EPiC Vancouver

Today, I met up with my cousin and aunt at the EPiC exhibition being held in the Convention Centre, I usually spend the day (Sunday) with my mom so I asked if she wanted to come along and figured it would be nice for her to catch up with my aunt. Also, this way I won't feel so guilty about not spending the entire day with her if I went without her. Wow, EPiC was not what I thought (altho I have never been so I wasn't even sure what to expect) and I ended up buying a lot of great items, spending $200 or more which is surprising because I didn't think I would end up with much at all. I bought way more items from here than EAT and I usually pick up a lot of great stuff at EAT. I wasn't expecting to spend more than an hour there but ended up wandering and stopping at many stands for over 2 hours! I will def make this exhibition every year and I really enjoyed learning and picking up new products. I was very excited to find Hardbites at this exhibition cos I was disappointed there were not at EAT yesterday. With so many great products, I'm just going to list them in bullet form:

• Amazing all natural BBQ sauce, Rufus Teague
• 100% organic and fair trade cotton face towels, fibrEthik
  
• Soup mix, Glenlochar Kitchens from Victoria
• Citrus Hand Sanitizer, Natureclean
• Organic green tea powder and a bamboo whisk for mixing the tea, DOMATCHA
• The most amazing and smoothest coffee I've ever had and couldn't believe these coffee beans are from Thailand! Doi Chaang
• Pure wild blueberry juice and wine grapes but non-alcoholic, a super juice and 100% natural without sugar, PureBlue
  
• Local Savings for Sustainable Living, GreenZebra - coupon book at half price
  

Also I picked up a lot of brochures and information on some great eco-friendly and / or sustainable products which I either ran out of cash (many stands did not take credit cards) or did not have the item to buy at the exhibition. Edible products like Winds of Change (imported by International Cellars) - BC's first fair trade wine and 100% organic and Denman Island Chocolate - organic dark chocolate. There was even a wedding section that featured local or recycled or sustainable items for your wedding, one designer named Caroline Calvert Couture caught my eye, she has options and started offering eco-friendly fabric choices! I also found some lovely home items like in Bed organics - offers great natural latex rubber pillows and organic wool comforters which are locally produced and 100% natural - I plan on purchasing one of these pillows in the near future; Living Wood Design - beautiful, practical and eco-friendly oak or pine furniture; Living Edge Design - amazingly beautiful reclaimed or refined furniture altho a bit more expensive, I would love to one day own a few pieces from their collection; Essentia - natural memory foam mattresses, petroleum-free foam with many unique benefits, I didn't get any prices on these mattresses but I'm sure it's worth every single dollar as it's biodegradable and 100% natural latex. One item that caught my eye as well is the Bokashicycle, a non smelly indoor compost, very cool.

EAT Vancouver & Prince of Persia

Today I met up with Jas and we headed over to EAT Vancouver at the new Vancouver Convention Centre. Wow the new convention centre is so nice! Wish I remembered to bring my camera but I did not :( I figured the exhibition would be huge since it was held at the VCC but it was not. We were slightly disappointed with EAT Vancouver and it seemed much smaller than the years before. Maybe cos EPiC had the larger section, I don't know but I didn't know both events would be held the same weekend, maybe I will try to get to EPiC tomorrow. But of course at EAT, I did end up with some good products from EAT, I picked up 12 pairs - yes, 12 pairs of gloves from u-like gloves that have a velvety soft lining and are latex free, also reinforced fingertips which makes these gloves last 6 months or longer! Regular price $3.99/pair but at the exhibit, $1.99 a pair of 12 for $20! I also picked up 3 packs of Milsean Demerara Butter Crunch, 3 for $24! That's a great price and I'm so addicted to these! My project director's wife picked up a few of these bars for me a couple of Xmas's ago and when I googled them, I found out these are made right out of Aldergrove but you can only buy them at their store which made me very sad since I never go out to Aldergrove. I have been craving for these for a while and was so excited they were at EAT. I was so excited that I bought THREE bags to take home. The SA mentioned you can now purchase the butter crunch on their website so happy to hear that cos I'm sure I'll finish these in no time! After EAT, we were going to Robson Street to do some shopping but we ended up watching Prince of Persia instead cos Sex and The City 2 was sold out!! Prince of Persia was full of action and Jake Gyllenhaal was super HOT in the movie but the storyline was blah. After the movie, we decided to call it a day cos the weather was so crappy plus I still had errands to do like clean the washrooms and do the laundry.

