Beach Vacation & Christmas = Interesting Combo

It's finally time!

Time to take off to Varadero, Cuba. I won the trip about a month ago and at times I think time slowed down and crawled backwards but at the same time, I can't believe it's the end of November already.

Doesn't look to shabby to me?! - img via

We are leaving early Saturday morning and have a quick layover in Calgary. We should be getting into Cuba around 9pm, just in time to grab a drink at the bar. I've got to be honest, I never considered going to Cuba as I had heard from so many people how bland the food was. I never even spent a minute to investigate it on my own. Well ever since we won the trip I've been googling and flipping through pictures of Varadero. People!! Why didn't you tell me they had gorgeous beaches?! Food, who cares about food when you have gorgeous white sand beach and crystal blue ocean waves sparkling at you. All I need is a drink in hand and I'm good. Jeeeez.

I'll definitely be reporting back on my opinion of Cuba compared to other Carribean destinations. I've heard that the people are quite charming and nice like in Dominican Republic. Sweet news to my ears.

We get back into Vancouver on December 2nd. It's going to be strange going from pretty much no Christmas activity in our town to boom, Christmas season galore. I'm excited to start decorating our place. It's our first year in our new condo and our first Christmas living together. Our place is far too tiny to have a fake or real tree so I've scanning the web and Pinterest (of course) trying to find some alternatives. Any ideas anyone?

A little Christmas tree this year - img via

I've been having a craving for pomegranate's this past couple weeks and gave in the other day and bought Scott and I a big one. I couldn't believe that it cost $5.00 just for one but I just had to get my fix. I haven't been having any sugar treats so this was going to be my splurge treat. I tried out the under water method of opening it up. It works so well! It was alot easier then tearing at it while all the pomegranate juice squirts on your hands, eyes and clothes. Come December I'm going to try creating a Pomegranate Martini. Any recipes you could suggest??

A simple pomegranate martini - know of any great recipes? - img via

Well folks, until December....
Have a great holiday Thanksgiving and talk to you soon. xo

-Michelle

Weekend Warm-Up : Getting Close

It's almost time...

Time for me to escape the hectic stressful days (positive thoughts, positive thoughts) and lie on the beach for a week. This weekend I'm tieing up all my loose ends before I leave for Cuba next weekend. It's amazing all the little things you remember you have to pack. I wish I was one of those travelers who could bring the bare minimal. I always decide to bring the "just in case" items. Hey.... you never know when you might need a different pair of shoes.

Over the past couple weeks I've been amping up my workout routines and scaling back my "treats". I've barely ate any salt lately and have only had one glass of wine this week. I'm craving a nice bowl of ice cream right about now lol. I feel amazing though and I don't think I'll change too much in regards to my diet, once I get back from Cuba. I feel Cleeeeeeeeean.

 Some lovely links from around the web:

img via Lululemon

• For my American friends: How to NOT eat too much at Thanksgiving

• Have you heard? Starbucks is trying out the Juicing Business now.

• I was wandering the bookstore last night and found these amazingly comfy cozy throws and blankets.

• With cold rainy season in full swing, it's time for a new waterproof jacket from Lululemon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

-Michelle

Opportunity to Guest Blog for LiveLoudly

I have an opportunity for my fellow bloggers to guest post on my blog from November 23 - December 1st. I'll be in Cuba during this time.

• I have 3 openings available.
• The guest blog post must be health and wellness related.
• It must include at least one high quality image.

If you are interested in one of the spots, please feel free to contact me and we can discuss your idea for a post.

-Michelle

I won I won! : Trip To Cuba

I'm baaack! I took some time away from my computer and the internet while I was on my stay-cation. I'm happy to be back and get back into providing health tips and stories.

The Announcement in the newspaper.

