Day 8 - Au Revoir Paris!

Day 8 - Au Revoir Paris

Ahhhhh...Paris...our time together was far too short, sadly.  Enough to get a taste of the city, and just enough to leave me wanting a taste more.  It's what always happens....just as we figure out the city, we have to leave but that was the whole point of this tour was to get a taste of each place.

Today was another action packed day, but we were out on our own which was great.  We love the combo of organized excursions and stuff on our own, so the perfect balance.  The first thing we did today was to head out to St Chapelle...Hubs and I are getting used to how to get around on the Metro, so we've been bombing around the past few days.  When we got there, there was a bit of a lineup but it moved fairly quickly.  When you first enter St Chapelle, there is the Lower Sanctuary which is already beautiful but when you to to top level with all the stained glass...well it took my breath away.  All the panes tell the story of the Old Testament and where are hundreds of metres of glass.  People sat and "read" the glass as each panel told a separate story and there was a guide that people were using that gave you an idea of what it was trying to get at.  Truly beautiful.

After we left St Chapelle, we took a quick look through the Latin Quarter which was OK, and reminded of Women's Street in Hong Kong.  Lots of food places and knickknacks, we went through quickly and grabbed lunch at a little place that looked interesting.  I've been wanting to try beef tartare and try it I did...finely ground raw beef with raw egg, capers and other mystery ingredients, it was served with perfectly cooked fries and a salad.  It was kind of funny because when I first ordered, the waitress said to me in broken English "you know it's not cooked?!" And I said yep...all good with it.  Hubs had fish which was pretty good but of course couldn't hold a candle to last night.  So how was the tartare?  Pretty good, kind of pickly tasting but I couldn't finish it as it was a big serving.  Hubs hesitantly tried it but he thought it was tasty.

After lunch, we went to the Museum d'orsay....what a place.  While the Louvre was incredible for all the masterpieces and the sheer size, it was a zoo with throngs of bodies everywhere.  D'orsay was much more civilized and afterwards I didn't feel like I'd been through the ringer.  We especially enjoyed the Impesssionists...I've never been a fan of "real" paintings so loved seeing the differing styles of such artists as Cezanne, Sisley, Renoir, Van Gugh and Monet, our personal favourite.  Incredible.

We headed home to freshen up and then headed to our last venue, the Marmottan Monet Museum.  Far outside of the downtown Paris zone, it was set in a much quieter area of Paris and was by far my favourite.  Dedicated mostly to Monet, it was quiet and I was able to take the time to sit in front of his work and just appreciate his work.    What a difference from the Louvre!

Hungry after a full day of art, we came back to our hotel from the metro and came across a charcuterie store and a bakery.  We needed cash so we did that first and then sadly by the time we got back, the charcuterie store was closed.  SOB.  We ran back to the bakery and ordered some baguettes, a pain du chocolat, a salad and some quiche and headed back to our room for a picnic.  We had some wine and cheese we bought the night before so broke that out and munched away happily in our room.

Tomorrow...early morning train to Nice.  Trip is about halfway done!

Day 5/6/7 - Catching Up

Day 5/6/7 - Catching Up

Uh oh...the days are all starting to blend together!  It's been a few days since I've posted because it's been pretty busy with seeing sights and...well the wifi in Paris has a little to be desired...but I guess I'm here to sightsee and not sit at the iPad all night long.  Also...my dang keyboard needs recharging so it's taking me a bit longer to type these posts in, so please forgive me for typos, grammatical, etc.  I'll do one big post summarizing the past few days so don't mind the verbal diarrhea...ha!

Day 5 - Cheerio London

For Day 5, we went out on a tour of London with the rest of the group.  Now we had done most of the stuff already but it was still good because there was a lot of things that we didn't know about and we got some cool info from Tony our tour guide.  Most folks flew in the day before and didn't have the luxury of three days in London to see the sights, so we ended up going back to Big Ben, Westminster Abby and then trotted down to Buckingham Palace.  The weather gods were not on our side...was sooooo rainy when we were out and we got totally dumped on but nothing we couldn't handle.  For the most part we've hit it lucky with ok weather, but I'm glad I packed a good variety of clothing because it's been pretty cool here...mostly around 15 degrees or so, but with a chilling wind that pops up especially at night.  Because of the rain we didn't see the changing of the guards like we were supposed to, but we did get to see a bunch of the guards practicing a bunch of formations for the Queen's annual big birthday celebration as well as a small procession of Gurkhas, which are apparently kinda like the British version of ninjas.

After we got back, Hubs and I went for another jaunt down Oxford St. and I'm ashamed to admit that I have not bought a thing yet...no clothes at all!! But the trip is still early, tee hee.  Stuff is either insanely expensive or not that much different than what I can get at home, at least the stuff I've seen.  After a short nap, we headed down to the Soho district to watch a show, Les Mis.  Now not sure if its because I'm so tired, but I found it terribly moving and actually cried through it!   It was an amazing show with incredible set changes...would totally do that again.  I was fascinated by how they seamlessly changed between scenes and the singing was so amazing.

Day 6 - Bonjour Paris

We ended up getting home around 11 and then had to get packed up to get ready for 5:30am....now normally that's not too bad for me but ungodly when I'm jetlagged and tired from being gogogogogo.  We made the train to Paris and got in around 1pm, and did a tour of the city to get us oriented to our new surroundings.  I kept looking around and thinking wow...I cannot believe I'm here, all the places that I've only read about or seen on the news.  After the city tour, we went up to the second level of the Eiffel Tower which was amazing.  Now not gonna lie, I was a little scared....not sure why this bothered me so much as compared to the London Eye, but there were a few moments when my legs turned to jello.  After the visit to the tower, we all headed down to the Champs Élysées for dinner at a place called Cafe Clemente that was recommended by the travel director.  While the meal was good, we were still looking for the perfect Parisienne experience (and we so had it, but more about that later!).  When the menu has both English and French, I'm thinking it's the Cactus Club of French food vs a true Parisiene meal.  After dinner we walked up and down the Champs whereas mostly everyone else did the excursion which was a cruise along the Seine.  Most stores along the Champs were closed which surprised me...there were still tons of people out and about, and I thought a city like Paris would go all night.  I suppose I had visions of Hong Kong where most stores open until 11 at night.  One place we did visit was La Duree...famous for their macarons, I've never been a fan of them as they are usually so sweet but these weren't at all, but still delicious.   We ended up flying by the seat of our pants and taking the Metro back which is their subway system...it'd it bad but nowhere as easy to use as London's Tube or Hong Kong's MTR.  Our night still wasn't over though...we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up, which was gorgeous, but missed seeing it with the flashing lights which happens every night at 10 and 11 as it doesn't get dark here until around 10:30.

Day 7 - I Can Die Happy

First excursion of the trip was today to the Louvre and Notre Dame.  Hubs and I were initially going to go on our own but we liked the lovely guide so figured we would join this one.  We headed to Notre Dame first...I was surprised at how much I loved this venue.  It was amazing inside...the detail, the stained glass, how ornate it was...the coolest thing was these cravings in the middle of the church that told the story of Jesus.  Not being terribly religious, I knew enough of the story I could figure out what each scene was.  A beautiful, beautiful place, I really was moved by how incredible this place was.  As we walked outside, there was a spot in front of the Notre Dame that has a star on it that if you jump on it, you'll end up back in Paris a exactly a year from the time you do it...needless to say, Hubs and I jumped on it!

Next spot was the Louvre.  Now they say that if you stood in front of each piece for a minute, it would still take a week to see the whole thing.  We were so glad to have a guide to take us around as she had so much awesome info on many pieces, and took us to see some of the key masterpieces ...the statue of Nike, the statue of Venus and of course, the Mona Lisa.  Again, I kept thinking I cannot believe I'm here, seeing this!  We were in there for about 90 minutes, and it was enough...information overload, I couldn't imagine being there much longer.  It was insanely busy to me but apparently this was a slow day as there wasn't a lineup to get into the room to see the Mona Lisa.  It still took awhile to get to see her and basically it was every man for himself...again, I sharpened my elbows on a few people but this place reminds me of Hong Kong that way....poor Hubs is so incredibly polite letting people go ahead of him all the time so he always gets stuck behind.  I've found that here, you just have to go for it and people typically seamlessly move for you.

