tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62740917118569516212024-03-13T21:38:43.616-07:00What happened next...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-47012207837237611462018-02-15T13:12:00.000-08:002018-02-15T13:12:40.737-08:00DIY Custom Decorative Storage Boxes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When looking for storage boxes or baskets for the RV bathroom cabinet I realised what a tall order it was to find something <i>just</i> the right size. With some pipework in the way I already knew I'd have to cut down a box to make it fit and storage boxes and baskets just aren't cheap!<br />
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Plan B came into effect (And it turned out waaaaay better than my Plan A!)<br />
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I realised that my shelves were going to fit 2 <a href="http://www.staples.ca/en/Staples-Multiuse-Paper-20-lb-8-1-2-x-11-Case/product_380479_2-CA_1_20001" target="_blank">photo-copy paper boxes</a> side by side rather perfectly! Our local Staples leaves these boxes out by the front door and you can just pop in and grab them - for free!<br />
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I took a slow browse around Michaels deciding what I was going to use to cover these boxes. My original vision was baskets, and I certainly wanted to stick with the natural fibres - both colour and look. I went with what I could find really and in the end that turned out to be burlap.<br />
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I bought some <a href="http://www.michaels.com/crafty-cuts-laminated-burlap/M10277381.html?dwvar_M10277381_color=Natural#q=burlap&start=6" target="_blank">rolls of laminated burlap</a> - which had some kind of backing holding it together a bit but it was pretty see-through.<br />
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I needed to cut down 2 of my boxes in height for the top shelf so I did this first. I also had to cut down the back of one of my boxes to fit around the pipework - this box doesn't really have any functionality - its pretty much just the front and sides of the box acting as a cover-up to the pipework behind.<br />
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Once all cut to size I gave them a quick once-over with some <a href="http://www.homedepot.ca/product/painters-touch-2x-satin-nutmeg/840407" target="_blank">tan spray paint</a>. Because the burlap was pretty see-through the colours and print on my boxes showed through. With a quick and imperfect coat of paint it blended in.<br />
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Starting in the middle at the back of a box I used my hot glue gun and spread out a 1 inch strip of hot glue I stuck down one end of the burlap roll. The hot glue dries so quickly I found that I was only able to glue a couple of inches at a time - giving myself enough time to pull the burlap taut, stick down and smooth off, all the while making sure I was keeping it in line with the bottom of the box. It moved along nicely and before I knew it I was back to where I started - I overlapped the burlap at the back of the box by about an inch.<br />
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My roll of burlap was deeper than my boxes so I'd left my excess at the tops of my boxes. Once all the sides were stuck down I cut the corners and folded in the excess and stuck that down too. It is preferable to have a bit of extra to fold in to keep your top edges nice and finished looking (especially since burlap has a tendency to fray).<br />
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My boxes were done! But I felt they needed a little finishing touch of some kind. Another trip to Michaels and I found a sheet of <a href="http://www.michaels.com/artminds-leather-trim/M10332929.html?dwvar_M10332929_color=Brown#q=leather&start=18" target="_blank">brown leather</a>. It was a pricey addition compared to the cost of the rest of the boxes but worth it!<br />
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I searched Google images for travel trunk handles and found a shape I liked. I sized and printed out the image and then used this as a template to cut out my four handles.<br />
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Using the hot glue I stuck down the 2 ends of the handles, making sure to leave 'room' so they stick out (you don't want them lying flat or you'll have nothing to grab a hold of!). Finally I sewed around the ends using some strands of the burlap which I'd frayed off the edge of my leftover sheets. I think rivets or eyelets would also have been a great way to fasten them on!<br />
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I did add a sheet of felt to the bottom so the boxes slid in and out of the shelves a bit smoother but that's unnecessary!<br />
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I am totally loving the way they turned out! They are a perfect fit for the shelves and look great! I'm wondering where else needs storage boxes now.....?!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-26909409348261902632015-10-26T21:13:00.001-07:002016-03-03T09:15:06.334-08:00Race Recap: Rock n' Rock Vancouver Half Marathon & 10k Remix ChallengeThis weekend was a first for me...A double whammy of races served up on one weekend! 10km Saturday morning followed by the <a href="http://www.runrocknroll.com/vancouver/" target="_blank">Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon</a> on the Sunday. And it was awesome :-)<br />
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It's been a while since I've done a Rock 'n' Rock race (<a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2011/12/we-survived.html" target="_blank">2011 Vegas</a> to be precise). I was looking forward to it. Not least for the fabulous bling that had already been previewed on social media ahead of the race. I'm not usually one to run for bling but the medals sure were purdy!! And when running both races you also qualified for the Remix medal - so 3 for the price of 2!!<br />
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Unfortunately I was missing my #1 cheerleader this weekend so I headed off on the 4.5 hour drive to Vancouver on my lonesome. Thankfully the weather was good and still no sign of snow on the mountain passes yet. The 2 races both start at opposite sides of the downtown area and then finish in yet another location in Stanley Park - 3 points on a triangle to figure out. But I found an ideally placed <a href="http://www.airbnb.ca/c/hmills3?s=8" target="_blank">Airbnb</a> place which worked perfectly for my accommodation.<br />
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My plan for the weekend was to race the 10km (And my big goal was a sub-50 minute) and then take the Half kinda easy going with no time goal.<br />
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It was an easy start come Saturday morning since the 10km race didn't start till 9:30am from English Bay. I headed off from my apartment for a 3/4 mile warm up easy run to the start line and then stood in line for 20 minutes for the porta potties before jumping into a corral at the last minute. I was in corral 2 so we got going pretty quickly. The course follows the seawall the entire way around Stanley Park which makes for a fabulously flat course! I was going well for the first 3 miles - probably a little too fast but I was really trying to push it out. Just before the 4 mile marker we turned into the park for a few hundred metres to do a short 'out and back' (I guess to make up the total distance) - and the little inland detour was a savage little hill. It was about here the wheels started coming off. I guess I had pushed <i>too</i> hard those first 3 miles at paces that were a little too ambitious. The hill didn't help and I took a short walk break. Once we turned I got going again but some of the wind was gone from my sails. Mile 4 ended up my slowest mile and way off my pace. I picked it up a bit for the last 2 miles but never enough to get back on track. I was entertained by Elvis singing in the last 1/2 mile and was happy to turn past the sailing club and see the arch of the finish line in Devonian Park. I crossed the finish line around 51:20, which is actually a new PR so I shouldn't be too disappointed at all! Happy to receive the first of my beautiful medals and a Stanley Park Brewing Pale Ale. With the official time as it is looking at the results post race I've got to be pretty pleased to finish in the top 6% of all female runners. And of all those old birds like me aged between 40-44 (there were 316 of us - wow! I finished 15th!)<br />
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I met up with a fellow Team Tough Chik friend <a href="https://instagram.com/crantina/" target="_blank">Tina</a> for lunch and then spent the afternoon strolling around Vancouver. It was a bad choice for self care. I clocked around 5 miles of walking, ate poorly, didn't rehydrate enough and by the end of the evening was vegging out in my apartment binge watching Homeland on Netflix with a headache from hell. It wasn't a good feeling knowing I had a half marathon to do the next morning!<br />
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The Half got going at 8:15am this time from the Convention Centre side of town. It was a easy stroll down the hill for me, chatting to Chris briefly on his way to work. I wasn't feeling pepped up at all - I had a dull headache still, hadn't slept well and experiencing a bit of numbness/aching in my foot when walking. It was just as well I didn't have a goal for this race other than to finish! The start line was much busier (and yet the potty line ups were much quicker!).I stayed bundled up in my throw away hoodie to the side of my corral until the last minute. I was in corral 4 so watched the first 2 waves head off. They counted down for Corral 3 and the crowd surged forward with me in it - There were corral 4 people all around me but yet we didn't seem to stop and before I knew it I was across the start line and on my way! It was the most understated and unexpected start of a race, and given my nonchalance and mental state it was actually probably the best thing for me. As soon as I get going I settle in and get comfortable. Unsurprisingly the headache and foot pain were soon distant memories and I started enjoying myself. Almost immediately we headed through Gastown, it's a great little area of the city with brick streets, old buildings and lots of character - a very picturesque area to run through and reminded me it was more than just the running! A mile in we passed a large gaggle of hobos outside a shelter and it was the perfect place to ditch my throw-away hoodie (I hope someone is keeping warm in Chris's too-small-for-him Icebreaker merino wool top!). The course headed out along the railway tracks and industrial port area before looping around, passing through Chinatown, BC Place and Rogers Arena and then onto the Edgewater along False Creek to Stanley Park. Instead of running the seawall like the 10k the course took us into the depths of the park along it's many greenways and roadways surrounded by towering green trees and lush forest. The last couple of miles were along the roadside right next to the seawall path we'd run the day before, with the final 1/4 mile putting us onto the path by the sail club and through the same finishers archway. I'd had a solid comfortable race and was happy to finish in 1:55hr. Another fabulous medal, another fabulous beer and my first successful double-run weekend!<br />
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I stayed a little while at the finishers area. <a href="http://www.yukonblonde.com/" target="_blank">Yukon Blonde</a> were headlining the post race party and the sun had come out. The beer went down sweetly but I was also eager to get going for my long drive home. It's definitely not quite as fun doing these race weekends solo. I walked the mile back to the apartment all the while looking out for the bus that never came (but then it probably was an ideal shake-down for my legs anyway!), jangling my medals as I went!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-41631245099516997192015-09-22T12:23:00.000-07:002015-09-28T13:02:38.409-07:00Race Recap: Lululemon SeaWheeze Half MarathonOh my, what a race!!<br />
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The <a href="http://www.seawheeze.com/" target="_blank">SeaWheeze</a> was my 10th Half Marathon and I have so many reasons to love it!<br />
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Lululemon sure knows how to put on a good race. The entry fee price tag is quite a bit more than your average half marathon and in previous years I was unsure that it could be 'worth it'. This years race went on sale 11 months ago and I was lucky to get in - it sells out in minutes! So, what DOES your $128 get you? and why I'm utterly convinced it WAS worth every penny!<br />
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First up you get a pair of <a href="http://www.seawheeze.com/run/shorts" target="_blank">special edition Lululemon shorts</a>, designed with an exclusive print. I gotta say, and this is probably my only thumbs down for the 2015 race - I didn't love the print. We all received these in the Spring giving us plenty of time to train with them before the race.<br />
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The race is a Saturday morning so the expo and package pick-up was all day Friday. It started early with the Showcase Store opening at 7am at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Social media has criticized the frenzy of the store setup in past years - it's open to the public and many Lulu' fans go in, buy up everything and then sell on Ebay. This year the first 2 hours were reserved for runners only - a great solution (sadly not one which helped me when I was driving in from out of town 5 hours away). Still....we arrived around 4pm and I made straight for the store. It was in a HUGE room, and there were racks all organised by clothing size. At 4pm there were only a couple of racks for each size, and much of the same items, it was also pretty un-crowded, organized and the room itself quite roomy. I can only imagine what it must be like earlier in the day. I still managed to find items I loved and couldn't resist indulging in several exclusive SeaWheeze items - their classic Cool Racerback, and a Scuba Hoodie both in exclusive prints! (You got glimpses of what else had been on sale by doing a bit of people watching over the course of the weekend! - there are other items I liked the look of for sure but very happy with what I scored! - and probably safer for my wallet that I had more limited choices!)<br />
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Once shopped we headed through package pick-up then headed outside of the convention centre for the rest of the Expo. It was great! There were free barbershop cuts for the guys, hairdos and nails for the ladies, spray-on SeaWheeze temp tattoos, Saje naturals spritzing you with soothing essential oils, Samples from Vega Sports drinks, Rise Kombucha, Kind bars, Frozen Yoghurt, and free candy floss!! It was a fun, well-put together expo which was great to stroll around (And who doesn't love free stuff!) Later that evening there was sunset yoga which judging by the photos looked fabulous (I however decided to get serious with the pre-race prep and headed out on the town for a curry - uh, yes. true story.)<br />
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Race start was 7am Saturday morning. It was a cold one in Vancouver. Around 15 degrees, distinctly grey and cloudy and wet on the ground (though we more or less escaped actual rain during the race). We were staying in North Vancouver and after a brief flapping session by moi the night before about what time the buses started running we opted to just drive ourselves in. It was the weekend so parkade prices were on special pricing and we parked all day for $7 - more than worth it in my books (and actually cheaper than the bus as it happens!). The parkade was underneath the Marriott Hotel and was probably 300 yards from the start line! It was also ideal that I was able to use the hotel wash-rooms (which were clean and no lines!) right up till the last minute instead of porta-potties. Score!<br />
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I crammed myself into a corral near the start line. I vaguely recall seeing the 1:45 and 1:50 pace beavers (beavers not bunnies at the SeaWheeze!) but it was the first entrance to the corrals I'd seen when we came out of the hotel I didn't think anything more of it. They set us off in waves with a good 5 minutes between - as it was I was in the second wave!<br />
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I started out at a pretty swift pace - but surprisingly I didn't actually feel like I was dying like you normally do in the first mile of a run. Like, not at all. Strange. I rolled with it and just kept the pace up. In the first mile we passed a spinning class set up on one of the overpass bridges pumping out music and cheering us on - I felt in GREAT spirits and got stuck into really enjoying this race - high-fiving everyone I could! The first mile went by in around 8 minutes!, the second mile was even faster.**<br />
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The course was gorgeous! The first 2 miles looping through the city and then just after the 2 mile marker we ran for nearly 2 miles along False Creek - you can't beat water views on your run (and of course marvellously flat!), we headed across the Burrard Bridge (where Lulu HQ is and one of their 3 huge cheering squad stations were based - more high-fives for me!), an out and back section in Kitsilano, back across the Burrard Bridge (where there was a bit of drag of an incline getting up and over the bridge - not much to look at when you drive but it's most definitely there when you're running!), and then we got back to the water again - and from mile 7 onwards we pretty much followed the water for the rest of the way! Gorgeous right?! Past Sunset Beach, English Bay and then into Stanley Park to run all the way around the Seawall. More cheering squads, Mermaids sat out on the rocks, SUPers cheering, DJ's playing music, people dressed up in costumes - and I really did just soak it all in. I enjoyed everything about the atmosphere and there was great crowd support and 'stuff' to look at along the way.<br />
