Category Archives: Travel

“…And a Diet Coke.”

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I have spent years without drinking Diet Coke or my favourite, Diet Sprite, because I believed that the aspartame was a big contributor to my debilitating headaches. It probably was.

But damn.

Diet pop is so good.

I drank Diet Coke all week in Florida (albeit with rum mixed in…) and did not feel like I was doing something wrong. It only made me miss the delicious carbonated sugar-subsituter-y beverage.

The problem is that I’m a Pisces and we have a naturally addictive personality. I’ll probably go way overboard drinking Diet Coke, swear it’s the best thing ever, then completely go off it cold turkey. This happens a lot. It’s probably why I “need” to eat eggs every morning for breakfast. Eggs & Diet Coke. Just kidding. Maybe.

Anyway, I went to Florida over Reading Week and that was a blast but I’m back now so… that sucks.

I finally got to go to Hogwarts and see what all the hoopla was about. I had high expectations of the main ride, The Forbidden Journey, but it was kind of disappointing (and for anyone who has been on it, I legitimately FREAKED out when there were giant spiders in my face). 

I met Hedwig.

Then Adam got eaten by a dinosaur…

And I got hit by a train.

The rest of the trip was blissfully spent eating Pinkberry, shopping at the Under Armour outlet (never realized how amazing Under Armour is), and drinking at the bar by the pool.

x4

On the plane ride home, Adam and I passed the time by watching episodes of The Big Bang Theory on my iPad, which was our saving grace. I’m not a crazy-nervous flier, but the plane hit some pretty bad turbulence on the way back. It was the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced and my heart was racing and my hand was clutched on to Adam so hard I may have left nail marks. It feels good to be on the ground, but not on the ground in Windsor, where the temperature is currently 1 degree.  D:

What Summer is All About

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Today, I introduced Adam to the smoothie in a bowl. He wouldn’t put spinach in it (rookie mistake), but at least he tried it and he liked it! He added nutella though, so how could he not? In bad blogger fashion, I did not get pictures. But the pictures from this afternoon are way better.

We set out early on a 45-minute drive to Leamington, Ontario to go kayaking for the afternoon on Lake Erie.

I was about to make this lake my bitch. Or I was about to become its. After two and a half hours of power-paddling, flying over waves and trying not tip over, my arms didn’t work anymore but I definitely conquered it.

Winning.

Afterwards, we went to a little outdoor restaurant up the road called Freddy’s Bar & Grill where I had a glass of Pelee Island Pinot Grigio & Adam had a margarita. We split the hummus for an appetizer and it tasted so fresh & so amazing! The bread was warm, soft & garlicky. My only complaint was that there was so much hummus & only a little bit of bread. I wish they put some veggies on the side for dippin’. Oh well, I just took the rest home! For our main meals, Adam got a chicken club wrap with their homemade fries & I decided on a fresh garden salad topped with chicken and raspberry vinaigrette. It was so good! That’s what I love about non-franchise restaurants in Southern Ontario. They seem to take advantage of all the fresh produce available and make a good salad, rather than one that comes in a bag. And since Leamington is the official Tomato Capital of Canada, you can bet that those tomatoes were the first to be consumed.

After lunch, we hit up a couple of local produce stands where I bought 2 full bags of apricots (absolutely addicting), plums, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn and tomatoes. Then we hit up the most legen- wait for it- dary blueberry farm known to anyone (biased opinion). Klassen’s Blueberry Farm is like a trademark of summer. You have to wait so long for it to open and finally, it just did yesterday. I bought 5 pounds of blueberries & we split a blueberry sundae.

You taste too good to be real.

Anyway, I am completely wiped out from the day’s events & I’m about to lay down for a little bit before we go out again to celebrate a friend’s birthday! Today is what summer is all about for me. I have been working the craziest hours lately and haven’t really gotten a chance to just enjoy the outdoors & everything it has to offer. It feels great to be exhausted from having fun instead of exhausted from working my butt off.

I’m Back!!

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First, I’d like to get a few things off my chest.

Number 1. As soon as I enter Chicago, it’s like entering a time warp. I swear, the 3 months I spent living there felt like one week and the 4 days that I was just there felt like 4 hours. It’s insane. And it’s for that reason that I don’t have that many pictures to share with you guys :( Forgive me? Since this a healthy living blog & not a work blog. But I didn’t really do much healthy living either and I’ll elaborate on that.