After the Louvre, the group split up and Hubs and I went to the Musee L'Orangerie to see four of Monet's most famous pieces, the water lilies.  Each picture is the same scene done at different of the day, and all four are in one room so you are surrounded by Monet.  After taking some pictures, I just sat there absorbing the feeling of being in the room and just staring at each piece.

After art overload, we headed to the Lafayette galleries, a very posh mall.  After a quick peek (again, I can't afford a thing at these places), we took the metro home and decided to check out places around our hotel to eat.  We wandered down this street that looked interesting and happened upon a place that had no English on its menus...bingo!  We quickly sat down and had the most amazing meal...we haltingly ordered with our high school french... Hubs had this pan fried turbot which was incredible, and I had the mackerel, also pan fried but with this amazing olive oil and basil and finished with butter.  The meal also came with this stewed tomato which was so fresh and flavourful.  Totally satiated, we had to order dessert and had cheese with some black cherry compote.  As we finished our meal, a tourist sat down next to us and we ended up having a lovely convo with her...German but living in San Fran, we talked about tennis (she was there to see the French Open) and that we had to go to Australia next as she loved it there.  A lovely meal, this was one that is going to stick with me for a long, long time...truly, I can die happy.

Tomorrow is a total free day so we've got St Chapelle, the Marmottan Monet Museum and the Musee d'orsay and then the next day we move on to Nice.  the adventure continues!

Day 4 - Easy Peasy

After an action packed few days, not gonne lie...I'm feeling super duper tired and welcomed a bit slower of a day today.  We moved hotels today and it's like a culture clash...the Sumner is a small, homey B&B where the folks say hello every morning and treat you like gold, whereas the Cumberland is a bit of a fancy pants chi-chi place where the staff are wearing all matching suits that are perfectly tailored and the hotel lobby is a spacious cavern with water jugs with water infused with lime and mint.  I gotta admit, I kinda like the little B&B a bit more as it just felt warmer overall but cavernous works.  Hah!

So today we headed to the London Eye...now for those of you who know me well, you're likely thinking she went up?  In that?!  I am the world's biggest scaredy cat when it comes to heights...like getting up on a stool three feet off the ground gives me vertigo (doing the Mud Mulisha in August should be super fun!).  Now one piece of advice for people who plan on doing to London...figure out what you're going to see beforehand and pre-buy tickets.  We bought Fast Track tickets for the Eye and we were up and on that thing in about 10 minutes...who wants to wait when there's so much to do?  The ride itself was pretty amazing...up high in the air, you got a panoramic view of London and overlooked Ben Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.  It was brief...about half an hour later the ride was over, so we headed back to Oxford Street and decided to check out Selfridges.

Aaaah, yes...Selfridges. Talk about expensive...clearly we were just window shopping as there was no way I could afford anything there.  We went up to the women's clothing and shoes...my jaws dropped at the massive amount of gorgeous shoes, but even more massive prices.  I picked up a pair of Miu Miu sneakers that to me looked like Converse high tops and they were....get this...560 pounds.  Chanel, Louboutins and Jimmy Choos were all around me...to live and shop in London, you gots to have some dough, that's for sure!

The other thing I noticed about London is that everyone wears skinny pants.  No boot cut pants to be found anywhere, and it was hilarious because there were these two men whose jeans were tighter than any woman's I've ever seen.  Like they were painted on.  So tight that Hubs even remarked on it.  Not sure if these guys wants children, you gotta let the boys have some room to breathe don't you?!  Yikes.

We headed back to the hotel at around 5:30 to meet up with our Travel Director and the rest of the tour group for dinner at a local pub.  As we got on the bus, we were trucked to a place called the Tattersal Tavern for a traditional pub meal of bangers and mash or fish and chips.  As we got our drinks, we joined two women from Australia and a couple from Edmonton ended up joining us as well!  We chatted for a few hours getting to know each other, and I'm looking forward to meeting the other folks as well.  We got the lay of the land and some of the days we have to be up pretty early so we need to be pretty darn organized.  The group is fairly small at around 22 people, which is awesome...not too big and not too small, we'll get to know everyone fairly well by the end I'm guessing.

So...not a super eventful day, but needed as I'm pooped.  Heading off to bed now, we're doing a tour of London with a stop at Buckingham Palace tomorrow and then Les Mis at night, just Hubs and I.  Night, peeps!

Day 3 - Whirlwind Day

Evening...or should I say morning to those folks back at home?  Whew, what a day!  We're starting to get more used to getting around here on the Tube and the bus...Hubs had planned out how we were going to get around everywhere but we threw our plans to the wind today and mixed things up and had a long and very productive day out and about...or should I say oooout and aboooot?  Bah ha, Canada jokes.

On the schedule for today was to head down to check out Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and the Churchill War Rooms.  When we got down there, you could tell where most of the tourists were...jam packed with people, it was absolutely heaving.  Shoulder to shoulder with everyone, we took the requisite pics of ourselves with Big Ben and traipsed over to Westminster Abbey to check it out.  We couldn't for some reason buy these tickets online first, so we looked at the massive lineup and thought screw it.  We don't need to go that badly but because we were fairly early, we decided to go to Churchill War Rooms and then to the Imperial War Museum, which was actually what we had planned for tomorrow.

Churchill War Rooms was totally cool...it was an underground bunker very close to 10 Downing St, and it showed all the rooms and tunnels where Sir Winston would hang out while he and his cabinet made all the decisions surrounding the war effort.  Totally amazing to be there.  At the very end of the very well done self guided tour, there was a little book store and I was captured by a very small book in Churchill's own words about his love of painting.  He took up painting at the age of 40, and was actually quite good...this really caught my interest as he talks about the need for one to have hobbies that use a different side of their brain, which is exactly why I wanted to try a bunch of art projects this year.  Always using my logical left side, I've been trying to wake up the dormant right.  Me and Winston, we're down like that.

After the War Rooms, we headed to the Imperial War Museum which was absolutely massive.  Five full floors of a huge building filled with all sorts of war memorabilia, Hubs and I loved it.  However, we were exhausted by the end of it...one full floor was dedicated to the Holocaust...definitely not the most uplifting of subjects and I felt beaten down by the end of it, the both of us left feeling pretty tired.  I really felt myself moved by the stories and the pure awfulness of it all...heavy stuff.

Now sometimes things happen for a reason and today the planets aligned!  Hubs was looking at some travel stuff and saw that the Madame Tussaud's was opening up a new Star Wars exhibit today of all todays!  We hadn't initially planned on going there at all but thought why not?  Because today was such a full day already, we figured we would go down and pick up tickets for tomorrow as it's not that far away from where we're staying.  As we walked in, it was dead and at this point it was around 6pm...we decided to heck with it, rather than come back we were already there and we'd had a late lunch (finally had my fish and chips!) so we decided to just go in.  Madame Tussaud's is all grouped by type so movie stars, athletes, singers, etc. were all grouped together.  Now I'm not gonna lie...some of them are bang on (Rhianna was freaky in how much she looked like the real thing) and some of them...meh, not so much (Obama looked nothing like Obama) but we managed to get some pics of me fondling groping sitting with George Clooney and a melodramatic pic of myself with Jennifer Lawrence where I'm pretending I'm a downtrodden ally from District 12.  After seeing all the mannequins or whatever they're called, there is this kitschy "Spirit of London" ride where they go through the history of London with you, and then you head into the Marvel section.  Not knowing what to expect, we were led into a theatre where there is a totally cool 4D show where your seats vibrate, it feels like you're being punched in the back and they spray you with water!  Everyone was getting quite the kick out of this and you could hear all the kids squealing with delight and a huge cheer burst out at the end of it.  As we were led out, what did we hear...

*deep heavy breathing*

Knowing Hubs is a massive Star Wars fan, he could barely contain himself from sprinting to the exhibit like an eager little boy!  Now I'm not the biggest Star Wars fan, but I gotta say, it was pretty darn cool.   I even managed to trot out my acting skills for one pic that I'll save for my photo post to come...the attendants at that display got a huge kick out of it, so I'll definitely post it for your viewing pleasure.  So this turned out to be the perfect palate cleanser after a heavy day of war stuff, and I have to say I enjoyed myself way more than I thought I would have.

