Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Jan Stan Edition

I asked my son if people still used the word “stan,” and he said what do you mean, like the Stan countries? When I explained that no, I wasn’t talking about the Central and South Asian, mainly former Soviet countries, I was talking about describing how I feel about things I like, he tilted his […]

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Holiday Miracles Edition

It snowed! Let me tell you, there is NOTHING to make a person appreciate snow like moving to a place in which it snows very little from a place where it can snow literally any month of the year, and does constantly between October through May. Here, if it snows at the end of February […]

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Travelling Light Edition

It’s been three weeks since we got home from Italy, and the whole trip feels like a dream. We had a little extra time in Monterosso al Mare, a tiny town in Cinque Terre, before our boat left to take us back to Manarola, so we and our guide wandered around, poking into little shops. […]

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Cheap Trick Edition

It’s sunset season! I know what you’re going to say: sunsets occur on the daily. This is true – sunrise, sunset – but since I retire so early I don’t generally see sunsets from May to August. Sunrises, I see those every day. But sunsets? No. I really do believe that The Best Things In […]

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The One Year Anniversary Edition

Exactly one year ago today, I loaded up the car and drove eight hours solo, with only Rex and a queue of podcasts for company, to move from Calgary to Kelowna. The entries from my one-line-a-day journal from this time last year are kind of nuts; frantic descriptions of packing, cleaning, and purging, interspersed with […]

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The Landscaped Edition

I realized just as I wrote that title that I have a sugaring appointment this afternoon, but lest you get the wrong idea, what I am going to talk about today is NOT that kind of landscaping. It’s full on summer and I am enjoying the gorgeous weather, although today is “coolish.” Of course, in […]

Nicole’s Favourite Things: The “Isn’t Nature Wonderful” Edition

I have taught hundreds of yoga students over the years, and I don’t like to play favourites – as my dear friend Tara (HI TARA), who teaches kindergarten once said, they’re all my favourites. But if I am being completely honest, I will paraphrase George Orwell and say that some students are more favourite than […]