Ditch the Workout and Join the Party!

Hola Bloggies:

So a while ago you may remember I posted about a dilemma I had – whether to attend my first ever Zumba class or go on my re-scheduled doggy hike. Well I was kind of a superstar and did both. By the end of the night, I was one tired but really happy cookie. And in the midst of it all I developed what may become a long term workout related obsession!

If you’re anything like me (two weeks ago), you may be a bit confused about the whole concept behind this latest fitness craze. Zumba is the brain child of a Colombian by the name of “Beto” Perez. One day he decided to combine his aerobics class with the fun rhythms and movements of Latin dances. The class became a hit and thus Zumba was born. The instructional videos had their North American release in 2002 – that’s when it spread like wild fire; now it seems like everyone you talk to (or every blog you read) mentions Zumba!

 

(source)

As I pulled up to my first Zumba class I was admittedly nervous. Would it all be cheesy beyond words? Would I be able to keep up? Heaven forbid – would it be like the time I tried step aerobics (never got beyond grapevine and never went back)? Would I have any rhythm at all? Turns out I had nothing to be afraid of – I loved Zumba!

When I walked in I instantly noticed that the class seemed to be made up of people of all shapes, ages, and sizes. Definitely a very inclusive aerobics class. Another thing that impressed me was the fact that everyone kept on telling me how much fun I was going to have. Surely their enthusiasm was well founded!

No sooner had we started the classes when I realized what an absolute blast I was having!!! Zumba didn’t feel like exercise, it felt like dancing around your living room. Except that I was sweating buckets and I knew I was in the zone. The hour went by way too quickly. At the end of the class I knew three things for certain: I would be back, I had gotten a great workout, and I totally had rhythm.

Thank-you Latin blood. Ha!

Since then I’ve gone back to four more classes and I’ve bought a membership of sorts. Although the classes are not cheap ($8/class if you buy a 10 class pack or $10/class if you go on a drop-in basis) they’re well worth the fee. I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun in an exercise class in my life! Plus honestly I feel like I’m exploring my Latin roots while getting a serious workout in – score!

So now that you’ve heard me wax poetic about Zumba you’re probably wondering what it looks like. Well, it goes something like this:

Admittedly that girl has energy to spare but that’s more or less what a Zumba workout looks like – just add a bunch of people following (or attempting to follow) the instructor. Now you understand why I keep going back for more!

 

Have you tried Zumba before? Did you love it? Are you curious?

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

Out for the Count

Hola Bloggies,

Remember how last night I feared I was getting sick? Well it turned into a full blown cold/flu deal! All day long I’ve had a sore throat, dripping nose, watery eyes, AND I’ve been freezing too! Kind of a hot mess really!

Since I felt so horrible I decided to call in sick to work today. Which would have worked out fine except no one got my message so at about lunch a car full of my co-workers pulled up to my house. I didn’t know what was going on and thought maybe they’d sent the swat team to drag me to my office! lol Either that or they were the adult equivalent of your little school friends that would bring your homework when you got sick! lol

They rang the doorbell and I answered it looking like a homeless person (‘cause that’s the look I rock when I’m sick). The confusion got all straightened out pretty quickly. I could tell one of my co-workers thought it was all kind of hilarious. Overall, I’m pretty grateful they came to check if I was alive. Even if it was mega awkward. lol

Anywho – regular blogging to resume once I’m better. For now, enjoy this little video I call “When Daisy met Bella.” It features my little puppy love playing with the other little dog from across the street. Mega cute!

Hasta Luego!

Happy Trails!

Hola Bloggies:

While you have been reading this long weekend’s blog posts I have been on a road trip in Boise, Idaho. I’m currently heading home with the Fiancé, which means it’s time for another super quick post featuring our puppy Daisy!

Here’s hoping for great weather and happy trails on our way back! I’ll be back tomorrow with a brand new post tomorrow but in the meantime enjoy this video of puppy’s frolicking in manner’s class!

Of Awkwardness and Speed Skaters

Hello lovelies:

lol I’m back with another random blog title! It will all make sense in due time I swear!

I do hope all of you peeps have had a wonderful week thus far. Mine has actually been pretty nice. I haven’t been massively overworked which has given me plenty of time to be able to enjoy some quality puppy and Fiancé time – not to mention get my P90X workouts in!!!

 

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 4 – March 23rd, 2010

Now if you’re quick on the draw you noticed that I skipped a day. That’s because I was horribly exhausted on the 22nd (long court day) and couldn’t bring myself to do YogaX. I just wasn’t feeling it! So I made an executive decision and moved my rest day from the end of the week to the middle instead. My body was begging for a break and truth be told I think it allowed me to face the rest of the workouts that were to come.

Come the 23rd I was ready for my P90X so I popped my YogaX DVD into my player and got ready to ruuuuumble! Yogi style!

I had previously done this DVD in my hotel during my most recent travels, which meant I knew what to expect. And that was some serious awkwardness and borderline boredom. I really hate to say it but this is the only P90X DVD thus far that I really haven’t liked.

This workout is an hour and a half; which is a particularly excruciating length of time when you’re not down with what you’re doing. For about an hour you do the usual sun salutation type movements. Funny thing is I feel like there’s a ton of repetitive flow patterns and not enough power. I do Power Yoga (using Rodney Yee’s brilliant DVD) on a fairly regular basis and YogaX my friends isn’t power yoga. Yes I managed to feel uncomfortable but I don’t think that was due to some power style moves in there. Rather, I think the flows just don’t work sometimes. And then there are the times when you want to tell Tony Horton to move on already! But nope. He repeats things over. And over. And over. Again.

