'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

downhill from here

sometimes (and it seems like almost all the time these days) you've got to take risks. 

exhibit a: your friends tell you that you'll need to learn to ski this winter if you'd like to see them, and you decide to commit, full speed ahead. the gear procurement was easy: one pair of skis, some boots and bindings, a new coat, some snow pants, socks, gloves...must i go on? re-visiting the impact on my canadian bank account is making me a little dizzy. 

quite a lucky duck to have such a patient ski instructor!

i digress. it turns out that it takes more than just cool gear (and great spelling skills) to be a skier. you have to actually get up a mountain and back down to be legit. so a whistler pass and one very patient friend later, i found myself on top of blackcomb mountain with only two narrow wooden sticks to get me back down.

all smiles at the top of the hill :-)

word to the wise: it takes an awful lot of hard work to learn to ski when you're no longer 8 years old. but in the afternoon after a morning of aggressive snow plowing, i finally (somewhat) picked up the skill set! and i am very proud to report that i'm not a complete failure! it will take a lot of practice, but luckily i have a season pass to cypress to work on it. and it turns out that skiing is a lot of fun and not actually really that scary at all! as long as i stick to the greens :-)

caught in the act!

looking legit but probably internally freaking out.

xo,

caroline

home for the holladays.

i ventured back to america last week to visit my buddies in chicago, and to swing home for american thanksgiving. per ush, chicago was a blast. dan flew in from columbus and we stayed in a suite at the public hotel chicago, with the most amazing view of the city from our balcony.

lake shore walks are only made better when...

...accompanied by your favorite people in the freezing cold.

city view from our awesome balcony.

clear blue skies in chicago <3

a chilly walk down lake shore drive, enough bbq to feed a small country, a million trips to yogurtland, and a flywheel class later, it was off to STL. but not before the biggest brunch known to mankind.

like seriously...this is disgusting. #america

i had so much fun with the fam, and was so lucky to have the gift of time. i don't think i've been home for longer than a weekend since college. i'm a lucky duck to have had the whole week to catch up!

xo,
caroline

while i was out...

november was filled with new adventures! thanks for your support while i took a little me time. i feel re-energized, and i'm back...hopefully better than ever.

while i was out:

dan came to visit, and we climbed two (yes, two!) mountains - once on a romantic grind date for two, and again with two lovely friends on the morning of thanksgiving (canadian thanksgiving, that is).

we look much happier than we felt. #almostpuked

post-grind happiness brought to you by starbucks.

heads in the clouds on top of the chief.

we went to spin, danced our hearts out with a gaggle of teenagers at a rave (yes, that actually happened), and rode bikes around the seawall. and, wild as it was for two lovers of routine, we tried a bunch of new restaurants (with some old tried and true favorite for good measure).

one of us wore enough USA garb for the both of us :-)

pretty solid backdrop for a bike ride.

mom visited vancouver too! we shopped, lounged, drank coffee on my rooftop, and ate at my favorite breakfast spot in the world...vancouver has truly nailed the eggs benny :-)

venti rooftop view with a side of coffee. 

i went to whistler (again)! this time on a ski gear procurement mission. my friends convinced me to buy a ski pass to cypress mtn (about 35 minutes out of the city), despite the fact that i haven't skied since the 7th grade ski trips to hidden valley. which doesn't count, btw. here's to hoping that i actually love skiing as much as i loved selecting my gear, otherwise i'm doomed to a life of being an apres rockstar.

caught the first whistler snow!

ski bummin'

last but so very not least, we went to tofino for jennie's birthday! a trip full of firsts for me: first time on a BC ferry, first time to the island, and first time on a surfboard. with two amazing coaches who helped me learn the basics (while eagerly pushing me out to sea), i was able to get up on the board in no time! it was so so so much fun and i cannot wait to get back out there!!

sunset ferry ride!

obsessed with everything surfboard-centric 

surf hair since '86

just a short week later i headed to chicago and STL to visit the very best of friends and family...and now here i am back in vancouver ready to start december (and 2014) with a new focused energy on creating my happy. stay tuned for details.

xo,

caroline

commit to commit.

i hate to say it, but i need a break. not a breakup, just a break. just for a month. it's just that our relationship is starting to seem like a chore...and it's not you, it's me. 

i used to love waking up on a sunday with a cup of coffee & pouring my guts out to the computer. but between moving, dan's visit, adventuring with my vancouver buds, and all the travel i have coming up this month...i just need a little bit of space to choose sunday hungover brunch instead of my computer. or maybe a slow hatha class to shake my body out when a weekend of hiking has me sore in all the right places. and i know i'm going to want to hit the surf in two weeks in tofino instead of lugging along my computer to post an update before (wet) suiting up.

