Christmas 2008

This year Mike and I stayed in Vancouver for Christmas.

We're pretty happy with our decision given the extreme weather that Canadians experienced from coast to coast this year around the holidays.

Everyone I spoke with who traveled for the holidays talked of delays, cancellations, sitting on the tarmac and lost luggage.

One guy at work trying to go east sat through almost a day and a half of delays and cancellations before he just decided to stay home and had his tickets refunded.

So I decorated our place with a little artificial tree and the little decorations I've collected over the years.



The neighborhood was decorated too which is nice and I didn't have to worry about a green Christmas this year, no sir.

Vancouver received record snowfall which was obviously part of the travel issue. However the temperatures were warm and it was nice to see snow at Christmas.

Also given there is pretty much no infrastructure for snow removal, when it stormed on the 24th people were advised to just stay at home given the slow or canceled buses, dangerous roads and backed up sky train.

Also it is a lot of fun playing with the dogs in the snow.

They get so excited with it and they bounce around chasing snowballs and catching them in their mouth. Even grumpy Tala seems to be a nicer dog when surrounded by snow.

It really was a good time to stay off the roads though. People were getting stuck all over the place because there are just really no plows, especially not on main streets. There are no little side walk plows and businesses just hire people to come out with shovels to clear the sidewalk in front of their business so the sidewalks are really messy.
On Christmas eve we made ourselves a little dinner and we had some wine and Baileys and opened some of our presents a l'Acadien style.

We watched A Christmas Story, A Christmas Carol, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Miracle on 34th Street, etc.

The next day we were going to a potluck Christmas dinner at a friends house for all the "Christmas orphans" among our friends.



I decided to make six pates. I got the recipe from Raymond and let it cook over night.

The next day it tasted just like six pates according to Mike, but it seemed a little darker. I think I may have used too many cloves. Regardless everyone had some and seemed to really like it.

Thanks, Raymond, I don't think it is Christmas for Mike with out that dish.




Thanks everyone for all the nice things we had a great Christmas.

Here is me in my pink hoody from Mom and Dad with my Chance perfume from Mike. Mike also got me a nice pink bathrobe and binoculars.

We'll be taking them to Hawaii this week when we go to watch surfers, etc.

We finished opening our presents the next day.


Here is Mike. From me he got some good sunglasses, a new book bag and a nice bottle of scotch.

He's also already worn the clothes that Mom and Dad sent him, so thanks guys for that too :)

So we went over to our friends place.

One couple made eggnog from scratch with egg whites, ice cream and rum.

While we were waiting for the turkey to cook we had some chocolates, appies and this delicious eggnog.






Here is everyone enjoying their dinner, yum, yum.

We had turkey and all the fixins as well as cannelloni and six pates.

It was delicious. We were all too stuffed to have dessert, but we finished off with some special coffees.






Sometimes turkey makes you sleepy, so here is mike taking a break with his furry buddy.

After dinner we played some cards and board games and that was our Christmas.

We had a very Merry Christmas and I hope everyone else did too.

Trip to UK

I recently had to travel to the UK for business meetings.

I was meeting with a client to propose their projects for the new year.

I was staying in a little town called Bradford. The largest city near Bradford is called Leeds.

Behind my hotel there was a little canal that looked to be a tourist attraction with these tour boats in the summer.

I was surprised by how cold it was there when I arrived and there had been snow. In Vancouver at this time we were still just having above zero temperatures and it had mostly been sunny.

Although I imagine these are the thoughts of every tourist, I was struck by the thought that even though I was in this tiny little town, everything still "looked British".

It looked as I imagined it to look from different movies and photos.

I'd arrived late on Monday afternoon and on the Tuesday I was to meet with the client in the early afternoon.



So in the morning, I walked around the downtown and took some pictures.

I got myself some lunch and had a little walk.

However given the 8 hour time difference, I was really feeling the jetlag. I was awake when I should be sleeping and sleeping when I should be awake.

Not to mention I would just wake up at around 4:00 am every morning and not really be able to get back to sleep.

So I had meetings the next few days and the last day one of our senior sales staff met us there to give the meeting where we would present the projects.

We were going to go to Leeds, stay the night there and fly out of Leeds to Heathrow (London) and then to Vancouver, but instead we changed it so that we stayed the night in London. That was awesome and I really appreciate getting things changed so that I could do that.

Given we have connections in the UK now, most of our senior staff have made the trip and it was nice to go too.
So after our last meeting, which had gone very well, we took a cab to a train station.

We took the business train to London. The train was pretty cool. It was similar to an airplane where stewardesses go around selling food and drinks and there are little bathroom pods.

Most business people are on the train. They have their laptops and blackberry's and cell phones and work most of the time.



After the train we walked through the old station up and down staircases with our luggage in tow.

Thank goodness I was forward thinking enough to cram everything into a small carry on rolling case and my laptop bag.

Again I couldn't get over how old everything looked. It seemed that everything you touched must be an antique. When I'd explained this to those I was meeting with their common joke was always "Yes, to us it just seems run down!"


So we checked into a Marriott and I went to get ready to go out for dinner. I was so tired I was almost ready to fall asleep on my feet, but I wasn't going to waste a chance to party in London for the first time ever.