After an hour of flow type movements he tells you the worst is over. Then you move into half an hour of poses that you hold for long periods of time. I’m not used to that type of yoga so it’s an adjustment and it will take me a bit of time to get things working like clockwork. In the meantime my dancer will look none too graceful. Most of the movements are pretty Kosher and I managed to play along. That was until we hit about the last 10 minutes. That’s the time period where all the lovely DVD people get on the floor and proceed to contort into something I’d previously only seen done by Cirque de Soleil gymnasts. I tried to find a picture to show you what I meant but couldn’t – despite my creative Googling terms! lol Point is it feels uncomfortable on my neck and I don’t want to push it without supervision.

Overall I didn’t love this workout and I’m tempted to just do Power Yoga with Rodney Yee, on YogaX days!

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 4 – March 24th, 2010

This day was devoted to Back and Legs plus the now very familiar AbRipperX. Thankfully we were back to hour long workouts – and this one seemed to practically fly by!

I really enjoyed this DVD! It included a ton of variations on squats as well as lunges. I’d like to think they’re going to make me super bootylicious! lol It just so happens that my Hispanic genes managed to miss my butt region all together! lol

Seriously though this workout pushed me to keep on going and in the case of the evil wall squats to hold them as long as the peeps on the DVD. And by the end of it I felt really proud of myself!

One of the fantastic moves on this workout was called Super Skater. In it you attempt to mimic a speed skater by maintaining a quasi lunge in one leg and simultaneously moving your other leg back while moving your arms. This guy on YouTube does a pretty good of demonstrating the move. Although, really you should be aiming to have no toe tap in the back:

Before doing this move I had no idea that the speed skating motion could be so painful when repeated over and over again! Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself! It hurts!!! And you can feel it working!!! One of my new favourites, pain notwithstanding. Bottom line on this move? Apolo Anton Ohno, I salute you! lol

Now before you say “But I have a bad knee! I can’t do this DVD!” let me tell you my background. Sure I’ve suffered many injuries in my day but amongst the worst are my knee and ankle injuries. I’ll probably share more on those injuries with you in the future but let’s just say my past fractured kneecap and my 2nd degree ankle ligament tear haven’t stopped me from doing this workout. Which is my way of saying “If I can do it, so can you!” Just make sure to rehab ahead of time.

Up for Today? KempoX – woohoo!!!

A High-tech Running Toy for my Wrist – like the cool kids have (plus a P90X weekend wrap-up)

Hello Friends:

So I thought I better get to writing my weekend wrap-up of P90X before Coco (Sleepless Again & blog “taste” talk) started bugging me about slacking! lol She promised she would if I didn’t update. No worries – though I have remained faithful to my P90X workouts!

But before I tell you all about “Operation Bring it!” I should thank you for all your help and advice in my whole Polar HRM vs.. Garmin dilemma! I got all sorts of advice from my readers. Although, I think the funniest comment award has to go to Marathon Maritza for major LOLs:

“Garmin. Hands down.
I have the 305 and it's practically my BFF, but if you can splurge, I would DEFINITELY go for the 405. It's much less bulky. I have impure thoughts about running my beloved 305 with my car just to get the 405. Shhhhh don't tell”

From the comments it was obvious that Garmin was the clear winner amongst bloggies. Still I decided to talk it over with the Fiancé. That night I was trying to outline the different features of each brand for him when it dawned on me . . .  with a Polar I would have to purchase separate GPS units (that you wear on your arm!) to get the same thing that’s already built into a Garmin. So even if I don’t really need the GPS right now I may down the line and I quite like having it integrated into one little unit.

In the end I chose this baby (picture borrowed from GPS Lodge):

While I was tempted by Maritza’s obvious love for the 405, the negatives sealed the deal for me. In the end the price difference (this one cost me about $175+taxes whereas the 405 was in the $300s) plus the negative Amazon reviews were enough to make-up my mind.

I’m very happy with my choice and super excited to be one of the cool kids with special wrist running toys!!! lol I can’t wait until it gets here and I can take it for a test-run. Hopefully the weather will be spectacularly beautiful by then too!

 

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 2 – March 20th, 2010

Okay, so I’ll confess . . . when I first got up on Saturday I thought to myself “Oh! I don’t hurt that much!” lol And as the day wore on I realized I hurt a LOT more than I wanted to admit. My abs had taken an AbRipper X style beating! And I couldn’t be happier about it! Masochist I know! lol

On the schedule for today was Plyometrics X, or as that evil man on my television Tony Horton calls it, “the mother of all P90X workouts!” This is another one of those videos I had done ahead of time so I knew what to expect. It’s seriously intense full out cardio non-stop for one whole hour!

What are plyometrics you ask? Well essentially it’s jump training. Think of doing a lunge or a squat. Now imagine going deep into a lunge only to jump into another one right away. Or doing jumping jacks except that the whole time you’re in a squat position and the only thing you do is move your legs in and out – but still maintaining a squat. Even if you’re not doing P90X, plyometrics are great to incorporate into your workout routines. Let’s check out what a plyo lunge looks like:

The P90X Plyometrics workout is essentially an hour of workout moves like the one above. This DVD pushed me to the limit and I had to hit pause a couple of times and extend the 30 second water breaks built into the program. By the end my lungs were burning – kind of like when I hiked a mountain in the Swiss Alps or like the first time I worked out with my trainer (I thought I was going to die!!!).

