Author Archives: lorifranze

Juice Feasting Cleanse – I haven’t even started and I’m hungry

19 Tuesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Health & Fitness

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So I am on day 2 of prepping for a raw juice cleanse – it is called a raw juice feast (Check out Raw Juice Guru to learn more). I am hoping to improve my overall health but get some energy back and make some improvements to my mood and things. And by things I mean improvements to the number on the scale – no I am not sharing that with you all but will share the pounds lost.

So for the past two days I have done no meat, no caffeine, dairy, sugar, alcohol – all the good things in life! So far, so ok. I actually feel a cold coming on more than feeling too deprived. From what I read the juices will be tasty and plentiful… If this works I might do it monthly! I will let you all know.

I learned of the cleanse from Jamie LeighTo – check out her story here.

New Option for Movie Rentals in Leslieville

03 Sunday Mar 2013

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Friday night I stopped in at the 7-Eleven to get my lotto tickets (couldn’t pass up the chance to win 30 million… side note – I won $10) and noticed a shiny new box in the corner. A Best Buy movie box! I haven’t been able to rent a DVD since Jumbo left the Loblaws building and Rogers shut down.

I know, there is a thing called iTunes and Netflix – I have and use both but this little box will give me a DVD for $1.50 and the first one was FREE! Saturday morning we stopped at the 7-Eleven to grab two DVDs for a trip to the cottage – no wifi so iTunes and Netflix were not an option.  Grabbed two movies effortlessly (as was the return) … and if I wanted to buy them I could just keep the DVD and the charges come to my credit card.

Some cool features:

(Note: I wasn’t compensated by Best Buy or 7-Eleven for this post)

My car is just like new!

23 Saturday Feb 2013

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My dad recently got a new car and ordered these custom, laser cut mats to keep the carpet on the floors like new.  Now, my Hyundai Tuscon is not more than two years old but the winters have not been nice to the carpets so I decided to order some of my own from Weather Tech.  They came in a couple days via Purolator and today I had the car detailed and installed them. And by installed them I mean ‘clicked in to place’! They fit like a glove and don’t leave any nooks or crannies for the salt to get in to!

Well my car looks and feels brand new! What do you think? (I forgot to mention that I was not compensated by Weather Tech in exchange for this post)

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Ski Review – Bristol Mountain

08 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by in Pleasure, Ski

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Last weekend (don’t I wish I was somewhere skiing today!) we made the trek down to Bristol Mountain in NY state. It is almost a 4 hour drive from Toronto – depending on how fast you drive.

Now the trip wasn’t very scenic and we worried about the lack of snow on the ground but when we got to the hill we could see that it was high and in some cases quite steep!

Bristol Mountain

View from the parking lot

Skiing was good, lots of hills, lots of variety but the mountain sadly lacked any type of character.  While I love to ski I do enjoy the apres and there wasn’t really a spot to sit and enjoy a drink.  We compare everything to Holiday Valley and most places just can’t compete!

One thing that Bristol has over Holiday Valley is the accommodation options within a 20 minute drive.  We enjoyed our time at the new Holiday Inn Express in Canandaigua.  It was opened in December and has great rooms and free DVDs.

While I still love Ellicottville it is nice to try new places – I am open to any recommendations you might have – Kilington? Peak n Peek? Where should I ski next?

Tonight my heart hurts

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in About me, Lola & Otis

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If you have read my blog before you may have seen my post about the volunteering that I do with my dog Otis.  He and I go weekly to visit a senior’s residence in the city.  While we visit about a half dozen seniors there is one special lady who makes the experience pure joy.  Despite being 101 years old she didn’t show any signs of dementia – we would talk about everything – what trouble my dogs got in to this week, the problems I had with the racoons in the yard (I was going to tell her about the two giant ‘coons that were just wandering in the yard this morning in broad daylight), she even remembered I had started something new at work and asked me how it was going.

