Committed

It was very suiting that I was reading 

Elizabeth Gilbert's latest book

"Committed"

on my 2 year anniversary vacation.

The book takes place just where her bestselling 

"Eat, Pray, Love" 

left off, where she has met her Brazilian lover Felipe,

and you are left with the question,

"What next?"

Truth be told I was a little hesitant about reading

this book.
I loved Eat Pray Love a lot
and I didn't really want the sequel to ruin it.
But after hearing Ms. Gilbert,
talk about it in person,
I was eager to see what it was like.

At the starting of the book,
Felipe and Liz, are happily living in Philadelphia
together, but after continuously having Felipe
leave the country to comply with a 3 month maximum
visa restriction, he is taken into custody by the
U.S. Immigration Officials. 

Even though what they were doing was technically legal,
he was being held by homeland security, and not allowed back in the States.
The only way that they would be able to have their life back would be if,
they decided to get married, which is something that they had swore against doing again.

The book is then set during their journey backpacking across Southeast Asia,
where they are together until they get their papers in order to get married back in the states.
All the while Elizabeth, is learning from different cultures what it means to be married,
and studying the history of marriage itself.

The book is more or less a history of marriage,
than a sequel to Eat Pray Love,
which is in my opinion a better option for readers.
We still get the story of what happens to her and her to be husband,
without all the wishy washy forays into her love life.
We get to trade that for a history of love,
in its many accounts around the world.

I really enjoyed the book,
and promptly finished it on the trip.
And I hope that you consider checking it out, now that
you know that its not just know as the sequel to a bestselling novel,
but a whole other story on its own to be told :)

Love Nymph
p.s. What books have you been getting your kicks on

Bowen Island Magic

Last week Nate and I, went on a much needed 3 days getaway to Bowen Island

where we staying in a bed and breakfast (called the Island Thyme) 

for our 2 year anniversary!

(Me in my "Easter egg" flannel PJ's)

We had our private suite, with a full kitchen, sunroom dining area,

soaker tub, fireplace, massive king sized bed, 

and a whole wall of windows that overlooked the gorgeous moss garden 

and forest below us :)

I really couldn't have dreamt of a better trip for the two of us to take together...

 

We watched the hockey game in town with the locals 

(since the Canucks are playing in the finals for the Stanley Cup),

went on a 4 hour hike up the side of a mountain and back along the main road, 

unaware of which direction we were going, but having faith on our instincts to guide us home.

We spent a whole afternoon reading novels, 

teaching each other card games, 

colouring,

and playing scrabble by candlelight.

It was only the second time I have ever beat him at Scrabble!

Nate made us breakfast each morning in our sunroom, 

and I got to make him coffee for the first time

(we don't live together and I don't drink coffee,

but I want to be able to do this simple task for him down the line when we do ;).

We practiced yoga together on the spacious studio floor, in front of the crackling fire,

and spent a whole afternoon reading on a grassy knoll in the sun.

We found out some exciting new whilst we were away! 

That our friends had, had a beautiful little baby girl, 

and that Nate had won me a lovely tote bag from our equally lovely blogger friend Jillian.

For our send off to Bowen, we dined at the gorgeous Tuscany Restaurant.

(which Nate kept reciting "Dining at the TuscANY, with BrittANY", very adorable).

There we had amazing smoked salmon pizza, 

and focaccia bread with feta and kalamata olives! Yum!

Our love grew 2 sizes this trip,

(and those who know us would know that's kinda imaginable).

 Our souls needed this sunset filled journey to the island, 

to laze under the stars and really see them twinkling above us.

To build fires, make meals, and play heart-filled games together with out the 

noise of a city clouding us over. 

We decided that we are not going to go 4 months without going back, 

or exploring another island (we might even go for Nates birthday next month!). 

And maybe someday if we are lucky (which we are),

we will even called an Island home :)

Hope you are enjoying your springs!

Love Britt

Waking up in Spring

      If you know anything about Vancouver weather you would know why I keep saying "It looks like Spring is on its way", and then quickly having to retract that statement, for the simple reason that Vancouver weather is a tease.
      
       Warm days of "spring", quickly followed by April showers, is no way to start off the summer months. How is one supposed to dust off the depressing cobwebs of winter blues, without at least of week of straight up pure vitamin D.
 
        So instead of lazying on the beach or on a blanket on the warm grass of my backyard, I have opted to trying to spruce up the insides of my home to get it ready for the coming months...