Now...the food?  How was the Lebanese you ask?  Not gonna lie...it was a meat filled delight.  It was absolutely packed at this placed called Maroush, but the line went quickly and we were in in about 15 minutes, and were tucked away in a corner table at the back of the restaurant which was perfect.  We ordered hummus and grilled halloumi for appies...the hummus was quite different in that it wasn't terribly garlicky, in fact I don't know if there was any garlic in it at all!  But it was still really yummy and we devoured it up with some lovely thin flatbread.  The halloumi came up next, which for those of you who haven't had it before, it's a salty cow cheese that is kind of like mozzarella but quite salty.  Totally delish.  For mains I ordered the lamb shwarma platter and Hubs ordered a lamb metzi plate.  Now most platters I have back at home, they give you a bit of meat with some veggies and bread.  Not this place...the whole thing was meat, meat and more meat, and while I was hungry, I couldn't finish it all.  We packed it up and as we walked out of the restaurant, there was a lady pandhandling so Hubs gave her our leftovers as there was quite a bit of lamb and halloumi left...I hate wasting food, so glad that someone could enjoy the food if we couldn't.

So today was a whirlwind day!  As Rick Steves advises, planning your trip ahead gives you the freedom to play things by ear, which is what we did and we had the best day.  Tomorrow is the end of our free time in London...we move from where we're currently staying (the Sumner) to the hotel for the tour which is just down the street (the Cumberland) and tomorrow night we meet up with the rest of the tour folks for a welcome reception and a night of food and drink.  During the day it's more leisurely with a trip to the London Eye and likely just some meandering about town but sometimes those are the best kind of days....looking forward to what tomorrow brings!

Day 2 - So Sleepy

Hey folks!

Day 2 in the UK.  Poor Hubs...he's having a bit harder of a time adjusting to the time change...the last time when we went to Hong Kong, we had no trouble adapting.  However, that could have been because of that horrific flight that we were on where we didn't sleep a wink.  So on that particular trip, we flew out at 2am in the morning and landed in Hong Kong 7am their time.  We hit the ground running and didn't go to bed until 11pm that night, so if you do the math we were up for 48 hours straight.    Almost delirious and so tired I felt sick, we slept like logs that night and bing!  The next morning we were right on Hong Kong time.  This time, not so much...anyways, it's not too bad and tonight we're already feeling much more in sync with the time change.

So on today's itinerary...Tower of London and the British Museum.  Hubs and I toodled off this morning bright and early and...well, we got a little lost.  Google directions for walking...not so much, people.  We got a little turned around and were going in the wrong direction and Hubs...just like a man...wanted to keep walking and I finally just said let's just go ask someone, for crying out loud!  As I walked across the street to a coffee to once again don the forlorn lost Asian face, there was a street sign that was pointing to the Tower of London, which was a short 5 minutes away!  Excellent.  As we walked in, it was just starting to get pretty busy so we gunned it for the Crown Jewels...now today's sights were my choice, so Hubs wasn't really into the Crown Jewels but even he was a-gog at them.  Seriously amazing and so beautiful, it took my breath away to look at them, particularly some of the crowns.  As we walked out, we were thankful we saw them first as the line up as we walked out was insane...it wrapped all along the courtyard and honestly, if I'd seen that I would have thought screw the Crown Jewels, ain't no one got time for that.  

After doing a couple of the other towers, it was getting a bit late so we headed off to the British Museum.  This place was absolutely amazing...like I said, I'll do a catch up photo post once I'm back home but some of the exhibits were awe inspiring, in particular the Egyptian and Roman exhibits...we just couldn't get over how intricate and beautiful some of the works were, and how old...I would just stand there and stare at some of the artifacts in wonder and true awe.  The one highlight of the exhibit for me was the Rosetta Stone...probably the biggest attraction of the whole museum, as soon as you walked into the Egyptian exhibit it was surrounded by people pushing to get to the front to take a shot. Not wanting to be left out, I sharpened my elbows on a few people as I pushed my way to the front and took some pics.  Hee hee.  Little asian, also little pushy.

So...food adventures for today?  After the Tower of London, Hubs and I were starving so we were hunting for some off the wall little place to have coffee when we came across this odd little coffee place called the Wild and Wood Coffee Shop.  It was the weirdest shape, almost triangular inside but the food was not bad (just sandwiches and pastries) but it was well known for it's coffee.  Ordering our usual americanos, they were pretty darn good.  For dinner, we wanted to head to pub to have a pint of a little somethin' somethin' and some dinner, so went to this place called the Grazing Goat.  A definite hot spot in the Marylebone area, it was filled with people grabbing a beer after work as it was filled with men in suits (swoon).  Food wasn't exactly traditional pub fare but still yummy...Hubs ordered a smoked fish on celeriac puree, while I ordered the braised lamb which was sooooo good.  Hardly gamy at all and extremely tender, it was definitely some of the best lamb I've ever had.   The one thing that really amazes me though is the cost of food in London.  I knew it was expensive but wow...prices are what you would pay in Vancouver for a nice dinner, but then when we double it for the exchange...ouch!!  Oh well, YOLO, right?

After dinner, Hubs and I decided to wander around our area and head down Oxford Street.  A mecca of shopping and consumerism, it was packed for a Friday night...it reminded me of a mix between Vancouver's Robson and Hong Kong...big wide sidewalks packed with people shopping their faces off.  I didn't buy anything as the stores were mostly the same as what we could get here (Forever 21, H&M, Gap) or not my style, but it was pretty cool to check it out.  We were a bit peckish after all that walking (and holy, my feet are absolutely killing me) so we walked one street over from our hotel and bam...we were right in the middle of one of the biggest Middle Eastern communities, with wall to wall restaurants with people sitting outside smoking hookahs.  Hubs and I just looked at each with big grins on our faces...as diehard foodies, coming across something like this is what we love...discovering places where the locals eat. Seriously, if you go into a Chinese restaurant and no one there is Chinese, get out the eff out of dodge...sweet and sour chicken balls a la Manchu Wok is what you're going to get, not the good stuff.

So tomorrow, we've got Westminster Abbey, a peek at the Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square and the Churchill War Rooms.  We're particularly excited about the last venue as both Hubs and I are huge war buffs.  And then for dinner...we've already picked out a Lebanese place to go.  Stay tuned...

Day 1 - Hello London!

Cor' blimey...she's alive!

OK...maybe that was a little stereotypical and I should be ashamed, but whatevs....I'm in London!   WTF, you guys are asking?  One minute you're talking about lifting weights and running (even though admittedly I haven't posted much on either topic lately), the next thing you post you're in London. Hubs and I are on vacation and we're doing a tour through Europe...this trip has been months and months in the planning, and last night we flew out of Vancouver and we landed in London this afternoon.  This is a pretty whirlwind trip where we're hitting a fair number of cities, so I decided that I would blog this trip...when I went back and re-read some of my Hong Kong posts (see here, here, here and here), I was like oh wow, I'd forgotten all about that!  So here I am, blogging from our hotel room.  I'm going to try and do this as much as I can (pending wifi availability) unless there are some nights where the pints may have been a bit too glorious to resist.  Teehee.  Oh...and you might notice the lack of photos.  I cannot for the life of me figure how to get pics off my iPad so I can post them to Blogger (I can feel my BFF cringing at my Luddite-like tendencies as she reads this) so for now, no pics.  Sorry dudes.

So where is this trip taking us?  London, Paris, Nice (including a side trip to Monte Carlo to watch some F1 qualifying), Florence, Venice and Rome.  We're doing an organized tour through Trafalgar because neither of us have been to Europe and we wanted to get a bit of a taste of what it's like.  We heard some good things about Trafalgar, so here we are.  

So...enough of that.  What did we do our first day here?  Well, before I start on today I would remiss in not discussing our flight here.  The last time Hubs and I did a long haul flight to Hong Kong, we seriously almost died.  We were in economy on Cathay and the seats were atrocious.  Atrocious.  We swore we would never do that again, so through some points magic we managed to accumulate enough tickets to fly business class on British Airways.  As part of this, we had access to the British Airways Club Lounge which was amazing.  There were tons of snacks, coffee and free liquor.  And I'm not talking about Crown Royal type stuff (not that I mind a good old Crown and ginger every so often) but 15 year old Glenlivet that you could pour as much as you liked.  Drool.  The piece de resistance though was the actual seats themselves...Hubs and I picked  two side by side pods so we could sit next to each other so Hubs could hold my champagne glass so I could gleefully take selfies of myself as I revelled in my luck and hummed strains of Fergie's Glamourous under my breath.  Kidding!  But the best thing was actually being able to lie down on a plane.  It was so awful on our Hong Kong trip...13 hours in seats that I'm sure is what it felt like to be put on the rack back in the olden days.  So amazing, and so worth it...it's definitely spoiled us for anything else going forward.

