The House Dressing Company

I just returned from an amazing whirlwind of a trip and promised I would share.  It was a complete luxury to travel to five cities in Europe with 3 friends whom are kindred spirits of mine and all love much the same thing as I do!  We had the time of our life and we shopped in the most incredible neighborhoods in the world.

As a buyer for my store of 19 years I often feel like I have seen every home accessory ever on this side of the pond.  Shopping in Europe for me is like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to eying up some of the never ever seen before accessories that I came across. I was on a mission as I perused these magnificent shops but I’ll explain that later.  But boy did I hit the jackpot for a few unique items that I was able to send home.

Some of you may remember way back when Catriona Wilson worked at The House Dressing Company. She was a delight and we miss her cheery nature even still as it has been at least 10 years since she was employed. But I had the great pleasure of visiting her in Bath Spa, 2 hours east of London by train.  We had a delightful day seeing Stone Henge which was utterly amazing as well as the Roman Baths which again were incredible to experience.  The weather was ’summer perfect’ as we meandered thru the English countryside and walked the regal streets of Bath.

Paris was the next stop.  Have you been?  If you haven’t, I highly recommend it, even if you don’t speak a word of french.  Seeing the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triumph is so magnificent, even if you’ve seen it before.  And those French women, they have got it going on when it comes to looking good.  From head to toe, they look soooo elegant that you can’t resist gazing just a bit too long–and some of them were whizzing by us on a vespa in high heels!  And the French men…. well say no more!

Copenhagen is my new favourite city.  I can’t wait to return.  Imagine this.  A charming old, old town of many many blocks of walking streets only–no cars.  Just bicycles, mothers with prams and people strolling thru squares, enjoying outdoor cafes, window shopping or seriously shopping in the many stunning design conscious shops that are all adorned with billowing planters of pretty summer blooms.   Heaven, I say!

And then there’s Stockholm.  I was thrilled to meet up with my dear norwegian relatives that reside just north of the city who kindly toured me around town sharing the sites.  We enjoyed an afternoon harbour ferry ride while I snapped a million photos.

Next up was a heart warming visit with many of my Norwegian relatives in Oslo, Norway.  Home cooked meals and a room of my own, what a treat!  I’ve visited many times before but this time I wandered in places I hadn’t been enjoying the lovely sunny weather after about 8 days of rain in our previous cities.  As I neared my last days I became anxious to head home and see my precious family who so kindly sent me on my way.  I arrived home to meet them all waiting for me, flowers and all, at the airport.  There’s no place like home especially when you have a wonderful family like mine to return to.

But now…. you are probably still wondering what mission I was on in Europe?  Well alright, I think I need to explain first what keeps me out of trouble these days besides my adorable kids.  Are you ready?  I have been busy building a new website with my sister Yvonne for a new passion: healthy living and healthy recipes!  It’s a site here called the Alkaline Sisters and it stemmed from my own experience with a health issue you may recall back a couple years, a herniated disc.  You can read my full story here. If you are interested in delicious healthy recipes paired with healthy tips you are going to want to check it out especially since an abundance of incredible summer produce is upon us. Don’t you love all the local veggies we can source especially here on the peninsula?  I will have lots of healthy recipes for you to cook with as I grow this blog.  Here’s a quick screen shot of the tomato post with Sun Wing Tomatoes.

In a nut shell, on my new blog I promote an alkaline lifestyle which is all about balancing the pH level of your body’s fluids.  To achieve this, a diet of 70-80% raw and some warmed veggies with only 20-30% proteins, grains and legumes is the guide.  As well, eliminating all bad carbs, dairy, sugar and processed foods has been life changing.  Following this regime has cleansed my system and alleviated the horrible pain causing inflammation in my back, which no other form of treatment, conventional or holistic, was able to do–believe me I tried them all!  I then added the unique Pettibon principles of chiropractic care paired with decompression, all guided by the amazing Dr. Craig Bentham at Backfit and my disc is healing quite nicely now.  I have also learned that it has been proven that cancer cells cannot survive in alkaline body fluids whereas they thrive in acidic body fluids.  Alternative cancer treatment often takes the form of a diet change reflective of the alkaline lifestyle and I have met cancer survivors that can attest to this who may not otherwise still be on this planet.  After experiencing this lifestyle for 2 years now and studying it for all this time I felt compelled to share so that others could benefit from this information. Many people can stand to improve their health if they put these simple principles into action.

So there you have it, my secret is out!  I am passionate about energizing the body thru healthy foods in order to avoid disease and cancer and I am sharing with the world wide net!

My mission in Europe, well… it was to gather unique styling props to inspire incredible photography shoots of the healthy recipe creations.  I think I did quite well and I look forward to sharing some of these items with you on my Alkaline Sisters site.  I also took part in a food bloggers convention in London that was amazing, very informative and wonderful to meet like minded food bloggers!

At any rate, take a look if I have peaked your curiosity and let me know what you think! You can click here www.alkalinesisters.com I love comments if you are brave enough:)  And if you are heading to any of the aforementioned cities and need to know where to eat, let me know.  We ate like royalty, and healthily too!

Hope you enjoy this glorious sunshine that is supposed to stay around for a while yet!