Dream Wedding

Ok! Today is the day that I finally reveal where Rom and I want to get married! I think we may break a Guiness World Record for longest engagement as it's been 3 years already! Cute little Anatoli came into our lives before we had a chance to get hitched, and that's ok- I love him :)

When we went to Mexico we had full intentions of checking out some resorts to see if something felt 'good' to have our wedding at. Well, we looked no further than a resort that we were staying at already luckily!

Paradisus Playa del Carmen Resort is where my honey's company sent us for Presidents Club recently, and we just had the time of our lives there! The service was top notch, the restaurants were amazing (you don't even want to leave the resort- its just perfect), and the beach was a mere walk from the resort where we had beach side service for drinks (I suggest not eating the food by the beach as it isn't nearly as tasty as the restaurants that are in the resort- but please, get a margarita and have some spare change with you everywhere you go, as tipping is a nice thing to do for such awesome service.

We've already looked into how much it will cost, so all we have to do now is work on some financial goals before we start saving for our wedding day!

I must say, I did get used to having a bottle of champagne sent to my room every day after morning activities, I'm going to make sure this happens for my wedding too :)

Our rooms were cleaned up to 2-3 times a day, depending on how many times we came home to make a little mess, it was like they were watching for us to leave so they could clean up again..and look for spare cash. FYI to the wise: use the safes provided in the room if you leave money at home, we learnt this the hard way unfortunately.

This photo was taken from another room that we stayed in which was more of a studio. I think its just as comfortable as the rooms with 1 bed, spa room, outside hot tub on your private balcony, and bathroom that we originally stayed in since most of our time was spent in the warm sun by the ocean or poolside.

When all the activities were done with my honeys company we chilled by the poolside just a couple floors down from our rooms.

I could've taken a better shot of this now that I'm posting it for my blog, but below you can have a room with these beds that sit in the water. I'd love to walk out of one of these in the morning.

This is the beach I want to get married on. White sand, warm turquoise water, and smiling people everywhere. I'm so excited to have family and friends join us on our special day!

Yay, I'm sure glad I finally got this post out! 

To white sand, Mexico, and my ever so favourite Paradisus Resort. We'll be back in the near future.

With love, the happy couple who have been engaged for about a millennia now. 

Road Trip!- Healthy Snack Food

Once again, we are on our way to Lytton BC for some good 'ol relax time, as well as our rescheduled rafting trip that's finally happening this Saturday which I talked about in River Rafting Excursions in Lytton BC   We are very lucky that we may actually be making the very last weekend of my favourite Nahatlatch river run with Fraser River Raft Expeditions! They may run one more time next week but it depends on river levels. 

My giddy little heart is ready, ready, READY to go! 

I think the little girl part of me is finally growing up as I made sure I was home today to finish up the last of my laundry, and prep some food for the 3 hour trip to my grandparents- usually I come home about an hour before we leave to do a stressful last minute pack for the 3 of us  :) But not today!  

I prepared fresh fruit, vegetables, hummus, almond butter, and my favourite kale chips for the trip. My heart is so fond of kale chips. They're super easy to make, and a delicious way to get some greens into a little family on the road. 

The kale bunch was bought at Save On Foods this past week on sale for .99 cents and made the amount equivalent to a big bag of Lays chips. 

Oven prepped at 350f degrees 
2 tbsp of coconut oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Bake for 10-12 minutes

May I say YUM?!!

Another delicious healthy snack for road trips are Crunchy Roasted Cinnamon Sugar Chick Peas done by Sally's Baking Addiction. The way she makes this snack is by far my top favourite! Try it out for kids snacks etc. You can also try it with different flavours like salt and cayenne, and salt and pepper. 

For those of you who are waiting for little hints of my wedding I PROMISE I'll post tomorrow about it ;)

Just Another Busy Day Living The City Life

I needed to come and drop a line here on my blog today. No real content that I can handle writing about today as its been a busy one and isn't over yet!

I just came from a hair appointment with my SUUPER (yes, there are TWO 'u's because my friend deserves two 'u's) awesome friend and talented stylist Andrea who has taken all of my requests for colour ideas and made them reality- she also lets me keep my length, and for that I am forever grateful.

Usually I'm not one to post those damn "selfie's" but I have to brag about my hair 

We also are busy tonight because we have yet to celebrate my 2 year old baby's 2nd birthday, and today is finally the day! 

We're having a bbq at home with family; steak, salad and side veggies...Mmm, I'm looking forward to it. And because I'm a last minute type of mama with a million and one things on my list, I went shopping for my sons birthday present today too :) 

Ta, ta for now and I'll be back soon!

Life Hack- Exercise Part II + Exercise Music

I wanted to give you an update on this awesome workout I talked about earlier this week called HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). I'm so happy and excited that I came across this exercise, as I stated previously- I'm lazy! A full workout for me is literally 25 minutes in total- with 10 minutes of actual HIIT. I love stretching- which is the last 15 minutes of my workout- but I only stretch when I have to, so this workout is giving me good reason to do so. The day after my first HIIT workout my mid back was super tight so I made sure to focus some effort around stretching my back today.

The first time I did the workout was Sunday, and in my last post A Little Piece of Mexico I said I was going to do another workout but I ended up tiring very quickly (as of yesterday the bug has completely left my system- FINALLY, and my energy is back to normal- WOO-HOO!).

Since my son stayed the night with his 'Nan' I stayed up late reading a novel in the bath tub with half a bottle of wine- yes, half a bottle. Not a glass because when does this mama get to have more than a glass of wine with no kiddie around? Not often, so I take full advantage of my days when I get them.

