Author Archives: lorifranze

Skiing at Peek’n Peak

12 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by in Pleasure, Ski

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As a skier I was pretty happy to have winter start as early as it did. We were booked to head to Gore Mountain for 3 nights. Sadly when I checked the conditions at Gore, the day before we were about to leave, I learned that they weren’t even half open! Since the drive is 7 hours we looked for a closer spot with some great snow. Now if you follow my blog you know I love Holiday Valley but we like to try new spots and HV would be crammed for the holidays. So we settled on Peek’n Peak close to Erie.

Quaint lodge

Quaint lodge

We booked ourselves in to the Holiday Inn Findley Lake – closest accommodations to the mountain outside of the resort that was full. We drove down on the scenic trail along the lake and would have stopped at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff if it had been opened.

Enough for 3

Enough for 3

We stopped for lunch at Aunt Millie’s Kitchen and Bakery thanks to my Foodspotting app. We had a delicious lunch and took one of these gigantic cream puffs to have on new years eve.

And while we drove down it rain it snowed over night and all the next day we skied. It was a great little spot. Not a super high hill but very scenic and lots of spots for enjoying a snack and a bite to eat. Wood burning fireplaces in the lodges too.

And Findley Lake is a quaint little town that is very scenic. Don’t expect any fine dining if you do go down for ski weekend.

Happy New Year

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by in About me

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I want to wish you all a happy new year and felt it timely to let you all know what the banner picture is at the top of my blog. It is never more relevant than today and yesterday.

2 years ago I was given a trip to NYC to see the big tree at Rockefeller by my dad.

Most beautiful tree

Most beautiful tree

To warm up while in Times Square (it was early December) we stepped in to a museum focused on Time Square and the New Years tradition. We got to write a wish for the new year on a tiny piece of tissue paper that actually gets loaded in to the ball. When midnight strikes they release all the bits of paper on to those celebrating down below. That picture is of a portion of the hopes and wishes that were going in to the ball that year.

I loved the colours and the idea of everyone’s wishes for the year being on those scrapes of paper. I hope all your dreams for 2014 come true. At a minimum I wish you health and happiness, when you have those everything else is just gravy.

A 23andMe Update

26 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Advice & Recommendations

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So I recently posted about my results and was going to buy my dad a kit for Christmas… but… The FDA recently ordered 23andMe, a personal genome service, to stop marketing its genetic testing kits. Read more

It will be interesting to see where things net out for the organization.

A few more additional articles on the topic:

Sharing 23andMe results with your doctor

23andMe patents designer babies

23andme DNA Analysis Results

10 Sunday Nov 2013

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I had posted quite some time ago about submitting a tube of saliva for analysis and that I would share the results. As a female I can only get results for my maternal line but there was still loads of interesting information to read and I am still going through all of it. Here are some highlights:

  • I am 2.9% neanderthal which is a bit concerning since that is 0.2% more than the average European user of 23andme
  • I am 95.5% European – no surprise there and 0.1% of east asian and native american and also sub-saharan african
  • I am a H2a2a and H is the most common group for Europeans especially in Scandinavia. H2a is common in Eastern Europeans and H2a1 is highest in Slavic speaking people such as Russians and Ukrainians – this aligns accurately to my maternal grandparents

The most useful part of the test was the medical information (of course used as guidance not gospel). Here are some of the insights:

I have an elevated risk for:

  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Age-related Macular Degeneration
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis

Oddly it says I have a lower risk for Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis which I actually have but it is understandable that they are basing it on people who share my ethnicity and genotype.

When looking at inherited conditions I seem to be free of anything that I could have inherited including the BRCA Cancer mutations that they can detect. Good news!

There is also a whole section on your response to drugs which can be helpful when getting prescribed something by the doctor.

They also have some traits that aren’t as meaningful as health risks like:

  • I don’t have alcohol flush which means booze would taste bad
  • Asparagus Metabolic detection – so being able to smell asparagus pee – if you have this you know what I mean!
  • My earwax is wet (ew!) and my eye colour is likely blue

I recommend taking the spit test – you might find something out about yourself that could be helpful in the future. Check it out

Glamping on the Sunshine Coast

05 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by in Pleasure, Travel

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Glamping might be a new term for many of you. Every time I told someone I was going glamping I got an inquisitive stare.  I would tell them it was a tent on the ocean and they would answer me with “I don’t like camping”.  Well glamping is NOT camping I would explain.  You will see what I mean from the pictures below. We spent two nights at Rockwater Secret Cove on the Sunshine Coast of BC.

On the path to tent 60.

On the path to tent 60.

You must go and stay in one of the tents. Once our tent was ready we headed down the staircase to tent 60 which was right on the ocean. I thought I knew what to expect but was shocked when we opened the door. Take a look at the pictures.

Tent 60

Tent 60

Our tent had heated floors, a two person jacuzzi tub, a rain shower head with a view and a king size bed. It was heaven.  We sat out on our deck looking at the ocean. We saw seals, birds, loon.  The orca still eludes me in the wild but now I have an excuse to go back!

Our view

Our view

We kayaked to Smuggler’s Cove – stunning! We had massages in a tent by the ocean – bliss! I had two soaks in that jacuzzi tub. It was an amazing 48 hours.  I can’t wait to go back and enjoy the tents again. This is the best place on earth for rest, relaxation and romance.

(oh and this post was not sponsored by anyone, no payment free-bees or any of that good stuff were given to me)

View from our deck

View from our deck

Our shower

Our shower

Where to stay in Boston

14 Sunday Jul 2013

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One thing I loved about Boston is how close the airport is to the downtown. We arrived shortly after 8am on a Saturday and were at our hotel in the lobby by 9am! We stayed at the fancy-shmancy Langham Boston located in the financial district.  We were able to walk everywhere – the Freedom Trail, Italian area where Paul Revere’s home is, the waterfront and Boston Common. And the subway to Cambridge was just a couple minute walk away too.

I used Priceline to book the room and got a great deal of $160 a night. (of course I had to pay a little extra after booking having forgot that Priceline only guarantees a double or queen bed and I was travelling with my dad)!  Having walked around I can say that the Marriott at the Wharf is in a great location but you might have to pay a bit more to be right on the water. There are a whole lot of hotel options in Boston that will allow you to explore Boston on foot.

The fancy Langham had a great concierge, a big comfy room and a turn down service with slippers and dark chocolates! I’d stay there again if I could get myself the same deal!

Chocolates & weather report

Chocolates & weather report