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I was still doing really well with my pace. And I felt good. At times of course I wanted to slow down or take a break (I've developed a bit of a habit of stopping on runs, that's what comes from having a dog as a training partner - they stop to pee and sniff a lot!) but if I was honest with myself I didn't NEED to so I just kept chugging forward as fast as I could. It hurt. Not in a pain way but in a 'giving it all I've got kind of way. Which really is the point of a race I suppose. The last couple of miles were Tough. I REALLY wanted to stop but I knew this was going to be my day. I tried calling Chris at the final mile (who didn't pick up!) to let him know I'd be finishing earlier than I'd expected to! My pace was awesome. I wasn't super sure if I was going to break the 1:50 mark but it was certainly going to be close. As we came into the final straight stretch to the line the 1:50 pace beaver was next to me shouting at his wards as he propelled them forward to the line. Cheering them on, telling them the line was in sight and to run faster, faster!! I felt like I had nothing left and I desperately wanted to walk. The line eventually came into view for me and I managed to hold out and crossed the line with him! My Garmin said 1:49:36. WooHoo!<br />
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<a href="https://instagram.com/p/6aS6sysrLm/" style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_top">Just dangle a golden carrot in front of me and I'll run a new #PR!!!! Woot woot for me!!! Broke the 1:50 mark! #lululemon #seawheeze #vancouver #carrotsformotivation #goldencarrot #ilovebc #ilovetorun #runhappy #running #halfmarathon #yvr #seawheeze2015 #brooksrunning</a></div>
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A photo posted by Helen M 🇨🇦🇬🇧 (@brit_chick) on <time datetime="2015-08-15T16:33:26+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">Aug 15, 2015 at 9:33am PDT</time></div>
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I found Chris straight away and caught my breath as I chatted to him over the railings. Then I made my way through the finishers chute, picking up my medal (a big heavy golden carrot!), a mini pouch of Saje essential oils, a Seawheeze baseball hat, then water, wet flannels and a kind bar for some instant recovery. Once away from the mayhem of the finish line I made my way over to collect my finishers brunch consisting of fresh fruit, yogurt, waffle, savoury quiche and juice.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An awesome finishers brunch, a great finishers hat and the Tesla pace car!</td></tr>
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We hung out for a while at the finish. My efforts had really wiped me out! Just goes to show I really did give it everything I had (and that I obviously don't when training coz I don't feel that 'spent' usually).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Curiosity Lager and crazy weird dancer people at the Sunset Festival</td></tr>
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After a nap and shower we were back out in Vancouver for the evening. I got a much deserved Caesar and food in Gastown before we hopped on the bus to take us to Stanley Park for the <a href="http://www.seawheeze.com/sunset-festival" target="_blank">Sunset Festival</a>. (part of my entry fee and just $25 a ticket for Chris). We were too late for the Yoga portion of the event but we settled down on the grass for the music. 3 bands over the course of the evening, a craft bazaar area, and open bar - which I loved. So often you can only have alcohol in small fenced off ugly confined areas but after checking ID you were given a wrist band and could buy from the multiple bars and sit anyway in the festival grounds and drink! I'm not usually a lager drinker but I was in the mood to have the special edition SeaWheeze Curiosity Lager brewed by Stanley Park Brewery, we grabbed some food and whiled away the evening as the sun set across the water lighting up the skyline of Vancouver. Pure magic bliss and the perfect end to my perfect day. (and Hell Yeah to me and my rockin' new PR - yeah baby - chip time was 1:49:29!!) I finished in the top 6% of women and top 10% overall which feels awesome!<br />
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Check out the awesome race video (I break out in goose-bumps just watching it again!)http://www.seawheeze.com/;<br />
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<i>**Lets just talk goals for a moment....early this season I'd set this race as my GOAL race for the year - My PR was 1:51:26 and I wanted to break the 1:50 mark - 1:49:59 would be just fine with me! That meant I needed to run a mile in 8 mins and 23 seconds - and do that 13 times in a row!! - However my training times had not suggested I was anywhere near that pace and I'd started thinking my goal time was a little lofty (after all my PR was 2 years ago, and since then I hadn't even gone under 2 hours! This summer I did follow a 'get faster' training plan (The '<a href="http://zoomarun.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/TLAM-Half-Marathon-Own-It-Plan.pdf" target="_blank">Train like a Mother Own It</a>' plan) so there was lots of speed work which I've never disciplined myself to do. But often the plan would call for holding race pace for a longer distance or time than I could manage. So as the weeks progressed I had considered that just getting back under the 2 hour mark should be a little more realistic and that aiming for paces more in the region of 8:45 (which would get me a finish of 1:55) instead of 8:23.</i><br />
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</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-88133424264129186962015-07-31T09:20:00.000-07:002015-09-16T09:22:04.154-07:00New Canadians!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-an0qOy05MWI/VfmOoZ3QQfI/AAAAAAAAHlE/zXnR45DCcDI/s1600/Canadian%2BCitizens%2Bat%2Blast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="630" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-an0qOy05MWI/VfmOoZ3QQfI/AAAAAAAAHlE/zXnR45DCcDI/s640/Canadian%2BCitizens%2Bat%2Blast.jpg" width="630" /></a><br />
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On July 2nd we swore allegiance to our Queen and Country and were sworn in as Canadians! The Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna was full of a gaggle of people from many different nationalities all eager, excited and a little emotional about this day!<br />
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We had an incredible support crew in the audience - co-workers and friends. As we were lining up to file into the auditorium beforehand someone in line commented to us about our huge entourage - it was so awesome to be surrounded by 'our people'; Anima, Michele, Sheryl, Pete, Shelly, Chase & Jaxsyn, Rick, Alex, baby Nira, Pete, Julia & baby Natelie, Tony, Liz, Dustin, Les & Nicole <span style="font-size: x-small;">(which I'm realizing now how crap I am not to have photos of everyone)</span><br />
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Following the ceremony we headed across the road to the newly opened Cactus Club at the Kelowna Yacht Club - overlooking the lake, with views and atmosphere that reminded us just why we picked the stunning Okanagan to call home!<br />
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We were blessed with so much love (and so many fabulous Canada-themed gifts! - thank you all) and even our own Citizenship cake (I had won a Facebook contest the day before to win a Canada cake from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Colossal-Cakes-1598872523728431" target="_blank">Colossol Cakes</a> which conveniently was just 1/2 block up our street!- talk about perfect timing!)<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-90061565534480431962015-07-27T12:07:00.002-07:002015-07-27T21:22:50.395-07:00RV Renovation - The Bathroom edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The bathroom was probably the biggest disaster we were dealing with and since the toilet was out and then replaced it was here we started with the renos. We decided to paint all our cabinets and this was where we started!<br />
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Here's the obligatory 'Before' shot of the old toilet, sink and cabinets;<br />
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All the cabinet and closet doors came off. Surfaces were thoroughly cleaned with a strong solution of TSP and then very lightly sanded, and then cleaned off again. The doors were part real wood (the framework around the outsides), and part dodgy wood-effect laminate type stuff (the centre of the doors). The cabinet bases were all the laminate. I say laminate - I think it's some sort of particle board that's been covered with a wood effect kind of paper. All I do know that when it's in contact with water over extended periods of time the board expands and the paper cover 'bursts' so we have a few lumps and bumps around from the water leakage issues we've had.<br />
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We bought Behr One-Coat latex paint in semi-gloss for the cabinets (Whisper White). The nice man at Home Depot convinced me I wouldn't need a primer with this paint. I was skeptical. And I had good reason. The cabinet base took 3-4 coats of paint (that was the fake wood stuff). It was tedious work I'm not gonna lie. All those nooks and crannies where you needed to use a paint brush. The top coat was done with a small foam roller which evened out the brush strokes and left a nice smooth finish to all the flat fronted areas. Same with the doors - we used a brush to get into the corners and edges of the doors and then the fronts were finished off with top coats using the roller. (The real wood edges generally needed less paint - just 3 coats).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabinet doors everywhere! We probably could've saved ourselves a bunch of time doing them in a more assembly line style but space was limited!</td></tr>
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I originally wanted all new hardware for the doors but I started realizing just how much work and money that was going to be. I opted for (near) instant gratification of spray painting. All the hinges, screws and door handles were soaked in the TSP solution, sanded if necessary and thoroughly dried. Some had a little rust on them but nothing too bad. I used the Rustoleum Satin Black spray paint and gave everything a couple of coats - if you look closely they aren't perfect but I'm not planning on spending a lot of time getting up close and personal with my closet door hinges...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making progress - one coat paint was definitely not 1 coat!! More like 4 but we got there in the end!</td></tr>
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When the doors were off we realised we were liking the look of a couple of them without doors. Since we're not planning on driving around in Harvey all that much these days we figured that we'd leave them that way. In the bathroom we had a tiny shallow cupboard next to the sink which is now just open shelving and has given us the added bonus of having a usable counter top which we can put things on (Since before it had to be left clear to be able to open/close the cupboard door). We also liked the open shelving look under the sink. I considered hanging a little curtain there (all twee and cottage like) but in the end decided that some basket storage would look great. (if/when we're ever driving Harvey we'll figure out a plan for storing those items but 98% of the time he's parked up for months at a time so it's just not of concern to us right now.)<br />
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I was trying to find some baskets that worked for our space but it wasn't that easy. We had some pipework in the way on the top shelf so the baskets acted more as a cover-up than a functional storage box. In the end I decided to make some boxes myself that would custom fit in the space and around some pipework<br />
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We painted over the exisiting wallpaper. It was a smooth paper in great condition so after a quick wipe over with the TSP solution we painted with an Eggshell finish paint in a greige colour (Behr's 'Creme de la Creme'). It went on sooooooo nicely - we barely needed a second coat and it was a real pleasure job after all the cabinets!<br />
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The final update to the bathroom was the addition of some tiling around the sink area. Adding some tiling really jazzed things up and changed the look dramatically! I used the peel and stick <a href="http://stickittiles.com/" target="_blank">Stick-it Tiles</a>'. I'm delighted with the look but not totally convinced on the application. I think they may have 'slipped' slightly since I put them on and the top edges are peeling back a little. They do suggest using glue which seems to defeat the idea of self adhesive tiles but I will try next.<br />
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All that's left is the flooring - which will hopefully happen sometime this fall (once we've installed a new roof and hopefully stopped any water leakage issues!!).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-23459894931578597802015-05-20T11:21:00.000-07:002015-07-16T12:02:38.769-07:00Harvey gets a makeover...Our RV Renovation project!So back in the day we used to <a href="http://www.handcontheroad.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">travel around North America in Harvey</a>. It was the travelling around for nearly 5 years that led us to Canada. When we eventually settled and bought our home in the Okanagan Harvey the RV took some much needed down time and sat out to pasture for a few years in a friend's field. Amazingly nearly 6 years have passed since that happened! And our poor old friend is showing the signs of neglect and his age (Harvey is a 1996 National Dolphin 36ft Motorhome).<br />
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After friends borrowed him last year for the summer he did make a small comeback and really importantly reminded us that there's life in the old boy yet! We had in mind that this summer we'd book him into a local campsite (just a couple of miles from home) and we'd spent a healthy amount of time chilling out down at the lake...<br />
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Because this is our view from the door!<br />
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(best spot in the campsite right on the beach!)<br />
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Except things never really go quite as planned do they?!! Once on site we discovered that he hadn't been winterized properly and just about every bit of plumbing was leaking. Then that list of problems just started getting added to...I could give you a giant pity party list of everything that was wrong but honestly I'll just bore myself and start sobbing (again). We'd been told about a leaking toilet prior to getting Harvey back from the friends who'd borrowed him - unfortunately the fix they'd done involved a small glass bowl catching the drips and not a not else! But whilst fixing that issue we discovered a much larger issue - since the toilet hadn't been drained for the winter the water sat in the pipework had frozen and split the pipes. We didn't realize this till we turned on the water and the next day discovered a slow leak had seaped its way all across the bathroom carpet. It was this sodden carpet that was the catalyst in getting stuck in renovation mode.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Note: Since Harvey is 20 years old we'd had various renovation projects on our radar for a few years, but had originally envisioned doing it at a slow and relaxed pace - nothing was urgent, just some gentle upgrades along the way whilst still enjoying spending time using him!)</span><br />
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So the carpet and underlay were ripped up and the floor cleaned and sanitized. We removed the toilet to try and fix it but new parts were going to cost so much that in the end we opted to treat ourselves to a brand new toilet - with the added bonus of replacing the dodgy cream version for a nice clean fresh white model. So.much.better. All the faucets were replaced and the leaks stopped - finally we were back in action with water - hurrah! (apart from the small issue of a split hot water - yes that too hadn't been drained so we were left with this...<br />
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Yikes!! We've been able to isolate the hot water tank so for now we're just carrying on with no hot water - still figuring out a way to NOT spend $700 on a new tank)<br />
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I'm not sure at what point I ended up down the path of complete renovation but I think <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/helenmills/rv-reno/" target="_blank">Pinterest</a> must take much of the responsibility! Honestly I got carried away with pretty pictures, beautiful decor and clever hacks and tips to DIY reno' your RV or trailer!<br />
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So stayed tuned.....this really is our ultimate story of 'What Happened Next' (it's come full circle from the start of my blog writing days, of travelling for 5 years in an RV, life after travelling and now back with our same faithful friend getting his very own chapter of the story of 'what happened next!' - read the <a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2012/08/whats-in-name.html" target="_blank">background story of my blog name</a> here)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-56243073995682390372015-05-19T03:49:00.000-07:002015-05-19T03:49:42.769-07:00Whitehorse AdventureOur Valentine weekend getaway took us to a 'new-to-us' Canadian Territory - the Yukon! It was a fun little winter wonderland getaway. Of course we had in mind that travelling so far 'up north' in winter might give us a glimpse of the Northern Lights....as yet elusive to us both (after travelling in search of them a few years back to Iceland without success)...this was it - round 2 in the Aurora battle....*<br />
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Whitehorse is a pretty small town of around 37,000. It's the main city in the Yukon with over 75% of the population living there! Whilst it started off it's life caught up in the craziness of the Klondike Gold Rush, it's settled into it's current role as a main stop-off on the Alaska Highway. The highway was built in 1942-43 by the US Army after the Pearl Harbour attacks. It was handed over to the Canadians following the war and now it a major tourist route between northern BC and Alaska where thousands travel each year. Obviously not many of them travel the road in winter....and so Whitehorse is quite a sleepy little place in the off-season! But that's not to say we didn't have plenty to fill our time on our 3.5 day break!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Downtown Whitehorse - the museum and main street</td></tr>
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We used <a href="http://www.airbnb.ca/c/hmills3?s=8" target="_blank">Airbnb</a> to book our accommodation. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(and if you use <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/c/hmills3?s=8" target="_blank">this link</a> to sign up for Airbnb you'll get a $30 credit on your first stay!)</span> We spent our first 2 nights in the city and the second 2 nights at an incredible <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/1151325" target="_blank">Mongolian Yurt</a> about 1/2 hour out of town overlooking a frozen Cowley Lake. The Yurt wasn't just our bed for the night but ended up being a really memorable part of our trip! We arrived after dark and had a brief 1/4km walk through the trees and along a ridge line to get to the yurt on a well trodden snowy path. It was a clear night so we got a hint of what the view would bring us come morning - it was so exciting! Our host had the wood burning stove roaring away and the yurt was amazingly cozy and we immediately felt right at home. Come morning we stepped out onto the little deck perched right on the edge of a high ridge to a stunning view of the snowy mountains in the distance and an expansive view out over a frozen Cowley Lake.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views from our cozy Yurt! Overlooking a frozen Cowley Lake where we snowshoed on our final morning!</td></tr>
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We spent some time exploring Whitehorse itself - the city is quite compact and easy to walk around...we got lucky with the weather and had quite mild temperatures during our stay. We found some awesome little shops to explore - the <a href="http://aromaborealis.com/" target="_blank">Aroma Borealis</a> was a lovely shop full of scents, potions and crystals - we brought home one of their unique essential oil blends. <a href="http://thecollectivegood.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">The Collective Good</a> was another favourite - it was a beautifully curated design store of unusual and modern home decor, clothing, accessories and gift items with a great selection of local items but full of many others from all around the world - we'd been looking for some coat hooks for our mud room for the longest time and I was happy to find something a little different here! And we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get our 'outdoor store' fix! - we both could spend forever in a great outdoor & sports clothing and equipment store - <a href="http://www.cmsyukon.ca/" target="_blank">Coast Mountain Sports</a> was Whitehorse's answer to REI and MEC! Obviously it's a great outdoor adventure area and they have a fabulous store to service it! And of course we couldn't pass up the local brew - <a href="https://www.facebook.com/yukonbeer" target="_blank">Yukon Brewing</a>, where you can sample all their beers on tap!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WAlWPnktkfk/VVsSxLwznXI/AAAAAAAAHcE/LLNep0vC6Qk/s1600/Yukon%2BBrewing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WAlWPnktkfk/VVsSxLwznXI/AAAAAAAAHcE/LLNep0vC6Qk/s640/Yukon%2BBrewing.jpg" width="630" /></a>It may be small but Whitehorse serves up some top-notch eats! We loved pastries at <a href="http://bakedcafe.ca/" target="_blank">Baked Cafe</a>, Brunch at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Burnt-Toast-Cafe/145676655481906" target="_blank">Burnt Toast</a>, hot chocolate and snacks at <a href="http://www.beannorth.com/about-us/bean-north-cafe-location-and-photos/" target="_blank">Bean North</a>. We dined at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Antoinettes.Whitehorse" target="_blank">Antoinette's</a> on our first night - a friendly and busy spot serving incredible Jamaican food with some wicked flavour and flare. We took our time over dinner, enjoying the house created cocktails and even managed to save room for dessert - squeezing in as much of the awesome food as possible! We picnicked in the yurt on our second night and on our final night hit up the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DirtyNorthernPublicHouse" target="_blank">Dirty Northern bar</a>. We'd heard great things about their pizza and it didn't disappoint.<br />
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We lounged in the thermal waters at <a href="http://www.takhinihotsprings.com/" target="_blank">Takhini Hot Springs</a>, visited the small but awesome <a href="http://www.macbridemuseum.com/" target="_blank">MacBride Museum</a> - I loved exploring the exhibits on 'ye old life' and socio-economic growth of the town - lots of stuff on the gold rush and rural outpost type life! We took a 2 hour drive south to pop into Skagway, Alaska (where it was a totally different climate and not a snowflake in sight!). The drive south was stunning and we had gorgeous weather for it - blue skies and the crisp white snowy mountains as far as the eye could see, stopping at Carcross briefly en route!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OTYUXMNw0ZI/VVsStcp-0rI/AAAAAAAAHbo/9sWwqpm5leU/s1600/Carcross.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OTYUXMNw0ZI/VVsStcp-0rI/AAAAAAAAHbo/9sWwqpm5leU/s640/Carcross.jpg" width="630" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Views around Carcross on our day trip to Alaska!</td></tr>
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Our final morning before our flight home we squeezed in a snowshoe hike across Cowley Lake - the snow was crazy deep so it was a healthy workout! Just as well as our journey home ended up being rather long and frustrating. Having flown via Vancouver all the way back to Kelowna, we were on finals with the wheels down before deciding the fog was too bad and they routed us back to Vancouver with a night in a hotel! Oh well, bonus day on vacation!! And a great vacation it was too!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">*And whilst we caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights it was a little faint and shimmery pale blues - not the wild dancing greens you see in photos, and so for now I'm not quite 'satisfied' enough to check it off my bucket list and the aurora battle continues!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-42424079317286735032015-02-09T13:46:00.001-08:002015-02-09T13:53:43.883-08:00Guest Wifi Print downloadThis is perfect for our guest room, one of those added little touches to help our guests feel at home and settled in quickly. It's been particularly ideal for our <a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2014/07/our-airbnb-hosting-experience.html" target="_blank">Airbnb guests</a>!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIVRNw8IYWQ/VNklh5MuedI/AAAAAAAAHVg/4s9K9jONwEk/s1600/Guest%2BWifi%2Bprint%2Bdownload.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LIVRNw8IYWQ/VNklh5MuedI/AAAAAAAAHVg/4s9K9jONwEk/s1600/Guest%2BWifi%2Bprint%2Bdownload.jpg" height="630" width="630" /></a></div>
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I'd seen a few variations of this idea online but decided to create my own. And I'm happy to share!<br />
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You can download a <a href="https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_tI_yi7pBrZfnhwTEtWeEd4a2thaFNoOXNZTlBMOWtXMW9mUnh6WXpWU0lJRno0amtRcTQ&usp=sharing" target="_blank">PDF file</a> - in either <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_tI_yi7pBrZdktEeGIyNjJ6U3c/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">gray</a> or <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_tI_yi7pBrZUXJYSlZIdmUxeHc/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">cream</a> (with the network details left blank so you can either write in or print your details) or a <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_tI_yi7pBrZM0IycDlMS01sT2M/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">PSD file</a> which is fully editable in Photoshop - if you use this version you can get fancy and add your own background papers!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RfYD8CrV3zs/VNkljI56DpI/AAAAAAAAHVo/JlKXdeyu9ho/s1600/Guest%2BWifi%2Bprint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RfYD8CrV3zs/VNkljI56DpI/AAAAAAAAHVo/JlKXdeyu9ho/s1600/Guest%2BWifi%2Bprint.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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Enjoy! and please share and leave me some love in the comments if you like!<br />
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Linking to <a href="http://www.healthydivaeats.com/uncategorized/mimm-136-start-day-off-winning.html" target="_blank">Marvellous in my Monday</a>! #MIMM<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-10480036785243026892015-01-14T08:30:00.000-08:002015-01-14T08:30:01.682-08:00NYE 2015 Murder Mystery Luau Party!We spent our New Year's eve at a Hawaiian Luau. Sadly it was not in Hawaii but it was a ton of fun and we got in the hula girl mood!! (including Meli! - she had more fun that this photos suggest honest!)<br />
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We hosted a Murder Mystery party! I purchased the game online from <a href="http://mymysteryparty.com/">MyMysteryParty.com</a> who have dozens and dozens of game options depending on the size of your group, your male/female ratio and even the age of the attendees (some games were specifically suited to kids or teens). Eventually I decided on the Hawaiian Luau theme - I wanted our guests to dress up, but didn't want the costumes to be too involved given the busy holiday season - and everyone has beach wear! (Even if it's buried away in the bottom drawer right now!)</div>
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Once you buy the game you get instant access to download your party pack and invitations. Despite the rather hefty 60 page document it wasn't too difficult to coordinate. As host I read through the first dozen pages or so to understand my role and suggested process of the party. The remaining pages were ready to print clue cards, games, 'investigation sheets' and recipes. Once printed I needed to cut up and seal into envelopes all the clue cards (We had 3 rounds of our game and 10 players). I also needed to print some miscellaneous bits and pieces like 'evidence records' and victim props.<br />
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The instructions were clear and for each round you were given a handy check-list of everything you needed, right down to suggestions on when you should be serving your food (it was suggested you based the evening around a 3 course meal). Much as I tried to absorb all the information I needed beforehand I did find myself retreating off to a quiet place a couple of times to review and 'prep' for the next round!<br />
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I had some fun with the decorations - I turned our lamp into a palm tree, we had grass 'fringe' all the way round the table and kitchen counters and we got some awesome giant tiki decorations for the wall and a beach scene that fitted our windows perfectly. We strung up some mini lights, had a tiki hut door fringe and decked our snowman on the porch out in his own grass skirt and leii! Salads were served in colourful buckets with spades as serving spoons. Honestly my creative side had a blast converting our kitchen and dining area a little Hawaiian paradise!! I got some perfect decorations and supplies from <a href="http://www.partycity.ca/" target="_blank">Party City</a> and our local dollar store. (The <a href="http://www.partycity.ca/product/luau+decorations.do?refType=&navSet=269019" target="_blank">8ft Hanging palm tree</a> was the priciest investment but it was totally awesome in our hallway - it's tempting to leave it up all year!!)<br />
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As host I had no idea who the victim was, nor who the murderer was. Again the instructions are clear as to how to ensure you remain in the dark and have just as much fun as the rest of the guests! I had to 'hide' away some props for the victim to use but until they got up to leave the room I had no idea! In the end our victim was Chris!! When he left the room his instructions had told him to go to the bathroom and find props that I'd left under the bathroom sink - there was white face paint (to make himself up to look 'ghost-like!', the weapon used to kill him (in this case a bloodied coconut!) and a funny 'victim' sign to wear! From that moment on he was still part of the game but couldn't talk - only gestures and hand signals allowed!! (think Charades!) - it was funny!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oHZpl8bbvLM/VLYLhw1hssI/AAAAAAAAHNA/Uo2MFwFEDp4/s1600/Murder%2BMystery%2BLuau%2Bvictim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oHZpl8bbvLM/VLYLhw1hssI/AAAAAAAAHNA/Uo2MFwFEDp4/s1600/Murder%2BMystery%2BLuau%2Bvictim.jpg" height="630" width="630" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our unfortunate victim...played by Chris!</td></tr>
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We cranked the heating up to 27-28 for the night so the place was hot! Just as well as we had Deanie & Liz in bikinis & Grass Skirts, Dustin as our resident life guard, a couple of beach bimbos, Amos as the useless waiter and a couple of total beach nerds - fisherman Jack and Sol the donut man....<br />
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It was a lot of fun - great to have a bit of focus and structure to the evening rather than just drinking and chatting, though obviously there was plenty of that too! We'd arranged a little cocktail menu, and had plenty of snacks and appies - we barely made it to the main course of BBQ & Pulled Pork sliders! It was chaotic (made even more so in our case since we had a couple of characters pull out at the last minute so we had to improvise and had 2 guests play 2 roles each (with a mini wardrobe change to represent which character they were playing - it wasn't ideal but it worked - sort of!!)<br />
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Characters would receive their clue cards on which they were provided info on themselves to keep secret and information they were specifically instructed to share with certain characters. There were also questions you needed to ask others, and information you were instructed to find out. By any means....we added in the optional 'money challenge - where everyone started off with 4 loonies and they could use them to bribe or pay for information! Each round provided the character with more information to share, conceal or acquire!<br />
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Let me just say that cocktails and Round 3 get messy! It was tricky to keep the momentum going towards the end but we just about managed it - we were all too jolly to be bothered by then! We finished off the game in style with our murderer revealed and instructed to produce a rap song of his dastardly deed! And shortly after we rung in 2015! Happy New Year y'all!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-14643252379721498212015-01-06T17:36:00.000-08:002015-01-06T17:43:29.090-08:00The Best of 2014A little late in pulling these together but here are some of my favourite moments of 2014 in pictures;<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EtdyDL_oMJE/VKyKfz_UA0I/AAAAAAAAHJA/7N89FWOCh4A/s1600/Best%2BDaddy%2BDaughter%2Bmoment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EtdyDL_oMJE/VKyKfz_UA0I/AAAAAAAAHJA/7N89FWOCh4A/s1600/Best%2BDaddy%2BDaughter%2Bmoment.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2014/03/turning-40.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nZhNiZZ0ZZk/VKyKlFw676I/AAAAAAAAHJs/n2qYGRShIXw/s1600/Best%2Bbirthday.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2014/05/eating-in-dark-at-dark-table-vancouver.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8Ypk9vWoog/VKyKhrC0KSI/AAAAAAAAHJM/0HahUswilC0/s1600/Best%2BDining%2Bexperience%2BDark%2BTable%2BVancouver.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2014/04/race-recap-ragnar-socal.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DoG3K_zIQTc/VKyKxukZWyI/AAAAAAAAHLI/-Dt6dRwhF7U/s1600/Best%2Brunning%2Bevent%2B-%2BRagnar%2BSocal.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IuPVrdpdckw/VKyK0_HMXHI/AAAAAAAAHLY/IQkh_3gVDYc/s1600/Best%2Btasting%2Bsalad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IuPVrdpdckw/VKyK0_HMXHI/AAAAAAAAHLY/IQkh_3gVDYc/s1600/Best%2Btasting%2Bsalad.jpg" height="630" width="630" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2014/07/playing-tourist-in-halifax-nova-scotia.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mHfubgYeY3w/VKyK0iHbcSI/AAAAAAAAHLU/-QnQtZb_ygw/s1600/Best%2Bsightseeing%2Brun.jpg" height="630" width="630" /></a><span id="goog_1418154274"></span><span id="goog_1418154275"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2014/08/savary-island-bcs-tropical-paradise.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-puzq6WNh5Go/VKyKfCkZIiI/AAAAAAAAHI0/hAPLm1g1vbI/s1600/Best%2BBikini.jpg" height="630" width="630" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dJcBoBdV0ak/VKyKuKmt2FI/AAAAAAAAHKw/p8JBMnhGeGQ/s1600/Best%2Bphotoshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dJcBoBdV0ak/VKyKuKmt2FI/AAAAAAAAHKw/p8JBMnhGeGQ/s1600/Best%2Bphotoshop.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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Happy New Year to you all!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(here's my <a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2013/12/best-of-2013.html" target="_blank">best of 2013</a> post)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-91601098612398828742014-10-27T07:00:00.000-07:002014-10-27T08:01:03.419-07:00Love Bomb!<div class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nothing like getting Love Bombed!</span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J8jBTruguHE/VE1Xd2FcwoI/AAAAAAAAHDw/7gKFc90C8XQ/s1600/Love%2BBomb%2B(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J8jBTruguHE/VE1Xd2FcwoI/AAAAAAAAHDw/7gKFc90C8XQ/s1600/Love%2BBomb%2B(2).JPG" height="630" width="630" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We 'found' this in our house a little while ago. We concluded one of our lovely Airbnb guests left it. It had been discreetly placed in our gym area in among the hand weights. Chris discovered it a couple of days later...and then he left it on the kitchen counter-top so when I got home from work I 'found' it too! </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The idea is delightful! </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Anonymous art in the name of love [and fun]"</span></b> </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I 'found' our love bomb at the end of a day, at the end of tough working week...and the sentiment was just what I needed - a little boost of love! </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is the description of the Guerrilla Art Love Bombs from their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/guerrillaart2014/info" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>;</span></span></span></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Who:</b> We are an anonymous, ever growing inter-generational group of local folks dedicated to having fun and sharing artful messages of love, hope and opportunity in our community. Anyone who shares this view is welcome join us.</i></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i><b>What:</b> Our definition of Guerrilla Art is earth friendly, non-violent, non-destructive, dedicated to sharing positive messages. We create art by using found natural objects or recycled materials. Performance art will also be a part of our repertoire.</i></span></span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i><b>Why:</b> We believe that getting folks of all ages together to have fun, create art, share food and music is the best way to change the world, inspire hope and build a community based on creativity and love.</i></span></span></span></blockquote></blockquote><span style="font-size: medium;">Much as I'd love to hold onto this Love Bomb forever it seemed more in the spirit of things to pass it along. I got the boost of love and human kindness in that moment and that was enough - now it's time to do the same for someone else.</span><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fUr5Jt4LPx0/VE1Xdnca0AI/AAAAAAAAHDs/VWYW1zFcmxs/s1600/Love%2BBomb%2B(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fUr5Jt4LPx0/VE1Xdnca0AI/AAAAAAAAHDs/VWYW1zFcmxs/s1600/Love%2BBomb%2B(1).JPG" height="630" width="630" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And I want to add to the movement by creating a couple of my own 'Love Bombs' - this is such a fun idea - who wants to join me? Let's spread the love!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Linking up today to <a href="http://www.healthydivaeats.com/uncategorized/mimm-8.html" target="_blank">Marvelous in my Monday</a> #MIMM</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.healthydivaeats.com/marvelous-in-my-monday/marvelous-in-my-monday-details.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-EPHcXUy7yGE/UuXpJ5fnMSI/AAAAAAAAFDs/H51mVHVnEi8/s1600/MiMM.jpg" height="162" width="200" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-58227922527722188292014-10-21T07:00:00.000-07:002014-10-21T07:00:07.091-07:00Vacation time! - California<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H-pKHA9eoB4/VEW966GnPPI/AAAAAAAAHCo/LRZ8abUvHDo/s1600/California%2Bpalm%2Btree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H-pKHA9eoB4/VEW966GnPPI/AAAAAAAAHCo/LRZ8abUvHDo/s1600/California%2Bpalm%2Btree.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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This year Chris and I tagged our vacation time onto my trip to California for Ragnar Napa. Much as I love getting away (far, far away!) it wasn't really on the cards for us this year so several months back we turned my 3 day Ragnar trip into an 11 day California vacation for the both of us! It's been long overdue with family and friends there that we were eager to catch up with.<br />
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It's funny how quickly 11 days passes by!<br />
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Having arrived in San Franciso on the Thursday afternoon we spent Friday and Saturday doing Ragnar. It was awesome to have Chris along as the Van #1 driver! But as I kept on telling him he'd be hooked and now he wants to do another - next time as a runner! After our exhausting 48 hours we arrived back in SFO and spent the night at the airport Marriott. Winding down after a adrenaline charged weekend of fun, friends and running we relaxed in the bar with cocktails and said our goodbyes to our team-mates.<br />
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Our vacation started on Sunday after a huge lie-in! We headed straight for the ocean and we'd follow the Pacific Coast Highway all the way south to Orange County where my Uncle lives. First stop was Half Moon Bay and we stumbled into the most fabulous breakfast of the trip! We'd driven the length of the main street in town, eyed up a couple of options to eat and then cruised along till we found a car parking spot. We pulled in right in front of <a href="http://www.chez-shea.com/" target="_blank">Chez Shea</a> and decided it looked as good as anywhere, so without a step further headed on in! The breakfasts were Mexican styled - huevos rancheros, salsas & sour creams served on the side of the scrambles, breakfast burritos and my choice chilequiles. It was all so good!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nWB9KMzH2FA/VEW-BnzpL8I/AAAAAAAAHC4/art8fszqyfA/s1600/Pacific%2BCoast%2BHighway.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nWB9KMzH2FA/VEW-BnzpL8I/AAAAAAAAHC4/art8fszqyfA/s1600/Pacific%2BCoast%2BHighway.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pacific Coast Highway</td></tr>
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It was a long and gorgeous drive. From Monterey to Morro Bay the coastal route 1 is pretty remote with very few points of interest and even fewer settlements. We stopped frequently at the view points, and watched a gorgeous sunset and a small pod of whales frolicking in the ocean in the distance. Having started so late in the day we stopped that night in Santa Barbara and tried In-and-Out Burger that we'd heard so many people rave about.....uh....why?!! (Without doubt the worst meal of the trip - cardboard fries and tasteless soggy bun - ergyuk!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: <a href="http://tarawhitney.com/" target="_blank">Tara Whitney</a></td></tr>
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Monday we made tracks down to Orange County. After 7 years we had decided to get the fabulous <a href="http://tarawhitney.com/" target="_blank">Tara Whitney</a> to take our photos <a href="http://tarawhitney.com.previewdns.com/justbeblogged/2007/06/h-and-c-on-the-road/" target="_blank">again</a> and we met her in Laguna Beach for our photoshoot. It was fun (if a little akward feeling at times!) but we had complete confidence in her after the last time! And within just a week we've got some beautiful new photos of us that I will treasure.<br />
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Tuesday and Wednesday was time spent catching up with friends.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nucv8-FmaVU/VEMAFhag0DI/AAAAAAAAHCA/PlRpbG4WbYE/s1600/Cali%2Bfriends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Nucv8-FmaVU/VEMAFhag0DI/AAAAAAAAHCA/PlRpbG4WbYE/s1600/Cali%2Bfriends.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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We took a day trip to San Diego to meet with Libby - a fellow Health Coach that Chris had met during his time studying with IIN. We had lunch in the Gas Lamp area of town and then took a trip out to Old San Diego for a stroll around the heritage park.<br />
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Friday was a day at Disney. We got Park Hopper tickets this time. We'd both done Disney before but had never been to California Adventure. After a 'quick go around' on all our old favourites in Disney we headed into California Adventure in the late afternoon. In the evening we hooked up with Valerie (fellow Tough Chik Ragnar team-mate) and her husband Jeff and their kids, along with my Uncle and Aunt. After a quick ride on Screamin' (yes, without doubt my FAVourite ride in the park!) we headed into the rather exclusive 1901 lounge in California Adventure (it's one of the private lounges for Club 33 members - and thanks to Jeff and Valerie's membership we were all invited in!). Oh my! What a treat! The park had gotten crazy busy since Disneyland had closed at 7 so we retreated into this blissful vintage club lounge and were treated to exceptional service, hand-crafted cocktails and appetizer plates. It was a perfect way to spend an hour or two! Eventually the park beckoned and we headed out in time to see the Magic of Color show and a last minute ride on Screamin' (again!) and the Cars ride.<br />
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It's got to be a good day at Disney when your car is the last one in the lot!! After more than 13 hours in the most magical place on earth we were dragged kicking and screaming from the park at it's midnight closing! What a day!<br />
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On our way back up to San Francisco I finally got to check off one of my bucket list items....<span style="color: magenta;">To stay at the <a href="http://www.madonnainn.com/" target="_blank">Madonna Inn</a></span> in San Luis Obispo! Many, many years ago I'd read some chick lit book that mentioned this hotel and after a google search and seeing the photos I was hooked on visiting! The whole hotel is just pure kitsch! Full of garish pinks and florals and patterns it's a visual overload! It could almost be tasteless and hideous but yet it's completing enchanting! I loved it! We booked a waterfall rock room and were allocated the <a href="http://www.madonnainn.com/rooms/191.php" target="_blank">Misty Rock Room</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcoUYxNKDJQ/VEW-0udrVhI/AAAAAAAAHDU/7kI_xG90xGY/s1600/Madonna%2BInn%2B(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rcoUYxNKDJQ/VEW-0udrVhI/AAAAAAAAHDU/7kI_xG90xGY/s1600/Madonna%2BInn%2B(11).JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.madonnainn.com/rooms/191.php" target="_blank">Madonna Inn</a></td></tr>
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With 2 walls of the room built with giant rock boulders it was cosy and dark - cave-like! You really did have your own private waterfall as the shower water tumbled down the rocks onto you! Every one of the 110 rooms is individually and uniquely decorated and we strolled by some of the other rooms for a peek through the windows!! Even the public washrooms were crazy decorated! The men's room had a waterfall as the urinal!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j0JiurJtC48/VEW-AI8UwBI/AAAAAAAAHCw/A2jVIXWE1KE/s1600/Madonna%2BInn%2Bbathrooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j0JiurJtC48/VEW-AI8UwBI/AAAAAAAAHCw/A2jVIXWE1KE/s1600/Madonna%2BInn%2Bbathrooms.jpg" height="436" width="640" /></a></div>
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The rest of our busy trip included as many beach sunsets, beach bars and beach walks as we could cram in - from Laguna, to Crystal Cove to Pismo Beach and Torrey Pines we stopped at them all and loved every one!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26vCs_eq62w/VEW-C887iZI/AAAAAAAAHDA/QN-oYLbh_78/s1600/Pismo%2BBeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-26vCs_eq62w/VEW-C887iZI/AAAAAAAAHDA/QN-oYLbh_78/s1600/Pismo%2BBeach.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pismo Beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mIgJ0sDMu9I/VEMAH2zrWdI/AAAAAAAAHCM/pOFA2OKucTo/s1600/Crystal%2BCove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mIgJ0sDMu9I/VEMAH2zrWdI/AAAAAAAAHCM/pOFA2OKucTo/s1600/Crystal%2BCove.jpg" height="630" width="630" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crystal Cove</td></tr>
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California livin'.....we could get used to this!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-59704710816736631222014-10-17T16:48:00.000-07:002014-10-17T17:03:11.080-07:00Race Recap: Ragnar Napa with Team Tough Chik<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TeQWh_AUMx0/VEGf5B291gI/AAAAAAAAG_8/kFNf457NrAk/s1600/Ragnar%2BNapa%2BRace%2BRecap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TeQWh_AUMx0/VEGf5B291gI/AAAAAAAAG_8/kFNf457NrAk/s1600/Ragnar%2BNapa%2BRace%2BRecap.jpg" width="630" /></a></div>
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I couldn't resist! After the fun I had in April at <a href="http://www.helenmills.me/2014/04/race-recap-ragnar-socal.html" target="_blank">Ragnar SoCal</a> I was desperate for more! And so were most of my team-mates from <a href="http://www.toughchik.com/teamtoughchik" target="_blank">Team Tough Chik</a>. In fact the whole of our original Van 1 signed up - including our driver.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rN2Z9Qe8G8Q/VEGg7V96fsI/AAAAAAAAHAk/G65QryooN3M/s1600/Ragnar%2BNapa%2B(47).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rN2Z9Qe8G8Q/VEGg7V96fsI/AAAAAAAAHAk/G65QryooN3M/s1600/Ragnar%2BNapa%2B(47).jpg" height="630" width="630" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Golden Gate shrouded in morning mist through the window of our van!</td></tr>
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This time we ran <a href="https://www.ragnarrelay.com/race/napavalley" target="_blank">Ragnar Napa.</a>The race covered 205 miles between the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, across the famed bridge, through Sausalito and Mill Valley before heading north to San Rafael, Petaluma, and Santa Rosa then winding through the smaller scenic roads of Napa Valley's wine country in a round-about way to cover distance from Napa and eventually finishing in Calistoga by way of the beautiful Silverado trail.<br />
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Once again I was in Van 1, this time as runner #5 and over the course of my 3 legs I covered 20 miles; 6.4 miles from Mill Valley to Corte Madera up and down a very brutal hill (400ft in just under 1/2 mile!, but then I was rewarded by a beautiful off-road section on a trail at the top of said hill with fabulous views of the bay). 8.6 miles from Sebastopool to Santa Rosa spanning the midnight hour from Friday to Saturday (and just by chance I looked at my watch dead on midnight!). And my third and final leg was a 5 miler looping around Napa along the Napa River trail and finishing on a pretty tree-lined back road heading out of town.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Van #1 - Jody, Jen, Krystal, Shannon & myself having just dispatched Julie to run her final leg!</td></tr>
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Ragnar is so much more than a pretty run. Though there was plenty of prettiness to look out during our 205 miles. Ragnar is about the people and the team spirit. The fun, friendships, laughter. The crazy van decorations, the crazy costumes and the funny, witty and clever team names. Whilst half the team was made up from ladies I'd met at the SoCal event that meant half were new! It was awesome to meet some new friends and re-connect with the 'old'!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ladies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the guys! Our 2 incredible and long suffering drivers Jeff (Valerie's husband) and Chris (you know Chris right?!)</td></tr>
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And for those of us who had done Ragnar SoCal in April and completed this race we received the Ragnar Gold Rush Medal - and what a massive hunk of bling it is too, plus it's a bottle opener too!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Team (L-R) - Jessy, Lauren, Jody, Krystal, Jen, Me, Julie, Shannon (Mama Chik), Valerie, Lisa, Lori & Nikki</td></tr>
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Thank you <a href="http://www.toughchik.com/teamtoughchik" target="_blank">Team Tough Chik</a> for organizing us, and for being the reason I did Ragnar in the first place! And if you'd like to be a part of this awesome group of women then <a href="http://13aug2013-224807-9.businesscatalyst.com/teamtoughchik" target="_blank">registration for the 2015 Tough Chik team</a> is open now until 15th Novr! It's open to ALL women, anywhere in the world, from beginner to pro athlete. We have a private facebook group where we hang out and stalk, share or over-share (whatever works for you!) and it's a great network of women passionate for their sport (whether it's running, tri, cycling or archery!) supporting each other and having fun! All you need to do to be part of this awesome team is buy something from the team gear catalogue - there's options for cycling, Triathlon or Running and from my past 2 years experience it's totally cute and great quality. I for sure will be back for my third year! Maybe I'll see you there?!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-5330572565235859472014-08-18T09:01:00.000-07:002014-08-18T09:01:14.931-07:00Squamish Music FestivalSo last weekend at the ripe old age of 40 I finally went to my first ever Music Festival!! The Squamish Music Festival! Woo hoo!<br />
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Squamish is a 3 day festival, but due to other calendar commitments we were just looking at <a href="http://squamishfestival.com/lineup">Sunday</a>. Enimem head-lining along with the Arctic Monkeys, Pete Tong & John Digweed (and obviously dozens of others that we'd never heard of!) Tickets were $150 for a day pass. Which at first glance seemed expensive but then I reasoned that we'd be paying that for a concert in BC Place in Vancouver, or even locally here in Kelowna. And for that money we get a whole day of music and entertainment! Really it was a steal!<br />
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Gates opened at 1, music started around 3pm. We made the 6 hour drive on Sunday morning to get there in time to collect our wristbands and parking pass from the gate. (If we booked in advance these would have been sent to us, but actually it was an efficient pick-up system and saved us another added fee for the courier delivery!)<br />
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The weather was amazing. Temps in the early 30's and wall-to-wall blue. The festival grounds did lack shade which was hard going, but Squamish is surrounded by giant mountains so the sun dips below the horizon earlier here than some places. It was an instant and welcome relieve when it did!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Stawamus 'Cheif' was a pretty magnificent backdrop to the stage!<br />
Night-time the sky was filled with strings of glowing balloons and the smoke from the DJ stage</td></tr>
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We loved the whole experience! There were 4 stages - 2 'big' ones, a DJ arena/stage and then a smaller stage for more alternative stuff. We hovered between the Tantalus, the Stawamus stage and the Blueprint arena. We listened to <a href="http://www.phantogram.com/">Phatogram</a> & <a href="http://rhymesayers.com/atmosphere/">Atmosphere</a> whilst laying on our picnic blanket in the late afternoon sun, then cruised by the DJ stage and chilled out to tunes from <a href="http://project46.com/">Project 46</a> (was one of my favs from the event). We checked in on the Arctic Monkeys but it's not really my taste. Back to the other end of the grounds for some awesomely varied music from the <a href="http://thieverycorporation.com/">Theivery Corporation</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can see the man....just!! Eminem played an awesome set!</td></tr>