Today I raced to the home – I try to get there just as she is finishing dinner so that I can take her to her room for our visit. Otis travels in her lap as I push the wheelchair – as I was about to check the dining room to see if she was still there one of the residents called me over to tell me she passed away this morning.  She had been battling a flu for weeks but last week she seemed to be getting better and I wasn’t as worried about her as I was two weeks earlier.

Sadly, I was supposed to visit yesterday but got delayed getting home and figured I would go see her today.  I never got to say good-bye to my dear friend.  My friend who remembered my birthday when I forgot hers (she was June 19 and I am the 20th) despite being 100+.  My friend who always lit up when she saw me and my dog and was happiest with Otis in her lap on her way to her room to play.  My visits won’t ever be the same. IMG_2027

Airbnb.com: One of my favourite travel sites

13 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by in Pleasure, Travel

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I wanted to share with everyone one of my favourite travel sites and applications on my iphone.  Airbnb!  I have used the site twice for bookings – Istanbul and Mont Tremblant and thoroughly enjoy the ap on my iphone.  It now suggest some of the most unique places to stay in across the globe – I could waste hours navigating the site and marking off my favourites. Check it out!

Who wouldn't want to stay in a treehouse!

Who wouldn’t want to stay in a treehouse!

Calabogie just doesn’t cut it

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

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En route to Calabogie

As promised here is my review of Calabogie Peaks just over an hour outside of Ottawa.  Now before I begin I should preface that this was my first time out of the season which is sometimes tough no matter where I am.

Calabogie has so much potential! The drive there was stunning, it was a winter wonderland and the hill is actually quite high making it obviously good to ski on.  Even the hotel looked nice as we pulled up. After the free parking all the goodness ended…

  • We waited over 30 minutes in line in -13 weather to buy our lift tickets
  • The hills were not groomed so everything was covered with moguls which made every hill a black diamond
  • In the pub there was just one bartender, one server and one cook (did I mention we were there December 28th during the holidays) so you had to wait in line for a drink then try and flag down a server and clear your own table to make a clean spot to eat at

We skied only a couple runs and packed it in and hoped that Tremblant would be better (which it was, Tremblant did not disappoint)!  We overheard someone saying that they were caught off-guard but I am in awe of how that could happen since:

A – they are a ski resort that was hit with a windfall of snow AND

B – it was the holiday season

The Calabogie experience continued with an okay room at the manor but with nothing else around we were stuck with the expensive hotel restaurant that looked much like the breakfast area at the Holiday Inn (and we actually like the Holiday Inn and the free breakfast but imagine if it was $32).

So we’re getting back together…

30 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by in Ski

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Skiing and I are reunited and it feels so good! We owe it all to Mont Tremblant. 

This is what skiing at >-15C looks like!

This is what skiing at >-15C looks like!

Today was our first day here on the mountain and it reminded me what I love about skiing. Conditions were superb on the slopes with a 167cm base and 5cm of fresh snow and surprisingly not as busy as I thought it would be (that might be due to the -15 degrees celsius at the village without a windchill).

We got a couple of hours in with the help of feet and hand warms, stops at the top and an early lunch of Poutine and B52s at Bistro Bar de la Forge!

Some tips if you are a first time visitor to Tremblant and staying outside the village (and you don’t need to be in the village to have a good time – we actually prefer having our own place in the old village outside of the craziness).

  • Do the free parking – we pulled up to the main booth, got our lift tickets and drove back to the free lot (you can actually ski down without a lift ticket if you head in the direction of the booth).
  • If you have been collecting Air Miles for years like I have – use them for your lift tickets! Today’s tickets would have been $93 making us feel very pressured to stay out and enjoy the extreme cold.
  • Make sure you have lots of clothing – I had layers and neck warmers and a face mask and a hood and helmet and still needed the fun little chemical packs to keep my extremities toasty and the skiing bearable.  This cold is nothing like the cold in Western New York.
Tomorrow looks balmy!

Tomorrow looks balmy!

I rewarded myself with a hot bubble bath soak with a glass of wine and am spending the evening by the fire preparing for day two tomorrow, the final day of this wonderful year.

Life is good.

Check out about.com Canadian travel post on Tremblant for even more tips and things to consider before you book your trip.