Life Is Beautiful

Have you ever seen the movie Life is Beautiful? If not, it's something I highly reccomend you put on your bucket list. It is the most charming, beautiful story ever and I probably can't do it justice, so if you are curious to see the trailer I'll include it below.

At one point in the film, Roberto Benigni's character tries to make a game out of being in a concentration camp so that his son won't be frightened and it's so touching and heartwarming that it's impossible not to fall in love with this movie. Also, he calls his wife Principessa (princess in Italian) throughout the movie which is one of the ways so many people became familiar with the word. My husband is Italian and he often calls me Principessa  too and over the years, owning a business called Principessa I can't even tell you how many times we've had women say to us "Oh, my Dad calls me Principessa" or "My boyfriend/husband calls me Principessa". I think this movie created a lot of Principessa's :)



Roberto also won an Oscar for best actor for his role in the movie and it was absolutely hilarious when he did. If you haven't witnessed that moment it's also worth watching as he leaps on the seats and has one of the most dramatic reactions ever to winning an Academy Award. He had most people in tears and some described him as oozing with appreciation and emotion. He said his parents gave him the biggest gift ever of poverty and thanked them for all the rest of his life! Talk about looking on the bright side and viewing the cup half full! It's exactly like his character in the movie. How can you not love this guy?



In my humble opinion this movie should not be missed and in fact just writing about it and viewing the trailer has made me want to see it again! I normally don't enjoy watching movies a second time but this is one of the ones (along wth The Sound of Music) that I could watch again and again...

Ciao for now!

Have pink bike will travel...

My exercise of choice has always been running. This has been dotted & supplemented with bouts of other obsessions such as yoga (bikrams and regular), hiking the grouse grind and occasionally bike riding. Until last year bike riding was something my husband and I would do fairly infrequently and always just on weekends. Then, last summer my friend and neighbour Tammy yelled down from her rooftop deck to tell me she was coming over for wine but had to have a quick shower because she rode her bike to work. This was life changing for me because Tammy is a teacher and her school at the time was clear on the other side of the City. I was amazed and intrigued and plastered her with questions. She sent me links to all the bike routes in the City http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/transport/cycling/ and I was thrilled to see that I could ride my bike to  work if I wanted and stay on the bike routes almost the entire time.

My commute isn't really a short one so I was a little hesitant but inspired by Tammy I had to try it. It takes me about half an hour or more to drive to our pink offices and there are a lot of hills. I go from Capitol Hill in Burnaby to Main & Marine in Vancouver on the Fraser river so it's quite the trek. It takes me about an hour + on my bike but the really great thing is I add only one hour total to my commute time but I get a two hour work out in. Plus there are so many other incredible benefits as well not to mention health, reducing stress, inducing bliss and lowering our green house gas emissions plus save money on gas! Our company has recently become carbon neutral so this is one extra step I can take to further that commitment. More on this here... http://www.principessabeauty.com/

The only thing stopping me from doing it more often is the Vancouver weather. So far I have only rode my bike in the sunshine and it's nothing short of heaven. Riding to work smelling the flowers, breathing the fresh air and taking in the incredible views around this amazing City has got to be one of the most incredible ways to start and end your workday. But, I have yet to ride in the cold and rain. My first ride this year was on Earth Day and it was supposed to be a beautiful day. I didn't see the big black clouds until I got outside and I nearly turned around and went back inside to return to the warmth and safety of my vehicle. But I decided to go through with it anyway after I gave myself heck for being such a wimp and thought, who cares if I look like a drowned rat at my desk all day. :) Thankfully the skies did not open up on me and I didn't get wet but I sure have appreciation for those who do it all the time. I now notice all those troopers who get on their bikes even in the cold and rain and I have so much respect and admiration for those who do so. I'm not there yet but I brake for bikes! If I can inspire one person to hop on their bike I'll be a happy camper...

Maldivian Dreams!

