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?

Foto Friday

(source)

Hola Bloggies:

It’s Friday again!!! I don’t know about you but the second half of my week seemed to just zoom by – which suits me just fine!

I was looking at the calendar the other day and realized that we’re only three months away from our wedding. EEEK!!!! That’s super exciting and yet a little stressful at the same time. The dress, the honeymoon, the invitations, the ceremony, the guests . . . there are so many details to with which to preoccupy myself. Thankfully, our wedding invitations will go out this following week. It’s later than we hoped it to be but we were pretty specific about what we wanted and we had to wait for certain materials to be sourced. Once the invites are out I’ll be sure to blog about our whole wedding invitation suite – we’re really quite thrilled with how it turned out!

In the meantime, I thought today’s Foto Friday should feature a glimpse of our honeymoon destination – Guanajuato, Mexico. It’s not what people envision when they think of Mexico and that’s exactly what we wanted. Something off the beaten (North American) tourist path. Somewhere that allowed us to live out our “sitting in a cafe in a beautiful historical city” visions. Guanajuato turned out to be perfect.

Question: What are your plans for this weekend? It’s a long weekend here in Canada so I’m sure I’ll get up to some chelaxing (chilling + relaxing)!

Here Comes the Bride

Hola Bloggies:

I know I haven’t talked about it in a while but trust me when I say I think about it on a daily basis – our wedding.

We now find ourselves less than five months away from the big event and aside from worrying about looking smashing in my dress (it arrived this past week) I confess we are both filled with a sense of peace. I think that is what comes from knowing that this wedding will be an answer to our prayers and the start of a beautiful and exciting chapter in our lives.

Yes, there are times that I feel the stress of the event. I have often wanted linens and flowers to pick themselves. But on the whole I am enjoying every moment of this process. On November 10th we will officially become a family (Daisy is looking forward to being a legitimate pup). I know not everyone will be able to share that day with us but in the end we trust that the right people will be there. The ones that were meant to be there all along.

I trust that our wedding day will be filled with love, laughter, and joy. As November 10th draws near I hope you will share the journey with us.

Whitney + Jerod's Country Wedding Trailer from Joe Simon Films on Vimeo.

Video courtesy of our brilliant cinematographer – Joe Simon

Quoi de Neuf?

source

Bonsoir Bloggies:

I thought it was high time I check back in avec my friends and readers. Yes, I have been noticeably absent from blogging this last little while. The irony of the situation is that I (along with the Fiance) have been insanely hard at work on another website - our wedding website!!!!

It's been an incredibly labour intensive project that has happily resulted in a website we're massively proud of and are excited to share with our guests. Honestly, I think it has to be the most detailed wedding website in the history of wedding websites. We have subsections covering everything from our story (rather cute if I do say so myself), local attractions, wedding traditions, customs questions, booking accomodations, our photos . . . even survival Spanish!

In the process of designing our content the Fiance and I discovered that we're fantastic at building websites together. I'm good at the quick witty thoughts and he's great at revising what I wrote and making sure it looks good and follows proper rules of grammar. All of this led me to think that perhaps post-nuptials a whole blog revamp is in order. Preferably one that involves a professional designing my templates and new branding and the Fiance working with me on the content. I have some thoughts on new names for the blog but if you don't mind I'm going to keep things under wraps for now!

Speaking of keeping things under wraps - as much as I would love to publicly share the URL of our wedding website I am a little fearful of creepers. And by that I don't mean you readers - you're all cool beans - it's more the lurkers that exist out there. Having said that if you know me and would like to see our website please get in contact with me at tobethewholepackageATgmailDOTcom and I'll happily share! :o)

As for the Quoi de Neuf (which literally translates into what's new, in French) . . .

I still intend to keep on blogging about health and wellness. In fact lately I've begun to frequently use dailymile to log my workouts. And don't worry I haven't forgotten about P90X. Yes, I know I haven't been updating you on my progress. So tomorrow I will begin doing so again.

Now your turn! Quoi de neuf with you?

Of Bridesmaids, Fitness, and $220

Hola Bloggies:

Random title I know! :o) But I wanted to write a blog entry that doesn't include some sort of travel or restaurant recap. Even my own sister has been known to call our mom (after reading this blog) and say something along the lines of "Does Karen ever work? It seems like all she does is travel!" And while it's true that I love to go wandering around places near and far there's more to life than that.

So here goes a rare picture-less post. . .


Of Bridesmaids

All of you readers know I'm getting married on November 10, 2010 (!!!). This means that inevitably my life is going to get slightly more engrossed by wedding planning. Thankfully I have a wedding planner at the resort to take care of most things but there are still some decisions we have to make on our own. Currently, we're working with our fabulous Invitation Designer to get out the Save the Dates (STDs - unfortunate acronym, I know) as soon as possible. On the wedding party front I've also given A LOT of thought to my bridesmaids as of late. We've been engaged nearly a year and I've yet to ask anyone!!! After much thought I think I have finally made my choices - now to ask them. Initially I thought of giving them a present to ask or write them a letter. To be honest I think I may end up with a combination of the two!  Think something along the lines of bridal t-shirts from Inkbox Designs.

