Barbecue Sunday

Had a quick bowl of Pho for lunch, and picked up some last minute stuff for this evening's barbecue, which is actually a friend's birthday party. There's going to be ribs, wings, sliders, hot dogs, and oh, birthday cake! She's two weeks away from her due date, and oh, do I feel bad for her. The party was pretty mellow, well, I was pretty lazy actually...haha.
Looking forward to my new place in less than two weeks!

Shopping Saturday

Since there seems to be no impediment to my move anymore, it seemed like a great day to go furniture shopping!
Decided to try a new place for lunch and was pleasantly surprised. There are decent cafes around, so you don't always have to go to the same old ones all the time! After that, went into Coquitlam to look for beds, mattresses, coffee tables, etc.
Got lots of ideas, and also browsed through the Ikea catalog for ideas.
By about 4, it was time for me to head down to pick up the cake...the phallic cake for the stagette. Truly embarrassing, but I'm just glad it wasn't for me! The bride seemed to enjoy it, which is all that really matters! Had dinner at Coast, where they gave us a hard time about bringing our own cake, something about liability issues. But then, we brought the leftover cake to AfterGlow, where they loved it. So it just goes to show, they don't know what kind of show they're running over there at the Glowbal Group.

Finally Friday

Okay - subjects removed, everything looks peachy on the new-home front. Had lunch plans with another girlfriend, and this time, I barely stopped talking long enough to eat! Fortunately, they were quick with the food, and the salmon caesar salad was amazing at Joe Fortes. No more 2 hour lunches at Market for me - Fortes is the way to go!
Whew...what a totally stressful week, I am so looking forward to vegging out - I don't even have enough strength to wind up my watch! Glad I taped all the Tonight Shows from the past week...something funny, poignant and perfect to cap the week off with!
Gonna gear up for the party tomorrow - attending a stagette!!

Time to Tango Thursday

So, crunch time...if the credit thing doesn't take care of itself by EOD, I'm taking some drastic steps to get it taken care of. And when I plan something, you can bet that it is going to be ruthless. Had lunch at Market to take away my stress today. Went with a great friend who always keeps me entertained with stories of her very exciting life. Unfortunately, Market is just awful for timing, because by the time my entree came, we were already an hour into lunch. Had to pack the whole thing to go, and couldn't even stick around for the bil...note to self, I owe her #35.
After work, I decided to see if the credit problems were resolved, and thankfully, they were, more or less. But at least it's done now, and it's time for celebrating! Went to Moxie's, of the infamous Hockey nights, and had a little bottle of something. Their $7 off bottles of wine on Thursday is pretty amazing. And we finally got the macho nachos!
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY...

Where's my $$ Wednesday!

So today it the big day, taking out a Bank Draft to pay for my deposit on my new home! Despite some nagging "credit" issues which I would rather not discuss, I am hopeful that I can remove all conditions by Friday. However, don't let this cool exterior fool you, inside, I am seething, positively seething at the idiot who is screwing with my credit application. Because of said idiot, I've had to ask for a 48-hour extension on my subject removal date. I hope that the other buyer isn't ready with a bank draft to take my dream home away!

Tone it Down Tuesday

Decided early this morning to go 3 full days of dieting this week, only coming out to eat on Friday night, for a barbecue. And oh no, just made plans for lunch at Market for Thursday…oh well, salad and soup, maybe? On track to head home early, do some reading, remaining and surfing of the HGTV website!

So, had an appointment after work to meet up with my realtor to see the place. And of course, today is the day we have a press release at 3:45 pm! Argh, and of course, there was a problem with the release, and had to wait for some back and forth before I could officially send it out. Got to the condo fifteen minutes late, and completely frazzled. Even she said…take a minute. I was about to keel over from stress and lack of food. Fortunately, being in the condo cheered me up and I was able to forge onward!
Went for a drink after a few hours of checking the place out, just to the local Cactus Club. Fairly early night, in bed by 11pm, as it should be. Higher hopes for tomorrow to hit the 10pm bedtime.

