As a young child my mom was a skater. Her eyes light up when she talks about her skating days. As Canadians, I feel like skating is in our blood somehow. So my entire life, I’ve followed ice skating competitions as well as hockey games. This week I got the opportunity to meet the ice princess of my childhood, Kristi Yamaguchi. This time she wasn’t wiping the ice shavings off her blades, or looking for her pairs score, but rather representing herself beyond the rink as a mom, healthy eater, busy wife, and graceful rhumba dancer. After her introduction as, Olympic gold medalist, winner of Dancing with the Stars, mom, author, literacy advocate, and owner of her athletic wear clothing line Tsu Ya, Kristi Yamaguchi commented that she doesn’t always do it all. We can’t always do it all. Sometimes life is about prioritizing. Life is always about a balance. If anyone knows balance well it’s an Olympian ice skaters! Kristi said that she tries to take 30 minutes each day for herself to read, watch a show, or check out her twitter feed. It is just 30 minutes, but as parents we can all use the boost that 30 minutes dedicated to ourselves can do for us. Perhaps we can even teach it to our very busy children too.

The event hosted by Alpine Lace, was a nice way for us to have fun learning the rhumba, we also had a chance to think about the ‘ingredients’ that are most important in our lives, and lastly we tasted Alpine Lace and had the opportunity to pair it with different fruits, vegetables, and condiments. My life ingredients were: friends & family, creativity, and the great outdoors.

I love cheese. I love really good cheese. I also like the occasional slice of processed cheese – there is no cheese product better for a grilled cheese sandwich. I wasn’t sure where Alpine Lace would fall along the spectrum. I had heard of it before but never knew what it was exactly. It is a great choice thinly sliced at the deli for a sandwich. I usually like my sandwiches sans cheese, but for some it is incomplete without cheese. I liked Alpine Lace as a healthier snack choice (especially since I can have it thinly sliced at the deli) than the hunks of cheese I tend to cut myself to snack on with an apple, a few nuts or some hot pepper jelly.

My pairing choices were:
1) Alpine Lace, a slice of pear, a thin slice of Sopressata, and a dollop of fig jam
2) Alpine Lace, a slice of apple, a candied walnut and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

What are your three most important life ingredients? Will you reclaim 30 minutes a day for yourself? I hope so!