Summer of Love

I’m so lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing people

Last weekend I hosted a yoga class and pot luck to celebrate the end of the 52 Days til Summer challenge and subsequently the beginning of summer! The lovely Ashley taught the class in beautiful Withrow ParkThe sun decided to hide away but that did not stop us from enjoying a fantastic class surrounded by an amazing group of women. It was really cool to bring Ash, Lindsay, Reggy, Val, Christine, Katie and Tara together for yoga and foodie goodness. I made Mexican cauliflower “rice” and roasted veggie pasta salad, Val brought a fabulous berry arugula walnut salad, Christine made a yummy quinoa salad, Katie supplied us with veggies, Linz made Meghan-inspired muffins and Reggy made almond-chocolatey muffins that everyone adored! It was such an incredible afternoon and I was so happy to bring together such a cool group of gals. I think I’m going to organize another outdoor yoga class and pot luck at the end of July – details to follow.

This week included more social time and more amazing peeps as I attended Rannie (aka Photo Junkie’s) 10x10 exhibit opening in Kensington.  I met Rannie a few months ago at #loserkaraoke and it’s been a joy to get to know him and see his amazing work. Whether it be candids (like the one above) or more structured photos (like those at the exhibit) he captures something really special in his photos and his work makes me really happy. (Especially when it selfishly can involve a new profile pic – like the one below that was snapped at Code Your Art Out)Saturday brought even more fun and vegan goodness with an awesome vegan pot luck in Trinity Bellwoods, organized by the lovely Dani. Rockin’ the veggie diva button I got in NYC

Similar to Dani, when I went vegan I didn’t know many vegans outside of the blogworld or those I read about in cookbooks. The blogsphere and Twitter community has connected me to so many amazing people and I’m truly thankful for that. I had such a great time chatting and giggling with Lisa, Steph, Camille, Marlie, Cassandra, Lisa and Dani. The dessert-heavy meal was delightful and I can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

I’ve had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life over the past couple weeks and I can’t emphasize how blessed I feel to be surrounded by such an amazing support network. I generally like to keep busy, but life is that much more fun when “busy” means frolicking in the sunshine, wearing dresses and flowers, eating delicious food and spending time with wonderful people. Here’s to much much more of that as the summer goes on!