Cool Tshirts

Kay and I ordered a t-shirt each from Karmaloop cos the t-shirt she has been eyeing is finally on sale and there were only 3 left in her size. She somehow convinced me (not too hard when it comes to Hello Kitty) to let her use my credit card to order this t-shirt but I wasn't going to order it unless I could find something for myself. She directed me to the tokidoki for Hello Kitty t-shirts and I found the CUTEST t-shirt! We ordered it on Tuesday night and it arrived this afternoon! Wow so fast, thanks Karmaloop and DHL!!

Swimming Lessons!

Tonite I started my first swimming lesson in Aqua Adult at Bonsor Community Centre. I was excited but nervous about this class but it turned out really great! I'm glad to know I am not the only adult out there who can't swim properly. It is also good to learn the basics all over again as in why we need to put our head in the water and how to balance our body in the water. Altho I am more advanced than the others in the class, it is good practice at fighting my fear and having my head into the water. It's a 45 minute class but it went by quickly, we learned two steps which is floating on our front and floating on our back with flotation devices of course, thank goodness for those kickboards! Altho by the middle of the class, I did not use them cos I am quite comfortable in floating on both sides. Can't wait to learn more and learn the front crawl, this will be a challenge!

Happy 91st Birthday Grandma!

Tonite, we celebrated my grandma's 91st birthday at Shanghai River Restaurant in Richmond. The start of the dinner wasn't very good as they pushed our 7:30pm reservation to almost 8pm! We also came to this restaurant cos we wanted to eat crispy duck skin and mom had reserved a plate when she made our resos but apparently, they had sold out and didn't have a dish for us! Gosh, mom was super angry and wanted to leave the restaurant for another place. But we thought it was best to stay since we've already sat down which we had to wait 30 minutes for this table and it's a Saturday which means all the restaurants in the area would be super busy and we'd have to wait another 30 minutes for another table! But it was such a disappointment that we did not have the crispy duck skin since it was a birthday request. The manager seemed to be very apologetic altho mom didn't think so and he offered us a shredded duck dish served with lettuce wrap. This is kinda ironic since we did not want to eat this dish and was only going to go for the crispy skin. We ordered a few of the main dishes to share but we found the dishes very bland and such a disappointment. We will not be coming back to this place and we will try Northern Delicacy in Aberdeen the next time we want to eat Shanghainese cuisine or Xiao Long Baos (steamed pork dumplings). After dinner, we asked for our fresh mango cake to be served and the waitress looked confused. My goodness, the service is not great at all but can't expect much from an asian restaurant. I can't believe a year has past since my sister was here :( Makes me kinda sad but I'm sure I'll see her soon, hopefully next Spring!

Lunch with the Girls!

Today, I met up with C and M for a long over due lunch and to catch up on gossip and girl talk. We haven't seen each other since M left but she has been super busy studying for her mid-term which she took this morning. I know she did kick@ss on this mid term cos she studied every single day for over a month! I can't wait to hear the scores but I am certain she aced the exam! C & M came by to pick me up and we headed over to Oliver Twist Pub on Edmonds street, this seems to be our thing, pub food for lunch :) Burger platters at the pubs are always the best, it's so much better than Milestones or Cactus Club and it costs less plus there's more food! I think this will be our official theme, pub food for lunch and take out for dinner! After our lunch, we headed over to Metrotown for some frozen yogurt and while we ate our yogurt, we sat in a lounge area to chat and people watch. We always have such a good time together and we can talk about EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING. No judgment, no criticism, no funny looks or worried thoughts about what words are coming out of your mouth or thoughts out of your brain. Plus I love how they can relate to my "lunatic" tendencies and even encourage or add to my ideas while others would find them strange. I heart these girls!

