Tag Archives: sunshine

Light

29 Monday Dec 2014

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Can’t think of a simpler yet more profound title to this last blog post of 2014.  WOW what a year it’s been!  Transforming is the best way to describe it.  Everything except where I live and the car I drive has pretty much changed in my life…and all for the better.  New job.  New, improved body (at last count I’m down nearly 54 lbs – 24 kg – since July 2013).  A healthier outlook on life both how I take care of myself mentally and how I fuel my body with nutritious food.  Incredible new relationships…lots of friendships and a wonderful romantic one too.  I simply couldn’t be happier right now and am ready to embrace 2015 full on!

So how fitting is it to wrap up the year with a post about LIGHT.  What we crave this time of year so hungrily…yeah, we’re past the Winter Solstice and it’s been gloriously sunny (and cold!) the last few days.  Slowly we’re pulling away from that dreaded “get up and go to work in the dark / go home in the dark” rhythm that can drive us crazy.

I recently got intrigued with light therapy.  I’m not officially SAD diagnosed, but I do notice the blahs and blues sometimes when the weather is crappy and it’s rainy and dark like it is so often in the Seattle area this time of year. It’s like living in a soggy black and white TV!  So when it’s nice out and not raining torrentially it’s time to bundle up and get out there (where are my rubber boots??).  No excuses.

And I’m getting up for work about an hour and a half earlier than I used to.  Keep in mind, getting up later was a well-ingrained habit of nearly a dozen years.  So snapping into a 5:45am wake up time – a time probably more normal than not for many of us out there – has been a challenge for me to get used to.  Combine that with shorter, darker days and it’s been, well, challenging.  And for those of you who follow along in here, you know I’m not a morning person by nature.  I’m just not wired that way.  Shhh don’t tell my new co-workers.  Faking it (and a little extra coffee in the a.m.) works wonders.

So, I recently picked up a couple of light therapy devices thanks to the nice people at Amazon.com.  Take a look!

Philips blueThis is a blue light sunshine simulator from Philips (check out the link in the paragraph above).  This beauty mimics the sunshine we crave on those bright, sunny, cloudless days.  What I like about it is you can adjust how long the light sessions last as well as how bright the light is.  You don’t (and shouldn’t) look directly into it.  Rather, I just keep it at an angle (like the pic; there’s a kickstand included) and about 18 – 20″ away from me on my bathroom countertop while I dry my hair, get dressed and put on my makeup.  My session runs 45 minutes and it shuts itself off automatically (but you can set it to run between 1 and 60 minutes as you need).  It also comes with a protective cover, and it’s small enough for travel.

Philips alarmNext up is the Philips wake up alarm with sunrise simulation.  It kind of looks like a headlight yanked out of a car, but it has a nice flat surface so it won’t roll around.  I ditched my c. 2003 clock radio/CD player and started using this instead.  It’s fantastic!  The light simulates an actual sunrise, starting a deep, rich orange and slowly shifting to yellows and whites.  And you can add a soothing wake up sound too (or just wake up to the sunrise).  It’s fully customizable which is wonderful.  You can choose how long the sunrise takes and how loud the music plays (or find the FM radio station you love).  Learning the controls is a little tricky at first, but once you do it a few times it’s pretty straight forward.  Want to snooze?  Just tap anywhere on the light surface and 9 more minutes is yours.

I also like how a lot of the menu buttons don’t light up until you get your fingers near them.  Anyone else out there get annoyed with those glaring numbers and letters when you’re trying to sleep?  And amazingly, the orange clock readout in the pic above is proven to be the least glaring in the dark…and the intensity will adjust depending on how much natural light is around it.  So when you’re trying to sleep, the clock readout is a nice, soft peachy glow.

Sweet dreams…glorious mornings…and Happy New Year, everyone!

Cooking Classes…Basque Style!

21 Sunday Sep 2014

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Flag_of_the_Basque_Country_svgWow.  Just WOW.  I recently discovered an absolute jewel of a French store with cooking classes in the wonderfully eclectic Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill, just east of downtown.

It’s Paris Eastside.  What a treasure this place is!  Everything inside is from France or is authentic to the French lifestyle.  The owner, Muriel, is a delightfully charming French woman who will welcome you like family when you arrive. After years teaching French cooking to English speaking tourists in Paris, she moved to Bellevue, Washington where she lives with her family…and has recreated the cooking school experience she taught in France now in Seattle!

Yesterday’s class was authentic Basque cooking.  The Basque region consists of two autonomous communities – one in northern Spain and the other in southern France just adjacent to it.  If you haven’t heard of this region or its unique peoples, language and culture I highly recommend taking a closer look.  [And never, ever call a Basque person Spanish as an aside!]  Yikes.  Although you will certainly notice both Spanish and French influences in the food and lifestyle.

Not only was the class ambience amazing with wonderful people (we were a small, intimate group of just 7 of us cooking with Muriel), but we also had a gloriously sunny, late summer day outside without a cloud in the sky, along with those long shadows and a slightly crispy feeling in the air letting you know Fall is mere days away.  So the shop doors stayed open as we cooked, letting the sunshine and fresh air pour in.  That plus the busy sounds of the city (cars, people talking and passing) and it was just magical.  Being in an intimate oasis mere steps from the hustle and bustle outside.

WP_000606We made 3 recipes – Piperade basque, a pepper dish which is like a very elegant egg scramble (although light on the proportion of eggs as you can see), served on a sliced baguette and topped with a little prosciutto.  Doesn’t that look wonderful?  Mmmm hmmm.

We also made Axoa (that’s “uh CHO uh”), a meat dish with cubed veal, peppers and ground Espelette pepper.  Sure, you could substitute another type of ground chili pepper, but it won’t have the unique flavor that this one does.  Ground Espelette pepper is fairly mild with a distinctive, warm tomato-y aroma and taste.  Nice to enhance the flavors of the dish, without being overwhelming or too hot and spicy.

Now, veal is a little hard to come by and for many it’s a hot-button, shunned food for lots of reasons.  So, we made a separate batch with cubed chicken as well, and each person in the class got to choose whether they wanted to try theirs with the veal or with the chicken.  I chose both to compare.  I haven’t eaten veal since I was a kid so I had forgotten it has such a nice, rich flavor, but I went for it…after all, “when in Rome,” right?.  And I gotta say, the veal version far outshined the chicken!

We started making the dessert first (Gâteau Basque – Basque cake), given it was the most time-intensive to prepare and needed 45 minutes to fully cook.  Oh yeah, that’s one dense cake alright!  With a wonderful crème filling of eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla…oh yeah we’re not here to skimp on the best ingredients or on calories here, people!  This is a rich dessert, so just a small wedge is all you need with a side of cherry jam.

A shared bottle of wine and relaxed conversation wrapped up our cooking experience.  Definitely going back again for sure!  Afterwards we headed down to Olympic Sculpture Park on the Seattle waterfront.  The sunshine was endless and sparkled on the water…watching the ferry boats going back and forth to Bainbridge Island, and the enormous cruise ships on their way up to Alaska.  Mount Rainier out clear as a bell, and lots of interesting and fascinating outdoor sculptures in the park.  When you truly relax and open your mind and drink in all the pleasures and scenery around you, you feel ALIVE.  At peace.  Balanced. And in the present.  How wonderful to have this park just steps from downtown!

By the time dinner rolled around lighter fare was in order.  Grilled salmon and sliced, grilled white eggplant (a first for me to try!) was just perfect.  And why not cap off the night with a trip to the Royal Room in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood for some live jazz and a nightcap?

Works for me.

Equinox Weekend

22 Sunday Sep 2013

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Funny how I started poking around online for “Equinox pictures” and all of my search results pulled up the car!  Hadn’t even heard of it before!

Ahhhh, the Equinox.  One of those turning points in our calendar where summer slips away for good.  I do love fall and the changing rhythm of our seasons but I also get a little whiney when summer goes poof.

Know those great days where you feel like you’ve had a whole weekend in one day?  When you don’t really have any specific plans and the day just spontaneously unfolds into its own deliciousness?  That was yesterday – Saturday.  And today just feels like a fabulous bonus day.  A day for laundry.  Blogging.  Seahawks football. A workout and some grocery shopping and food prep for the week.  Yep, that’s about enough for one day.

Yesterday was filled with late summer sunshine and that crispy feeling in the air where you can just feel Fall is right around the corner.  J and I spent the day over in his neck of the woods.  We were planning to go to a concert which was a fundraiser to save one of the old theaters in town, but we both were craving time outdoors – we weren’t in the mood to sit indoors, as fun as it would have been and for a good cause.

