WHOA lansi

francophile, oenophile, logophile, turophile

Tag: life Page 3 of 6

September in Instagram

September was a crazy month – a crazy, awesome, incredible month. We started it off on vacation. I’ve written a little bit about that so far (there’s so much more to come! It was a fabulous trip.) and a little bit about N’s beautiful proposal (more on that later too), but here’s a little Instagram recap that includes a little more than just the beginning of the month. There was more to September than vacations and proposals (I think…I’m still living in those moments a bit!

1. Cannon Beach. I know I already blogged about it, but we just loved it so much.
2. Pok Pok’s famous wings. If you’re ever in Portland, eat the wings (but maybe not the green papaya salad. I loved it, but it kicked N in the mouth) and try a whiskey sour. Game changers.
3. Seattle and the famous Pike Place Market.
4. The recreation of N’s proposal, signs and all.
5. Checking out wineries on Lake Okanagan. Quail’s Gate is my favourite!
6. N heading to his first day of work, looking good!
7. Celebrating the marriage of two close friends (and taking awkward engagement photos cause we’re kind of awkward people).
8. Friday night drinks and toasts with both our families. Wonderful to all get together! It was a lovely weekend full of family.
9. We played tourist in our own city and went up the Calgary Tower for #doorsopenyyc. (It was my first time!) I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit scary standing on that glass bottomed floor and looking down for the first time!

Life is busy and wonderful. We’re getting into the swing of this whole planning a wedding thing (or at least I am…), Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and fall has officially arrived. Bring it on October!

Weekend Wears

 Fall is officially here! As much as I love this season for fashion, I find myself hanging on to the last bits of summer: continuing to bike to work and refusing to give up on bare legs. Don’t get me wrong, I get the obsession with fall. I love pumpkin flavoured things (although my three-year stint at Starbucks has killed any desire to consume a Pumpkin Spice Latte) and I’ve spent most of today on my couch with a great cup of coffee, a book, and records playing in the background. It’s a wonderful time of year.

Unfortunately, Fall lasts only a short time in Alberta. Every year, it’s a reminder that #winteriscoming. (Yeah, I used a hashtag in my blog. I went there.) Winter will inevitably arrive well before I’m ready for it. Probably just as I’m really getting into the swing of all things fall, as it usually does. And then I’ll be all winter boots, tights with dresses, and pants. (Everyone who knows me probably also knows my disdain for pants. Maybe I’ll blog about it some day.) We’ll start fantasizing about when there’ll be enough snow to hit the mountains and praying for Chinooks.

So, Fall, as much as I do love you, I know you’re really just that super short season before winter. And, dammit, I’m just not ready for winter yet. I’m not ready to wake up in the morning and have to decide between Sorels or hiking boots for my walk to work. I’m not ready to have to remember to get up a bit earlier so I have time to put on tights and bundle up for my walk. I’m not ready for how short the days are going to get!

Did I really just essentially write three whole paragraphs about the weather? I’m sorry, bored blog readers!

I’m sure I’ve already done an outfit post where I wore some elements of this outfit. I suppose that speaks to how fashionable I am. Sorry guys, I do re-wear my clothes as I’m sure most people in the real world do. Is it just me or does it seem like bloggers never wear their clothes more than once? Maybe they’re just better at restyling things. Or maybe they pay more attention to what they’ve done in the past. Either way, that’s not really my reality.

My reality involves asking N as sweetly as I can muster if he minds taking a few photos of me for my blog as we’re heading out the door. He is most definitely not into photography but he’s a pretty good sport about it. So thanks once again for putting up with a mini photo shoot before going to the market, N.

Funny story about these photos. When I uploaded them to my computer, iPhoto tried to tag the faces in them (namely my face) and decided that I was a guy friend of ours, KG. I don’t know how I should feel about the fact that my iPhoto thinks my face is a male friend’s face. Probably not great. Also probably not something most people would post on their blog. You’re welcome, guys.

This may be the most random blog post I’ve written since I was about 16. Just to further the randomosity, here’s a ring photo. I’m kind of in love with it.

Road Tripping: Cannon Beach

Instead of taking the I-5 all the way to Portland from Vancouver, we took a detour to the coast at Olympia. I’d driven interstate highways before and knew they were quick, efficient, and mostly incredibly boring. My dad’s own trip down the Pacific Coast Highway in his Triumph TR-6 had sparked my interest in doing the same. We wouldn’t be able to head all the way down, but when planning our trip, I couldn’t resist sneaking in this little detour.

