2016

The season has been good so far. Interest at the shop is picking up. Had a wonderful New Years in Montreal with the bf. We lucked out on weather and it was around 30F during our visit with only tiny pretty snowflakes. The weather dropped to 6F the day after we left! We also lucked out on accommodations and stayed with a new to AirBNB host in a fabulous place. I'm sure next time we try to stay there it will have many good reviews (and maybe a higher fee! lol).

I've often thought hosting on AirBNB but now that I've started selling on Etsy my spare room is very much occupied. I've that some people who host on there are using it to rent out extra apartments they own, I suppose instead of renting it out on a yearly lease. I am not sure that there is an advantage to doing AirBNB instead of leasing the place out, unless they want to use the apartment to let relatives and friends stay occasionally and this allows them to reserve times for that.

The last time I was in Montreal was for Canada Day when I was in high school. I remember the fireworks being amazing and Celine Dion singing... but New Years fireworks aren't as great. There was a huge turnout for a concert at the waterfront and then short fireworks and a mad dash to the train before all the others got there. lol. I think next time I'll go back for Canada Day again, it will be warm and we can visit the other outdoor parks.

We visited the biodome and that was neat but the best part I think was Mount Royal. We were tired from walking a ton (my pedometer was at 15000+ steps) but we made it up to Mount Royal as night fell and climbed up to the chalet and looked out over the city. It was a cool place and next time I'll make sure to bring some CAD so I can get some hot chocolate from the vending machines. We saw lots of people cross country skiing and a couple people jogging (in snow! in sneakers!) and there was a tour on snow shoe. I do want to try snow shoeing but I don't think that was the right place to start we would have been beat if we had attempted to march around in the snow -up a mountain- for a couple hours. I'll try a lesson for a half hour first to see how it goes!

Winter isn't as great for travelling as the summer... obviously. We did a ton of camping in the summer and it was fun to get away on the weekends but I think my little compact car will be snowed in at home fairly soon. I've started planning a short trip to Miami FL so that will abate my travel lust for a bit. I've never been and I wish the trip could be longer but I hope I can see the everglades and the keys. I'm not super keen on the beach... it will be far too busy!

<3 amorette