The Forgotten Bento and Cool Nails

The forgotten one

 

I totally forgot to post this one from last week. I didn’t even get a chance to do any this week, mostly because my discoveries were half days so I’d eat at home. Another reason is that I just started Bikram’s Yoga classes and have been to five classes so far. It eats up a lot of time, and when I get home I’m completely blissed out and exhausted. I’m so glad a fellow court reporter pushed me to try this because even though it’s extremely difficult and unpleasant, the results are amazing. 

I have chronic pain being a stenographer. People don’t realize how much strength and stamina your body needs to hold up your arms and do machine shorthand for hours at a time. Court reporters have sore shoulders, necks, forearms, wrists and upper and lower backs. I’ve been remiss in even getting massages or chiro to deal with the pain, but everything came to a halt last week when I just couldn’t take it anymore and realized how miserable I was doing this job. The yoga works to stretch and strengthen the entire body, thereby healing the pain, not just working out the knots like in massage or aligning the body like chiro (btw yoga also does those too). The intense heat is also therapeutic for the soreness and relaxes the muscles. It’s also a mental workout and helps me not focus on work. I have quite a busy mind and am a type A personality, which is typical of a court reporter, but it also means I have trouble finding balance. Yoga is my way of taking care of my health and working towards a bit mental tranquility.

Anyhoo, didn’t mean to make this a marketing article about yoga, but I can’t say enough good things. I already notice my skin looking nicer (and I thought I had nice skin to begin with). I also notice my tummy firming up as well (hello! ). I will not lie and say Bikrams is easy, though. I’ve done other yoga styles before, and none of them hold a candle to this. The heat was almost too much. I hated every moment of my first session, and the only reason I stayed in the room was because I was terrified of disturbing the other students. Every session since then has gotten better, and I notice improvements in my body and how I deal with challenges and restrictions like range of motion, etc. Not sure if I’ll ever love this yoga, but I love not being in pain so much more, I doubt I’ll quit. I also have a yoga partner who has been taking care of me and teaching me lots. I am forever indebted to her and SO grateful. Namaste.

AND…. here’s the bento I did over a week ago. Still loving the stainless steel. We’ve got avocado and egg with blanched broccoli on haiga-mai rice, bunny embellishments for Year of the Rabbit, raw peppers in yellow, orange and red, cucumber slices, ranch dip and strawberries. Uber healthy!

Nails for the day

I did my nails last night after attending a chocolate tasting at Xoxolat on Burrard and 8th Avenue. The owner, Hodie, is super cute and nice and loves what she does. That love shows in the quality and creativity of the chocolate she has in her shop. In addition to her own chocolate (some of the prettiest I’ve seen), she has imported high-end stuff from overseas. The tasting made me LOVE dark chocolate, including 100%, something I never thought I’d like. The big feature of her shop is the chocolate shoe line, something every girl will love. They’re super pretty and indulgent, but I’m not sure I could bring myself to eat one …. wait, who am I kidding? It’s chocolate! lol.

With the tasting class we each received a box of her signature chocolates (truffles, petit fours and pralines) worth about $30. You also get a discount with any purchases you make that night. I’m a huge chili chocolate fan and a fan of hot chocolate, so I was in heaven when I was able to have BOTH. I think the favourite of the night was the bacon chocolate, which I didn’t try because I don’t eat meat. My girlfriend bought several bars of it (cleverly called “Westcoast Breakfast”).

We then went to Atithi for Indian food afterwards. The chocolate class is purposely held early so you haven’t eaten prior to tasting the chocolate; it is meant to be fully enjoyed without tainting your tastebuds and olfactory with other foods. So by the time the class and socializing was done, I was starving. She sent us down the street to Atithi, a small mom and pop operation with the most polite people and the most awesome food for amazing prices (less than $20 an entree). Atithi means “honoured guest” in Hindi, and Chef Roy actually used to cook at Maurya 2 minutes away on Broadway and Fir. I had curried jumbo prawns, and they were monstrously huge and sweet. I’m drooling as I write this. lol.

Anyhoo, this section was supposed to be about nails; right? Oops.

Here’s my nails. Bottom layer is teal blue from a cheapo brand, NYC. The glitter topcoat is from Anna Sui. It’s a chunky glitter that looks amazing even by itself on bare nails, which is what I did for most of the holiday season since it was “the in thing” this past winter.

Cheers and good eats,

Silver