We’d originally planned to head all the way down to Tillamook and then start heading towards Portland. I’d planned a stop at Cannon Beach after seeing countless gorgeous photos of it. We arrived around dinner time and wandered around the beachy little tourist town in search of some french seafood to go. All the restaurants were packed (and total tourist traps). All we wanted was something french we could take away to the beach.

We finally found a little place, grabbed our fish and chips, and hit the beach. As you can see from the photos, it was a beautiful evening. The light was incredible and the beach is breathtaking. We decided to head straight to Portland from there instead of continuing further down the PCH to Tillamook. I think we both decided we’d be back though. Next time, we’ll go all the way to California.

the little things

I know it’s a cliche. & not even an uncommon one at that. But sometimes it really is the little things that make all the difference in the world.

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in life: work, the gym, meal plans, cooking, cleaning, sleeping… & repeat. Sometimes I forget to stop for a second. I took a break for a second today and stepped back from all the craziness I’m creating for myself and was reminded of one of those little things that I love:

good coffee, in a nice space, with a book.

It doesn’t even really have to be a good book. It can be a mediocre book. It does have to be a good cup of coffee, however.

I needed a little break from the office today so I stepped over to one of my favourite restaurants for a coffee. They also happen to brew one of my favourites: Phil & Sebastian. As I admired their La Marzocco (I have an obsession) and stopped thinking about workweddingvenuesfitnessdinnercleaningsleeping for a minute, I remembered how important taking time out is to me.

I sat down for a few minutes with my cappuccino and read. It was a nice escape. I don’t know what it is about books in coffee shops for me, but I love it. Maybe it reminds me of being a student. Or maybe my love for frequenting coffee shops to read is why I have fond memories of being a student. Either way, it got me thinking about some of the other little things that make me smile. Here’s a little list for you on this lovely Thursday:

– dancing with N
– the first bite of a perfectly cooked piece of red meat
– well designed, aesthetically pleasing spaces
– random emoji-filled text messages
– dance parties with my girlfriends
– when a really great song comes on my iPod as I’m walking to work
– the first glimpse of Columbia Lake as you crest the top of the hill on highway 93
– photos of friends, food, travel (let’s be honest here: everything)
– the first day it’s warm enough to go bare legged after months of winter
– standing at the top of a mountain
– the few minutes before we get out of bed in the morning
– freshly washed and waxed Rula (my subarula!)
– a perfectly cut piece of salmon sashimi
– dancing with puppies
– driving a winding road with no one in front of me
– flip flop tan lines

What are some of the things that make you smile?

Road Tripping: Vancouver

N and I had a great vacation. We wasted no time and left for the lake right after work on Thursday. I wanted to start our vacation right away so we got out of town as soon as we could. We were going to Vancouver the next day and although heading to the lake only saved us an hour on the road the next day, I was happy to have that little head start.
Leaving that evening also meant we got to stop in Canmore for dinner. Poutine at La Belle Patate has become a bit of a tradition for us whenever we head west on the Trans Canada. I know it sounds odd, but it’s some of the best poutine I’ve ever had. Dare I say better than in Quebec? (Mmm yes, I do. Someone come and challenge me on this one!)
The next morning we were on the road bright and early. We wanted as much time in Vancouver (for eating, of course) as possible so we’d packed food for the road so we wouldn’t have to stop. Sometimes I mean business on road trips. None of this fast food for us. Nope, we had Crave Jerky (if you haven’t tried it, get the chili lime. Epic), cheese and summer sausage, blueberries, apples, and skittles. I’ve yet to go on road trip with N without him sneaking some candy into the mix at some point. I crave savoury, he craves sweet.
We got into Vancouver around 4, dropped our stuff at my friends house, and headed out exploring. I’d been hearing amazing things about Earnest Ice Cream and I just had to try it. It turned out their new shop wasn’t far from where we were staying, so off we went.

They weren’t lying. It is seriously good.

I tried the whiskey hazelnut and the lavender before settling on the salted caramel. I know I should try other flavours, but I just can’t resist salted caramel ice cream. I told myself I had to compare to my favourite Village Ice Cream. The verdict? I still love Village for my salted caramel fix, if I lived in Vancouver, I’d definitely be hitting up Earnest as often.