I came across this article on twitter the other day and thought I'd share it as I had a cup of joe before my workout today and felt good doing so "5 Reasons to Drink Coffee Before Your Workout". 

Also, who doesn't like some good tunes when they workout? An excuse I used to have (I found it to be very logical) was I didn't have the right music to workout to, right? Who wants to workout in silence? Since I'm doing a hard hitting, 10 minute, sweat inducing workout I needed some hard hitting music to keep myself pumped.

Here's my NEW, and probably my very first playlist (usually my Mr. is my DJ- its still his music, but I'm compiling my own list from his tunes). I wanted to share it because I'm uber proud of it, and I think it rocks :)

1. Bad Kingdom- Moderate (super fav, and I will always start my new workout on this song)
2. Caller ID- Mat Zo (When I did a planking challenge last year I used only this song)
3. Hey Now (Arty Remix)- London Grammar
4. Pyrimad Scheme (Club Remix)- Mat Zo feat. Chuck D
5. Hindsight- Audien 
6. Karma- Sunny Lax

Since the workout only takes 10 minutes + whatever time you add in for your stretching this list is more than enough. Are enjoying this "life hack" as much as I am? 

A Little Piece of Mexico

The sun is out, Toli and I are awake at a decent time and I'm looking forward to our day. The only thing- is I'm still a bit off. I think this weird Mexican bug is slowly leaving my system, and making me feel like I'm not me yet. 

Yesterday I crashed at the beach with some family and new friends. Dehydration and fatigue took over and stayed with me for the duration of the night- so today I am making sure to start off on the right foot with some much needed supplementation, and exercise that my body is asking for.

My thoughts seem to be all over the place this morning as I want to write about so many things, but my fingers will not comply with a straight thought. I do really wish that I could've come back from Mexico to write about my trip as I had planned, but to be honest with you the aftermath left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. It doesn't mean the memories that were made aren't sweet. The sour taste usually leaves my mouth once I look at the pictures from Playa del Carmen.

I'm not sure if I mentioned that my fiance and I forgot our anniversary again this year- we said we'd make up for it while in Mexico. And I think we did a pretty good job of doing so.

Luckily Rom and I are both major beach bums, so our relationship is taken to a whole new level of awesomeness when it comes to just chillin in the sunshine. We started off this awesome day by catching some rays with beachside margarita service :) When it got a little too hot we'd just jump into the ocean to cool off and wade around. Once the sun started to set we went off on a little romantic walk around the beach.

Did I mention that we figured out where we're going to get married? I'll write more about that later on as its a whole blog post on its own.

P.S. Hows the workout going? I skipped yesterday as my back muscles were pretty tight, but I'm doing a quick 10 minute HIIT workout this morning right after this post. If you haven't started, there's no time like the present! If this has sparked even a little bit of interest I suggest just getting up and doing it before the thought leaves your mind.

Happy sunny Tuesday!

Life Hack- Exercise

It has been too long since I've posted! And I cannot wait another day (I like to start my blogs off on Tuesdays- but I'm having blogging withdrawls). So here is a post to start off our week after a long hiatus. My 6 day trip to Mexico landed me in the hospital shortly after we arrived at home with a lovely bug, 3 days in a hosptial bed, and a week at my grandparents to help me look after my ball of energy 2 year old son.

This is where I tell you how naturally lazy I am at heart- because I am. 

Not a hard feat to admit. I can laze around in the sun all day if life (and Vancouver) permitted me to. I love hiking, river rafting, biking and snowboarding a LOT but it doesn't mean that I don't have to muster up every ounce of energy and will to actually get out there and do it. 

Sometimes if I'm hiking The Chief in Squamish to the second peak I ask myself "why oh WHY am I doing this again?!?" And then I get to the top and remember how breath taking the view is from such heights. 

(this photo was taken during a hike I did in 2009)

I've been talking about something for the past little while and it went a little something like this "I'm going to find a life hack for working out that actually works!" But I can't take credit for this one- I found it on Facebook! 

Let me introduce to you a new friend I will be becoming acquainted to this week called 

HIIT

High intensity interval training. 

Yes, this type of training is supposed to take LESS time than the normal 1 hour+ that people usually spend in the gym- and get you results FASTER! The lazy part inside of me is saying "YES! Lets do this!" And the motivated side is saying the same. As a mother of a toddler who is at his most active, curious and rambunctious state of his life- I have to fit a lot of "me" time into his nap time (which can range anywhere between 1-2 hours). And in that time I usually; clean house, cook lunch, blog, try to incorporate 15 minutes of meditation, and workout. Now all of that happens almost everyday except the last 2 which are incredibly important to this mama's life. 

So if I can fit in a HIIT workout for 10-20 minutes just before he rises I will be one FIT mama! I'm looking forward to it- are you? Come try out this easy (not so easy) 4 move HIIT workout for the next 2 weeks. I know it'll stick around longer but it gives my mind ease to have a set date (and its also awesome to have goals to work towards).

Are you like me and have been looking for this all your life? I'm pretty stoked to try this out. Whatever can get this lady toned and happy is good in my books! 

Video by: Insane Home Fat Loss 
Website: http://sixpackshortcuts.com/rdm3

Please let me know if you'll be joining me on this little adventure by commenting below!

Out of order

Hi all,

I have to let you know I'm back from Mexico, and I came back with a bad bug so I've been in hospital. I haven't forgotten about blogging I'm just resting up and getting better so I'll be back before you know it. 

Thanks for sitting tight! I've got lots I wanna share with you!