While I was on my stay-cation I got some exciting news... I won a trip to Cuba! Can you believe it? I couldn't! I had entered a contest through 24hr newspaper to win an all inclusive trip. I had totally forgot about entering. I was driving along in my car and missed a call, so I checked my voice mail once I stopped and was listening to the lady from the paper talking about how I won a contest. All I could think was "oh that's cool, I probably won a gift card to a restaurant or something". She didn't mention that it was a trip to Cuba till the end of the message, just slipped that in at the end. I started freaking out by myself in the car. People around me thought I was crazy. I instantly called the newspaper back and claimed my prize. We are able to travel whenever we would like and the travel agent is calling us this week to book the trip. The prize includes: flight, 7 night accommodation at the all inclusive - 5 star resort, Sandals Royal Hicacos (Varadero).  Scott and I can't wait to go. We have been wanting to get away for over a year now.

My hot chef in the kitchen, celery rose, sunset and hockey - perfect combo!

During my time off we had the pleasure of celebrating Thanksgiving at Scott's parents house and the food was excellent! Stuffing, sweet potato casserole, broccoli and cauliflower gratin, all were yummy. The weather was mostly sunny during my time off and I was able to relax and enjoy the beautiful sunsets from our condo. I was also able to catch a hockey game that my cousin was playing in.

All in all it was a great time off and I was able to rejuvenate and prepare for the upcoming busy months. I also had a chance to try out the Vega Sport Pre-Workout Energizer and I'll be posting my review of it this week - stay tuned!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!
-Michelle

Travel : Cresent Beach, White Rock

I love the beach, the ocean and sun. It lives inside of me and I have an instant smile and calmess when my toes feel the sand beneath them.

There's a small town called Cresent Beach which is located in White Rock. White Rock is 40 minutes south from downtown Vancouver. White Rock also borders Washington, US. Cresent Beach a very laid back community with a majority of the residents being weatlhy retired people. The funny thing is that all the new aged hippies flock to Cresent Beach. It's full of yoga studios, unknown amazing restaurants and cute organic cafes. There is one main street which holds them all. At the end of the main street is the beach.

When I took time off during 2011 to venture into different industries in the business world, I would take my dogs along the path that follows Cresent Beach on days I had free. Hearing the waves crash against the shore cleared my mind and allowed me to let go of the stress of the day. I always loved going with my mom to Cresent Beach for a nice long walk and end up grabbing sweet hard ice cream at the end of our journey.

A couple weeks ago my mom and I wandered over to Cresent Beach just to sit by the ocean so we could take in the soft sounds and scents of the ocean. Afterwards we headed down to our favourite organic cafe, Sunflower. They have the best muffins I've ever had and they aren't tiny! We split a moist Blueberry Peach muffin and sipped on their delicious Saltspring Island coffee. Everything is handmade right there in the cafe and everyone who works there is incredibly down to earth. There's no other cafe where you feel like you're at home like Sunflower.

This time I spent with my mom was eye opening to me. It was a time when it really hit me how the chemo is affecting my mom. We used to be able to take long walks but now the walks have turned into strolls. The positive I take from this is that it makes us slow down in life. Appreciate each word spoken to each other. Appreciate the small things around us that we take for granted. Like the grapes we found in the garden patio in the back of a small bistro that we would have never seen before. Although this pains me to see her feel confined by the cancer at the moment, I know this will soon be over and she'll be right back to where she was. There's lessons to be learned right now and then it's time to move on with the positive healthy future.

Never forget to be in the present moment and appreciate the people and things around you.

-Michelle 

Weekend Warm-Up : Labour Day Long Weekend

Did you read that? woop woop it's another long weekend! 
What do you have planned for this lovely long weekend?



The last of the Summer Flowers

 I'm taking this weekend to rest and go with the flow.. mostly. I think I will be heading out on Sunday for a very early morning adventure to the beach to listen to the waves and smell the sea. I'm really looking forward to it.

I also plan on taking this weekend to read a large part of my book "The Charge" by Brendon Burchard. I've always been interested in how the brain works and how to get the most of it. So far the book is great.

