Simply Thai and Urban Fare

Yeah it's a long weekend! Tonight, Jas and I decided to head out for dinner cos she felt like Asian. We decided to grab Thai food in Yaletown cos there really isn't anything in downtown and I did not want to eat at Tropika. I just had lunch at Tropika with Jen and Rae, Jen's last lunch with us. Plus I am not a huge fan of Tropika, chinese food disguised as malay. Simply Thai in Yaletown is where I made reservations at and it's a new Thai place since neither of us have ever been. Before heading over to the restaurant, we headed over to Beautymark to check out beauty supplies. It's quite a nice store with a lot of different brands that are not carried anywhere else. It's weird how Jas wanted to check out Beautymark cos I wanted to check it out too! I had just received an email from them about an item I was interested in. Bliss is a spa line from New York which carries spa products and an item I am very interested in is called Bliss Naked Body Butter and gosh, I didn't realize it was so expensive! I didn't pick it up since I have so many body lotions left from Bath & Bodyworks. Our reservations were at 6.30 but we were arrived at 6.00 and it wasn't super busy so we were seated right by the window. The dinner was pretty good but a little bit pricey for me since I knew I could get really great Thai food for a better price and larger portions. After dinner, we walked over to Urban Fare cos we felt like Cupcakes but Denman was way too far for us to go just for a cupcake or two. We couldn't believe our luck when we noticed Cupcakes were available at Urban Fare! Although we noticed these cupcakes are not as perfect as the ones at the store, it helped our craving! While waiting in line to pay for our dessert (I picked up two cupcakes and a lava cake from the bakery), I noticed that there were Christian Lacroix Evian water bottles available and on sale! $7.99 to $3.49! What a great price, I had to pick up one for myself! I wanted to buy a couple more but I was taking the train home and didn't want to carry all those bottles. Late last year, I had read in one of my fashion magazines about how Christian Lacroix had designed a bottle for Evian but didn't think it was available in our area. Maybe I'll head back over there to pick up a few more! Great housewarming gifts, non? At the checkout, the cashier didn't see the sku for my cupcakes cos it got rubbed off while I was carrying it around the store (the girl at the bakery wrote the sku on the plastic window of the cupcake box) so the cashier had to guess the prices and he rang it through as $1.99 a cupcake but it is actually $2.99 a cupcake! Hehehe, I get the BEST deals ever! After we paid for our grocery items, we sat outside to enjoy our cupcakes, it was a bit chilly as it was getting dark but we were craving sweets!! All worth it, mmmmm....cupcakes. After our cupcakes, we decided to call it a night and headed towards the skytrain. Jas decided to go over to Safeway at Broadway station to pick up some fruits and veggies and I headed home. After a few hours, I couldn't help myself and ate half of the lava cake, blah! It was gross!! Never again, will I pick up a lava cake from the bakery! But I know I'll be paying for all this sugar, I bet I won't be able to sleep until really really late!

Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More

My newest cookbook has arrived! Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More by Carole Walter. This book has so many tantalizing and mouth watering recipes and the one I am most excited about is the one on the cover! Those sticky buns look so delish! I am so looking forward to trying those...mmmmm....sticky buns......

Shopping Weekend

Gosh, what a weekend! These weekends go by so fast and it never seems like I have enough time over the weekend to do everything! On Sunday, I ran errands with mom and we headed over to New Westminster Toyota to pick up a few items but Saturdays are the busiest days for the dealership and we waited around for almost 40 minutes just to see my mom's sales guy! After Toyota, we were pretty close to Walmart so we headed over there cos my mom has never been to the Canadian Walmart and even though there are a ton of great deals, it doesn't seem likely that we would drive all the way out there just to hit Walmart. We didn't end up buying too much and only picked up a few things. After Walmart, we headed over to the new commercial area of Marine Drive in Burnaby. It's pretty developed now with the Price Smart foods, London Drugs, Canadian Tire etc. We headed over to PetSmart cos I need to pick up a few items for Ari and over to the Shoe Warehouse which my mom ended up buying a pair of really cute and comfy sandals. There was a Winners and Home Sense right next door so we had to go there cos we love Winners. Wow, this Winners is HUGE and with so many shoes and clothes, one hour before closing was def. not enough time! I ended up picking up a cute top for only $16.99 and mom bought me a Calvin Klein trench coat which I saw downtown but not in my size:( for my birthday cos this Winners had a few XS and yes, the XS def. fit me so much better than the S. Mom also bought two pairs of cute flats by Anne Klein which are really comfy and it's about time she bought herself some shoes! She can't wear heels anymore and she has a ton of shoes in the shoe cupboard that need to be given away! I found a pair of really cute heels for Spring but remember that I shouldn't be buying any more shoes and if I am going to buy a pair, I really want those cute little heels from HR by Michael Kors. Cute little heels in a gold tone. After Winners, we headed over to Superstore to pick up a few items cos my mom is officially on a diet starting Monday. She needs to lose about 20 lbs and she is finally going to follow my advice to drop the weight.

