Friday Things
1. Can you believe that Joseph turned 18 months old last week?! Time is absolutely flying! He had a great checkup and continues to climb up the percentile charts. He’s down to one solid nap a day, which can range from 45 minutes to almost 3 hours, but most of the time they’re at least 1.5 hours. He continues to entertain us on a daily basis… he’s so much fun and it seems like he’s always been here.
2. I’m now 30 weeks along (wow is THAT going quickly!)… I had an appointment yesterday and everything continues to look great. The baby has measured slightly ahead of schedule the last two weeks, so perhaps he’ll make an early appearance, as opposed to his brother, who wanted to stay in my belly for all of eternity.
3. Since we’ve been making a lot of popcorn on the stove lately, I’ve been flying through containers of popcorn kernels. If you buy them in bulk, where do you get them? Would love some recommendations!
4. My mom recently cleaned out her attic and brought me a ton of my things to go through… One of them was a poster I made when I was 7 years old (I assume a school project) called “Me, Myself and I” about all of my favorite things. Two of the pictures were a cookbook and a camera, which I thought was pretty darn cool. But there was also a picture of… an iron. I couldn’t stop laughing. I didn’t remember ironing when I was that young, and when I asked my mom about it she said I was always interested when she was doing it, so she got me a toy iron. Apparently my Type A personality began from a young age ;-)
5. Who Was the Biggest Heartthrob the Year You Were Born? Mine (1980) was Harrison Ford. Eh, never did anything for me.
6. These are so sweet and funny! >> 19 Times Dogs Were the Gift the Internet Didn’t Deserve.
7. Photog friends! I am planning to sell a few lenses that I never, ever use and am wondering where the best place to do this might be? eBay? B&H Photo?
8. My mom is traveling to Montreal for work in the near future – any must-see things to do or places to eat I can pass along to her? I’m so jealous – Montreal is on my bucket list, but I’m too big to enjoy a trip like that right now, womp womp.
9. So the Olympics start next week! I love watching! What are your favorite events? Swimming/diving and gymnastics for me!
10. TGIF! These guys look all attitude-y for some reason!
You mom must go to Mamie Clafoutis in Montreal. It is amazing. I had a chocolate pistachio pastry there that was literally the best thing I’ve ever eaten.
We go through a lot of popcorn – binge watching Netflix with friends. I used to always use Orville R’s white, but then a friend gave me the 50 pound bag of popcorn from SAM’s Club (‘Mighty Pop’ I think). Hands down the best popcorn for stove top popping! Fluffy, crunchy, holds the salt and seasonings well, and every kernel pops. Has a great corn taste. Don’t think I will go back to OR, but need to figure out a way to store that huge bag.
Hi too all. This is Michelle’s mom. I arrived in Montreal today and want to thank all of you who gave such great suggestions for restaurants to try.
as a lot of people have said, old town, notre dame, and mont royal are all great. i would also recommend marche jean talon [a huge farmer’s market that i love], parc lafontaine, restaurant l’avenue [amazing brunch place], la diperie/ bilboquet/ meu meu/ kem coba for ice cream, arhoma [pistachio croissants.], cafe neve [beautiful chocolate chip cookies the size of your face], and cafe myriade for coffee! can also be fun to walk around by place des arts in the summer- always something going on there. hope your mom has a great time!
Popcorn: orville redenbacher 5lb jugs at BJs Wholesale for ~$9. I have tried all sorts of kernals and these more reliably pop the biggest and with the fewest unpopped kernals.
On a side note, I too have an almost 2yr old and am expecting our 2nd baby. I have enjoyed your blog for years!
http://shop.justpoppin.com/gourmet-popcorn-kernels-mushroom-popcorn.html This is a great site for popcorn. THey have mushroom popcorn, which makes really big and fluffy kernels. They also have great toppings!
I just got back from my first visit to Montreal last week!! I ate twice at a place called “Le Gros Luxe” where they do these outrageous Bloody Caesars (basically a Bloody Mary, but a little spicier). You can customize the alcohol, mixers, and then choose your toppings from a list of all sorts of crazy things like fried pickles, mini quesadillas, jalapeño poppers… They look like savory boozy “freakshakes.” So fun!
Joseph is such a cutie!! I think gymnastics is my favorite Olympic event….but
I like watching many events. Love that pic of your dogs!
