Thank you to everyone who submitted questions for my Ask Me Anything! Today I have quite a variety to answer; I love how different these all are.
- From Bijoux (HI BIJOUX): As I like to travel, what would be your Canadian not-to-be-missed sights? I considered putting off answering this question until May, when I will be back from a trip to Ontario and Quebec; I am sure there will be many not-to-be-missed sights that I will discover. Then I thought that no matter what I see on that trip, my number one answer will not change, and that is the Canadian Rockies in general, and Banff in particular. I think there is no place on earth quite as beautiful and as special. The town of Banff is very expensive and touristy, it’s true, but that is because it is so beautiful and special. The Canadian Rockies are an absolute feast for the eyes in every way; the colours, the mountains, the trees.
- From Kate (HI KATE): Do you plan to teach yoga in your new town? Do you ever go to a studio class, or only practice on your own? I don’t currently have plans to teach; we have a lot of travel planned this year, and so I did not want to commit to any classes, only to have to find substitutes. I would be willing to teach one-off or event-style classes, but I don’t want a firm commitment. I also get extremely attached to my students and I miss my Calgary ones so much; I’m not quite ready for that again. As to the second part of the question, the short answer is no, I don’t go to studio classes. For thirteen years I did practice at a studio; I practiced Mysore-style Ashtanga, which is very individual and student-led; there is a set sequence of postures that each student practices at their own pace, with a teacher available to assist and also to teach the next posture in the series. My friend Lucas (HI LUCAS) made a video of this practice at our studio back in 2012, and if you watch the video, I am in the bright pink pants. At about the 2:20 mark, you can see the wild backbends I used to be able to do. Anyway, I was so grateful to have this kind of daily practice established because when the pandemic hit, I continued with it, just at home, and without a teacher. One or two days a week I take a restorative or yin practice, again, at home. I did take one led class last year, as my friend Sara (HI SARA) was giving a special class at an art studio; I enjoy this kind of thing once in a while, but generally I prefer a practice which is more of a moving meditation than a led class.
- From Steph (HI STEPH): Do you think you will eventually work again or are you and and your husband both retired for good? This question also answers Coco‘s question (HI COCO) who asked what does your husband do? Steph’s is a very interesting question, because I always think of “work” as the days when I worked in an office, on a trade floor, which I quit in 2004 after having my first baby. Of course, I have had various little jobs, including teaching yoga, since then, but I guess I don’t think of them as work that one retires from, exactly. So the answer to that question is never say never! I have a few ideas and projects, but whether or not they will result in any monetary compensation remains to be seen. I can confidently say my husband is definitely retired; he is enjoying the retirement life immensely. Currently, he is in his workshop building me cedar garden beds, so I can also say we are both benefitting from his retirement.
- From Elisabeth (HI ELISABETH): What is your least favourite food item in the world? No contest: celery. I loathe celery. Everything about it is disgusting to me: the smell, the taste, the weird stringy texture. I clearly remember a kid bringing ants on a log for shared preschool snack, and the absolute horror it inspired in me. I love peanut butter. I love raisins. WHY MUST WE PUT THOSE DELICIOUS THINGS ON A PIECE OF THE DEVIL’S GREENERY? Close second to least favourite food: onions. I don’t mind onion flavour, so a dehydrated onion flake or onion powder is fine. But the texture of onions, particularly raw onions, gives me a full-body shudder. Not as bad as celery, and if there was a gun to my head I’d probably eat one, but that gun would have to be loaded. Obviously I don’t eat meat or seafood ever, and I don’t like to eat eggs either, although if an egg is in a baked good that you presented to me – especially if that baked good was a cake – I would eat it.
