Winters can be tough in Ottawa.  They can be really cold…really long…really dreary.  February especially can feel like it goes on forever.  It can be really easy to get into a funk during this time of year.

My family used to have the perfect remedy for this when I was kid.  It was called the “February Blues Party”.  And pretty much, it just meant that a friend or two could come and spend the weekend at our house – right in the dead of winter – so that we would stay up all night watching movies and eat way too much candy.  By the time the weekend was over…we were exhausted…had enormous belly aches…and felt totally amazing!  It was just the break that we needed to get through the last of the cold months ahead.

Ottawa has its own version of the “February Blues Party” and it’s called Winterlude.  It’s three weeks of skating on the canal…ice sculptures while sipping hot chocolate…and eating your weight in delicious Beavertails.  It’s the much needed ray of sunshine while we endure until Spring.

An even better way to enjoy Winterlude is to it with great company!  This year, I indulged in three days of festivities; once with my little munchkins and handsome husband; once with a bunch of extended family; and lastly, with Genevieve & Aaron…one of my heavenly couples set to get married this summer!

They drove down from Montreal on the perfect snowy day…we met along the canal…and then watched the world bustle around us as we enjoyed winter the way it was meant to be done!  With sun, skating and the bright anticipation of the months ahead!  It was perfection at its finest!

Thanks for the great afternoon, Gen & Aaron…what do you say we meet back here in a few months for another great party!?!?!