Orthodontics

Ohmygosh, we just got back from the orthodontist (Dr. Brian Hong & Associates) and I can't believe how much it will cost to straighten Kay's teeth!!

Breakdown of Costs

Records Fee (x-rays, models, photos) $400
Initial Fee (braces) $1200
Monthly Treatments $4800
Grand Total $6400

The record fee has to be paid upfront which thankfully, my father has kindly offered to cover but I will have to pay for the extraction of her teeth (luckily my dental covers 80%) and the braces $1200 probably in January or February 2010. After the $1200 fee, we will be paying monthly installments for the next 16 months (on a pre authorize credit card or cheque) $300, yikes!! You can get a small discount of 5% if I have the money to pay in full which is $320 off. Asians never pass up on a deal but I do not have $6000 to pay off that amount or I would! After the x-rays are done, I need to make an appointment to schedule Kay's extractions. Gosh that won't be fun. She needs to make room in her mouth cos her teeth are overcrowding. This overcrowding has resulted in a slight overbite and caused the teeth to come in crooked. Luckily, her bottom jaw does not require any surgery or else that could run up to $20K!! In 2 years or less, she will have perfect teeth and her confidence level will be greatly boosted which is PRICELESS. That is what I'm telling myself..... Since my extended dental does not cover the orthodontics, we will be paying this entirely out of our own pockets but it's worth it right?

Dinner & Dessert

Tonite, Rhoda came by for dinner cos we haven't seen each other in a month! The last time we saw each other was on Halloween so we had so much to catch up on! We caught up on her life and her career over sable fish, organic purple kale, and brown jasmine rice with a glass of red wine or two. It was so nice to see her and it def was much too long but it was so nice that she made the time to come over for dinner. She's been so busy with so many things that it's hard to get together with her. Besides work, things are going good and she's got lots planned and going forward. After dinner, we headed over for HK style dessert and did some more talking. It was a great nite and so good to see her!

Swimming

Kay and I headed out to HonHon's place for a 30 minute swim. We (well I mostly) are trying to get as much cardio in as we can cos the weather has been pretty cold and it's hard running the dark. I have been meaning to find a route on the street with street lights so I could get my 4 km in but it's hard when it's been raining 20 days straight and it's been so cold. After our swim, we get to sit in the hot tub for 10 minutes that is so much nicer than running and then trying to finish up the rest of my workout before jumping into the hot shower! Altho I think I was def burning more calories running and my strength training, it's hard to get outside when it's so crummy out there. This upcoming week the pool will be closed for 5 days due to maintenance so I am trying to get as much in as I can before taking the week off. Maybe I'll try to run this upcoming week....

Coolest Gift EVER

What a surprise! This morning, I got the coolest gift ever. A huge Hello Kitty PEZ dispenser! It's been a long running joke that one day, one of the managers will bring one back and I can't believe he actually bought one and carried it throughout the airport for me!!! So funny! He brought it in the office in a white plastic shopping bag cos the one from the shop was clear and he was quite embarrassed lugging it around with him. The Hello Kitty PEZ dispenser is soooo cool.

2012 & Tires

I finally got new tires for my VW Bug and it was long over due. I can't believe what a difference a new set of tires can make! Hopefully, these tires will last another 10 years and the tire guy said it would last at least another 70K =) After picking up my car from Big O, I headed over to Metrotown to catch the movie, 2012. John Cusack is an awesome actor, I love the roles he takes on, sorta like an unsung hero or the underdog. The critics and the fans have been giving it great reviews so I was keen on watching it. Wow, amazing special effects and the storyline never boring. It is a very interesting and keeps you literally on the edge of your seat. No dull moments here and it is def recommended to watch in the theatre.

Stuart Weitzmann Pumps!

Oh my pumps are here (click photo to enlarge)! They are so much prettier in person than on the website and are the EXACT BLUE SILVER I wanted!!! It did not look like that colour in the photo on Saks Fifth Avenue and I am so thrilled that it's the colour I wanted cos I was going to purchase another pump to get that colour cos I thought THESE ones were more grey!!! Love love them!

Christmas in Vancouver!

We just got some great news! HonHon will be in Vancouver for the first time in 4 years for Xmas!!! It's for sure too cos it's a business trips and those are almost pretty much set in stone. Altho I am not usually too happy with all his business trips, this one, I'm not going to complain =) He can only stay for a week cos he has another business trip due out at the end of the month but I'm going to take what I can get! Hooray HonHon in Vancouver for Xmas!!!

Richmond Centre

Tonite, Kay and I headed over to Richmond cos we needed to pick up dad's meds (to be couriered to HK) and my brother was suppose to pick up some shoes for our cousin, A'Choo. After a quick dinner of organic & local kale, onions, carrots, garlic stir-fried with pasta, mmmmm... delicious! We headed over to my dad's to pick up my brother then over to the pharmacy and to Richmond Centre for the shoes. My brother ended up doing a bit of shopping, Kay ended up with a dress from Plenty that she has been eyeing for some time cos I had a 25% discount card so I picked it up for her AND I ended up with a Hello Kitty mimobot from J2! An anniversary edition for Hello Kitty's 35th birthday! After shopping, my brother was getting hungry so we headed over to Dinesty cos he hasn't been there yet and wanted to try it out. We ordered 3 dishes, a couple of sides and lots leftover cos Kay and I only had a little bit, it was so delicious! We ended up taking the stewed pork with tofu home cos my brother insisted :) It was a fun nite and good seeing my brother!