Of Fitness

Here in the Rockies the weather has turned decidedly spring-like. Of course this time of year always turns my mind to thoughts of warm summer days, skimpy clothing, and outdoor sporting events. Certainly I want to look great come the summer (and especially come November 10th). Question is what is my plan?

Recently, I was reading a Runners World cover story featuring Kara Goucher. In the article she talks a lot about the mental game needed to be a runner. It appears that has always been something with which she has struggled. Nonetheless, anyone who looks at her amazing level of success can see that she's conquered the mental game. Often, I think I'm plagued by the whole psyching myself out thing. To be honest I told my trainer I would run a 10K (my only race thus far) almost two years prior to actual running one. Every time one came up I'd always find a way to chicken out. My knee hurt. I had ankle issues. I wasn't ready. You name it - I thought of it as an avoidance technique. Once I actually got around to running the race I realized how absolutely awesome I felt. In one word: accomplished. And yet I haven't run one since.

Last year I announced to the blog that I would be training for a half marathon. I had lots of supporters and I was rearing to go. Training got off to a fantastic start - I was even getting up at 5am to go for morning runs. And I liked it!!! Then I started having knee issues. Bad issues. It got to the point where I couldn't take a single stride without being in imense amounts of pain. It (being my right knee) even hurt when I wasn't running. So I got frustrated and stopped training. This coincided with ridiculously (!) time consuming preparations for a big jury trial and I never did run that half. I felt like I let down my blog readers and I'm saddened by that thought to this day.

Then there is my weight training. I used to work out like a fiend before I moved to the Rockies. I still weight train here but not like I used to on the Coast. Fact is I love weight training. I may not look it but I'm actually really strong. I love that I can lift heavy. And I have great form (lol - did I mention I'm humble too? :oP). I want to get back into doing it hard core.

The sum of all these contemplations is a new approach to fitness. I've done the P90X DVDs but not in a row. Tomorrow I will attempt to start a 90 day cycle. I'm going to be blogging about my experiences every day. On the days where the P90X workouts are shorter (some days can be super long) I will also run. Because it makes me feel awesome.

I'm going to need your support bloggies!!!! Please promise me you'll get on my back if you don't see an update of my daily workouts on this little bloggy of mine!


Of $220

I have a dilemma bloggies. A $220 dilemma. One of my benefits as work is a Professional Development Allowance. We are allocated quite a hefty amount of money every year to make us better professionals. I have spent a large amount of this years money on my gym membership, some legal textbooks, P90X, some workout equipment, and a couple of other goodies. Somehow I thought I had spent all the money - turns out I have $220 left to go!!! Here's the catch - I have to spend that money by the end of this month or else I lose it!!!!

For a long time I have thought of getting a heart rate monitor or something akin to one. I have debated the benefits of  Garmin vs. Polar and I've yet to make a decision. What do you recommend amigos? Here is what I'm looking for:

1) A heart rate monitor function with a comfortable strap
2) The ability to monitor heart rate even when working out indoors
3) Perhaps the ability to tell you when you are in your target heart zone
4) Something that will indicate my pace when running
5) GPS function is optional as I have my Nike+ to tell me how far I've gone
6) Preferably $300 or under

Currently I'm torn between a Garmin 405, Garmin 305, Polar FT60, or Polar RS300X. Thoughts?


Looking forward to this next step in my attempt to be "The Whole Package!" And as always bloggies, I am ever grateful that you are coming along for the ride! :o)

Of Lovely Paper Things - The Wedding Edition

Hola peeps!

So let's talk weddings . . . and specifically the lovely paper things that one associates with weddings! Invitations. I have to admit I haven't been a fan of most invitations out there. For the most part they are alright but just don't call to me.

Cue the wonderful Laurie of Designed by Yours Truly.  Laurie is our incredibly gifted wedding invitation designer! And we're so excited to be working with her!!! I first met Laurie when I was in law school and she was working/living in the same city. We were a pair of Toronto transplants who bonded over theme food nights every Wed. for our group ANTM gatherings (oh the snarky comments and yummy eats - how I miss those days!). Having been in her apartment I knew the girl had STYLE!

Some years later Laurie (a graphic artist) decided to design her own fantastic wedding invitations. Soon thereafter she joined forces with Jennifer (her sister-in-law and a fashion designer) to create Designed by Yours Truly. When it came time to design our invites I never considered going with anyone else.

