Can’t believe Alex and I were in London and Ireland almost a YEAR ago! Where on earth does the time go? Instagram and photography are such a huge part of my travels (and life in general, really), so finding great places to explore and document can really make or break a trip. I was recently looking back at all the amazing snaps we took on our winter visit across the pond and decided to share a few of some of the best photo locations we shot at around the city.
Though, pretty much ALL of London is Instagram worthy, I’ve also included a few specific ideas for your travel itinerary. So, if you’re headed there soon, be sure to bookmark this one!
After that flu-like whatever it was (slash is, definitely still fighting a virus) and being stuck in survival mode on an island (more about that debacle tomorrow), I am feeling mighty behind on, well, everything. I am only now, January the third, able to sit down to sort out some of my goals for the next 362 days and reflect back on 2016. While I’m at it, I should probably take down all our Christmas decor before we become THOSE people.
Inspired by this Van Mag article and thought it’d be fun to try my hand at a few fashion related changes to keep in mind this year!
I cannot even believe that I am FINALLY in front of my laptop again. Tuesday night, Adam and I had a lovely night in and made a version of this vegan buddha bowl. It was such a delicious and healthy meal, we were both feeling great! I was finishing off my small glass of red wine post meal, when my throat all of a sudden felt swollen and painful. That was it, I was done for. Since then, I’ve basically been fighting this horrible beast of a flu-like sickness. I tried my hardest to fight it, but ended up with a TWO DAY migraine, which I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Essentially, I have been asleep, unable to handle light or noise or being awake. I didn’t even charge my phone for almost 3 days, because I wasn’t even on it. When I’m not eating AND not using my phone, you know I’m really ill!
Luckily, in my sleepy fog last night, I dreamt that I did some yoga to ease my headache. Despite waking up with the same migraine pain, I took some ibuprofen, and did this yoga video and then this one. Then, I had some water, put my Saje Soothing Herbal Eye Shade, and had a nap. I woke up, and for the first time in two days, felt like a human again. It’s glorious I tell ya, just glorious! Thankful that my dreams relayed a practical and effective healing method to me, because I don’t know if I could have handled another day in bed.
It always feels a bit strange saying au revoir to Autumn so close to Christmas time, doesn’t it? With all the snow and holiday cheer we’ve been surrounded by the past month, it seems as though we bid adieu to those crisp leaves and pumpkin spice lattes long ago. I am so happy that I made the choice to stick around for my favourite season. The goal was to truly feel the fall time, after such a hectic/foggy/jetset end of 2015. I’m not complaining at all, what an incredibly fun time in my life, but I also recognize that I needed to slow things down a little and take a breath this time around. With such a massive life change like, oh you know, getting a dog, it was definitely the right decision. I spent my added time at home chipping away at completely reorganizing our entire apartment, which I can’t wait to tell you more about in the new year! Apparently, being a bit of a hermit can actually pay off.
I can’t believe Christmas is less than a week away! Adam and I were both saying yesterday that we haven’t felt the holiday spirit this much in eons. I definitely spread the festive cheer VERY early on (we’re talking beginning/mid November) but this is the first time in many, many years that we’ve had a proper snowfall in Vancouver. It has been the perfect amount too, as we’ve so far still been able to maneuver through with our car when needed. Although, we just had another surprise dump of white powder overnight and Adam just informed me that it was so heavy that it snapped one of our windshield wipers. So today’s commute to the studio/office should be an interesting one. Fingers crossed that it doesn’t rain.
The only thing I do not enjoy with these freezing temperatures is the ice. If you follow me on Snapchat, you probably already heard the long winded version, but I slipped on the ice last Tuesday trying to get into my car. I was on a hill, ONE step away from the door handle, when my feet came up from underneath me, and I slammed onto the road with my tail bone and then my head flew back and my sunglasses and toque flew off. It really was something out of a movie, all very dramatic and painful. Of course no one was around to witness it, which I can’t decide if that was better or worse, and I was left to pick up the pieces alone. I’ve still been feeling the effects of the fall all week, will have to venture to my chiropractor and/or an RMT soon.
I was in such a panic the morning we were heading up to Grouse for our sunrise adventure. With a 5:30 AM wake up call, you’d think I would have picked out my outfit the night before, but of course not. Instead, I was pulling sweaters out of my closet and tossing them onto the bed in frustration. This seems to happen every year, as we don’t normally get a ton of snow here (last time was probably 7 years ago) and my mountain visits are few and far between. With such a limited timeline, I realized that my go-to way to remain stylish, but warm in the snow is: a really great winter coat, cute practical snow boots, thick denim, and a red lip. That pop of colour on your lips really makes a statement with that winter wonderland backdrop! The only thing missing is a scarf, which I happened to forget on this particularly frantic morning, but let’s just pretend I remembered one, mmmkay?
I’ve already worn this buffalo plaid drop waist dress SO much that I’ve neglected to feature it on the blog because I feel like my friends would roll their eyes and think about how this is the only dress I ever wear. I love how it’s a bit cutesy but comfortable and it has pockets. I should have started there, I mean, this dress has pockets so obviously we’re all sold. It’s a bit short, especially with a drop waist pleated skirt, so I have to wear it with black tights, which I LOVE for gatherings because it solves the awkward ‘jeans tucked into socks and ruining the look of an outfit’ situation. Any time we have people over in the winter, this is what I wear. And pretty much any casual gathering at someone else’s place, this is probably what I’d wear there too. What I’m trying to say, is that damnit, I wish I had more dresses like this one. Unfortunately for all of us, I’ve scoured the internet looking for something similar and have found nothing. If you see something like this please let me know!!!! (4 exclamation points to emphasize my desperation).
I just looked up and realized that not only is this the bold buffalo plaid that I wear ALL the time, but I just purchased new Christmas decor in this exact fabric. So now, if I wear this when we have people over, I’m going to match our stockings and throw pillows. Which is embarrassing, but also just kind of awesome.
With lots to celebrate, Alex, Jill, and I opted for an epic 24 hours in Whistler rather than a dinner in the city together. Jilly was only in town from Toronto for a short time and we HAD to gather and toast her recent engagement. Trust me, there was no shortage of bubbly that weekend! Besides champers, we woke up on the Saturday morning to a delightful snowfall and spent the day singing the instrumental Gilmore Girls’ winter song. As you can see from the photos, it was the tiniest amount of powder, but still magical.
Be sure to scroll down for my Whistler recommendations and outfit details!
It has been quite the week, I must say. Instead of doing one big birthday bash, I managed to see my friends and family separately, which has been lovely but definitely more time consuming. Reggie has started this thing where he cries the ENTIRE time we’re gone, which our neighbours just kindly informed us of, so there’s that. There was also Black Friday/Cyber Monday excitement, where Adam and I may or may not have done a huge ASOS haul and I snagged a couple gifts.
Most exciting of all, I am fresh off the last episode of Gilmore Girl’s Netflix revival and feeling all the feels. I was going to binge watch it on Friday, but then Adam was home and he hates GG, so I waited until I could give it the proper attention it deserved. I saved ‘Fall’ for last night and I am still emotional. I’ve since read a bunch of reviews and I agree with some of the critiques, but I am honestly just thankful to have been given the chance to reunite with Stars Hollow again. I really disliked Season 7 and how the show ended, so it was the closure I’ve wanted all these years! Don’t want to go into too much detail in case you still haven’t watched, but if you have, what’d you think?!
