The Last Sips of Summer
I know that the last day of summer isn’t technically until mid September, but with kids going back to school, university students coming back to town, and magazines publishing articles about this year’s fall fashions, it certainly feels like the seasons, among other things, are changing. I love everything about summer, and each year I’m sad to see it go. This past weekend was one of the most relaxed and enjoyable ones I’ve had in a while, full of great food and great friends.
Saturday began with a workout, and a fun lunch meet-up at The Naked Sprout with some of my best gym buddies. The top restaurants on my list are the ones that leave me feeling fabulous after each meal, and The Naked Sprout never fails. On this occasion, I went with 2 tried-and-tested orders: The Morning Glory juice…
Pear, celery, carrot, kale, greens, ginger.
… and The Big Green Earth Salad.
Mixed greens, massaged kale, lemon dill pate, red kidney beans, carrots, tomatoes, shredded beets, avocado, tempeh.
My lunch buddies ordered meals that I’ve never had before, primarily because they wanted me to have some new ones to take photos of. Thanks ladies, you’re the best!!! 
Raw Can Roll: Rice paper wrapped around kelp noodles, sweet potato tempura, carrots, red peppers, cilantro and avocado with pear chili dipping sauce.
Perky Pizza: Sweet potato and sunflower seed crust. Topped daily with chef’s inspiration Comes with a side salad.
After lunch we had a Lululemon excursion lined up, and Sara, my bestie that I went to the Can Fit Pro conference with last weekend met us there. What’s more fun than spending money at Lulu? Spending money with other Lulu-crazed people of course!
Up next was a belated birthday dinner with Ange. We headed to Paradiso, one of Oakville’s popular Mediterranean restaurants. Ange had been here once before and raved about it, so I couldn’t wait to try the food myself. Since the weather was gorgeous, we sat out on the patio in the sunshine. There were so many things that I would have liked to order, but eventually I settled on the Pan Seared Rainbow Trout Fillet.
Pan seared trout fillet over chilled quinoa salad and baby arugula finished with tomato gazpacho and chipotle-lime vinaigrette
This was beautiful!! The flavours all blended so beautifully together and the portion size was just right. There seemed to be something helping to bind the quinoa together, and I also spotted a few minced veggies in there too. The trout was cooked just right and I enjoyed every single bite.
Ange ordered one of the restaurant’s few vegan options, the Portobello Steak. No steak, just three delicious, enormous portobellos. Yum!
The rest of the weekend was spent doing a little creating in the kitchen, reading, relaxing, and enjoying the outdoors while being entertained by our annual summer Busker Festival.
August has been one heck of an all-over-the-place month, and in addition to the seasons changing, life is changing a lot too. The past couple of days made me realize how thankful I am for simple things, like good friends, great conversation, sunshine, after-dinner walks, and delicious food. I’m beyond grateful for summer, because it has a way of bringing all of these simple things together.
I’m feeling exceptionally refreshed this morning, and in case you’re not quite there yet, here’s a little bevvy to help you out.
Watermelon Punch
Prep Time: 10 mins, plus chill time
Cook Time: 0 mins
Keywords: blender no-cook raw beverage dairy-free gluten-free low-fat low-sodium soy-free vegan vegetarian fruit summer
Ingredients (about 1.5 liters)
- 3 cups diced watermelon
- 1 cup berries, fresh or frozen
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice, plus orange slices
- 3-4 cups of ice water
- ice cubes
- mint leaves, to garnish
Instructions
Place the watermelon chunks in a blender with the orange juice, half of the berries, and water. Blend until smooth.
Place the ice cubes, mint leaves, remaining berries, and orange slices in a large pitcher.
Pour the watermelon juice into the pitcher. Allow the punch to cool before serving.
Wishing you a wonderful week, full of all the simple things that make YOU happy!
Now tell me….
What are 5 things, big or small, that you’re thankful for this morning?
like you, i am sad to see summer go to, angela! labour day weekend is the end of summer and the start of a “new year” a good chance to re-centre.
glad your bday festivities continued! and lulu is always a sun (although expensive!) outing.
my five: family; living in uptown; that i get a discount on running shoes; laughter; that puffins were on sale at zehrs yesterday!
happy last monday of august!
*fun! oops!
Woohoo for on-sale Puffins!! That’s fabulous news Cathy, and I’m sure it was very exciting for a cereal lover like you.
I would also be very grateful if I had a shoe discount… I seem to be acquiring them like crazy, but unfortunately not at discount prices! It’s all that neon…. I swear it’s magnetic and gets me every time. I hope you have a fabulous day!
Im sad school starts today but THANKFUL the child is super excited
Hehehe yes, after a few months of summer, I’m not surprised that you’re thankful for that! Good luck on her first day (if it hasn’t already happened!)
Angela I loved this post. I also am a big fan of summer and it’s hard to see it pass so quickly. But it’s always good to be grateful for each day and the simple things that make us happy. All those delicious meals have me salivating! hahah! Thanks for the amazing drink recipe! Watermelon juice is usually made in our household.
Isn’t watermelon juice great? I love it because it’s not too sweet, but a heck of a lot more interesting than water. When I used to live in Bahrain, we’d get freshly squeezed pomegranate juice for dirt cheap. There’s no way I’d have the patience to crack open that many pomegranates AND squeeze the juice out of the arils… I definitely miss those juice stands!
I was about to scream out, NO ANGELA, NO AUTUMN TALK! Then, I realized I kinda posted a Fall-themed recipe today too… no judgement passing here, no judgement.
So happy to hear that you had a good time out with the girls. It’s so fabulous that there are restaurants out there that you can eat at and feel GOOD afterward. Huh, novel concept
Hehe I was thinking the same thing when I saw your gingerbread this morning! And yes, imagine feeling GOOD after eating out!? LOL… oh how the times have changed!
I LOVE Paradiso! And the patio is so perfect for summer people watching
Five things I’m thankful for right now: my loving parents, my amazing boyfriend, incredible friends, that i have laundry in my apartment unit, + the amazing selection of gluten-free foods I just discovered at one of my local grocery stores.
PS – your food photography is off the charts!
Thank you so much Ashley! Those are some great things to be thankful for. Lucky for me, I’ve been enjoying the wonders of non-coin laundry since I moved out of my university residence in 2nd year, and it is definitely something I take for granted! That’s great that you found a ton of gluten free goodies too! Was that at Organic Garage by any chance?
Mmmm this juice sounds so yummy! I’m sad summer is almost over too. I put on my white jeans this morning and it is probably the last time I’ll wear them until Easter since Labor Day is here in a week. As much as a love fall, I’m trying to hold onto summer as much as possible these last few weeks! Glad to hear you finally had a relaxing weekend! <3
Ahh yes, the white jeans!! I wore white shorts this weekend too and I’m quite sad to think that I probably won’t have them on again till next year. Ah well, bring on bright jeans for fall!
oh my gosh -everything in this post is making me hungry and thirsty! that punch looks SO good!