Whistler

This weekend Heather came to visit us. She got here on Friday evening and we had decided we would go to Whistler on Saturday.

We couldn't have gotten a more beautiful day to go! The sun was shining and it was so warm that you wanted to open your jacket.

We got up early on Saturday and drove to Whistler. It is a gorgeous drive through the mountains.

I was really impressed with the Gondolas they have.

They are awesome because you just take off your board or skis and stand up and you don't have to worry about sliding off the lift.

Sliding off the lift is easy for skiers, but for new snowboarders, it is a skill.

The mountains at Whistler are sooooo high. We only went down twice and that was basically our day. (Heather is a little slow too, I wasn't aware of how little she had actually skied. I though her skiing history had been similar to my own).
I had lots of time to take pictures because I spent a lot of my time sitting on my bum waiting for her. :)

I would go down a little ways and then she would fall, lose a ski, whatever and I would have some time to enjoy the view. It was nearly impossible for me to help her once I was further away from her, and as soon as I was in ear shot, I would get an earful about how she "can't do it!". (Too late now chicky, only one way down)

Heather relied a lot on the kindness of strangers. One boarder picked up her pole, another person helped her to knock the snow off her binding to get the ski back in, another guy made a good cushion when she slammed into him and one girl helped her to stand up. :)

Here is her basic technique. Kind of looked like an old lady with 2 canes. I am not trying to be mean, but it was pretty funny. :P

By the end of the second run though, she was doing pretty good, but I think a couple of lessons may be a good idea. I just really thought that she'd gone a couple of times a year in childhood like I had.

Finally we returned her rentals and went and had a well earned drink and some excellent nachos.

We drove home and that night just relaxed and watched a movie and had some dinner.
We also played some guitar hero, which Heather is now addicted to. She is saving for a WII and Guitar Hero.

On Saturday we got up and took the aquabus across to Stamp's Landing and walked to Granville Island.






Here are Mike and Heather in front of a blooming Cherry Tree.
There were all kinds of artists like this winter princess on stilts.

There was and event about saying goodbye to Winter. (Winter break or something?)

We walked around, watched the jugglers and buskers and then had some lunch on a patio.

It was funny because it was just warm enough to sit outside with the overhead heaters in the shade, but people kept coming out onto the patio and then leaving after 5 minutes complaining of the cold. We figured that they probably saw us out there and decided that we looked happy so they would try it too. Mike said we should warn them when they first came out that we were all Maritimers and that this one here lives in Edmonton. Heh!
We looked at some more boats too.

This is about the size we are looking for. It is fairly small, but a beauty!

On Sunday we went out to dinner and then Heather left early the next day. Thanks Heather for coming we had a fun time!

I'm just teasing about the skiing, you were very brave!

Day at the Market

Yep those are little buds on cherry trees here in Van on February 16.

Spring is beginning in Vancouver! Yea! This winter was a good one too. There really weren't that many rainy days, at least not compared to the records that were broken last year.

Last night Mike and I went out to dinner at Blue Water Cafe for a friend's birthday. It is a beautiful restaurant and very posh. A little to pricey for every day, but nice for a treat.

Everyone shared wine and "seafood towers" to start. They are these 3 tiered dishes of seafood, from jumbo tiger crab to oysters, smoked salmon and mussels, mmm, mmm.
They have some fantastic sushi there which is what I had and Mike had some tasty looking Kobe ribs.

Afterwards we went to a club, but Mike decided to call it a night. He is not very interested in clubs and honestly I don't really blame him.

They are expensive and not much fun when you are not looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend. :)

Today Mike and I decided to take it easy and just go over to Granville Island and see what there is to see.
We discovered a little area over there that we didn't know about before where there are some nice patios and a Boat Yard where all the boats are for sale.

Many of them were up on stands like this and were being washed.

We poked around a bit. We have a bit of a dream to have a smallish boat. They are so much fun. We could get one maybe in 10 or 15 years, but the big issue is the maintenance and the fees for docking the boat are astronomical. You'd really have to use it a lot to get your money's worth, but it's sort of like a cottage in a way. A weekend retreat.

Then we poked around the market for a bit. We saw a busker juggling lit batons and took in all the treats in the market. Mike got some "Maple Salmon Candy" which is smoked maple salmon made from the fresh spring catch. They look yummy.

We stopped and had some lunch/dinner at Bridges which is a great restaurant on the Island. Island restaurants usually specialize in seafood so we shared some very good mussels.

I think they are the best mussels I have had in a looong time. They were big and plump and had a smoky taste and a wonderful wine and garlic broth with lots of dipping bread. We are definitely going back. These patios all have propane heaters this time of year so you can enjoy the outdoors and stay toasty warm.


This turned out to be a really beautiful picture of the city at sundown.

I was taking it of this gorgeous yacht. This baby is huge and we 'd have to win the lottery a few times over to afford it.

Tomorrow I have an appointment to get a massage that Rain had given me as a gift certificate for my birthday. I can't wait, I've heard they are fantastic and my neck and shoulders get very tense from stress and sitting in a chair all day at a keyboard. Cheers Everyone!

U23D Mascarade and Super Bowl

Last weekend was so busy for me. It seems to happen that way where for a little while I won't have much to do and then all at once everything will happen at the same time.

To start off on Friday, Mike and I went to the U23D show at the IMAX Theatre.

It was fantastic. We felt like we were so close to the band. You were so close to Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam that you could see details that you never would in their concerts. In some ways it was better that the concerts.


On Saturday night we went to a mascarade party that Rain and Chris invited us to. Rain's sister had a friend playing in the band. We went out and had a tasty dinner first and then we went to the bar. We had bought the masks earlier on in the day.

It was good music and everyone was having a great time, but I couldn't seem to shake a headache I'd had all day and I felt generally crummy so we went home earlier than normal


The next day was the Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. I was going for the Giants because I always root for the underdog. I went to an all-girl Super Bowl party "The Martini Bowl" where each girl brought ingredients for a martini to make for the ladies. We also had tons of tasty snacks from dips to homemade mini quiche to caramel brownies. mmm, mmm.

The Giants won and it was an awesome game. They won right in the last few minutes. All the girls were screaming and cheering at the top of our lungs.

This weekend I didn't do much because I was traveling all week and I just wanted to take it easy.

I went to Boston MA for work to meet with one of our clients. It was really interesting, we got to watch users that were hired off the street use the application. It was one of those set ups where there is one sided glass and you can see what they are doing through the glass as well as on the computer screen via a big screen TV. I really have a new appreciation of how difficult navigating a website can be for less experienced users. Even creating a simple account that you would for any website was virtually impossible for some.

For most of the time we were in a small town where this company was that did the testing, but for one day we got to be in Boston. We stayed at a beautiful Marriott near the harbor and the old ship building district. The rooms were gorgeous and we had a really fantastic dinner at a restaurant that specialized in seafood. We split mussels, crab cake, oysters, clam chowder and a Cesar salad and had creme brulee for desert. mmm, mmm.

In any case I am glad to be home. I miss Mike and my doggies and it is nice to sleep in your own bed and be on the ground!

Cypress

Last weekend I went to Cypress with Chris and Rain for some skiing/snowboarding.

I had planned on going to Whistler, but there was a snowstorm between Van and Whistler and we don't have the right tires/car for that sort of thing anymore.

So I asked Chris and Rain if they'd like to go to Cypress instead.

It was a really nice day. Not to cool and it snowed a little too which was nice. It's always good for beginner snowboarders to have a bit of a fluffy cushion :)
Here's Chris.

Rain and Chris both ski. I guess they have a lot more common sense than me ;) We got in a few runs and then we had some lunch.
Even on a somewhat overcast day, you still get a beautiful view from the higher peeks.

Just the view alone is worth it in my opinion. I got to repeat an easier run a few times and I even managed to do some carving, which I was very proud of :)

When we were all tired out we decided to call it a day and loaded everything back into their car and headed back to the city, where no surprise it was raining :)

We went to this really cool little Sushi place called Opera. It is called that because they play Classical Opera in the background. They make sushi with black rice as well as white. Black rice is better for you. It was good, but I think I prefer the white rice. Probably just like I prefer white bread. Maybe it is psychological. I know it's better for me so I can't believe it would taste better.

Anyway that's all for now, cheers! Thanks guys for the ride up to Cypress!