Number 2. I am never, ever, EVER stepping foot on an Amtrak train to Chicago again. The ride there was 2 & 1/2 hours late, so I ended up arriving at 6:30. I forgot my water bottle & my pistachios at home & I was surrounded by all my junk so I didn’t feel like getting up & going to their snack cart. But I arrived, happier than ever to be in the city.

Sunny on the way to Chicago and rainy/depressing on the way back.

But the ride home?

I swear, Amtrak Wolverine is the Spirit Airlines of the railways. It’s absolutely terrible. The train departed at noon and was supposed to arrive at 6:15. Nope. After moving at a snail’s pace for a good 3 hours, the train ended up stopping for 45 mins. GRRRRR. Needless to say, I got home at around midnight. Swell. I watched 5 movies – Mamma Mia, Clueless, Knocked Up, Austin Powers in Goldmember & a Maroon 5 concert DVD.

Trying to stay sane....

So, eats in Chicago. There wasn’t much of any. I didn’t feel deprived because I was just go, go, go all the time, but I probably did a number on my metabolism. I somehow managed to healthify a Cheesecake Factory meal though! I ordered the grilled salmon with no butter or oil, steamed broccoli with no butter & a side garden salad with vinaigrette. It was still a monster portion though.

Breakfasts consisted of either fruit, or this most-amazing-froyo-evaaaaah.

Acai Blueberry with Coconut Flakes from Yogen Fruz

I was also reunited with my love in salad form: the summer-only Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad from Panera. We need Panera Bread in Canada, amIright?! If I could marry a salad, this one would take the cake. The runner up is the Luau Salad from the Cheesecake Factory which is like, a bajillion calories.

Other than that, I consumed a fruit tray from Whole Foods over 2 days, a Berry Fulfilling Jamba Juice, a couple licorice Scottie Dogs and a couple glasses of Merlot.

My body is now crying out for veggie-lovin’. And more Merlot.

I didn’t do much shopping except for some essentials at Sephora – Too Faced Lashgasm Mascara, Living Proof Thickening Cream & a peel for my skin. I also went to the gigantic Victoria’s Secret flagship store on Michigan Avenue. Victoria, I have a bone to pick with you. After venturing upstairs to the PINK section to find a new bra, I was quite displeased at their lack of selection, or no selection at all of bras in my size. I have a weird, pretty bad bra size & the fact that they called four other stores in the area that also didn’t have it, I was miffed to say the least. I ended up buying a bra a size up(a 34 A. Lifetime member of the IBTC here), but I got it for $8 in some sweet, totally worth it sale.

Why must you mock me?

I also went on a Segway for the first time in my life.

I.want.a.segway. THEY ARE SO MUCH FUN!!!!!! I thought I’d be totally terrible & just fall over, but it’s virtually impossible. The segway keeps you balanced at all times & it goes up to 12.5 mph (pretty fast when you’re just standing!) I went with Bike & Roll Chicago along the North Beach area. It was a totally amazing experience. If you’re ever in Chicago, I highly recommend trying it. It’s totally worth wearing a goofy-looking helmet for :D  Check out this view: All in all, I absolutely love Chicago. It has lead/is currently leading to & opening up some exciting career opportunities for me. I have a couple other things to share that might have to be saved for a post later today because this is getting to be pretty long!

For now, I’m going grocery shopping & making a veggie packed chili. But I also have some exciting recipes coming up that I have all planned out, so stay tuned! It feels good to be back :D

 

EnterTRAINment

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Coming up with blog post titles is a daunting task y’all….

So today at 11 AM, I will be commencing a 5 & 1/2 hour journey to Chicago, and I’m very wary of falling asleep on a train, so I decided to equip myself with some train entertainment. Ergo, entertrainment.

First, let’s talk snacks.

I’m not going to be moving around or doing much of anything. In fact, the most activity I’ll do, besides occasionally stretching & trying not to touch the person beside me, will be flipping the pages of an iBook. So therefore, I figured I won’t need that much fuel to get me through.

Grapes. Tons & tons of grapes.

A CranBran VitaTop

A little container of pistachios for protein. 

I also made sure to fill up my Sigg with cold – almost ice – water. I am not a lukewarm water drinker, so I shall try to prolong the coldness however possible.

I loaded up my iPad with movie rentals — Mamma Mia & Breakfast at Tiffany’s :D Plus, I have 3 versions of Angry Birds to conquer. I might need more than 5 & 1/2 hours :|

Hopefully the ride flies by & then I’ll get to soak up the city once again!

See you all when I’m there!