i heart u

don't know if i could ever be
w/out u cause boy u complete me
and in time i know that we'll both see
that we're all we need

Cause your the apple to my pie
your the straw to my berry
your the smoke to my high
and your the one i wanna marry

Cause your the one for me for me (for me)
and i'm the one for you for u (for u)
u take the both of us of us (of us)
and were the perfect two

were the perfect two
were the perfect two
baby me and you
were the perfect two

Song by Auburn - Perfect Two (Remix)

Homemade Granola Bars

Oh my goodness! Homemade granola bars, a much yummier and healthier alternative than buying the crap in the supermarket! It's packed with organic oats, raw sugar, honey, butter, plenty of walnuts, dried fruits and seeds! I didn't have the dried apricot cos I didn't realize I ran out. I made these for Rhoda cos she's always going on about how I should pick up a granola bar when I'm hungry (cos I'm constantly needing a snack around 3pm)! I don't buy that crap in the stores so I decided to make some for work! So glad I did!!! Super good :)

Death in the Family

R.I.P JOSH STECKLEY

I just found out some horrific news and I still cannot believe that it's true. I can't can't can't! I know it's not a lie but I just saw Josh a few weeks ago and I cannot believe he's dead. He's in Ecuador building homes for the less fortunate children in this country and I am assuming on his weekend break, he went water rafting with the others and there was an accident where the raft flipped over. Only 5 people of the 6 were saved, Josh got pulled under the current and they could not reach him. I am so saddened to hear this news and my condolences are with his family....RIP JOSH STECKLEY, YOU WILL BE GREATLY MISSED.....

Already, so soon?

I can't believe it's already that time where HonHon has to head back to Taipei! It doesn't feel like he's been here for a week and these visits feel like they get shorter and shorter each time he comes even tho we know it's not any less that he usually does. Well that's not always true, this trip was shortened by 3 days due to him booking around Kay's 16th birthday. But hopefully, he will be back at the end of June or beginning of July which is in no time! :) Miss you HonHon xoxo

Swimming Lessons

I signed up for swimming lessons at Bonsor Community Centre tonite! I'm so excited to (re-learn) learn how to swim :) I had taken swimming lessons when I was younger but never made it to the end of the program. So I guess, I never really learned how to properly swim and I am excited to learn how to breathe, front stroke, and put my head into the water. Recently, I have taken up swimming again for fitness but I feel I'm not getting that much of a workout as I'm not really swimming correctly and my head is always above water. I would like to improve my swimming speed so I can get more swimming into a 20 minute workout :) So excited, I even picked up a one piece Nike swimming suit for the lessons! Woot Woot!

Instant Boost

I know I have an amazing man in my life when he can make me feel better about myself in an instant!

Me: I am getting so huge, I can't get into my jeans!

HonHon: NO, you bought them too small!

I was trying to get into my Citizens of Humanity jeans this afternoon.....

Happy Mama's Day!

Lobster Benedict - Mama's Day BrunchMini Muffins

HAPPY MAMA'S DAY!!!!

Kay and HonHon took me out for mama's day brunch at Coast restaurant in downtown, Vancouver. It was so yummy and the lobster benedict was sooo good, it was def worth the traffic to get into downtown for this meal! After brunch, we walked around downtown for a bit, stopping into the Louis Vuitton store to look at the LV Monogram Galleria PM as I am still looking for a traveling handbag. I really do like the shape and the roominess of this handbag, it might be a perfect traveling and every day handbag. But I'm not sure as yet cos I don't really like the LV monogram and I prefer the Passy GM in the Epi line but the cost is $1780! Yikes! That's a lot of money so I need to start saving up for it. After Louis Vuitton, we walked over to Pacific Centre to window shop before calling it an afternoon as Kay got a call for a shift this evening. She was going to miss dinner if she took this shift but she hasn't been getting any shifts so I said it would be ok since she's already spent the afternoon with me. Once we arrived home, HonHon needed to take a nap and I decided to walk over to Metrotown to pick up a box of chocolates for my grandma and a starbucks gift card for my mom instead of flowers cos flowers are expensive and they are not edible :) HonHon took a much longer than anticipated nap so we didn't end up visiting too long with my mom. We had dinner reservations at GUU in Aberdeen Centre and we were not at all impressed with the service or the noise levels or the decor of the restaurant! In the end , Kay did end up making it as McD's cut her shift short and it was a nice way to end the day with just my family. Hope everyone had a wonderful mama's day too!! :)