I’m not sure who the heart throb would be WAY back when I was born!
(stone age…hee) but I’ll say Frank Sinatra.
Your son is so cute! How exciting that you’re at 30 weeks! On the Olympics, I like to watch track and field, and gymnastics.
LOL I don’t think the heartthrobs from the year you were born means that people born that year think of them as heart throbs. No matter when you were born, these guys have to be at least 20 yrs. older than you. Yuck!
Joseph gets cuter every month. Can’t wait for the new baby’s arrival.
Would love to know what lenses you have for sale. I’d recommend B&H but you’d make more $ selling outright.
Also recommend you take a trip to Amish County in Ohio, you can buy amish popcorn in nice size bags and lots of other good things. If you need any recommendations on where to go, stay, etc. I’d be glad to help. It is only a 2.5 hour drive from Pittsburgh and a whole different world. Wonderful warm place to stay in Walnut Creek at the Carlisle Inn. There are great options for your adorable son, visit the animal barn in Charm, he can have a ride on a pony. Also visit all the animals at “the farm”.
We went on a popcorn quest a few years ago. You should try Fireworks brand at popcorn lovers.com. Spring for the sampler pack and find the ones you love and buy larger quantities of those. It’s a little more expensive for the sampler but totally worth it. Plus it’s fun to rate and judge each flavor. I had no idea there were so many varieties to pick from. Happy Popping!
love that–attitude-y–they do look quite regal and parsnickitty in that particular photo–kinda funny. They are beautiful dogs–you can tell they’re loved.
How perfect that you asked for advice on visiting Montreal. I have been thinking about planning a trip there and all the advice you’re receiving will help me as well. As for the Olympics – I love the swimming/diving events, gymnastics (women’s, not so much the men’s), and track (not really the field part of track and field). As for the heartthrob, clearly I am very, very old as the list started after I was born! Oh dear! I was born in 1957. I guess I need an oldies heartthrob list!
My mom has been cleaning out her attic too. Only she has been giving my 3 kids everything I collected back in the day! What was I thinking when I collected a big box of PEZ candy dispensers, Beanie Babies and Holiday Barbies. I am laughing at myself and tell the kids to keep them at Nannys to play with. :)
Selling used lenses, recommend B&H, Adorama, and KEH. I have others, but these would be a good start.
Hi!
Gosh, Joseph is getting so big and extra cute! I’m loving the popcorn suggestions and will undoubtedly try one of these for my own snacking (I usually buy Goya in the supermarkets). Your Mom will love Montreal – it’s friendly, clean, lovely – and the St. Anne’s Basilica is breathtaking. As for selling lenses – I had success selling through Amazon Trade-In. They might offer a little less money but I didn’t have to deal with any of the headaches I’ve heard about with eBay. They gave me the free shipping label, I sent in my lenses and they credited my Amazon account with the money…and did it quickly!
Stay cool!
Yes!!! Swimming, diving, and gymnastics are my favorites, too! I also like Beach Volleyball, and I try to pretend that my fiance isn’t staring at the players ;)
Not really familiar with Monteal but I’m sure someone might direct her to a good poutine eating establishment.
I love seeing pics of Duke and Einstein each week…I have a 10 year old golden named Leo who looks lots like Einstein with the same white face. Thanks for making me smile each Friday by sharing them with us! :-)
We have been going through the popcorn over here too! I buy in gallon containers from our local apple orchard here in michigan. Perhaps you have a farm or orchard nearby that you could buy kernels from?
Wow, your mom is quite lucky to be visiting Montreal. A few of my recommendations would be to go to Mont-Royal, the Oratory, the Old Port of Montreal and the Plateau. Those are some really nice areas of Montreal to visit. As for some food recommendations I would suggest Ice House, Kem CoBa (best ice cream in ALL of Montreal), Le Passé Composé, Régine Café, Cheskie’s Bakery, Schwartz’s and she will definitely need to try some bagels from either St-Viateur or Fairmount bagel. Hope she enjoys her trip! :)
I get an amazing tri- colored organic popcorn thru an organic bulk food delivery company! The company is called Azure Standard and can be found here, http://www.azurestandard.com. They are based out of Oregon and deliver to us in the mid west, you can see if they deliver near you. They have their own farms and use other small growers for all kinds of organic products.