I think N had the Milk Chocolate. I remember having a sample of that one later and it was like pure chocolate. It’s a bit odd that I don’t actually remember what he had. Apparently, I was too absorbed with my own ice cream and with taking photos of the adorable shop. I’m sure this comes as a surprise to everyone.

It was almost dinner time by the time we finished so we hoped on the sky train to head downtown for sushi. I don’t think I can go to Vancouver and not have sushi. Maybe if I lived there, I’d get over it. I doubt it, but maybe.

Just looking at those photos from Kadoya Sushi is making me incredibly hungry. That sashimi was so perfect and buttery. I’m sitting in front of my computer drooling a bit. At least I’m home alone so no one can judge me.
After dinner we headed over to gas town. I hadn’t been to gas town in recent memory so I was in awe of how awesome it was. There were people out everywhere: enjoying drinks on patios, riding bikes, eating delicious-looking food. It’s become such a fun neighbourhood.
We’d planned to meet up with some friends of mine that I hadn’t seen in almost 10 years, so we put our names on a list at Alibi Room and then headed elsewhere for a drink while we waited. I wanted to snap pictures of everything, but N tried to reign me in a bit. We’d been in the car all day and he was definitely ready to enjoy some beers.

Alibi Room was great. It was fun catching up with old friends and their beer selection is amazing! They have mostly local beers but there’s also a good selection from the rest of the West Coast. There were lots from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and from from further down the coast in Washington and Oregon to get us excited about the rest of our trip. It was exactly the kind of place I could see us going if we lived in Vancouver. I love different bars (N will probably tell you that I loved it because it was trendy, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the beer selection and atmosphere too!)

The next morning we headed to 49th Parallel for coffee. I’d heard good things about it and wanted to try it out. I love coffee but N could really take it or leave it. Turns out we hit the jackpot cuz they also have unreal donuts. Like seriously unreal. It was only a few blocks from my friends house so I wish her the best of luck at resisting those donuts. We shared a maple bacon crueller (will I ever tire of this flavour combination?)

N and I are both incredibly predictable at coffee shops. Hers? A latte. Always. I can’t resist the beautiful latte art and the subtle sweetness of steamed milk.

His? An americano or a drip coffee. Black. Always black.

The coffee and their café were both amazing. I’m pretty sure I planned this entire trip with coffee, food, and beer in mind. That is literally all we did. Don’t expect to see photos of much of anything else besides the amazing restaurants we ate at or the beer and coffee we drank. Would you really expect anything else though?
Later that afternoon we headed to a family friend’s wedding. It was on their beautiful property and the weather was gorgeous. We all got a little warm during the ceremony, but it’s hard to complain about such a perfect day. My whole family was there and we had a lot of fun dancing, chatting, eating, and taking a million photo booth photos.
We did somehow manage to get a nice one before all of that though. I don’t think I’ve ever had a photo with both of these very special guys in my life. They clean up pretty well. (and every once in a while, my brother is capable of refraining from making a ridiculous face. Who knew this was possible!)
That is basically it for our whirlwind Vancouver trip. One day I’ll go to Vancouver and actually have enough time to see and do all the things I want to (I hope). This trip, despite being short, was really great though. We fit in a lot of things I wanted to do and had so much fun at the wedding. I’m so happy we were able to celebrate with them!
The next day we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway for Portland. That’s another post though. N is out playing hockey and, as usual, I’ve lost track of the entire evening. I’m not sure how I always manage to do that. Sometimes (always) I still need him to tell me it’s time to go to bed. Ah being an adult!

This Land is my Land

We went hiking this weekend in Kananaskis Country. There are so many hikes I want to do that chosing one can be really tough sometimes, but we eventually settled on Grizzly Peak. I’d seen some photos from a friend of a friend and it looked like a great hike. You can’t beat the view you get from the mountains in Kananaskis and you get the added bonus of not needing a park pass.

The very beginning of the trail
N and I hoped in the car and picked up a friend early Saturday morning. After unsuccessfully trying to get coffee at three independent coffee places, we gave in to Starbucks and headed West for the Rockies. 
Grizzly Peak is an unmarked trail between Grizzly Creek and Hood Creek. It was relatively easy to find using the landmarks described in online guides. We parked in the ditch on the side of the highway, changed into our hiking boots, and started up the trail. You could distinctly see it running beside the creek from the beginning, despite it being an unmarked trail. 