I’m looking forward to the day when I can do all these moves with the same explosive energy I seem to muster in the first twenty minutes of the DVD! Needless, to say I think this is a workout that will provide huge benefits and will likely even increase my running pace! Awesome!!

 

“Operation Bring it!” – Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms

This DVD is meant to target what my trainer always referred to as the “vanity muscles!” Those being the ones that you see in a tank top or wedding dress for that matter! Like most girls, I covet awesome triceps and lovely looking shoulders so I was all about this workout.

Like most of the P90X DVDs this one is an hour. But unlike the Chest and Back DVD this one had a super long warm-up; I think that’s because those arm muscles are fairly hard to warm-up and it would be super easy to get an injury!

I don’t know if I should be happy or not but I kind of liked how this DVD didn’t leave me feeling like I wanted to curl up in a fetal position! lol It was a manageable workout that left me appropriately sore without feeling like I was going to keel over. I did notice that it was a bit hard to figure out exactly what weight I should be using. For most exercises I did 12.5lbs in each arm but there was an odd one where that was too heavy. It will take a little bit of tweaking but I’ll get there!

 

On the schedule for tonight? YogaX and the AbRipper X I should have done yesterday but ran out of time!

Have you ever tried plyo? If no – will you try it now? If you have in the past - did you like it? I admit at one point I used to be afraid of it due to my knee and ankle rolling issues. But I’ve now rehabbed everything enough that I can do the moves!

Will you be watching?

Tonight Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution premiers on ABC (10pm EST). I watched the original version of this program filmed in Britain. It changed people. It changed the way they thought about their food. It changed their shopping habits. It made a fundamental difference! Here's hoping Jamie does the same thing for North America!

Will you be watching? Did you watch the original version of the program? I personally love Jamie Oliver (and have for a long time) - what about you?

Road to the Gold!

Hola peeps!

Let me begin with a bit of a disclaimer – this is my first post using Windows Live Writer. I keep on hearing about the superiority of this program (over writing directly in Blog press). My apologies ahead of time if things look a little wonky!

Now back to the Olympics

Although the Fiancé and I found ourselves in Vancouver for several days we were actually there to attend one event in particular. You see, several years ago (yes – the process actually did take that long!) we put in for hockey tickets. You had to indicate what events you wanted to attend and then wait for the results of the lottery.

We ended up hitting the big time and scored tickets to one of the men’s hockey semi-finals. Since we hadn’t put in for Gold medal tickets (there was no way we were willing to pay in the thousands for tickets) we were thrilled! Back in the day we had no idea what teams we would be watching. Soon we came to learn it would be the USA side of the bracket – and given how well they were playing I totally expected them to be there. And so we packed up our Olympic gear (Canada Scarves? Check! Olympic Mittens? Multiple Pairs! VANOC Backpack? Yuppers!) and headed out to Vancouver!

The semi-final we were watching was the first of two to be played on February 26th, 2010. We got there WAY early (mostly ‘cause we feared security delays) and took in the atmosphere. Slowly the crowds started to trickle into Canada Hockey Place. Since we were in Canada most of us still chose to wear our Canada gear but there were a seriously good number of Americans (what with Vancouver practically being on the border) and Finnish peeps in the house. Little factoid – did you know that Finland in Finnish is pronounced something like “Swamee.” How in the world did we end up with Finland in English? It’s not even close!

Of course we took some pre-game pictures! We were super excited to be there and had to document the events!

Once the teams came out for their warm-up the atmosphere upped in excitement. These were the Olympic games and we were about to be treated to what would hopefully be an amazing hockey game! But what side to cheer for? I have to admit I was kind of hoping that Finland would do really well, although, in the back of my mind I knew that a Canada vs.. USA Gold Medal Game would be sweet indeed. But for that afternoon it was all about “Swamee!!

In the end it was really good that I was somewhat ambivalent of the outcome because the USA executed an absolute trouncing! In fact I think the score ended up being something like 6-1 USA! OUCH!!!

Honestly, I gave up being disappointed a couple of goals into the game. In fact at one point the announcer had yet to finish announcing what USA team member had scored the last goal when they scored ANOTHER!!! Seriously!??! I think I actually threw up my hands at this point! lol

That’s when it all became about saving face. The crowd went decidedly pro-Finland and were willing them towards a goal! When they finally scored one late in the game we all cheered and stood up!! You’d think they had just won the game! Hilarious!

All in all it was a great experience. I actually got to go to an Olympic event and I was a very happy camper! Pretty soon thereafter all thoughts of USA left our heads and it became all about finding a place to watch the Canada vs.. Slovakia semifinal. Since we were already downtown we decided to watch the game at one of the public sites with the crowds. The nearest place was LIVE City Vancouver. We got in line with everyone else hoping to watch the game on the big screens inside. At this point we were three plus hours away from the game but the atmosphere was starting to turn electric!!

