These pictures are from November when I first got the Jawbone UP, back then there was so much keenness to try this little bracelet.
I didn’t mind that I had to go all the way to Mount Vernon to get mine because the at&t store in Bellingham was sold out of the UP that morning.
The UP is basically a cool little wristband step-counter and sleep tracker that syncs with the Jawbone iPhone app and displays data in a user-friendly graph .

According to Jawbone,

UP™ by Jawbone® is the combination of a wristband and iPhone® app that tracks your activity and sleep and inspires you to move more, sleep better and eat smarter.

As a self-proclaimed lover of ‘shiny new things,’ I took to the UP quickly and loved how unobtrusive and easy it was to use.
I’ve never been focused on tracking my fitness activity before; sure, I turn on my running app when I go running, but I’ve never tried to figure out overall how much I move in a day.
The band has three activity settings, regular, active and sleep. Active is for when you’re exercising.
I keep mine in regular mode most of the time except for when I’m sleeping. I thought I walked a lot, but wearing the UP put it in perspective.
I could do better, in fact I’ve made a few changes since I started wearing the band; I take the stairs, I try to take little walks during the day, I generally try to move more, and that’s what the UP aims to do.
I love the little buzzes (reminders) that remind me if I haven’t moved in two hours.
The sleep tracker is fairly helpful, it tracks sleep cycle, and shows light and deep sleep.
It has a built-in alarm clock that gently rouses you from sleep…
I find using the meal tracker a little cumbersome, same for finding friends who have the UP so I don’t use these features.

The UP isn’t without issues, I’m on my second device – the first had battery issues, couldn’t sustain a charge past a day, and then one day it died.
The replacement works perfectly so far, but I’m not sure how long that would last.
In fact the UP has been bogged down with so much hardware issues that Jawbone has a ‘No questions asked guarantee’ refund
Still, I love my UP, it’s helped me make some little lifestyle changes, I try to walk more, I’m horrified at how poorly I sleep and trying to work on it.

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I forget how cruel spring is usually to me in the beginning.
Being allergic to tree pollen, and living within this blooming lush colourful ‘jungle’ of pollen-producing trees is a little like paradise turning hellish – but just a little.
Thankfully I don’t have to endure this forever, just a few more weeks.
The trees coming back to life… priceless

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I suspect my immune system has done battle and won (Ha! Winning!)
This is pretty amazing because for the first time in about a week, I feel fine.

I took time off at the start of last week because I was feeling crappy.
And I’ve felt that crappy since then, I’ve had a tension-type headache, a cough so slight and intermittent, a nearly sore throat that lasted a day and weird yearnings for siesta.
Usually these are all signs that I’m about to get very sick, but this time I felt I was on the cusp of illness for about a week and then I recovered.

Outfit details: Jacket – Collective Clothing | Blouse – Gap | Pants – Uniqlo | Rain boots – Benetton | Scarf – H&M

I’m not complaining, this is actually a congratulatory note to my immune system – must be all that healthy living.
I’ve been pretty good about taking my vitamin C supplements too, I swear by vitamin C – I’m not even sure where I stand on the great vitamin C debate, but I think there’s something there.

I really like the effervescent kind…

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It’s going to be a quiet and hopefully sunshine-filled weekend for me.
Everyone around me is sick and I feel like I’m coming down with something.
I don’t have the dreaded scratchy throat yet, but I’ve had a few unusual sneezes.
And I’m tired, but that’s probably from lack of sleep.
I’ve gone to bed consistently late this week, I went to bed at 1:00AM last night; I blame it on the holidays.
Next week’s intent is to get to bed early.
Tomorrow, I’ll sleep in…

I’ll read some old favourites and a cookbook; and maybe make something sweet from said cookbook.

I’ll eat the just-in-case-I-get-sick soup, well… maybe even if I’m not sick – soup heals the soul.<,br/>
There’s rice and beluga lentils (that’s like caviar in vegetariana!) in yummy tomato and olive oil  broth.

I’ll paint my nails the colour of plums.

And take down the Christmas tree and decorations, albeit reluctantly – I still can’t believe the holidays are over!

And If I’m feeling up to it, I’ll hang out with the little guys and we’ll paint something magnificent.

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“Life carries my love into the ocean that swallows everything good”.

I stepped outside into the world again for the first time in days.
I was disappointed to find out that Mieka the cat still hadn’t been found.
Other than that it looks like the world did fine without me.
We got our first snow on the mountains today, and the temperature’s gone down a few degrees.
I’m already looking forward to the weekend and I’ve only been back a day.

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I’ve been off sick from work for the past two days.
I’ve been spending my time in bed, with a cough and general malaise.
Being sick sucks, but the good thing is; I’m all caught up on my daytime soaps.
On the extra sad news front, I think my mom told me yesterday that my cousin Sam had passed away.
I didn’t know my cousin Sam very well, but we shared a unique kinship.
I had a feeling we both felt we didn’t belong with these people who were supposed to be family.

The Saint Germain l’Auxerrois church was the church of the Louvre, back when the Louvre was a royal palace.
The ‘Hautes Herbes’ sculpture is in front of the church, and I’m drawn to it.

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In case you couldn’t tell, I’m back home to The Best Place On Earth.
Mes vacances sont terminées
I’m also back to looking out longingly to the mountains somehow convinced my utopian life lies beyond those mountains.
I must say that this was by far my best vacation ever!
I’m literally counting the days until I can go back; seriously, there’s a wall and a marker involved.
Meanwhile life goes on…

Yesterday, my siblings and I joined our mom for the CIBC Run for the Cure.
Frankly, I’m growing a little tired of these runs/walks for the ‘cure’
I think we’re ready for that cure already!

