Wonderful Weddings in September!!!!

We just came back from Vancouver to help my sister and our new brother-in-law celebrate their AMAZING wedding on September 12, 2010!!!  CONGRATULATIONS Elisa and Denis!!!  September is a big wedding month for our family.  My wonderful parents celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary on the 10th of September.......

And Makoto and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on the 9th of September!



Denis and Elisa were absolutely glowing on their wedding day and I credit this to their incredible ability to stay grounded throughout the entire wedding planning process.  They made sure to take care of themselves, exercise, sleep well and eat well up until the day before the wedding and while half of the wedding party had caught a bug or were completely exhausted from a week long of pre-wedding celebrations, Elisa and Denis were the picture of perfect health!  We all had an incredible time and they really went all out including a beautiful fireworks show (with heart shaped fireworks!!!) and....Makoto's favorite....a photobooth!!!  Congratulations Elisa and Denis...we love you!!!

It's Officially Fall: Does the Cold Weather Cause The Cold/Flu? Tips on How to Adapt to the Cooler Weather

I know it's not Sept. 21st yet but for me, there are 3 things that make it Fall:


1.  For the first time since Spring, the weather is cool enough that I wanted to come home and take a warm lavender bubble bath, make a cup of tea (it's the first Saturday in months that we didn't come home and open up a bottle of white wine!) and then pull out extra blankets for Makoto, Rambo and me.


2.  While at our friend's (gorgeous) penthouse abode, I had a bird's eye view of the luscious green trees turning red in Allan Gardens.....tear.


3.  I picked up the September issues of Vogue and Bazaar....this confirms that it's officially Fall.


In Chinese medicine, many philosophies on health are directly related to the changes in seasons.  As leaves fall off trees, flowers stop blooming and several plants become dormant, they are conserving their energy in their seeds and roots to prepare and survive the winter.  We should also take cues from nature and use this time to conserve our energy as the Fall and Winter are designated the "yin" seasons where our bodies priorities shift towards recharging and nurturing our "qi" (inner energy).


Now...this doesn't mean stock up on cheetos and become a couch potato until March.  But it does mean that the Fall and Winter are a fantastic time for renewing, exploring, starting fresh and taking care of yourself.  I make a lot of referenes to Chinese Medicine in this blog post so you'll either think this is interesting or that I'm talking about a lot of mystical voodoo weirdness, but whichever camp you are on (or maybe somewhere in between) I hope you can take something from these tips which can help you stay healthy and happy during the Fall and Winter: