warm sunshine.

Ohh once again I found I've fallen behind on my blog posts. I can only assume that everyone was out enjoying the sunshine over the long weekend like I was and didn't notice!


Warning: this post will probably be gargantuan, with lots of photos!

First day post-challenge - Happy Birthday Canada! I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't get out to any patriotic activities. I had a very much needed sleep in, and spent the sunny afternoon gobbling up Still Life, which I finished and enjoyed thoroughly! I did celebrate Canada by enjoying some of it's great literary talent then I guess! But mostly I just relaxed and took the day to myself. I did whip up some delicious 15-minute creamy avocado pasta, which I hadn't had since the beginning of my cleanse. It was delicious and fresh and creamy and a little too garlicky, but that's oh so yummy. I started
another book called Rescue by Anita Shreve, but am having a hard time getting into it for some reason. Sometimes I need to step back and try something else and then revisit, we'll see! I did what I've dubbed my 'sleepy time' routine and went to bed anxious to make it back to the studio in the morning.

It felt so fantastic to get back in the hot room, even after missing only one day! It was a quiet class, and a little challenging! I went into eagle expecting the kick-ass performance of the day before, only that didn't so much happen. It's okay though; I'm getting a lot better at being okay when I fall out of things. Kirsten always teaches a fabulous and inspiring class, and we both commented on how great it felt after not doing yoga for a day! I always love it when I go into the studio and it's grey and damp outside, only to come out ninety minutes later to warm, smiling sunshine. Yoga and sun is always a recipe for a wonderful day!

I love my job right now because I can just spend my time walking around outside, and lately that has been pretty easy! I had walked by the Mi'kmaq pow wow at the Commons quite a few times and Jamie had gotten called off work so we  decided to spend our Saturday afternoon wandering around the festival. The artwork for sale and crafts were beautiful, it certainly made me want to have money some of the pieces were so incredible. It was a little torturous for still-on-a-cleanse me, seeing the never ending stalls of Indian tacos - delectable looking flatbreads topped with a literal mountain of ground meat, vegetables, and cheese ... oh the cheese! Jamie didn't get one, I think partially he felt a little bad devouring that in front of me - even though later on he had no problems destroying a big slice of Sicilian drenched in donair sauce while I formed a small puddle of drool on the table. Even looking at this photo is making me want to cheat, on my last day. Jamie, don't hate me for posting this, I love how much you're enjoying it because you needed to savour it for both of us! At that I was anxious to work our way home because we were grilling for dinner and I was making tofu and veggie skewers! So excited for my first cleanse barbecue! I spent some time hunting down grilled tofu and veggie marinades online and found the two winners. We also chose a grilled potato salad, number 49 on the food network magazine's pull out booklet of 50 potato salads. Jamie was making one of his succulent-looking four new york strip steaks (I hope I remembered that right!) but I was anxious to try out my marinades! Here's what I decided on:


Smoky Grilled Tofu with Hoisin Sauce
From vegetarian.about.com

1 block extra firm tofu, well pressed
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Carefully slice tofu into 1-inch thick cubes or strips. If you're using skewers, cubes are best, but if you'll be placing your tofu directly on your grill, larger strips are better. I went against the grain and decided on triangles. Whisk together all the ingredients, except tofu, and place in a shallow dish. Place the tofu in the dish and spoon some of the marinate on top of the tofu. Allow the tofu to marinade for at least one hour, turning once or spooning more marinade over the top. You can also use a zip-lock bag instead of a dish.
Lightly grease your gill and cook tofu over medium flame for 6-7 minutes on each side, basting with extra hoisin sauce marinade.

Herbed Veggie Skewer Marinade
From allrecipes 

1/3 cup olive or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine in a bowl and use to baste veggies on a skewer - I used red, yellow and green peppers, grape tomatoes and zucchini, yumm!! I basted them before the grill, and used the rest of the marinade to brush while on the grill. 'But won't that make a huge mess??' I asked Jamie, only to have him reply 'Um ... it's a barbecue, that's sort of a requirement.' Right. I'm so new to this, I've maybe barbecued two hot dogs in my life and that's about the extent of it.
Don't forget if you're using bamboo skewers to soak them for at least 20-30 minutes, I did and two of them still caught on fire and burned away! But still, I think we did pretty great! Jamie tried the new Rickard's Blonde, which looked delicious and light and just beyond my reach. Instead I had Perrier with frozen raspberries and cranberries in it. Still delicious, but not the same as a bubbly, foaming beer on a hot summer evening. Check out our barbecue!

this is your dinner: grilled edition

I always feel fancier when I drink out of my favourite wine glasses - they've got a diamond-like shape perfect for cupping your hand around. I love how the thawing raspberries dye the water a vibrant, bubbly pink!