Photography - a must for this coming weekend. I don't know what has been holding me back from getting out there and taking some photos (which I love doing). Maybe I'm bored with what is right in front of me. It's time to go roaming and appreciate the little things. Hopefully I'll have some awesome pictures for you guys next week. I want to brush up/learn new skills - anyone have some awesome YouTube tutorials they would recommend?

• WestJet airlines proposed a question: Where would you take 135 of your friends if you had a jet? I said I would take everyone to one of my favourite resorts in Punta Cana. We would celebrate family and friends.
• I've been lazy at cooking this week as I'm a bit tired. This would be perfect to throw together on the BBQ and ta da it's done and ready. Dinner is served!
• And the talk of the town.. FALL. It's just around the corner. You can sure feel it's colder in the mornings and evenings. Time to get a new jacket. This one is perfect for keeping warm while active.
• Diner En Blanc -Vancouver took place last night. The pictures posted on Twitter were gorgeous. It was a beautiful summer night for them. I would love to go next year. I just found out about it last night. Oops a little late.
• Beautiful performance and song! How will you leave your mark on the world?

To leave you with a quote to ponder.
It's shown up in couple places in my life this week :

"Ask not what you are getting from the world but, rather, what you are giving to the world"

Have a wonderful weekend!
-Michelle

Weekend Summary : Seattle & Mariners Baseball Game

That went by way too quickly!

Seattle Adventure

I was going to post this yesterday but had a bit of health scare. I've had this sharp pain in my sternum that started on Sunday evening and yesterday it turned into swelling on my whole right side. I saw the doctors and they are a bit confused. Luckily the swelling went away while sleeping last night. Hopefully all stays well (fingers crossed).

Back to my weekend. We had planned on and were on our way to leave for Seattle from Vancouver at 10am in the morning. Little did we know that plans were going to go hay wire and change quickly. A friend was going to drive with my mom and I was going to drive with the BF down to Seattle. Our friends car sprung a gas leak and only made it 5 blocks from his house. Luckily he noticed and he had to call the fire department to ensure the gas was all soaked up. We eneded up having to pick him up from the side of the road and wait for a tow truck to come. 3 hours later... we were on the road again.

When we arrived at our hotel (Silver Cloud Broadway) we only had 30 minutes to get everything checked in to make it for the first pitch at Safeco Field. Well... that didn't happen. Instead, my shorts ripped (across the butt - no hiding it) and I hadn't brought anything else. I had planned on buying some shorts the next day while shopping. ooops - a quick rush sew job later and we were on our way. We arrived 30 minutes late but the game was moving at a super speed pace. I've never seen a baseball game move so quickly. By the 7th inning we were running to the food stands to grab some snacks but had to be so quick because we could possibly miss a whole inning. The game only lasted 2.5 hours! That was the shortest baseball game I'd ever seen in my life. By the end of it we were laughing uncontrollably. We were all in disbelief on how the whole day unfolded. Then again ... it might have been boring if you we didn't have some challenges lol. We did get to enjoy some of those snacks. We had some spicy nachos that were slathered in pulled pork (I picked some chips out from around it), a little bit of kettle corn popcorn and a couple drinks. All in moderation remember.

After the game we had fun going out to a pool hall that was right beside our hotel. It was really large (20 tables). After that exciting day we were all tired and headed to bed. We woke up around 7am and grabbed a coffee from Tully's. It wasn't my favourite coffee in the world but it did the job. I tried Peet's coffee while I was in Silicon Valley a couple years ago and fell in love. I only wish we could get it closer to us in Vancouver. We made a couple shopping stops along the way home. The weekend was over - where did it go so quickly? All around I had an awesome time filled with so many laughs and unexpected moments.

Oh and in case you want to know: Seattle Mariners WON! against Texas.

How do you deal with unexpected speed bumps in your travel plans? Do you freak out and get nervous? Or do you go with the flow and everything happens for a reason?

-Michelle

Why Do I Blog?

I'm currently attending "Blogging Your Way" e-course (highly recommend) and our homework this week was to do a blog post on : what blogging means to you, why you blog in the first place?

Blogging means to me: A Starting Point.

