A Few Good Things, My Workouts of the Week, and Fireworks

A couple of weeks ago there was a Sunset Beach Social going on along Sunset Beach. We walked across the Burrard Bridge to check it out. Here's the view of the party tents from the bridge above:

After walking around the social for awhile, we putzed around downtown for a bit until it was nearly sunset, then made our way back over the Burrard Bridge as the sun set behind the mountains:

 

It was the night preceding the July 12th Super Moon, so even though it wasn't quite super, the moon was still pretty big that night:

By the way, that photo above was taken at sunset - so at about 9:15 at night. That's how bright the sky still is at 9:15 at night around here during the summer. Isn't that nuts?

Moving along, here are all my workouts from this past week. My calves have been sooooo sore from the Thursday lower body workout I did (see below). I guess upgrading to holding 25-pounds in each hand (versus 15-pounds) really makes a difference to my muscles!

7/21 (upper body)

5 mins elliptical

3x:  15 chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs each hand

3x:  12 rear flys, 7.5 lbs each hand

3x:  12 overhead press, 10 lbs each hand

3x:  12 deltoid flys, 7.5 lbs each hand

3x:  12 bent over rows each arm, 20 lbs

3x:  12 deltoid raises, 7.5 lbs each hand

3x:  15 close grip chest press on exercise ball, 12.5 lbs each hand

3x:  12 tricep extensions on exercise ball, 7.5 lbs each hand

7/22 (cardio and core)

20 mins biking

40 crunches on exercise ball, holding 15 lbs

40 leg raises + reverse crunch

40 Russian get ups, holding 8 lbs

40 Brazilian crunches

40 weighted v-sit twists holding 15 lbs

80 side-to-side oblique crunch

40 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 8 lbs

40 plank knee to elbow

40 alternating weighted side bends, 15 lbs each hand

40 cobras

7/24 (lower body)

5 mins elliptical

3x:  12 squats, holding 30 lbs

3x:  40 diamond clamshells each leg

3x:  40 jump squats, alternating wide and close stance

3x:  40 calf raises, 25 lbs each hand

3x:  40 bridges

7/25 (core)

40 alternating weighted side bends, 20 lbs each hand

40 alternating bird dogs

40 Russian get ups, holding 8 lbs

40 Brazilian crunches

40 weighted v-sit twists, holding 15 lbs

40 leg raises + reverse crunch

40 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 8 lbs

80 side-to-side oblique crunch

40 crunches on exercise ball, holding 20 lbs
40 plank knee to elbow

The weather finally turned nice again this weekend, after a grey week. On Friday night after my core workout, I walked downtown to try to stretch out my sore calf muscles. While down there, I ended up grabbing dinner at a restaurant on Robson St. called Abode. Sitting out on their sidewalk patio and sipping on a sugar-rimmed cocktail called Summer Sandals...

.  summer sandals  .
.  vodka, grand marnier, raspberry liqueur, sparkling wine  .

... was a nice way to unwind after the work week. Unfortunately, the instant my pulled BBQ chicken sandwich was set down before me, an intrusive honey bee began dive-bombing my plate and my table till I was forced to say "uncle" while waving my white napkin and running inside to the dining room. No matter - they found me a nice booth inside their dining room next to a window, so my view was nearly identical anyway.

.  pulled chicken & slaw sandwich  .
.  slow roasted chicken, super slaw, fresh spinach on ciabatta  .

Yesterday I spent the morning getting some important things done around my apartment, and then headed out with a blanket and my iPod to catch some sunshine on the lawn at Kitsilano Beach for a bit. It's seriously so nice to have the sun back. It changes the vibe of the entire city.

.  mad peeps on the beach!  .

Speaking of the entire city, I got to check out the first night of the Celebration of Light fireworks last night, which was awesooooome... and it certainly seemed like the entire city was out for it. I was able to watch them right from my beach....

And there were so many people who came out for it! The fireworks were an awesome 25-minute display. Most of my pictures came out terribly, but this one was alright...

Well it's supposed to be another fabulous day today, so I hope to spend a good portion of my day outside. Have a great Sunday!!

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Fall Foliage Around Vancouver

This is my second fall here in Vancouver, and it's just as lovely this year as it was when we first arrived to Canada last October.  The weather is constantly shifting between stretches of beautiful blue days and stretches of grey/overcast/rainy days, which keeps things interesting... and green!

.  my beach  .

One of the things that surprised me last October was that Vancouver actually gets some beautiful foliage this time of year. Having moved from the Northeast to the Northwest, I was expecting to be disappointed by any fall leaves other than those of my beloved New England. But you know what? Vancouver's leaves aren't bad. They're not bad at all!

 

For the last week or so, though, Vancouver has been coated in a thick fog - some days more whited-out than others. Dave and I took a walk on the beach a few days ago and I snapped this picture of the mountains north of the city... or what you can see of them through the fog:

These pictures are from a walk we took Tuesday night - the fog is swallowing the Burrard Bridge:

(As a reminder, here's what it looks like on a sunny day:)

But yesterday, while working in my living room, I glanced out the window and noticed that the sky had turned blue for a few moments, so I took this photo quickly before it was all covered by fog again:

So it's not exactly a New England fall around here, but it's still got its flashes of color and pizzazz. Hopefully this fog doesn't last for too much longer though - it's borderline creepy. Also, it makes it incredibly hard to drive at night, as it turns out. #CantSeeShit.

Do you live in a place where the leaves turn colors in the fall? Have you been getting any of this crazy fog??

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Not A Bad Day for the Vancouver Sun Run

On Sunday Vancouver hosted its annual Sun Run, a 10k race that I'm told is the largest 10k race in Canada. It sure freaking was large - there were way more people running than I would have expected. The weather that day couldn't decide if it wanted to be rainy or sunny, but I managed to head outside during one of the sunny periods to grab some on-the-go breakfast and snap some pictures.

This is the kind of day it was, while the sun was shining:

As I headed east on Cornwall Ave, approaching Burrard St., I could see hoards and hoards of people running over the Burrard Bridge and heading south on Burrard.

Traffic was blocked off on the entire bridge, so the whole width of the bridge was filled with people running and walking. I really had NO idea that so many people would be participating in the Sun Run!! There were runners/walkers as far as the eye could see in each direction.

.  view of the mountains (back) and city (middle)  .
.  tiny view of Sun Run runners on pacific ave (bottom)  .

.  view heading south on burrard bridge  .
.  molson factory in upper left  .

This guy was awesome. He was hanging out on the east sidewalk of the Burrard Bridge, cheering on runners and holding a poster that reads HIGH FIVE STATION. I knew it was written in letters that were too thin to show up in a picture from across the street, but I needed to capture it anyway!

While I was hanging out on the bridge I glanced over towards the English Bay and noticed two bald eagles chilling in the branches of my favorite tree:

Heading back towards home, I couldn't resist stopping to admire a particular stretch of cherry blossom trees at the corners of Cornwall and Burrard:

Then I stood under it and shit got weird for a little while: 

 

Here are some other pretty things I saw while walking home:

This is the entire Sun Run 10K race course - it goes all around the city, through a little bit of Stanley Park, across the Burrard Bridge, around a stretch of the southern portion of False Creek, north over the Cambie Bridge, concluding at BC Place Stadium:

Not too long after I took these pictures, it began to rain - as it does around here. But I bet no one running the race minded ;)