Potatoes, onion and lemon grilling in rosemary and olive oil for our grilled potato salad! The smell coming off of this was heavenly ...

I love this photo! Grilling with such intensity and love.

Yumm ... herb-marinated veggie skewers and Asian-inspired 

hoisin-marinated tofu.

No contact between the steak and my veggie half! Ohh what a tease ...

Dinner turned out simply scrumptious! A few of my tofu triangles broke, but they still tasted delicious! I saved some marinade to dip it in - uber-delicious! I absolutely loved my grilled dinner!

Jamie's grilled dinner subtracted tofu, added a dry-rubbed new york strip cooked medium rare with sauteed mushrooms and onions. 

We both deemed our first big barbecue night together of the summer a huge success and both collapsed in two heaps of well-fed contentment! 

Jamie having two days off in a row, let alone a Saturday-Sunday combination, is a rare thing so we decided to go on an adventure on sunny Sunday! We found a park online called Victoria Park only about eighty minutes away by Truro that boasted meandering trails and waterfalls, so we decided on a nature adventure! I was anxious to get out and enjoy the sunshine with my love and hopefully finally get some cool photos of myself doing yoga - let's face it, it's not like I haven't wanted to! I loved getting out in the sunshine and the trees. One of the attractions the park boasts is the 175-step Jacob's Ladder, which we climbed, me probably a bit more begrudgingly than Jamie. We did have to stop part way up for a pep talk, but we did it!

Check out some photos from our adventure!

 Just heading off on our adventure! Jamie doesn't like me taking photos of him so I always have to catch him off guard. The best part about those kinds of photos is they are always the most beautiful!

Okay, maybe not always .... but that's why some genius invented digital cameras!

 Yup, we decided to conquer the massively looming 175 steps of Jacob's Ladder. The wooden steps were spaced so close together I had to take them two at a time, which meant I had to go sort of fast because I had to put all my weight into it. Needless to say, as much as yoga has helped me get in much better shape, that is a lot of effing stairs!

We did it! What an accomplishment to stand at the top of those stairs and be able to say that! Then I saw some little kids doing it later on ... but it's still a lot of steps!

 Jamie was a great photographer, instructing me to 'gaze off over my left shoulder at the beauty of nature.' It was pretty spectacular to have this pretty much right in the city!

It was such a treacherous uphill climb, Jamie was a much more adventurous vertical climber than I was, and he was so brave!


On a completely unrelated note I love how many different ways you can make something look with different camera angles!

Well we made it to the waterfalls! Part of them, anyway. It was such a beautiful little slice of nature, and not as many people around as we would have expected. We both just stared for a little while, listening and watching the water cascade over the rocks.

 I just love those moments when I catch Jamie off guard! So sue me, I like to take photos of my boyfriend because it drives him crazy! Secretly he loves it, I know, but he pretends not to! 

But seriously, how beautiful is this view! It's a small falls, but we passed by another where the pool was just full of people swimming! Then we found this little gem hidden away. I really could have sat there all day and reveled in it. That being said ...

It seemed like the perfect, inspiring place to do some yoga! I was dying to get into it, and just loved the calm beauty here. I think Jamie did an amazing job with the photo! The water almost frames my warrior; I can't lie, it wasn't easy to stay strong and grounded on two different rocks straddling a pool of water, but I managed! I just love the strength of this pose, especially being able to do it outside, opening up my chest and my heart to the warm sunshine.

I had to open up into my dancer's pose because it's such a beautiful one! I'm not loving my form in this photo, especially my expression and it just reminds me how badly I need a haircut - but I do love the freedom I can feel my body experiencing in this photo, like I feel every time I open up into dancer. It's funny, the first thing I thought when I looked at this photo was 'two feet to the left and it would look like I'm peeing. Awesome.' What a wiener. A gorgeous photo of a beautiful pose in these surroundings and that's what I notice. Some things will never change I guess!

Yup, we are definitely that nature couple. That's what I said as soon as we snapped this photo - well, about nine of these before we got the lighting right. Every time we take a photo together I have to make Jamie laugh - to induce a natural smile, of course - by saying things like poopy diapers, boogers and farts, boobies to make us both laugh. It doesn't often turn out looking pretty or natural, in fact it most often catches us with eight chins, squinty eyes, or in my case, my bad side (I know I know - she can't possibly have a bad side! It's true, I'll admit it). But sometimes it catches us in that perfect moment, doing what we do best - looking naturally beautiful and whimsical. And being modest. No one ever has to see the other eight photos where our six-year-old-boy sense of humour wins over our stunning good looks. (I mean seriously, does potty humour ever not make everyone laugh? Or saying boobies?).

