freakin' weekend

while my friends left for a weekend at whistler, i stayed back in vancouver to get my life together. over the course of the week my dishes and laundry had really piled up, and you know that gives me such anxiety. although i had mega #fomo of the hiking happening up north, i was relieved to have a weekend to kind of get my bearings.

lo and behold, the weekend turned out to be the bomb.com. two of my former tech designers from columbus actually work out here for another retailer, and we made plans to meet up on friday night. as much as i'm always looking forward to catching up with old friends, i was totally not prepared for the feeling i'd get from these happy smiling wonderful familiar faces in vancouver.

dinner with beth & sok at six acres in gastown

i've been so so lucky to meet the greatest people in vancouver, and the ease with which the three of us just picked back up made me so happy. it's nice to spend time with people that just get me.

on saturday i woke up on a mission to get a bike! i went to two different bike shops in the area, test rode 7 bikes, and finally decided on the most perfect little hybrid step-through 24-speed! it's going to be my best friend, i can just feel it. i'll pick it up next week when i get back from chicago, and i can't wait to take her out for a spin!!

saturday night i went to a night market in richmond with sok and two of her friends from work. we had the best time...it was like foodie heaven! the night market was similar to what i've experienced in hong kong, but it was like a 10/40/50 split between ridiculous iphone cases, other things you never knew you needed & food kiosks! we tried pretty much everything: fresh blended orange/cantaloupe juice, tacos, grilled bbq squid, chocolate covered bacon, poutine, and that's just the beginning.

welp...see ya later.

this guy #tentaclesfordays

drillin' a coconut on a sunny summer day night

sunday morning i woke up early, unpacked (finally!) & cleaned the whole apartment. i spent the afternoon grocery shopping, food prepping, and indulging in a much needed mani/pedi. as much as i love wandering around engaging in all of the awesomeness vancouver has to offer, it's good to get grounded in routine again!

blogging to you from my balcony...hi!

xo,

caroline

the good life

i made it to vancouver! i landed in my beautiful new city first thing sunday morning with a checklist of important things to do. of course, i accomplished exactly zero of them (jet lag hit me harder than expected).

early morning coffee refuel at commune cafe next door.

my new accommodations are super awesome! i have my own little patio (that's where i'm writing you from right now)!! i'm now staying in yaletown, a trendy little neighborhood surrounded by restaurants, bars, and great shopping...as if i really needed an excuse to go shopping.

my new digs 

please pardon the mess...i'm still getting settled.

this week was jam packed with tons of activities. i started work monday morning, and suffice it to say that i am absolutely lovin' it. in addition to making a living, i also had to take care of all the little details necessary to call yourself a canadian. on tuesday morning i secured my SIN#, which is like a SS# for canadians. on thursday i opened up a canadian bank account. this week i'll go get my canadian driver's license; as it turns out all of the above are necessary to get a canadian phone plan! sigh. i should have all of those details worked out by the time i leave for chicago at the end of this week. it'll be quite a relief to be able to communicate outside of wi-fi zones...especially because i'll be able to skype via iphone on my way to work in the morning! this means real(ish) phone calls!!

speaking of no phone, i'm also still lagging in getting my work phone squared away. there's all these fancy little cords that i need to get, etc... anyway, i walked in to work on friday to find this little buddy in place of my phone:

i think i'm going to like it here.

wednesday was my bday! although i tried my very best to ignore the day, i was overwhelmed by the amount of love i received from all of north america. not only did i get flowers from mom & momma at work (which was mortifying), and the best skype birthday party of all times with dan & addie; i also had dinner with my amazing new work friends after the best hot yoga class ever. sounds like the good life, eh?

these'll brighten pretty much anyone's day

great friends, great dinner.

oh! and i also took an awesome yoga class at work on thursday which left me barely able to lift my arms & incapable of laughing without my abs aching all day friday.

life is like a bowl of fresh BC cherries...sweet.

xo,
caroline

om sweet home

to end my tour of the US, i spent a long weekend in STL celebrating the momma's 86th birthday and packing my life in to a human sized duffel bag for my one-way trip to vancouver! 

i flew in from NYC on wednesday night (the 17th) with a dozen doughnuts to surprise my favorite little brother when he landed the next morning. before i get emotional, let me just say that i'd forgotten how special it is to have the whole family in one place! With broseph and i in & out of saint louis for the last four years (time flies, eh?), it's beyond rare for us all to be in one spot. and since he's leaving next month for a year in paris, it's wild to think of how long it'll be before we get to do it again!

he'll never love me as much as he loves tres leches doughnuts.

i digress. after joseph landed, i dragged him out to breakfast and then around saint louis for shopping & visiting the littles before meeting up with mom for one last american family dinner. naturally we went to mission taco, which is legit the best thing ever. for you STL'ers who have never been, you'll thank me after you try the mexican street corn.

bacon pancakes for breakfast...

...duck tacos and the like for dinner. #fatkids

friday morning the whole fam damily checked in to the chase for momma's birthday staycation extravaganza.  broseph and i lazed by the pool all day before meeting up with everyone for bday dinner at scape (get the short rib). of course i outdrank all my cousins (i lapped ryan at some point), and we had the most delicious indulgent dinner (this is what happens when a pregnant lady orders for you...i was having matt & lizzie take vancouver flashbacks for the whole meal).

playing in the pool w/ my sadie bug

food coma cousins

happy bday momma <3

little brother headed back to dc bright and early saturday morning (author's note: driving him to the airport was one of the most challenging things i've done this summer #toomanyvodkas), and i spent the day lounging by the pool, playing with tiny children (my favorite thing on the planet), and packing for vancouver!

tough life.

while it was a short trip, there's nothing better than spending time with the crazies that raised me and i can't wait til the next time i'm home they come to visit me!

xo,
caroline

eat.yoga.love

i landed in the concrete jungle this past saturday, & hit the ground running per usual (in my nike frees, of course). after dropping my belongings at the hotel (which i highly recommend, btdubs), i met up with kristin for our fave meal of all times at the meatball shop. (word on the street is that we made a repeat appearance within 24 hours...such bold rumors remain unconfirmed at this time.) this week's store shifts were sunday - tuesday on the UES, an area i've never really explored before. it was great to see (read: shop) a new part of the city & improve my ability to use the subway without adult (read: dan's) supervision, since my previous trips have centered around soho and the LES.

stumptown coffee next to the hotel = weeklong sbux hiatus

quick jog past the flatiron building on the way to SC

after work on sunday, kristin and i met up again for soul cycle in union square (also my new favorite neighborhood). there's something so awesome about the vibe of an SC class. i love the way the mirrors fog up from sweat & heat, and the pack mentality of the ride encourages you to pedal your way uphill even when you kind of want to vomit.

home away from home

on monday i stopped for a yoga class in chelsea at laughing lotus. i've seen a huge improvement in my flexibility, balance, and connectedness (on and off the mat) since i started practicing yoga 4 years ago; and i can comfortably say that these yogis put me to shame. while i wobbled in and out of crow pose, i decided to set a goal of holding handstand for 10 seconds by the end of the year. wish me luck! i'm hopeful that creating a yocus (yoga focus, i just made that up) will help drive my yoging forward, instead of staying stagnant.

monday night i caught up with lisa for dinner at the breslin, where we had maybe the most delicious lamb burgers...like, ever. (btw, have i told you that canada won't serve burgers cooked any less than medium because of some crazy law? there goes my red meat habit.) i'm pretty sure i started salivating when our cute waiter man suggested medium rare. all meat jokes aside (i wasn't even trying this time), i'm so grateful that i've been able to use this travel time to catch up with great friends in great cities!

i checked out the meatpackng district on tuesday night before dinner at flex mussels with kristin. i'm not sure how i've never been to either before, and i'm certain i'll be back (to both). my columbus lovers out there will understand the craving i'd been having for lindey's mussels, and flex totally hit the spot.

i went to one last soul cycle class before heading to the airport on wednesday, and of course chose a light meal to fuel up afterwards.

shake shack is my one true love

...and madison square park shake shack will likely host my future wedding

my brother was in fact quite jelly donut (pun intended) that i hit up all our NYC favorites without him, and i knew there was only one way to redeem myself when i met him back in STL...

important personal item stowed carefully under the seat in front of me

xo,
caroline

p.s. to answer your question...yes, i'm still full.

Virabhadrasana III

otherwise known as 'airplane pose'.

i just landed in NYC after spending the last week in chicago! i had a total blast spending time with some of my best friends from wustl (including but not limited to a 6-night slumber party at audrey & carrie's); and i was able to re-connect with people that i haven't seen in forever! 

as is customary, we went directly to 'q' immediately after i landed on saturday (arguably the most delicious barbecue in the world, get the poblano cheddar cornbread); and spent the night gossiping and braiding each other's hair. carrie and i hit up a barre class on sunday (which was in a hot room and nearly killed us both) and an overindulgent brunch at elly's. luckily annie made a 12-hour appearance in between her two vacations, and we all got together for an excessively kappa dinner.

