I whole heartedly believe in this quote, which is why I posted it on my desk at work while in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is important to me that everyone I interact with (in whatever form that may be) has a positive experience. (Photo Credit: Tom Davies, 2015)

Welcome to lisezfaire.

I am a single (divorced many years ago now) woman just living the day-to-day and making my way through life’s ups and downs, challenges, surprises, and ultimately…its deep beauty.

I spend a lot of time “looking inward” as they say, always open to learning new things and having new breakthroughs. 

Fortunately for me, my career has taken me all around the world – from a North American fine art gallery representing global talent, to marketing for a resort development company with properties in the USA, Mexico, and the French Alps, to being part of the teams responsible for culture and ceremony components of major world sporting events (including the Olympic Games in Vancouver, an Olympic bid in Istanbul, the European Games in Baku, Tokyo and most recently Papua, Indonesia).

Since 2012 I have mainly been working and living abroad, and I’m grateful for all the adventures that have come my way because of it. 

Oh, and I am the third of ten children (we all have the same two parents, no twins…ten actual pregnancies in a span of 14 years!). My mum was a saint (she just never wanted you to tell her that)!

Mum with seven of us…and she was always that petite. Crazy! Speaking of crazy….can you guess which one is me? Yup, that’s right…front left. Nice one, 7-year old me!

All of this has given me some pretty amazing experiences and, I think, a more global view of life. 

I initially started this blog to share my international experiences with family and friends while I was far away from home. Be it a silent retreat in Thailand or my excitement over discovering and loving different parts of the world.

Jungle Yoga is quite literally on a lake in the middle of the jungle. It is on Khao Sok Lake and incredibly beautiful. I was fortunate enough to spend 8 days here on a silent meditation retreat organized by Vipassana Hawaii. A fabulous way to spend 8 days. If you want to know more about my experience, see my previous blogs about the retreat – start with this one: https://lisezfaire.com/2012/01/05/musings-from-an-8-day-retreat-getting-there/

Now I find I have a unique point of view brought forth by my many varied experiences, travels, friends, number of years on this planet – all of it combined.

What you see is what you get with me.

My goal for this blog is to share my experiences, opinions, maybe an occasional rant. This could be anything from my morning run, to moving to a new city, to the challenges of single life, to baking, to hot flashes, to dating, to meditation, to travel adventures….to, well, you name it… 

So, if you are interested in seeing what it is like to live life through my lens, please join the ride. I promise you an unpolished, non “instagramized” (is that even a word???) world view.

I also plan on inviting guest writers and interviewees to contribute their thoughts and give you a glimpse of the people and experiences that have positively impacted my life. And from there, let us see how and where this grows and goes.

And I would love to hear from you – comments, questions, feedback, whatever you would like to share, please do so by commenting on the posts.

Time is precious, and I appreciate you spending some of your time with me.


Lise 

Other fun tidbits about me: 

  • over and above my 9 siblings, I have 18 nieces and nephews – and am a pretty kick-ass auntie, if I do say so myself
  • I am blessed with wonderful friends that span the globe
  • I love swimming (the water is my happy place)
  • I don’t love running itself, but I do enjoy how it makes me feel, so I do it 
  • I love my boxing gym in Vancouver, and miss it when I am not there (Contenders – check them out at: https://contenders.ca)
  • I love to laugh and do so as much as possible – and I have been told I am a “great audience” 
  • I have been practicing yoga for years now, and finally got certified in 2018 at Samahita Retreat in Thailand – an incredible experience: https://lisezfaire.com/2019/01/30/a-broad-abroad-yoga-teacher-training-and-life https://samahitaretreat.com
  • I love reading, movies, HGTV, and Schitts Creek (seriously…soooo good!)
  • I think this is starting to sound like a dating profile!…so with that in mind, I am a Scorpio born the year of the Dragon…I enjoy long walks on the beach…
  • and for those of you who are into Human Design, I am a Reflector
I fell in love with Istanbul pretty much as soon as I landed. Taking the ferry to the Asia side and then coming back around sunset was one of my favourite things to do as you get views like this one. There is just something about the light in this city and the incredible skies. The view of the Maiden Tower (on the right) and then the Old City (known as Sulthanahmet) on the left, where you see the outline of the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofia is absolutely breath taking. Every time.