My Favourite Things

Over at 320*Sycamore there is a 2010 Favourite Things Party going on.  It is always good to reflect on all the good things in life, so I've come up with a list of some of my favouite things.  

Here are my top favourites (in no particular order):

Spending time with my family:

Some of the offspring still don't want their faces on my blog, so the best I can do is a picture of my charming family's backs at Niagara Falls last year.   Trust me when I tell you that they all have faces and are a smart, funny, charming lot to spend time with.

Chocolate:

I really require at least a little chocolate every day even if that means eating some chocolate chips with my after-dinner tea.  Lindt milk chocolate is probably my all-time favourite and by some stroke of luck there is a Lindt outlet store near where I work.  Are the shopping gods smiling on me or what?

Travelling:

I love to see new places.  I'm inspired and energized by visiting historic homes, museums, and art galleries.  Getting to tour historic homes is the absolute best, but I even love driving by private houses and taking photos (like the gorgeous home, in the photo below, taken last summer on our trip to Prince Edward County).  This summer will be my biggest travelling adventure yet, with my up-coming trip to Bangladesh. 

Taking photos:

It's pretty much my new-found passion since I started blogging.  I take my camera with me everywhere and take a million photos to try and get a few that I like.  These petunias from our front porch, in the photo below, were on their last legs since it was November when I took the photo, but I love how they look against the cement of the stairs.  It reminds me of the weathered and worn look of some old steps you might find in Italy (they actually didn't look quite as charming in real life).

Blogging:

I always tell family and friends who ask why I blog, that it is like having your own magazine of which you have complete editorial control - you choose the topic, take the photos, write the text, and publish it.  It is a creative outlet for me and I'm loving it.  The unexpected by-product of blogging, though, has been meeing so many wonderful people who have become friends over the past eleven months.