Sunday was another shopping day only with Rhoda (my BFF) and Jess (little sis) cos Jess has nothing in the condo! When I mean nothing, I mean not much in the kitchen. She doesn't have a can opener! Who's kitchen doesn't have a can opener?!?! I headed over to Rhoda's place and Jess picked us both up and back to where I was yesterday, shopping at Winners/Home Sense (found another great pair of shoes by Ralph Lauren but didn't buy them!), London Drugs for more home items, Price Smart Foods (a division of Save On Foods) for grocery items. After our shopping expedition, we headed back to Rhoda's to drop off some stuff and pick up the dogs to head over to Jess's place where she was going to try out her new kitchen gadgets and cook us a dinner. Wow, very impressive, she did a pretty good job! It was a lovely day with my girls.

Welcome Home Jen!

It was so great to see Jen tonight, she's in Vancouver for two weeks and Rae and I got to spend some time with her just one on one to catch up on life. Wow, so much has gone on and the travelling bug def. bit her! She's been all over the place and she'll be back in Vancouver in September but off to Australia for another year to work and travel. Lucky girl and she is so independent since she has no fear about being on her own and living in a totally different country. I could never do that, I like it here in Vancouver, home is home. After work, we headed over for dinner at Oysi Oysi and spent almost 3 hours there just talking. It was lovely and of course, such a silly girl, she brought over gifts from London and Egypt. She hadn't changed at all and it was so good to spend some time with Jen. Hopefully, we can catch her one more time before she heads back to London. We miss you tons Jen!!

Lifestyles

Look what Kay got at school today! Part of sex education! She is soooo embarrassed but it's good that they are trying to get these kids prepared and aware of safe sex. Although I hope she won't have to use the condom until she's mature enough to make THAT decision. Gosh, I can't believe she's a teenager and soon I'll have to deal with SEX......

Swimming

Tonight, I finally tested out my new swimming suit in the new pool. It's a very nice and complimenting swimming suit. Although I think I need to get another one so I can alternate the suits, don't want to wear this one out too fast! Gosh, swimming 6 laps is hard work, I haven't gone swimming in a long time and I can't believe how tired I am. But it def. beats going to the gym! I hate the gym. I hate working out with weights and those machines, umm.... BORING. After the swim, Jess and I were ready to eat, we were starving, well Jess was starving, I was just getting slightly hungry as I am always sure to have a snack before leaving the office cos I know I won't be eating until 6! Charly couldn't stay for dinner cos his mom was heading over to his place so he left us with the chicken breast that he made. I made a spinach strawberry salad with goat cheese and a raspberry balsamic vinaigrette. Mmmm.... it was so yummy! Jess had some homemade soup leftover and that is all we had, very yummy and light. It was a nice way to end the evening, just the two of us and we talked a lot about everything. We had lots to catch up as I've missed out so much in the last 10 years!! It was a great swim / workout and I am very excited to continue the swimming with Rhoda and Jess cos it's way better than hitting the gym!!

Congrats!

Jess got engaged this morning!!! Congrats!!! She is no longer a wittle girl anymore...... I've known her since she was 13 or 14 (about Kay's age) and in my mind, she's always my cute little sister.... gosh, I knew it was going to happen and I knew it was going to happen soon! We are so happy for her. Love you Jess!

Homemade Scones!

For brunch....mmmm.....scones.... with cheese.... with jam....

Sweet and Casual (Sporadic) Wedding!

Tonight, one of my BFFs, Vincent got married! He is officially a grown up! hahaha... many many congrats to him and his new bride, Meryl. We love you both!

It was a small but sweet and casual wedding. The ceremony was held in a really cool looking building in Vancouver, I guess the owners of the building rent it out for whatever you need. Visually the building is pretty cool and funky, looks kind of like a small art museum with office space. It's so like those two to throw something like this together and with all the adventures they've been on together as a couple, it doesn't surprise me that they decided on Monday to get married, Tuesday to let family and close friends know about it and Friday, to hold the ceremony and reception.

Since this was a small gathering, only a few members of each side of the family and a few friends were joined for this very incredibly special event. Vincent can clean up pretty well in a suit! Hahaha, he knows I love him ;) And Meryl, OMG, GORGEOUS!! She had decided on wearing a black dress on her wedding day but thankfully her BFF convinced her to check out Main street and she found a beautiful WHITE dress with black accents. It was lovely, the ceremony was held in the "boardroom" and after the vows and many many photos, it was off to the Indonesia restaurant on Commercial Drive for the reception.

