Hey friends! I hope that you're all doing well and surviving the tremendous amount of snow that has been dumped on the Northeast (or maybe just the North in general). To stay warm, I've been doing my best to conjure up memories of sunny days and warmer climates.

Maybe it's just me, but I associate a lot of happy memories with food. In my family, most milestones are celebrated with gatherings full of beautiful and bountiful tables. With my background, t's certainly no surprise why I love to eat!

Today I'm going to share one of my favourite things that I ate in Brazil. Acai! I usually eat it blended into a bowl, but you can have it in a juice or smoothie too.

What you need:

1 Sambazon Pure Unsweetened Frozen Acai Berry Superfruit Pack

1/4 cup of Bear Naked Fit Granola, V'nilla Almond

5 (ish) raspberries

1 banana (1/2 for blending, 1/2 for topping)

1/4 cup of frozen blueberries

1/3 cup coconut water

Throw the acai, 1/2 a banana, blueberries, and coconut water in the blender. I like to use the puree setting, for a few seconds, and then turn it down to the mix setting, to get to the right consistency. Serve in your favourite bowl, and add your toppings!

Acai is traditionally served with honey, but I like to throw some coconut chips and a drizzle of all natural maple syrup on top. I am Canadian after all!

My way is not exactly traditional, but it's the blend that I like. You can follow the directions that Sambazon recommends, or come up with your own recipe! Follow breakfast artist, Ksenia @breakfastcriminals, for some crazy delicious acai bowls, and other awesome eats! Want to start your day with a little more love? Grab the heart bowl, and fill it with your favourite morning snack.

Serve with an Americano, and you're all set! Just watch out for any hungry Rude Boys! I like my Americanos with milk, so I use Alchemy Espresso beans from local roaster, George Howell Coffee. So delicious! There's nothing like a good breakfast and the smell of freshly ground espresso beans (and maybe a little vinyasa flowin') to wake you up in the morning.

ON ANOTHER NOTE, LET'S GET TO MY NEWS!!!!!

I have joined the team of local lifestyle blog, Mass Musings, as a Contributor! I am so excited to be joining the Mass Musings tribe. MM provides inspiration for the creative individual, and I just love Kayte's (Founder/Editor of MM), vision for the site. So, at least once a month you will find me over on Mass Musings, sharing my words and photographs. I'm hoping to start a travel series and explore New England, what do you guys think? That is, if it ever gets warm enough for me to want to venture out of the apartment...

What does this news mean for YYZ->BOS, exactly? Well, there will be a few changes. First off, more posts! Not everyday, but I am guaranteeing 1-2 per week. Second, you may have noticed I have taken down the PORTFOLIO section of my site. It has needed a MAJOR overhaul for a long time, and well, at this point I think it's doing me more harm than good. Which brings me to my third point, I'm working on a little re-design/re-brand. The header and design of the site was always meant to be temporary. I threw it together in an afternoon when I decided to create this space. But now, it's time to put in the work.

So excited for so many new adventures.

Peace and love until next time,

Alex

Well it certainly is a snowy morning on the east coast! While the blizzard rages (or, y'know, snow falls peacefully) outside my window, I can't help but look back on photos from our recent trip to conjure up memories of sea salt, sand and sunshine.

Enter Praia da Engenhoca. A beach in Bahia, it's nestled at the foot of a tropical rainforest - 12km outside the surfer town of Itacare. Known for it's waves, Engenhoca is a favourite surf spot, but it's not exactly the easiest to get to. Though a short hike through the rainforest is not a bad trade-off for a day spent on these shores.

Sitting on that beach made me feel so small in this great wide world. It became very clear to me that I am SO incredibly lucky. There were so many crazy twists and turns of fate that brought me to be in that exact moment. I mean, how did I end up on a remote beach in the Northeast of Brazil? And how did I hike THROUGH THE RAINFOREST to get there?

IT WAS AMAZING.

I'm incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to visit and explore this little corner of the universe. And, I'm so happy to have been able to explore it with this crowd! Without them, I quite literally would have been lost (and wouldn't have had nearly as much fun). Here we are drinking from coconuts on the beach, because let's be real - it's the best way to drink coconut water.

Ok, I'm sorry guys, I'm not really giving you the full picture here. In order to do that, we need to talk about THE FOOD:

We ate REALLY well on the beach. Pedro's cousin, Dante, is a sous-chef at D.O.M., in Sao Paulo. He and his girlfriend, Kafe (who is also a chef, and all around awesome lady), made us tuna ceviche, grilled red snapper, okra, potatoes and onions. They cooked in a fire-pit that we dug with our hands (and ok, rocks... and I didn't really help that much... but I took photos)!

Maybe I just watch too much TV, but I felt like Anthony Bourdain on Parts Unknown. Seriously, I had to keep asking myself if it was real life. It was some real Travel Network-like business.

Visiting Engenhoca in the way that we did, was such a unique and amazing experience. From the incredible vistas, to the perfect crashing waves (and the most delicious food ever), Engenhoca was truly a paradise.

Maybe you just see a beach, but what I saw was a shift in my perspective.

That this earth is a vast and wonderful place. That I am capable of a lot more than I give myself credit for. That I am the luckiest girl in the world. That sometimes you just need to be OPEN to new things, and stop worrying all the time. And of course, to breathe, and just LOVE, fully and unconditionally.

I had never been to a place like Engenhoca.

It truly opened my eyes, and cracked open my heart.

Peace + love until next time,

Alex