Let's Get Physical

Have you ever checked out Fire Daughter Clothing on etsy.com?  Samya has these amazing tanks and shirts with awesome phrases, the Let's Get Physical tank is on my wishlist big time, I'm just waiting for a new colour to come out since my "sweat me free" tank is the same blue.  This clothing is amazingly comfortable and fits really well, great for a workout OR for just wearing every single day!  Must.  Have.  More.

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I started the James Wilson Body Earned program on Monday alongside my best pal Danielle.  I am opting to follow more of a "Michelle recommended plan" by doing the program probably 3 days a week as opposed to the 4 and then 5 days per week that most people in the group do.  I won't complete his 12 week program in the outlined 12 weeks, but I feel that this plan will be more conducive to my overall goal of completing the whole program without burning out halfway through.

My heart has not been in weight lifting or circuit training since the spring, but I really want it to be.  In an effort to get back to enjoying this aspect of fitness, my plan is to do James Wilson's program Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while doing outdoor activities such as biking, walking, hiking, running, or kayaking on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Saturdays and Sundays will be my choice, I can add in an extra James Wilson, get outside, or take a rest day. 


After about a month and a half of little to no workouts, the term "Let's Get Physical" finally goes with my week so far and it feels just great to be back in the game.  As I said above, Monday I did Week 1 Day 1 of James Wilson's Body Earned program.  Tuesday Cody and I debated between kayaking and biking, and ultimately chose to go biking.

Rails to Trails - Source

We left from our house and took the rail trail to Kimberley.  It was a gradual uphill the whole way which we both complained about quite a bit; we haven't been on our bikes much lately and had instant sore butts to prove it.  My friend Sarah gave us a gift certificate to Pedal and Tap as a wedding present so we decided to head there for a late dinner.  We sat out on the patio so we could keep an eye on our beloved bikes and had a delicious dinner!  The Rails to Trails burger seemed fitting so that's what I chose, with no goat cheese; and the Camburger for Cody.  We both really enjoyed our choices, plus the awesome atmosphere that Pedal and Tap is known for.  With the increasingly fall-like weather it was definitely a chilly night to sit out on the patio and I wish I had thought to bring a sweater!  Our ride back was really quick with only one uphill section to get home.  A lovely evening!

I hope to stick with the plan I outlined above and see how my week unfolds and how easy/hard/enjoyable it is to make time for this new activity regime.  I would prefer to keep my activity happenings going on in the evenings as it's been increasingly harder and now pretty much impossible for me to wake up at 5 am to swing weights around.  It is close to hibernation season after all....

XO - Michelle

Stagette Recap

Good Morning!!!

Apologies for the break in posts!  Life has just been a little crazy and writing out my thoughts unfortunately took a backseat.

First order of business... Let's talk about my stagette!!!

Can I just say it was totally fabulous!?  I've always known I'm especially fortunate in having great friends, but a weekend like the one I just had really solidifies it.  These girls are so amazing!  Danielle planned a weekend that suited me to a T.  It had all the elements I had been thinking a cool stagette would have, and she really made that all possible for me.

Highlights of the trip:

• Heather brought me a texas mickey!!!  Don't worry, not much of it got drank, but it was pretty fun to pump vodka out of a huge bottle!  It's sitting in a visible place of honor at my house now and I take great pleasure in offering people a drink from it :)
• Wandering the streets of Banff.  Seriously the coolest place ever!!!
• Dinner at Bear Street Tavern.  Ummm YUM.  That is all.  I had a seriously amazing caeser and the Chicken Fajitas with no dairy.
• A night of moving and grooving at The Dancing Sasquatch.  Such a cool place!  There were trees inside, great music, and really awesome dancers that we befriended.  I unofficially quit the bar scene a couple years ago, but if we had places like this in Cranbrook I would probably go out more often.  Such a great vibe, and everyone was just there to have fun. 
• I avoided all possible hangovers!!!  Know your limit, stay within it ;)
• Hiking Johnson Canyon and the Ink Pots.  It was a little bit of a challenge but in a good way.  It made me realize how far I've come from the days of getting lightheaded and queasy from physical effort.  The views were absolutely magnificent and I would highly recommend all or part of this hike to anyone.  It starts out pretty high traffic, but mostly people are just going to see the falls.  If you continue on the the Ink Pots the crowd thins out and the majestic beauty of Banff National Park is all yours!!  
• An amazing, clean eating dinner planned by Danielle.  She cooked chicken foil packets on the fire for us!  I hadn't eaten much after our hike and then in a hungry whirlwind dove in to crackers and hummus, leaving little room for dinner which is possibly my only regret of the trip!
• Breaky at Touloulous.  Delicious.  I had my favorite caeser of the weekend (order the Cajun Caeser if you go there!) and the Breggfast Sandwich, highly recommend it.  They make everything fresh and to order so you can change around anything you need to in case of dietary restrictions.  Best.
• Shopping!!!  Obviously.  Highlights would be finding a pair of Lulu Lemon shorts on sale and sunscreen from Rocky Mountain Soap Company.

Other than these main points, things that stick out in my mind are the giggles and stories that we were never without, being outside all the time, treks to find empty shower stalls,  and an overall sense of feeling so loved.

Danielle has posted pics on her blog so please check them out by clicking here!!!

I've been smiling all week thinking back to how much fun we had.  I think we all miss each other because the group texts have been pretty legendary.  The random things that friends talk about...

XO - Michelle

OEB Breakfast Co.

I must share with you this awesome restaurant find!!!

On a previous trip to Calgary our friends took us to OEB Breakfast Co.

It was so amazing and I can't wait for my next visit there!  I was so hungry that I totally forgot to take a picture of my meal until after the fact, darn!!

The food is sourced locally, the eggs are free run from OEB's own chicken flock, the restaurant itself is full of charm, and the service is friendly.

Read the official description of OEB here.

I decided to kick breakfast off with a Tropical Twister smoothie, it had mango, banana, pineapple juice and mango nectar... no milk products, hooray!  It was really yummy and not too sweet which was a bonus!

For my meal I chose the Farmer John's Delight Three Egg Scram-blette.  It had apple wood smoked bacon lardons, rosemary ham, green onions, and wild mushrooms in it.  The dish came with a choice of white, rye, or multigrain fresh baked bread.  I chose the multigrain and was really impressed with how large and thick of a slice was provided.  There was also a side of herbed potatoes cooked in organic duck fat; they were some of the best potato wedges I have ever eaten!

I was leery to order a scrambled egg dish because it seems that most restaurants use milk in their scramble.  Upon asking, our server informed me that they could make the scramble milk-free; how awesome is that!?  She didn't act like it was an odd request at all and I appreciated her knowledge!!

Although we had a long wait to actually get in for breaky, we were all super impressed at how fast our food came to the table.  The restaurant was full and bustling but our server still took time to stop and chat with us, make us feel welcome, and never appeared rushed.

Check our OEB's menu here, and I highly suggest you give it a try!

XO - Michelle