This past weekend we went up to Whistler and stayed overnight in a funky little hotel called the Adara. It had a modern twist to its decor that can adequately be summed up by this:

I know what you are thinking. Is that a faux fur blanket draped across that chaise lounge? Why yes it is.

It was a nice place, as you would expect a four-star hotel to be, but what made it special and fun was all the little things.

On the nightstand, an iPod dock, along with a sound machine boasting a range of soothing aural balms, from babbling brook to downtown traffic:

Fuzzy chair cover:

Great shampoos and soaps, a line called Fresh, made by Sephora:

Wait. What's that on the top shelf in the bathroom?

It's a what? A personal-sized cannister of compressed oxygen and nitrogen? For what? You put your mouth on the dispenser and breathe it in and it's supposed to make you feel less stressed and get rid of headaches and jet lag?

Wait, wait. Let me get this straight. People are paying $14.95 ($89.95 if they decide to pack the cannister in their suitcase along with towels ... ) to inhale a puff of nitrogen and oxygen from a cannister of limited quantity? Ummm ... I have a better idea. Why not pay zero dollars and, at any point in time where you happen to be located on planet earth at an altitude between sea level and 15,000 feet, open your mouth and inhale? I like to call this fancy trick BREATHING.