Once we got off the plane and through Central London to our hotel (um, holy traffic!), Hubs and I got freshened up and decided to walk to Harrod's.  It was pouring rain out, but we were game to get some fresh air and what's a little rain to us Victorians, amirite?!  We'd passed it on the way in, so we thought sure, we know the way!  Um, nope...we got lost and thankfully we found our way.  Now for those of you who have been to Harrod's...is it not the most freaking confusing store to be in?  We walked around and around in circles trying to find the tea room and finally I had to put on my best "help this tiny little Asian" face on and asked for help.  What is it with the no store directory?  And the weird rooms that link and go through other rooms?!   Anyways, we finally found the Tea Room and had the most amazing dinner.  We were too late for afternoon tea, so we had dinner there and ordered a nice pot of tea to share.  Seriously...the food was delish.  Hubs had a fresh pea soup with ham and devonshire cream along with a smoked haddock cake, and I had the traditional fish pie which was to die for.  I've never had a pea soup that was so fresh tasting, and the fish pie was full of smoky bits of fish, a very light sauce and the fluffiest mashed potatoes I've ever had.  First meal in London:  success.

Day one, done.  Tomorrow is Tower of London and the British Museum...and possibly a pint of something along the way home.  

Old Habits Die Hard

Hey guys!

Yep, it's been awhile since I wrote...life has been busy and I haven't been struck with much motivation to write lately, but tonight Hubs is out and with the house all to myself, my fingers were itching so here I am!

So as you guys all know, I've been loving the strength training...love being stronger, love learning lifting techniques, and love seeing progress each week either as the weight goes up, or as my reps get smoother.  When I first started, I had to email my trainer with what I wanted out of these sessions, and one of the goals was to change my body composition...I didn't want to be skinny fat anymore, I wanted to be strong like bull as Natasha would say.  While I wasn't looking to lose any weight per se, I was hoping more of it would be muscle and less of it would be fat so had told him I was OK with gaining some weight, as long as it was mostly muscle.  At that point, I was in a good head space...I wasn't weighing myself often and went by how clothes were fitting.  I ate intuitively, stopped counting calories, allowed myself treats when I wanted but made sure I ate healthfully most of the time...all was good and I had gotten over my dependency on the scale ...or so I thought. 

Fast forward ten months and all the strength work has made some pretty significant changes in my body which has been awesome...my shoulders have filled out and are more muscular (I actually have traps now!), my thighs have gotten bigger and stronger and I've even got the start of what I would call an ass.  Asian girls are NOT known for having Nikki Minaj-like butts (ain't no one gonna sing no songs about my ass), so anything more than a pancake is victory!  For the first time ever in my life at the ripe old age of 45, I was actually OK with what I saw in the mirror.  And I was thrilled with my progress...one of the other trainers at the gym saw my chart and was actually impressed with the weights I was doing for such a little pipsqueak!  All was good in the hood until I made a fatal mistake...I got on the scale.

Yep.  That scale showed in the last ten months, I had gained seven pounds.  What the what?!  Now that may not sound like a lot, seven pounds on someone barely over five feet adds up.  Now all the stuff that I had felt previously completely vanished...all of it gone because of what that stupid scale said.  I clearly was not OK with gaining weight even if some of it was muscle.   I panicked and tried on everything I owned and examined in great detail what I looked like from multiple angles...was that ripple always there?  Was this shirt always that tight?  I'm sure I drove Hubs crazy, asking him if I looked heavier and maybe I should stop strength work because I was getting too "big".

Yessirree...I hit all the panic stations and to be blunt, I shit myself.  I beat myself up over those stupid seven pounds and all the insecurities about myself and my body image issues came rushing back.  Thankfully, sometimes the stars just align...I was checking out some blogs and read this article about Neghar Fonooni and this article from Molly Galbraith,  Now these two women are at once, awesome and amazing...these gorgeous ladies are crazy fit and strong and have real bodies...butts and thighs, and even some cellulite.  Cellulite, people!!  And they look like they lift some serious weight.  As I read through these posts and others, I realized...why was I letting that stupid scale define me when I was happy before when I didn't know how much I weighed?

So eff you, scale...bring on the man traps, big ass and thunder thighs, I'm going to hang out with my friend the barbell and go lift some heavy shit.

Hello 2015!

Happy New Year, peeps!  So it's that time of year again where I post my goals for the year...not gonna lie...this year it was hard to pick five goals.  There's a lot of things I want to do or work on, but I wanted to choose ones that I could work on all year and ones that would "stick" or be meaningful.  Anyways, here goes!

1.  Read five books in 2015 that will blow my mind
OK, maybe not blow my mind...but expand my mind.  Ha!  I was thinking recently that I'm all about new experiences, but they're all physical...learning to swim, strength training, taking classes for Olympic weightlifting, blah blah, yadda yadda.   Well, that's going to change this year...to balance out all the physical growth, I was thinking that I wanted to read some books that might challenge my current ways of thinking...basically challenge me mentally.  It's all about balance, right?

2.  Plant a veggie garden
I've been meaning to do this forever.  FOREVER.  We have this patch off to the side of the house that is perfect for a small vegetable garden...it has a water source right there, it's fenced off to protect against the deer (which I love, don't get me wrong...but not when they eat all the veggies I've worked so hard to grow!), and it's a southern exposure so perfect for growing all sorts of veggies.  I started the process this year but alas...it wasn't meant to be.  But this year for sure, I'm going to landscape that patch and get that garden in it if it kills me.

3.  Do one random act of kindness per month
I was inspired to do this one by an article that I read in our local paper.  A mother-daughter team thought they would go out and do something nice, and bought a bunch of flowers and were handing out stems to people in the downtown area.  I guess people are suspicious of acts of kindness because they said that apparently a lot of people would run away from them and would actually refuse the flowers!  It made me sad to think that this is the kind of world that we've become.  But then I had my own run-in with a random act of kindness, which is kind of a funny story. I was parked downtown to take my dad to the doctor, and as we walked out I could see a piece of paper flapping on my dash.  I was immediately pissed off...how could I have gotten a ticket?!  WTF?  I wasn't even parked there that long!  As I walked up and took the paper off, someone had written me a very sweet note that they loved my car, and apologized if I had thought that their note was a parking ticket.  I laughed out loud and kept the note, and have it posted on my bulletin board at home as a reminder and inspiration for this goal.  And if I do more than one per month, well that's all good too.

4.  It's all about the bass
So we've allllllll have heard that song by Meagan Trainor, right?  If you've been living under a rock and for some reason have NO idea, here is the video for your viewing pleasure...



Apparently it's all about the booty now, which is very fitting for this goal.  No, I'm not trying to get a Kim Kardashian-like butt...which I gotta say, is quite the sight to behold.  What I mean is that I'm going to work on making sure that my glutes are strong.  ?  As a North American society, we all sit way too darn much which results in very weak glute muscles and shortened hip flexors...our glutes are supposed to be one of the most powerful muscles in the human body (read this for a great article)!  However, I remember when I was injured a few years ago, my physio pinned it on very weak glutes...she asked me to try to tense up one butt cheek at a time and I couldn't...I couldn't even activate the muscle and get the muscle to fire, no matter how hard I tried.  I've come to realize that weak glutes, tight muscles and poor posture have been the bane of my existence...almost every injury I have comes from something related to one of those three.  I'm working on the latter two, but this year is the going to be the Year of the Booty.  So how am I going to accomplish this, you ask? 

 - stand more at work (at least one hour of standing in the morning and afternoon)

 - glute exercises three times a week (clamshells, glute bridges, work with bands)

 - continue with posterior chain type stuff with personal trainer i.e. deadlifts, glute bridges

 - continue to work on mobility

 - regular check ins with physio re:  body positioning

5.  One creative project per quarter
Similar to the first goal, I realized all my new experiences were all about the physical.  When I was a little kid, I was actually quite artistic...I used to love to draw, and was one of the better artists in my class.  However, as I got older I moved towards focussing on academics and abandoned anything creative or artistic and it's an area that I'd love to work on building again.  I have a few projects in mind including a painting class and some other classes like knitting, jewellery or pottery, so am in the investigation phase right now!  But I'm excited about this one as it's a part of me that used to exist but feels like it needs to re-develop again.