It started climbing pretty quickly right from the start. We weren’t going to get much of a break on this hike, it seemed.It was so steep that it took us over an hour to cover the first kilometre. I’m sure the boys could have climbed faster, but they had to wait for me and I’m just a little bit slower.

T being….T
Right from the beginning, there were some great views and fun obstacles. There was a little point where we had to scramble and carefully hug the side of the mountain. It looks a lot more difficult than what it is. 

Obstacles!

The trail as pretty distinct until we got about three quarters of the way up, when we hit a bunch of scree. You could tell people had made different decisions as to which route to take and there wasn’t a clear trail. We continued to scramble up and then decided to take the steep grassy route up to the saddle instead of scrambling up some interesting rock and creek. It was steep and tough, but definitely better than the alternative.

Let’s take the grassy route…
The saddle itself was pretty amazing. I wasn’t expecting to find a beautiful clearing up there, surrounded my mountains. It was so peaceful and seemed like a great spot to take a lunch break. We found a nice little spot and hunkered down for some food. It was gorgeous. 

Finding a lunch spot

From the saddle, it was an easy 15 minutes to the summit. We really lucked out with the weather and it was gorgeous when we reached the top. Most summits are pretty windy so we took advantage of the stillness and hung out for a while, enjoying the view and chatting. It was breathtaking.

Thanks for an amazing day as always, Kananaskis Country! I highly recommend Grizzly Peak if you’re looking for a new day hike to try. The views are incredible right from the start, the saddle is beautiful and peaceful, and it makes for a great day!

Color Me Rad

Fun runs seem to be popping up all over the place lately. I can’t seem to login to Instagram on the weekend without coming across at least one photo from some kind of charity or fun run. It’s great! I love to see people getting out, moving around, and getting healthy.

A few friends and I signed up for Color Me Rad this year. You dress in as much white as you can and run 5 km while people throw packages of corn starch dye at you. It was originally scheduled for July Long Weekend, but due to the flooding it got rescheduled to August Long and a lot of my friends couldn’t participate.

Luckily, Color Me Rad is an easily transferable race, so a few other friends took their places. We met at Crowfoot LRT Station on Saturday morning and took the shuttle bus out to Canada Olympic Park for the run. There were so many people up there. It was great to see everyone dressed up and running around having a great time.

At the start line we were given our first colour bombs, which we proceeded to throw at each other. We couldn’t start things off with pristine white shirts. The race itself was up and down the hills and trails at the Park. It was a mix of pavement and trail running, but all in all a fairly easy course. We weren’t with many actual runners so we walked a lot of the hills and just took our time, laughing at each other as we got more and more covered in colours.

As we rounded the last corner, they gave everyone one last colour bomb to use however they wanted. Of course, we saved ours and dumped colour all over each other at the finish area.

I really enjoyed the race. It was lighthearted and easy so there was no pressure running-wise. It was advertised as a 5 km, but I’d give it 3 km at most. Definitely manageable for all fitness levels. We got a lot of great photos and laughed a lot. If you have the opportunity to do Color Me Rad or some other colour run, I would definitely go for it. If you’re worried about the colour dying your hair (like I was), coconut oil seemed to keep the colour out and had the added bonus of leaving my hair super soft after I washed it.

Happy Running!

Ombré

It’s been a long time since I’ve done anything with my hair besides the occasional trim. I used to colour it a lot, going from blonde highlights in the summer to dark brown in the winter. When I moved back to Calgary, I decided it was too much to maintain and went back to my natural colour for a while. 

Let’s be honest though, sometimes natural is kind of boring and I was definitely feeling bored. Usually when this happens I just chop it all off. I’m not afraid of short hair, but I know I’d regret it right now. 
Colouring it seemed like a better option, but blonde highlights are a lot of maintenance and dark brown is too close to my natural colour to cure my boredom. Ombré was something new though. I’d been considering it for a while so I emailed my stylist and asked him what he thought. 

It turned out he couldn’t have been more excited and called me right away to discuss. It didn’t take me long to decide I was going for it. We rescheduled my trim for a time when he could do both cut and colour and I started finding some photos of what I wanted. 

I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s quite subtle right now, but will lighten up as I’m out in the sun more. In some lights it looks incredibly blonde, but in some it seems barely noticeable. I like the idea that it will just grow out and there isn’t really any maintenance to it. I no longer want to be dropping a lot of money on my hair every three months. If it gets too blonde for me, I can easily tone it down for relatively cheap. It sounds pretty perfect! 

I took these photos by myself using my tripod and a prime lens. It was fun to play around with my camera since I’ve been slacking in that department but I definitely struggled with getting the focus right. I’m not a fan of auto focus at the best of times and I couldn’t get it to cooperate how I wanted. I also wasn’t having a lot of luck with manual focus since the subject (myself) was behind the camera when I tried to focus. 

Oh well, it was fun to play a bit and made me realize it’s something I need to work on more. Hopefully I find some time to play more before we go on holiday. I’d love to get some great shots in Vancouver, Portland, and Seattle! 

July In Instagram

Summer is by far my favourite season and it always seems to just fly by. It’s already half over and it feel like it only just began. We’ve got lots planned for August and September, but not nearly as much as we did for July. I’m kind of excited to just slow down a bit and enjoy this season. I’m looking forward to sitting outside on patios, having barbeques with friends, and enjoying the long days before they’re gone.

The end of this month has felt slightly out of control. Anyone who knows me know that I’m not a fan of feeling out of control. Work has been full of deadlines, I’ve been trying to cram long runs into already hectic weekends, and N has been away for work. I think the last one has been making life feel particularly hectic. N and I are a pretty good team and he’s been in Northern Saskatchewan for work since July 25. He’s there for at least another week. It reminds me of when we did long distance, except at the time I was used to doing everything on my own and now I’ve been spoiled by having the extra help. Anyway, it’s only another week so we’re almost back to everyday life.

Here’s what I got up to this month:
1. Started off July with a long weekend at the lake. Nothing more relaxing.
2. Stampede Parade kicked off one of my favourite weeks in the city! Enjoying the parade with my lovely co-worker.
3. Camping in Drumheller. The sunsets on the hills are unreal.
4. Spaghetti Western 2012: L and I enjoying our company party and the awesome sillybooth.
5. Weekend at Columbia Lake with N and some great friends for my birthday. D and I look related and it’s really weird.
6. Nothing beats a calm, hot day on the lake. Seriously.
7. Folk Festing. I finally attended a full day at CFMF. It was full of great music and shenanigans.
8. D and I in the beer gardens at Folk Fest.
9. I finally got my last wisdom tooth out. And I bit the bullet and did the ombre thing. Turns out I love it!

Here’s to a wonderful, hot, sunny, dry rest of the summer! Happy Long Weekend, everyone!

Potluck

I love cooking, eating, and entertaining friends, so hosting a potluck is a pretty fun night if you ask me. A couple months ago, we had a few of my coworkers and their men over for a couples game night. It was a fun night, filled with delicious food and friendly competition.

We’ve had a few potlucks this year so I knew I had some good recipes I could whip up, but I wanted to try something new. I’d just bought two new cookbooks (Chuck’s Day Off and Gather) and I was way to excited about them both. I decided to go with a recipe from Chuck’s book. I eventually would like to try all the recipes. The majority aren’t paleo or even gluten free, but he really knows his way around a kitchen. His restaurant, Garde Manger, in Montreal is one of my very favourites. If you ever find yourself in Montreal, I highly recommend you go for oysters, lobster poutine, and steak at his restaurant. Or try out Le Bremner. It is certainly on my list of must visits.

I settled on a cheese and tomato tart. It was relatively easy to make and was both beautiful and delicious. It was a lot like a pizza, but with a buttery phyllo pastry base. I remade it tonight and added prosciutto. It was a welcome addition and I’d definitely do it again. Can you really go wrong with prosciutto?

I also decided to make some mojitos. They’re one of my favourite summer drinks. There’s something so refreshing about a delicious mojito with fresh lime and mint. Not only that, but they’re really simple and I was itching to bust out the shaker we got as a housewarming gift.

In addition to my tart, we had some delicious wings, mixed veggies, and salad roles. Z definitely stole the show with his roast beef though. I think it came out perfect! These pictures make my mouth water a little bit. (And I’m quite jealous of that gorgeous knife!)

I’d put my camera away by the time we did dessert. Nathan made his delicious ginger molasses cookies and we picked up Salted Caramel gelato from Fiasco to make ice cream sandwiches. They were a pretty big hit. 
All in all, it was an awesome evening with delicious food and great company! There are so many more recipes from both of my new cookbooks that I’m looking forward to trying. I take them to bed regularly and daydream about what recipe I’m going to try next. Maybe it’s time for another potluck soon?

Page 3 of 6

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén