Sunday, April 29, 2012

things I'm loving...

this blog.. the photos make me melt.  as well as the lovely simple things she blogs about.

check out this dog. oh my gosh possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. I WANT IT.

soy vanilla latte.  I have never been a coffee person, ever.  but I was recently introduced to a iced soy vanilla latte on a beautiful sunny day and now I am addicted.

picnics by the sea.



these cheesy hashbrown nests..



new e-cookbook.  eat awesome.  get yours here. $5!!

this ring.  I think it will be my treat to myself once I return from sea.



hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Friday, April 27, 2012

elimination diet attempt.

recently I was working with a naturopath to try and figure out what it is that I have sensitivities too and therefore a frequent upset stomach.  she told me to give an elimination diet a try.. basically you cut out almost everything and then bring back each food one at a time.  during my time on the diet this is what I was eating... for for the iphone quality.

a lot of guacamole and brown rice cakes...



 salads with guacamole, wild salmon, chickpeas and veggies..


avocado pesto pasta...


and lots of oatmeal, veggies and hummus, fruit with almond butter and smoothies.

my favourite smoothie that I turned into a daily meal was
*handful of spinach
*berries- most often blueberries/blackberries
*almond milk
*honey
*ground flax
*ground oats

after I was able to eat bananas again(had to cut them out for diet) I would make the exact same smoothie with a frozen banana and it was even better.  smoothies are becoming a staple in this house- so quick and easy.

I learned a lot from doing the diet and unfortunately(or fortunately maybe..) I had to make adjustments because I am going to be at sea starting next week where I can't really continue with it.  for now I am off wheat/gluten because that seems to really help.  I am eating more whole foods and really trying to cut down on the sugar and I am finding myself feeling a lot better.

wishing you all a happy friday!! I'm off for a busy weekend of yogathoning and running my first 10k- exciting!!

Monday, April 23, 2012

lately.

sorry for the absence lately- studying and working gets the best of me.  for the past two weeks I spent every waking moment either with my nose in the books or at work.  I feel so relieved to have another semester over with and I think I did really well.  here are a few photos and I will be back soon with some recipes...

studying on the grassy hill by our place

abby-mister.

spring!

picnic on sugarloaf with D. i love this spot- amazing views

the most gorgeous and massive tulips of all time- didn't think they were real at first!

happy monday I will be back soon!!

Monday, April 9, 2012

weekend.

this past weekend was filled with the perfect things- sunshine, good food, long walks, endless time with friends and family, chocolate, yoga, two movie nights on the couch, bike rides, nature, bellinis and lots of laughs.. all which went undocumented.  sometimes you just have to live in the moment



this week holds some serious challenges.  long days of studying and late nights working.  also starting an elimination diet- more on that soon.

good thing I'm armed with this playlist and these cherry date-nut balls.  this is gonna be interesting people.  weeks without chocolate might cause a little crazy-ness up in here. wish me luck...

Thursday, April 5, 2012

thursday thought + adventure day part 2.

a little inspiration for your long weekend...




now onto adventure day part 2.  after our lovely little walk around the trestle we poked around the town of shawnigan lake before finding a spot for lunch.  we found a great restaurant that had awesome food and nice west coast feel.  both of our meals were amazing and they had an extremely reasonable lunch special.  I had corn and shrimp fritters to start and then this salad which was AMAZING. oh my goodness- greens, goat cheese, candied pecans, strawberries and a creamy but at the same time light dressing. to die for



then we headed out to the next stop.. merridale cidery.  we walked around the property, took ourselves on a self-guided tour of the cidery and then explored the shop that had lots of delicious things.  of course we didn't leave without having a tasting.  all in all an absolutely awesome spot to check out- highly recommend it and the staff were SO lovely.






sorry for dark photos!

they had a beautiful pond out back with an awesome view and little yurts where spa services are available.  gorgeous place.  now I must day dream about the next adventure day while I study for exams.. sigh. happy long weekend!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

adventure day part 1- from the iphone.

adventure day! sunday we had a leisurely sleep in, made a pancake breakfast and loaded in the truck.  we drove down to shawnigan lake to find the kinsol trestle.. and find it we did.  the weather was crazy- beautiful sunshine, overcast then some rain and back to beautiful sunshine.  didn't phase us, we had a great time exploring the trails and taking in the sweet site.

westy and d-rock.. happy campers.


kinsol trestle


trestle- so awesome.

lovin the forest.




buddha man on the side of the road-so random and awesome.
the drive through shawnigan lake was beautiful and we both loved exploring a new part of the island we hadn't seen before.  we spent about an hour exploring the trestle and surrounding trails.  highly recommend this spot.  I can cross that one off the 12 in 2012 list.  I will be back later this week with a recap of the rest of the lovely day including the good eats :)  happy tuesday friends!