6.  Bonus!  Complete an adventure race
Ha!  Usually I like to choose five goals, but similar to last year I've thrown in a bonus goal.  Yep...this year I'm going to do a mud run.

Say what?!

Yep, a mud run with obstacles that I'm going to have to traverse through.  I've been kind of intrigued with doing one for awhile, but didn't quite feel ready for Tough Mudder or anything that involved fire or electrified wires!  Then this year I was thinking about doing the Polar Bear swim to kick off the new year and...well, the weather has been unseasonably cold for Victoria and I jammed because I didn't really want to start the year off with hypothermia because that would just be my luck!  Feeling bad about being a jam tart, I was asked to join a team put together by the morning bootcamp gals so I did it!  Now I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not terrified...before I registered, I scoured the Facebook page for the Mud Mulisha run and looked at the photos...lots of mud, lots of scaling walls and other things that are completely out of my comfort zone.  But then again I remembered that saying...she believed she could, so she did...why was I already thinking I couldn't do it before I've even tried?  So I whipped out my credit card and signed up before I changed my mind.  Race is in August, so lots of time to work on my upper body strength.  Life begins at the end of your comfort zone, right?  Oh, and I'd better get that tat soon too.

love this!!

2014 Goals - Year in Review

 

Oh, 2014...how glad I will be to see thee end!  This has been the year of years on so many levels, and truly one of the most tumultuous, emotional, roller coaster-y years I've ever had in my life...was it mercury retrograde all year or something?!  I hate to start the year off poorly, but I actually recall last November I had this weird gut feeling...I remember thinking huh...I think 2014 is going to bite the big one, but I couldn't put my finger on why.  Well, now I know!  Almost everyone I know was touched by some type of life altering or life challenging event...I've had a very full year of dealing with my parents' health, and some days it was almost more than I could handle.  Health issues, marriage breakdowns, and a life altering car accident were the other things that those around me dealt with, and I can easily say that for most people I know, we can hardly wait to see the end of 2014...good riddance, I say!

But...because I like to look for the silver lining in every cloud (and a big black thundercloud it was!), there were some positives in 2014 as well...it wasn't all doom and gloom!  The relationship between my parents and I has always been relatively cool...my parents and I have never seen eye to eye on many things, mostly because I was a first generation child stuck between two very different cultures.  And as a bullheaded Taurus, I stood my ground on many things which led to a fairly rocky relationship.  However, this year that's mostly changed...while there were moments where my parents make me crazy (what parent doesn't, at some point?), we're much closer now and I enjoy having them in my life more.  Other huge positives in 2014 are that my BFF moved back into town after a three year hiatus, I discovered a new love for strength training, and we booked a European tour for 2015!  So all was not lost.

Anyhoo, enough of me waxing poetic about the trials and tribulations of 2014...without further adieu, here are my 2014 goals and how I did...

1.  Take Swimming Lessons
Done!  And done and done and done...ha!  I signed myself up for swimming lessons last January and signed up twice more for additional sessions of the beginner class.  Can I do the front crawl yet?  Not yet, but close...and I did achieve a few milestone things such as going into the deep end without any swimming aids.  For 2015, I'm going to continue on but I think will look at taking private lessons...I think a big part of my issues stem from not being able to tread water and save myself as it were, so I think if I can get someone to work on that skill with me and the front crawl, I might just get myself there!  But I have found that I love to be in the water, and am not turning back now that I've gotten myself this far.

2.  Take a CPR Course
Done!  I wanted to take this course because my FIL passed away last year and his death may have been preventable if someone knew how to do CPR, so this goal had a lot of meaning for me.  The class we took was awesome and I'm so glad that I've got this life skill now under my belt.

3.  Volunteer for a Food Related Cause
Fail.  Wah!  Believe me, I tried...I contacted food banks and other orgs to see if there was anything I could do, but most places seem to only need people during the day when I'm at work.  I'm going to carry this one forward into 2015 and have a few ideas on how I can get this one under my belt.

4.  Improve Mobility/Posture
All in all, I would say I did pretty well on this one.  At my last physio visit, I asked her if she thought my posture had improved and she said she thought it had!  Plus she commented that I had very good body awareness now whereas I really didn't before.  I had mini-goals under this heading, so here's how I did with those...

Foam roller the crap out of myself and stretch nightly
 - Check!  Almost every night without fail

Work on head positioning (dang forward head)
 - Check!

Stand as much as possible at work and sit properly (no slouching!!!)
 - Hmmm...I could stand more, but definitely sitting posture is better now

Work on areas of weakness to improve muscle imbalances (glutes, neck, upper back)
 - Check!  am currently working on these with personal trainer

Work with my physio regularly
 - Check! have been seeing her monthly to check in to make sure I'm moving well

Go for regular massages
 - Le sigh...sadly, no...hopefully this will change in 2015

Sadly, I'm still fighting injuries...ribs have gone out a fair bit this year, I've had a rotten niggling issue with my hip flexor/TFL that is driving me insane, and just had a foible at the gym and buggered up my lower back just before Christmas.  Note to self...never take a shortcut on warm ups!  One weapon I'm adding to my arsenal in 2015 that I'm hoping will help is a mobility class at PISE.  I've already signed up, but am hoping it's not cancelled as a similar class was cancelled last year due to lack of interest.  Mobility and moving well is so important, I hope people start signing up!

5.  Floss Once a Day
Done!!!  My gums are so good now that my dentist said he would have given me a prize if he had one.  It's a total habit now and I actually feel yucky when I don't floss.  It's like exercise for me now, just part of the routine.

6.  Jars of Awesomeness

Jars before:

Jars now:

sorry for the crappy photo, folks!

Done!!  I'm going to break open the gratitude jar on New Year's Eve (be ready for some waterworks people), and just counted the booty in the workout jar...$257 smackeroos, so on average about five workouts per week. I think I may actually keep doing the Jars of Awesomeness, as we all need a little gratitude in our life, right?

Woohoo!  So all in all, not a bad year...and I've picked up a few things that I think are going to stick with me.  Now the question is...what does this foodie have up her sleeve for 2015?  And what will I do with my $257?!?!  Stay tuned...

Six Months Later

Man, time flies.  I know, I know...I say that all the time, but seriously this year has absolutely raced by and I can't believe we are three weeks away from the end of 2014...and thank god for that...ha!  It's no secret, this year has sucked on so many levels and I'm glad to see the end of it, but I'll save that for another post.  Anyways, the other day I was looking back at the calendar and realized...I've been doing strength training for six months, so thought it would be timely to do a post on how I'm finding it.

Overall...I absolutely love working with weights, and think I've found a new passion!  I still adore running and it will always have a very special place in my heart, but I'm not gonna lie...there is something really empowering about racking a barbell on your back and squatting your bodyweight, or standing on the platform and deadlifting with the big boys...no little pink three pounds weights for this girl!  I've become a real believer in lifting heavy and am now firmly on the strength training bandwagon.  I never believed that weightlifting would make that much of a difference, but it's like night and day.

So what changes have I seen physically?  Well let me start by saying that I was definitely a cardio girl before...I did hours and hours of running and bootcamp, but was never really happy with how I looked and felt...I was reasonably fit, but still really felt soft and weak overall.  Case in point, I clearly remember a moment when I was running the marathon and I felt my arms jiggling like crazy and I thought wow...must work on that!  Anyways, when I started working with Graham, the goal was to become stronger and more muscular overall and if that meant gaining some weight or getting bigger, then bring it on.  I've learned to accept that I will never be the Asian girl ideal of a delicate, sylph-like reed, and will always be more muscular so why not go with it?  Anyhow, I've seen some really big changes in my body that I couldn't achieve no matter how much cardio or bootcamp I did.  My shoulders, arms, legs and glutes have gotten way more muscular and defined.   My back is no longer a flabby wasteland, and my posture has gotten way, way better now!  We've done a lot of work on the back, and when I asked my physio if she thought my posture was better, she said she thought it had really improved!  Small wins, people...small wins. 

Without further delay, here's the stats for some core movements that we've done from beginning to now...

Barbell back squat
start:  55
now:  115
I'm super proud of this one, within 5 pounds of bodyweight!

Barbell deadlift
start:  100
now:  120
At bodyweight!  This lift is pretty technical, but makes me feel badass especially when I'm around the men.  No delicate flower here.  I also love how this works almost every part of the body...I find this lift hard, but it's a great one.