The food was so yummy and there were tons of it! I can't believe this little gem of a restaurant is in my neighborhood and I had no idea! The people who owned the restaurant were really nice and food, just like home made cooking. This is going to be added to our fave restaurant list! After the great food, great conversation and more photos, it was time to open the gift Jas and I bought for the two of them. We know it was a casual wedding and presents were a no no but we couldn't go this without a small gift! Our idea was dessert for two since the two of them threw this together so quickly, we knew they wouldn't have a wedding cake or dessert so we bought them strawberry covered chocolates and a box of chocolates from Godiva, cupcakes by Cupcakes and a bottle of red wine. Hmmm... we know what they will be up to on their wedding night! ;) After dinner, the two of them invited us all over but it was a late night (well late for me, it was 10 pm!) and Kay and I decided to head home.

It was a lovely evening and I am so happy to be apart of it. I love them both dearly and we know these two are great for each other. Now it's time to have some babies!!! :) Enjoy the photos!

So cute!

Ari thinks he's human sometimes.... this morning, I caught him sleeping on his back with his legs up in the air and I had to take photos of him, gosh isn't he so cute!!??!!

Promotion!

A few weeks ago, I received a promotion at work. I have been with the company for 3 years and there was a position opened to assist two business development management personnel. A few people recommended me and at first, I was not too keen on taking on this position as I knew the raise would be minimal and there would be a lot more work involved. But HR sent me to temporarily assist, against my own will, as they were in need of an assistant asap. I was a bit bitter at first cos I couldn't believe I was doing the extra work and not getting any extra pay. But in the end, I decided to apply for the position and the HR manager knew that I would need to be in the position before making a final decision on the position. The feedback from the two managers were they were quite happy with my work and enjoyed having me down there to assist them. I was officially promoted, through a letter and with a small increase in my salary. I also recieved a title change and am now on a different tier level on the administration ladder. I am learning quite a bit from these two managers and it was def. different from what I was doing before. Plus the position I was in, was slowly dying down as the major project I was hired to work on, finished completion in November 2007. My previous manager who was upstairs and I was still trying to assist him while I was on a different floor, decided that he missed me too much and moved into an empty office located right next to my desk! What a compliment! Now I work for three managers and I'm super busy! But the BEST PART of this whole experience is, I've finally got my own DIRECT LINE! For two years, I was trying to get my own direct line and then, today, my Office Services Coordinator called me and asked me to choose a number. I was like what? What's wrong with my extension? She told me, I was getting my own direct line AND I even get a choice in the number! How exciting, now it's official, I've been promoted! :)

Shopping Blog is BACK!

I know I've been terrible at updating my Trishaopholic blog and that's only cos I couldn't keep up with all my shopping!! But I'm going to try to blog about all the new items I purchase....

At lunch, Rhoda and I headed over to Kiehl's to pick up some new moisturizer for my face, I bought a small bottle in case it doesn't work out for me. We also hit Dynamite which I ended up buying a pair of inexpensive grey pants on sale even though the regular price wasn't too bad. Over to R&W but I didn't see anything that I loved or needed for the upcoming spring / summer season.

I am in need of yoga wear as I am going to take up yoga in the next few weeks but I will not buy Lululemon just cos it's too over priced and everyone is wearing it as casual wear! It's YOGA CLOTHING, where it to yoga not to go shopping. So I did a bit of research and found some great Vancouver brands that I will be checking out.

Tonic - cute, fun, sleek and stylish yoga wear, love their items
Lotus Yoga Wear - simple, basic or classic yoga wear
Karma Athletics - same as above
Skyler - a little more simple and very basic
Kula - not sure about this one just yet

But as always, you need to go in and try them on to see how they fit and look on you. Hopefully, this weekend or the next!

Charlie bit me!

Awww so cute, love the accent!

Wii Fit

(click onto MarketNews to enlarge photo)

The Wii Fit is scheduled to be launched in North America, May 19 2008!! Priced between $79 to $99 and with new games and downloaded software. I am soooo excited and I can't wait to get one of these! No more gyms! :) More info on Wii, check out Wii Fit

Happy First Birthday Isabella!

Today, we celebrated Isabella's very first birthday and wow, I can't believe how fast she's grown! She is now officially one years old! How time flies.... the lucky birthday girl received so many gifts, gosh did she ever get spoiled. The whole living room was filled with so many great gifts and I felt that my little Roots t-shirt and lucky red envelope didn't seem like a lot. The food was excellent, lots of yummy food and homemade samosas which were super yummy. Lots of people and friends, many whom I didn't know and I wish I came with Rhoda and Nel but I didn't cos those two were coming from Ladner. I was on my own for about an hour (Kay didn't come, she had homework and plans with a friend) and I felt a bit awkward since I didn't know anyone there except for the birthday girl and mom. Grace is an awesome hostess and she tried to keep me in the gathering and I tried to mingle with the other guests. Before long, food was being served so I decided to grab a plate and sample all the yummy food. As I was finishing up, Trav, Lisa and little ones were just coming through the door. It was good to see them, Lisa looked great even though she was super tired and you can tell she was a bit worn out from taking care of two little ones. Since they just arrived, I held little Tristan so mom and dad could grab a bite. Gosh, is he ever tiny (just a bit over 8 pounds!) and I can't believe that Isabella was once that small! Rhoda and Nel arrived a bit after Trav and Lisa and about that time, my arms were getting super tired so Rhoda took over a bit. After a couple of hours, it was time for the birthday cake and presents. It was such a lovely time and so good to see everyone. Next small gathering, we are heading over to Trav and Lisa's place to have a dinner at home cos we know how hard it is for those two to come out since they've got a newborn with them. More photos on flickr.