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Eninem was the day's big draw for most people, and he was on the Tantalus Stage at 9:40 - it was packed!! We worked our way through to a spot nearer the front for the first half of his show, then moved back for a slightly more relaxed time for the second half - with less crowding around us you could actually see more! (just further away obviously!). he played an awesome set - some older stuff mixed in with the new and he had an great singer accompany him, taking the place of Rhianna in several of those tracks - she sounded fantastic! His encore was 'Lose Yourself' which had the crowd erupt! He was done around 11:20 and we headed back to end our night listening and dancing at the Blueprint arena and a bit of <a href="http://www.johndigweed.com/">John Digweed</a>. <br />
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I was surprised and impressed how organised the festival was. Obviously great weather helps things enormously! But the line-ups for our tickets at the start of the day and then food, merchandise and porta-potties were never long. They were efficient and staff were jovial, professional and knew their stuff. it was altogether well organised and a slick moving operation. I was never overcome by the crowds and mass of people - and of course there were lots of people - but there really was space for everyone and no-one was bitchin'. Even the RCMP roaming the grounds were friendly and seemingly enjoying themselves, chatting to festival-goers as they went. I didn't see or sense any bad vibes. It thankfully wasn't as 'hippy and young' as I thought it was gonna be - quite the relief for this old dog! Aside from the music there were plenty of vendor and sponsor tents to browse - most giving out freebies of some kind - we had free slushies, Kind bars, Jerky and Hawaiian Tropic had a stand doling out sunscreen and after-sun samples! (pretty handy given the weather!) I missed out on getting a free caricature done, but we get some groovy sunglasses and a beach ball! (which Meli loved destroying! - and then still loved as she tore around with a deflated ball!).<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SorBq3kaalg/U_AZRgkpc_I/AAAAAAAAGys/PGNH3gma_YQ/s1600/IMG_2213.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SorBq3kaalg/U_AZRgkpc_I/AAAAAAAAGys/PGNH3gma_YQ/s1600/IMG_2213.JPG" height="630" width="630" /></a>At the end of the night we drove the 1/2 hour down the road to our camp-ground at <a href="http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/porteau/">Porteau Cove</a> (one of our favourite BC Provincial parks) and woke the next morning to the sound of the water lapping the shore. A morning paddle-boarding and yoga session before getting back on the road for the drive home.<br />
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Linking up this fine Monday morning with Katie's '<a href="http://www.healthydivaeats.com/marvelous-in-my-monday/marvelous-in-my-monday-details.html">Marvelous in my Monday</a>' linkup - celebrating all that is good about the beginning of the working week!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-33028310996093211192014-08-15T17:10:00.000-07:002014-08-15T17:11:04.598-07:00Savary Island - BC's 'Tropical' Paradise!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We've lived in BC for nearly 5 years. Until a few weeks ago we'd never heard of Savary Island, and we'll be forever thankful to the Powell River taxi driver who told us about this hidden gem! On doing research for our trip I realised there isn't much visitor information out there about Savary Island - I think those that know like to keep it to themselves!!<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savary_Island">Savary Island</a> is a small island in the Strait of Georgia just off the BC coast near Lund on the Sunshine Coast. It's only 7.5 km long and less than a 1km wide. There are no paved roads, no electricity and no mains water or sewage systems. </div>
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Once you drive all the way up the Sunshine Coast, the paved road ends in the tiny community of Lund. From there you get the <a href="https://www.blogger.com/"><span id="goog_511129022"></span>Lund Water Taxi<span id="goog_511129023"></span></a> across the water to Savary. The water taxi is $11 per person each way and leaves every hour. You generally need to book ahead since it gets pretty loaded up with people and luggage. It's just a 10-15 trip across the water landing you at Government dock on the north east shore of the island.<br />
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We were staying at the island's only campground. It's very informal, and I'm not even really sure what it's called! We found out some information ahead of time online with it called '<a href="http://www.savarycampingandcottages.com/">Savary Camping & Cottages</a>' but I think the locals more commonly refer to it as 'Pascal's Campground' (surprise, surprise it's run by a guy called Pascal! and really, since the information online is sketchy the safest, easiest way to connect is by good old fashioned phone - 604-698-8745) Thankfully it's on the eastern end of the island and a manageable walk from the dock - maybe 10-20 minutes depending on how much luggage you're hauling. Alternatively there are people at the wharf with trucks so you can pay someone for a ride. From the dock turn right and head up the hill. At the junction keep left onto Anderson Road and follow it around to the left until you see the camping. The campsite had around 10 sites all with nice wooden tent pads, picnic tables and lots of shade. There's a very basic outhouse with a flush toilet, dish-washing sink and a cold (really cold!) water shower. It's rustic to say the least! There's also a covered picnic shelter which would be a perfect escape should the weather be bad. The campground is in the middle of the island so it's a 10 minute walk in either direction to get to public beach access. We had gorgeous weather for our weekend stay on Savary but the campground is so heavily shaded by the lush green trees it actually gets quite chilly so bring a sweater if you're hanging around camp!<br />
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The first evening we explored the south shore beaches near the campground. There's quite a cliff to get down to the beach and it's mostly lined with private houses so you need to pick your spot to get down to the beach, but there are a couple of marked trails. The beach is strewn with driftwood and a fun place to beach-comb for sand dollars and I found some smoothed-out coloured glass fragments which I like to collect<br />
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Our second day we spent our time on the north shore beach, near the dock. With the tide out its a huge wide, flat, beautiful white sand beach with shallow waters and you can people watch the comings and goings on the dock! Our second night we ate at <a href="http://www.riggerssavaryisland.com/">Riggers Pub & General Store</a>. A small, simple menu but the beer flowed (at only $6 a pint) and it filled a gap! I was more than impressed that the general store next door were only charging $1 for a small bottled water - totally reasonable when there was easy opportunity to gouge their captive audience! Hat's off to Riggers! (and if you're a patron of the pub they have super lovely clean toilets!!) We rounded out our evening by heading back down to the beach for the sunset - just gorgeous!<br />
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I explored the island a little on the second morning with a 'sight-seeing' run. I ran the full length of the island. The road runs through the middle of the island so in truth there wasn't a lot to see. Savary is heavily wooded with lush, old growth evergreens - it really does have that rain-forest feel to it and it was lovely to run through this 'enchanted' forest! It was fun to glimpse all the little cottages and homes buried away in the woods - some tiny and shack-like, others quite elaborate mansions! There are a few businesses on island - a small bike rental place (near the dock & Riggers on the east end), a few B&Bs, a couple of art galleries and a kayak rental place. If you can spare the luggage space I think taking a bike would be super handy - it's the most popular way of getting around!<br />
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We loved our 2 night stay on Savary Island. It really was amazing to disconnect, kick back and relax with no distractions. It was a perfect, lazy 2 days with some great company. The showers were challenging to say the least (the upside to a 9 mile run for me was that I was hot and sweaty so a cold shower was quite refreshing, the others were cold from hanging around camp for too long so being cold and then getting into an icy shower was pretty shocking!) Whilst there was in fact cell phone service there was no electricity and my poor iPhone is old and doesn't last long without some juice. I turned it to airplane mode and saved the battery just to take photos. (though you can pay $2 at Riggers to charge up your phone!)<br />
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And the beaches really are tropical-like white sands and the waters really are warm (the warmest north of Mexico some say!)<br />
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Also very worthy of a mention is <a href="http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g635700-d761395-Reviews-Nancy_s_Bakery-Lund_Sunshine_Coast_British_Columbia.html">Nancy's Bakery</a> in Lund. It was the perfect place to grab some last minute goodies to take with us and something to look forward to on our return...the most incredible place serving up breakfasts, fresh baked goods, sandwiches, paninis and more. Their speciality blackberry cinnamon buns converted Chris (not a cinnamon bun lover) into an addict! They were amaze-balls! And all served up with a lovely view overlooking Lund harbour.<br />
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Savary Island, we will be back!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-71546817837733570712014-07-30T19:28:00.001-07:002014-07-30T19:28:18.671-07:00Playing tourist in Halifax, Nova ScotiaLast month I took a fantastic trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was a work trip but Michele (my work colleague) and I managed to cram in a good chunk of sight-seeing too!<br />
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We stayed right downtown Halifax at the Four Points - it was 1 block from the water and I had a teeny glimpse of the harbour from my top floor room. We arrived late on Monday after a long day of travelling but we headed straight out and enjoyed a nice stroll along the board walk and into a couple of different pubs for drinks before settling down at <a href="http://www.saltys.ca/downstairs/index.html">Salty's</a> for a classic Atlantic lobster dinner over-looking the harbour. (well Michele did - I don't even <i>like</i> lobster - I know - wrong province right?!)<br />
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Tuesday was a glorious day weather-wise. We worked in the morning but wrapped up our work day early enough to head out for the some sight-seeing. We hopped in the rental car and took the long scenic route south out of the city following as much coastline as we could get. We made a brief stop at the <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/york/index.aspx">York Deboubt Historic Site</a> - built in 1793 on a bluff overlooking the harbour entrance it was a windy stop, and not fully open for the season so we didn't stay long.<br />
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The road took us through a number of other small communities - Ketch Harbour and Prospect all the while clinging on to the gorgeous rugged and rocky coastline. These little villages were smaller than I imagined and less touristy and developed - I was expecting gift shops, B&B's and cafes galore but for the most part they were quiet and unassuming places that looked like they were just going about their regular business and hadn't catered to the tourists at all. We made it to the infamous Peggy's Cove and lighthouse. It's a sight featured on many a calendar here in Canada!! It was later in the afternoon so the little fishing cove was deserted and the few art galleries and shops here were closed for the day but it gave the place a rather peaceful feel for us strolling around. The lighthouse itself sat on the edge of the rocks right on the edge of Canada, waves crashing around it - we hopped the tide pools and rocks to reach it and admire the view of that big bad Atlantic ocean.<br />
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Wednesday morning I got up before work to head out on my sight-seeing run. I've started to really look forward to going for a run when I'm travelling - getting in my workout AND seeing the sights of the town! Bam! Killing it with the time management there! I used MapMyRun to scout out a route along the waterfront boardwalk (past some funky installation art - are those lamp-posts drunk?!), through the commercial docks to end up in Point Pleasant Park. Oh man, what an awesome park - it reminded me a lot of Stanley Park in Vancouver - lovely wide gravel pathways around it's circumference and cris-crossing through the park with a myriad more smaller trails through the forest. I headed out of the park, through the Spring Garden neighbourhood and to the Citadel - a short, sharp hill climb got me to the top where I could run the perimeter and enjoy some wicked views of the city. From there I headed back along the waterfront to the hotel and had <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/531771453">clocked 10km</a> for my troubles - such a great start to my day!<br />
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Thursday Michele and I had put in a vacation day so we headed back down the coast for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunenburg,_Nova_Scotia">Lunenburg</a>. The weather was lousy - crazy torrents of rain which made for a sad, wet drive. We stopped briefly in Mahone Bay but really just cruised through town a couple of times admiring the views from the comfort and dryness of the rental car! Finally when we reached Lunenburg the rain had mostly let up so we could spend a couple of hours strolling around the town without looking like drowned rats!<br />
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We explored the very interesting little <a href="http://lunenburgheritagesociety.ca/museum/">Knaut-Rhuland House Museum</a> - where we had a personal tour guide who explained how the town was settled by the British - there were great incentives to encourage people to settle here - including a plot of land and some animals - each person arriving would draw a card to set what lot they were being 'given'! These days the town is a UNESCO World heritage site and is full of delightful old, cheerfully painted buildings and is a perfect place to just stroll around (even in the rain!)<br />
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I got in a <a href="http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/531771499">final run</a> on Friday morning before our flight out. This time I headed out of the city, over the main MacDonald bridge and across into Dartmouth. I ran along the water separating the cities of Halifax and Dartmouth. Much of the route seemed pretty industrial and at time perhaps a little sketchy and I was seriously questioning my sense of direction a few times, but Google maps is my friend and together we made it (as per my plan) to the Woodside Ferry terminal - part of the city's transport network it was a $2.25 fare on the water taxi back to the wharf in Halifax and 2 blocks from my hotel. Quite the adventure and some great views of Halifax from the bridge as I crossed the harbour.<br />
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I was quite taken with Halifax! I'm kicking myself for not sneaking Chris into my suitcase for this trip - he would have loved it! The city seems very funky and forward - the calibre of restaurants and eateries is a notch above Kelowna. We dined at some real gems - including a <a href="http://enviehalifax.com/">Vegan restaurant</a> (which had a big picture of a vizsla on the wall so they got my vote even before the food turned up!!), an awesome place called <a href="http://www.go2doorsdown.com/">2 Doors Down</a> who source mostly local produce, and an incredible<a href="http://www.yelp.ca/biz/willmans-fish-and-chips-halifax"> fish n' chip place</a> buried in the middle of a residential area but agreed upon by all we asked to be the best place going for classic fish and chips and the beer...oh the beer!! I only seem to drink beer when I'm travelling and then I turn into some craft brew drinking beer monster - and I really I love every minute of it - <a href="http://www.drinkpropeller.ca/">Propeller</a>, <a href="http://www.garrisonbrewing.com/">Garrison</a>, and not forgetting the most famous of them all - <a href="http://keiths.ca/#/">Alexander Keith's brewery</a> (where we did indulge in a brewery tour - complete with costumed guides, a little singing and dancing and of course a couple of pints to sample!!)<br />
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Halifax, I think you're awesome!! (and you even have a shop especially for me!!)<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-20422512193506392242014-07-28T09:14:00.000-07:002014-07-28T09:14:53.390-07:00Our AirBnB 'Hosting' experienceI first heard about <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/?locale=en">Airbnb</a> several months ago - from people who had travelled and used the service as a way to find accommodation. I was intrigued but I had no cause to book any accommodation at the time. <br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(if you want to sign up and book through Airbnb check out my code to save you $27 at the bottom of the post)</span><br />
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According to their website;<br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;"><em>Founded in August of 2008 and based in San Francisco, California, Airbnb is a trusted community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique accommodations around the world — online or from a mobile phone. </em></span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;"><em>Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price point, in more than 34,000 cities and 190 countries. And with world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it to an audience of millions.</em></span> <br />
