Our Welcome Back To The Great White North

After some beautiful early spring weather, Arabella and I were greeted by huge wet snowflakes on Wednesday morning when we woke up!

It didn't last too long and Mother Nature had been kind to us ever since! The weather this weekend was warm and sunny...in the 60's today!

Bubbles!

Arabella had fun with some bubbles in the bath recently...so much so that I almost couldn't find her!

Spellcheck?!?!?

Last week while packing up Mike & Jeff for their move, I noticed something that just didn't look right...

Maybe they forgot to run spellcheck before sending the boxes to print...not sure what "Fragle" is??? Anyone??

Beantown

Last week was Arabella's Spring Break from school. So after I recovered for a day from my LA jet lag, she and I packed up the car and headed to Beantown to help Uncle Mike & Uncle Jeff move. We had great weather on the drive down and we decided to take the ferry from NY to VT again. Arabella loved it and it is a nice little break in the 6 hour drive. The waves on Lake Champlain were pretty big as it was windy, but it made the ride fun! Arabella also loved snacking on fresh berries!


We made it to Boston before rush hour which was great! Arabella was so excited to see the dogs and her uncles! We decided to go out to dinner at Wahlburgers in the Hingham Shipyard. I was hoping for a Donnie or Mark Wahlberg sighting, but no such luck...Mike thought he saw someone who might have been one of the Wahlberg brothers...needless to say the burgers were yummy (and that is a lot coming from me since I am not a meat eater!!) It was a fun place and reasonably priced too! I would go back again.



After dinner, we let Arabella run around a bit and she had a ball! Then it was back home for some more playtime and stories with Uncle Mike!



Arabella had a great time and we were lucky the weather was so warm! It was nice enough to play outside and she had a blast coloring with chalk and playing on the swing set!





She also had fun blowing bubbles with Macy!

On Saturday, we took a drive to Connecticut to meet Grampie and to spend the afternoon with him. We met him at Buckland Hills and had lunch. Arabella was so excited to see him - she ran right to him and yelled "Grampie" when she saw him! Then Arabella had fun riding the carousel with all of us. We each had to go for a ride with her and then sometimes even twice! She loved it!




We had a fun afternoon with Grampie and wish we were able to spend more time with him. Before we knew it, we were on our way back to Boston. We helped Uncle Mike and Uncle Jeff pack up for their move to Virginia. We packed boxes and loaded them on the moving truck before we hit the road back to Montreal. Arabella had a fun time helping!

Once again, our trip went way to fast, but that was probably because we had so much fun! We will miss Uncle Mike and Uncle Jeff being so close...now we won't be able to make quick weekend car trips anymore. But that is OK, we will just have to plan them a little more in advance! Thanks for a fun time, we love you guys!

Design Inspiration

While in Long Beach for the IIN Mega Conference, I stayed at the Renaissance Long Beach Hotel - it was great! I would totally stay there again if I am ever in the area. I just loved the vibe of the hotel. The furnishings were great and if I could, I would love to do some of the same design ideas in our house...

I need to figure out how to make this chair...

Goodbye Snow, Hello Sunshine

2 weeks ago, during a snow storm, I boarded a plane and headed to the land of sunshine! I was headed to Los Angeles/Long Beach at attend the Mega Conference for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I was very excited to go as I would be seeing friends that I had not seen in 6 months! But it was a little nerve wrecking to arrive at the airport and then get to the gate to find that my flight was delayed and that I might not make my connection to LA!

When we finally boarded the plane, we had to be de-iced, which took forever, but it is better to be safe...
I love how once you are above the clouds it is so bright and sunny, but looking down, you could see just how heavy the clouds were and it was no wonder we were getting slammed with snow!
Because of all the delays out of Montreal, I missed my connection in Washington, DC by minutes. But it gave me some time to grab something to eat and prepare for the cross country flight. The flight was good and I was so excited to sunshine and palm trees when we arrived in Los Angeles!
How cool is this - they were doing dual landings on the runways at LAX!!
Hello LA!

It was nice to walk outside the airport and not be bundled up in a heavy winter coat! And it was so exciting to see all of my fellow Health Coaches and classmates from IIN! We had a great ride from the airport to our hotel and it was nice to catch up with everyone!

On Friday, we attended a Health & Wellness Expo. It was interesting to see all sorts of new products and get some ideas for my Health Coaching business. I soaked up the sunshine and some Vitamin D on Friday as well. It was so warm out - just perfect weather, I could get used to it really easily!

On Friday night, there was a big get together of many of our classmates at a local restaurant on the marina in Long Beach. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to connect with so many people!

Saturday was the actual start of the Mega Conference! The energy was so amazing and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to attend the conference again. I was inspired and have so many ideas that I can't wait to implement! I was able to spend time with some truly inspirational individuals, hear from world famous speakers (David Wolfe, John Douilliard, Geneen Roth, John Robbins, and more) on health and wellness and make new connections!



After the conference on Saturday we still had some sunshine left to enjoy and then headed to a yummy dinner...
I am not a big soda drinker, but wanted something with a little fizz with dinner so I opted for a ginger ale...and this one was so good...it is from the UK and had real ginger in it! Note to self: I need to see if I can find it here in Canada!
Sunday was another day full of speakers and more energy! But before heading to the conference, I enjoyed the sun by the pool!



During the break on Sunday, we headed to Pinkberry (YUM!!) for a lunch of frozen yogurt! I had the blood orange with blood oranges and coconut and it hit the spot!
On Sunday afternoon, they had a graduation ceremony for those of us who had recently graduated - there is my name!
After the conference, we had time to network and enjoy more of the California sunshine!
Dan and I!!
Bonnie and I enjoying the sunshine too!


On Monday, Dan, Bonnie and I explored the area on foot and even went to the beach! It was a great way to spend my last day in LA - enjoying the sun and great friends. I had a great time, and am thankful for the opportunity to go. I am looking forward to the next conference already!




I know that Jay and Arabella enjoyed their time together while I was away, but I sure missed them and couldn't wait to get home to see them! The red eye flight from LA to Chicago was long and then I had to get a connection to Montreal. It seemed like it took forever to get home. And then I had to go through customs, but as soon as Arabella saw me and came running towards me, it made me so happy to be home!