Barbell shoulder press
start:  35
now:  55
This is a tough lift for me and I loathe it, but I do it.

Chin up (assisted)
start:  green
now:  purple
After months of struggling through negatives, I've been able to go down to a purple band.  One day folks...one day the elusive chin up will be mine.

Dumbbell Chest Press
start: 15
now: 35
I'm also super proud of this one too! One of my fave exercises.

Glute Bridge
start:  50
now:  118
It's alllll about the base...

Not bad for a noob, eh?  Of course, these results are not just me.  My super lovely trainer Graham has to take a huge chunk of the credit as well.  He's really good about pushing me but not pushing too much, and knowing when I'm ready to move on.  And of course we have some hilarious gab sessions in between sets, so it's fun even when I feel like barfing up a lung.  Ha!

Mentally, weightlifting has helped me to push hard and to learn to be comfortable going to those uncomfortable places.  When you're at the bottom of a squat with a heavy barbell on your back, it can get a little scary.  The other thing it's helped me with is being stronger mentally and not give up when things get difficult.  There were times when I was standing on that bloody stool in the middle of the gym doing negatives, sweating buckets and arms burning...when all I wanted to do was give up but I stood there staring up at the bars and had to really talk myself into continuing on.  So it's not just physically that I've grown, but mentally too.  And I truly believe that kind of stuff transcends all borders and helps in daily life as well.

Strength training, I like you.

Tattoo You

I've always believed that everything happens for a reason...not sure why, but as time goes on the more I truly believe that everything that happens to you is meant to lead you to something else.  I've been wanting a tattoo since forever and a day but haven't quite found the one thing that made me think "that's it!"...something that I wouldn't mind being permanently inked on my body and that I would never regret or get sick of looking at it.   Now a few years ago when I ran my first marathon, I thought that I would immediately dash out and get a tattoo but truth be told I never liked any of the running ones I saw and wanted something that was more universal than strictly running...basically something that was meaningful for me, and not just a "26.2" or something like that.   I'd been thinking about tattoos recently again as my friend B had just gotten one, so I'd been doing some poking around on the internet searching for ideas.  Enter fate, stage left...

My BFF and I were getting together one Sunday for one of our usual hen parties, and she threw out a suggestion that we go to a craft fair.  Now neither of us what you would call craft fair types...whisky festival, hells yeah!  But craft fairs?  We're not really tea doilies and homemade knickknack types, but for whatever reason we both love craft fairs so decided to head out on a brisk Fall afternoon.  So many cool things to see, and one of them was this awesome bracelet that my BFF picked up that had this quote...

I love this quote.  LOVE.  It has so many meanings and can be applied to so many life situations.  I truly think that everything is a case of mind over matter, and if you put yourself out there and try, you'll never be disappointed.  Sure, you may not be the best at everything, but trying is half the battle.  As this phrase rolled around in my head that fateful Sunday, I was texting with my BFF when I suddenly realized that this was the "one".  This was going to be my tattoo!  I could think of multiple situations where it was applicable, the most important one for me being the marathon.  Truly, completing that marathon gave me the belief in myself that if I could run 42 kilometres, I can pretty much do anything.  Case in point, my swimming lessons.  Now it's been awhile since I went into the deep end, so I was pretty scared a few weeks ago when I had to swim to the deep end with this teeny tiny little kickboard.  I totally panicked and freaked out.  I clung to the side, I was scared out of my mind...I was a little ashamed of myself after class I admit, as I was kicking myself for not trying harder and not being mentally stronger.  The following week I spent the whole day before the lesson worrying and truth be told, I almost, almost jammed out of lessons that night, but Hubs wanted to go to the rec centre.  Not wanting to disappoint him (yep, there goes that fear of disappointing others that propels me), I accepted my fate and dutifully went to class.

That evening at class, I went through the motions knowing full well that we were going to venture to the deep end at some point...not gonna lie, my heart was in my throat a few times.  Then the instructor gathered us up, and had me swim to the deep end with my trusty kickboard (which I swear is no bigger than a postage stamp).  Once we reached the deep end, he matter of factly declared to the class that we were going to swim from the deep end on our fronts and when we had to breath, we were to flip onto our backs and swim to the shallow end.  Oh...and Cindy why don't you go first?

As I clung for my life on the side of the pool with all eyes staring at me, I hesitated and thought back to that quote...it was now or never so I thought...well I can't really write down what I thought, but let's just say that it rhymes with "bucket" and I plunged in...and did it!  At 45 years old, I finally swam in the deep end without anything except a smile...and I have this quote to thank for helping me get over a huge mental Mount Everest.

Tattoo me.  Stat.

Ch-ch-changes

Well, looks like it's finally happened.  After many years of threatening to do so, the morning bootcamp that I go to three times a week at an ungodly hour (yep, 5:30 am, rain or shine) has been cancelled for the winter.  While I understand the rationale...it can be rainy, windy and cold and quite often attendance drops during these months...I can't say I'm not disappointed by the decision.   I've been doing these classes since 2008, so it's become a bit of a habit over the past seven years, and one that quite frankly has saved my sanity on many an occasion.  These bootcamps were the catalyst that led me to running and the choice to lead a healthier lifestyle, so I'm pretty sad to have to give them up.  I've come to really like the other ladies in the group as well and to be honest, 5:30am is the best time for me to get up and work out.  I know...sounds insane, right?  But life is so busy and after a long day at work, I'm not motivated to work out in the slightest (well, except when I go to personal training because I loooooooooooooooooooooveeee eeeeeet).   The trainers push me hard, and I've come to know that while I have the motivation to get up in the morning and work out on my own, I know that I absolutely work harder when I've got someone else there pushing me.  Plus I love the variety, and I'm happy to have someone else come up with the workout and I can just turn off my mind and turn on my muscles.  The other part that makes me sad about this whole thing is that the winter months are when we tend to...shall we say...put on our winter coats?  So cancelling classes during this time seems a bit counterproductive.  The winter months are where we work hard so by the time the summer rolls around, we're in shape for tank tops and shorts, amirite?!

So what am I gonna do?  Well I looked into many facilities and it doesn't look like there is anything that early.  My evenings are limited as I'm doing personal training twice a week and taking swimming lessons but it sounds like some of the other ladies are interested in hiring a trainer on our own and having her work with us, so looks like that could be an option if we can get enough people interested.  The flip side of this whole thing is that maybe I'll discover something new and different, like I did with strength training.  There's lot of stuff out there and with January right around the corner, there will be lots of new stuff starting.  So there's still hope so I'm just going to roll with it, and maybe as they say, a change is as good as a rest. 

Chicken Arms No More

 

Sooooo....a little confession.  As a follow up to last week's post, I somehow managed to not have to try a pull up at the gym this week with my trainer.  I know, I know...you're all disappointed, right?  Well, not so fast...last week I was admittedly feeling a little nervous because I had promised Graham that I would attempt a pull up, and to be honest I was shitting myself a little.  OK, I was shitting myself a LOT.  As you all know I suffer from extreme gymtimidation, so was picturing people all pointing and snickering as I tried to hoist my substantial body weight with these two stick things I call my arms.  I was by myself one night last week so thought hmmm...I have a chin up bar downstairs...let me see if I can maybe sort of do one?  I slipped downstairs, jumped up to the bar and....

NOTHING. 

*@(*(#*(*(!!!  I could barely even get myself out of the dead hang position.  I tried everything I could to pull myself up but I just couldn't.  Blah.  Disappointed with myself, I was dreading the next training session because I hate to disappoint others even more and was already envisioning the slightly pitying and somewhat sad look that Graham would flash me when I failed to even budge an inch.

As I headed into my workout on Thursday, I was a feeling a bit worried.  We started off with some lower body work, and moved onto supersets of dumbbell chest presses and negative pull ups (which I seriously despise).  I think possibly I had built up this week's imminent pull up failure to epic proportions because last week, I had completely sucked at the chest press...I'd been successfully pressing 30 pound dumbbells with each arm so had tried to move up to 35 pounds but couldn't even get the buggers into the starting position.  Graham is really good about pushing me so I keep progressing so suggested that we try again...I was a little hesitant but thought about my post from last week...way better to try and suck, then to not try at all, right?  So dutifully I tried again and guess what?!  I was able to get two sets of six reps!  My arms were shaking the whole time and he had to help me a bit but whatevs...I did it!  I think the headiness of reaching that next step gave me a buy from attempting a pull up this week, but methinks I may not be as lucky next week.  And who knows...maybe I might surprise myself?  Here's to hoping.

