Weekend in the sun!

Hey Everyone!!

               How are you all? Did you have a blast on the weekend?

First off, I wanted to thank you for your support and kind words regarding my interview. You are all so sweet and really help to bring my thoughts back to more positive places and out of the "what if" black hole.  I had a moment of weakness where I thought of everything negative and really brought myself down but I took some deep breaths and continued on to enjoy my weekend!

It was absolutely beautiful here on Saturday and Sunday! I bet you the ski hills were packed:)

Here's a random fact about me: I live within driving distance of 5 great ski hills and I've never visited any of them in the winter to ski, snowboard, or any other activity that involves snow! This is a sad fact, people!! I hope to change this soon. One of the local mountains has these cool events where you snowshoe in to their little lodge. They will host a local band to play for a couple of hours and you can grab a beer, then you snowshoe back! Sounds like a blast to me:)

While everyone was enjoying the powder, I was enjoying the sun downtown by the ocean!!

 I love these chairs!! Although they were a bit too cold to sit in:)

Yes, people this is B.C in the winter! Welcome to the temperate rainforest!

I love the country but one in a while I NEED to come to the city to get my fill. I love the vibe, the scenery, the stores, and of course, the food!

I love how these townhomes are curved!

Then we headed to the heart of the downtown and walked around in the hustle and bustle! Including the beautiful Vancouver Art Gallery. Once I saw those lions I knew I wanted a photo shoot!

 I don't think Aslan would approve of my riding skills!

But hugs make everything better:)

After my visit with Aslan we saw this group..not really sure what there cause was. They also had harmonicas?? It will remain a mystery.

We were planning on taking a tour of the art gallery but the admission price was just too high ( in my opinion). They have a donation night on Tuesday's so we plan on coming back.

Love this building. Sorry for the brightness...no photoshop:(

Lots and lots of great shops on Granville Street! I was on one mission, and one mission only, to find a kettlebell. Unfortunately I failed at my mission. Every fitness store I went to was sold out!!

Listen to the message kids...you don't want to be in Ryan's shoes! Some good scare tactics in the parkade.

Bye Bye big city...until next time!!

As you probably noticed there are no food picts..my bad! We did have a fabulous lunch from Choices market (similar to Whole Foods). I had a Thai noodle salad and Ry had a vegan chili. I also treated myself to some Macasure chocolate and natural licorice. I also had a soy tea misto without the vanilla ( I added honey). Yum this was good! I haven't had one in a long time. PS Saturday was my rewards day so I ate all my faves:)

I'm trying a new technique to combating my sweet tooth that creeps up in the evenings. I'm avoiding the call for sugar for 6 days, then on the 7th day I eat whatever I want. I really like this approach so far and it has been working for me.

Do you designate reward meals or reward days? Or do you simply have a few treats here and there during the week? I find I eat too many sweets at night. I'm not one of those people who can just have one square of chocolate and leave the rest..at least not yet. Eating clean 6 days out of 7 also has a little bit of science behind it that I won't go into here. I'll give that it's own post!

I did cook up some great things this weekend too!

Mexican and Indian spices combine to give this dish super amazing flavor. I added in chili powder, cayenne, paprika, turmeric, and cumin for the spices. The veggies included frozen peas/beans/carrots, orange pepper, and onion. I added in some of my homemade salsa which made this one of the best tasting tofu scrambles yet!

Then for dinner last night I made a delicious acorn squash using the same spice blend as I did for the tofu!

Oh this was good!! I loved the flavor of the spice and squash too. I think that spice blend is a real winner!!

And for dessert on Saturday night it was Averie's Rice Krispie treats. These are so yummy!!

Here's for something different. At Choices Market we found this dairy alternative. It's really quite good. Nice and thick, very similar to the real thing. In fact, it's one of the closest alternatives I've tried so far! If you aren't a fan of coconut don't fret! The coconut flavor is not very strong in this milk at all. I actually would prefer more coconut flavor, but that's just me!

Have you tried it? What did you think?

On Sunday night I finally saw Black Swan. Fantastic movie!!  I love movies that can keep me guessing!! Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis were exceptional. The weight loss that both of these already-thin girls had to do for the film was pretty extreme. If you have seen the movie, you know what Natalie's back looked like and it's not pretty. I was never in dance so I don't know about the pressures in the ballet industry first hand. All I know is what I've read and seen in the media. Considering this I can only imagine the pressure to be thin is very high. Yet, there is another greater theme to the movie that I won't talk about right now as the movie is still in theatres and I don't want to spoil it for you:)

Have you seen the movie? What are your thoughts?

Have a great rest of your day!!