Vancouver photo diary

 VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY DOWNTOWN

 CAFE CREPE ON GRANVILLE

 BON TON BAKERY ON BROADWAY

 GUU GARDEN

 ENIGMA FOR STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS?

NICE ONE DEXTER

I miss home already. I hope you all had an awesome holiday season.
Hello 2011!

Back in Vancouver and I'm loving it

Hello friends! I've been spending my days in Vancouver eating, sleeping & shopping. What a perfect combination :) Christmas was lovely, despite me being a frantic and disorganized cook - somehow we managed to pull off a Christmas Eve dinner that was edible but in no way worthy of the feast we had at Jordan's family's place on Christmas Day. (Thanks Auntie Pauline!)

So I thought I'd share my personal highlights of Christmas:
(click on the photo to see it larger)

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays Everyone! 

I hope you're enjoying time with family & loved ones this holiday season!

Upgrade

I caved. I finally made the upgrade. I switched over to the new iPhone 4 and retired my old faithful iPhone 1. I've had that phone ever since I moved to NYC 3 years ago. Woah. I've been in New York for 3 years already?! Time does fly by...

I was holding out for the white iPhone 4 which is supposedly being released in Spring 2011 after much speculation...but I could not wait any longer. My phone was literally slowing down on me. Apps were crashing, calls were being dropped every now and then (is that you AT&T?), google maps was slow as hell and I just couldn't take it any longer. So over the weekend, I got myself a new phone. Just in time to head home for the holidays to make my brother jealous :) 

I've got 1 more day of work to push through which involves being at Grand Central at 8:30am tomorrow and then I'm home free to catch my red-eye to YVR. See you in Vancouver & Merry Christmas!

Gone Fishing

I'm so glad I decided to take the extra day off to recoup from the red-eye flight into the City. I got so much done today other than catching my Zs. It was good to be home for those few days, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine in Vancouver. The highlight of my trip: Sockeye Salmon Fishing!

MY FISHING OUTFIT: CONVERSE, BLACK TIGHTS, OLD NAVY STRIPED LONG SLEEVE T, NAVY HOODED TUNIC, TNA WHITE HOODIE & NORTH FACE GRACE JACKET

12 sockeye, a bucket of prawns and a sole, we went home happy despite the choppy waters. BBQ salmon never tasted so good and fresh salmon roe was delicious! Who would have thought fishing would've been so much fun? Hope your long weekend was just as fish-tastic as mine!

Ready for Roma!

We leave for Europe tonight! :D First stop: ROMA! 

How excited am I? 

A family vacation is long overdue and I'm thrilled to head back to the city of Roman Holiday. What a chic movie that was! I love Audrey Hepburn movies. Will be blogging weekend updates from Europe! Stay tuned! xo

They're here!

My weekend went by too quickly! As do most weekends in my life. My Dad & brother arrived late on a Friday night after J & I gorged ourselves on $2 burger sliders and beer on St Mark's. He promptly passed out on my couch while watching a hockey game.

Saturday - was bright & early for a walk about town through and around, EV, LES, Soho, Nolita & Chinatown and a visit to J in his pimpin' pad in Midtown West - we ended the day with Robin Hood & Korean BBQ.

Sunday - was brunch at Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles, apartment viewing & an early dinner at Per Se that left all of us extremely full and in food coma for the rest of the night.

I hope your weekend was as full of food & walking as mine was!

Lessons from my Mother

Mother's Day is fast approaching and during this time, I've been thinking of my mum more so than usual. I miss her, her anecdotes & her little nuggets of wisdom. I'd thought I'd share what I remember and love about my mum's funny, witty & delightful life and the invaluable pieces of advice I will cherish forever:

• Take good care of skin, you only have ONE face and prevention is always much better than cure.
• Your shoes & handbag must always match! (That was dispensed to me in the 80s & early 90s & since then she learnt that's it was ok to mismatch and I've since followed suit)
• Never leave home uncoordinated
• Dress/Look your age
• ALWAYS wear nice underwear, you'll never know when you might get hit by a bus or get into an accident and the ambulance people/hospital staff will have to see your ugly underwear
• Every woman should wear a little bit of makeup
• Treat yourself to facials REGULARLY - its worth every penny
• Always use eye cream
• ALWAYS keep your expensive bags in its dust bag
• BITE your shoes before they BITE you!
• One can never have enough shoes, handbags or jewelry
• Men MUST buy women Jewelry
• Men with sloping shoulders cannot be trusted (as told to her by her mother & grandmother)
• Don't marry a man with too square a jaw - that means he's cruel (once again, as told to her by her mother & grandmother)
• How he treats his mother is indicative of how he'll treat you in the future
• The man should love you more than you love him
• Good boys do not kiss & tell
• Always plan your wardrobe before you pack for travelling
• Always carry an clean set of underwear & a t shirt in your carry-on bag, just in case
• Never be afraid to use an umbrella in the sun! :) 
• Always use sunscreen
• NEVER wear white on a plane (in case of spills and stains)
• Every woman needs to learn how to keep house
• Always make your bed
• Always put things back from where you took them - that's how you stay organized
• Plan where to put your furniture 
• You can't choose your family, so you better all get along
• Marry the boy/girl, marry the family
• Family comes First
• It's mind over matter: if you don't mind, then it doesn't matter

What valuable pearls of wisdom have your mums dispensed to you? :) Happy Mother's Day!

Go Canada!

Recently I went home and saw Canada take the gold for the game we created. It feels good to be Canadian and it feels even better to be a Vancouverite - home to the 2010 Winter Olympics! Go CANADA!

One year

I'm home for the weekend. 

I can't believe one year has passed. Time really has flown by and a year later, I remember my mum along with all our loved ones and friends. I suppose many find it a little sad that my mother's death date is a day before my birthday but this year, I feel blessed to spend my birthday surrounded by family and sharing fond memories of my amazing mother.

We miss you Mum.

We love you!