I have been reading blogs for years now and always wanted to start my own but I didn't know what to blog about. In the last few years I have really searched to find what my passions are and what naturally comes to me. I've found that my passion is Health & Wellness and spreading positivity in any way. I wanted to use my blog as a starting point to building a community of like minded women who care about their wellbeing and want to live each day in a positive light. I want to meet new individuals from across the world and share experiences and knowledge. I would love to collaborate with different people that are outside of my existing community. I also wanted to use this blog as starting point in helping women (&men) create a healthy life.

I want to use this blog as a way for me to get out my comfort zone. A way to push my boundaries. Sharing my opinions/thoughts and speaking out loud for all to judge or accept is a huge accomplishment on it's on for me. I also wanted blogging to be a way to push me and learn more about digital photography (another passion of mine).

This blog will also document my journey from becoming a Health Coach to opening our Health Retreat - B&B in the Caribbean. I love that I can share this journey with other people and have their support when times may get rough and of course sharing all the EXCITING times too!

I've learned alot so far on Blogging Your Way but what really stands out to me is learning the etiquette when blogging and how to deal with the different personalities. I also have loved learning about creating a brand.

Thanks to all the teachers at Blogging Your Way!
I've really enjoyed the teachers and the community of fellow students (waving hello!)

I look forward to staying in touch with them all.

-Michelle

Let's Be Real & Authentic: Dreams & All

So lately I've been thinking about my blog and how it wasn't sitting right for me. It felt like I was trying to be someone else. There were lots of elements I believed in but it wasn't coming from my soul. As you might have noticed I changed my subtitle of the blog from "Holistic Life Coach" to "Health & Wellness". I decided that being a "health coach" was more my style then anything else. I love to give advice on life and overwell being but I have a passion for Health & Fitness more than anything and want to help people change their lives for the better.


{via}

I'm planning to start school to become a health coach at the Institute for Integrated Nutrition beginning in July or September. I'm super excited to start this as I had originally found this program 3 years ago and at that time didn't know if it was the right thing for me. I've tried many different avenues (career wise) in these past 3 years and found that my true passion is to help people with their health and wellness. Help them create new habits in the way they think and approach life (positivity). I believe positive thinking is a major factor in helping people stick with their new diet & exercise routine and new way of life. My idea is that it's done through:   Diet - Exercise - Positivity - Attraction. I want people to create new habits that stick around with ease in their life.

What do I plan on doing with this? :
My plan is to start coaching people 6 months from now. I already have the knowledge but I would love to have the credentials to ensure people feel comfortable coming to me for help/guidance. Eventually I would love to start taking on one on one consultations with people on the Internet and in person. Creating a health and wellness PLAN personalize for them. I'd be there for them every step of the way, giving them all the support they need.

Now the big DREAM:
This is something that has been uneasy to bring up in the past because it meant I had to vulnerable with people and let them know the "real" me and be open to judgement. Now who really wants to be judged?! The thing is though... I'm ready now!

My partner (boyfriend) and I have decided that we would like to open a Health & Wellness Retreat - B&B in the Caribbean. Clients would be able to spend some of their time that they have off work (vacation time), resetting their life from unhealthy to healthy. They will be able to create new healthy habits which they can then implement back at home. I would be helping them create the plan in the beginning and teaching them each day while they are there on how to improve their health & wellness and fitness (mind, body,soul).



Guest Room {via}

 My boyfriend is an amazing cook and will be going to school to learn more skills. At the retreat he will offer cooking courses on healthy cooking. It will be great to show people how you can take an unhealthy recipe and make a few changes/substitutions and it can still taste good! The basics of healthy cooking will be offered too.

The retreat offers rest & relaxation too - it is your vacation/holiday after all! Enjoy the sand, sun and beaches aaaand maybe some wine ;)
Check out my Pinterest board : Health Retreat- B&B on how I envision it so far


Phew! That felt good to get out. The exact details may change a bit in the future - you just never know but the main goal/idea will stay the same. We've already started making changes in our life for this to happen. It's a super exciting time now that we have a dream out there in front of us.