So, we grabbed a late lunch at the Buzz Inn restaurant at Harvey Field in Snohomish.  Damn, what a glorious day it was!  Nothing like relaxing outdoors (in mid September) in the warm sunshine and just watching small planes take off and land.  Not a care or a thought in the world.  And there’s a skydiving center right there at the airport so every so often the sky would suddenly fill up with skydivers landing in the field.

tandem_smallNow, skydiving is probably not going on my Bucket List anytime soon, but it sure looks fun…and watching the skydivers float by, glide in and land was relaxing.  That probably sounds a little odd but it was.

Then we drove to the Stocker Farms farmers market to poke around.  So much amazing, bountiful fruits and veggies…and local honey!  I couldn’t resist and picked up a small jar.  Oh, and a cucumber too.

Hmmmm, I’m trying to get more adventurous with veggies and incorporating them more regularly into my meals.  There was so much beautiful squash, plums, apples and on and on at the farmers market – I just didn’t know where to begin.  I knew I needed a cucumber to chop up for my salads to bring to work, but beyond that my mind was blank.  Oh well, it’s a start! Eating more veggies is one of the things we’re practicing in the Lean Eating for Women program I’m about 7 weeks into.  On the subject of eating local, one of our program coaches quipped, “buying tomatoes flown in from Peru makes about as much sense as flying there to crap them out.”  Too funny…and point taken.  When I’m at the grocery store I’m going to pay more attention to where the food comes from!  And maybe start shopping at a farmers market for fruits and veggies!

I look outside today and it’s like someone turned off a light switch.  It’s grey, cloudy and starting to rain.  It’s days like this where I can close my eyes, smile and remember the warm, sunny days and wonderful summer memories.

Drunk on Bliss…What a Weekend!

31 Sunday Mar 2013

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KMYep, there’s no other way to say it.  This past weekend goes into my Top Ten of All Time…so far!

Starting with INCREDIBLY fabulous weather!  When it’s pushing 70 degrees F (21 C) in late March, we celebrate here in Seattle!  Not a cloud in the sky, Easter the way we dream it to be…in springtime clothes, not in polar fleece and rain gear!  I’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating…we TRULY appreciate great weather here.  Everyone’s moods shoot through the roof and there’s a kind of ding-y and sensuous vibe in the air.  Smiles everywhere…people are waving and friendly…there’s just ZERO reason to be in a bad mood on days like these!

I wrapped up week two at the new job last week.  While I’m used to the ‘first day of school’ mentality given I work shorter-term engagements, it’s always nice getting the first few weeks out of the way to get my bearings and really start feeling productive.  The honeymoon phase is morphing into the oh shit/frustration phase (very typical for my job ramp ups), where suddenly it CLANGS loud in my head that I’ve got deadlines but I’m not fully up to speed on where or how to get ’em done.  I tend to be my own worst critic on not ‘getting it’ on Take One, so it’s a relief getting good feedback that I’m a quick learner in the eyes of others.

This weekend was blissfully full of time with family.  My cousin, her husband and their three kids spent their entire spring break here ‘out west,’ having flown in from Wisconsin.  They packed in time with relatives, skiing, sightseeing and topped it off with dinner at my folks’ house Friday night.  I was grinning ear to ear and walking on air the entire day at work, constantly looking at my watch! 

J and I spent Saturday afternoon and evening out enjoying the sunshine!  We planned on getting Pho at one of his favorite spots, but they were closed all weekend for some reason.  So what to do for Plan B?

Something infinitely more spontaneous and fun:  we hopped on the Edmonds to Kingston ferry as walk-on passengers.  What a GLORIOUS day to be out on the water…not a cloud in the sky and all the mountains were out clear as a bell, still thick with snow.  We grabbed burgers and beer at the Main Street Ale House (YUM) and later strolled around the marina, drooling over boats. [the pic above is of the marina…I shamelessly found it online; it’s not a pic from yesterday but you can get the idea.  And that’s Mt. Rainier in the background.] I am falling in love with this way to just do a quick getaway to a quaint town for a few hours…the ferry crossing is only 30 minutes each way so it’s super easy and convenient.  And once you arrive in Kingston there’s so much within walking distance and gorgeous scenery everywhere.