Sunny Sunday

Had lunch at Mui Garden, I had another craving – chicken fried noodle, the crispy kind. Alas, I was disappointed…it wasn’t as crispy as I would have liked. And note to self, never go to the beach after eating! Headed to Jericho to do some sunning, and felt as though my belly was about to burst! But, I think I did get some colour… Dinner was a mish mash of leftovers…veggies from Au Wing Kee, prawns and beef from Sun Sui Wah, and noodles from Mui Garden. Ha, but it was good. Slept a little later than I would like, transcribing all my notes from paper to USB.

Saucy Saturday

Didn’t get too much done during the day today but was craving BBQ duck. Managed to find it at Au Wing Kee on Kingsway, and it was pretty good. For me, that means that the fat is easily removable! After that, I had to go home and review all the strata documents that were provided to me by the seller, and make extremely detailed notes on what questions to ask.
Went out to Sun Sui Wah for dinner, as I was craving Squab! And they also had a special on prawns – I was in heaven. Only downer…there was a 40 minute wait for the table, and we all had to suffer through some very boring wedding speeches, invited guests or not…Oh, and they thought we skipped out on the bill when we all went for a smoke after dinner. We asked them to pack the food and had about a half a bottle of wine left on the table. He came out to see if we were smoking, but for some silly reason, the waiter didn’t recognize us. I guess it shows you the level of service we were getting, right?
After that, the party continued at Circa. Since I’d already eaten, I only had a bit of wine. However, everyone who ate there thought the food was horrible. Only the edamame got a good review, and it’s pretty hard to screw THAT up! Headed over to Ginger afterwards…wow, do I ever feel old! Clubbing is too weird for me now…loud, obnoxious, and people that talk way too loud!

Financing Friday

So, now that the offer is accepted, I now have to get my financing done. I had gotten a pre-approval rate before, but I really didn’t know the whole process. Thankfully, the realtor had a referral, and also a referral for a notary public. So it looks like the pieces are falling into place!!
Probably shouldn’t have gone out again tonight, but it’s the weekend, and it’s a LONG weekend! Had a drink at Cactus, and then headed home to go for dinner with my parents at L'artista. And the the place to party was just drinks, but why, oh why, did it have to be at Hapa again!? Oh well, at least we got comfier seats this time.

Thrill-a-minute Thursday

First off-site conference for me with this new company and it was amazing! Kickoff breakfast was yummy, and the facilitator had some really interactive games for team building. I had to also coordinate a photo shoot on top of everything else, but it all went quite smoothly. A few of the men dropped out of the shoot, so I actually had a few minutes of extra time where I actually got in the makeup artists chair and in front of the camera myself! YAY – very supermodel diva moment for me.
And don’t forget my housing crisis! Heard from the seller’s realtor that they were reviewing another offer as well as the counteroffer. Decided that being offsite was not conducive to me writing my own offer and subjects. And since a friend of mine just bought a place, I figured it would be a good time to hit him up for a referral. Within a day, I had to place an offer and learn all about “How to Buy a House”. Since the only one I ever had before was from the builder, there was no agent involved on my side. Anyhoo, I was able to get her to email the document to the hotel where I was staying, and go over it on the phone with her, sign it, and fax back a proper offer, all before the seller’s deadline! WHEW…and then…she called…and they counter offered…and instead of re-counter-offering– since we were pretty close, I bit the bullet and did it! My nerves were fried – I think I actually chain-smoked while waiting to tell someone the news!!
After my dinner was done, I decided to go and celebrate at Hapa – just a few drinks to celebrate home-ownership!

Wonderful Wednesday

Had a great day today! Went to the gym after work, and then dragged my "enthusiastic" parents with me to see the new condo. The realtor was late, and there was no 30 minute visitor’s parking. So we decided to park in the covered section, and then headed up to see the unit. We did a better look-see than my original viewing, but there was nothing there that raised any red flags with any of us. We headed back down and my stepdad’s car was in the process of being towed! Good thing we showed up when we did, and managed to stop the guy from actually towing it away. Still, it cost us $50 for the pleasure.