In London all the cabs are these black cabs like this one. In the back there are two bench seats that face each other and the ceilings are so high you can almost stand up in them.




So we took a cab to the Soho area and walked around for a little while seeing what there is to see. There was tons of shopping and this was before Christmas so there were tons of sales.

I did get a couple of things, but you could spend an entire weekend just shopping. The clothes are so nice and there were really good deals. There were also double-decker buses all over and little rickshaws like seen here where the driver bicycles you to your destination. We tried one because we were kind of lost and it was easier than meandering around clueless.

We had dinner at a really nice Indian restaurant as the area is known for it's great "curries".

Here is me in one of the red telephone booths that dot the side walk.
We went to a traditional pub and had a pint of beer.

It was close to Christmas and people were very upbeat and in the Christmas spirit.






After that we headed back to the hotel and the next morning, got up and headed for Heathrow and that was the end of my little trip to the UK.

I definitely want to go back to Mike and see more of Europe, especially Italy and France.

Andrea's Christmas Party

My Christmas party was not as eccentric as Mike's.

It is usually at the same venue each year. It is a trendy little tapas bar just up the street from us.

I had just gotten back from the UK that day at around 3:00.

I'd greeted the dogs and took a nap until I had to get ready for the party.

The week before, I'd cut and changed my hair color so I got quite a reaction at the party and everyone wanted to know how the meetings had gone in the UK so I was very busy and I don't think I'd managed to get a bite to eat or a drink until I'd been there an hour.




We have quite a few people now and the place was just busting at the seams.

I made the rounds and said hey to my guys and their wives/girlfriends.

We had a champagne toast and then the place was opened up to the public, we hit our budget for drinks, so it was time to go.

The food was great and the desserts were too, but they were sort of floating around the room with them so I didn't manage to get much.

So the party moved down the street to our friends house and there Mike met up with me and walked me home. He'd been feeling kind of tired/sick and it's true, about 80% of the men I work with are giants, so he isn't a huge fan of being packed into that place.

Overall it was a fun Christmas party. It's always nice to hang out with your coworkers on a more social level.

MIke's Christmas Party

As we are in the holiday season we've been doing lots of Christmas partying.

We went to Mike's Christmas part at the Afghan Horseman. It is a great restaurant and Mike and I will certainly go back, very tasty.

They have pillow rooms, tassels and rugs hanging from the ceiling, very middle eastern authentic!

They featured these great tasty drinks that were either for 1 or two or four and were served in flower pots.

They served us in courses and there was so much food. From roasted eggplant to fall off the bone lamb and deep fried treats.

This picture gives you an idea of the decor.








There was a great dancer and she did the dance of the swords and also danced with cassenettes on her fingers.

She was doing a great job and obviously took tips :)

Here is Mike giving here a tip.

It's okay, really it was my idea and I think I was actually giving the bills to him.

She was really a talented dancer.

After a fantastic dinner, we went to a bar near the Granville Island Ferry called Back Stage.



There was a live band and we had a great time and finally took a cab home later in the evening.
Mike works with a great group of people and I can see why he likes it so much.

US Thanksgiving

I have a few friends out here now who are American. This has a very cool perk.

I usually get invited to two thanksgiving dinners :) One in October and one in late November.

The food at these parties are always fantastic. These guys know how to cook a bird!

They had actually soaked the turkey in "brine" for hours before cooking it. I 'd never heard of this, but they soak it in a mixture of water and spices and then the turkey takes in more moisture.

Then they kept infusing it with it's baste while it was cooking.

Finally when it was done, they sit it upside down so that all the juices move to the breast rather than go out the bottom.

Besides turkey we had baked sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stiffing, lasagna and all the fixins.

For dessert we had a home made coconut cream pie which was almost the end of me!
Mike went too, but I didn't manage to catch him in the camera I guess.
Yum!

My Birthday

This year on my birthday, (which I also share with my Grampie, Happy birthday Grampie!), Heather came to visit me.

I took Friday off and we went to the gym and got our nails done. Then that night we went out for sushi with Mike.

The next day on Saturday I had booked a table at the Yaletown Brew Pub. I had not planned on doing anything much, but one of my friends was a bit disappointed that I was not, so I did kind of last minute :)

A bunch of us met at the restaurant, we had some good food and fresh beers and then we went to the pub next door.
I had a great time and I got lots of really nice things from my friends. I got some good wine and champagne from a couple of friends, a really cute little bag from one friend and Heather got me some really nice soaps.

I also got some great cards in the mail and some pajamas from Mom and Dad and some jewelry.

Also thanks for the emails and facebooks notes for a Happy Birthday.




Mike got got me really great chocolates from Purdy's and one friend got me a gift certificate at a great spa that Mike and I will have to try.
I even got the cutest mug for work that I adore and will guard it from the dishwasher with my life!

At the pub we did some dancing and watched the hockey game and goofed off a bit.




On my actual birthday on Tuesday, Mike made me a really nice dinner and we had a fantastic chocolate cake from capers and champagne.

This year, I really felt my birthday. Dirty thirty is starting to get close :(

I just have to make sure I keep great friends around to keep me young as I get old :)

Thanks everyone for all your love and support on my bday