- I've switched my bedding over to white floral linens and retired my brown flannel sheet covers to the closet for next fall
- Arranging a "Spring Cleaning : Stuff Swap and Boardgames party" for the end of June, and have commenced heavy duty purging from my closet, bookshelf and craft corner.
- Bought myself a breathtakingly floral bouquet of Lilies for beside my bed, so as to wake up into the smell of spring
- Finished my Journal and started a new one, complete with a revised version of goals for this upcoming summer

        What are you doing to start off your spring season on the right foot?
  

San Fran!

Much like my trip to Salt Spring 

I was blown away by my trip to San Fran! 

But alas my family and I,

only had a mere 2 half days and a full day 

to explore the expansive city!

Here's how we did...

 My sister and I

And our crazy parents (see the resemblance :P)

had a short and pleasant plane ride down from Vancouver 

(yay for extra leg room in the emergency exit row!),

but still decided to have a pretty mellow night in San Fran...

We explored Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf,

which was only a short walk from our hotel,

got some dinner and margaritas in us, 

and did some sightseeing and shopping.

We grabbed a bottle of wine, a few blocks of cheese, 

and headed back to our hotel for a good rest

before our full day of sightseeing.

We woke up early and headed down to the dock 

for our trip over to Alcatraz!

 I had never been to a prison before,

(I know shocking, right?)

so that on top of the intense history of Alcatraz,

made it a truly great tour.

Back over on the mainland we finally found out 

where to catch our prepaid Hop on Hop of Tour Guide Bus

and rode it into Chinatown.

 Being that it is the largest Chinatown outside of Asia, 

there was tons to see there and little trinkets to buy.

By this point we were starving for some lunch and took a gamble

on the first restaurant sign that we found 

and ended up stumbling upon this gorgeous and delicious restaurant.

From there we hopped back on the tour bus, 

and let it show us around this city

 The Painted Ladies

 Riding on the top of a open air

tour bus over the Golden Gate bridge

was one of my favorite memories from the trip...

especially when my mom stood up many rows ahead of us 

and tried to walk towards us and get her knitting!

Talk about dangerous, considering the winds were rapid

up there, and my Dad had already lost his hat to the breeze!

After the tour we came back into the area of our hotel 

and jumped onto one of the trolley cars 

which took us up to the famed Lombard st.

 Lucky me, there were no more seats so 

I got to hang off the trolley car riding up the steep San Fran hills!

View from the bottom of Lombard st.

(which is the only thing I remember about San Fran from going as a kid).

As the sun started to set, we made our way back down to Fisherman's Wharf

and had dinner at the amusing "Joe's Crab Shack" 

where they sing and dance every hour on the hour!

Then after wards we roamed down by the fish stalls 

before heading back to our hotel for the night :)

Bright and early the next morning 

I convinced my mom to come explore the Farmers Market with me

whilst my dad and sister snored away.

We got down there at quarter to eight 

and the vendors were still setting up their wares.

So we grabbed a tea, and enjoyed watching the 

very quite city dust off its sleep and greet the morn.

This was my favorite sight of San Fran as we got see 

what it would be like to live in this beautiful city!

 At first I was disappointed by the size of the Farmer's market, 

till I found out that it was not only the large row of white tents out front of the ferry building, 

but also spanning across the street, inside, and behind the large ferry building.

Which then make it the largest farmers market that I had been to :)

You would not believe how happy I was to see mountains of cherries,

nectarines, and peaches on every stand! So tasty!

We went back to grab our sleeping beauties from the hotel,

jumped back on the tour bus, and took in the last of the city we had yet to see.

There was one quick stop on Haight st, to visit some of the shops, 

and then it was back on to our hotel to pick up our luggage 

and venture onto the second part of our trip.

Instead of flying back to Vancouver we had the

unique pleasure of taking a cruise ship back home. 

 And a 4 day cruise was just what we needed

after bustling around San Fran for the last two days.

We spent most of the cruise...

hanging by the pool, 

relaxing in the hot tub with margaretta's in hand, 

lounging in the thermal spa with our novels,

getting a full body massage and facial,

watching game shows and plays at night,

taking a wine tasting seminar,

having afternoon tea,

and

watching movies outdoors on the giant screen...

We also had a quick stop over in Victoria,

for one of the days,

where we hit the museum,

Chinatown and big bad johns bar

so my mom and sister could leave there bras there. 

(Which my mom's bra is their new peanut holder!)

As you can see it was a truly fantastic trip,

and I can't wait to head back to San Fran in the near future with my man.

But as for now I am glad to be back in my lovely home,

where the sun is starting to come out for spring.

-Love Nymph xoxoxoxo

SaltSpring, BC

SaltSpring Blew My Mind

From its simple life living...

(View from the room I was staying in!)

 Ocean Side Adventures...

 (Piles upon piles of living sand dollars!)

 Nature walks...

and Adventures..

Gardening for accommodation...

Eating and drinking like Queens...

And most of all spending time with some GORGEOUS ladyfriends of mine!

We hitch hiked for the first time,

Each took turns making a spectacular meal,

Polished off many bottles of wine and champagne,

Read by the fire, 

Curled up and watched classics,

Crafted and Knitted,

Collected Shells,

Did yoga in the morning sun on the back porch,

and overall just relaxed in each others company!

Have you ever been to SaltSpring? 

My man and I are thinking about going to Bowen Island 

in a couple of weeks for our 2 year anniversary

which will be quite exciting 

(especially since we were just looking at all the 

gorgeous accommodations over there)!

 And I just got back from a little trip down to San Fran for two days

and then a relaxing cruise back to Vancouver for 4 days!

Did I mention that I am loving the summer!

Especially since I got back and the weather in Ol' East Van

has finally turned up, and my plants are thanking 

the heavens for it! 

Hope you all are enjoying the starting of your summer!

Any plans?

Love Nymph

A weekend well worked, for a week well lived....

 (My kitchen in the early morning... its a wonder I even make it to work...)

I've worked everyday this weekend 

so that I can head to SaltSpring Island 

tomorrow with my favorite lady friends <3

But I have managed to sneak in a few roses to my mundane routine...

-A Yin Yoga Class on Friday night followed by a bonfire in my backyard,

with friends, expensive wine from the bottle 

and marshmallows on sticks

-Working on creating a bountiful beautiful garden in my backyard

- Building a fort in my room, and eating nachos in it 

whilst watching Fargo for the first time with my love <3

- GETTING AN iPHONE!!! Whoa! Totally confused but its awesome!

I can't wait for tomorrow to come, where all I am going to do is

garden, read, knit, sew, write, drink wine, and cuddle my favorite ladies <3 

SO much love,

See you all when I get back!

Lots of love Nymph 

oxoxoxoxoxox etc...

Resolutions Renewed

 As I am starting on the spring cleaning of my home, heart, and body, I thought this would be a good time to look back on my New Years Resolutions and see what I have completed and what changes need to be made...

 -Continue to work out at the gym every day except Sundays (with exceptions for pain, crunched time, and holidays) 
      Well this one kinda fell by the wayside... I again am feeling unmotivated by the gym, as I can't imagine descending down into the depths of its dungeon layer, when it is getting to be so beautiful outside... so I instead plan on buying a new bike to continue my workouts.

-With that try to fit yoga back into my life again and create a new regime for myself 
      My physiotherapist Kat, whole heartily recommends that I work on this one, and now that I have moved around the furniture in my room to allow for me to do it at home, I think I am really going to focus on this goal (I'm also taking a class with the lovely Vanessa tomorrow)

-Take Vitamins daily (however insignificant this one may sound, its really important to note) 
        Trying to... and now that I am feeling a bit sick I will push myself a bit more...

-See an academic advisor at Douglas College to see how many courses I need to finish my degree
        Just need to get together with my friend Dave for me to work on this one... still not sure if I am going to go back to Douglas though....

-Try again to register for the Sign Language course at VCC for their Summer semester 
        I tried to but the course was Mon - Fri 9 -2 which would have made my life a living hell...

-Go NAKED BUNGY JUMPING in Feb! 
        HELLS YA I DID! And I will be going again next year :)

-Get up on the Vancouver Poetry Slam stage at least once this year 
        Still need to work on this one...

-Finish my travel scrapbooks (New Orleans and UK) before I venture on new trips around the globe (Mediterranean and San Fran) 
         Done and Done! And going to San Fran in two weeks!

-Get my hot air balloon tattoo! 
         YAY! Did this one too! But still deciding if I want to get colour on it

-Attend more classes : Sewing, Pottery... etc 
          Did a sewing class, and tried to start pottery but it didn't work with timing of trips...

-Attend more clubs : Books, Pen pal, Knitting... etc
           I've been having craft nights at my house regularly, started my own Female Empowerment Club (more on this later)


-Make more crafts : Bath Bombs, Wine, Blogging ;)... etc
           Ive been blogging more this year, and most doing more crafts in general which is so lovely. I totally blame it on the fact that I have a lovely craft area in my living room, which allows me to see on my on going projects!

For this summer I am looking to add the following goals:

-Start my Etsy shop

-Make business cards

-Ride a mechanical bull

-Ride in a hot air balloon (if I can find the money to)

-Go go kart racing

-Yarn Bomb

-Continue on with my lovely garden and with beautifying the back yard

(ie. painting the picnic table and the fire escape..)

What are your goals for the summer?

Have you worked on your resoultions?

Love Nymph