Where the Magic Happens

A few weeks ago on my way back from Maui, Hubs and I had a bit of a layover in Seattle.  Now normally I don't mind this...Seattle has a fabulous airport, and every time we fly through there I always stop by this cool knickknack store called Fireworks.  As I browsed through the store leisurely, I found these cards with all sorts of cool sayings and one in particular jumped out at me...

This quote really struck home for me.  Over the past few years, I've made some pretty concerted efforts to get outside of my comfort zone and force myself to do things that I otherwise wouldn't.  I guess my theory is that if you don't try, you never know what could happen...and I would honestly way rather try and suck than never try at all.  Case in point...swimming lessons.  I'm back in the pool again and this instructor is different than the one I took the first few sessions with.  He's hilarious, and pushes us just a wee smidge but not too much.  A few weeks ago, he announced we were going into the deep end of the swimming pool and I could honestly feel my tiny little landlubber heart shrivel up in fear.  Holy crap, did he just say the deep end?!  Dutifully - because I hate to disappoint people - I strapped on my water belt AND hot pink pool noodle and waded into the deep end, squelching the desire to complete lose my shit and start screaming, sobbing or some combination of both.  Admittedly, I was terrified...absolutely and positively terrified, even though I knew I wouldn't drown...and I freaked out and got a bit panicky.  As we ended our session and I headed back to the shallow end, I made a realization...I just swam in the deep end for the first time ever in my middle aged life!  OK, I had a water belt and pool noodle but I did it.  As I swam out, I felt a total rush that I had conquered a life long fear and I didn't die!  I didn't die, people!  The next week I went in with just the water belt and felt pretty comfortable, and then last week we went in with just the pool noodle...I felt a little bit scared still with just the noodle, but baby steps, right?  And it's hilarious because I think the instructor knew I was pretty scared so each session he comes over and pre-warns me so I can psyche myself up.  Ha!

Speaking of baby steps, even though I try to go outside of my comfort zone often, I'm not immune to being a big old chicken at times.  Last week I was working out with my personal trainer (also hired because I want someone to push me to the point of being "manageably uncomfortable", as he likes to put it) and one of the goals I stated I wanted to accomplish was to be able to do a strict unassisted pull-up.  We've been working on this since June, doing set after set of assisted pull-ups and negative pull-ups (which, if you've never done them, super duper suck and shred your arms to bits).  So you all know what's coming, right?  As I got up on the stool to start my negatives, Graham throws out casually that he thinks that I should be able to at least crank out one pull-up and hey, why don't I try?  Now I had the same terrified feeling that I had in the pool...as I stood on the stool and battled the conflicting feelings of not wanting to disappoint Graham by not trying but then the overwhelming fear that if I tried and failed and disappointed him anyways, I must have had that deer-in-headlights look because he relented and said OK...he'd let me off the hook this time, but as soon as November hit we were doing it, no ifs and or buts, young lady.  Afterwards I was a little mad at myself for being such an utter chickenshit, but mark my words...next time I post, I'll have attempted my first unassisted pull-up.  Yep, I'm puttin' it out there, folks.  Better to try and fail than never try at all because you never know, right?

Oh Hi

Anyone out there?

Yep, another long unintended blogging break...every night I would get home and think oh, I should blog tonight, but for some reason I just can't seem to sit down and put the pedal to the medal.  I went for a walk with Kyla from Early Bird Fitness and she said the same thing...it's been a busy, busy, busy summer on work and personal fronts, and I've been pretty distracted.  Sorry, peeps.

So what's new with me then?  What have I been up to this summer?  Well, I'm almost at the end of my 18 personal training sessions and I looooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeee iiiiiiiitttttt.  Super love it!  I don't know why I waited so long to give it a try...I love strength training and even though I was leery about working one on one with someone, it's been absolutely awesome.  The first little bit of working with a trainer is almost like dating someone new...will I like them?  Will they like me?  Will we get along?  Are we on the same page?  Luckily, things have totally worked out (I've heard nightmare stories that my friends have had with their trainers) and I've definitely made gains in strength and can really see and feel a difference.  I've signed up for another 20 sessions (poor Graham, he's really stuck with me now!!) and then will likely do once a week sessions just to make sure I maintain all the hard earned gains.  Not gonna lie, the workouts are super tough...I really have to push hard to get through some of the exercises and afterwards I look like a drowned rat with my hair plastered to my head and mascara running down my face but man, do I ever feel awesome afterwards!

Swimming.  Let's see...I took a break during the summer because I thought I would go practice on my own, and all I have to say is best laid plans.  I swam once on my own, so am going to sign up again for the beginner level.  I will learn how to swim and make it into the deep end at some point!

Hmm. Now that I'm typing all this, I'm realizing Fall isn't going to be all that slow either!  We've got a trip to Maui coming up in a few weeks (I can hardly wait to go!), a girl's trip to Vegas to celebrate my friend Christine turning 50, busy times at work, a very full workout schedule (bootcamp three mornings, strength training twice a week, running with Hubs one day and swimming lessons once  a week) and lots of busy-ness helping the parental units.  As the saying goes...no rest for the wicked, right?  Heh.

Big Girl Panties

OK does anyone hate the word "panties" as much as I do?  I don't know what it is but I've always hated that word...it just has this weird connotation and just sounds so...awful.  Ha!  Total fingernails on chalkboard for me...Hubs always teases me by saying it over and over and making my skin crawl.  Monkey. 

Anyways...this week I ended up putting my big girl panties on (ugh) and...wait for it...went to the gym to work out by myself for the first time EVER.  I know!!  Crazy, right?  As I've mentioned previously, I have a horrible fear of the gym and am so intimidated, particularly when it comes to doing weights.  I have nightmares of making an idiot of myself, but one of the reasons why I wanted to work with a personal trainer was so I would learn how to use the equipment properly, and figure how to set it up myself.  My trainer and I have had a few scheduling conflicts so there's a two week break where we won't be meeting, and I figured you know what...I'm just going to bite the bullet and go to the gym on my own so I don't totally lose what we've worked together to build.  Of course I chose a Friday night because it's pretty quiet at that time, Hubs was out playing hockey anyways and there's not a lot of people around to see me make a fool out of myself.  I was actually a little surprised at how many people there were actually, as I expected to be the only one there...there were a fair number of young guys working out and I kept thinking OK...I'm old, well past my bar star days and have nothing else better to do on a Friday night but come on!  Shouldn't you young bucks be hanging out at the bars cruising chicks?  Anyways...I went through as many of the exercises that I could do that didn't require a spotter, and I didn't increase the weights too much as Graham wasn't there to watch my form or assist if I needed it.  One funny thing though...I wanted to try the deadlifts on my own but couldn't actually lift the trap bar out of the stand it was on...it's not that heavy at 55 pounds, but it was awkward to lift out of the holder because I'm so short.  I attempted it twice and tried to look nonchalant when I couldn't get it out, all the while furtively looking around to see if anyone could see my failed attempts.  Trap bar fail undetected.  Whew.

So...pretty proud of myself that I went there and got 'er done.  Big girl panties solidly on.

Personal Training - Session 1

OK confession time here...I don't know what it is and I know one day...one day...I will get over it, but I still feel crazy intimidated going into a gym setting.  I know, I know!  I need to freaking just get over it and put my big girl panties on, but seriously each and every time I have to go to anywhere that is vaguely gym-like, I have to psyche myself up to walk in the door.  I went to talk to a local gym recently about a membership and even as I was getting a tour of the facilities, I still felt nervous and broke out in a cold sweat.  Somehow the gym still brings back horrible memories of high school gym class fails and even though I know that no one is watching me and judging, I cannot seem to get over it.  Confession over.  Ha! 