While waiting in line we were entertained by a group of actors pretending to be bobsledders (see bottom picture)! They were HILARIOUS!! Their awkwardly fitting costumes and faux-accents were too much – you couldn’t help but laugh! To top it all off when they noticed you taking a picture they would all group together and say “Sexy Shot!” in a faux-Eastern European accent while attempting to cover their nipples (see top shot)! lol

It was a quick line-up and we managed to get inside the gated site after only about 15 minutes. Inside there were the Canada and Manitoba houses, a massive outdoor screen with a standing room area to view the game, and an indoor beer garden/cafeteria area with more screens. Since it was cold and drizzling we opted for the indoor area. This turned out to be a brilliant choice since later on the drizzles turned into a continuous downpour that left more than a couple of people drenched to the bone!

Since the Canada hockey game was still hours (!) away we all hunkered down and watched the Canadian women’s curling team choke  win a silver medal. I have to admit that this was my first time watching any curling. At first I had no idea what was going on but the Fiancé explained the game and it turned out be pretty exciting ! Especially since it was the Gold Medal Game and the crowd was seriously amped!!! Kind of made me want to try my hand at curling in the future. But you didn’t hear it from me! lol

After hours of waiting the game finally begun. Canada vs.. Slovakia!!! Semi-Final!!! It had all come down to this!!! We couldn’t have been more excited. Any time Canada touched the puck the crowd went NUTS! Anytime Luongo remotely made a save we all said “Luuuuuuuuuu!!!!!” And any time we killed a power play we all clapped. From the cheers to the impromptu singings of “O Canada” we were having a blast!!! I only wish I could bottle that atmosphere. It was amazing. Nothing short of amazing.

And every time Canada scored it looked like this:

From the very young (there were babies in the crowd!) to the very old we were all seriously excited!!! With about 15 minutes left to go in the game (and with Canada up by a couple of goals) the crowd started to chant “WE WANT USA!!! WE WANT USA!!! WE WANT USA!!!!” Clearly the crowd thought we were a lock for the Gold Medal Game.

In the end it was way closer than any of us had wanted to see!! In the third period the Canadians came out and appeared to coast on their lead. They hung back and played defensively. Bad move considering what an incredibly strong team they were facing. In the dying seconds the score was 3-2 Canada and Slovakia kept on attacking the Canadian net. It looked like they were going to score and we were on pins and needles begging our team to hang on! And they did!!!!!!!!!!!! Cue the crazy reaction in the house!!!!

In the last seconds the crowd was on their feet and I made sure to take the video above and capture the moment for posterity’s sake! It was an amazing moment!!! And this time when the crowd chanted “WE WANT USA!! WE WANT USA!!” they said it knowing that in two days time we would all get to watch our dream hockey final!

Semi-Final day at Vancouver2010 was an awesome day for me! And I thought nothing could top it – turns out I was wrong!

You Gotta Be Here!!

Happy Olympic Eve Everyone!!!!!!!!

It's been over 20 years since Canada last had the pleasure of welcoming the World! This time around the 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, British Columbia. I may be a Toronto girl at heart but I've chosen to make B.C. my home.

I first came out for law school and soon discovered a corner of the world that ranks right up there with the most beautiful places I have ever seen! People originally from B.C. live under some misapprehension that the rest of Canada looks like this - it doesn't. Don't get me wrong - every Province has something wonderful but B.C. really is spectacular!!! Once I had seen the Ocean, mountains, lakes, rainforests . . . I knew it would be very hard to leave. And so I'm still here!

On this Olympic Eve I hope the World enjoys Supernatural B.C.! And I hope they love the wonderful warmth of Canadians! We may not be a flag waving nation (unless it comes to the patches on our backpacks when traveling in Europe) but we are proud of this place.

Come visit won't you? You gotta be here!!! :o)

Power Up!

Morning bloggies:

In the recent past you've heard me rave about yoga. Now as big a fan as I am now, it wasn't always that way. In fact I daresay I used to have some misconceptions and misgivings about yoga that I've now moved past:


Misconception #1: How can you call that exercise!? It's only stretching!

Ahhh . . . but it's so much more than stretching. You hold poses (challenging your muscles) and move quickly (at least in the type of yoga that I like) between each pose as well! I dare you to do an hour of power yoga and claim it's only streching. In fact, I'd argue that the average power yoga session has you doing dozens of push ups. Trust me - your abs feel it in the next morning!


Misconception #2: Oh come on! But it's called a "practice!" You don't practice running or weight training. It's for sissies!

It really isn't for sissies.  In fact, it's my frank opinion that those that workout in other ways can greatly benefit from yoga. Anything that makes you stronger and more limber all at the same time is A1 in my book! As for why they call it a practice - I'm not really sure. But in the end it's all semantics.


Misconception #3: Isn't yoga an Eastern religious practice?  You can't participate if you're Christian!

I'll admit that this one was a big struggle for me. Yes, yoga is derived from physical and mental practices originating in India. And yes they are heavily associated with Hinduism. Having said that, there are many ways to practice yoga - including some that bear very little in common with the traditional Indian practices.

While some choose to practice yoga with yoginis that speak of the "third eye" or in quasi-religious retreats there are people like me who choose to practice yoga with very Western teachers whose emphasis is solely on physical conditioning and relaxation. You won't ever find me in the former kind of class. It's just not what I'm comfortable with - so I won't go there.


As for the type of yoga that I particularly heart!? Power Yoga with Rodney Yee - I feel awesome afterwards!



