Jaicen and Alara
Heading up to the Okanagan is always so relaxing. It is like a completely different world from Vancouver, where the sun shines almost all the time, and temperatures soar into the 40's during the summer months. The Okanagan is home to many world-class vineyards, wineries, thousands of orchards, and is also starting to become a great gastronomic getaway. The beaches around Shushwap, Kalamalka and Okanagan lakes (to name only a few), and then driving further south to Penticton (Skaha Lake) and Osoyoos, make it an ideal vacation land not too far from Vancouver where you can find a ton to do in the hot sunshine all year round. They have a couple of good ski hills too, I hear. But that sun is all the reason needed for West Coasters to make the drive there and get away from the rain and dark clouds that always hover around us. This past weekend in Vernon it was all flip flops and shorts, and I relaxed and breathed in the fresh air, sat on my sisters patio in the sun, drank a beer or two, and felt the sun on my face and lily white legs. I personally think that one of the reasons I've had such a hard time fighting a depression is because Vancouver can be pretty dark and gloomy. Of course I didn't have that moment of clarity until I finally saw the sunshine again. Yes, Vitamin D is exactly what the doctor ordered!
Kalamalka Lake
Of course no trip to the Okanagan is complete without going into the Winners in Kelowna! Holy! Now that place is enough to calm even the craziest of people. Finding a great pair of shoes in my size (5 1/2) is so healing. Sigh...
mmm... shoes....
I always make dinner for my sister and nephew when I go to visit them, and the three of us have long, lengthy, very Air Sign types of conversations about everything under the sun. Then my nephew will hit the hay and leave me and my sister to chat long into the night, give one another facials, and sometimes she'll even play the piano for me. We're both huge Blue Rodeo fans, and Alara is teaching herself to play all their songs. Bravo!
By the way: for anyone up in the Okanagan this weekend, my sister is putting on the Body and Soul Health and Wellness Fair in Vernon this weekend. Didn't I tell you my sister rocks? She did everything to organize this event including designing the website, setting up the speaker series, registering participants and renting exhibitor's booths, getting sponsors, the whole nine yards. All this PLUS she is also going to do a lecture herself! I'd completely barf if I had to get up and talk in front of a crowd of people Sigh, I wanna be just like her one day. :)
Driving back of course it was raining cats and dogs in Vancouver. Sigh. I know, I know. Rain is a good thing, right? It keeps everything nice and green, yadda yadda yadda. Ok, I get it. But I definitely worship the Sun Goddess, and can't wait to get back to the Okanagan!
Oh, and I'm just going to put this out there right now to be clear: my next car is going to be a turbo...
Back in Vancouver this week I have been busy, and it's been kinda scary. I had a lot of time to spend in my storage unit and took a good look at some of the monsters hiding out in there. I was hoping not to face them, but they were there waiting for me. It's like I open a box to find stuff I had forgotten about and totally reminded me of THAT life, and I'd get all teary-eyed and emotional standing there in storage. While I had a couple of moments where I felt some stuff, I was definitely IN TO IT and got a lot done this past week. Cleaning up really makes you feel like you're getting a good grip on your life, and it was something that I majorly needed to do. Heck, I've cleaned it up so well that now anyone could easily go in there and load everything up... So that's one demon down for the count! I was so thorough that I was also able to put together a box of items and bring it over to Yota's place. A great opportunity to sit and have coffee with her. I love killing two birds with one stone.
In between storage and appointments this past week, I've been hitting 30 Minute Hit and I've gone to two Ashtanga yoga classes at The Practice Place.
Ashtanga rocks! Pure and simple. Since I'm the class stiffy, I keep my mat way at the back of the room and try to learn from everyone else. I don't know if I'm ever going to be able to roll over backwards on my mat and straight into vinyasa, heck I'm still trying to learn how to simply jump straight back! But it is such an awesome practice and my instructor has a really cool mentality, and one of the most chilled, un-pretentious English accents I've ever heard. He and his parter Theresa have the studio in their home, an artist's loft right around the corner from where I used to live last year just off Main Street. If I'd only known then! It's a small studio, probably only 9-12 students a class, and I totally love it. I had been wanting to find a good studio for a long time, so I feel pretty lucky to have finally found this one. Today I went to the Full Led Primary Series class and mostly kept up. If you ever go, bring a towel and be prepared to sweat!
So this morning after yoga class and a kick-boxing session, I have been sitting at home writing in my blog, reading the Weekend Sun, drinking a soy-chai latte, painting my nails, and catching up with my roommate Dina. I have to say that I am feeling pretty friggin' great! It's been a hard week, but I feel like it gave me the space to have some clear openings about things, and some solid closure about others. The weather is getting nicer now. I am sleeping at night. I definitely have felt a shift.
Later this afternoon I'm going to take a siesta. That's right, just like they do in Spain. And then tonight I'm going to go out with a gal I used to work with and her group of about 30 or so friends (she warned me so I wouldn't be overwhelmed!). I'm going to try not to get into too much trouble (wink!). I certainly don't have a problem admitting to you that I always get suuuuper nervous going out by myself. And then add meeting new people to the mix, and gulp! We're going to go to Barcelona Ultra Lounge. Yep, I'm going to do it up Spanish style tonight, and I think I might even wear something slinky with high heels like they do in Barcelona, 'cause I'm just in the right mood for something like that. I'm optimistic that it will be a thumb's-up type of evening.
Still no word on what the next week will bring. For now I'm just going to keep on going in this spirit and see where the ride takes me.
Anyways, I'd better get outside. It's raining tomorrow and I want to get it while I can.
Charleen xo
Indeed nice! (and two off a kind).
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