After the party, I headed over to Metrotown to see if I could get my Hello Kitty alarm clock fixed cos this morning I accidentally knocked it over and the seconds ticker fell off. Lucky for me, Times Fashion (which has been there forever!) was able to fix it at a price of $6.00!! While I waited (30 or so minutes before it would be done), I headed over to T&T to pick up some milk and bread, right next door is Maxim's and I picked up some baked items for Kay. Then I walked over to the other side to Superstore as I was looking for a pastry cutter (to cut butter into a batter - I'm going to try a new scones recipe this coming w/e) but Superstore didn't have any which surprised me. I could have gone over to London Drugs to buy one but it's a bit expensive and more than what I was willing to pay. I don't want to spend more than $10 on one and lucky for me, I found one at Home Outfitters just under $10. I also looked around for a new swimming suit cos I am going to take up swimming soon but didn't find any that were cute or flattering. It's so hard to find a swimming suit to fit your body type. Also, I think most women don't like being in a swimming suit and I am one of those women. I find there are very few pieces that look decent on me. I think I will have to head over to West 4th this weekend and check out Blue Crush and/or outdoor shops (Comor etc.) for a swimming suit. A few years ago, I picked one up from West 4th but it was getting old and needed to be replaced so I finally threw it out. HonHon bought one for me a year ago (from La Vie en Rose Aqua) but it's way too big now since I've lost all this weight. The weather was super nice and warm, almost like a spring day! Sunshine and the temperature at a little above 10 degrees C which is quite warm I think. I hope this upcoming week will be nice and sunny! Oh yes, it's time to go shopping for new sunglasses!

Homemade Cinnamon Buns

Tonight, Kay and I tried a new (quick and easy) cinnamon bun recipe from Desert Candy. Gosh, was it every yummy! It was our first time making them and even though we had a few mishaps, it turned out super delish and yes, it was quick and easy. I love the smell of baking in the house and the baking smells travels all the way upstairs. We were invited to join Mom and Auntie I. for dinner but Kay and I declined as we didn't want to eat greasy chinese food. Plus we had leftover (homemade) pasta sauce and (also homemade) mac'n'cheese. Around 8ish, Kay and I were craving something sweet so we decided to pull out the recipe book and see what we had. I found the cinnamon bun recipe sitting on top and remember, this was one I really wanted to try. We are so glad we did cos it def. hit the spot! When Mom and Auntie Ingrid came back from dinner, they couldn't help but come downstairs to see what we were baking. Enjoy the photos and thank you Mercedes for the recipe! We can't wait to add this to our weekend brunch menu :) Enjoy the photos and YES they look as delicious as they taste!

Happy B'day!

Tonight, we celebrated my brother's birthday (early birthday cos it lands on Tuesday), it was just the four of us as grandma had mahjong plans the entire week. For his birthday dinner, he wanted Peking duck, that's one of his fave. dishes, so mom booked us a table at a Chinese restaurant on Granville/41st whom are famous for their Peking ducks. It was pretty yummy although the restaurant itself did not look too impressive. But the duck is def. delish! They also slice the duck skin for you right in front of you and that was pretty cool. We order a vegetable and a sweet and sour pork for my brother, the pork dish is also one of his favorites. After dinner, we headed back to my mom's place for the birthday cake another one of his fave, fresh mango cake from Michele's, gosh he's being spoiled. As a birthday gift, my mom gave my brother her 1989 Toyota Supra which is in immaculate condition. He has been asking for this car as long as I can remember and every year, it looks although she is going to give it up but she doesn't. As every year, he gets very disappointed but my mom finally gave in and decided to give it to him for his birthday this year. What a surprise! As a gift to my brother, I paid for the oil change and gave him $50 cash towards whatever he wanted. Even though he finally got his car, he couldn't take it home tonight cos he has to switch the car insurance over before he can drive it. Currently, the car is insured under my mother's name and she has a perfect driving record and awesome insurance therefore she does not want my brother to even take it for a few days with her insurance. I don't blame her, my brother has a terrible driving / accident record. After birthday cake, it was time to call it an early night as Kay and I had a long week with HonHon and I was still trying to get over my terrible cold/flu. Enjoy the photos! (more on my flickr account)

What A Week!