Have you ever tried yoga? What are your opinions on the practice - is it for sissies? Does it kick your butt? Are you curious?

The Trio Heads to the Island

Morning peeps!

Hope you're having a wonderful day. As for me - not so much. The fevers seem to have largely subsided but I've been left with a hacking cough that cuts like a knife. So. Not. Cute.

In fact I'm feeling so yucky I'm inclined to stay home from work tomorrow. That would mean that I took a whole six days off for vacation and then didn't show up the rest of the week 'cause I was sick. Not really the way I like to roll but what is a girl to do. The way I figure it I'm highly contagious and it would do no one any good for me to go around spreading the wealth. Maybe I'll get the Fiance to go in and get my files so I can work in the confines of my home during the weekend.

Anywho - since I'm brutally sick and pretty well bed-ridden I thought I would take some time to blog about my recent trip to Vancouver Island. When we last left off we had barely squeaked by the U.S.A.-Canada border and ended up in a hotel in Washington State.

Our plan was to take the Anacortes Ferry from Anacortes Washington to Sidney, Vancouver Island. This is by no means the short way back to Van Isle but it is very scenic! You see the ferry winds its way through the beautiful San Juan Islands before ending up in Canada. As an added bonus you avoid the hassle of the potentially long land border crossing south of Vancouver.

I had never gone this particular way so I was kind of excited!!! Mind you I was worried that they wouldn't let us bring Daisy on board. Turns out I had no reason to fret - they took one look at her cuddly little face and decided to make an exception. lol

Yaaaay for small cute dogs! :oP

Daisy spent most of her voyage lying on the Fiance's jacket and chewing on her bully stick (a dehydrated bull penis - which apparently puppies love).

Meanwhile the Fiance and I enjoyed the sights of the San Juan Islands. I have to say I was quite impressed. They looked completely adorable and likely a perfect place for a Country Inn or B&B Getaway!!!

In fact I think once we move back to the Coast ('cause let's face it - I miss it something fierce) we'll have to take a trip to the San Juan Islands. For no reason at all except to relax in their absolutely beautiful surroundings! :o)

Now I have to confess the closer we got to Vancouver Island the more excited I became!!! It had been over a year since I'd been to the Island or even seen the familiar Coastal sights of quaint fishing villages, summer homes on beautiful islands, or even smelled the salty sea air. I was one happy camper on this ferry voyage. It was absolute perfection.

Call me a geek but once my iPhone picked up the Canadian signal I knew we were right around the corner! lol Sad. I know. But I am a blogger after all! :oP

Thankfully the process of getting back into Canada was super easy. Not like getting into the U.S.A. the last go around. Once we were back on the Island all three of us were delighted. The Fiance was back on the little slice of Canada where he was born and bred. I was back in the city that has always been so good for my soul. And Daisy . . . well I don't think she could believe that the grass was green or that the air was relatively warm. When we first got her, several days before leaving for Victoria, she'd never even had a collar on. You can imagine that this resulted in a bit of a comedy of errors when we first tried taking her for a walk.

But in Victoria, surrounded by the warm air, the beautiful sights, and the sounds of the Ocean Daisy found her walking legs:

Le sigh. :o)

See you soon bloggies!!

A Date and a Dream Team - the wedding edition

Hola bloggies:

Please excuse my lack of posting. I've been living in a bit of an all encompassing work mode as of late. I think of it as my first degree murder cave. I have a rather large case going on at the moment and until we wrap (hopefully in a week) I won't be blogging much. But that means when I come back I'll have a ton to share with you.

So please bare with me! :o)

I did however make a special exception to emerge from my cave to share some AWESOME news with you - we have a Wedding Date!!!!!!!!!!

We will be getting married November 10, 2010 in Cabo, Mexico

Yaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!! The contracts have been signed and everything is good to go. We're both super excited. Since March I've been engaged but it's only now that it feels like this is actually going to happen. Awesome.

The picking of a date also means that I can introduce you to some of the vendors that will officially make-up my fabulous wedding dream team! Shall we?



Chris+Lynn - Photography

The Fiance and I would like to present our official wedding photographers. The absolutely fabulous Chris+Lynn (based out of Vancouver but available for worldwide travel):

It's no word of an exaggeration to say that I have been in LOVE with their work forever! I first came across their blog years ago and have been following their posts ever since.

We love them in part due to their ability to capture the beauty of the surroundings of the wedding location. This is particularly important for a destination wedding! And I have no doubt that they'll be able to show the beauty of Baja - especially since they're building their dream home a couple of hours from our wedding venue!


They have been my DREAM photographers for as long as I can remember!!!!

Honestly we're thrilled to bits that they're a part of our team! :o)

Joe Simon Productions - Cinematography

I'm not going to lie. This was a really difficult decision to make. I love Joe's work but I also loved Still Motion's. The fiance and I went back and forth on this decision but in the end we chose the team that most suited our style, relative youth, aesthetic, and budget. Truth be told we're beside ourselves with our choice!!!!

Joe Simon Productions is based out of Texas (also available for worldwide travel) and is an amazing award winning cinematographer who shoots both in Super 8 and HD. Joe will be shooting our wedding in HD and out of the whole deal we'll get a trailer, a highlights film, and a feature film. Brilliant bang for our buck to be honest!

NOTE: It appears you'll have to click the hyperlink under the vimeo icon to reach the videos. A lot of cinematographers have begun to disable embedding after a rash of incidents were people "stole" other's worked and claimed it as their own. Sorry!