So I'm totally hoping that I'm going to like working with a personal trainer.  I'd been thinking about it for ages and finally decided to bite the bullet back in February.  I really enjoy working out in a group setting but thought that working one on one might be good for a change of pace.  I hate to disappoint people so tend to work way harder for someone else, I like having someone working with me because I'm a chickenshit and hate being alone in the gym (ha!) and because I'm more of an introverted personality, might find for strength training that a personal trainer would be better. I typically hate having any attention on me, but having a personal trainer means I kinda have to get over that.   At first I was wondering if I would feel uncomfortable being the only person that Graham was focussing on (and seeing me make my ugly I'm-calling-on-my-ancestors-to-get-me-through-this-last-rep face) but after the first class I realized it was a different kind of attention.  We're working together and I'm fairly certain he's not thinking in his head "holy crap, is she ever weak" or "wow, those shorts don't do her any favours!" but critiquing my form and thinking of things that would help me obtain my goals. 

Tuesday's session was actually technically the first session, but Friday was the first day where I really had to put the pedal to the metal.  We're doing a split workout routine so upper one session, lower the next so Friday's session was upper.  Exercises we did were:

Overhead shoulder press
Chin ups (ack!!!)
Alternating chest press
Barbell row
Cable pull
Upper back face pull
Hanging chair raise

How was it?  Well I gotta say...I am so very glad that the gym was virtually empty because my chin ups were pretty pathetic!  I pushed pretty hard on the shoulder press so when I got to the chin ups, it took every fibre of my being to do six very weak chin ups.  Blargh.  But overall, I really liked the exercises...they were all quite different than what I had done before and Graham really took into account the issues I brought up (upper back and shoulder weakness, posture) while still keeping in mind the goal to become stronger and more muscular overall.  Or, as he named this program "Buff"...hah!

So how am I feeling?  Yesterday morning I was barely sore, so I was wondering maybe if I didn't push hard enough.  I admit I was worried about overdoing it on my shoulder so may have held back a wee bit but lo and behold...today I'm sore like crazy (hello my old friend DOMS...haven't seen you in quite awhile!) and I can barely raise my arms above my head, but no shoulder pain!  None!  I might not be able to shampoo my hair for a few days in the shower, but I'm super happy and stoked about my shoulder.  Must be sure to tell Graham the good news!

The other thing I'm going to really work hard on is my nutrition...no use in paying for all these sessions and working out so hard to undo it with bad eating.  I hadn't really thought about it as I had figured that my diet is pretty darn healthy and clean since Hubs and I changed how we eat the past year or so but if I'm really trying to build muscle Graham suggested I need to up my protein intake to around 1 gram per pound of body weight...nutrition is key to building muscle.  One gram per pound means 120 grams of protein per day which is quite a lot but if that's what it takes, that what it takes.  I figure if I'm spending all this time and money on these sessions, that to see the full effect of the training I should do what it takes to reach my goals so protein shakes, here I come!

Soooo...Tuesday is lower body.  Excited to see what the workout will be!

Fresh Start

Where to start, where to start...I guess I should start with an apology for my lack of bloggingness lately!  Things have been crazy the past few months with a change in work duties, parental health issues and just general overall life, and I seemed to have lost my mojo for blogging.  And I have to apologize to all those amazing bloggers out there for my lack of commenting...I've been keeping up on blogs through Feedly and there's no ability to comment easily, so I read and don't comment and I feel awful, like some creepy lurker.  Ha!  But I'm still keeping up on the goings on, and sending my support and love to you all.

So what's new with me?  Still at the swimming...I am determined...determined...to learn how to do the front crawl if it kills me!  I fully admit that I was getting incredibly frustrated because I was not getting it.  What has me stumped?  How to roll my body when I swim so I can breathe, which is a very important function when you're in the water, hee hee.  After trying and trying and swallowing more chlorinated water than I care to admit (ick) and getting frustrated beyond belief, I decided to pull things back and work on breathing until finally the last class I was able to sorta kinda do it!  Third time is the charm...this is the third time I've taken the beginner swimming class and hope with a little extra practice, I might go into the deep end for the first time, ever.  Eeeee.

The other thing that's new?  I finally bit the bullet and have signed on to work with a personal trainer!  I know myself and I work way harder when I'm working out with an instructor so figured this would keep me on track with building up my strength...left to my own devices, I'm way easier on myself than someone else would be.  I'm back at PISE, and actually had my first session tonight.  We mostly chatted to get a better idea of where I was at, even though I had sent the poor guy an extremely verbose email about my current physical pursuits and goals for these sessions...while I'm not looking to lose any weight (and am OK with gaining weight even!), my main goal is to improve my strength and become more muscular overall.  I'm back to being a bit "soft", shall we say?  I really enjoyed strength training last year with Josh and loved being stronger overall.  Anyways, my trainer Graham and I did some strength assessments tonight and I came up excellent in grip strength and flexibility (not surprising as I'm hypermobile) and very good for my age group as far as push ups...somewhere, somehow, I was able to pull off 21 good form full pushups from the toes and needed to eke out 3 more for excellent...not bad for an old bat like me!  We did a few other exercises like deadlifts and squats just so he could get a rough idea of where I was at with things and we dive in with an upper body workout on Friday.  Woohoo!  I'm pretty excited about these sessions, so look out for lots of verbose (tee hee!) updates on what we're up to.

TMI

Hey folks!  I know...I've been on an unplanned blogging hiatus, and you know how once you get out of the habit of something, it's kinda hard to get back into it...amirite?  I've had a lot of things cross my mind lately that I think man, I gots to blog about that but then when it comes time to sit down and put the pedal to the metal, the motivation leaves me.  I actually keep a list of blog topics on my phone...yes, I'm a little anal like that, but inspiration hits me at the weirdest times and...well, my iPhone is attached to me like another limb so in it goes.  I was going to write about something a bit more heavy and serious for my first post back after awhile, but I saw another one of favourite 'getting to know you' thingies and had to do it...HAD TO.

1.  What are you wearing?
Navy blue sweatshirt that says "BCSPCA" on the front and sweatpants.  I'm sexy like that.

2.  Ever been in love?
Yep!

3.  Ever had a terrible breakup?
It wasn't a terrible breakup as in "throwing vases at his head" kinda deal, but it wasn't great either.  Basically the boy liked someone else who actually happened to be another girl I was friends with, and he'd be calling her whilst hanging with me and apparently cheating on me with a different girl.  All's well that ends well though, as I ended up marrying that friend's cousin.  Happy ending!

4.  How tall are you?
Technically 5' 1/2'', but I round up to 5'2''.

5.  How much do you weigh?
Gah!  I'm putting it out there...121 pounds.

6.  Any tattoos?
None.

7.  Any piercings?
Double pierced ears.

8.  Favourite song?
Right now, it's "Happy" by Pharrell Williams...it actually makes me happy hearing that song and I can't help but dance a little.



9.  Quality you'd look for in a partner?
Kindness.

10.  Favourite quote?
"Someone out there is praying for something you take for granted."

11.  Favourite actor?
Hugh Jackman.  Dreamy sigh.

12.  Loud music or soft?
Soft.  Hate loud noises and am regularly telling Hubs to turn the TV down!

13.  Where do you go when you're sad?
My car...when I need to think things through, I always go for a long drive.

14.  How long does it take for you to get ready in the morning?
Depends...on a bootcamp morning, 30 mins...any other morning more like 40.  Hey, this mop of hair ain't gonna do itself!

15.  Ever been in a physical fight?
Nope. 

16.  Turn on?
Someone with sparkly, happy eyes that crinkle when they smile...I'm looking at you, George Clooney.

17.  Turn off?
Gnarly breath.

18.  Fears?
Heights and spiders.

19.  Last thing that made you cry?
Watching the winners cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, especially Meb's reaction...gets me every time!

20.  Last time you said you loved someone?
This morning to Hubs as he left for work.

21.  Meaning behind your YouTube name?
I don't have a YouTube name, but I do have a Twitter handle, Cindoise.  My friend Val and I were talking one day many moons ago and I was bemoaning my name as it invokes visions of Cindy Brady (bleh), Cindy Lou Hoo from Hooville and all things cute and pert and unsophisticated, so she started calling me Cindoise to zhush it up and to this day it stuck.

22.  The relationship between you and the person you last texted?
Hubs.

23.  Favourite food?
Sushi and all things Japanese.

24.  Place you want to visit?
China...I so want to do a tour there from north to south!

25.  Do you have a crush?
Of course.  But it's a secret.  Tee hee.

26.  Last time you kissed someone?
See #20!

27.  Last time you were insulted?
Ha!  Well a certain co-worker of mine insults me all the time, but it's always in good fun.  I can't remember the last time I was insulted for reals, but I try not to let crap like that get to me.

28.  Favourite piece of jewellery?
My wedding ring.