west side wanderings

hi!

the last two weekends were jam packed with adventures!

first a trip to LA to visit one of my best buds. much needed girl talk with a best friend + warm, sunny weather = a californian oasis that i can't wait to get back to.

we beached, we shopped, i ate a cheeseburger. what more could you want?

then last weekend a bunch of us rented a cabin on Mt Baker in Washington, for a weekend ski trip. what a blast! after a much needed stop at Trader Joe's on the way, we cooked big dinners, Cards Against Humantie'd, drank delicious coffee, snowshoed (YES! i snowshoed!), and spent a great day on the mountain before heading back.

i'm loving spending time with new friends from vancouver, and i'm finally starting the get the hang of this skiing thing. just in time for a trip to whistler with dan next weekend!

xo,
caroline

vaminos

sometimes we go to whistler on a whim on a saturday and i get home too late on a sunday to download you on the full scoop.

here's a spoiler:

i am going to be SO sore tomorrow.

xo,
caroline

west coast winter

another quick week, as interrupted by a mid-week celebration of new years! which was a quiet night on the west coast, by the way. i'm used to spending NYE celebrating with my sistas in chicago, so this time was a bit different. i finally broke free of those silly open bar parties that we used to go to in the past, and stopped by a couple of house parties to ring in the new year. the funniest thing is that we actually missed midnight, as most people in vancouver choose to spend their money on snow & water gear instead of televisions (myself included).

this weekend was absolutely gorgeous in vancouver, as the clouds parted and the sun was shining! sadly, this means our lack of snow hasn't been resolved, and there's no fresh powder on the mountain (save for whistler, who got a foot over the weekend). this week we have plans to get to cypress, so here's hoping we get a bit of what my family and friends in the US got this week :-)

friday was prime for some delicious pizza & beet juice cocktails before turning in early. on saturday the sunshine was just screaming for me to go play outside, so i dusted off the old bicycle and hit the seawall for a ride.

a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

this might be where i almost hit a tree.

i'm getting so good at bike selfies!!

honestly, i could fill a whole post with these photos.

after a quick coffee date with jennie & melody, it was off to a friend's for a delicious dinner he threw a bunch of us in his amazing apartment!

photo cred: @jennie

after dinner we wandered around main st for a few drinks. nights in vancouver are awesome since the west coast is so laid back. it's totally in line with how i like to spend my evenings: good friends, good conversation, & a few beers...all before midnight :-)

just how i like 'em: short and, uh...stout.

xo,
caroline

'tis the season...

...for family, friends, food, & fun.

so i did all of those things this past week.

i spent xmas in vancouver this year; and while i definitely missed spending the holiday at home with family, it was nice to have a low-key week. i went to a slow hot yoga class on xmas eve, and then went over to matt's house for dinner with his sister and two friends. don't get me wrong, my fam makes a mean xmas dinner, but this was a feast unlike anything i've had in vancouver to date. (granted, the majority of my meals are either scrambled eggs or sushi take out from the place across the street). matt's friends emma & josh did an amazing job prepping a local, organic, gluten-free menu of lamb, sauteed kale salad, smashed sweet potatoes, etc etc. not to mention our charcuterie appetizer or my very favorite chocolate diablo cookies. after that, i could hardly stay up waiting for santa i was so full! we all slept over at matt's and woke up early (ok...everyone else woke up early and i slept it) to open presents!

it's beginning to taste a lot like christmas!

i went home before xmas brunch to skype with the whole family. the little ones are legitimately the cutest things on the planet, and it was so adorable to hear them talk about their new gifts :-)

the rest of the holiday flew by, and it was back to work on thursday to finish out a short week. this weekend was awesome and low-key as well. there hasn't been as much snow as in previous years (so i hear), so we didn't make it back up to cypress again this weekend, but i'm looking forward to more snow in the new year!

the ski boots were lined up by the front door with care...

this saturday, matt, melody & i took the jeep down to bellingham, wa, for a day of USA shopping! we were able to mail some packages, have a delicious lunch (& ice cream) in downtown bellingham, and do some major damage at trader joe's and target. oh how i missed them.

americaaaaaaa, the beautiful.

kid in a candy shop!

this is better than a shopping haul.

this morning i turned off my alarm for the first time in forever (what a great feeling!) and then tried out a new brunch place with my friend james. although it was a bit out of the way, we were delighted to discover chorizo eggs benedict and pulled pork pancakes. all these yummy destinations have me very excited for my half marathon guests that are coming this summer!

see you next year :-)

xo,
caroline

up, up & away...

on account of the mild flu that kept me stuck indoors with no adventures last weekend; i'm excited to say that i'm finally caught up on the blog! as much as i'm sure you'd love to see selfies of me napping and eating chicken soup while looking miserable, i'll save them for another time.

quiet saturday from my sick bed.

so...let me tell you about THIS weekend!

thursday we had a little potluck for my team at work at a co-workers house. i made my mac n cheese for the first time in canada! it was delicious, with all of it's dairy-laden, meaty, gluten heavy goodness! also, side note: i work with the greatest people. 

on friday morning i woke up to my first vancouver snow!!! (!!!!!!!) it snowed ALL night, and all the fresh powder was SO beautiful outside my window when i woke up. plus, my winter commute is like TOTALLY awesome when there's snow outside. i seriously can't believe that less than 6 months ago i had a 25 minutes highway drive to work, and this week i threw on snow boots and walked for 12 minutes to the office. it's just the best life.

...it's off to work i go!

oh right, the weekend. friday night was really low key with sushi and drinks. saturday morning i got up for a sweaty spin class for the first time since being sick. gosh, did it feel good to sweat. matt and i did some shopping in the afternoon on south granville, and then i met up with jennie and melody for drinks and dinner at alibi room...where they have the most delish burger (that they cooked to my desired temperature...shhhhhh!!!). this morning we woke up early(ish) to head up to cypress mountain. 

cypress!

the mountain is about a 40 minute drive from the city, just a bit of the way up the sea to sky highway. jennie, melody, & i all have season passes; so it was a great opportunity to get some turns in...i needed the practice!

my fave ski bums!

i'm feeling much more confident in my ski skills after today! cypress is a little less scary and intimidating than whistler, as the runs (the green ones, at least) are a little less steep. 

i'l be up, up, & away...

our skis cuddling on the lift...as stolen from jennie

this week will be a short one with xmas falling on a wednesday. while i'll definitely miss over-eating and opening presents with my blood-related family, i'm so grateful to have such an inclusive vancouver family to spend the holiday with. (don't worry mom, i wont be sitting at home waiting for santa all by myself!)

xo,

caroline