I asked my sister if she thought there would ever be a cure in our lifetime, she smiled and said no.
This made me sad because my sister is an amazing optimist; she has faith in all sorts of hopeless causes.

My mom is hopeful, she says you can’t give up on these things.

As I look around at the crowd, I realize that maybe I’m a little optimistic too.

How can I give up, there are so many of us – so many stories, so many battles, so many struggles and so many victories.
So much hope.
It keeps on going, we keep on going and ultimately there has to be a cure.
We’re a family; we’re survivors, caretakers, relatives, friends, loved ones and those who just care.

It rained the whole way through the walk yesterday.
It was a little miserable, especially since it we weren’t expecting rain – it was supposed to be sunny.

We got a little wet, we weren’t our chirpy selves but we soldiered on to the finish line

The BC Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation is working to find a cure, future without breast cancer by the year 2020.

Secretly I’m hopeful.

I’ve added a video of the VOC Soul Choir singing O Canada before the start of the Run.
My second year in Vancouver, I did the Run alone and got very emotional when they sang the national anthem.
I’ve written about this before…
These days whenever it gets to that part, I think about my running companion that day.
This video is for her, and I hope she’s still a survivor.

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I’m subscribed to a photo service that twice a month, emails me a selection of interesting pictures I took years ago.
It’s brilliant! My old photos are new again and the memories along with them are incredible.
Most of my pictures from two years ago are full of my bento lunches – Oh what mouth-watering nostalgia!

My mom had a mastectomy exactly a year ago today.
I probably wouldn’t have remembered it was today were it not for the pictures.
I doubt my mom remembers; the mastectomy seems like a lifetime ago to her.
A lifetime ago when our every action and thought was of the big C.
It’s still with us, you can’t really get away from cancer once it touches you; but it’s different now, like the worst part is over.

It’s inspiring seeing my mom go from breast cancer victim to breast cancer survivor.

The mastectomy changed her; it was like the green light to continue living her life.

She’s been busying herself these days with her seniors’ group.
It’s been an activity-filled past few days for her – which is why she probably doesn’t remember her surgery was a year ago today.
She’s become the de-facto treasurer of her small seniors’ group, and a week ago they contributed money to get a present for the yoga teacher, she was also supposed to get the present.

My mom discovered a counterfeit note in the monies she collected, and the West End’s Miss Marple was born!
My mom is determined to uncover the origin of the counterfeit note, and this has turned into a mini obsession.
I’m like her in that regard, I sometimes get so caught up in my little projects that they become obsessions (I’ll tell you one of these days why I haven’t blogged in over a week!).
Yesterday, she gave an informal talk to her friends on how to spot counterfeit notes.
She’s convinced seniors are easy targets (for being slipped counterfeits) and she wants to do something about it.

We’ve come quite a ways from last year, my mom is slowly coming out of the shadow of ‘breast cancer patient’
She celebrated her sixty-eighth birthday last month.
We had the fluffiest and the most delicious white chocolate mousse cake.
The lighting wasn’t great, but I took pictures anyway. I can’t wait to revisit them few years from now.

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My allergies are killing me.
I’m not just being dramatic; I could very well be dying from my allergies, I just don’t have any obvious proof yet.
They said it was going to be bad this year; they weren’t lying – I’ve never been so miserable in my life!
It’s gotten to the point where I’ve given up and resigned myself to feeling this lousy for the rest of my time here on earth.
I have the sniffles, I’m sneezing, my throat is so scratchy I’ve developed a raspy smoker’s voice.
And the latest icing on this miserable cake… I keep breaking out in hives – it’s a very humbling experience.

The first thing to go when the allergies hit were my contacts.
Seriously, my eyes are itchy, swollen and bloodshot; I look like I have some serious substance abuse issues, the kind that makes your eyes look weird.
I got an air purifier over the weekend and it looks it’s helping some.
My final resort is probably going have to be an ELISA test (I know you’re thinking it too… how cute, the test and I have similar names!).
I’m going to find out all those things that make my insides turn on me and then, I’m going to find a tower far and high away from all those things and live blissfully there.

But it hasn’t been all dreadful.
One of my dad’s favourite saying was “There’s good in every negative experience”
It was probably his excuse for being a lousy parent.
I try to look for good things in my bad experiences and I must say my bout with seasonal allergies have had some positive effects.
First off, the glasses make me look smart and it’s a pleasant change from poking my eye mornings and evenings to change my contact lens.
Benadryl is my antihistamine of choice and I’ve been having the most bizarre vivid dreams when I’m on it. In a way it’s awesome!
One night I dreamt I was a yellow Power Ranger!
Last night I was a drummer in a girl band; ‘Miss Arabella of Summertime and Bloom’ – that was our name.
We only did covers of Space Oddity, Oasis’ Don’t Look Back In Anger (which is an inspiration of sorts for our name) and a song my grandma used to sing.

Outfit Details: Stripe shirt & boots – Espirit, Grey blouse – Forth & Towne, Gap Jeans

I try to stretch my Benadryl doses because I can barely function when I take it, I wake up feeling drowsy.
But I’m inspired to start a band, perhaps take drum lessons, then something good would have come from allergy woes.

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I think I’m getting better, that’s what I keep mumbling to myself.

I’m trying the “fake it till you make it” technique.

My mom asked me this morning if I’d consider cancelling my trip, she’s such a kidder!

Seriously, it’s not like I’m dying, I have a cold!

The sneezing fits, the groans and moans, that’s more for effect – it’ll pass.

I feel better already.

Besides, I have a spa appointment, lunch at Chelsea Market and a date strolling the High Line –

I can’t do all that lying in bed at home, being sick.

Wearing:
Brown Jacket: Joe Fresh Style
Brown Blouse: The Gap
Black Shirt: The Gap
Pants: The Gap
Shoes: Clarks
Bead Necklace: Gift

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