HonHon arrived on Friday, Feb. 8 and he brought back a ton of Hello Kitty goodies for me! All the HK items are so very cute and of course, I was spoiled yet again! Of all the items I received, my fave items are the bathrobe, the bathroom mats and the door curtain. His suitcase was super heavy but it wasn't all me! He also brought back some stuff that my mom had left behind in Hong Kong (jars of XO sauce) and my sister sent some cute outfits for Ari! He got a cute denim jacket and a cheongsam. We tried them on him and they are so cute! Need to get some photos of him in them :)

There was so much that we had done, I'm just gonna write all the highlights of the week:

• Gifts, gifts and more gifts! Apple Classic iPod for me and 5 or 6 Wii games for Kay
  
• Louis Vuitton - All in the Monogram Vernis line (my very fave!) in 3 different colours: Koala wallet in pomme d'amour (candy apple red), key and change holder with name plate in amarante (deep dark purple/black), and the agenda of course which I purchased earlier and oh yes, LV 2008 refills for my small agenda.
  
• V-day dinner at West on Granville which was lovely. I love dining at West, it's my fave restaurant in Vancouver, worth every dollar! We only go once or twice a year and it's a time where I get to dress up and feel like royalty. I ordered the smoked sablefish and HonHon ordered the tenderloin, both dishes were incredible!
  
• IKEA for mattress shopping, we finally found an inexpensive queen size bed for HonHon's condo in Burnaby and what a day we had putting the pine bed frame together, apparently, the screws and brackets were misplaced!
• Trying out new restaurants and re-visiting old favorite ones! We must have eaten out every day at least once!
• Home-cooking twice, once HonHon made us dinner and I made homemade pizza for him.

It was nice to spend some quality time with him and Kay. I took the week off and Kay was allowed to take Friday off (every Friday is half a day) as HonHon's flight was tonight. Can't believe he's left already, it's very quiet and empty. But in a couple of days, we'll be over it. Usually, he leaves on a Sunday but China Air switched the times around and HonHon does not like these times. But overall, it was a great visit and it was so nice to see him, hug him, kiss him and spend some long overdue quality time together as a family (even though he did a lot of sleeping as you can see in the photos! I guess cos he's on vacation or jetlagged?!?!). The only thing I really regret is that we made a verbal deal about Louis Vuitton. No more Louis Vuittons until my birthday in August .... of 2010!! Yikes!! But I still love him even though we made the almost impossible deal. Well there are other luxury items that I love! :) It was such a great visit and we sure do miss him tons.... gosh did I mention that it feels quiet and something is missing.....

Good Bye and Good Luck!

Wishing all the very best to my dear friend, Franco! May the Year of the Rat bring you prosperity and happiness and love! We are all going to miss you but I think I'm going to miss you the most! Won't be the same without you!

On a happy note, you def. deserve more respect and you need to start working hard on your CGA! No more late nights and spending our weekends at the office!

Lavendar - Spring is Here!

Spring is finally here! Or close to it, a new colour has been introduced for the spring collection and now added to my addiction.....

CONGRATS!!!

The arrival of Tristan, he is such a beautiful newborn.....

Rhoda, Grace and I headed over to the hospital to see the newest addition to the Wou family. Lisa and Trav look super tired but both are doing well and planning on heading home later tonight. I didn't want to hold him cos I was afraid of many things like, not holding his neck correctly, giving him germs or the worse possible thing, wanting to have another baby! But he is super adorable and I can't wait until he's a few days older or a month (we only see them once a month!) and then I can't wait to hold him!

PS. I predicted the baby was going to arrive on Monday! :)

Dinner and a party

Tonight, I saw a dear friend whom I haven't seen in a couple of years cos she works in Hong Kong but she is in town for 10 days to visit with her family and soon to be husband. These two have been engaged for a while but it seems they have finally decided on a day (sometime in May) and a destination (Bali, Indonesia, on a beach). She of course, invited Jas and I to fly out there to join them for this wonderful and happy occasion. It would be so nice to fly out there to celebrate her wedding day with her on a hot and sunny beach but I can't afford to fly out there this year. I am trying to pay off a debt and save up for a trip to Haiwaii next year! We had Italian dinner cos that's what Frannie wanted to eat since she cannot have good Italian in HK so we headed over to Commercial Drive for pasta/pizza and appy's. After dinner, we decided to drive over to Kerrisdale to have dessert at this little hidden dessert place that serves such yummy desserts! Fran was trying to avoid a party thrown by her fiance's friends cos she doesn't really like them nor does she want to hang out with them. But we decided drive over there slowly so we could let our dinner settle in before having a rich dessert. We settled in and ordered dessert/tea and caught up some more. I always order the same thing even though there are so many choices. Chocolate Decadent Cake. After a little while, the place was getting a bit crowded and we decided we should probably head out but Kay had just called to say she was heading over to her friend's place from our place. I didn't want her and her friend bussing home this late so I asked Fran if it was ok if we picked them up and drove them over before heading over to the party. She didn't mind, we headed home and she got to see how grown up Kay has become and also visited with my mom. Once we dropped Kay and friend off, we drove through downtown Vancouver so Fran could see how much it had changed. Plus she hadn't seen the new Holt Renfrew store and boy was she in awe. She now has to come downtown at least once to see it before heading back to HK. As we were heading out of downtown, her fiance called to see where we were at and we were actually heading over there. It was somewhat of a boring party only cos I didn't really know anyone and after a little while, Jas and I decided to head home as it was getting late. We are not used to staying until 1.00am! It was a good night and I'm glad I got the chance to see Fran before she heads back cos I didn't get a chance to see her last time! Good Luck Fran!

