lululemon

my weekend in summary

this weekend was stupendous. not only was it a busy one, it was filled with friends from home - jared, visiting from toronto, and a good long catchup, and cole who has moved back to vancouver for 8 months... friends! also, i rediscovered how much i love cotton candy. danger danger! i love hot spun sugar!!

organizing. in the plaid filled bedroom; hilarious - CEO wanted!; night market lights; jeff's deep fried ice cream; grilled squid galore; jeff felt lots of balls; fixed phones were the night's highlight; my favourite sight - the young boy lying in his floating ball and texting while people around him ran their hearts out; homemade jalepeno poppers; pizza and chili oil; my new sports bra - amped to get a backless shirt and show these straps off; display at dandelion records and emporium; popcorn and cotton candy - amazing!; vintage canadian map on the wall at a store on main street - want this badly; drinks at the window at the acorn.

this weekend had some final training and some good hearted fun at lululemon; a visit to the richmond night market for some good food, brief hang out with jared before he left, and getting to see every iphone case that ever existed; a busy saturday of shopping for various house things, including a vacuum (crazy wild, i know), some groceries, some new workout gear (for the first time in years), and lots of time spent in stores; a night gloved, making jalepeno poppers for snacking, and then homemade pizza, salad and tv shows all night. sunday had an early morning, then a whole day with cole - who arrived friday for another 8 months in vancouver (yay!); a bang trim, some drinks, lots of sun, and hanging out in the carfree day on main street. then a gym visit, and a dinner date with a friend on the northshore as well as my first stop at menchies.... YUM. 
hope everyone had a great weekend - happy monday!

things i'm loving lately

a few things i'm utterly obsessed with lately.

1. my wunder unders. spending a week and a half in a truck, and then spending another 2 and a half weeks continuing to live out of suitcases. that is one of the few scenarios during which leggings can become a second skin, and be perfectly acceptable. not fashionable. acceptable. i lived in my lulu leggings for over a month. there's something about not having a home, and being in an item of clothing that still makes you feel comfy, that is so perfectly appropriate for living in a rainy, sort of lost feeling, city. they were washed and retired to the closet for a period of time when we moved into our new place - don't worry.
2. alan's war. i received this graphic novel from my dear friend leigh right before i left toronto. for some reason i've been in a huge WWII kick, in which every book i read (unintentionally) is about WWII. this one fit right in. but instead of being depressing (wait! don't get me wrong. it was heartbreaking), it was also beautiful. and i've read 2 more book since this one, and i can't stop thinking about it. sometimes i take it off of my shelf and just look at the drawings. i highly recommend it.
3. the botanical kinetics toner from aveda. so here's a story. imagine 2 people are driving across the country (hypothetically, of course), and they have everything they own shoved into the back of a truck. THEN imagine they stop for gas, and one of those people opens the back truck door, and out tumbles some stuff... and *SMASH*. a bottle of aveda kinetics toner packed so neatly and protectedly within a box smashes all over the parking lot of said gas station. and now imagine this.... imagine that REALLY HAPPENED. to me. on our way here. needless to say, all i can think about when i wake up, and when i go to sleep, is how much i miss my spray toner. and how when i get a job, the first thing i'm going to buy is more toner. until then, i've literally been having dreams about it. this toner is the best toner i've ever used, and i challenge anyone to tell me otherwise. *before said challenge, remember mine smashed in a parking lot in winnipeg. soooo.... yea.
4. the no. 5-J necklace. so, recently i did a huge shop update, and posted a ton of new stuff i made here in vancouver. but then this little necklace was staring at me from my desk... so sad and without a person to wear it. so sweet, and lonely. so, i had to make one for myself. not the same (i didn't have the same materials - the only downfall of working with vintage), but close. and at least now, they have one another (the original is still available for purchase here)
5. my moleskin journals. i can't say much else about this, other than i've used my moleskines that i brought with me every single day since i arrived. grocery lists. song titles. photo editing lists. phone numbers for jobs (ha! yea right). jewelry organizing. it's all in there. i have at least 2 on me (in different sizes) at all times. i don't know where i'd be without them.
6. jj bean's vegan double chocolate brownie cookie. ok, i admit, this photo is actually from here. and i DO realize that the photo makes them look like piles of undesirables. but let me tell you something. imagine this - standing outside, on a half rainy, half cool but sunny day, with a stranger (who became a friend by the end - i like to think the cookie had something to do with it), for hours on end. duriecting people to another location. over 6 hours. 5 people came. now, inject chocolate brownie cookies... and then my discovering that THEY ARE VEGAN. i now live in a city where vegan goods are a natural part of the menu. and this coffee place - jj beans - incorporates multiple vegan options daily... including a to die for vegan zucchini chocolate chip muffin. and not only that.... they are literally some of the best things i've ever eaten. ever. i think i may currently be living in heaven. if you ever get a chance to eat one of these cookies, please do yourself a favour and do it. i promise you - you would never ever ever ever ever know these are vegan. even the ever discriminating jeff agrees.
what are you loving every second of every day lately?

