Final Results

The final results of Ari's autopsy is in. It breaks my heart to hear what happened and even though it made me cry uncontrollably at work (call came in on my cellphone), this information closes the chapter of Ari's death.

Forever in our hearts and mind.... R.I.P ARI

The Dark Knight

Wow, this movie was long! Didn't help that we couldn't catch the early show (740pm) and had to catch the last show (1030pm) which meant we ended up leaving well into the early morning. Because this movie was only in the second weekend of opening, it was super busy and our line up for the seats started at 900pm! I am not a huge Batman fan (although I enjoyed many of the earlier ones back in the day) and didn't have the desire to watch the first one, Batman Begins, so watching THIS Batman was a bit of a big deal. I could have waited another, oh I don't know, 8 weeks before watching it but Jas really wanted to watch it so we did. It wasn't as action packed as I thought it would have been (I watched Wanted a few weeks earlier and was on the edge of my seat the entire time!), the last part of the film, I thought we were at the end but realized it wasn't and it kept going on and on! Heath Ledger did an amazing job at playing the Joker and he was very creepy and deeply distrubing but I still think Jack Nicholson's Joker was psychotic creepy, he made the Joker with the laughs, jokes and he was def. more fun to watch. Christian Bale is a super hot yummy actor to watch on screen as Bruce Wayne and he is an amazing actor as well. Although, I did find Batman's voice quite annoying throughout the movie. Overall, it wasn't worth the 1 1/2 hour line up, almost 3 hours of my time watching it and I could have waited for the dvd to hit the stores. If you enjoyed the first one, you will most likely love this one! BUT I do recommend it but as a rental!

Company BBQ

Awww poor Bosco!

Face Painting except Kay didn't want her face painted cos she was heading out that day! I convinced her to get a Hello Kitty! How cute is she??

That's me explaining how great my new hair dryer is!

Kay posin... x 2!

Today, we had a company BBQ at Confederation Park in Burnaby. Although there was a lot of stressful planning between all the ladies involved, it was def worth while (altho poor Val did most of the work!) and it seemed everyone enjoyed themselves. Val was glad to see everyone enjoying themselves and the picinic was a hit! Val is awesome at planning and organizing these outings but hopefully, next year, she'll convince the VPs to allow the caterers to do it!

Happy Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

Ashley & Kent's Big Day

Wow, what a gorgeous but very hot (as high as 30!) day for a wedding!

Kay and I attended both the ceremony in the afternoon and the reception at the Fairmount Waterfront. The ceremony was short and sweet, it was so beautiful and those two look amazing together! Everyone at the ceremony had a chance to take photos with the bride, groom and wedding party and after photo taking, Kay, Jess and I went over to IHOP to eat brunch! Both, Kay and Jess were starving! Both also love IHOP and can eat it every week! I can only do IHOP once a month! After brunch/lunch, we decided it would be easiest if we all got ready for the reception at Jess's condo so she could pick out B's outfit. We headed over to her house first to pick up her items, then over to our place to pick up my items and back over to B's condo. There was a bit of disagreement on what time we should be at the reception and what B should wear but in the end it all worked out. The reception was beautiful and the food was pretty good except that my sirloin steak was not done the way I would have liked it but generally it was a beautiful reception with lots of great people. (More photos of flickr)

Ginger Candids

Richmond

Kay drives me crazy. I cannot shop with her anymore, she is her own little stylist and what I have in mind for her is not what she has in mind for herself.! After walking throughout Richmond Centre, many hours later, we finally found a dress for Ashley and Kent's wedding that we both could agree on it. Well sort of, I basically gave up by the time we found that dress!!

Another reason we were in Richmond was to pick up my (very early) birthday present for me from HonHon. I love them so much! Thanks HonHon!

Happy Birthday Bosco!

Bosco turns ONE today!! He's looking a lot like Ari each time I see him...... Rhoda threw a BBQ and of course, humans were invited, hehehe, it is a dog's birthday party! We were going to bring Ginger but my mom was a bit worried since Ginger hadn't had her 2nd shot yet. I think Bosco liked his gift, a new vest with a matching leash. We had a great time except I got a bit sick at the end cos I ate a 1/4 frozen burger .....

Check out the last pic! That is seriously A LOT of hair!!!

Strawberry Sunday

What a beautiful Sunday it turned out to be even though in the morning, it was a bit cloudy. It was def. great weather for strawberry picking. Cass (Kay's friend) and her mom, Clare invited us to join them for a day of strawberry picking and I didn't mind going if I didn't have to drive out there. I would never manage to make it out there on my own, I'm a city girl, I'd get lost so quickly or would be driving around the city for hours! But lucky for us, Clare does not mind driving every and anywhere! We met them at Scott Road Skytrain and headed off to Ladner which is not too far from where we were. As we drove through and crossed a bridge or two, we ended up at this small one lane bridge that would take us to Westham Island where there were quite a few farms on this little island for U PICK fresh BC berries or to buy fresh local (sometimes organice!) veggies/fruits. I think my grandma would love it here cos there is this one place called Westham Island Herb Farm where they sell lots of beautiful flowers and herbs to grow in your garden. After an hour of strawberry picking (gosh it's such hard work!) at Emma Lee Farms, we finally decided to call it a day for picking. I wanted to purchase raspberry or blackberries but they were sold out so I ended up picking a basket of Tayberries which they have described as half raspberry and blackberry. Very interesting. After picking, Clare took us down to Westham Island Estate Winery to sample (us adults!) their fruit wines, at first I was a bit skeptical cos I am not one for sweet wines but these were amazingly good! So good in fact that I picked up 6 bottles and under $70 total! What a deal, although most were good only a few really caught my taste buds. After picking up wine and some herbs and veggies, we decided to head back into the city as we were all getting quite tired and I am not used to back bending work! Although we wanted to visit the bird sanctuary, it had already closed by the time we were done but we will def have to check it out the next time we are on the little island. What a treat it was when we were stopped on the bridge cos there was a boat crossing the river, it was so neat to stop and walk onto the bridge. Once we finally arrived home, we decided to use our new baby potatoes and make a baked potatoe dish with butter, cheese (lots of it) and pepper. Lucky for us, these were baby potatoes so they cooked quickly in the oven and boy were they delish! Sorry HonHon, we didn't take photos cos we were too hungry but trust us they looked good and tasted great! After dinner, we used some of our fresh strawberries to make our own milkshakes (mmm...yummy!) for dessert and we had to package the rest and freeze them, we had way too many strawberries! Overall, it was a great day and we got some great deals, I can't believe how inexpensive it is to eat locally grown produce when you purchase it right from the farms! Must do this more often :) Enjoy the photos!

