Birthday Trip to Minnesota

So a couple weeks before my 25th birthday my amazing husband told me I was flying to Minnesota and will be there over my birthday and my sister's birthday!! Oh my gosh I was so excited! I haven't been back to my Minnesota home since August and just couldn't wait to be with my family & friends!

A beautiful morning flying to Vancouver!

Well an early morning & long day of flying calls for some Starbucks!

My sweet sister greeted me with some birthday brownies!! (It was my birthday at midnight!)

Getting my hair done with a yummy birthday treat!

A little birthday dinner get together!

I was told birthday shots were a must...

I had a lot of shopping trips at Target of course! Gosh I remember the days my sister and I would go to Target almost everyday... seriously miss this place! Oh! And on my birthday it was announced that all the Target Canada stores were closing... worst news EVER. I still can't even believe it! (I could go off about this forever, but I won't!!)

So I had been eyeing these heels at Target since last summer and I found them on clearance for $8!! UM of course I had to buy them! I have them in solid black as well and they are my absolute fav! You can't see the jumpsuit I am wearing in this picture, but it was another great find from Target!

We went for a birthday dinner at the Smack Shack downtown Minneapolis & wow was it delicious! 

Mom eating oysters!

They mean the world to me!

Continued the night in Minneapolis for some drinks with my girl Sam!

One night my mom, sister & I went for dinner at the St Paul Hotel and then went across the street to walk through Rice Park. They were setting up for the Winter Carnival Event in downtown St Paul and it just looked so pretty! My senior year of high school I went to school right across the street from Rice Park so it brought back a lot of memories being in the area!

My beautiful school in the background.. ah memories..

I do have to say living in Canada I just miss a good ole bloody mary once in a while :)

Time flies by every time I go to MN to visit & I don't always get to see everyone I would like to, but I sure am glad I got to see a good friend's adorable little girls!

I love this little baby girl!!

My sister's birthday is exactly a week after my birthday and I was so happy to be able to be with her to celebrate her day! We went shopping and out for lunch.. was such a fun day!

Celebrated this birthday girl at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Minneapolis!

Felt so good to be home with my longtime girlfriends! Love ya Jordan!

Love my sister so much xo

So while I was in Minnesota a coworker/friend of my husband's (Adam Horst) was in Minnesota to be racing in the Red Bull Crashed Ice in St Paul over the weekend and he was able to join us for dinner! It was just so surreal to see him IN Minnesota. It's kinda like my Canadian life and US life coming together as one if you get what I mean...

It was pretty fun at dinner talking about Canada vs the US just with what things are different/similar and our American friends asking Adam a bunch of questions about Canada and the city we live in!

The last night I was in Minnesota we went to go watch the Red Bull Crashed Ice in St Paul! I've watched in before on TV and whenever they are in St Paul I always wish I was there to watch it and experience it with friends and now I finally could!

Going to keep warm with some Canadian whiskey ;)

There were SO many people! Thank goodness it wasn't too freezing out though!

It was pretty fun to be able to be there and cheer Adam on (he's the guy on the left) I told his girlfriend I would try and scream extra loud for her!! :) Would have been so great if she could have been there and my husband to join us!

That's Adam in the lead!

(later found this cool picture on Instagram)

I don't know how these guys do it! The course was insane and they were flying by SO fast! The crowed was pumped and it was so fun to watch.

After the Crashed Ice was over there was a big block party in downtown St Paul and the streets were filled with party animals, dj's and mini bars. Such a fun night!

As you can see my birthday trip to Minnesota was jam packed! It was filled with visiting friends, shopping, going out for dinner & drinks, birthday celebrations and making wonderful new memories!

Thank you again to my hubby, mom & sister for the amazing birthday gift!

I just know 25 is going to be a fabulous year!!

Until next time Minnesota!

xo Ashley 

Lake Louise

This past Christmas we went down to Cranbrook, BC to spend it with my husband's side of the family (we take turns every year spending it with each sides of our family). We were going to fly down, but we decided to drive so we could make a stop through Lake Louise and stay at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise! We have driven through Lake Louise many times, but we have never stayed to enjoy it. The drive from Fort St John to Cranbrook is about 12.5 hours so it was a great way to break up the drive. Let's just say our stay at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise was even better than we had imagined! 

Quick stop at Tim Horton's and our road trip begins!

The drive from Northern BC to Lake Louise was so beautiful!

The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise is just stunning

Upon arrival we had a cute box of chocolate covered blueberries & a sweet note in our room...

and a dog bed & food dishes for Lilly!

The view from our room was so pretty!

Our view from one of the restaurants while enjoying drinks.

Time to go ice skating!

Recognize this ice castle from The Bachelor by chance?? It was on the season with Sean when him & Catherine had their date in Lake Louise! 

Keeping Lilly warm haha (don't worry he was skating super slow & extra careful)

I was trying to act like I knew what I was doing ;)

We had so much fun!

What?! Well this didn't make me feel safe!! 

Sleigh Rides

They had such a cute ice bar set up near the lake. 

They had a few ice sculptures that were pretty amazing.

Exploring! 

Drank some champagne in the room while getting ready for dinner!

Yummy!

Dinner was AMAZING. Sean and I love Indian food and the chef's at the restaurant we chose for dinner happened to be from India. So of course we had to order the Indian dishes on the menu! Sean had the lamb vindaloo & I had the butter chicken. Delicious!

During dinner we had a "pet sitter" watch Lilly because pets are not allowed to be left in the rooms alone. It was so nice they offered this for a little extra charge & we were able to enjoy ourselves while Lilly had a friend to walk around the hotel and hang with.

Relaxing by a fireplace after dinner... 

and playing with Lilly! 

The Christmas tree in the lobby was so pretty! The whole hotel honestly felt a bit magical with all the Christmas decor & Christmas activities going on.

Walking around the hotel... Lilly was loving it!

Another cute Christmas touch in the lobby... Gingerbread houses!

Everything was amazing about our stay! I feel like it was the ultimate Canadian experience during Christmas time :) I hope to stay there again during the holidays and have my family come stay with us. I know they would love it! Sean and I also agree that we will have to visit again during the summer time. Lake Louise is definitely something to see!

xo Ashley