Scotch Fest

Hi Everyone. Last weekend, Mike and I attended Hopscotch with some of the guys from my work.

This is Vancouver's annual Scotch, Whisky and Beer Festival.

First we went to a restaurant and then off to Hopscotch.

Basically you buy a ticket which comes with some tokens and then you go around sampling the different Scotches and beers.

Different vendors pass out treats to go along with their drink such as ribs, nuts and chocolates.

We had a great time, but the batteries ran out on my camera, so I only ended up with one picture.


Here is Mike and a couple of my coworkers sampling the scotches and even taking notes.

I'm not big on Scotch. It's a little harsh for me, but I did like Glenlivet and Jack Daniels Black Label.

I don't know if I would try this again next year, although I think Mike will, but I hear there is a similar festival for wine which I would be interested in.



Also that weekend we pretty much finished up getting our furniture.

I think the living room is looking much nicer.

Circle Craft Christmas Craft Market

This weekend Rain and I went to the Circle Craft Christmas Craft Market. It is a huge craft show showcasing artisans from Vancouver and the surrounding areas.

There were jewelers, painters, photographers, potters, seamstresses, leather workers, carpenters, chocolatiers, etc.

It was a great place to buy Christmas presents and a great blog post, however when I went to take my first picture, I realized that my battery was back at home in the charger. However, all is not lost, I have taken some pictures of our purchases and will explain a bit of what I saw.







There were many booths, where some of the artisans were demonstrating their craft. There was a glass blower and here is a top that was made right in front of us.

It started out as a hunk of wood and he placed it on a machine that was spinning quickly and applied several tools to it.

For the color, he simply held a marker to it and then used a tool to cut out the areas around it to make the rings.


Take a close look at these chocolates that Rain bought for her grandmother. You may not be able to see, but each one is a work of art. Some have little stars, holly, writing, coffee beans, etc. stamped on them. They almost look too good to eat.

All of the vendors selling food stuffs like nuts, chocolate, jelly, sauces were giving out samples as well. We got quite the little delicious snack just passing through.



Here is another example of some of the yummy things they were selling. This is a dark chocolate, butter crunch and it is out of this world!

I may be sending a package of this yummy confection to some lucky family ;)














Here is a teriyaki sauce that I bought. It is good in stir-fry, as a marinade and as a salad dressing.

I used some last night and it was fantastic!














My walls are quite bare at the moment and this was a great place to find some art. Much of it was far out of my price range, but some were quite reasonable.

Here are a couple of pieces that I bought. Can you guess what they are? This couple collects seaweed then goes through this very elaborate and time consuming process to dye it and dry it and then pastes it to canvas. I thought they were very pretty and will hang them in my bathrooms, where they will be at home :)


Here is another piece that I came home with. I plan on hanging it in my kitchen. They are tiny little hot chili peppers which have been dried and mounted.

Aren't they cute? She also had asparagus, radish, artichoke, red peppers, oranges, etc.














Here is a little Christmas ornament. These are all hand blown and every one is a complete original. Very pretty when the light shines through.










Here is a leather, "magic wallet" which I bought for Mike. He was very happy to get it as the plastic one he was carrying around was falling apart.

If you place a bill or piece of paper in the wallet and then open it from the other side, the elastics fold around the paper, holding it securely.






When Rain and I were done at the craft fair, (after 4 hours of shopping) Chris picked us up and we all went out for dinner at Yaletown Brewing Company. Michael says the beer is good!










Until next weekend everyone!

Cheers,

Andrea & Michael

Granville Market

Hi everyone! This weekend I am blogging about the Granville Market. I went in search of umbrellas and rain boots and some nice bread, wine and deli. I took the little ferry to the other side which took me about 3 minutes of walking and a minute in the ferry.

Here is one of the fresh produce centres. If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist!

There is one main market and then dozens of little shops around it.


Here is a very colorful candy store.

If I had one of these handy growing up, I think I would have a lot more fillings!










Here is one of my new favorite shops, the dessert bakery.

So many beautiful decadent choices!










Another candy store, they specialize in homemade suckers.












And sooo many gorgeous flowers. When I get a vase ;) , I will come back often to get my flowers.

Such a fun way to brighten up your day and make you smile!













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I can also get all sorts of fresh meat, seafood, cheese, bread and deli here. Yum, yum, yum!












Here is the little food court area. One change here is the amount of Asian inspired restaurants.

I am getting good at using my chopsticks. Some places don't provide cutlery. You'd have to ask and you look very uncool doing so ;)








Another thing that is kind of different around here is the way they pile fruit to the skies.

You see it everywhere and they do it so quickly with such agility.









Look at the stripes on this fresh pasta. I wonder how they do that?

So much of this stuff looks too good to eat!










There are also tons of places that sell pottery, jewelery, clothing, etc. A great place to buy gifts.












Clothing













Art













Beads, hmmm, I think someone I know likes to work with beads...












And finally, umbrellas. So many colors and styles to choose from. I went for practical and got Mike and I each a black umbrella that is a good brand.

They are compact, open and close at the touch of a button and are supposed to be quite durable and wind resistant.....then I broke down and bought one of the pretty ones as well. I couldn't help myself!





Love it! A true Vancouverite with my hot pink umbrella!












I found the rubber boot place, but it was closed :(

Oh well, looks like I have to come back...what a chore ;)

Aren't they super cute? The pink ones will match my umbrella!

Well that was a snapshot of Granville Market. What a fun place! I will be coming back there often. They are open every day until 7PM!

Until next week everyone!

BC Lions

Last weekend on Saturday night (Halloween weekend), Mike and I went to see a CFL football game.

Neither of us had ever been to a professional football game, so it was kind of cool.

The tickets came free with our Internet hookup, so the experience only cost us $15. The price of 2 beers at a professional football game. (yeah, pretty pricey, but because the tickets were free...)

Forget the movies, professional sports take the cake for monopolistic markup! This gives you a pretty good idea of what the stadium looks like. We walked 15 minutes to get here. Another 5 and we are at the arena where the Canucks play. Now that is something I want to see!
The lions played Winnipeg and won by a considerable margin.

Here there is some action going on. Can you tell who has the pigskin? I sure can't. I think I need to start bringing my glasses to these things!

However it was fun to take pictures and see all there was to see. Quite entertaining!





Here are the cheerleaders. They did a few little routines and the camera men filmed them so that they were on the big screen.

After half, they got dressed up in their little Halloween costumes. Looks like a tough job ;)

I wonder what the shelf life of a CFL cheerleader is? :)

Here is a pic of the big screen and a ref making a call.

It is funny, people actually boo and swear and throw stuff at them.

We also saw a little football fight where they had to break the players up and a fan fight, where they escorted the fans from the stadium.

Anyhow, that was the highlight of last weekend. This weekend we will be visiting IKEA again (I love that place. I really love their little cafeteria where the food is super cheap.) I also want to go to Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) and get some rain/biking gear for my commute to work. However, the highlight should be visiting the Granville Market via the little Ferry I blogged about last week. I can't wait!

Cheers!