What do you think of our dreams and goals? Would you go to a health & wellness retreat in the Caribbean?

-Michelle xo

This Weeks Wind-up - Interesting Start to June

my oh my....
 

2am fire alarm evacuation



This has been quite the... interesting week. Monday started off great and then I think there was something in the air because I wasn't the only one all this week who's workouts failed. The strange thing is that I did not even make a concious decision to not work out in the morning, it was all by accident. My alarm clock even failed twice to wake me up (or I didn't hear it - my mistake).

Wednesday night there was a disturbing incident in our community with a man being shot. This is not a common occurance around our area and really made everyone feel a little uneasy. 

That brings us to TGIF... and it started off with alarms/sirens/flashing lights. The fire alarm in our condo building was set off at 2am and everyone filed nicely outside into the misty rain (the kind where it soaks you). Even our dog didn't want anything to do with being outside, which is quite rare. After a while we were let back in and I tried to lay down for some more sleep but was unsuccessful. At least I was able to get up for a run - positive side!


So this afternoon I think I will take a little siesta.....

• I'm a huge breakfast lover and would love to make a health version of French Toast. This French Toast looks simple and delicious for a weekend morning.

• Imagine having a Glowing Driveway?? It would look amazing at a Cottage/Summer house.

• Even though June started out with a bang/alarms/flashing lights, here's something to celebrate - check out this awesome contest  from Vega that starts today - @VegaTeam - #GetEnergized and win! Sounds like a win win situation to me.

• Wouldn't you love to escape to this coast this summer?

P.S - I was going to post some more blog posts this week but as you could tell.... some things got in the way. No excuses next week ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!
-Michelle

Travel Time: Maui

I'm no doubt a SUN & BEACH girl. There's no denying it that when I'm in that environment everything is perfect in my world! One of my favourite places to soak this all in is...  MAUI!

When I travel to Maui I like to stay in a condo in Kihei. I love that it gives you the feeling as if you are living there. Where we stay, they provide BBQ picnic areas in the middle yard which is a great way to save money and meet new fellow travellers at dinner. Kamaole beach is across the street and local stores are walking distance.

One of my favourite beaches is Big Beach. It's further south from Kihei and like it's name... it's big! There's no feeling crowded on this beach. Like a lot of the places in Maui you have to drive there. I would recommend renting a car as there is so many neat remote locations you can only get too by car. Another great beach is off the road on the way to Lahaina. Just pull the car over and dip your feet in. It's amazing!

Lahaina is a great place to spend the day. I love scoping out all the neat shops where local artists reside and some famous ones too (my fav: Peter Lik). We always make sure to grab lunch while we are in Lahaina. The drive from Kihei is beautiful with a look out point on the way. Driving beside the ocean makes the ride go by so quickly.

The healthy food in Maui is fresh and always at your finger tips. Fresh fruit in the morning from the local market is incredible. There are fruit stands from local farmers along the road whichever driving route you take. There is a large variety of fish to choose from to eat in Maui. My favourite place to grab some fish tacos is a little joint called "Fred's Mexican Cafe". Tuesday is taco night and it's a must. Get there early!There may be a bit of wait but it's worth it. Besides, who doesn't mind waiting while you watch the sunset across the street. The restaurant turns into a great breakfast place come morning and serves delicious macadamia nut /banana pancakes for some energy for the day. My all time favourite treat that I must have while I'm in Maui is.... the shaved ice with vanilla ice cream on the bottom. I get it at least 3 times while I'm there. hey... I gotta try different flavors!

One thing I say I'm going to do each time and miss the chance is Surfing! I think next time I go I won't leave till my butt gets out on the water with a board. Surfing helps building muscles in your arms (paddling), your legs (squatting on the board) and your abs (balancing on the board). What a great way to get some exercise! I have though been snorkeling in Maui and truly enjoyed swimming with the exotic fishes.

If you are looking for a great place to go with your partner or vacation with the family, I highly recommend Maui.