- From Engie (HI ENGIE): Do you think aliens exist? I am an Alien Agnostic: I just don’t know. I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t exist. The universe is big, and no one has the answers, so why not? As an alien aside, I have always had a terrible fear of E.T. I was seven when E.T. came out, and all of my little gal pals both loved the movie and loved E.T. as a concept; they were all getting E.T. stuffies and shirts and backpacks, and the horror, the horror. He’s so cute they’d say, while I would try not to cry. Look at him hiding in the stuffed animals, they would say, while I would panic, thinking about my own stuffed animals and what I would do if there was an alien among them. I have never once seen the movie the whole way through; I always have to stop it before curling up in the fetal position in a corner. I have a real visceral reaction to the whole thing. Many years ago my husband gently tried to get me to face my fears, saying in a calming voice “It’s really a nice movie, E.T. just wants to go home to his family!” and at that I started crying uncontrollably, and he probably wondered if he should return the ring, or just go ahead and face life together with a grown woman with E.T. trauma.
Your CareBear stares are the best, Nicole! I know… I’ve been the beneficiary of so many lately :)! I wish you’d had a quiz about this set because I knew all the answers! I was blown away when you first shared the Banff pictures, it’s on my list of places to visit. The vistas!! Simply beautiful! Like you in all those pictures :).
That yoga video was very moving, somehow… I think it’s the community and the trust as you flip into a backbend…
A quiz! That’s a fun idea!
The yoga video, ah, it makes me well up. It was SUCH a special time in my life (a long time too, 2007 until the pandemic). The community was really amazing and supportive, and yes, I had (and would still have) total trust in my teacher, as you can see in that photo. I knew he always had my back – literally! Just seeing the opening shots makes me tear up.
Alright, you’re sold me- I’m rushing off to Banff right now. Seriously, EVERYONE’S photos from Banff are unbelievable.
When I first read Elisabeth’s question, I though she was asking for your favorite food- so when the answer was celery I was astonished. Then I read more carefully- oh, that makes much more sense! I actually don’t hate celery, but I can’t imagine it being anyone’s favorite food. And, my daughter agrees with you about onions, which makes cooking extra difficult around here. She doesn’t like them raw OR cooked, and can identify them immediately in anything I make, no matter how I try to hide them.
I’m also an alien agnostic, but I’m laughing at your ET phobia. Yeah, I guess he does look kind of creepy!
You must come to Banff! It’s so worth it. So many beautiful hikes!
I feel at one with your daughter! I don’t like cooked onions either.
This is a very fun post!! I am also alien agnostic! I love your photos of the Rockies; I have been a few times and really love them as well. My favorite place I went to so far was I hiked up to Healy Pass from Sunshine Village and it was snowing and there was nobody else out and I had the area and the views to myself and it was stunning! I also hiked part of the GDT and especially loved the Banff section. To your readers, I would also suggest Mt. Assiniboine, which is touristy for sure, but there is a reason that people love it!! I plan to ride the Icefields parkway sometime this year if all goes according to plan and am really looking forward to that too!
Kyria! Two of those photos were taken the day I hiked Healy Pass – Simpson Pass connects with it and so does the AB/ BC border. You should go in July if you ever can because the wildflowers at that time of year are insanely beautiful and insanely short lived. The Icefields Parkway is the most beautiful stretch of road in the world, I swear. You’ll love it.
My daughter had the same thing with ET. She was never an easily frightened child but seeing ET would send her shrieking from the room.
I feel at one with her!
I’m laughing so much at the Devil’s greenery. Oh my gosh, that tickled my funny bone. I don’t like celery unless it is in my pot roast in my crockpot. The photos are amazing. We loved our visit to Waterton, so pretty. Maybe we should add Canadian Rockies to our list. I don’t mind ET, but I don’t get people thinking he’s cute. My younger brother had a stuffed animal of ET. I cannot imagine Coach retired. I can imagine ME retired, but what on earth will he do with himself. I suppose I will have enough aches and pains that I’ll ask him about on the daily, that he’ll still feel like he’s working.
Ernie, Waterton is part of the Canadian Rockies! It’s a beautiful area, but SO windy. I have found that the wind can sometimes really wreck a trip to Waterton.