Eventually we came upon another of the many bridges and I brilliantly decided to do bridge pose  on the bridge! Except I didn't want to put my head and shoulders on the ground so I opted for wheel instead, which was actually much more exhilarating! Staring at the sparkling brook below me while inverted is really mesmerizing! Jamie took about eight photos of me here, and although by the end of it my arms were shaking uncontrollably and he had to put his hand in the small of my back to help me up, I stayed up for a long time just completely losing myself in the glimmering water. It was so calming, and definitely a feeling I want to bring with me into my practice.

My boyfriend loves me so much he suffered injury to take photos that I demanded he capture. What a wonderful guy ;) and so tough! He wouldn't even take a band-aid! Which is good because I forgot to put them in the bag ...

 

As we were walking along the trail we commented on how we had seen absolutely no wildlife. It seemed very odd! So when we were walking on a fairly isolated and quiet part of the trail, when I heard a noise I stopped to look! Jamie made a few comments likening my attention span to the dogs in the movie Up! Who doesn't love this part?? It's true, I stopped to look at just about everything along the path, but when I heard that noise I was so happy that I stopped ...

Down in the grass I saw the ochre-coloured scales of a Nova Scotia garter snake (because I just know these things). I guess it was pretty small, but secretly I thought it was big! I was so excited to have seen a snake! It made me think of when we were younger and we would always go for hikes through the woods, or to waterfalls. Dad would always point out and name animals and creatures, Mum would always remember snacks and water. It was great, almost made me feel like a kid again. So we decided this summer we're going to go on an adventure every week. Spending time in nature doesn't cost money, and a lot of us take it for granted every day! Unless of course you venture into a provincial park, then maybe you might have to pony up - at least in PEI we do! Moral of the story: I forgot how wonderful and simple it is to just get away and enjoy the beauty of the earth.

The only covered bridge in Victoria Park! I knew I wanted to do something, but when I got up there I panicked so I dove into crescent moon! I just love how this photo turned out, with the colours and the slightly-skewed symmetry of my body and the harsh lines of the arched covering.




After this I tried for an inappropriately excessive amount of time to get a photo of a shimmering spiderweb between two trees that refused to focus. I don't understand why, but I just couldn't get one - very frustrating!! Then of course the camera battery died, so that was it for photographs - ah well, one less thing for me to carry!

It was a really stunning day, it made me love life and feel a lot of pride in Jamie and I -  to both of whom going for a three-hour hike is a pretty foreign thing in recent memory! After the long walk and having forgotten to bring snacks (awful move on both of our parts) we were anxious to get home and fire up the grill again! I got my tofu marinade ready right away, so we could sit and relax a bit while it absorbed the delicious flavours. This is what I went with tonight:

Yummy Grilled Tofu
From Book of Yum

1 lb of firm tofu - I used extra firm! 2 tbsp GF soy sauce - I used Bragg's seasoning
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1 Tbsp rice vinegar - I only had apple cider, close enough!
1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 pressed cloves of garlic

Drain water from tofu, and cut horizontally in thirds or half. Wrap in towel and leave for 30 minutes or so until water has absorbed into towel. (I definitely didn't leave it for 30 minutes and it was fine!) Mix marinade ingredients, and marinate tofu for at least 30 minutes. If possible, grill, if not, broil or pan fry.

I tossed the tantalizing-smelling marinating tofu in the fridge as we both collapsed on the couch, exhausted after our day of walking steep stairs and even steeper hills, watching the beginning of Iron Chef America's Oh Canada marathon featuring Lynn Crawford vs. Bobby Flay, Chuck Hughes vs. Bobby Flay and Roger Mooking vs. Michael Symon. A perfectly relaxing way to end an awesome summer day, with the door open and the smell of the grill wafting in! We just needed to relax a little bit first ...

... and then we woke up nearly three hours later!! Wow I guess we were completely exhausted! It was dark out now and we have no lights on our balcony for barbecuing, so we settled for kraft dinner (Jamie) and corn fusilli with tomato basil sauce (me) - except I used dried basil because we were out of fresh, and it was so not as good as fresh. What a difference! Still good, but not nearly as delicious and fresh-tasting! Ah well, it certainly hit the spot after a long and wonderful day!

I will definitely fill you in on Monday tomorrow - although it wasn't an overly exciting day! But now I'm exhausted and I need to go sleep-meditate myself into my early morning tomorrow.

I hope everyone had an incredible long weekend full of love and good times, make sure you hold it and take it with you for the rest of your week!

Namaste.