The first thing Laurie asked us to do was to show her a sample of an invitation suite that we loved. The Fiance and I set off to find something and I won't lie. It was HARD. And then we found it . . . an invitation suite designed by the incomparable Ceci New York:

The suite combined some amazing elements that made us just giddy with delight: colourful tropical liners, bamboo paper, formality mixed with whimsy, and design touches that reflect the location of the wedding as well as the style of the couple. We had found our inspiration - finally an invitation that made us both happy and truly excited about the possibilities!!

While in Toronto over Christmas, we met with Laurie (she is Toronto based) and went through some preliminary paper choices. We also went through some invitation samples in an attempt to draw inspiration from those and combine it with the elements we love (!) from our inspiration invites.

Since our return we've been in constant communication with Laurie discussing design elements, paper choices, and fonts. I have to confess this has been a load of of fun and we find ourselves excited about PAPER!!!! Oh the lovely paper things that will result from this process - we (all three of us) are pouring a lot into this invite - in the end we are hopeful that they will truly reflect the essence of our wedding day!!!

Yaaaaaaaaay invitations! :o)

And then it all went Topsy Turvy

Hola peeps:

This time last week I was somewhat impatiently waiting for the Fiance to get back from a trip near the border. I say impatiently because I knew he was bringing with him my gift from the Blogger Secret Santa exchange. Around the time I expected him to be home I got a call:

Fiance:  Hi. I'm calling to let you know that I rolled my truck.
Me:       No you didn't!
Fiance:  Yes, I did.
Me:       SHUT UP! No you didn't!

Eventually he was able to convince me of the fact that he had in fact been in an accident. Turns out it was less of a roll over and more of a flip (as if that makes it any better). Thankfullly (gracias baby Jesus) the Fiance emerged with nothing but a few bruises and one tiny little cut on his finger. His truck on the other hand wasn't as lucky.

Lesson of the day #1: Watch out for black ice on crazy mountain roads!

Lesson of the day #2: Always wear your seat belt - you see when the truck finally came to a stop the Fiance was left literally dangling by his seat belt. He then had to free himself, kick his door open (the truck was resting on the passenger side) and pull himself out like you would from a submarine.

Lesson of the day #3: Carry a flashlight in your truck. That way you can crawl around gathering your Fiance's Blogger Secret Santa present which has spilled in the ditch.

Which is basically my way of saying thank-you to my Secret Santa - Caroline of the Broccoli Hut. It's also my way of telling you that I don't have any pictures of my goodies as they weren't exactly blog-worthy after the accident. Nonetheless, Chickpea did send me some awesome Kashi cereals, Odwalla bars, trail mix (peanut free!), and a lovely magazine. I was especially thrilled since you can't find these Kashi cereals or the Odwalla bars in Canada.

Muchisimas gracias Chickpea! :o)


The Yummy Factors - High Altitude Eats

But enough about unfortunate accidents - let's move on to some gratuitous food pics!

My parents were extremely generous this Christmas! One of the presents they gave me and the Fiance was a gift certificate to dine at the 360 Restaurant at the top of the CN tower. It's kind of a fancy pants restaurant that serves delicious gourmet food. As an added bonus it also rotates once every hour. Meaning you get ridonculous views of the city - perfect for a first timer like the Fiance!

We chose to go up during our last week in Toronto. To get up the tower you first have to go through some very serious looking security. The technology at the CN Tower is better than any I've seen at any airport - they even make you step through a machine that blows air at you and detects explosive particles. Once successfully past that point you get into a glass elevator. That's right. Glass. Glass on the bottom and glass on the sides. You then make the climb up to the observation deck (the elevator ride lasts approximately one minute).

Since we were early for our dinner reservations the Fiance and I hung around checking out the city sights and enjoying the most spectacular Toronto sunset!!!

Just as the city was beginning to descend into darkness, we headed upstairs to the restaurant. I've been to the 360 many times before and it always looks different. For a while there it had a very classic decor, then they changed it up and went ultra modern. This time I think they've finally settled on a decor combination that doesn't take away from the spectacular views!

After spending some time looking through the menu we decided to go for the prix fixe (set menu). I chose the spicy shrimp as an amuse bouche, a charcuterie platter as my appetizer, a steak as my main meal, and a sour cherry and apple crumble for dessert. The Fiance ordered similar starters but instead chose a pork tenderloin as his main and a bread pudding for dessert.

 

 

Everything was absolutely delicious!!!! But BY FAR the star of the evening was the charcuterie platter. It included cured meats, pickles, caramelized apples, blue cheese, mustard, and bread sticks. It was seriously spectacular! Next time I think I'd go back, skip the prix fixe, order the charcuterie platter, maybe a side salad and then a dessert.

All in all it was a fantastic evening with wonderful company. :o) And it was all thanks to the generosity of my parents - I really am grateful to my mom and dad. You see, living in the sticks you don't get to experience fine dining very often. So this was a real treat! Not to mention it also helped us celebrate our engagement in a proper way - even if it was many months after the fact.

Gracias mom and dad! :o)