I’m living in Montreal so don’t hesitate to email me for any tips.
But to sum-up : old montreal is lovely, the Mont Royal and mcGill are pretty cool too, then their are the botanical gardens.
For restaurants depends what you liked but for ice-cream she NEEDS to go to chocolat favoris which is at place des arts. It’s the best!
Good info on visiting Montreal – hoping to visit in the future. Regarding the popcorn, I’d only go with non-GMO. Corn and peanuts are the two top contaminated foods in this country. I’ve paid attention to this since opening a bag of Orville’s popcorn from the microwave and getting a mouthful of moldy popcorn. Never again.
I’ve always been pleased with both the price and the quality of popping corn that I’ve bought at Soergel’s.
Hey! Would any of those lenses happen to be a Nikon macro lens?
If you can find Jolly Time popcorn kernels, those are the best! There is a store locator on their website and also a way to purchase online. Straight from my home town smack dab in the middle of the Midwest! :)
Trip advisor has been the best advisor in all my travels. I can’t help but look at both dogs and see that one went to the beauty salon for hair straightener hair job and the other one didn’t. also one looks bored to the camera while the other one poses, lol cute pics ;-)
Joseph is s handsome! He’s a cutie and so are your dogs! I went and looked who the heartthrob of 1978 was, and it was Christopher Reeve. I liked him in Somewhere in Time is about all. Have a great weekend!
Montreal is the best! I lived there for 8 years and there is so much to see and do. I would highly recommend visiting Old Montreal, the Notre-Dame Basilica, and the Mont Royal. As for food, there are so many choices, you really can’t go wrong! For smoke meat, a must try is Schwartz’s on Saint-Laurent St…the line up for this place is often down the block.
The thing about Montreal is that no matter where you eat, it’s always good! Seriously we just stopped at this place because we were tired and hungry and had the most delicious pizza. It was called Pizzadelic, and I’d go back there. We also went to the Polish restaurant – its called Stash, and it was really good. For our “treat” restaurant, we went to La Pyrenees – definitely more pricey and you’ll probably need reservations.
In Montreal you definitely must go to Schwartz’s Deli…it has the most amazing corned beef. If you like visiting old churches then the Notre-Dame Basilica is worth a visit and well as checking out Old Montreal. It’s a fabulous city. Quebec City is really nice as well and worth the 2 1/2 hour drive.
Old Montreal is a must, there’s a lot of really good restaurants there like Garde-Manger. Le Plateau Mont-Royal is a fun neighborhood and to get a good view of the city le Mont-Royal is worth the hike!
Fantastic about Joseph’s check up and yeah for being 30 months along – the heart throb when I was born was Marcello Mastroianni – have never seen one of his films…lol…I do watch the Olympics and like you, I like the gymnastics, swimming and I even enjoy some of the track and field events. Have a good week!
I meant 30 weeks not months….sigh
I always recommend Trip Advisor to explore what to do and where to eat when you travel. I recommend walking around Old Montreal and “hiking” up to Mont Royal. The Basilica is also worth seeing. We ate at a really good Polish restaurant in Old Town, but I don’t remember the name. Hope she has fun!
I think you might be thinking of Stash Cafe at the corner of St Paul and St Pierre in Old Montreal…the “starter plate” is recommended. Montreal is a wonderful place!
I gt my Organic (in Bulk) popcorn at Nutrition Smart. Much cheaper. I’m interested in the” Midwest” Popcorn. Let us know.
Great Iowa popcorn from Lotta Pop! https://www.lottapop.com/ ….no ties to the company, just love the family that has run it for years and years!
For your popcorn needs, Amazon sells Amish popcorn in bigger bags. If you have not had amish popcorn, you seriously need to try it! It is a bit more pricey, but well worth the $ you will spend. They have several different types to choose from.
Love reading your site each day!
As far as popcorn, the best is from the Midwest! My father used to raise enough for our use and a few neighbor’s use – it was soooo delicious! It was one that is full of flavor and raised for that purpose – more yellow than pure white. You should try to contact someone in Nebraska or Iowa to see if there is a source that will sell you a 50 lb bag – or more. Sorry, but I don’t live there anymore and don’t know a source.
Yeah for Iowa popcorn! Here is a family I’ve known for 30 years that still runs their popcorn company here. https://www.lottapop.com/ I saw that 50 lbs was $27?