it's getting hot in here.....

A much needed night out with the girls.  I have realized that in my adulthood, I collect funny people. My god I enjoyed a good laugh with these ladies. I hope you had a great night! xoxoxo Goodbye January!

it's coming home to this sweet soul that always makes me grin from ear to ear......

6 hours sleep...up at 5:30....work....make dinner....play....put her to bed.....hit 90 minute yoga class.
It's called leaving it all on the floor, every last ounce of energy. I looked around after my shavasana and I was the only one left in the room. There may have been napping.
xoxo

You wouldn't believe the drama unfolding at the Barnyard Dance!

What I hope to read at night vs. what I end up reading.

the road well travelled

my favourite artist....

$2 canvas transformed into my new favourite piece. I love my days. xoxo

movies to catch...

In the past few weeks, we've caught some great flicks on DVD that I want to recommend:

If you enjoy your films on the edge of your seat, then you will love Captain Phillips:

If you like romantic comedies that don't insult your intelligence: Enough Said:

If you love Woody Allen films and want to see the most phenomenal performance from an actress in years - Cate Blanchett is mind blowing in Blue Jasmine: 

enchanted forest

Happiness is....walking in the woods and finding a hidden treasure - like this adorable pixie house. 

now this is my kind of January

Another example of why I love where we live.

smoke on the water

On the drive home today, everything was covered in thick layer of fog. It's gorgeous and sunny now, but I love the mood and atmosphere that fog lends to photographs.

Todd Barry

I love Todd's understated delivery. Dry wit rocks it. 

just hilarious

Such a funny, well written sketch. Liam, Ricky, Stephen. Brilliant.

making wishes.....

She loves to blow out our dinner candles each night. Tonight we made some very important wishes. xo

delightful mugs

When you go out with friends and realize that you forgot to take your daily photo, and it's 10:30 at night, you come up with something. So this is a collection of some of my all time favourite mugs. :)
Nighty night friends! xoxo

tunnel vision

It's been a loonnngg stretch being stuck inside, healing her little sick self, but when she shows those little bursts of energy, and I see glimpses of her spark returning, it warms my heart.

getting my yoga on....

While the little one was napping, I practiced some yoga. This photo was done using a slow shutter speed ( - I left the shutter open for 5 seconds to capture the movement).

I recently started ramping up my exercise, not so much for the sake of getting in shape, but more for the endorphin high I get from working out. I've been taking three 90 minute hot yoga classes a week and thought I'd write to you about my first experience with it, in case you're going to give it a try.

For my first class, I walked into a quiet, darkly lit room that's heated at 105 F (40 degrees C) and lied down on my mat, like everyone else was, in Savasana (corpse pose). I don't want to brag, but I was nailing this. Apparently, I'm really good at lying in the dead body pose. It was incredible to feel the heat warming my entire body, in the chill of winter. I was really loving lying in the heat, when in entered, what I can only describe as, a prison guard. He was jingling what sounded hundreds of keys, and it took all my zen like restraint not to pull my sweaty corpse pose body off the floor and shove the keys where his chakras don't shine. Didn't he see the Quiet sign on the door? Who did he think he was? And exactly how many doors is he responsible for? But I focussed back on my practice and breathed out my anger at mr. bo jangles.
I knew going into this class that it would be 26 poses over 90 minutes. But for some reason, when we finished our standing series and lied down in Savasana, I thought, Ok, it wasn't that bad. I mean, there were a few sketchy moments when I couldn't see because of the sweat pouring into my stinging hot sizzling eyeballs, but all in all, for my first time out, I felt like I possibly just might have nailed the shit out of it.
Then the teacher announced that it was time to start our floor series and congratulations, we were halfway there! There is no talking in the class, or at that moment I would have verbalized the sentiment running through my head which was something along the lines of, "what the F*#@! Mother F#ING all that is holy, how is this only the halfway mark!?!" Perhaps I had a funny expression on my face that captured all that I was thinking, because she said, "remember to smile!" I'm sorry, I thought smiling was a natural trigger to indicate that I was happy. But I digress. We did our floor series, which includes a pose where you arch your body right back to the floor (Camel Pose) - during which, the instructor explains, your body sends a rush of blood to your heart, and might trigger some memories/emotions. For myself, the pose triggered vomit, which I managed to contain in my mouth. Something about being upside down in the heat can do that to a gal. But by the end of class, after holding my own in the Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimottanasana pose, or what you laymen may refer to as a forward bend, and after contorting myself into a locust, rabbit, cobra, camel and tortoise,  I was lying down in my Savasana pose reflecting on how amazing I felt. You feel like the Savasana you get at the end of class is so well earned, for challenging yourself for 90 minutes. You are a champion for bravely wearing short shorts in front of a room full of strangers. 
Since regularly taking hot yoga, I've noticed a huge increase in my flexibility, and the classes seem to fly by compared to those earlier days. It's a workout where you definitely ask more and more of yourself with each passing class. I hope you give it a try and enjoy it was much as I do now! xo

shut in

When your little one is sick, you spend a lot of time indoors - so after the books, playdough, puzzles, blocks, painting, hide and seek, playing catch, and racing cars, it was finally noon. ?!? While she napped I got to bake and go to a hot yoga class. Not quite the weekend we envisioned, but as long as she's resting and recuperating, I'm happy. Nighty night friends. I hope you had an amazing weekend!xo

a walk in the park - not so much

Well, we didn't expect the day to turn out as it did. It started out as a beautiful, misty walk through the park this morning and a busy afternoon getting the house ready for friends coming over for dinner. But when I checked in on my daughter while she napped, she was so red and hot, and her breathing was really laboured. The clinics were closed so we took her to emergency. They put us in a private room, which unfortunately, was the same room she had stitches in a month prior, so she was nervous that they were going to give her stitches again. They gave her some children's tylenol to break her fever, and she started to vomit. This prompted the nurse to crack open the seal on a brand new teddy bear for her. Stat. The teddy bear and curious george on the ipad proved to be a very winning combination. After thoroughly checking her out, it turned out to just be a virus that just has to run its course. It's so hard to see our little ones sick, and the doctors/nurses are definite pros at easing the rattled nerves of parents as we venture through these unchartered waters. I probably shouldn't have coloured my hair last weekend because I'm quite sure it's grey again today. I hope you had a chance to enjoy your day! 

Goodnight friends xo

into the mist-ic

Happy Friday friends! Do you have anything fun lined up for your weekend? We're having friends over for dinner tomorrow and will hopefully be playing this. We're also looking forward to a lunch/matinee date on Sunday - and will catch one of these nominated films. Have you seen any of them yet? So far, we've only seen Gravity. I'm excited to see American Hustle or as Amy Poehler and Tina Fey called it, "The Explosion at the Wig Factory."
Happy Weekend friends! I'll write more tomorrow as it's been a long time since I've written anything of substance. Have a great night! xoxo

black + blue, Vancouver

i had appies and cocktails with some cool gals after work today. I like the mad men-esque vibe of this photo.
*Please note, I have not seen an episode of mad men, so this may in fact not have any resemblance to a mad men vibe.

goodnight moon

............and goodnight friends. xoxo

because i fall in love with her again and again

i love every moment shared - and when I have a whole day off with her - it makes me feel so blissfully happy. I love watching her sense of humour evolve. Like today, when she tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at her face to let me know she was fake laughing at her father's cheesy joke.

healthy living

Ever since having a baby, my interest in nutrition has skyrocketed. As soon as she was able to eat solids, I wanted to make as much from scratch as possible, and make sure her meals were well balanced. I wanted her to have as healthy a start as possible in life. So why wasn't I taking the same time and care for my own meals? I was steaming and pureeing all of these nutritious meals for her, but eating meals on the fly myself.  Fast forward two years, and now I am in love with cooking and will often spend hours on a Sunday prepping/planning our meals for the week, getting things chopped and ready, and really enjoying the process. 

Each Monday, I want to share with you a healthy recipe/tip I find each week, to help you make your healthy goals for 2014 more attainable. It's one thing to ramp up your exercise regimen for the new year, but it really has to be partnered with a great diet. And of course, the most success you'll have is to track the food you eat, either by keeping a food diary and writing down every single morsel you toss back, or using an online program, like my fitness pal to help you along. Once you get used to how many calories are in food, you'll make healthier decisions and see where your calories are going. 

Okay, so here's my first favourite healthy recipe of the week, courtesy of the amazing blog: Oh She Glows. The Classic Green Monster Smoothie:


Yield: 1 serving/2 cups
Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
1 ripe banana, peeled and frozen overnight
2 handfuls organic spinach or 1 handful destemmed kale leaves
1 tablespoon chia seeds OR ground flax
1 tablespoon almond or peanut butter (optional)
2-4 ice cubes, as desired
dash of cinnamon
protein powder of choice (optional)

Directions: Starting with the liquid, add in 1 cup of milk of your choice. Now add in the chia or flax and nut butter. Next, add in the spinach followed by the banana on top. Blend until smooth. Add in your ice cubes and blend some more. Serves 1- about 2 cups.

Seriously, give it a try. We are hooked. My little girl claps when I ask her if she wants one. xoxo

She blinded me with science!

With the weather outside looking like this.....we decided to try out Science World. We weren't sure if someone our daughter's age (2) would get much from it, but let me tell you, it was a HUGE hit.
We were so impressed, we couldn't stop raving about it on the drive home, like we were some kind of geniuses for even coming up with the idea to go there.

If she could read, she would have clearly seen it is labelled a walking piano, not a sprint to the finish line piano. 

chop chop

today I'm grateful for finally getting a haircut after three months - and having the courage to lob it off.

apothic wishes and caviar dreams....

    nighty night friends. xo

rain rain go away.....

    ....but we'll take it over the deep freeze the rest of the country is experiencing. #Ilovemycity

grateful for....

....a delicious homemade meal by candlelight with my loves. xo

science! for reals.....

    Today's attempts at science were a huge hit: Try pouring baking soda into a bowl, adding drops of food colouring and letting your little one pour vinegar onto it  - it froths up as carbon dioxide is generated from the mixture. If you want a more science based explanation, click here. All I know is with all of the colour combinations we tried, it kept her entertained for a good 45 minutes, and with toddlers, that is HUGE. Don't judge me that my scientific equipment may have been Ikea bowls and shot glasses.

We also had friends over for dinner and watching these two little cuties race around and make one another laugh by fake falling -who doesn't love a good pratfall? Let me tell you, it was pretty adorable to witness. Everyday is amazing if you look in the right places. xoxo

happiness is....

..........colouring in a cool hat with a fantastic friend.

Gratitude toppers today include: time enjoyed with friends, reading these adorable girls a story, tidying up our home, homemade fish tacos, working my butt off (hopefully?) in hot yoga and having a late night cupper with my love. I find the most beauty lies in the simplest moments. Namaste. xo

some iphone love for you

 

Here's a few little fun facts for you iphone users : 

• Did you know that if you plug your ear buds into your iphone and click on the + icon on the volume control (as shown above) - you can take photos without having to touch the button on your phone? No more awkward arm stretches. Isn't that awesome? I tested the theory in the photo above - a dorky shot - but it really does work! 
• Did you know if you go into "Settings" and put your phone in airplane mode that it charges twice as quickly?
• Did you know that when you are typing a message to someone, if you hit the space bar twice, it will put in a period, saving you from having to switch screens while typing?
• If you go to Settings/Notifications/Messages/Show Preview  - you can turn off your iphone messages, so while you are in a meeting, your co-horts aren't reading your personal love notes undoubtedly filling up your screen. 
• You can say to SIRI - "Set my alarm to come on in one hour" if you're a napper. (I know one of my friends will appreciate this little tidbit).
• My favourite use of SIRI is to quickly dictate a message to someone: "Message Craig's mobile that I will be home in 15 minutes."

**Please keep in mind that I am a newbie and this might all be common iphone knowledge to the general public, like when my parents tell me that you can look up restaurant menus on the internet.

I hope you had a lovely weekend. We had a wonderful day bookended with visits to both our families - so today I am definitely grateful for our parents, the fact they are still with us, healthy and so wonderful to us and to our baby girl. I also am tremendously grateful for my friends. While walking the dog today, four friends texted or emailed and it's nice to know that you're thought of in the span of someone's day.

xo

hello sunshine

Good afternoon friends! I hope you had time to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather with your loved ones.
I read a fascinating article this morning on how being busy isn't all it's cracked up to be. Do you ever notice that there are certain people in your life, when you ask how they are, they always respond with, "Busy!" That somehow being busy makes them sound more valuable and important. In reality, constantly being busy is a form of escapism, a means of avoidance - and can point to some bigger problems in areas of your life. Are you able to be still and enjoy your own company? Are you giving your time to your family and friends? Idleness is necessary to regroup, to think deeply, to make observations and connections in your thoughts. They say it's as important for your mental capacity as vitamins/exercise and a healthy diet.  Ever since having my daughter, my life has slowed down in most areas- meals in, nights in - lots of playgrounds in between. But the simplicity of spending my afternoons at the park, going for walks, reading books on the floor, planning visits with friends/family, has allowed me to appreciate that all of the driving around I used to do, with a jam packed calendar, was more of a means to make me feel like I was getting things done - striking things off a "look how important I am" scroll. This blip of time where I am needed in her day, where she wants to be with me is something I want to look back on and say, I was present - I was available. If you're exceptionally busy, and some people do enjoy the buzz of being busy - look closely at what is making you so busy. Are you busy because you simply can't say no to all the social invites? Are you busy because you can't manage your time too effectively? Are you busy because you don't particularly want to hang out at home? Remember to add some breath in your days - come up for air and allow yourself a chance to regoup.
xoxo