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Then Chris and I got to thinking. We have a beautiful house which is generously sized for 2 people and a basement with 2 spare bedrooms that are rarely ever used. It seemed the perfect idea to sign up to Host on Airbnb.<br />
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A couple more months went by and procrastination was our houseguest so nothing happened. Then in June we eventually jiggled some furniture around to make the main room a little more attractive (read: photo-genic!) and functional for guests and then pulled out the wide angle lens for the camera and snapped some photos. I spent a couple of hours creating our profile online and writing a full and detailed description of the space we had available to rent. Details about the room, the space and amenities guests have access to, the neighbourhood & surrounding area, public transit options, house rules, and the level of interaction hosts have with guests.<br />
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Within 2 hours of listing <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/3111706">our space</a> we had our first booking! Then the next day another one for that very evening! It was an exciting start!<br />
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It's been an awesome way to maximise space in our home that was sadly under-utilized and meet new people. Meli has been in her element as chief guest-greeter and is making BFF's every time someone new shows up! We've had guests from Alberta, Hungary, France and of course BC. Airbnb seems like a no-brainer option compared to staying in a grotty motel - it's more personal and usually a lot nicer accommodations plus typically cheaper. For us it's great to be able to offer travellers that option and we make some cash to boot! <br />
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Guests make a booking through the Airbnb system either on the website or the Airbnb phone app. The booking comes through to us as hosts to accept or decline....although there is a calendar visible which we keep up-to-date as best we can it still gives us an opportunity to make the final decision. Once accepted the guest then pays Airbnb straight away (with a small admin fee added). As hosts we get the confirmation of booking and then sit tight waiting for the guest to arrive. We receive payment (minus a small admin fee) 24 hours after the guest checks-in and we have chosen to receive our payouts via Paypal which are pretty much instantaneous. After a stay is completed there is a review process for both guest and host - so right now we're working at building a good review base.<br />
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I now want to be on the 'other end of things' so to speak - I'm excited to stay in some of these beautiful listings - I'll have to plan a trip just so I can book through Airbnb!! Just browse the website listings - there are so many funky places to stay - in <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/3469158?s=tYc7">retro trailers</a>, <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/13253">castles</a>, <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/703436">igloos</a>, a <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/1001182">shipping container</a>, a <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/2526015?s=vh-z">teepee</a>, a <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/580026">lighthouse</a> or <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/153903">a treehouse</a>. <a href="https://www.airbnb.ca/rooms/3111706">Our listing</a> is a bit 'plain-jane' compared to those but we've had great feedback from our guests and we don't want all out funky all the time, right?!?! It's just a nice comfortable guest suite....<br />
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If you'd like to try Airbnb for yourself then I can save you $27 off your first stay....use <a href="http://www.airbnb.ca/c/hmills3">this referral link</a> to sign up...if you're on a phone and it prompts you for a code then use <strong>hmills3</strong><br />
(I also get referral credit if you sign up and make a stay or sign up to host!)... Happy Travels!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-79627067297704779022014-07-04T07:00:00.000-07:002014-07-04T07:00:04.558-07:00Our 2-year Vizsla-versary!July 4th marks the day when Miss Meli came to live with us. For us this date seems way more significant that her actual birthday and since she's a dog I'm hedging my bets that she probably won't care all that much either way!!<br />
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The last 2 years have flown by!<br />
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She's a well behaved girl - provided there aren't too many distractions!! Which means she's angelic in the house - using a bell to let us know she needs to pee, knowing her boundaries around the house (she's only allowed on certain furniture - and over the course of time that list is rapidly shrinking - we're such suckers!!), and waiting patiently for the command before she'll eat. Out of the house she's a bit more of a runaway! She still thinks everyone wants to be her best friend so she'll dash up to anyone nearby! She loves hanging out with other dogs, but does seem to tire of them quickly - after the obligatory butt-sniffing she does tend to come back to us (unless it's Brix the Weimaraner from down the road!).<br />
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These days she runs with me on most of my training runs - usually 2-3 times a week - our long runs are up to around 10-12 miles with a couple of shorter ones mid-week. The distance and time out running is great for her but she seems to come home ready for more. Unless she's had some serious off-leash play and running at her own pace (I'm just too slow!) she is difficult to tire! We're so lucky that we have access to around 20km of trails right from our front door so we trail run some of the shorter distances so we both get a great workout! And then she's a happy, happy pup! More recently Chris has also started taking her out mountain biking on the trails and she's loving that!<br />
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She is OBSESSED with her ball-on-a-rope. It's ideal for us since we can really throw it some distance (even me who can't throw to save my life!) The best game ever?! - Us standing on the front lawn and throwing it up the bank opposite into the shrubs and waste-ground. She'll dash up the bank, leaping like a deer at the crest, and then moments later come bounding back down the hill with it, do a lap around the lawn and come back for more, more, more!! It's a great way to get the wriggles out (I nearly said 'to tire her out', but really, that <i>never</i> happens!)<br />
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We did take her on an excellent camping adventure last fall - 2 nights in Glacier National Park, with a couple of days of serious mountain hiking. And actually that was the closest we may ever have come to the elusive 'tired vizsla'....6 hours hiking 16km up a mountain and back does that to a pup....She couldn't even keep her eyes open for the campfire...<br />
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Despite the lack of hair and undercoat our girl loves winter. Yep!! Crazy! Snow must be her favoutire thing and she was a great companion to our frequent snow-shoe trips this past winter. We got her geared up in a cozy fleece lined waterproof jacket and she'll go on forever! She also loves the lakes (even in the winter - sliding across a frozen lake was funny for all of us!!) - now summer is here she'll be back out on the SUP with Chris - she's rather protective of Chris and doesn't like to watch him disappear off too far from shore so will generally jump on in and make a swim for him! The 2 of them even went SUP in February when the lake was still partially frozen!<br />
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However, this girl does NOT like her photo being taken. It's usually the Miss-grumpy-pants face as soon as she sees us getting out the camera or our phones...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MzdORE0EtRk/U7Xz5yoE1AI/AAAAAAAAGms/IQU1NFGshrg/s1600/Meli+the+Vizsla+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MzdORE0EtRk/U7Xz5yoE1AI/AAAAAAAAGms/IQU1NFGshrg/s1600/Meli+the+Vizsla+7.jpg" height="640" width="456" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Possibly my favourite photo of the year - Daddy's Little Girl....!</td></tr>
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We love you Miss Meli-mou!! xxxUnknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-12540447247193503202014-06-13T07:00:00.000-07:002014-06-13T07:00:01.038-07:00Race Recap: Whistler Half Marathon 2014Last weekend was my second year running the <a href="http://www.whistlerhalfmarathon.com/">Whistler Half Marathon</a> and once again proved to be an excellent weekend away.<br />
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In fact my over-riding impression of the weekend is that it really was so much more than just a 21.1km race. it started the moment we drove into town on Friday afternoon. Whistler is such a great vacation-atmosphere resort town so I really enjoy the vibe and kickin' back. After our 7 hour drive I really do feel like I'm in vacation mode!! We wasted no time checking in to the host hotel, visiting package pick-up downstairs and then heading out for a late lunch. The village stroll is full of options; we took advantge of the gorgeous weather and ended up on the patio at <a href="http://www.labocca.moonfruit.com/">La Bocca</a> - a place right opposite our hotel! Later that evening we also attended the presentation and pasta party at the local Brewhouse. It was difficult not to sample too many of their craft beers, but race day in Whistler is Saturday!!<br />
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We stayed at the <a href="http://www.crystal-lodge.com/">Crystal Lodge</a> - the same hotel as last year and I really can't recommend it enough. It is so nice to be walking distance to the start line. With my usual race morning jitters and angst about last minute pit stops I can skip the porta potty lines and with minutes to spare leave my cosy hotel room and jog down to the start line and hop stright into the corral as the national anthem is playing! Sa-weet!<br />
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My race wasn't my best result. Last year I broke a huge barrier for me and clocked my first sub-2 hour Half Marathon - I then managed to finish all 4 of my 2013 halfs in under 2 hours. My race on Saturday I came in a little over 2 hours - of course I'm over 40 now! - yes, indeed, that <i>must</i> be it!! When trying to look for silver linings I can say that I conquered Blueberry Hill. A rather infamous hill near the start of the race - it stretches a little over 1km and I remember last year walking a good portion of it. This year I reached the top without stopping and felt pretty darn pleased with myself. But there was a lot of unexpected hills - a lot more than I'd remembered and Blueberry Hill I think had so physched me out I gave everything I had to that and left nothing for later! I was dragging from around the 12km point - yikes - it was a still a long way to go. Anyway, I finished. 2:01:51.<br />
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Surprisngly one of the highlights of my weekend was a late addition to the Race weekend schedule - a 'RecoverRun' on the Sunday morning. Given that it was an 8am start and I was giving up any chance of a weekend lie-in I signed us up for this free bonus event. It was a coach-led 5km trail run around some of the fabulous Lost Lake cross country trails right by the village. Aside from the fact I was taken somewhere I'd never been before it was a comfortable paced 35 minute run with a stretch routine after in The North Face store. There were just 50 spots available so it was a great sized group and perfect opportunity to loosen off those weary legs! We all received a North Face visor for showing up and had coffee, fruit and chocolates to welcome us back after we were done! And we were up, worked out and back in our room with plenty of time to shower, chill out a little and grab breakfast all before our check-out time!<br />
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The Whistler Half marathon sells out quickly and it's really no surprise why! It's a great deal - I think the early bird rate was just $78 (with no annoying fees and taxes) and our <a href="http://whistlerhalfmarathon.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/lets-talk-about-swag/">race packages</a> were full of goodies - it's heavily sponsored by The North Face and they look after us well - a cute women's cut tshirt, arm warmers (whcih I saw in the store later retailing at $28!), a water bottle and the visor which I got at the Recover run. Plus awesome food and special 'North Face' toasted cheese as post-race food!! (yes the logo is imprinted onto the toast!), Refresher drinks from Starbucks and Oikos Greek yogurts from Danone.<br />
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Another fabulous weekend in the books!<br />
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I'm linking up to <a href="http://jillconyers.com/fitness-friday-2/">Jill's Fitness Friday</a>!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-77962661547413183702014-05-23T08:00:00.000-07:002014-05-23T08:47:39.444-07:00Race Recap: Mudd, Sweat & Tears, KelownaA couple of weeks ago I was part of a 7 person team taking part in the second Kelowna 'Mudd, Sweat & Tears' event. It's very similar in style to the Tough Mudder & Spartan races out there - basically mud, obstacles, running and some major kick-ass team building/bonding!!<br />
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I recruited Chris and I both for my workplace team 'The Bridge Trolls' (we work at The Bridge Services!). I'm not really sure if you need to train for these kind of events - I figured that since the distance was only 12km my regular road running had me comfortably able to manage the distance. And cross training at home doing P90X and Insanity workouts should have me covered in most other aspects, really I think the most important aspect in pre-race readiness is the right mental attitude!<br />
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Our team had an assigned start time of 10am - which was quite the treat - being so close to home the alarm was actually set later than it is on an average week-day! Due to the logistics all participants had to be bussed up to the ski resort where the event was taking place. The day got off to a bad start when they were in short supply of buses and it took 80 minutes to stand in line waiting for a shuttle ride...<br />
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But we got there....and with a quick dash around to get us registered, changed, bag dropped, potty break etc we were ready to go. Having such congestion at the buses and start line worked in our favour - they introduced an 'extra' start time of 10:15 and since most people had rushed to set off at 10 we had a very small start corral! Perfect once you encountered the obstacles with no line-ups!<br />
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The organizers wasted no time in living up to the first part of the event name - MUD. After scrambling over a 9ft wall we were getting down and dirty in a shallow mud pit, bear-crawling along staying low enough to ensure we avoided the barbed wire hanging just inches above the mud. From there we had rope climbs, more mud pits, more walls, tire pulls, and a couple of demoralizing hill climbs with heavy sand bags (up AND back down again). <br />
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Surprisingly in the end one of the more challenging aspects of this race was the running in between obstacles. We'd signed up for a 12km race, but at the end my garmin had only logged around 7km (and was consistent with several other teams). Frankly I didn't mind! We'd run from the bottom of the mountain to the top - around 1200ft elevation gain in just over a mile! and then all the way back down again. (You know, there was a perfectly decent chair-lift right there we all could've used!!)<br />
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The kicker was the final obstacle. It was an 'Over & Under' type thing. A giant shallow pool of very liquid, slooshy and cold mud. With logs across it - some were 4-5ft high - those were to go over (more difficult than it sounds since they were <i>slick</i> with mud) and then some logs were just inches above the mud pool - and those of course you needed to go <i>under</i> - I mean, of course!. The first 'under' wasn't too bad - we were down and crawling and it was bad. But then there was the second 'under'. And that was the mother of all muddy, dirty obstacles. This log was no more than 2-3 inches above the level of the mud. I stood there contemplating my fate for a few moments. I considered just hopping over the thing and calling it good. And then I decided that 2-3 inches may be just the air gap I needed. I got down flat on my back perpendicular to the log and ducked under hoping and praying and squeezing my eyes as tight as they'd go that I wouldn't end up fully sub-merged. I was one of the lucky ones. I surfaced with a small patch of pinky flesh still visible! Yay for small mercies. The rest of my team did not fare so well and every. single. patch. of. human. body was slick and covered in mud. And I mean EVERYWHERE!<br />
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The TEARS part of the even name came right after we crossed the finish line. There was a fire hose hooked up to icy mountain water to wash off a little - and you did have to wash off, or at least try! It really was pretty hard to bear without getting instant brain freeze and it most certainly brought tears to your eyes!<br />
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In all, it was a super fun event! <br />
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Linking up to <a href="http://jillconyers.com/fitness-friday-2/">Jill's Fitness Friday</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-3445835254436033882014-05-09T08:00:00.000-07:002014-05-09T08:00:06.165-07:00Race Recap: Vancouver Sun RunTime has been whizzing by and already 2 weeks have passed since the Vancouver Sun Run. I LOVE this race! This was our third time taking part, the first back in 2006 and we were tourists still road tripping around North America in our RV! Wow, I'm sure we never dreamt back then that we'd be running 8 years later as Canadian residents!<br />
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I love that it's such a BIG race - this was it's 30th year and there were over 50,000 people registered! The crowds aren't for everyone but I love the atmosphere and vibe of it all. I love that tight jostling in the corrals at the start and the sight of so many people doing what I love doing - running!<br />
