jack lying in my bed next to me watching tv as per our usual morning ritual, my channel flipped to cmt music. while i don't particularly partake in country music ever, a particular song started and the lyrics grabbed my attention....lee ann womack's 'i hope you dance' played [and judging from the outfits in the video, probably released in the early 90's!] and i couldn't help but hope for those same things for that sweet little boy in my arms. call it pregnancy hormones, call it love.

jack henry - i hope you always dance.

xo

momma.

i hope you dance || lee ann womack

"I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,

May you never take one single breath for granted,

GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',

Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',

Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,

When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,

Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,

Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance, 

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance. 

Dance....I hope you dance. 

I hope you dance....I hope you dance. 

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.. 

(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along 

Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone)"

.sneak peek.

A little sneak peek at a couple shots from our Maternity shoot that we took last week. Not a big surprise to my facebook friends as I couldn't wait to share them, but for everyone else....I hope you like :)

Pretty darn unique, right?

Our photographer Meg @ ELS Photography approached me with the wild idea of jumping in the river and getting a little dirty. I thought 'What the hell. She's the artist' so we went for it and I am absolutely over-the-moon with how they turned out.

She also asked if it would be alright for a 2nd shooter to tag along with us, and we of course jumped at the idea! And how very spoiled we felt!

So Erin @ Projectlife Photography came along and offered laughs, a different eye and just made the night that much more fun.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Ladies!!! I couldn't yell loud enough for my love over these pictures and it's something that we will cherish for a lifetime. Just me and my two babes.

I also wanted to give a shout out to my friend, Chelsea. She swooped in and saved the day with a much needed hair touch-up and I was in love with the outcome. You, my friend, are one talented lady with those sheers. Thanks again. xoxoxo.

More pictures are surely to come.....stay tuned, xo.