Well, I figure if you are going to blog about beautiful things you may as well start at the top. For years I've been obsessed with going to the Maldives and last year we finally had the chance to go and cross that off my bucket list. We went for my husband's 50th Birthday and it was the trip of a lifetime. It took 2 days to get there and we stopped in Singapore for the launch of our products in Sephora there which was so fun and amazing too!

The entire experience was completely surreal. I expected it to be beautiful, but the perfection we encountered was stunning. We have traveled a lot and are quite picky but it was hard to find fault with these incredible Islands south of Sri Lanka in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Actually, we were supposed to go when the Tsunami hit the region in 2004. In fact when the devastation occurred, many of our friends and family freaked, thinking we might be there and our cell phones were ringing off the hook but we were blissfully unaware in the South Pacific instead. So, fate perhaps intervened and we found ourselves there years later finally...

The beauty is indescribable!! The resorts were completely flawless, the beaches out of this world and the crystal clear aquamarine water was like nothing we have ever seen. And as if that wasn't enough, the food was some of the best we have ever had and we are HUGE foodies traveling the world looking for the best dining experiences ever and I can honestly say this topped all of them! We were so surprised. How on earth do they get this incredible food in the middle of nowhere?? One of the Managers shared with us that a company in Dubai coordinates it all for them getting the best of the best from all over the world and they ship it in from where ever they need to get the finest ingredients from. You pay a premium for sure but goodness was it worth it!!

I could go on forever, from the first class service, villas with private pools some cantilevered over blue lagoons, snorkeling and scuba diving that is out of this world and the most ridiculous food and wine ever. Oh, and the spas!!! Are you kidding?? One was underwater and it was like you were surrounded by a giant aquarium and one had a glass window in the floor beneath the massage table so you could watch the fish swim by while getting your massage. The Yoga Pavilion at one resort quite literally almost made me cry walking up to it.

Here is a picture of two of  the restaurants at one of the resorts. Walking along the jetty at night time, it's lit up with little candles and lights and they light the water underneath too so it glows and you can see all the marine life which is magical! Oh, and the sunsets...

Really busy beach...

Each resort is on it's own Island or Atoll so they pick you up at the airport and transport you to the resort in a luxury yacht or float plane. They are usually very small and remote and your means of transportation are by bike, ( my fave!) foot, or you can call your butler to come and get you in a golf cart. Sometimes, riding my bike to breaky, dinner or the spa I could have sworn I was in heaven, literally! White sand pathways surrounded by lush green foliage with water on all sides of you is just like nothing I have ever experienced. Here is a picture of the parking lot at the spa :)

We went on a dolphin cruise and I think I held my breathe the entire time. They were so beautiful! They saw the boat and were coming at us from all directions jumping and spinning in the air and so excited to play with us. I sat on the edge of the front with my feet almost in the water and they swam with our boat the entire time taking turns swimming with the front of the boat. Unfortunately, my battery died on my camera almost at the beginning but in a way it was good because although I didn't get the kind of pictures I could have, I put the camera down and just drank it all in!! Absolutely beautiful creatures god created!

Each of the resorts did something to acknowledge my husband's Birthday which was really nice. This one sent us a bottle of champagne and here he is in our infinity pool that is cantilevered over the lagoon. He's quite pleased with himself that he discovered that the champagne glass floats on it's own and he doesn't need to hold it. Okay, small things amuse us but really the Maldives rock!!!

The resorts we went to were Shangri La, One & Only and Huvafen Fushi. They were all equally wonderful and we were so glad to get to experience all three. In fact, we are planning another trip as we speak...

La vita e bella!

P.S. I would be remiss not to mention two things that helped make our trip sheer bliss. One is http://www.tripadvisor.com/ We never go anywhere without consulting this website first. Also, without Lindsey from Linara Travel http://www.linaratravel.com/ there is no way it would have been as amazing. We ALWAYS book our trips ourselves and never use a travel agent but Lindsey is such an expert in the area that I can't imagine what we would have done without him!