I think the key to retirement is to have a lot of non-work-related interests, which my husband definitely has!
Thanks for answering my question. I do think of what I do as work (and if I stopped I’d think of it as retiring), even though I haven’t worked full-time since 2005. The reason retiring is on my mind is that Beth is hoping to retire in the next couple years but my job is much less stressful so I will probably continue to work until my sister retires and shuts down her business. Her current target is 2031, but that could move in either direction.
Those pictures of the Rockies are lovely.
Beth has a lot of interests outside of work, so I think she would really enjoy retirement. I think that’s the key. Well, that and the finance part!
Teaching yoga is definitely work – there is a lot to it, I think – but because by the end I only had two classes a week, it didn’t feel like much work, if that makes sense.
Word: The iconic Banff Springs – worth the splurge, I swear
So your husband is definitely retired! Mine started down that path but has deviated from the concept. He is now semi-retired which is great but also inhibits our flexibility about travel. Therefore I shall live vicariously through you. Where you going?
Ally, I was wondering about ZD! I thought he was totally retired!
We have a few big trips planned this year, and a few small ones – one of which is next weekend! We are going to Vegas! It’s just a fun quick trip.
I need to get to Banff like…today. It is just so gorgeous! Life goals for sure, and I’m Canadian so feel like I have zero excuse to not make my way out there.
Okay, I HAVE SOME WORK TO DO WITH MY YOGA FLEXIBILITY <3 This is just incredible, Nicole, and you're so humble about how incredible you are at the poses and clearly love it so much!
I'm fine with celery, but don't eat it a lot. Raw onion is a HARD pass for me as it really, really hurts my stomach but I add onions to most savoury things I cook. Garlic, sadly, is another thing that hurts my tummy.
Raw onion doesn’t hurt my stomach – very few things upset my stomach, one of them is dairy (so I guess that encapsulates a lot of things) – but I HAAAAATE it. I’m sad for you about the garlic thing. That’s too bad!
You DO need to get yourself to Banff!
Alien Agnostic – what a perfect description. I think I am a Ghost Agnostic too. And geez luiz are you flexible!! My back is hurting just looking at those photos 🙂
I think I’m a ghost agnostic too! I mean, why not?
I really enjoyed that video. It’s a great video that demonstrates all that the human body can do. I’ve never realized this more than when I began doing yoga. Thank you for sharing that.
Aliens. SO, I saw a TikTok where a woman said, “what if aliens are just billionaires from another planet exploring our planet” and I can’t stop thinking about it. 🤣
hahahah WHAT IF THEY ARE?
That video makes me so nostalgic, it is a perfect encapsulation of what happened every day in that studio.
First of all, you are just so beautiful Nicole. These photos are amazing — the one of you in BC and Alberta at once is MY FAVORITE — and I am so in awe of your flexibility, my god, I could NEVER, but also you just radiate this lovely joyous, peaceful energy.
Second of all, THE DEVIL’S GREENERY. I love it. My husband would agree with you. He can handle celery if it’s, like, in mirepoix as part of a soup or something but that’s IT. (I, shockingly, kind of like celery!) (Not with peanut butter, or, SHUDDER, raisins, though.)
Also, we are E.T. twinsies. That movie is horrifying! It’s both creepy and sad! And E.T. is NOT CUTE, and the things he endures at the hands of those kids! No thank you. My daughter suggested we watch it just the other day and I said nope, you’ll have to watch that with your father when I am in a different state.
Who thought it was a good idea to put peanut butter and raisins on celery???? I AM WITH YOUR HUSBAND although I can’t even handle it in a soup.
Lololol “watch it with your father while I’m in a different state” – I am on board.
Don’t forget about the Jasper area! It’s been a few years now since I was there, I admit, but it wasn’t as touristy and crowded as Banff always is. I liked it more. And the whole Icefields Parkway drive is stunning and well worth doing.