Want to see his AMAZING work? Here is a trailer from a recent destination wedding he shot in the Cayman Islands:

Kate + James Caymans Wedding Trailer from Joe Simon Films on Vimeo.

Incredible, eh? Joe is also a master at capturing the scenic surroundings of destination weddings. A definite must in our cinematographer of choice!

Want to see some more of his brilliant work? This is a sample of a wedding highlight he did for a young couple that were married in Texas. A tear-jerker for sure:

Keely & Kyle HD Highlights Montage from Joe Simon Films on Vimeo.

Obviously Joe Simon is ridiculously talent but his aesthetic and sense of style was perfect for us. His approach is young, fun, and yet classic. I have no doubt I will end up with some amazing work and I can't wait to share it all with you!!!!!!!!

So what do you think peeps? Not bad so far! :o) I'll have more to share with you as we progress but I wanted to share the vendors we have definitely secured.

See you next time bloggies - hopefully sooner rather than later!!!

A View to Remember: Sculpt Your Way to a Sexy Back with SELF

Hola peeps!

Most of you know that I'm engaged to get married. Part in parcel with the joys of this momentous occasion comes the trepidation of wedding dress shopping. Every girl wants to look absolutely awesome on their wedding day. And that includes having all the jiggly bits under control - or better yet absolutely gone!!!

Most of us do squats, runs, and sit-up our way to fitness. But most of us (okay maybe just me) neglect our back. Sure it's an integral part of our bodies but how many exercises do you do that target your hind view? I know I don't.

But your back is pretty well one of the few things you can hide in evening dresses, bathing suits, or simple summer sheaths. The last thing I want is spillage (you know what I mean :oP).

Enter SELF magazine. They've posted a workout that will help you sculpt your way to a sexy back. I have to say I've started to incorporate moves like this into my workout routine and I'm already seeing the difference. I'd never had a line down my back before and I kind of love it.

Don't believe me? Give it a try!!! :o)

It's a Stampede!!!! (Redux)

I'd heard rumors that the Stampede is essentially like the Disneyland of the West - everything is over priced. So we decided to pick up something to eat before hitting the rodeo. Since we were close to Chinatown (and much deprived of awesome Asian food) we headed to our favourite Calgary Chinese restaurant: The MBA Bbq Noodle House

It was a short walk from our hotel which was perfect since by this point the temperature had dropped and a storm was coming in. This type of weather called for a soup:


I'm a bit of a seafood fiend (it doesn't give me the heavy after feeling of meat or chicken) so I ordered the mixed seafood soup. It was delicious!!! I finished all the seafood, about half the noodles, and maybe a 1/4 of the broth.

On this go around we also tried something we hadn't previously eaten at this restaurant - dim sum! The fiance wanted something porky (lol - yes those were his words) so we ordered siu mai - a pork and shrimp dumpling.


Oh my word!!!!! I have had a lot of amazing dim sum in my day but this one was just out of this world! So light! So not oily! So delicious!!!!!! My two dumplings turned out to be the unexpected highlight of my meal.

After dinner we decided to take the train to the Stampede grounds. While waiting on the platform I unexpectedly ran into two friends from law school. It was kind of a crazy meeting considering none of us live in Calgary! lol In fact they were out there from Vancouver!!! We caught up with each other and said our goodbyes at the rodeo entrance.

The fiance and I took our seats and prepared ourselves to watch the chuck wagon races. Basically they are races with those wagons the pioneers used to get out West (or the one that Kevin Costner used in "Dances with Wolves").

It was kind of cool to choose a wagon and cheer for that one. There were a lot of close races and good laughs. Having said that apparently this is the original "extreme sport." It appears that there can sometimes be rough crashes and people have died. Thankfully nothing like that happened while we were there! Mind you I guess the potential was there because it kept on raining off and on during the races. At one point the rain stopped for a bit and we got to enjoy part of a beautiful rainbow:


Ater the chuck wagon races the organizers took an intermission to set-up the Grandstand Show - part concert, part circus, part fireword display, and ALL over the top! :oP The fiance and I headed indoors to do some shopping at this time and I took the opportunity to take some pictures of the masses in cowboy hats! Including a bunch of navy guys! lol

When the Grandstand show began we were treated to a cacophony of sights and sounds. There were little kids dancing in what looked to be acts inspired by High School Musical. There were some dancers from SYTYCD Canada. Some scantily clad misses and gents cheering here and there. An incredibly awesome set of stunts by some motorcyclists. And a hilarious comic!

Unfortunately in the middle of the show it started to pour. I mean the heaven's opened up and just let it rip! The stage was completely exposed (as were most of the spectators although not us) and the performers got soaked. In fact it was so bad they had to cancel one of the performances and showed us a video from the night before.

Still the fireworks went ahead and I'm glad because they are the second best fireworks I have ever seen (2nd only to the Millennium Fireworks in Toronto). While the fireworks raged above the singers and dancers performed to a song with lyrics to the effect of "This will always be my country . . . I belong here in Canada!" It was kind of really cool but at the same time the lyrics and the outfits were a bit surprising. You see us Canadians are very proud of our home and native land but we tend to show our patriotism in a less overt way than our friends to the South. But here at the Stampede they did it in style - no word of a lie I thought I was in Texas for a second! :oP

Here's a low quality video of the fireworks to give you an idea of the awesome finale:



To be Continued . . .

A Tropical Distraction

Hola Bloggies:

My blogger account is still on the fritz. Hopefully everything will be fixed by the time I get home from work this afternoon - I have some awesome pictures I want to share with you!!!

But for now I thought I would entertain you with a bit of a Tropical Distraction! :o)

As most of you know I'm going to be a Destination Bride! Woohoo!!! The time for my wedding scouting trip to Mexico (May 30th - June 6th) is getting close and I'm getting more excited. I'm thrilled to bits bloggies!

Today I will be speaking to my dream cinematographers (telephone consultation). They do awesome work and they're also familiar with destination weddings. In fact, two members of the StillMotion team were recently married in St. Lucia. What follows is a trailer they did for their wedding.

Enjoy!!!!

Our Wedding Trailer from StillMotion on Vimeo.

Thursday Eats - and Anni Phyo's Raw Donut Holes

Hello everyone!

It's Friday!! Are you excited!??! Because I am! :o)

Yes, this has been a short week but it's also been madness around work. On Wednesday (easily my busiest court day in months) I was unable to enter court at all. I arrived to a court clerk telling me not to go inside because there were reports of a bomb. I thought they were kidding since at that point the roads had yet to be blocked off. Well it turned out it wasn't a joke.

And yesterday . . . well yesterday was a trip. It was a very hard day in court and I was worn out. In fact, the fiance was with me and he was concerned that after a life-time of days like yesterday I may have some sort of breakdown. I don't think it was that bad but I hope not to have many days like that.

As a result, I'm sure you can understand why I'm so happy that it's Friday and the weekend is practically here!!!!!!! :o) Tomorrow, if the weather is good, we plan to go to some natural hot springs and have a picnic while we're there. I have high hopes for an absolutely lovely day and beautiful pictures to share with you!

Now, let's get to yesterday's eats before we cover Anni's Raw Donut Holes . . .

Yesterday morning I indulged in a Green Monster. I took a picture of this one while it was blending. I probably should have thinned it out a little but I was in a rush to get going so I just kind of tossed things in and then pressed blend!


After a busy morning I had a break of only about 30 minutes to grab lunch. I was in a random small town high atop the Rocky Mountains so my options were limited. Usually, when I have a longer lunch break I head to a proper restaurant but with so little time I ended up at the only fast-food restaurant in town.


I ordered their grilled chicken sandwich (dry), with a water instead of a pop, and a side salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I only ate the sandwich and brought the salad home with me. It wasn't the best burger but it did have an impressively big piece of chicken breast and the bread is whole wheat. So overall probably not at all bad as far as fast-food goes.

But don't worry bloggies - I made up for my relatively sad day of eats with a crazy yummy dinner! You see after we drove home, the fiance and I ran around doing some errands. He's decided he'd like to try fishing (as an excuse to sit outside in beautiful surroundings) so we went and bought him some gear, I also picked up the book I ordered for the blogger book club (Jessica Z), bought some goodies for my first blogger exchange ever (with Jenn from Eating Bender), and a present for my dad's birthday.

After all that running around we both realized we were hungry so we decided just to eat out. At first we didn't know where to go but when we decided we definitely hit the mother-load! When the waitress informed us that the special was an extremely (!) reasonably priced lobster and steak, we both decided to go for it!


The lobster was insanely good! In fact I would definitely go back for more. The small piece of sirloin was good too but the lobster definitely stole the show. The salad was also very yummy! I love this restaurant because their salads are so complete! At a lot of places salads are after-thoughts but not here!!!

After dinner we headed home, digested for a while and then headed for a run. Here's a tip - don't go for a run after a steak and lobster dinner!!! My tummy did a serious number on me and I had to come back home after 15 minutes. My shins were also feeling kind of terrible. I don't really know why . . . maybe it has to do with the heels I wear?

Still I wanted to work out so after my very short run I did Rodney Yee's Power Yoga - Flexibility. Now I know - next time run first and indulge later because boy oh boy did that hurt! :oP



Now for something I highly recommend . . .

A while back I bought a couple of RAW "cookbooks." Recently, I decided to try making one of Anni Phyo's desserts. Funny thing is a couple of other bloggers had the same idea too! My recipe of choice? Anni's Raw Donut Holes:


These little guys look just like the real thing (timbits anyone?) and taste even better. In fact I would say they're extremely similar to a Larabar. Same type of ingredients and made in much the same manner.

I had one of these before a run and I have to tell you it made for great fuel! I could actually feel the extra kick in my run. This despite the fact I was running into a very strong head-wind! :o) Goooo raw food!!!

They're super easy to make and don't worry you don't have to buy the cookbook to figure out how. Anni has uploaded a video to YouTube showing you how to make these yummy little balls:



I hope you'll try them and enjoy them! The ingredients are relatively easy to find and most food bloggies have food processors so that's pretty easy. In terms of the almonds, I recommend slivered ones that are soaked for about 10 minutes prior to using in this recipe. It will soften them up and make it easier for the ingredients to come together! :o)



Around the Blogosphere

Erin over at I Walk in this World, is hosting a Blogger Auction and Bake Sale on Tuesday, April 21st!

This auction will benefit the Jimmy Fund - which helps to fund projects aimed at increasing cancer survival rates. On her site, Erin explains how cancer has touched her life . . . there's no way you can read her story and not want to participate!

Unfortunately, this auction is limited to U.S. residents only so I can't participate but I hope you lovelies South of the border will consider helping out!

Happy Friday bloggies! :o)

Dream Team Wish List

Hello peeps!

This post has nothing to do with fitness or food but I wanted to write it anywayz! :o)

Remember how I was thrilled about the photographers for the wedding? Well they make up one half of what would be my two-part wedding dream team. StillMotion (incredible cinematographers out of the Toronto region would make up part two!

Want to see what they can do? Be still my heart!!! Sigh . . .


Welcome to StillMotion - the Demo from StillMotion on Vimeo.

I haven't brought myself to take the plunge with these guys yet but I may. Their imagery is just so stunning and I would love to have something like that for my wedding day. There are no do overs . . .

We'll have to see but for now I'm going to continue drooling over their art! :o)

Inspired by Dane from The Biggest Loser - Becoming a Runner

Last night I was feeling kind of ill in my belly so I didn't post about my eats. No worries though I'll cover all of that this morning!

But let's start with a moment that TOTALLY caused me to choke up last night. Most of you probably know that I love watching The Biggest Loser. I find it inspirational. I love seeing people change their lives! Mind you I haven't enjoyed this season quite as much - that was until last night.

On yesterday's episode a player named Dane was voted out. In a short time at the ranch he managed to lose 100lbs!!! At the end of the show he was sent home. Likely because he was the biggest threat. Although I was sad to see him go I was thrilled to see what he accomplished when he got home.

Once Dane was home he ran a marathon in under four hours with his beautiful wife. Seeing them cross the finish line together totally made me choke-up! (If you're reading this in google reader head on over to the blog and watch the video - I'll wait :o) )



Not only did this cause me to get emotional but it reinforced something - I want to run a half marathon!!! Yesterday, I posted that the thought of running a marathon of any kind sort of terrifies me. But that doesn't matter. I want to prove to myself that I can do it! And I will do it!

So stay tuned for future posts as I attempt to turn myself into a half-marathoner!!

And now on to yesterday's eats . . .

On the whole I have to admit that my stomach felt largely upset yesterday. I wasn't feeling the whole eating thing. I hope I'm not catching something. Anywho, yesterday's breakfast consisted of a small bowl of Kashi cereal and bananas eaten at work.



Lunch was actually kind of yummy. I came home and made a quick little stir fry (no sauce added) of spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and oven-roasted turkey slices. I paired that with a slice of toast. And imagine my surprise when I read Angela's blog (Oh she Glows) and I saw she had a very similar lunch. Great minds! :oP

By dinner I was feeling really yucky. I kind of picked at my dinner which consisted of sauteed ground beef, tofu, mushrooms, and broccoli.


During the day I snacked on grapes at work and a Skinny Cow ice-cream cup after dinner. The latter because I managed to convince myself that something sweet would make my stomach happy! HA!! :oP


And here comes the medicinal Skinny Cow! Ahahha . . .


That's it for yesterday. Today I'm feeling slightly better but I may baby my tummy and stay away from things like difficult to digest protein. For breakfast I think I'll make my first ever Green Monster!!! I'll show you how that went later!

Hope you have a good day - and remember - tomorrow is Friday!!!

I Carry a Torch for You

Yesterday, I hung out with some furry friends . . . Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascots! It still makes me laugh to think how excited I was. You parade an overgrown stuffed animal in front of me and I turn into a five year old. Hahaha love it.

The Olympic Torch was also present at yesterday's celebration. One of the great things about being the second largest country in the world is that you have a lot of room. A lot of room! As a result, the torch relay for 2010 Olympics will be the longest torch relay to take place in one country. That means that the vast majority of the population will be less than an hour drive away from a relay route:



Wouldn't it be so very cool to see the torch go by? Definitely. You know what would be better!?!?! To carry it yourself!!! That's right - Canadians have the opportunity to enter one of two contests (run by Coca-Cola and The Royal Bank of Canada respectively) to carry the torch. You can find all the information for how to enter HERE.

I for one think it would be crazy amazing to start a blog entry with "I went for a run today . . . with the Olympic Torch." Too. Cool. for. Words.

Still not sure you'd like to enter? Maybe this video will change your mind. Behold and be inspired:



Go ahead! Enter! You've nothing to lose and something huge to gain! Hopefully in 2010 you'll see this Toronto Girl out West on the relay route!

Happy Friday :o)

Jaime Pressley: Ab Envy

Most times when I pass by fitness magazines I am impressed with the covers but I often assume they have been largely photoshopped. I guess after so much media deception (read Kelly Clarkson and her newest CD cover, as per Kelly's own words) I don't trust what I see.

Then I flipped open my SHAPE magazine this month and they claimed that they don't photoshop their covers. Seriously? In which case I'm gobsmacked because Jaime Pressley looks AMAZING in this month's cover (see above). She also looked nothing short of stunning on the alternate inside cover; in fact I think I actually said "wow!"


But could SHAPE possibly be telling the truth? Is this the way she actually looks!? I went on the SHAPE website and found a video of the photoshop that proves that she does indeed look that good: see video here.

Colour me impressed! She looks amazing. And I do believe I have ab envy. Now if you excuse me I have to knock out a couple dozen crunches before work.

all pictures are the property of Shape magazine