And today, Easter Sunday meant brunch at my grandmother’s retirement home on First Hill, just east of downtown Seattle.  Their food service is truly excellent, and they had 4 different stations set up serving everything from made-to-order omelets, carved leg of lamb with mint jelly and fingerling potatoes, salads, fruits, bagels, lox, blintzes…and of course lots of desserts.  WOW!  I’m stuffed. After brunch my folks and one of my brothers and I spent some time chatting with her in her apartment.  Grandma never ceases to amaze me with the new stories she shares, rather than repeating the same ones over and over.  She grew up in a very rural town in eastern Washington, the youngest of three daughters, and her father was the town doctor.  He visited patients in their homes either by car (which was rare for people to have a car in those days – this was the late teens/early 1920s) or by horse when the weather was bad.  She remembers as a little girl coming with her Dad to the nearest major hospital – 50 miles away – when a patient needed surgery…and how there were a ton of nurses going in and out of a particular patient’s room in the hospital once they arrived.  What was going on?  It was a nun giving birth!

Happy Easter, everyone!!

Beautiful Backyard

04 Sunday Mar 2012

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Yesterday reminded me once again how important it is to unplug and get away.  Away from technology, phones, email, texts…work.  I’ve been feeling the burn and burden lately, feeling like when I get home I have a second job to do.  Firing up the 6 year old laptop here in the home office that’s showing its age and taking care of more.  And more.  And I boiled over last week…see my The Ugly Crescendo post for the, well, ugly details on that.

But I’m doing a lot better now.  I know myself well and know that I always come back to center if I get knocked off balance.  Sometimes it just takes longer than I’d like.  Psst:  guys, take note:  women get “full” and overwhelmed sometimes.  We’re the supreme goddesses of multi-tasking, but sometimes we go into Tilt mode and need to empty the mental trash can so to speak.  We get full and just can’t give anything more until we empty ourselves out.  “Temporarily out of order,” as a good friend of mine likes to quip.  Sometimes the fix means a great girls’ night out, a little retail therapy or maybe a good cry.  Believe me, any combo of those works well in my book. Last weekend required playing two games of hockey in one day to really polish off the stress.

I’d love to take a vacation to truly get off the grid for awhile, but that’s just not in the cards for me right now.  So meanwhile I’ve been mentally – joyfully – riding the coat tails of my dear friend P’s latest (second!) trip to Belize, savoring her photography and stories along the way.  Feast your eyes on her travel website and get inspired to plan your own adventure! 

Tuesday night was a girls’ night mani/pedi at Medina Nails in Bellevue.  My former co-worker L and I sometimes just look at eachother and laugh at how we’ve become friends after a rocky start on a job in a cramped, tiny office a couple of years ago.  GEEZ was that nearly two years ago?  Yep.  Getting a mini massage on the ol’ tired arms and legs and some badly-overdue clean up and prettying of the nails was pure bliss.

Yesterday – Saturday – meant a little more work. Our annual HOA meeting – a requirement in the first quarter of every calendar year – and later finishing up my taxes.  I was very pleasantly surprised at the size of my refund.  2011 was my first year with additional income from self employment…my Silpada jewelry business commissions plus some additional 1099-type income working on a project for my friend A’s consulting business.  I figured those (yet untaxed) dollar amounts would trump a lot of the refund amount, but the final numbers tell a pretty happy story. 

THEN it was time to unplug.  Nope, no out of town vacations coming up for me, but it sure felt like a vacation getting outside for a long walk with my new friend D and her adorable dog too!  We each live in Kirkland, but in different parts of town.  We decided to meet at a park she had never explored, and one I had not walked through literally in years!  Juanita Bay Park in Kirkland! 

This park is such a treasure…and why I call it a Beautiful Backyard.  For it’s just a 5 minute drive from my house and like escaping into another world.  The preserved wetlands and walking trails are absolutely fascinating.  I read somewhere the park used to be a golf course back in the 1930s…it seems a little hilly for a golf course but then again I don’t golf.  I love the wooden boardwalks over the wetlands.  Turtles, muskrats, beavers, blue herons…and if you’re lucky when you look up you can see bald eagles soaring over the lake or perched proudly in the trees.  D and I were lucky yesterday and saw two.  The sun was warm on our backs while the wind off the lake was a little chilly.  I remember when I used to live about a mile down the street from this park and would visit it often, back in the late 1990s.  How fun to relish the park 12 years later with a new friend!

