If you couldn’t tell from my last post school has been stressful. Hence the hiatus from blogging the past few weeks. Luckily reading break arrived just as I needed it the most. Even though I technically should’ve been doing reading and studying this past week I opted instead for relaxation and fun.
We kicked off reading break with a trip to Vernon, BC. This was my first trip to the interior and I have to say, I can’t wait to go back in the summertime. The scenery is gorgeous! I got a good laugh on the drive up as we passed numerous frozen lakes that were being enjoyed by ice fishermen. Only in Canada…
Before getting to our hotel we decided to stop at one of the wineries located in Vernon- Gray Monk. Because it’s winter, only the big wineries were open which meant our winery options were limited. Gray Monk is a pretty popular wine, known mostly for their white varietals. I can’t imagine how beautiful the view is in the summer because even on a cold wintery day it was pretty from their patio.
After our pit-stop we headed to our destination: Sparkling Hill Resort. The hotel features millions of Swarovski crystals decorating the lobby, restaurant, rooms, spa, and exterior. It made for a gorgeous nighttime arrival. Unfortunately its hard to capture how pretty it is at night because the sparkles look more like lights.
The food was a little lack luster and disappointing but the spa totally made up for it! Their spa, Kurspa, featured over 7 saunas and steam rooms to relax in, a heated indoor and outdoor pool (we went for a swim outside, so refreshing!), water therapy pools, and a tea room which were all free to access. One of the coolest, literally and figuratively, features they had is their -110 degree celsius sauna. It is the only one of its kind in North America and is used by pro athletes from around the continent as a pain and recovery treatment. You’re only in the chamber for 3 minutes but it was a long 3 minutes! Afterwards my body felt so good and I had a little boost of energy, loved it. Too bad these things aren’t everywhere, definitely could’ve used this after games back in the day.
Lake view bathtub
Room View
Our Swarovski “fireplace”. At night it glowed orange and yellow.
Cold Sauna
On our way home from our relaxing weekend we stopped at two other wineries before officially hitting the road: Quail’s Gate and Mission Hill. Lots of delicious wine!
Our mini getaway was the perfect start to reading break. Since then the week has flown by! I made a special trip downtown for groceries. I never have time to head to Whole Foods so I took full advantage of my free days by stocking up.
We went to a Canucks game. Sat 11th row just right of the net. Awesome seats!
I’ve had time to do lots of juicing. Yumm! I’ve come up with a new favorite: 1/2 peeled lemon, thumbnail size peeled ginger root, 1 golden beet, 2 carrots, 1 apple.
I topped off my reading break with a Langley wine tour. We hit up some of the local wineries with a few of our friends and had a blast. We stopped for a glass of sparkling wine at Neck of the Woods and had some cupcakes in celebration of my birthday.
I’m a little (ok, maybe a lot) sad that its time to go back to reality. The week off was a tease to life pre-nursing school- no homework, no studying, no stress. I guess I can’t be too sad, the break means that the semester is half over which means summer is almost here! Yaay!