my accommodations had a pretty legit view

i worked short days during the week, which gave me ample time to sweat (ok...and shop) in the city in the afternoons. i subbed in for carrie at a volleyball game on north ave beach (real beach volleybal!!), and got my vinyasa on at both exhale spa & the rooftop of FFC gold coast, overlooking downtown. of course i fell in love with chicago all over again. the view of downtown from lake shore drive will forever be one of my favorite skylines (right up there with vancouver and hong kong). i also made it to two flywheel classes (scandalous, i know). as much as i am a devoted soulcyclist, i'm glad i was able to try a new spin studio in chicago...and i learned a lot! (the amazing music and instructors didn't hurt either.)

this skyline.

rooftop wariors (II)

rooftop warriors take flight

even though i've stayed in the gold coast every time i've visited chicago over the last year, i've never really had a chance to wander and explore like i did this past week! i'm so grateful for my new chicago friends for showing me the ropes out and about in the community!

rooftop yoging with new friends!

post flywheel with ayani & matt

xo,
caroline

have yoga, will travel.

today kicks off my two week tour of the US. first stop: chicago. but before i get carried away talking about my travels, it's only fair if i recap you guys on the happenings of the last week.

monday was canada day, so i lucked in to a long weekend. it's kind of weird galavanting around on another country's birthday, especially when you don't know the proper way to celebrate! a few of us headed to granville island (an awesome public market on a teensy little island under the granville bridge) to scope out the happenings. we did more shopping than partying (surprise, surprise), and i scored some super fresh produce out of the deal too!

<3 granville island

yummmm.

are you ready to come visit yet?

the short week went by super quick! some apartment browsing throughout the week, interspersed with hot yoga, power yoga in gastown, & spinning; and then a great going away mexican fiesta with my new friends! (yes, i realize this is kind of silly since i'm only leaving vancouver for two weeks.)

i'm mega excited to have signed a lease! i fell in love with a place last weekend (sorry i didn't tell you...didn't want to count my ducks before they hatched), and wanted to make sure i did a fair job of comparing other places before i signed. i'll move in to my new place on september 1, and will be in temporary corporate housing until then. as you can probably guess from all of my (not so) max discrete kits loving, my new place is smack dab in the middle of kitsilano; only a block from whole foods (yes, that was a determining factor) and starbucks (duh.). i'll be about 6 minutes from work via bike (guess i should get one of those, eh?) and four blocks from the beach :-).

snapped this pic while lovin' on my new hood.

my new address! don't forget to write :-)

i have to admit, i was a little sad to leave vancouver today! it already feels a bit like home...

hate to see [it] go, but love to watch [it] leave

 xo,

caroline

sorry for partying.

although i regret to inform you that i did not celebrate america's birthday as most of you probably imagined (shotgunning a bud heavy wearing an american flag bikini before competing in a hot dog eating contest with a mac & cheese chaser), today was a momentous and awesome day for me. i must apologize to america first and foremost, as the following events are essentially the definition of bad behavior.

america...sorry for partying.

i really had the best of intentions. i wore head to toe red, white, & blue, rocked out to "chicken fried" & "wagon wheel" on the way to work, and went to an #america themed spin class at my new fave spin studio in kits (@dcracooney, i'm looking at you).

no shame in this selfie #america

but even singing loudly to 'party in the usa' while sprinting uphill wasn't enough to forgive the fact that i said "eh?" organically for the first time in conversation this afternoon. or the fact that i signed a lease on my first vancouver apartment this evening!! and...AND that today i booked a one way ticket for my official relocation to vancouver. WAHOO!

but i did hum "god bless the USA" while making this walk home tonight:

i'm tellin' ya, this view never gets old.

xo,
caroline

good morning, america

from my nation to yours:

while i'm not sure exactly what i'm supposed to be celebrating today, i know for sure that i can celebrate having a long weekend!

blogging my <3 out at 49th parallel in kits

we're off work today for this wonderful holiday, which gives me some time to catch up from a super busy week/end with lizzie & matt. it was so much fun having family here! they were able to see vancouver during the week while i was at work, and then we met up every night for dinner at new restaurants all over the city. we ate italian downtown by robson st, farm to table deliciousness in kits, and tried the most amazing indian restaurant in south granville. suffice it to say that none of my clothes fit now (except for my yoga pants, thank goodness).

family loving in vancouver at sunset (aka 10:30pm)!

on saturday we took a free shuttle (vancouver, i love you) out to grouse mountain to climb the grind (round 2 for me, i'm contemplating making this a weekly sweat staple once i move out here permanently). while matt may have wanted to murder us, we conquered the grind with smiling faces and sweaty bods before devouring brunch and napping the rest of the day. when we finally surfaced that evening, we grabbed a "light" meal (somehow we wrapped up with a 3-course dessert) before turning in for the night. what a weekend!

grouse mountain adventures are the best adventures!

almost there!! (matt hated me double at this point)

xo,
caroline