'Om'-vember

Morning friends!

Hope you all had a wunderbar evening :)

I stayed up a bit late to finish up a report for work, but was glad that I did since my to-do list has been overflowing.

'Om'-vember

So, I am a big fan of Movember. Well, I'm a fan of the fact that is raises money for a good cause, although I have to admit that mustaches aren't exactly my fav...but I guess I can deal.

[Source]

Since I am unfortunately (thankfully?) not able to grow a mustache, I have decided to switch 'mo'-vember up a bit and do 'om'-vember instead.

See what I did there?

MOvember <--> OMvember

Ya, I switched it up.

What is 'Om'-vember, you ask? It is a month-long challenge where I am going to try and meditate every day, so that I set aside at least 20 minutes a day to get my 'om' on. And, yes, I realize this has nothing to do with mustaches or prostate cancer, but I kind of just like the way that they sound similar...*blonde moment*

I was initially just going to go with it and sit quietly for a certain amount of time every day, but then I stumbled across this and thought it would be a good way of introducing myself to a more consistent meditation practice: the Chopra Center Meditation 3 Week Challenge

I started it a few days ago, and am officially loving the guided meditations. Not only does Oprah give the opening comments, but Deepak Chopra has the most soothing voice of life, which is then followed by amazingly wonderful.

Yes, amazingly wonderful.

It is free to register for the 3 week challenge, and I would highly recommend that you try it out, even if its only a couple of times a week. The meditation recordings are available for five days after they go live, so you can still access the first one for another two days.

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up and get your 'Om'-vember on ;)

[And donate to your fav Movember team here, because I'm sure we all know at least one guy who is doing it]

Have a great day!!

Dinner At Ahora, Take Two

Hello friends

Hope you are all having a wunderbar morning :)

I feel like I've already had a pretty productive morning - I woke up early and did a bit of abs

30 crunches
30 bicycle abs (slow)
30 leg lifts (start on your back and slowly lift both legs up to 90 degrees and down)
30 reverse crunches (start on your back with legs up at a 90 degree angle and lift feet towards the ceiling until your bum comes off the floor)
30 forearm plank oblique dips
30 mountain climbers (start in a high plank position and bring right knee to right elbow and back, then bring left knee to left elbow, continue to alternate)

And then I even had time for a wee little bit of meditation, AND time to eat breakfast at home!

Protein pancake with raspberries and a drizzle of maple syrup

Dinner At Ahora, Take Two

My cousin was in town from BC, so my brother and I met up with him after work to go for dinner and catch up. Somehow it came to me to decide where to go for dinner - in case you don't know, I am pretty much the most indecisive person OF ALL TIME, so I panicked and went with a classic - Ahora restaurant in the market. 

I went there recently with a friend of mine, and loved the Mexican theme going on, the fresh salsa galore...SO GOOD! Also, my little bro was just in Ecuador for a year, so he was very excited to show off his Spanish skills and converse a bit with the waitress.

[As a side note, someone - I won't name any names *ahem* Aunt Kim - totally ratted me out about going to Caliente and forgot to invite him...he was like 'you went to a salsa bar without me?!?' Hehehe I promise I won't make that mistake again ;)]

But the boys were very happy with the MOUNTAIN of food that they got - burritos and rice and salad and fresh salsa piquante. I went for the good ol' ensalada fiesta. 

Lettuce, tortilla chips, chicken, avocado, tomatoes, cucumbers, salsa piquante and a lime. 

Fiesta in my mouth.

We wandered about the market place for a bit after dinner and then went to mi casa for some tea time. It was so nice to catch up! We realized that it had been about 3 or 4 years since we had all been together...crazy pants!! Hopefully we won't leave it that long in the future :)

Hope you all have a great day, and I will be back again tonight with another HIIT workout!

Question of the Day:

• Do you have a go-to restaurant for when people come to visit?

As I mentioned, I usually draw a total blank when it comes to restaurant choices, so its good for me to have a few good ones in the back of my mind. I remember my roomies and I in Montreal had our go-to place for when the parents went - Claremonts in Westmount. So classy, and so unaffordable when the parents aren't around teehee [Momster & Popster - pretend you never heard that...]