yoga in a castle beats all other yogas

guys. i did yoga in a CASTLE.
the guest of honour... casa loma (photo from chelsey)

as i wind down on my time in toronto - as people do at any time when they are running out of time in a place - i wanted to commit to giving myself time to play with toronto. to enjoy it the way we sometimes forget to when we're so entrenched in the day to day. i wanted to allow myself the time and money to do some of the things that people perceive torontonians as doing a lot of... and that most of us have likely not done. time to spend in independent art galleries  time to go to the small bars i always promised myself i would; time to get to bluegrass at the silver dollar, with a friend who always asks. things that have been on my ongoing, constantly cycling to-do list for the duration of my stay in this amazing city.
and now, i find myself with only a month left here, and i'm running out of time to do all of the things i have told myself for 5 years i would do "next week".
needless to say, when i walked into lululemon (TO BROWSE ONLY....... ha) and saw that they were hosting a community yoga class to live music at casa loma, i wrote it in my planner (in PEN), and declined plans for almost a month to be able to make it.
photo from kristi

let me just say this, right off the top: if you ever have the chance to do yoga accompanied by live music, do. not. hesitate.
essentially, the amazing team at the eaton's centre lulu, combined everyone's love of all things yoga, with the amazing magic of being in a castle. THEN, they added live music. and love was made into the perfect environment. i can't imagine i'll ever have this kind of an opportunity  and because of that, i knew i could not afford (mentally, emotionally, and monetarily - because it was FREE NINETY NINE) to miss this chance.
awesome (photo from kristi)

we arrived on one of the most yucky nights we've had in toronto this 'winter', sort of feeling dismal and gross about the wet and 'snowy' weather. we were bundled from head to toe in our gear, and knew that at some point we'd be required to strip down and house our clothing items... somewhere. y'all know yoga clothes don't leave room for pockets roomy enough to store winter boots. as i am with everything new (here is a large admittance from the mind of jamie) i was nervous. i get worked up and hesitant about the unknown. i get nervous and scared that i'll be the only one who doesn't know what i'm doing, and be the isolated event in which someone falls on their face and fails. 
and may i remind you, that 2 years ago, i broke my back, and i've only done 1 organized yoga class since that time? nervous meter mounting as we walked into the castle (i'll have a game on who can count the number of times i reiterate that i did yoga in a CASTLE - prize included). what to expect; would i fail?; would my back give out?; what if i was the only one dressed the way i was, and who didn't know the positions?
much was relieved when we entered the doors. you know that feeling when you're nervous to see an old friend? worried you may not have a ton to talk about, and you may end up with silences filled by awkward stares and hesitant observational commentary? and then, you sit down, and the conversation flows like you're still sitting with them in high school again - as though time had never passed? welcome to the nostalgia i felt as soon as i walking into the castle. lululemon always has the most lovely of people working for them - and of course, they were all there, lining the halls to help everyone, every step of the way. sign the waiver, check your coat, boots along the wall, and hang out in this castle before heading in to do some yoga. so we did just that. we signed the streamline and clear waivers, we checked our coats in a coat check that bars could take a number from, and then left our boots, bags and excess clothing against the wall in the main room. 

put your legs up in the air, put your legs up, in the air (homage to this song) - photo from kristi
when we were all brought into the main room, jeff mentioned it was likely a library. ok - now i feel like belle from beauty in the beast. minus a prince turned monster, PLUS yoga and a band (no hate towards B & the B - my fave disney movie ever in the world). after laying out our mats, getting all up close and personal (trying to allow as many people in the room for the class as possible), and meeting the instructors (and the lovely band), we got down to business.
the lovely instructors (i wish i knew their names!) brought us through an amazing class. some well timed sun salutations, and some GREAT strength poses. we did some balance, and some stretches, and all the while, tanika charles and the wonderfuls played in the background. i had a front row seat for music absorption - made it a BIT difficult to hear the instructors at times, but i attribute that to the castle ceilings, and my poor hearing. when i felt like i was missing instruction, i just staying in my downward dog longer, and listened to the band.
perfection.
have i mentioned that it was in a castle??
check out that butt (just joking, please ignore my boring yoga gear). and my excitable (only to me) ponytail! (photo from kristi)

afterwards, after a loooooong shavasana, we collected ourselves, gave thanks and reveled in a bit of the wonder that was doing yoga in a castle, and then gave our much deserved applause to the instructors, the band, and the eaton's centre staff for coordinating such an amazing experience. 
we rolled up our mats, watched people get some fruit and chocolate, and filled our water bottles with lemons and some cold water, and then collected our things to leave. 
i've never much been the kind of person for whom yoga spiritually affected. i began yoga as a way to stretch and strengthen for running, and then continued yoga because of the flexibility and focus it gave me. but i will say this - there's something magical about yoga in such a well linked community, in such a spiritual and old place, and among a group of people so enthusiastic about the practice that they are basically giddy. 
guys. the band was (mostly) barefoot. everyone was so into it, it was invigorating. 
i've been left thinking of it, and almost only it. and it will be on my mind as i wrap up in toronto. what a perfect way to leave.

(if you are an owner of any of these photos, and would like me to remove, no problem! let me know)

stuff i'm digging.... (day 6)

because i'm in van - the birthplace of lululemon - it's only appropriate that i post on what lululemon goodies i'm yearning for currently... because we ALL know there are tons.
my dear friend steph sent me this. and i was smitten, slash a bit obsessive about owning it. and promptly bought it the following day.
yoga material, in a dress that shows my back and sides? c'mon lulu - are you stalking me??

so, needless to say, this is what i will spend most of my time wearing while in van. maybe i'm wearing it right now!