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We had a <a href="http://www.stregishotel.com/default-en.html?utm_source=TravelClickPPC&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Brand&scid=2104199&cid=1602129&tc=14050821225967289&rl_key=84dd2af248f22eccf01d595039231efe&kw=7544680%3A23203&pub_cr_id=33362536064&dynamic_proxy=1&primary_serv=www.stregishotel.com&rl_track_landing_pages=1">fantastic hotel</a> really close to the start line - just one block away from the back of the corrals. We were actually placed much further forward so we walked about 3 blocks parallel to the start line street until we could enter our corral a little nearer the front.<br />
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What I found marvellously liberating and refreshing is the knowledge, having done this race a few times that there was NO time pressure to get to the start line. There are 50,000 people all lined on Georgia Street in 6 or 7 very large corrals and it takes over an hour to get everyone through the start line. And with the race being chip timed your race doesn't start till <i>you</i> cross the start line! There's a countdown and release for each of the corrals so you don't even miss out on the pizzazz of the start wherever you are! Knowing this we opted to loiter in our hotel till the very last minute. I'm a nervous runner pre-race - and I need the bathrooms. Usually multiple times. And really it takes longer to queue at the start line than it did to just hang in our room till I was sure I was good to go!! Plus we didn't want to check bags for clothes, so we made got ourselves completely ready and probably didn't head out till just before 9 (official start time). It really was just a few minutes walk and as we approached our cross street we heard the gun go off for the first corral. We had time to squeeze into our corral as they removed the barricades and edged us forward to the start line. We got going at around 9:16 I think!<br />
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I love that the first 1km is down Georgia Street, towards Stanley Park and is a steady and gradual downhill. It's perfect for me to work up to a good pace and breathing pattern with just a smidge of gravity assistance. Unfortunately I spent that first 1km wrangling with my Garmin to pick up a satellite signal on the fly after it failed to start. Frustrating but at the 1 mile mark I got it going (what is it with me and my technology at the start of races - it's not the first time this has happened!!)<br />
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I had no great expectations for this race - I never do! The previous 2 times we've run it we've both been hungover and have gone into it with a worst case scenario of 'it's just a nice stroll out on a Sunday morning'! Of course we've always managed to pull out the stops and do a little better than that, even with a fuzzy head! This year we'd had our big night out on Friday but I still didn't feel on top form and liked that it was no pressure - kept me way more relaxed.<br />
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The thing is, the only real 10km races I've done were back when I ran in Cyprus - before chip timing and so far back that when I contacted the organizers to try and get the results out of the archives they were too far gone! They were always around the 60 minute mark though. I do have a couple of 10km split times from some of my half marathons - my best being 51 something, but really not an 'official' 10km time. So the only other 10km races I actually have times for are my previous Sun Runs - and they were both just over an hour. So I was feeling pretty confident that no matter what happened I was going to get a new 'official' PR!!<br />
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I'm always slower for the first mile or two of a race - since most of my races are Half Marathons it evens out OK, but for a 10km I guess I should work on that!! Chris ran with me and kept me at a good pace - really pushing me on the couple of bridges when I may have slowed. It's a nice, flat course apart from those 2 bridges! As you run the decline on the second bridge you can see BC Place and you know the finish line is close, and as you turn onto the exit ramp there it is! With a final push we made it across the line with the clock showing 1:08!<br />
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Now as you'll remember my garmin wasn't working so really I didn't know what our time was. I only <i>thought</i> I'd remembered seeing 9:16am on the clock as we set off, but I'm not totally sure. With some rough calculations I hoped that meant we should have finished in around 52-53 minutes, but we'd have to wait till the results were posted online - either way I was happy - it was a good race and PR no matter what that I was pretty pleased with - considering that I'd not specifically trained for a 10km and wasn't feeling on perfect form.<br />
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After the race we dashed back to our hotel to grab a quick shower and check out and then headed for lunch at <a href="http://steamworks.com/">Steamworks Brewpub</a>. I loved that everywhere you looked in Vancouver that afternoon all you could see were runners and happy faces - many people were still wearing their race t-shirts and bibs and you had the feeling that you were all in one giant club. This is the atmosphere that I was talking about!<br />
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And my new 'official' PR time - 51:47! I'm happy with that!<br />
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Linking up to Jill's <a href="http://jillconyers.com/fitness-friday-2/">Fitness Friday</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-76928660382881308562014-05-05T08:00:00.000-07:002014-05-05T08:00:03.196-07:00Eating in the dark at The Dark Table, VancouverLast weekend we enjoyed a city break in Vancouver - once again killing 2 birds with one stone we were celebrating Chris's birthday and running the Vancouver Sun Run.<br />
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We headed off early on Friday morning and went via the Aggasiz Tulip Festival. The fields were in full bloom and after a short walk from the parking lot we were in the middle of it. Rows and rows of the beautiful blooms in lots of different colours! - just gorgeous and very spring like! We lucked out with some great weather too - although there had been a lot of rain the fields were pretty dry - in fact strangely spongey and rather fun to walk on!<br />
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We checked into the <a href="http://www.stregishotel.com/default-en.html?utm_source=TravelClickPPC&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=Brand&scid=2104199&cid=1581124&tc=14050416574268748&rl_key=883adf0b66923a700105a9a55fe90d02&kw=7544680%3A23203&pub_cr_id=33362536064&dynamic_proxy=1&primary_serv=www.stregishotel.com&rl_track_landing_pages=1">St.Regis Hotel</a> for our weekend - it was a fabulous small boutique hotel and the location was second to none right on Dunsmuir and just one block from the start line for our race on Sunday! From the moment we checked in the doorman remembered us and greeted us by name throughout our stay - talk about great customer service. There was free wifi and free bottled water in the rooms. The rooms were small, but very nicely decorated and modern. There were cosy bathrobes and an amazing bathroom - it was nearly as big as the room itself. The breakfast was also an awesome perk - included as part of the room rate it was an a la carte menu served meal cooked to order and was delicious, plus an on-site pub/bar which was perfect for drinks before we headed out to dinner in the evenings.<br />
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Anyway, possibly the most exciting part of our weekend was Friday night when we had reservations at <a href="http://darktable.ca/about.html">The Dark Table</a>. This is a blind dining restaurant - meaning that you're eating in the dark. Pitch. Black. Darkness. I first came across the concept back in January when we watched the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194499/">About Time</a> and there are 2 characters who meet at a dark restaurant. I loved the idea but lamented that it was a bit hip to have such a thing here. Literally the next day a work colleague of mine was at a conference in Vancouver and posted on her Facebook that she was 'dining in the dark' that evening. With a quick google search I discovered that indeed there was such a restaurant as per the movie in Vancouver, and we were visiting in April for the Sun Run! I made the reservations there and then!!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M_rIvvSbMco/U2bSy483D-I/AAAAAAAAGRo/QU1KujELICg/s1600/Dark+Table+Vancouver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M_rIvvSbMco/U2bSy483D-I/AAAAAAAAGRo/QU1KujELICg/s1600/Dark+Table+Vancouver.jpg" width="630" /></a>There are 2 'sittings' and we were booked for 8:45pm as a table for 4 - we were dining with our friends Les and Deanie. I think we were all super excited about what was to come. On arrival you sit out on the verandah and check out the menu - it was pretty simple - maybe a half dozen choices for entrée and then a 'surprise' starter and dessert. They take your food and drinks order and then you get called by name to meet your server at the main door. You line up one behind each other, putting both hands on the shoulders of the person in front and with the first of your group with their hands on the servers shoulders and you're off...after passing through 2 doors you enter complete darkness! The servers are all visually impaired themselves - our server had been completely blind since age 7. But these guys know how to move!! We were whisked along at quite the pace and led to our table.<br />
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We could see NOTHING. Nada. You could put your hand in front of your face and you couldn't see it. Chris had to take off his watch since the glow-dial was blindingly bright and in danger of ruining the atmosphere!<br />
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You were left at the table for a few minutes to orientate yourselves (before they let us loose with alcoholic beverages in open glassware containers!). The table was large. You could barely reach the person opposite you even when you were both stretched out - on reflection I suppose that was quite key in not knocking things over and fumbling around for your drinks glass - there were no 'extras' on the table - a simple textured place-mat and your cutlery, so after some feeling around you got quite comfortable.<br />
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The food was OK. Perfectly nice, but not wow. We had warm bread rolls and the starter was a simple salad, which I felt that I rocked! I even managed to use cutlery and pick it all up with a fork - which frankly I find challenging at the best of times! (at least I <i>think</i> I got it all!). For my main course I'd picked a stuffed chicken breast which was tasty. I didn't find my vegetables till later on so most of it I was just eating great hunks of meat rather than a mixed forkful of food. Well, <i>most</i> of it I ate with the fork!! Eating with your fingers soon became the easier and more instantly satisfying option! Dessert was a very ordinary chocolate mousse-y-cake thing - which should definitely have been a cutlery kind of affair, but by this time most definitely wasn't. But no-one can see you!!<br />
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But the food was not why I was here. Seriously I was competing with the Cheshire cat for the size of my grin that night! I just couldn't stop smiling and laughing. It was SO. FRIGGIN'. FUN!! When you needed to use the wash-room you had to call out for your server and he would come, you'd place your hands on his shoulders and he would whisk you off '<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conga_line">doing the conga</a>' style. And you had to hold on tight because he was a busy man and was moving some and you were terrified of loosing your grip and being stranded mid-restaurant not knowing your nose from your ass, and never finding your way out!! I just found it all completely hysterical!! When you were done you had to stand at the bathroom door and call out again so he could lead you back.<br />
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We were there a good couple of hours and had an absolute BLAST. Possibly the best dining experience I've ever had. And when your face hurts from smiling so much you know it's been a great, great night! It was fascinating to be dining in the dark - an insight into what blind people experience every day and you rely so much more on your other senses - despite our table mates being 'so far away' opposite us we never had trouble communicating - I guess because your hearing kicks up a notch to compensate. And texture and feel became so important for eating in particular.<br />
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If you ever get the opportunity to dine in the dark I'd totally recommend it - but go with friends - we were chatting to some couples who'd been and it didn't seem that they had quite as much fun - I think it's not the place for a romantic dinner for 2 (especially when you're sat next to a table of 4 drunken idiots cackling with laughter and giggling all night long!). I wouldn't necessarily go back - not because I didn't absolutely love it but I think it's a bit of a 'one-off' experience not to be missed!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-48223163367024187962014-04-25T06:00:00.000-07:002014-04-25T06:00:03.165-07:00Race Recap: Ragnar SoCalIt's been nearly 3 weeks since I returned from the sunny climes of Southern California and honestly I'm still suffering from major #ragover...<br />
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194 miles, 37 hours, 12 runners, 2 vans, 1 Tough Chik team.....countless epic memories.<br />
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I've been putting off writing my race recap for fear of not being able to do it justice, but given that time is ticking by we need to be talking progress not perfection.....so I'll jump right in...<br />
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</i> Ragnar had been on my bucket list for some time. They organize a number of relay running events across the country and really I wasn't too picky about where, but more concerned with the how since there's some logistical magic needing to happen to pull together a team of 12 and organise them to travel with 2 mini vans over the course of 36 hours...When Shannon from <a href="http://www.toughchik.com/teamtoughchik">Team Tough Chik</a> put a call out for interested people to be part of the Ragnar SoCal team I was immediately on board. I bought my ticket to Orange County way back in the fall of last year and over the course of the last few months the rest of the team slowly came on board and we all got to know each other via a private facebook group.<br />
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Finally on the night before the race we all met at Shannon's house for the first time. Five of us had flown into California for the event - I think the rest were all SoCal ladies. We spent the evening getting to know each other, decorating our 2 mini-vans and enjoying some homemade lasagna. It was fairly early to bed since we'd be up at 4am to head to the start line.<br />
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Come Friday morning we piled into our van bleary eyed for the drive to start line on Huntington Beach. It was still dark as we checked in, listened to our safety brief, collected our team swag, our race bibs and our t-shirts, then took the obligatory team photo as Lisa - our runner one stepped up to the start line. Due to the craziness she got going just 15 minutes late of our original designated start time at 6:15!<br />
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It was so exciting to see her off and knowing that we had a long crazy adventure ahead of us. But really there was no time to waste as we needed to head to our first exchange.<br />
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At Ragnar most teams consist of 12 runners (some run it as an Ultra with only 6 runners!) - which are then split into 2 vans. I was in Van 1 along with <a href="http://www.lisarunsforcupcakes.com/">Lisa</a>, Krystal, Virginia, Valerie and <a href="http://toughchik.wordpress.com/">Shannon</a> and was runner #6 - so the last person to run in our van before handing off to runner #7 from Van 2. You get to know your van members very well over the course of the 36 hours as there is no break from it! We were also incredibly lucky to be chauffeured by the incredible Lauren who owned that 15-seater van! Every person from van 1 runs a leg, handing over the 'relay wristband' to the next runner in order. When everyone in one Van has run they hand over to the first runner from Van 2 - they each run a leg and then hand off back to Van 1 - and you do that 3 times through so everyone runs 3 legs and in this particular case you arrive in San Diego!!<br />
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I guess everyone gets comfortable and happy with the legs they get assigned. I was super happy to be in Van 1 as runner #6. It was difficult at times being the last person to get going, but when I was done the van was done so I never had to sit around sweaty and smelly! When the van is done you have some down-time whilst the other van is doing it's stuff - we found that this was usually a 5-6 hour break.<br />
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Having started at 6:15am from Huntington Beach we'd worked our way down to Tustin. For my Ragnar debut I had my longest leg to run (nothing like getting the hardest over and done with!). It was just short of 9 miles and I started running at around 11:15am so it was warming up nicely - maybe a little too nicely for this Canadian girl who hadn't worn shorts since last September! It was a pretty straight route along a busy urban road and there were a LOT of stop lights. The rest of my team mates had already complained of similar problems on their legs so I wasn't surprised but all the stopping and starting does tend to suck it out of you - just as you get into a comfortable pace you're stopping for sometimes several minutes at a time (and all those people you'd busted a gut to pass are now waiting at the light with you, damn it!) I finished my leg at a huge old air-field and as I ran down through the exchange chute all I could see was Amy waiting for me - dressed in our wonderfully bright purple and teal Team Tough Chik gear she was just stood there front and centre and it made for an easy exchange! After slapping the wristband onto her arm she was off and I was greeted by ALL of my team-mates! (See another lovely bonus to being runner #6 - I got double the cheer squad as I finished my legs since it was a major exchange where van 1 & 2 are both present!!) This was a big exchange point and there were refreshments, live music and sponsor and vendor booths. After I cooled down a little and some shopped the Ragnar merchandise we headed out. Since we'd finished our legs very close to Shannon's house we were heading back there for the afternoon, so after grabbing a bite to eat from Chipotle we could start looking forward to showers and a siesta and even the opportunity to do a quick load of laundry!!<br />
