New kids on the block had a bunch of hits…

I’m so sorry for my lack of updates over the past few weeks! I’m slowing starting to realize that a full-time job really is a full-time job and extra time at night has been dedicated to working out, visiting with friends and relaxing in the sunshine (can you blame me?)!

Faith and I are slowing starting to realize that the hottest time of the day in Vancouver is typically 4-6pm… whereas in Halifax it’s 12-2ish! It’s really weird that I can get off work at 4:30 and still have time to catch the end of the hottest time of the day. Not complaining :)

I’ve been crazy busy with work (which is what I LOVE) and it’s going great! I just moved into a new office space because the person who was there got a promotion (yay Barb!) and her desk has an incredible view of the back gardens at the Park Board.. birds and squirrels included!

This weekend Faith and I decided to let whatever happened yesterday happen. Go with what ever we felt at that time and set no expectations.. this is what conspired: Friday night drinks + movies + a lovely night out to talk about our week at work.

The Sylvia Hotel – my new favourite place for after work drinks! It’s literally 4 blocks from my work, right on the beach and is one of the oldest buildings in Vancouver.

Saturday was a beautiful day so we headed out on foot to see where our feet would take us! I can’t express how much I love Kits other than keep saying it. I feel so home here it’s amazing. Here are the beautiful hydrangea’s blooming in our front yard!

First stop was coffee for me at 49th Parallel (where else?) and Starbucks for Faith.

Onward to Granville Island Market I say! Along with the droves of tourists there were flowers, fresh bread, cheeses, chocolates, fresh pasta and seafood galore. If you don’t go to local farmers markets I highly suggest you get to one this weekend!

Cherries anyone?

How about we hop on the sea bus instead of taking the bus?

Sounds good to me! :)

After that we walked around downtown, read for a while at Chapters… I just finished Ann Brashares new book Sisterhood Everlasting. If you’ve even read the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book series (or watched the movies) this is her newest one:

The book takes place 10ish years after the other ones and it was nothing like I expected. It was both sad and exciting and I didn’t want to stop reading! I love the characters in this series and am so glad she wrote this final book. I highly suggest it!

Once we were done there we had a few options on our plate but decided to try to find some last-minute tickets to see New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys (NKOTBSB tour) just because they were in the city and why not! The concert was starting in less than 2 hours and it was a sold out show so we looked on Craigslist to see if there were any last-minute deals going on. I immediately saw a pair for a good price so we called the guy and before we knew it he was driving the tickets right to us!

If it wasn’t lucky enough that we even got the tickets that fast but even crazier was where the tickets were…. the penthouse box suite! We were blown away to say the very least and had an amazing time dancing in our own private section of the huge box (this included our on private bar, kitchen, seats and tables galore to choose from and our own bathroom)!

They are blurry but you get the idea of how far up we were!

Loving life.

Alllll the empty seats just for us!

Private bar.

Where we sat.

Faith loving life.

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It was one of those things that only happens in the movies… and then just to top it all off, I won two tickets to tonight’s show from a twitter contest! I don’t think anything could have been the time Faith and I had last night so I graciously turned them down so they could draw again and let someone else have a great time at the concert. Thanks @dgbars for choosing me!

What was your favourite band growing up who you’d do anything to see live in concert today?

Oh ya as far as workouts go I’ve been doing a little bit of everything lately… but most importantly I’m back into running! I use my Nike+ sports band for outdoor runs and I LOVE it! Do you use Nike+? Let’s be friends -> amanda_23 Add me as a friend if you use it too!

Saturday Morning Routine

I woke up this morning remembering how much I miss my Saturday morning routine. Even when I was working at the restaurant until 12 or 1 am I would always woke up very early excited to get up early to meet my friend Kaylee! Saturday morning’s in Halifax consisted of some or a combination of things:

 Saturday Morning Farmer’s Market

You know there was coffee involved

(I miss Two If By Sea)

Morning workout at the Mount Gym

Shopping and walking around downtown Halifax!

Driving around the beautiful city

All that being said, I do truly love where I am in Vancouver. Starting Sunday, May 22nd there is going to be a Farmer’s market 2 blocks (literally) from my house! WAHOO! I cannot wait for this to start and have the fresh produce and freshly baked organic goods within stumbling distance!

On another note, last night I met up with Melissa from Indivine Visual Productions for a walk along Kits Beach! It was unbelievably beautiful out last night and there were LOTS of people out. Couples were walking hand in hand along the beach, friends were BBQ-ing and relaxing in the park area, guys were playing beach volleyball, families were riding their bikes and you better believe people were out running everywhere! It was so wonderful to chat with Melissa and take in the beautiful views that are only 13 blocks from my front door!

 After Insanity yesterday I made the best Green Monster I’ve had in a long time! Look how GREEN it is! Mmm the power of spinach!

Blend: 3 big handfuls of fresh spinach + 1 medium-sized banana + 1 cup of almond milk + 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder! YUM!

On Monday I start month two of INSANITY! I can’t believe how fast month one honestly flew by! I’m looking into designing a strict food plan and make sure I plan my meals ahead of time! When it comes to food planning we all know that “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” When you are busy you just grab what ever is convenient, and not what you know you should be eating. The way I see it is I already have the determination and self-control to do the workouts on a daily basis, I might as well make sure I get the very best results that I can out of month two!

In the meantime I’m thinking of looking into what you need to become a beach body coach. I figure that if I can push myself through the program (twice!) I might be able to help others who need that little push of inspiration to make it through too! Do you think you’d be more apt to stick to a workout program if you had someone to support and push you through? Thoughts?

It’s starting to get really sunny here today which is wonderful! I have so much on my to-do list + 1ooo other things I want to do. Time to get at it! Enjoy your weekend everyone!

What’s your favourite Saturday morning routine?