Cinnamon Buns with Cream Cheese Icing

Tonite, I used the scone recipe and made cinnamon buns so I could use some of the cream cheese icing I made this afternoon for the market's cinnamon bun (we always miss the ones with icing). Gosh, my cinnamon buns turned out much yummier than the ones from the market! They were so good, I ate 2 1/2 buns - thank goodness they are small! So yummy and so easy to make!

Scones
4 cups of flour
5 tbsp of baking powder
1 tbsp of sugar
1/4 tsp salt (I always skip the salt cos I use salted butter)
1/2 to 3/4 cup of butter (softened)
Enough cold milk to bind, approximately 1 1/2 cups of cold milk - I use soy milk and it's just as yummy!

Sift together dry ingredients. Cut in butter until pea-sized. Add enough milk to form into a ball. Roughly form balls into the size of your palm and drop onto greased sheets. Bake in 350 - 375 C oven until done (about 15 mins). Best eaten warm with butter and jam. Add grated cheese for Cheese Scones.

Cinnamon Buns

Take the above recipe and roll batter into rectangular square on floured counter top. Cover with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon (raisins and nuts if desired). Roll into a log. Use thread to cut thru log and place swirl side up on greased pan. Bake in 350 - 375 C oven until done. (about 15 mins). When cooled, add icing sugar or homemade cream cheese icing.

Cream Cheese Icing
1 package of cream cheese (softened)
1/4 cup of butter (softened) - you may use more butter for richer icing
3/4 cup to 1 cup of icing sugar (I always use 1 cup)
1 tbsp of vanilla

Beat the ingredients together until creamy. Unused portion should be kept in the fridge.

Winter's Market @ Wise Hall

Wow, what an awesome first Winter's Market at Wise Hall! There were so many vendors and even tho it was raining and a bit chilly, the market was super packed! Kay and I picked up some great veggies and I am gonna attempt to make squash soup and stem kale for the very first time. Can't wait to try out the kale, it's suppose to be full of vitamins and it's really really good for you. We also picked up some spinach, cauliflower, apples (super inexpensive, 4 lbs for $5!) and of course, we finished our shopping with a hot dog and a cinnamon bun (to go!).

Benefit for Parkinson's Disease

Tonite, Jas and I headed over to The Press Box for a charity event in support of Parkinson's, both of our dads have this disease so this hits close to home. All the proceeds for the dinner goes to Parkinson's Society of BC. For $20, you get a burger platter with fries and a beer or wine. Jas and I were long over due for a get together so this event was the perfect opportunity to catch up and support a great cause! I wasn't expecting much from the burger but ohmygosh, pub food is super good! The burger is one of the best I've had! The place was packed with friends and family of the organizers and they had a silent auction and a 50/50 draw. It was nice to see Shauna too since I hadn't seen her in ages! Her mom was part of organizing and holding this event for her friend who has been diagnosed with this disease. The quick word and power of FaceBook , Shauna sent this invite to all of her friends and it def brought in a huge crowd of people! After dinner, we went over to her place to catch the Rihanna interview with Diane Sawyer. It was an interesting interview and it's awful what happened to her but at least she is bringing awareness to young women that this is not ok. It was a great nite of catching up!

This Is It

Wow, an amazing documentary about Michael Jackson and his This Is It concert, it would have been a spectacular concert! My fave part was the Thriller and Billie Jean, I think those would have been incredible on stage. I can't imagine all the costumes, gosh it would have been incredible. Def a must see, it's really cool to see him on stage and watch his vision. He is an incredibly talented and it's too bad, we will never know what the concert could have been.

United Way Bake Sale!

I volunteered to bake up some muffins for the United Way Bake Sale tomorrow! Mmmm...the house smells so lovely with all this baking. I've made raisin bran muffins and chocolate chip muffins, hope they do well!

Running the Park

Wow, I am impressed! I just found out that I run 4 km in 30 minutes! Erin has a site where it can calculate the distance (very accurately!) and I usually run about 10 rounds which is 4km and I used to run 13 which means I was at one time doing 5 km!!

Hello Kitty Apartment

Ohmy! How I would love to see this place in person! More photos at Three Apples Apartment.

Halloween Hookup at Hennessey Lounge

Tonite, Rhoda and I headed out to Hennessey Lounge to hear G spin and it was amazing! Rhoda and I dressed up for Halloween and I used her "cop" accessories to be a naughty cop this year. It was so much fun to dress up and I couldn't believe how hot the cop outfit looked! Before we headed over to the lounge, we stopped by Cheesecake Etc. to have dessert cos we didn't want to get to the lounge to early since G would be spinning at 11.30pm! We met up with Rhoda's friends at the cafe and after having cheesecake, we all headed off to the lounge. It wasn't a full house but still a large crowd showed up. Lots of great costumes and we all had a great time! Nice to catch up with everyone and to hear G spin, it was a fun nite and I think I'll def have to go out next Halloween!