We admired the beautiful lake views, the blue sky and spotted a few kite surfers practicing over at an adjacent park a short walk away.  So we had to go check that out!  This looks totally amazing and I might need to try it someday.  In much warmer water or with a great wetsuit.  Brrrr.

The trees were a mix of bare branches and a few brave ones already in full, pink bloom.  D gasped as she looked up – what was she looking at?  There sat a beautiful humming bird in a tree.  How rare to see them sitting still!

I felt completely refreshed after that walk.  Being outside and getting some exercise with great company cures just about everything.  I’m inspired to do more walking to get back in better shape this year – the “stress pounds” from a few years ago are getting old. 

And D has recommended another great book about finding our strengths.  I can’t wait to dig in.

Vitamin Rambling

30 Sunday Oct 2011

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I rolled around in my bed this morning, feeling so rested and so lazy too.  And laughed at myself when I realized it was 10:30am!  What a lazy butt I can be.

Reflecting on this past week…I have a lot to be thankful for.  I feel happy, energized, confident…not that I wasn’t before but I’m feeling that inner surge and whooshing around that just makes me feel, well, happy!  I DID start taking vitamins more regularly – is that one of the reasons, or just a coincidence? 

I usually take a couple of fish oil capsules every morning – they say those extra Omega 3s are good for your brain and digestion so it couldn’t hurt.  I like the unscented ones because while I love fish I don’t need to start off my day with my breath smelling like it. 

And when cleaning out a drawer in my bathroom I discovered a jar of Vitamin D that I’d forgotten about.  Expiration date’s still aways in the future so into the routine she goes too.  Where else do we get Vitamin D besides some daily sun exposure?  Milk?  And mushrooms I think (sounds strange though)?  Well, around here daily sun exposure is non-existent and laughable to attempt, especially this time of year.  I don’t drink milk either (though I never met a cheese I did not love, but does cheese have vitamin D in it?  It must if it’s made with milk, right?).  

And…good ol’ Vitamin C.  Doesn’t hurt to pop a couple of those every day as we head into the winter flu season.   I’ve already had a cold since starting this new job and earlier this year I had that cough that lingered easily two months.  No more of that, thankyouverymuch. 

What else did I find in that bathroom drawer?  Some multi-vitamins.  Jar half empty and expiration date still OK (I am VERY anal about pull dates on food/vitamins/you name it.  They’re there for a reason!) 

NOW I remember why I stopped taking those.  They upset my stomach no matter how much extra water I’d drink after taking them.  I’d feel like I was going to puke on my drive to work.  Not fun.  But I decided to try eating a little bit more in the morning (I’m usually so rushed I have a quick wedge of cheese and that’s it till lunch time).  Anyway as I ramble here, I’m trying to allow just a few extra minutes in my morning routine to take these vitamins with a ton of water…and I feel great!  Is it just psychological?  On the other hand, the stupid bruise on my knee is finally going away (don’t ever bump into your dishwasher when it’s open – just sayin), and some of the sharp knee pain I’ve experienced occasionally – recently – going up or down stairs has vanished.  I slowly, carefully, knock on wood about that. I figured the knee pain was a reminder that I need to lose weight AND that I am not getting any younger.

So we’ll leave that alone for now.  I rolled out of bed yesterday and headed to my favorite spa for a little, ummm, maintenance.  And I actually got there early enough to head into the Starbucks across the street and relax a little.  Lo and behold I had a Starbucks gift card hiding deep in my wallet I’d completely forgotten about!  Bonus! 

I tried my first ever salted caramel mocha.  With half the usual chocolate as someone suggested.  Delicious!  I sat outside at one of the small tables, browsed Facebook on my phone and just savored my coffee.  This is freakin’ late October, people, and it’s sunny and I’m sitting outside enjoying the changing leaves, slight breeze, and a beautiful view of Lake Washington.  Amazing!

I’ve known my esthetician, M, for probably 10 years and she is wonderful to chat with.  As we were waiting for the eyebrow tint to work its magic she said you HAVE to come check out the knitware we have in the front of the spa.  It’s flying off the shelves and the prices are amazing (amazing as in low, ha ha). 

Sure enough…a few minutes later I picked up a black infinity scarf and a medium grey toque with a fleur de lis design in grey bling on one side.  LOVE IT!  I loved it so much I immediately cut off the tags and wore it running errands the rest of the afternoon.  Perfect new fall accessories!  And they were $40 total – yes for both!  If you haven’t tried an infinity scarf, check them out.  It’s a scarf that’s in one continuous loop – so easy to just plop on and it always looks great!  And doesn’t fall off either.  I actually have this one on its way in the silvery knit from the nice people at Nordstrom.  It will go perfect with my new toque!

Now it’s time to get caught up on reading, cook up some chicken for an early dinner and get ready for hockey later tonight.   Best way ever to wrap up a weekend!

Sunshine, Iced Coffee, Billionaires and Pedicures

21 Sunday Aug 2011

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Finally.  Sweet, glorious summer.  REAL summer.

Excuse my 5th generation Seattle bias, but when the sun shines here, there’s nowhere on Earth more beautiful.  I snapped this picture with my phone killing time before my pedicure yesterday.  One of those blissfully indulgent Saturdays where that was the only thing on my to-do list.  Rough life, right?

And look at that view.  This is the marina at Carillon Point in Kirkland, WA, just about a 10 minute drive from my house.  It was a postcard-perfect day…and while it’s hard to see in the picture, you can barely see the outline of the Olympic Mountains along the horizon toward the right.  If it was a little less hazy they would have been out and proud, sprinkled in snow.  That’s Lake Washington, looking west toward Seattle.  All glisten-y.

My pedicure was not until 4pm so I had about an hour to walk around and drink in the sun and the view.  Carillon Point is a wonderful collection of shops and restaurants along the marina, and there’s a very nice hotel and spa too.  I grabbed an iced coffee at the Starbucks and just let myself mentally unwind.  And remember.

This place is so deeply steeped in memories.  How many hairstyles did I go through over the 10 years the hair salon was here?  I remember my brother and sister-in-law’s rehearsal dinner in 1997, in a gorgeous room with a view just like that picture.  And I was chosen to participate in a Neiman Marcus focus group here a few years ago – a bunch of us met in a conference room in one of the office buildings.    

I walked out onto the dock as far as I could, looking out over the water, feeling the warm breeze wash over me. Huge boats. This is where I had a first kiss with my then-boyfriend in 2000.  Wow…ten years ago!  I thought back on all of that, my mind floating, then suddenly heard a large whooping and cheering back on the marina steps.  What was it?  Oh, there was a wedding going on too – this place is hugely popular for that!

Later I strolled back to the marina steps and watched kayackers paddling along.  For all gorgeous the weather was, the lake was pretty choppy.  I giggled to myself, remembering probably one of the most original first dates I’ve ever been on.  This was around 2005ish I think.  I met D online and after some emailing and talking on the phone he asked me to dinner.  But no meeting at the restaurant for us, oh no no no…we met at a boat launch ramp where he was waiting with two kayaks.  Yep, we kayaked to Carillon Point, tied up along the dock right near the Beach Cafe and had dinner!  Oh, and paddled back too, with a gorgeous sunset behind the mountains as backdrop.  It was kind of fun making an entrance to the restaurant via the water.  Looking back on it, was I crazy?  I mean, a first date…on the water?  If I’d been the least bit worried he could have been psycho, meaning that I could have ended up at the bottom of the lake, I wouldn’t have agreed to it of course.  My gut was right – and he and I did go on a few more dates after that. Nice guy, but the chemistry wasn’t quite clicking for us. But I gotta hand it to him for being a perfect gentleman and very funny.  And creative!

So I headed into the spa, dizzy with memories and sunshine.  This was my second pedicure with S in about two months and I think I will stick with her. That’s pretty huge in my book because I probably get pedicures two or three times a year at the most.  Not really a priority for me, or I just do my toes myself.  But S is amazing.   She is absolutely meticulous with her work and it shows.  No complaints here.  A 90 minute pedicure?  Ahhh.  Who knew there was topcoat with UV protection in it?  

S has a whimsical sense of humor – she just cracks me up.  And we can talk hockey too – she’s from Vancouver originally (go Canucks!).  Too funny how I sit here trying to remember some things we talked and laughed about.  My mind is blank, but trust me, we were giggling the entire time.

Oh wait, I do remember one thing.  We were talking about travel and I remembered oh yeah, I’ve got to get my passport renewed.  She said oh yes, you better get right on that!  Why?  She is convinced I’m going to fall in love with and marry a handsome, Swedish billionaire.  Named Sven.  And a girl’s gotta have a passport ready for those spur of the moment trips!

Ummm, I’m OK with this.  Really and truly.