That’s what Mr Parade’s family did - they’re french, and I guess FirstName MiddleName Mom’sName Dad’sName is pretty standard. We’re thinking of doing the same, since I kept my name, but my name is so boring I’m not even sure it’s worth it.

My little menace <3

I have no idea where the shooting was or the race of the people involved, and also Mom you really sound kind of racist when you say shit like that.

Tangentially related: today my mom called me “to check if I was okay” because of the block party shooting here in Philly. Her first question: “Are you okay? You weren’t in danger, were you?” Her second question: “Was it black people shooting each other again? It was a black neighborhood, right?”

I’m totally intrigued by why MTL blog is so offensive, but I promise to avoid it! The festivals look awesome, and we’re going to be there during “18th Century Public Market Festival” which is so up my alley. I love historical reenactors. Thanks for directing me to that link!

All poutine recommendations duly noted. I actually just booked an Air BnB in the Plateau so I’m glad to hear I’m doing this right :-) Pikniq Electronik looks awesome, Mr Parade will be enthused. This is our celebrating a no-longer-long-distance-relationship trip so romancing and wandering sounds absolutely perfect, I…

I am 100% down with drinking outside. I’m mostly planning the trip around food, because that’s all I think about on vacations anyway, but I should probably do something between breakfast and dinner, right? Mr. Parade is conveniently French so I’ll have him help me comb through those sites, thanks for the awesome…

Gorgeous orange kitty!!! I used to have a big orange Maine Coon that looked just like that, 21 pounds at his prime. He live to a ripe old age but I still miss him.

Hahahaha her back legs are sooo far from the toilet bowl. She’s managing what, maybe a 30 degree angle?

Inside of the nostrils, blech. My pittie likes to wait until I’ve accepted her as in my lap (she’s little, only 35 pounds) and then slip me some tongue when I’m not expecting it, at which point I usually yell DIAMOND THAT IS TOO INTIMATE and push her off...only to have it happen again ten minutes later.

Plain organic yogurt is perfect! Greek is usually already strained so it’s not the best choice, plus I feel like it can be chalky. I’ve had good results with both full fat and fat free yogurt - I think full fat makes a richer flavor, but I usually drown it in olive oil so it doesn’t make that big a difference. I save…

More anecdata: I have a good friend who is 34 and dating a 30 year old and she is blissfully happy. She says that he is mature for his age, but without the bad (or at least, hard to change) habits of a guy who has made it to 40 and is still single.

I am also all about labneh. I just line a colander with cheese cloth, put in a quart of good-quality yogurt, tie it into a bundle and let it sit in a pie pan in the fridge overnight. All of the whey drains out into the pie pan and you can use it in smoothies, and labneh + olive oil + salt is the best dip ever.

Chopped up cantaloupe is the best! I will seriously plow through half a melon in one sitting. I do something similar where I prep and saute a huge quantity of greens with garlic and olive oil, and then just use them for everything: mixed into scrambled eggs, tossed with pasta and anchovy butter, on toast on top of…

HEY ME TOO

I’m sooooo bad at it. Making friends is really hard, you guys.

What a derpy little tongue!

That is so cute. What a fluffy dog! My heeler will put one paw on my knee and oh-so-quietly grumble-growl at me when he thinks he needs more attention. It’s pushy but less so than the pitt mutt, who just insinuates herself into your lap when you aren’t looking, and then all of a sudden you realize you’re having A…

THAT LITTLE SLEEPY FACE.

He’s really good but obviously thought I was an asshole for putting a giant bow on him. There’s a whole series of dumb dog pics from last Christmas: