Follow me!!!!!

To be the Whole Package has now moved to:

 Toronto Girl West

 

Please change your bookmarks, feeds, and links.

Meet you over there!

The Hills are Alive

How I have missed you, my blends (blogger friends)!

There are times, like this last little while, where my day job leaves me feeling so drained I scarcely find time to blog. It’s a side effect of reading all day long when I’m preparing for trials.

But inevitably I hear the siren song of blogging again.

And so I return. To share beautiful pictures. Tell you about my wonderful eats. Remember happy times. And feature all the loves of my life.

So let’s take a bit of a jaunt down memory lane, to a perfect summer day deep in the heart of the Canadian Rockies . . .

Where mountain meadows meet spectacular views.

And wild flowers bloom as though out of a fairytale.

No one had told us this beautiful place existed.

Discovering it led to an unexpectedly happy time.

The trails were so beautiful that for a moment, we thought we could turn this area into our forever home.

We soon changed our minds. The next year will likely see us return to the West Coast.

And when we leave, we’ll pack with our treasures the memory of a perfect alpine day.

 

Question: When was the last time you unexpectedly had a perfect kind of day?

Farewell to Summer

In my corner of the world, today marked the first day of school. Summer has come to an end.

There’s a definite chill in the air. A wind that rustles the fallen leaves. Snow on the hill tops surrounding the city.

But what a summer it was. One filled with laughter. Doggy hikes. Blogger trips to Banff. And summer afternoons on sun drenched patios.

I will miss summer in the mountains. This will likely be our last. And I have to confess that makes this city-girl a tiny bit sad.

I will carry the memory of these past three summers with me.

And although I've much to look forward to this fall (wedding anyone?) warm summer memories will warm my cold winter nights.

So here’s to summer. The sweating. The laughing. The splashing. The hiking. The running. I have loved it all.

And here’s to the fall that will be. Filled with joy. Brimming with love. Abounding in its possibilities.

See you in a year my dear friend. Until then. Thank-you for all those special moments.

 

Question: What was your favourite part of summer?

Celebrating the Bride-to-be (Part II)

Hola Bloggies:

So after I was pampered and enjoyed a totally swanky afternoon the fun continued.

After leaving the cabana area we headed to a frozen yogurt store located downstairs in the Fairmont Waterfront. Bella Gelateria was absolutely a foodie’s dream! To the owners gelato isn’t just a cool treat. It’s art.

In fact the store is owned by a couple, the male counterpart of which is the gelato maker. To learn how to make gelato, James (the official gelato maker) honed his art at the Italian Culinary Institute and followed that up with advanced master’s training at Carpigiani’s Gelato University. In 2012 James will even represent Canada at the Gelato World Cup in Rimini, Italy.

And the gelato? It was everything you would expect. Decadent.

Eventually we left the Fairmont Waterfront but we did it in absolute style. We took one of the chauffeured luxury cars for a tour of Stanley Park before stopping at my hotel for check-in (The Sutton Place Hotel) before ending up at a Korean restaurant for dinner.

While there are other yummier Korean restaurants in Vancouver, Sura has a great atmosphere.

My go-to meal at Korean restaurants is sundubu, a spicy soft tofu stew. It’s delicious!

I ordered my usual but made a point of taking a picture of some of the other dishes around the table.

While the food was delicious the company was better. Living in the Rockies I seldom get a chance to spend time with my friends. This weekend in Vancouver was a rare and wonderful treat.

As we walked back to my hotel I counted my blessings. I truly am thankful for all I have.

My friends took the time to organize a wonderful bachelorette weekend; It was honestly more than I ever expected.

(part of the view from my hotel room)

I felt truly loved and appreciated.

If anything, this weekend made me even more excited for the wedding. We honestly can’t wait to have all of our nearest and dearest there to celebrate our day!

It’s going be an awesome time. I can’t wait for all the festivities surrounding the wedding day. I get to marry my lobster (Friends anyone?). What a privilege.

You know in The Sound of Music when Maria and Captain Von Trapp are in the gazebo and she sings “’cause somewhere in my wicked childhood I must have done something good . . .” That’s kind of how I feel.

I may not have had a wicked childhood but I sometimes find myself wondering what I did to serve all of these blessings. I’m healthy, I have friends, I have love, I have a darling puppy, I have a family that supports me, I have a great career, I want for nothing, and in November I get to live out a fairytale.

I am ever so grateful.

 

Question: When was the last time you counted your blessings?

Celebrating the Bride-to-be (Part I)

Hola Bloggies:

Sorry for the delay in getting back to blogging. If you follow me on twitter you know that my laptop basically up and practically died on me. Every time I sat down to blog it would freeze up; I spent many hours on Sunday and Monday nights trying to get it to work. But alas!

Eventually I did what any reasonable blogger would do – I went and purchased myself a netbook! I am now the proud owner of a lovely new Toshiba blogging toy!! Perfect for all those trips I always seem to be taking.

Last we talked I was on my way to Vancouver for my bachelorette/wedding shower weekend. I can safely report that I had an absolutely lovely time!!! Honestly, my friends not only did a wonderful job planning but they also made me feel celebrated and loved.

To get to Vancouver I had to take a ferry from Vancouver Island to the mainland of British Columbia. I know the very thought of boarding a vessel to get to a bachelorette weekend is a strange thought to a mainlander but when you live on the Island it’s a way of life.

I have to confess my usually land-locked self loved every moment of that ferry journey. Basking in the sunlight at the front of the ship was in and of itself a highlight of my weekend.

Once I arrived in Vancouver I quickly grabbed a cab and headed to my first destination. The Vida spa at the Westin Bayshore Hotel.

My friends had arranged to meet me at the spa where they had set up a whole host of treatments.

My half-day of treatments consisted of an Ayurvedic exfoliation and massage, a facial and a manicure. Talk about bliss overload. When I emerged from my first treatment I had officially been reduced to a relaxed mush. I don’t remember the last time I felt that way.

Overall the Vida spa was a fantastic place for a girl’s get-together. Especially since they have a trendy and relaxing lounge for you to enjoy before or after treatments. Much of our day was spent chilling in bath robes, relaxing, enjoying either lemon or cucumber water, and nibbling on fruit or nut snacks.

I visit Vancouver often and most of the time I stay at the Westin Bayshore. So needless to say I will absolutely be back to the Vida Spa!

I couldn’t believe my friends had pampered me to such a degree. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better – it did!

Once we were done at the spa I was whisked away to a secret destination. No one would tell me where we were heading!

After some driving around Vancouver we pulled up to the new Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, where one of my friend’s had worked her hook-ups to get us a private cabana! Swanky!!

Our cabana had cushy lounge furniture, drinks, food, a large flat-screen television, and a great view. It honestly was very cool and felt nothing like Vancouver. Instead it felt like the kind of thing you would expect to find in Las Vegas.

My friends outdid themselves and packed a gourmet picnic from a local purveyor. The meal featured a lovely sandwich (un-pictured), some wonderful home-made chips, mojitos, and cupcakes!!!

Everything was absolutely yum but the cupcakes courtesy of the store Cupcakes were my favourite part of the meal. Once upon a time I was fortunate enough to eat one of their treats fresh out of the oven. I’ve been a fan ever since.

At one point in the afternoon we decided to venture up several dozen floors to see the property that secured us the cabana hook-up. Generally, the only people allowed into the cabana level are hotel guests (I considered staying there but they only had one room at $500/night and I’m not that crazy . . . yet) or property owners. That’s right. You too can own a swanky condo at the Fairmont Waterfront.

Want to see what nearly $5.5 MILLION dollars gets you?

Ummmm . . . hello, ridiculously unobstructed views! WOW!!! That place was out of control. Drop dead gorgeous. And yet – maybe not $5.5 MILLION dollars gorgeous! lol

There was still more bachelorette fun to come in my day. But I think it’s safe to say I was already feeling very very very happy!

To be Continued . . . .

Question: What did you do for your bachelorette? If you’re not married – what would you like to do?