it's nothing personal, it's just that i'm really busy having a whole heap of fun.

but i'll be back...on december 1st. i promise. and in the meantime, i'll give you a peak in to the last week so you have something to look forward to:

chasing the sun around the seawall.

lazy sunday mornings on my rooftop.

xo,
caroline

the best.

i'm really just the luckiest kid. this fall has been full of visitors, and i'm just loving being able to show the people i love all around the city that i'm falling in love with.

annie & audrey landed in the 'couv (thanks annie) on thursday afternoon and skytrained their way to my temp housing in yaletown, grabbed some food, and then wandered to the office to visit me. truth: we squealed and hugged and jumped so loud/hard/high that i think i truly frightened my poor co-worker who decided it was a good idea to walk out of the office with me when i went to retrieve my faves. i haven't seen the girls since july when i visited chicago for lollapalooza; and it seems like a million years ago. needless to say, it may as well have been yesterday with how quickly things pick right back up. it just is that way with soul sisters, ya know?

not wanting to waste a moment of "fun" in the city, i took the girls to cadence to catch a spin class before an amazing dinner at fable. (spotted: more than one member of the #vancOHA vacation sticking her finger in one of our three desserts to ensure that not a drop of lemon meringue went to waste).

sweatin' with the besties #thesweatlife

as much as i would have loved to stay up all night chatting & braiding each other's hair, i had to go to work on friday so our slumber party was cut short around 1am when i finally was able to calm my excitement down enough to fall asleep. the girl's adventured around south granville street on friday morning and then met me at the office for a yoga class & lunch with matt (lucky duckies, double whammy with that guy). the day flew by, and we met up with a bunch of people from work for drinks by the beach, and then did some shopping before yet another amazing dinner (this time w/ 3 appys and 3 desserts) in gastown.

cheers to fridays & thumbholes!

saturday morning we packed up for an evening in whistler, and had a quick brunch before hitting the road. squamish is mid-way up the mountain, and we stopped to hike the chief and grab a bite of lunch before heading on to whis. it was so fun to take the girls hiking; it's such an awesome experience to be up in the clouds, and isn't really something you can fully explain until you're on the trek up.

they were both a liiiiitle pissed at me at this point

it's just so beautiful when you're up above the clouds.

it's hard not to be balanced when you're all alone up here #breathedeeply

real life.

these two, i just love 'em

sunday morning took us to a much needed brunch at elements, one of my new fave spots with the most delicious eggs bennys. we also found purebread, which might possibly be the best bakery in the world. this discovery gives me hope that i'll at least be able to entertain myself on weekend ski trips even if i don't pick up on the whole skiing thing. #sconeloversanonymous

i'm a sucker for a pretty espresso machine & anything stumptown

sunday night was sushi night after we made it back down the mountain and had some much needed relaxation time. it was back to work for me on monday, and the girl's rented bikes to ride around the seawall and did some (more) shopping before meeting me at the office to walk to another community yoga class taught by (guess who!?!?) matt. what a gem, that one.

we grabbed an awesome dinner at a new restaurant that recently opened down the street and then cried about the fact that they couldn't stay forever (yet). luckily for us, i'm headed to chicago the weekend before american thanksgiving, so at least it won't be long until we get to do it all over again!

xo,

caroline

long strange trip

i really do feel quite awful about my absence from the blog lately. i've been so busy that i haven't even had a moment to catch my breath. so here i am, comin' atcha at midnight on a sunday, on the second night in MY BED! my real bed, not dan's bed or audrey's couch or a hotel room in vancouver/nyc/chicago or mom's house in st. louis, or temp housing in vancouver or a cabin in whistler. my bed. in my new apartment. exactly 4 months to the day when all my stuff was packed up from my little GV apartment this past may. time flies, eh?

the last time we caught up, i'd just come back from a weekend in whistler watching the gran fondo and enjoying the last bits of summer. that next week, i dealt with some mild to moderate apartment issues (long story short: there were a few quality issues with the apartment condition when i moved in, and i chose to break my lease and find a new place to live rather than stay in an apartment with yucky quality floors) during the week, which left me scrambling to find a new apartment before my stuff arrived from c-bus this past week. luckily my dad came in town that friday, and was a major help in finding me a new place (and one that i LOVE...just wait for the pictures) in record time.

so dad arrived that friday, and we had a great time exploring BC! on saturday morning we drove up to squamish in the rain and fog (about 45 minutes up the sea to sky highway) to hike the chief with mattie. the hike is an awful lot more pleasant than the grind...although still plenty challenging (right, dad?); and the views from the top are incredibly gorgeous, especially when you're way up above the clouds. there's 3 peaks to hike, and the 2nd peak involves a cliff that you can scoot right up to and look straight down. super scary, but also majorly exhilarating. that and mountain air in general just make me a really happy camper. oh, and yoga poses in gorgeous places. that makes me really happy, too.

some views don't even need a filter. 

way way above the clouds.

my dad also had the privilege of a matt corker yoga class (you should all be so lucky) at my local lululemon store in kits. i'm actually starting to establish a routine here, which feels really nice. between hot yoga, spin, a few power yoga classes here & there and as many hikes as possible combined with to & from's on my bike, my weeks fill up with activity really quickly. and it was nice to have someone here on west coast time to share dinners with and talk about my adventures; even though my adventures seem less and less crazy as i get cozy in this routine.

kombucha of the day @ the farmer's apprentice's might need to be part of my routine

after a substantial 6-day visit, i sent dad off on the skytrain to the airport, biked off to work and had the best present ever delivered to the office that afternoon...

my faves.

more updates on these goobers this week.

xo,

caroline

hiatus.

annie & audrey are in town. just let me have this moment.

best buds take on the mountain #vancOHA

back next week...

xo,
caroline

whistler while you work.

last week was the gran fondo bike race from vancouver to whistler, a 122km ride straight up the mountain. jennie and i hopped in the jeep on friday after work and scoped out the route (aka headed up to whistler for a weekend of fun). we had a few co-workers racing on saturday, and were stoked to watch them cross the finish line.

after devouring some much needed breakfast sandwiches on saturday morning, we moseyed over to the finish, realized we'd missed scott (#goalcrush); and then decided to hang out in the yoga/stretch tent that work was sponsoring. man, is the view gorgeous in whistler. #punintended

more like gran FUNdo #lamejokes

we spent the afternoon drinking caesers in the sun, watching the mountain bikers fly downhill, and even squeezed in time for some valuable comp shopping.

that night in whistler we met up with friends for dinner, drinks, and then some more drinks...and debauchery.

and sunday morning - er, afternoon - we were up and at 'em to grab brunch and head down the mountain back to vancouver!

easy like a sunday morning

xo,
caroline

FUN.

last weekend i stayed in vancouver for the long weekend. i'd been craving some r & r, and had an even greater craving to spend some time in my city.

my apartment lease started on sunday the 1st, and i decided to have a little gathering of friends before my stuff gets delivered later in september. (i'm still in temp housing in yaletown for those of you who are concerned that i'm sleeping on a yoga mat on my floor. that only happened once, and it was a nap.) saturday morning scott and i drove over to north van to pick up a keg, because if you're throwing your first get together in canada, you better believe it's going to be as american as possible. as a compromise, i did agree to get canadian beer from a local brewery called red truck. i'll admit, canadians know their beer.

safety first!! #redtruckbeer

afterwards, mattie and i grabbed brunch, walked down granville street for some shopping and then spent the afternoon reading and napping by the pool. i've been running wild in vancouver since the moment i landed, and sometimes i wonder how my life will change when the adventure inevitably dies down. even if that happens, i've realized there so much to keep me busy in this city that i think it'll always feel like adventure. i can't wait to move in to my new neighborhood and have so many new restaurants, studios, bars and coffee shops to hang out at. that and the ability to get up to cypress mountain in 40 minutes to ski before work, i think i should be pretty set. (so, yes, vancouver friends...i will buy that cypress season pass.)

saturday night mattie introduced me to her favorite sushi place from last summer, a little hole in the wall sushi place that i'm now totally obsessed with, and then i turned in early to prepare for all the festivities on sunday. i picked up my keys sunday afternoon, then laid by the pool before going to the apartment to prep. the boys came by and built me a beer pong table out of a side table and a wooden plank they found in an alley. thank goodness for candian boys.

saturday night sushi. @annieclaggs @audbeens - get ready

these guys. #love them #BYOTable

we won't get in to details about the evening, but i can proudly say that my canadian friends have a newfound respect for americans.

we had monday off for labor day, which i spent recovering, relaxing and hiding the evidence of the night before.

it was a quick quick work week, including a day long merchant/planning/allocation off-site day with a team obstacle course/relay race and a taco truck lunch delivery; hot yoga and an awesome awesome spin class, beers in yaletown with mattie after work on thursday, and a game time decision to drive to whistler for the weekend to cheer on the gran fondo.

get ready for some rad whistler updates this week!

xo,
caroline