Happy Birthday Erika!

April 19th was my very best friend Erika's birthday. While I enjoy gift giving as much as the next person, our other best friend Shauna and I decided we would make some memories with her instead. So we set out to make Erika's 25th birthday her best birthday yet (spoiler alert: we killed it).

On Saturday Erika, Emma and I packed ourselves in my car and headed to Toronto to meet Shauna. The first thing we did when we walked through Shauna's door was take two shots each of course. How else do you start a birthday off at 1pm?

Then we grabbed an uber down to Gusto 101. 

<< Hashtag Hams >>

The food at Gusto 101 was amazing but it was their sangria that really hit the spot. The atmosphere was another plus. We ended up sitting on the rooftop patio and it was the perfect place to enjoy on of the first warm days of the year.

Of course I had to stop and take a picture with this amazing mural:

We seemed to share the same attitude and style, as you can see.

After lunch as stop two: Sweet Jesus. We may have waited in line for over an hour while the couple in front of us attempted to make a baby in broad daylight but let me tell you, it was worth it.

<< Cookie Dough, Birthday Cake, Brownie>>

After we stuffed out stomachs full of as much ice cream as we could we headed over the Her Majesty's Pleasure for some pampering, and some more drinks of course.

Let me begin by saying, this place has a bar. A nail salon with a bar? Why is this the first time I'm seeing something like this?! The drinks were delicious, the place was beautiful and the staff was so fun!

Once our pampering was done we were ready to go home and get ready for a 90s dance party at The Gladstone Hotel.  We danced to The Backstreet Boys, The Spice Girls and every 90s gem you could think of.

<<I mean look at us, complete with glow sticks!>>

It was a day and a night to remember, which is ironic because we spent most of it drinking! 

Three cheers to best friends!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Quarter Century Party Planner 

Chocolate Avocado Cookies

Last night I decided to try a new approach to satisfying my chocolate cravings. Thus far the only approach I've taken is to either a) eat mini eggs by the handful until my stomach hurts or b) avoid eye contract with the mini eggs each time I open the fridge. Neither has really been doing it for me.

Instead, I thought I'd make some good use of the ingredients in my fridge and follow the tricks of moms everywhere: make something that tastes good and hides healthy ingredients in it. With this I decided to try some healthy avocado cookies. Recipe here.

While this was definitely an interesting attempt, and I am aware that the plate literally looks like a pile of crap, I won't lie when I tell you that these definitely weren't as good as the real thing. They had a cake-like texture which was a bit confusing, and I did spend the time I was eating it waiting to hit one of the chocolate chunks but they did do the trick. I'm hoping that maybe trying them cold will enhance the experience?

I guess I'll just have to keep delving deeper into the world of healthy baked goods and see what comes up as a winner. In the mean time, I've got about 15 chocolate avacado cookies that I need to learn to love.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Mini Egg-aholic in Recovery

**P.S The yoga class went very well! I wasn't late, didn't embarrass myself (a feat in itself), and will be going back next Monday. Three cheers for conquering irrational fears**

Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

In the last month I've been getting into yoga a bit. I've been trying it out at home and I have really been enjoying it. I do a short 30 minute youtube video and it's a nice way to feel like I'm both working out and getting some me-time in where I'm disconnected from my phone and tv and focusing on my body and how I'm feeling.

Today I'm going to go to a yoga class at my rock climbing gym and while I've done yoga before, I'm not going to lie, it's making me super anxious. I had plans to go with a friend but she had to cancel so I'm flying solo. This is giving me a wild amount of anxiety you guys, a wild amount. I would probably have completely written off the idea of going immediately after my friend cancelled by they ask you to book a spot so I've literally had my mouse hovering over the cancel booking all day.

I just keep thinking: what if I'm running late? What if I walk into the wrong room? What if I walk in to the right room late and everyone is on their mats already and everyone looks at me like "hey jerk, we're finding inner peace here!" and then I can't find a spot for my mat? WHAT IF GUYS!?

What a serious amount of anxiety for a workout that is supposed to "centre" you. But guess what, I'm going anyways. I'm going to push away the thought that I still have to drive there, check in, get dressed and find the dang room in the thirty short minutes between when work ends and when I get there.

I'm gonna do it.

This may be a completely useless and trivial blog post but maybe it's also something you feel too and you need to remember when you want to try something new, especially without the security blanket of another person there.

In all hopes I'll be back on here tomorrow telling you how awesome yoga was and how I didn't embaress myself.

Cheers to social anxiety, y'all!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Nahmastay at Home

Drink This!

So, I'm not gonna lie to you, I got a little overzealous with the mini eggs over Easter and it was glorious and beautiful and now it's over. I still have a HUGE bag of mini eggs in my fridge but instead I've been satisfying my cravings with my favourite overnight oats for breakfast along with the most glorious smoothie recipe I have ever stumbled upon.

I actually came upon this recipe on snapchat, so odd, but now I am sharing it with you fine people because it really is a game changer (in my humble opinion). I also am super into smoothie recipes these days so I'm paying it forward by handing one to you people. 

So here's the breakdown bromingos:

Add the following to a blender in no specific quantity since I literally put in as much or as little as I want ever every ingredient.

-Greek Yogurt
-Almond Milk
-Frozen Blueberries
-Frozen Bananas
-Lime Juice
-Mint
-Chia Seeds

And blend!

On this particular day I topped mine with coconut chips (which I wouldn't necessary recommend). But be creative my friends.

Go forth and blend!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Smooth Operator