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Ragnar is often talked about as a rough and ready race - it's 36 hours with no major downtime. There's normally a lot of sleep deprivation, not a lot of showering and lots of smelling. It's quite normal to just sleep in the van or just out on the ground in a sleeping bag at one of the exchange points, and often no showering opportunities, so having someone live nearby and being able to head back to Shannon's house was quite the luxury and it was most definitely appreciated! After a couple of hours of quiet, cool snoozing (I'm not sure I could really call it sleep - adrenalin wasn't letting me sleep for real!) we hung out, chatting and waiting for the text from van 2 letting us know that <a href="http://caseygirl.net/2014/04/13/200-miles-2-days-12-runners-2-drivers-2-vans/">Casey - runner #11</a> had set off. We gauged that allowed us enough time to jump in the van and drive to the next major exchange to meet them. The exchange was at the beautiful Doheney State Beach<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>(a place very dear to my heart - somewhere Chris and I spent some time at when we were travelling and where we had a wonderful <a href="http://www.handcontheroad.blogspot.ca/2007/08/portrait-photos.html">photo-shoot</a> by Tara Whitney for our fifth wedding anniversary - which was poetic in itself since here I was 7 years later ON my actual anniversary running Ragnar and 'celebrating' our first anniversary apart).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left - the view at Torrey Pines and the end of my final leg. Top R - the views we had to deal with whilst tracking our runner! Bottom R - watching the sunset at Doheney State Beach</td></tr>
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Night had fallen by now and finally at around 8pm <a href="http://fabulosi-t.blogspot.ca/2014/04/ragnar-part-2-21-miles-of-fab.html">runner #12 - Tina</a> ran into the exchange, handed back off to runner #1 - our Lisa and she was off into the night. During official night-time hours everyone needs to be wearing a head-lamp, red blinky lights on your back and a reflective vest - so it was a crazy dark mess at the exchange! After a few minutes of hanging out with Van 2 we needed to head off to our next exchange. Lisa was running the mother of all legs - the longest of the entire relay at nearly 12 miles, at night and it was officially un-supported which meant that the vans were unable to drive the same route the runners were running - which meant we couldn't stop to support; be that collect unwanted clothing, hand over refreshment, and just generally be an on-the-go pep squad. We did sneak in an impromptu cheer station in San Clemente where we stood on a street corner for 1/2 hour screaming and cheering and forming a celebration arch for everyone who ran through! - Since it was getting late it seemed to be well received, and finally Lisa came through and we could top up her water and send her on her way again.<br />
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The rest of our night time legs were a bit of a blur - obviously it was dark so I have no real distinction of where we were and what it looked like! We had a couple of crazy messed up exchanges where things were disorganized and no-one knew what was going on, and we even missed the finish of Lisa's epic leg since we were snarled up in traffic. my night-time leg was just a shorty - 2.7 miles through Oceanside. It started through the town itself - so even at 1:30am I was still getting caught by stop lights!! My final mile was along a cycle trail and then along the beach path and before I knew it Amy was there waiting for me! Since it had been such a short leg my van hadn't made it from the last exchange in time so I hung out with Van #1 until my crew could find me!<br />
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It was shortly after this exchange that Van #1 could officially crown ourselves the Team Tough Chik 'Princess Van' - yes, we had decided back at Shannon's that we liked our luxury and had reserved a hotel room for our second 'downtime'. Hilton here we come!! We took the drive down to Carlsbad (near to where the next major exchange was) and within a matter of minutes we were in our room and fast asleep (it did not go un-noticed that the room we were assigned was #148 which was our Ragnar team number - seriously it was a sign that this was meant to be!!). It was sadly way too short lived - less than 3 hours later we were up again and getting ready to head to the exchange for what would be our final legs. It was 6am and we were (surprisingly!) raring to go!<br />
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All too soon I was getting ready to run my final leg through the gorgeous<a href="http://www.torreypine.org/"> Torrey Pines State Park</a>. It was a (nice?!) solid uphill for just short of 2 miles which was fairly brutal (but satisfying when I was passing guys that were walking!). Then when I finally reached top it was a nice flat and then a small downhill to the cliffs where my exchange was. It was a little emotional running into that final exchange - it was over for me! The scenery was stunning - it was a gorgeous day and by Noon it was a wrap for Van 1.<br />
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We said our goodbyes to Van 2 as they headed off to track their runner. And we headed to a local day spa for a sauna and showers. We kicked back and took our time, headed out for lunch at Dirty Dog with a couple of cocktails to wash it down. Slow time we headed to the San Diego waterfront where the race finish was, got out some blankets and got comfy lounging on the grass for the finish. Due to some injuries in Van 2 they were going a little slower than planned and Tina - runner #12 picked up some extra miles making her final leg to the finish line around 10 miles - it was a toughie for her for sure. <br />
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The sun set over the ocean and finally in the twilight we caught sight of Tina heading around the final corner and towards the finish line. We all crossed the finish line together as a team (most of us hobbling by now since the adrenalin that had kept us going was slowly fading and the aches and pains were settling in with a vengeance!). We celebrated with cupcakes and hugs and all too soon we were saying our goodbyes.<br />
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It was the most incredible and fun experience. I think I came home and bored the socks off Chris since everything out of my mouth was Ragnar memories - so much to remember and so few words that can do it justice.<br />
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Check out this awesome video that <a href="http://jessynelson.wordpress.com/">Jessy - runner #9</a> put together of our experience - it gives me goosebumps just watching it and re-living our Ragnar moments!<br />
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And within the week the #ragover was hurting us so bad that we've agreed to meet back in California in September for <a href="http://www.ragnarrelay.com/race/napavalley">Ragnar Napa Valley</a>!! Yes - my flight is already booked!!<br />
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Linking up to<a href="http://jillconyers.com/fitness-friday-2/"> Jill's Fitness Friday</a>!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-30815228977238427152014-03-19T07:00:00.000-07:002014-03-19T07:00:01.182-07:00Turning 40It wasn't exactly billed as my birthday weekend trip - it was actually a trip over to Vancouver Island to buy our new car. But as Chris's luck would have it he was able to kill 2 birds with one stone, get the new car AND treat me to a weekend away - he's smooth like that ;-)<br />
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He wasn't quite so smooth when it was decided that the best way to get there was via Greyhound. A 10 hour journey that started in Kelowna at 11pm on a Friday night. Trust me, the greyhound depot in Kelowna on Friday night is NOT classy. At all. I'm getting too old for this shit! 2 people were refused boarding by the driver for being too drunk and another was arrested. And then the on-board toilet was out of order. For a 6 hour journey. Okaaaay then!</div>
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After a couple of hours stop-over in Vancouver at dawn and then a couple more hours on the ferry we finally arrived in Nanaimo. A long story short, the car was everything advertised and we bought it (because by that point it was going to have to have something majorly wrong with it to convince me <i>not </i>to buy it and have to get the Greyhound home again!!) So by mid-afternoon the weekend was ours and we had a new set of wheels to cruise in - yeah baby!</div>
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We drove down to Victoria and arrived at <a href="http://www.fairmont.com/empress-victoria/?cmpid=google_emp_search-branded_branded-e-revsh&s_kwcid=TC|1025556|the%20empress%20hotel||S|e|31323352980&gclid=CIP7y-vamr0CFaw-Mgodml4AqQ">The Empress Hotel</a> right on the harbourside. Our only other visit to Victoria was back in our second year of travelling - 2006 and we were still in the early years of our RV'ing adventures and long before we even considered emigrating to Canada. And I remember thinking how wonderful, grand and majestic the Empress Hotel was. And it was now our home for the next 2 nights! </div>
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At check-in time our room wasn't quite ready. They'd upgraded us to a Harbour View so to appease us they took out luggage and sent us to <a href="http://www.fairmont.com/empress-victoria/dining/thebengallounge/">The Bengal Lounge</a> for complimentary cocktails. Darn it, don't you just hate it when someone plies you with free drinks?! 3 hours later and long after the room was ready we headed upstairs. A shower was long over-due after the journey and we had brewpubs to visit!<br />
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Our first night we headed for <a href="http://swanshotel.com/brew-pub/brew-pub-home">The Swans brewpub</a>. We scored a table in the conservatory area which was perfect for people watching and kept a slight barrier between us and the live music - it was good but, hey I was nearly 40 and that music was <i>loud!!</i> And O.M.G the burgers.....I ordered the Swan Song burger but switched out the plain beef patty with a cajun-style charred beef patty and then it was loaded with bacon, mushrooms, cheese, crispy fried banana peppers and beer braised onions. I was drinking their delicious Raspberry Ale - it was so full of berry flavour and in an medium coloured ale - not some dark stout as is so often the case. The berry was so intense it was almost like it was a regular pale ale that they'd then added a couple of shots of rich raspberry liquor in it! Intense, high in alcohol and one was enough to sip on all evening!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yKTZgIBGqPk/UyfAnfXWKbI/AAAAAAAAFeY/25NyANr2cAw/s1600/Victoria+Brewpubs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yKTZgIBGqPk/UyfAnfXWKbI/AAAAAAAAFeY/25NyANr2cAw/s1600/Victoria+Brewpubs.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a>The next morning was grey and drizzling but I headed out for a run regardless. A gorgeous, invigorating 4 miles along the harbour on a Sunday morning. The spring flowers were out - I saw daffodils, crocus and snowdrops, a man walking his parrot and some funky driftwood art 'Fan-ta-sea-Isle' (which I vaguely recalled from 2006 but it's much larger and rather more established these days - the same sailor is there!)<br />
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For a late brunch we took a water taxi across the harbour from our hotel to <a href="http://www.spinnakers.com/">Spinnakers Brewpub</a>. More great local craft beers and a fantastic menu to choose from. We settled in and received fabulous service from our host (who was a fellow Brit!). And when I say we settled in, we sure did. We said goodbye to our friendly server at the end of his shift paid our 'lunchtime' cheque and then welcomed in the new shift for the evening and opened another tab. 8 hours later we took a slow, ever-so-slightly tipsy stumble back to our hotel!! I barely remember what we ate (for either of our meals) but it was <i>good</i>!<br />
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I woke on Monday morning with a 4 in front of my age. 40 does seem<i> old</i>. I was so excited to reach my 30's, but 40, nah.....not so much. After a quick bite to eat in a local tea room we hopped in our new car for the journey home. Our final gastro treat for the weekend was <a href="http://www.mobydickrestaurant.com/">Moby Dick's Fish n' Chips</a> in White Rock - I'm telling you ma' man is <i>classy and smooth</i> when it comes to 40th birthday dining!! (But it <i>was</i> a particular delicious choice which I could highly recommend!)</div>
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An awesome weekend to remember in a beautiful hotel in a beautiful city. So maybe turning 40 isn't so bad after all. (But how <i>did</i> Chris manage to end up with the new car for <i>MY </i>birthday?!)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6274091711856951621.post-76727825933253748682014-03-17T16:40:00.000-07:002014-03-17T16:40:13.919-07:00Part II of my 21DSD!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So it's been a few weeks since Chris came home from his trip and I finished up my 10 days of the 21DSD. On his return we had 7 days of eating with no boundaries. Then together we embarked on a mini 7 day Sugar Detox, following all the rules of the program. And then it was my 40th birthday weekend and a trip away for us (so, of course we didn't detox then!)</div>
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I'm still very passionate about the Detox and especially the incredible recipes. I think there is a HUGE place in my life for this program, and having been 'on and off' the wagon <em>and</em> given that I never actually completed the full 21 days anyway I'm beginning to figure out how things can look for me and how I'm going to incorporate elements of the program into my life..</div>
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What I love about Detox Programs (in general!);</div>
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I LOVE detox programs to get me 'back on track'. </div>
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I work well when I have rules and boundaries to follow <em>that someone else has set!</em></div>
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It doesn't matter what I'm cutting out of my diet depending on what detox I'm doing, it's the discipline of cutting <em>something</em> out!</div>
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They introduce me to new ingredients and recipes - which are easily incorporated to make a permanent change to better, healthier options</div>
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What I've learnt;</div>
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I learnt that I can handle 7-10 days of detoxing - since I'm an all-or-nothing kinda girl with this I struggle beyond that time frame</div>
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I learnt that I can't socialise during a detox!! I know there are guidelines for eating out, but seriously, I don't go to a restaurant to pick a salad robbed of half it's delicious ingredients and no dressing! I can do that at home where there are no other temptations bothering me!</div>
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I learnt that our evening meals are pretty much ideal anyway. 'Eating clean' has been on my radar for at least a couple of years and I have always focussed on our main meal - using whole ingredients, plenty of fresh produce and whole grains</div>
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I learnt that all the other meals of the day are where we slip up. Lunchtime and snacking in particular</div>
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<li>I learnt that Meal Planning is the key to success - Diane says it over and over and she ain't wrong. Whilst we've meal planned our evening meals (hence we do so well in this area) we've never sketched out a plan for breakfast or lunch (or even snacks for that matter) - it's gotta happen!</li>
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I learnt that Breakfasts need to be switched up. For the last 5 years or so Chris and I have had a smoothie for breakfast. The 21DSD has opened my eyes to lots of great alternatives and really just as quick and convenient to prepare than ye 'ole smoothie!</div>
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I learnt some new 'healthy alternatives' to our pantry items - we'll be making a permanent shift to the new choices from now on! I love that switching out ingredients in baby steps makes it completely sustainable and easy! This time round I realised you can't buy stock without sugar in it - from now on I'll be making bone broth. And Soy Sauce - we'd already made a switch a year or so ago from regular soy sauce to a more natural, non-GMO and lower salt Braggs Liquid Aminos, but now I'll think I'll skip the soy altogether and go with the Coconut Aminos the 21DSD introduced me to!</div>
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<li>I learnt that Pancakes without any kind of sweetener just taste like cardboard and are really not worth the effort. Some things just need sweetening!</li>
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I honestly did not experience any change in energy, mood, skin condition or digestive issues. I think in the big scheme of things we eat pretty well already and I wonder since there wasn't a radical change in diet then I shouldn't have expected a radical change in any other aspect. And that was one of the reasons I think I was ready to 'quit' early. But I did totally enjoy the new meals I discovered and the discipline of meal prepping for snacks and getting batches of stuff ready and in the freezer - it's a lotta work but so worth it. I'm moving forward with lots of great 'experience' and recipes to make many changes more permanent. </div>
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