Tuesday @ the office

Super short week at work, not only was there a holiday yesterday, but I'm going to be in an offsite meeting this Thursday and Friday. Lots to do and not a lot of time to do it! Decided not to head to the gym after work, and instead went home so that I could have my romaine, and hopefully sleep early after the tiring weekend!

Still the weekend!

Woke up early and wen to The Boss for lunch and then off to see another movie! This time, I saw Angels and Demons - what a great movie. It was the first time I've been to a movie in recent months without any popcorn. I guess having lunch right before makes the possibility of popcorn a non-issue.

Shopping Sunday

Have an appointment to view an apartment today after a yummy lunch at Milestones. Arrived at the building, and ended up meeting two agents, with two identical units to sell. I saw them both, and I am in love with one of them. Going to view it again with my parents. The kitchen is set up nicely, the bathroom is very tranquil and you can totally tell it's been owned by a woman! The other apartment had a decent bathroom, but the TV set up was pretty cool. And of course, it's owned by a man...with a cat...Had a mini barbecue with mom in the evening, and told her all about the place, I can't believe this is happening!

Selling Sipping Saturday

Have a little party in the evening today - a barbecue at a friend's house. Woke up early and went to Costco to get some fixings for my salad tonight. Also went to lunch at Fuji, where I had a negitoro roll, a tako sunomono,and also a mixed tempura. Went home and baked and made the salad. Prior to going to the BBQ, I sold my Nintendo DS today to a contact I met through Craigslist. We had paella, wings, pork satays and steak. My friend's new baby girl is so cute, and wow, so much hair! And they have a maid/nanny too, so it was all good. My contribution was a pasta salad and some banana chocolate muffins. They were a hit, not so much the salad, but the muffins were all gone by the end of the night.

Finally Friday

It's the long weekend! Yay - got off work and went promptly to watch Star Trek at the Scotiabank cinemas! Fortunately, a friend who was off today went ahead and saved seats! The movie was awesome, and I am a proud trekkie again. Live long and prosper...Headed to Hapa for a quick drink and some Scallop Sashimi.Went home early and just vegged. Hoping to watch another movie before the weekend is over.
Just found out that I'm going to be featured on the http://www.vancouver2010.com/ website on May 21! YAY!

Thursday at the Gym

Work is getting pretty interesting - I fired off my premiere issue of the employee newsletter today! I was totally craving a few drinks today...ended up at Joey's on Broadway, and had some yummy red wine, and some chicken lettuce wraps. Still had my romaine and bean sprouts afterwards though - gotta keep the fibre flowing!

Wednesday for the Weak

Had another run at the gym today and did a fairly good 40 minute clip on the elliptical. Went home and had my romaine and bean sprouts for dinner and was in bed by about 9pm. Mom and Jim went to the Keg and I was in my room before they even returned. Sleeping is good for weight control - if you're sleeping, you're not eating!

Terrific Tuesday

The city is quiet with the sadness of the end of the Canucks post-season. One of the VPs in another province actually sent us flowers in condolensces. I promised my mom that I would help her make my banana muffins and we actually did it before making dinner. It was fun actually, and she was shocked to see that it was pretty easy. She isn't sure if she will actually make them on her own, but she was a great audience.

Monkeying Monday

Today is potentially the last game for the Canucks, and they are playing in Chicago with a 6pm start. We got to Moxie's and were disappointed to find that our "usual" table was gone! We raised a stink! Ended up getting a bottle of wine free, as well as a 10% discount for the rest of the table. The game was a true disappointment, we lost and lost badly.

Day for Mothers!

