Thursday, April 7, 2011

Re-inspired by people who make it look easy...

In previous entries, I have alluded to the fact that there are people out there in the world already 'living with less' seemingly effortlessly... and not feeling the overwhelming urge to bang a drum and blog about it.  In other words, they are quietly changing the world day-by-day just by being THEM.  This past weekend, I was fortunate to re-connect with friends who fall into this category...

My 'perfect weekend' took place in Kelowna, BC and was hosted by my amazing friends Tess and Loic.  It was actually more of a five-day saga, with stops in Canmore, AB both on the way there and back to pick up/drop off my friend and sister-from-another-mister Jody.  So, yeah, poor Loic had more than his share of estrogen-energy to deal with over the three days that we were together. 

Tess and Loic never disappoint in terms of planning really fun activities for their guests and this last visit was no exception.  Our weekend was filled with 'MareBare-Friendly' activities such as:
  • Hike/photo session up Knox Mountain (Tess is in her 8th month of pregnancy and Jody is a photographer)
  • Amazing vegetarian meals cooked both in-house and out... (Lemony Lentil Soup, Warm Lentil Salad, Kale Salad, authentic Indian food, Greek Potatoes, etc.)  Since returning home, my house has been turned into a 'Tess-kitchen' (get it? Test Kitchen? Okay, bad one, but too bad... you should be expecting bad jokes/puns from me by now!)
  • TWO, (yes two) live music shows... one at the Streaming Cafe (coolest idea ever and I am officially busy every Saturday night from now until the end of time). The artist last Saturday was Dominique Fraissard... an artist who truly speaks to the language of my soul. And I am not even exaggerating... the man reduced me to a puddle of tears with his music. So talented, so humble, so REAL. Awesome.
  • A visit to the Urban Harvest Saturday market... local, organic produce sold from a hole-in-the-wall shop in North Kelowna.  Despite the remote, out-of-the-way location, people were lining up inside.  It would appear that we as humans ARE figuring out that food is our main source of life energy and that community, consciousness, ethics and quality are (and should be) a huge part of what we put into our bodies.

 
  • A lovely day spent in the afternoon sun dedicated to art and conversation.  Tess, Loic and their friend Michelle were kind enough to introduce me to printing as an extremely interesting medium for making art.  I think that I am hooked.  I will post updates as I become more involved in this art form.
  • Just the fact that it was spring in the Okanagan (and we still have several feet of snow at home) was enough to make my heart sing...


And so, it is with heartfelt gratitude that I end this post and return to figuring-out how I can bring some of this motivation/inspiration into my daily life... Thank you to everyone who shared their time and energy with me this past weekend... you are all true sources of light in my life!

MareBare xoxo