Dinner and a Movie

Tonight, I went out with Jas for a movie and dinner. We watched, I am Legend with Will Smith and we didn't know much about the movie but after 15 minutes, we realize it was similar to 28 days later (out in 2000?) and I do not do well with anything scary or horror. But as usual, it was a blockbuster movie and I love Will Smith but at the climax, I didn't even watch the screen cos I knew I would be very squeamish so I was texting my other best bud while the climax was playing. We had decided to have dinner after the movie and headed over to Sala Thai for dinner, it was still Dine Out so we decided to try the Dine Out menu. The dinner wasn't too bad considering this Sala Thai was not as good as the one on Cambie Street. But it was a pretty good price with good portions. It was a really freezing night but nice to be out and about with my best bud!

Zin Restaurant & Lounge

Tonight, I met up with my cousin for dinner as we haven't seen each other in about a year and we thought it was time to catch up on each other's lives. It's amazing how fast time flies when everyone is busy but hopefully, we will not leave our next outing until a year later! We decided to have a "Dine Out" at Zin Restaurant on Robson street, I made reservations for 5:30pm and when I went in, the restaurant was completely empty, I guess no one really starts dinner that early but I'm an early diner! My cousin and I both work downtown so we decided something within downtown would be easier. We ordered off the Dine Out Menu (which wasn't that impressive) and ordered a couple of drinks while we waited for the food. We caught up a bit on what's going on and my little cousin (her little sister) is engaged! Wow, I can't believe how grown up she is! To me, I still remember her being 12. That's exciting news. My cousin and her partner loves to travel so she was telling me about the trips they've made and it sounds like so much fun, altho I'm not much of a traveller. Our appy arrived first, she ordered the salad and I had the soup, the entire meal was not at all impressive, my soup was so small, about 5 tablespoons and her salad was tiny, just a few pieces of leaves and a walnut or two. The soup didn't really taste like apple squash, mostly squash and her salad, just like a salad that you can easily make at home. Our entrees arrived, we both ordered the risotto with halibut. Oh my gosh! Our risotto was uncooked and the halibut was tiny! It wasn't very flavourful and did not taste great. The desert, blah. Overall, it was a terrible Dine Out and I do not ever recommend Zin ever!

Shopping Steals

Gosh, I've got some great deals over the last week or so! Last Friday, I realized I needed a pair of beige pumps cos I was wearing a beige outfit and realized I don't own a pair of beige pumps so I wore my tri-brown coloured pumps which worked okay but not as great if I had beige pumps. At lunch, I headed out with Rhoda to look at some boots cos she needed some and when we arrived at the Aldo Outlet on Granville street, a shiny patent pair of beige pumps were staring right at me! They had my size and they were 50% off!!! These were SO meant to be!! After Aldo, we headed over to Jacob cos they were having a winter clearance sale, 60% off regular priced winter items and I picked up two long sleeve knit tops for under $15 each! One in beige and one in red so I can now wear my 3/4 crop jackets which I purchased in the fall. Today, I picked up a pair of Wilfred (Aritzia's luxe designer) capri pants for work for $39.99 regular price $130! Sheesh, that's such a great deal plus it was awesome to fit into a size 2! Yes a size 2!! I haven't been a size 2 since I was in my early 20s!! Damn, I've lost a lot of weight, hmmm... I wonder if I can fit into my burgundy pants, those are the only pants that I kept cos they were damn expensive! Must go to Richmond and look thru storage to see if I can find them.....

Happy Birthday Jasmine!