The Parkway is the most beautiful drive in the world, in my mind! I love Jasper too, but I love the Banff/ Canmore/ Kananaskis area more.
I try not to swear on other people’s blogs, but ET is fucking terrifying. My parents took us the drive-in to see that movie and I was like 3 or 4 and it was on that BIG SCREEN and his voice is creepy and GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, ET. I share your trauma. Thank goodness he went back to his home planet or whatever. (I actually don’t know the ending because I hid under a blanket and fell asleep and maybe this movie is solely responsible for my not enjoying cinema today.)
So do you just not like raw celery and onions? Do you cook with them? I assume you do, but maybe I’m wrong.
Oh no no no no no, not only do I not cook with them, I will not even have celery in my house. NOT IN MY FRIDGE YOU DON’T. I do have onion in the house because the guys love it and will often cook with it. I maybe use onion once or twice a year in cooking, but not typically. I will allow a small amount in my baked beans recipe, and some in one of the pureed soups that I make. If the guys want raw onion (on, say a shawarma) they usually slice it up themselves to use it. Like I said, I don’t mind the flavour of onion so I’ll use powdered or dehydrated flakes, but I can’t abide the texture.
Banff is gorg, and so are you. Alien agnostic is a perfect description.
Thank you Sarah!
I keep thinking we need to get visiting Lake Louise on the schedule for when Matt can travel places that are actually in Canada. At least we have enough air miles to get to Australia and back twice at this point. Those pictures of you are so beautiful – so in your element.
Not liking celery seems so funny to me – it seems so inoffensive. Not that food dislikes are rational – I know, I have a ton of them. I am grateful when I meet someone else who doesn’t like onions because they seem to be in everything and not liking them makes me feel like a freak.
Alien agnostic here too. Fermi Paradox.
You definitely need to visit Lake Louise!
I had never heard the term Fermi Paradox before and that makes all the sense to me!
Oh my stars, I, too, intensely dislike celery. It’s so STRINGY and AWFUL!! PS: Your yoga pictures are so beautiful and authentic and impressive (your foot went where?!?!!)!!
The stringiness! Why is it so terrible? The smell, too, ugh, the smell!
I know we have discussed this before, but I am WITH YOU on the whole E.T. thing.
IT’S SO CREEPY!!!
I was also scared of ET! I don’t think I have ever seen the whole movie.
I do like celery though, LOL. Not that I buy it often since I don’t like it enough to eat it all before it starts going bad.
Hi Hks!!! I’m so glad you commented. Solidarity in ET (and you can have all my share of celery!)
Celery is BS. For the most part I don’t think about how much we spend on food since we gotta eat, but every time that I buy celery for something like soup where I know I’ll be using a stalk or two and end up throwing the rest out weeks later after it shrivels up in the fridge, I really resent it. Grrr…
That cake tho…retirement has been very good for both of you!
It really has, and as I just said to Lisa – because I know you’re thinking about this too – if you can retire early, you should!
Celery! It’s so gross!
Wow! That kitchen pose is so impressive! I think I am even more impressed, though, with your ability to sustain such a rich yoga practice on your own. You manifest dedication and flexibility.
I hope the garden beds yield many tasty veggies. Do you think you’ll plant kale?
Thanks so much, Kate! I am definitely going to plant kale! Prepare for an onslaught of garden posts in the spring!
I fully endorse banff as a destination. I have told everyone that i talked to about my trip there that they should go. It is the only place I’ve been that rivals the beauty of New Zealand which is the most beautiful place I’ve been to in my life. But I would rather fly 2.5 hours to Calgary than halfway across the world!
It is my goal to achieve what you and your husband are doing. I should probably be more private about it but people close to me at work know that my goal is to retire in 10 years around age 52. I don’t feel like the pace of work that comes in my industry is sustainable into like your 60s. And according to the financial advisor we met with, we should have enough money to retire at 50. I really hope we can make that happen. My boys would be 16 and 13 at that time so I would be much more available for their final years at home (not that I’m not available now, but I am traveling a fair amount). So I think that will be a good time to be able to fully focus on them? We will see how it all shakes out!