Day trip to Bellingham

"Healthier" Double Down Sandwich (Grilled)

Original Double Down Sandwich

Hello Kitty NERD t-shirt

Tropical Hello Kitty

Today, HonHon and I took a mini road trip to Bellingham, WA cos we needed to pick up his package of K9 discs for his dog that I ordered for him last week and he wanted to eat the Double Down sandwich at KFC. We picked up his package before heading over to Bellis Fair to find the KFC but there is no KFC in the food fair! We walked around the mall a bit before hitting the road to find a KFC. I checked for 7 for all Mankinds at Macy's but this one does not carry the 7s. As we walked pass the Build A Bear, they were featuring a Tropical Hello Kitty which means she's tanned not white! OMG, so cute and I had to have one! There was also one Special Anniversary Hello Kitty left but HonHon would not let me buy that one :(, she looks exactly like my HK but came with a LE necklace, bow and heart patch on her body. I should have bought it and given it to Rhoda or Kay :( Oh well, I have so many Hello Kitty items! After BAB, we walked over to Target to see if they had any HK items cos I know they stock tons of HK stuff but nothing for me :( After that, we decided it was time to look for the closest KFC so he could have his DD sandwich as this was part of the reason we did the road trip. As we walked back to where the car was parked, we passed a store that sold all sorts of t-shirts and body jewelery and it was shocking to see a Hello Kitty stand in the middle of this store! Hello Kitty against body piercing and rock / goth items! Def caught my eye and I ended up with a Hello Kitty NERD shirt, omg, she is so cute! Two HK items in a span of 30 minutes, woohoo! Lucky me :) Since there was no KFC in Bellis Fair, we used my Poynt application on my Crackberry to locate the closest KFC which ended up taking us to a residential area past downtown Bellingham. The KFC was no longer there but it def looked like it once was one as the business that took over the building didn't get rid of the drive thru window! All was not lost, another 20 minutes away was the next KFC and it was pretty neat driving thru downtown Bellingham as I have never been. HonHon was so excited to see the KFC and it was interesting how KFC and A&W were connected! We ordered 2 DD, mine was the "healthier version" a grill DD and a side of A&W onion rings! But the onion rings are not as good as the ones in Vancouver. After our meal, we decided to call it day since I had to head back to Burnaby so I could help Rhoda move the wardrobe from downstairs into the new bedroom upstairs. It was a fun and entertaining day but I don't have any pics cos I didn't bring my camera :( Just the pics of my Crackberry :)

Happy 16th Birthday Kay!

HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY KAY!!

OMG, I can't believe she's finally 16! It's so crazy how quickly time has passed esp when you have kids. She can now get her DL and her very own passport! She looks so grown up and I can't believe my little girl is not so little anymore.

We had dinner reservations at Lux at the Caprice on Granville Street with just our best buds. It was really nice to have HonHon here to celebrate Kay's 16th birthday as well since he has missed most of her birthdays when he left for Taiwan. Altho the food wasn't that great, at least the decor was very chic and it was about spending a great evening with our besties! I let Kay pick out a birthday cake from Cupcakes or Cheesecake Etc. and she choose the Cupcake cake, there is plenty of leftovers and I'm sure I'll be eating a slice every day til it's finished, oh gawd, will be hard to dine out daily and eat sugary stuff while on vacation! I will probably get no exercise in at all this week that HonHon is in town! But in the end, it's all worth it (even the weight gain) cos we get to spend time with HonHon :)