Tonight, we celebrated Jasmine's birthday at the Aqua Riva for Dine Out Vancouver. Every year, her birthday celebration falls during this time and we have made it a tradition to have dinner at one of the many Dine Out Vancouver restaurants. With such a great price and choices, how could anyone resist not attending at least one Dine Out every year?? This year, West did not participate so we decided to head back over to Aqua Riva which is where we celebrated my birthday last year. As always, the food was super yummy and I opted for New York steak instead of the salmon (had basa on my birthday) and the dessert, cheesecake was to die for. It was such a splendid dinner and so nice to see them all since we do not really get a chance to go out, enjoy good food and each other's company. After dinner, we decided to head over to Vince and Meryl's condo cos we haven't been there in a while as they were redecorating the entire suite. It was almost done with a few odd pieces to pick up but ready to show off. But before heading over there, we decided to stop off at Rogers Video to pick up a movie. They decided on Waitress starring Keri Russell and in the end, we wished we hadn't rented it cos it was a terrible. Although, we all had heard rave reviews on the movie (and RottenTomatoes.com gave it 89%), we didn't really enjoy the movie and to me, the story dragged on and on and on. Before starting the movie, we got a tour of the new place and gosh does it ever look different! They decided to go with a contemporary minimal style and chose a lot of contemporary furniture pieces, spending most of their budget on their beautiful couch (from LivingSpace) at a whooping $15,000!! I almost fell on my @ss when I heard that! But I love their new place, it's gorgeous! The bedroom, a totally different room and the repainted walls, incredible. Looks like a showroom for a loft. Well done! Also love the brand new (upgrade!) TV and he took it off the wall and put it on a TV stand! Vince wanted to show us the game he worked on all year (he works at EA) and gosh, NHL 2008 looks great! The hockey players look so real! Like you are really watching a hockey game, amazing! Meryl being the sweetest hostess ever, made up a veggie platter for us and made up Jas's birthday cake with her candles, the chocolate cake was so delish! I had two pieces which wasn't a good idea cos I was already starting to feel a bit bloated from the dinner / dessert plus more dessert? But it was too good not to have the second piece! After the movie, we chatted a bit longer and decided to call it a night. Jas had a really great time and that's all that mattered! Life is great when you have great friends to share it with! More photos on my flickr account.

Vera's Burger Shack

FINALLY! I have officially tried burgers at Vera's Burger Shack! The burger was nothing spectacular but still very delish esp. since I haven't had red meat or a burger in quite some time! Charly and I were suppose to do our workout but his friend (whom he does meat runs for as a favour) called a bit earlier than expected and we decided to skip the workout (both of us being way too tired) to help deliver the meat. I finally met his friend, Emando, a student or something from Mexico who has stayed with him as a homestay student last year. He wanted to set him up with a mutal friend of ours and even though Emando is very cute and charming, he is not our friend's type whatsoever. Plus he's a starving visitor with no or little money and we know for a fact that money is a must when dating our dearest friend. After the looooong drive to UBC and back, we decided to have burgers at Vera's and boy was it ever yummy esp. when you are hungry! I can say now that I have finally tried it as I have been wanting to try it since last summer, heard good reviews on the place. Next burger stop, Fat Burger on Denman!

Xmas/Kick Off Party

Best Party Ever! What I remember of it ..... More Photos Here

Dinner with a measurement

Tonight, Rhoda and I had dinner plans with Charly cos we are going to help him get back into shape! Over the summer, we all did the Grind together and it really helped us get into shape! But then, Charly went on vacation to Europe for about a month and a bit and those 5 weeks caught up to him! He now needs to lose a bit of weight and get back into shape so his new goal is to fit into his 36" pants. Rhoda, being a fitness freak or fitness trainer as she calls herself, decided to give us each a targeted workout schedule to help us both reach our goals. My goals are to tone up and get my butt back. Charly's is just to get back into shape. Rhoda is also putting him on a strict diet cos he needs it, he doesn't seem to know a whole lot about proportion sizes and calorie counting. Gosh, that man can also eat! Tonight, we were all getting together to discuss the schedule and take measurements.

After discussion and dinner, we watched the hockey game and Rhoda helped Charly install some programs into his brand new laptop. It was a fun and entertaining night, we decided we would get together to workout on Mondays and Wednesday and he should go on his own one more night probably Friday cos Rhoda and I are planning to swim on Fridays. I don't really need to hit the gym more than twice a week cos I've already hit my targeted weight and all I really want to do is tone up. But I think Charly needs to start off with a lot of cardio cos he needs to drop his body fat down. We'll see how it goes!

Shu Uemura

I have heard that every Asian woman should own an eyelash curler from Shu Uemura so today at lunch, Rhoda and I headed over to Holt Renfrew's Shu Uemura counter to take a look at it. The SA tried it out on my eyelashes and I couldn't believe the difference! I decided, I def. needed one and used my GC to pick one up for my makeup bag :)

Movie and a burger

I haven't been out for a while nor have I seen a movie in a theatre for quite some time so tonight, Jas and I went to see Juno at Silvercity Metropolis. Gosh, I love this movie! It's such a funny and sweet movie, you must go see it. Ellen Page is a great actor and as I watched her perform on the screen, I realized I had seen her somewhere else before and now I remember! She was the girl in Hard Candy, that movie was excellent and you should def. catch that one too!