Mother's Day - brunch @ Glowbal with mom and Jim. Shocker was, they made us sit in Afterglow...ewww. However, the lady of the moment (mom) was thoroughly thrilled, with her food, with the free smoothie, free baby donuts and even the little chocolate dipped strawberries and pineapple at the end. Guess it's the point, she needed to be happy! Also went to Fine Finds and purchased a little pair of baby soccer shoes for my friend's soon-to-be born baby boy. Missed her shower yesterday, so thought it would be a nice gesture to make.

Sunny Saturday

Dimsum at the usual place, and then spent the rest of the afternoon baking...also went to get a pink baby Canucks t-shirt for Kaylie, hope it fits! The game was a bit of a disppointment, but the food more than made up for it. We ate til we burst! Didn't even get to the fajitas, we were so full.

Finally Friday

Had a great day at work today and went home with the weekend packed with activities! Planning to have a BBQ on Saturday to watch the game. Making myself a Suft and Turf salad for dinner, and working on a menu for tomorrow. Burgers, dogs, wings, ribs and fajitas...Making my salad rolls again, and the trilogy of Brownies, Banana Muffins and Chocolate Biscotti!

Thirsty (again) Thursday

Got a midnight message this morning from a friend that his baby girl, Kaylie, was born at 3am Toronto Time. Guess those jumping jacks she was doing worked! It was my supervisor's last day, and we went to Joey's for lunch. I had a really yummy Lobster Grilled Cheese. Didn't have any dessert, because I know I will be heading over to Joey's for the Canucks game.

Wickedly (sick) Wednesday

Feeling sick, bloated and very fat. I think it is due to the dramatic increase of fibre with my Kellogg's Bran Buds. Got to remember to drink more water!
I need something to absorb and move the fibre through my system. Right now, I feel super bad. It's like my pants shrunk two sizes on me overnight.

Hockey Tuesday

Went to Moxie's for a few drinks with the gang to watch the Hockey massacre (game). I went to Cactus Club first, and had a Spiked Frappacino and a small shot of VanGogh. By the time I got to Moxie's and had a few glasses of wine and another shot of VG, I succumbed and ate Honey Garlic Wings! Sigh, the diet shall restart tomorrow!

Manic Monday

Finally dragged my lard-ass to the gym, and actually had a decent workout! I also got my first benefits check from the insurance company! After I made the $25 deductible, I still got about $10 from the medicines. Hockey tomorrow!

Sunny Sunday

Despite what was supposed to be a rainy gloomy day, it turned out to be amazingly sunny! Didn't have much planned, except weekend afternoons are my only carb-edible days. I decided to go and have a nice bowl of pho. Boy was it yummy!
I relaxed (as you are supposed to on Sundays) and did not stress myself out over little things. Was planning on watching Wolverine, but laziness and sleepiness took over and I ended up staying home. But all was not lost.
I decided to bake! I made two batches of Banana Blueberry Almond muffins...haven't tried one yet, but they sure do LOOK good! haha.
I love anything that doesn't require lugging out the mixer to make the batter!

Slovenly Saturday

Headed out for dimsum at my favorite place - Kirin at Starlight. Since I've been there so much, I think I need to find a new place! Also drove around the Burnaby area to scope out possible neighbourhoods...Living downtown is just TOO much of a premium!
Chilled out for the afternoon in anticipation for a very hectic evening at Moxie's to watch hockey. Bringing my jersey and fully intend to wear it!
Our waitress claims to not follow hockey until she moved to Vancouver...turns out she's from the island...no, not Hawaii, but Vancouver Island...why wouldn't you follow hockey if you're there!?
Oh well, after the awful loss we suffered, we all decided to further drown our sorrows at Hapa - just a few drinks and some Tuna Tataki!

Fish on Rice Friday

Went to work as usual, but had some fun things to do. Planned our department photograph, as well as brainstorming for ideas on the newsletter that I'm editing. Didn't eat all day in anticipation of dinner with my mom - All-You-Can-Eat Sushi! The food was really good - we ordered a nice balance of raw and bbq'ed stuff...and barely had a grain of rice!
Decided to stay in for the night and catch up on some CSI - I think I have 3 episodes PVR'ed...