Well my holiday cost me two pounds and a lot of muscle tone. It could have been much worse ( I think running all but two days really helped), but it was enough motivation to get me back on a healthy lifestyle:)
I did my usual run around the Burrard Inlet to Rocky Point Park tonight. It was weird because at times I had the feeling I was kind of running sideways, like some dogs do🤔. My times weren’t too bad though so I was happy!
Those two pounds were also motivation for some healthy grocery shopping and meal prep. My fruit salad is ready for the week. This week it is cantaloupe, watermelon, pear, plum, Apple, banana and a mandarin orange. My veggies are cut up and ready to be munched on. I also splurged and got the individual packages of guacamole to eat with my veggies as I figure portion control is going to be very important as I get my stomach shrunk back down to its regular size.
The two pounds also motivated the Pylo Circuit workout this evening and a walk. Not bad for my first day back from holidays!
My walk was only half of the usual because I had a bee that just wouldn’t stop following me. That was enough motivation to come home!
I had meant to stop in at Matteo’s Gelato so I could enjoy a treat since I was going to be in the area, but I was so focused on wanting to see the eclipse today that before I knew it, I was out of Port Coquitlamand up getting my groceries. I guess the eclipse provided good motivation today too:)
I spent a lot of today looking at slipper patterns on Ravelry. 46 pages of them in fact. I’ve narrowed it down to the fact I want a pair I can wear over socks, they need to have an interesting stitch pattern and they need to have one button that is just for pretty! I spent all this time looking as slippers are what I want to make out of my New Hampshire wool, but then I realized I had my turtleneck on the go still and my parent’s afghan to make. Wanting to get started on my slippers motivated me to get the back of my nubby knit turtleneck done. Hopefully it will continue to motivate me!!!
Reading a wordpress blog I follow also motivated me to join KAL fanatics on Ravelry. Lately I’ve heard so much about these KAL’s that I’m intrigued. Hopefully this board is a good place to start. If there’s a better place, please tell me.
My sweater has also motivated me to stay up until an appropriate West Coast bedtime. It’s good I had the motivation as I’ve been wanting to sleep for a while now! I think I’ll give in:)
Have fun!
AJ
this one! When I opened the package I noticed right away that it had softened a lot. That seemed as though it had softened very easily as my purse wasn’t particularly warm. The taste of this chocolate bar was really good, but because it is only divided into one large piece and one small piece, I found it hard to break apart into smaller pieces. It didn’t “snap” like most chocolate bars.
I chose this one because it said toffee. Anything toffee or caramel flavoured is my favourite. The chocolate bar looked good when I opened it and was divided into nice, small pieces that snapped apart easily. Unfortunately, I only ate about three before I couldn’t bring myself to eat anymore. It just wasn’t the sweet treat I was looking for:( When I indulge I want it to be worth it and I don’t think this chocolate bar is.) I found it to be bitter (yes I know it’s dark chocolate) and it didn’t seem to have a strong toffee taste. In fact, if I hadn’t seen the package, I wouldn’t have guessed it was flavoured:( I’ll try another piece today to confirm, but I don’t think it’s worth purchasing!
It was a ton of food and incredibly yummy! Yet again, I was thankful we had gotten there just before lunch because when we were leaving there was a lineup out the door.
Karen was super knowledgeable and a delight to talk to! I liked how there were swatches knitted with each of the wools available so you could feel what they were going to be like. All of the yarn was as unprocessed as possible, so of course were a little rougher and all shades of brown and gray.
It was all very yummy and easily organized. The waitress was helpful, though she seemed ticked at the end when we asked to have the bill split up. Nobody wanted to pay the extra I had to though- $41 for Pasta!!ouch:( It was yummy though!
I asked the ticket booth and it was $28 for an adult ticket, but you have to take a guided tour, you can’t just wander around. The tour looked cool as it is led by people in costume and supposedly there is a reenactment, multi -media displays and a movie, however, it is also an hour and fifteen minutes long. With an almost three year old, this just sounded too long! We were heading in to just look around the gift shop when one of the tour guides let us in on the fact that if we bought tea in Abigail’s Tea Room and sat on the balcony to drink it, we would be able to hear the tour. We headed through the gift shop, which had lots of neat things but all were quite expensive, to the tea room. We decided to have their tea sampler which is up to four cups of tea and two scones. The gluten free options only numbered two and came in plastic wrap, so I left the eating to everyone else. The blueberry and chocolate chip scones weren’t bad, but weren’t anything spectacular I am told. I have to say I was very disappointed with the tea. It was very strong and slightly cold so it must have been sitting there for a while:(
It is tucked around a corner so persevere when looking for it. This restaurant started in New York and now has a location in the Seaport area and in the Fenway Park area of Boston. We walked into a very quiet restaurant with very natural and airy decoration.
All I could think about was the scene from First Daughter with Katie Holmes walking through the Harvard Yard.
We got off the train and walked one block down the street and arrived at a lovely knitting store! I’ve been having withdrawal as this is the longest I have ever gone without knitting since I was taught the skill at age four!
It is a bright and lovely shop that opens to a view of two comfy rocking chairs in the window that just invite you to sit and knit. The store has lots of yarn and gadgets, along with some samples. I found the prices to be very reasonable and there was even a lot of wool on sale because of a store wide sale that had started the week before. Supposedly the store has been there for fifteen years and is going to be repainted this weekend and a special celebration of this facelift is planned within the month.
The Cafe is situated on the corner of Chestnut and Sixth Streets, about three blocks from the Amtrak train station. Wow, I think it’s the first time on this trip that I’ve actually had a choice where I didn’t have to ask to have food items altered. I decided on the Shamrock Shake, a veggie and cheese sandwich on homemade gf white bread and the cafe’s most popular bar. It was all very yummy, but way more food than I needed!
I was pleasantly surprised when the waitress brought me gf/df? dinner rolls to enjoy! I followed this up with the steamed mussel appetizer.
I was just too full to truly appreciate the wonderful food at this restaurant. The waitress are the experience very simple and easy which was a nice change from lately!
That was the gluten free, dairy free breakfast they provided for me. My travel partner had a delicious looking orange croissant French toast with sausage. There was also hot coffee, a big selection of teas and a few juices to choose from. Yum!
Yet again I asked about gf and df but was told they had those at the store attached to their factory, but not in this location. Wouldn’t you think they’d have something if they make them????
Gorgeous bags of every shape, size and colour and some beautiful accessories to go along with them.
It was fine, but I didn’t feel the need to buy anything.
and enjoyed the very quiet neighbourhood street.
but the people were very helpful. After continuing up the coast, my friend and I both wish we had chosen Old Orchard Beach as you can se the ocean from the train and it looks like you can walk all along it and there is even a Ferris wheel!
I suppose this wait was meant to be!
We met Monica tonight who was super friendly and helpful. Definitely gave us a happy first impression! She recommended the Jameson Tavern for dinner which was wonderful. They took my gluten and dairy allergies seriously and I enjoyed an awesome mussel, shrimp, lobster, and scallop scampi without the pasta, lol. Oh and a Blueberry Sangria that was very yummy!
You have to take a tour to view the house, but it’s only ten dollars and the tours seem to happen frequently. The tour starts with a video in Louisa’s art gallery and this consists of about half of the tour. It was disappointing that you’re not allowed to take any photos anywhere else in the house😞 It was a lovely house with lots of artifacts and the guide seems to be quite knowledgeable, I would love to see it be a little longer though and non-flash photography allowed!
which turned out to be really cool, even for an adult! We got to build bobsleds (either fast or slow), learned about caterpillars, saw the Now and Then exhibit
which explained the history of the museum, made slime and explored animals, minerals and fossils, saw the pop culture exhibit, and played on their indoor playground. That was only a small part of the museum. The cafeteria was also great, lots of options- Starbucks, salad bar, pizza and pasta, Mexican, a grill, and prepackaged sandwiches. Even for gluten free and dairy free I had the choice of Mexican, the grill and some of the salad bar.
We went outside to eat and checked out the magician and other buskers. There were tons of stores and restaurants in the area! The harbour area at the end was amazing for photo ops and the carousel was only three dollars and so cute with animals!
The only weird thing was that all of our orders came out at different times.
the State House,
Boston Gardens, Beacon Hill, Newbury Street, Back Bay, Prudential Centre with Eataly, 
the Public Library, 
Trinity Church
and the Downtown Crossing!