After the movie, it was still a bit early and we both had a craving for burger and fries. At one point in the movie, Juno had a huge burger with fries and both of us were starting to feel a bit hungry after that scene. When catching a 7.00pm show, it's too early to eat out and yet after the movie, too late for a full dinner esp. a burger and fries platter! We decided to stop in at TGIF below Silvercity and share a burger platter, just enough to settle our stomachs and cravings but not too much to make us feel guilty and super full! It was super yummy and def. filled our cravings! It was so nice to be out of the house on a Saturday night :)

Shopping Addiction

Today, I was very very bad.... I picked up a new wool crop jacket and cute top from Aritzia. These items were at such a good price, I couldn't resist! I wasn't suppose to go to the mall but Kay and Ty never made it out there and both of them had to return a couple of items at Metrotown. Kay had invited her friends over and they were suppose to head out to the mall but apparently all 2 of them had decided to stay in our tiny basement suite the entire afternoon. That means there was 4 teenagers in our tiny suite, poor Ari, he was so stressed out and very very tired! Since those two had a few things to return, I decided I would drive them to Metro so they didn't have to take the train (it was super cold!) and we would go to The Boss at Metropolis for dinner since I haven't had The Boss in such a long time. While Kay returned her shoes at Stoneridge, I told them I would wait for them at Aritzia to see what they had left in the store. I tried on a few more pairs of R&Rs but the ones that looked really nice on me were no longer on sale :( but I did find a cute wool jacket by Talula Babaton and a top by Wilfred at a really great price! Kay also found a cute TNA bag that she wanted and it was on sale. Ty needed to head over to AE to return a shirt and buy another one, Kay and I picked out a really nice men's shirt (long sleeved, collared and buttons) for Ty. After our shopping, we decided to head over to The Boss for dinner and after dinner, we stopped by London Drugs to pick up a bus pass for Kay and those two headed over to Bubble World for bubble tea. I'm not so sure that was the best way to end the night, bubble tea with tons of sugar in two teenagers!

Joy - the MOST expensive perfume in the world

I just bought my grandma the perfume that she has been obessed with since the day she tried it on! Many many years ago, my aunt gave her a dab of JOY by Jean Patou and my grandma fell in love with the fragance but could not bring herself to buy one for herself. For Christmas, my brother and I picked up a Sennheiser wireless/cordless headphones for her as per my mother's instructions and even though I knew she wouldn't like them, I just figured I'd do what my momma says. Guess what? Grams didn't like them and after trying them out for one night, she discreetly told my mother that she wouldn't use them and I should return them and keep the money. My mom told me this and I realized I should not have listen to her and picked up the perfume in the first place. At first, I was thinking about buying grams the signature fragrance she uses which is Chanel No. 5 but decided my grams deserved to be spoiled. Joy it was and the salesperson at HBC had a heavy accent so at first I thought the 75 ml eau de parfum was priced at a reasonably $119 but once the perfume rang through the register, it came up to $192 plus tax! Sheesh! Def. realized the mistake but went ahead with the purchase. On the savings side, GST went down 1% so I saved myself an extra 1%.............. can't wait to see my grams (re)opening her gift! Priceless!!

Happy New Year!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Tonight, Vince, Meryl, Ari, and I headed over to Jas's place to ring in the new year. I guess as you get older, you don't really want to spend a ton of money to go clubbing or partying. We decided on a nice quiet night with good friends and Jas offered to host us at her place with dinner and some wine. I have to say, it's nice spending quality time with my buds esp. since I don't see Vince and Meryl that often with their busy lives. Our dinner plans were Vince and Meryl bringing over home made curry while I brought over a veggie dip platter and dessert, a chocolate rum cake and Jas supplied the wine, rice and appy's. Vince and Meryl always come late, never early or on time and when they finally arrived, they didn't bring curry (Jas and I were so looking forward to it!) but brought over BBQ pork/duck and a tofu/fish dish from a takeout. Those two had a late night, like every night, and so busy running around with Meryl's little sister, they did not have time to cook. But that's ok, BBQ and tofu dish were pretty yummy!

While waiting for the countdown, we all caught up on each other's lives and shared many laughs! Since time was ticking by slowly, we decided to put together Jas's IKEA shelf which had been sitting in the box in the living room for months! Jas didn't have a toolbox which meant we had to be creative and use a Nine West pump as a hammer! What a hoot! Got some fun photos and it was def. a fun way to ring in the year! After the countdown, we stayed a bit longer to chat and decided to call it an early night. Originally, we had plans to head out for a drink (coffee or something) but the ladies were tired and poor Meryl, super tired from all the shopping and packing.

Hope everyone had a great New Year's!