Your comments about celery are funny! If a recipe calls for it, like a soup recipe, do you leave it out?
I hope you can make that happen! For the record, my husband is 58, so not super young for retirement but it’s on the younger side. I will say that retiring has made a HUGE difference in his health and well-being, and of course, he worked in a similar capacity to you. Lots of hours, lots of demands, lots of stress. Now that he’s been retired almost 6 months, I can see an enormous difference in him. It’s really something. I think if you can retire young, you should! Especially for you with your health issues, I bet you would see an enormous difference. I know you and Phil are super smart with money so I’m sure you can make it happen!
Alien Agnostic! HA! That made me giggle.
Yay for garden beds to come!
I love Bijoux’s question because I want to see Canada, but I’m not exactly sure where to start! I do have Banff on my list though.
There’s so much to see in Canada but Banff is definitely number one!
First of all, WOW! Holy cow! OMG! You were serioiusly flexible! Those are great pictures, and the video is wonderful!
Yes to celery being the Devil’s weed. Ugh. I hate celery too. I saw some cartoon somewhere that said celery is great if you enjoy water with dental floss in it!
I remember loving ET as a child, but I watched it as an adult and thought it was awful! Care Bears the cutest!!
I enjoyed reading your answers to all the questions!
I’m guessing you won’t be planting celery in your garden beds!
Hahaha you would be right! Ugh, celery. DENTAL FLOSS, yes – it’s exactly like that and also it smells and tastes so bad to me!
You used to go to Yoga Shala?! I was a food vendor there for 2 years in a row during their Christmas Market.
I know Dana as we interacted for a few good years (before I started my curent endavour). Small world! ❤️
I am SURE we would have crossed paths because I was always at the Christmas market (as a shopper!) I practiced at the Yoga Shala every single day from 2007 on! I taught there too, many classes, mostly Ashtanga and Seniors. What a small world!
First wow on those back bends!! So impressive. Banff and Lake Louise are spectacular. Travel is the best part of being retired! So many places to see, so little time! Is it your first time to Ontario and Quebec? No Rockies but we do have beautiful little towns, so many lakes & of course Niagara Falls. It’s so touristy but seeing the actual falls is mesmerizing. I have gone almost every year of my life but could still stare at them for hours. Then there’s Quebec City & Montreal- great cities! Finally how do you make a delicious tuna salad sandwich without finely chopped celery???
I have been to Toronto several times (and surrounding GTA) but that’s the extent of it! So much to see! Also, Pat – I don’t eat tuna so no need to worry about the sandwich!
Man, I love celery. HAHA. And especially with PB. I found something we vehemently disagree about. But it’s all good because that just means more celery for meee!
All of your pictures here are GORGEOUS. I really want to go to Banff. One of these days!!
More celery for you – you can have ALLLLL of mine!
Thank you for answering my question. Banff has been on my bucket list for a long time, and especially since I had to cancel our trip to the Colorado Rockies in 2020. Still mad about that! Your photos are beautiful. I hope I get to go!
You are funny is your hatred of celery. I have to admit, I don’t seek it out. It’s okay for me if it’s chopped up in chicken salad or egg salad (but considering you don’t eat those, I guess there’s no opportunity for you to not mind it that way). I do like onions, but I don’t want a big huge ring of raw onion on my sandwich.
I hope you get to go too! It’s so beautiful!
Oh, my goodness, those yoga pictures are *amazing*! I’ll just say that I completely agree with you and NGS on ET (WHY), but I am solidly in the plain celery = good, pb alone or with apples or crackers or bread = good, and raisins = crime against humanity. *slinks back to hide*
Well, you can have all of my celery!! I will pass it along to you!