Month: January 2017

India: Bought the ticket, taking the ride

Have you heard? I’m going to flippin India. I’m two parts excited and one part nervous. However, I feel like I’ve been travel-training for this my whole life. The tickets are booked. Greg and I fly to New Delhi on March 3 and back on the 18th. Things I’m really looking forward to: But I’m not going to lie, I’m totally anxious about… So, folks who have travelled to India, I could use any advice or wisdom you want to impart on me. Here’s my itinerary: New Delhi – Agra – Jaipur – Pushkar – Jaisalmer – Varanasi – New Delhi* *Correction: As of 1/23 we’ve decided to go to Jophur and Udaipur instead of Pushkar and Jaisalmer. It just works better for our itinerary. Don’t give me tips for Goa or Mumbai or that awesome little mountain town the Dalai Lama calls home. I ain’t got time for that. Drop a comment below and tell me what I should NOT miss or paste a link you think I’ll find helpful.  

Boho Boutique: Folk Art Interiors, Vancouver BC

This weekend was filled with firsts. For a person who has lived in Vancouver for four-and-a-half years, there are a remarkable number of things I haven’t done, places I haven’t been. On Saturday I went snowshoeing on Grouse Mountain and today I bopped on over to Spanish Banks for an easy-like-Sunday-morning walk. And what’s a basic betch going for walk without a coffee in hand? Queue another first: Grounds for Coffee – and their famous cinnamon buns. I didn’t even stop to take a picture before inhaling my sticky little bun. (Thanks for turning me onto Grounds, Jenn Lee!) Floating on a cozy sugar high, I am walking back to the Jeep when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a shop crowned with vintage antlers? With vibes like that, how could I not? And of course, what should I find but a dust-laden, rolled-up, hairy, disheveled carpet. I couldn’t have found that thing faster if it had been calling me by name. I didn’t stand a chance. So I just spent the last hour-and-a-half beating …

The Snowshoe Grind Isn’t the Hell-Hath-Frozen-Over Workout It Sounds Like

I had seen the Snowshoe Grind advertised on Grouse Mountain’s website. My immediate reaction was, “As if hiking the Grouse Grind isn’t torture enough.” Now, factor in the awkwardness of snowshoes. Sounds. Awful. Well, I’m here to debunk the Snowshoe Grind myth because my gal pal and I unintentionally did the damn thing last Saturday. And I was wrong. It isn’t the hell-hath-frozen-over workout it sounds like. It was awesome and it made me so grateful to live in Vancouver. First, the Snowshoe Grind is completely independent of the Grouse Grind. The trailhead starts atop the gondola, near the ice rink. Second, where the Grouse Grind is a 2.9 km, one-way trail, the Snowshoe Grind is 4.3 kilometres out-and-back. It starts as a groomed path, which keeps up for maybe a quarter of the way. Walking this bit, you’ll wonder whether you should have bothered with snowshoes at all. Soon enough, the trail narrows and leads grinders uphill through a pretty forest. Snow falls from overburdened tree boughs. The sunshine illuminates the diamond dust that blankets …

Why I Want to Pack My Bags and Move to Sayulita

Guys, I drank the Sayulita Kool-Aid and I don’t think there’s any going back. It was love at first sight…for me anyway. Sayulita probably wasn’t so enamored with us. In fact, she’d tell you we were a goddam hot mess when we first met. In our defence, it kind of, wasn’t, totally our fault. It was Booey’s fault. But blaming Booey is like blaming a chef for your food baby. Let me explain… 12/23/16 Greg, Peter, Laina and I started our day watching the sunrise over Marina La Cuz before setting out on a full-day excursion with Ally Cat Sailing Adventure. (I’ll review the fully Ally Cat experience in another post.) We cast off shortly after 9 a.m., setting sail for Las Marietas Islands. Shortly after 9 a.m. Booey brought us our first beers. And then our first margaritas. The rest of the sun (and tequila) soaked day involved snorkeling, swimming, whale watching, and plenty of quasi-awkward-awesome dancing. (I’m on a boat!) Sometime during the afternoon I went below deck for water, because hydration. The bartender was pouring a …