Wanted

Wanted is Awesome! A Must See! I hadn't seen the trailers for this movie yet and one of the main reasons why I wanted to catch this film is a photo I saw online of Angelina's full back tattoo! It's a HOT MOVIE plus I love Angelina Jolie!

Breakfast, Bridal Shower and Stagette

Gosh what a busy Saturday! I had so many things to do and with such little sleep and seemed like not enough time, I really didn't think I would make it to the end of the day!

Friday night (after Cirque show), I came home and I started making the dishes for the bridal party (helping Rhoda out with the food). But I had forgotten to leave the cream cheese out so I had to wait a couple of hours before starting on the cheesecake! I ended up prepping the tomatoes for the bruschetta and making the mac and cheese casserole. I ended up baking and prepping until almost 2am! I didn't go to sleep until almost 3am and had to wake up early to meet Rita and Megan for breakfast at 9!

Saturday, I woke up early to meet Rita and Megan for breakfast at 9am and it was so nice to (finally!!) see them, we have been trying to arrange a breakfast date for so long but our schedules are so busy, this date was planned weeks ago! It's been a long time coming, I hadn't seen them since we moved out of the building back in September. By the time I arrived at Rita's, I was starving so we quickly decided to have breakfast at the Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe on Cambie street. It's so nice to be back in the neighborhood and it's nice to see the street and sidewalks are back. I can't wait to see the entire finished neighborhood, it's been so long since I've been back here. I love the little shops and restaurants in the Cambie Village and would still love to live in the area except the rent is way too high. DWSC is one of our fave places to eat and I haven't been there since the last last time HonHon was in town. After catching up and finishing off breakfast, we headed back to the apartment so I could hear Megan play a song on her piano. Gosh she's getting so good! It was so nice to hear her play an entire tune! She's got talent! I had to be home by noon cos Rhoda and Jacky (MOH) were coming over to help move the food over to the house. I quickly made the bruschetta (this item has to be fresh and I couldn't prep it the night before), we sliced the french baguette and moved all the items into the cars. The house isn't very far from my house, about 2 or 3 blocks away, and once we arrived, we quickly set up the area before all the guests were to arrive. Although the food was pretty good, it was cold and most of these items have to be eaten when it's hot! It seemed that there was a big accident on the Knight Street bridge which caused many delays cos most of the guests were coming from Richmond! But overall, the food was a hit! On the table were:

• Costco's veggie platter with my homemade dip


• Costco's and Kent's mom's fruit platter


• Rhoda's mini pineapple upside down cakes


• Rhoda's chocolate cupcakes topped with powder icing sugar (I didn't have time to make frosting)


• Mac n cheese casserole


• Bruschetta with french baguette (mmm... I did not think it would be too easy to make this but it was!)


• NY style cheesecake

There were tons of food leftover! We made way too much and we didn't think we would have enough! Although it was quite a hot afternoon, it was a lovely time to be with all the ladies and there were a few games to play with prizes. Ashley (BTB) had a great time and she is such a sweet and wonderful person. I am so glad I got a chance to get to know her. After the games and food, it was time to open her cards and presents, it was a gift certificate theme and the one with the most creative GC wins a lovely prize! She received some lovely gift certificates and everyone knew her well! After the bridal shower, it was time to clean up and take stuff home, lucky for me, I lived a couple blocks away so I managed to walk home with all my stuff. Rhoda had to rush over to the bakery, Fratelli's, to pick up the stag cake and since she had to leave, I stayed to help Jacky clean up. There was a couple of hours to rest before we were heading out for dinner/clubbing with the ladies. I wanted to take a nap but decided not to as I would probably not wake up! After resting (and drinking more coffee!), we started to get ready for dinner. Dinner was at the Italian Kitchen on Alberni and the restaurant is a bit overrated. My dish was not particularly spectacular and the food did not impress me but the service from the wait staff was really excellent. We also had a nice table, up on the 2nd floor with the windows wide open (very warm day) and the atmosphere is pretty nice. The restaurant manager convinced us to go to the sister restaurant called Sanafir but that was quite a disappointment! After drinking our free champange, we headed over to Caprice nightclub cos we had our names on the guest list and we wouldn't have to wait long to get in. After lots of dancing and photo taking (some pretty hot and sexy!), we decided to call it a night of dancing but first we headed over to Blenz for a drink and called it a night. I realize that we were way too old to be drinking and clubbing and lots of the girls in the nightclubs are dressed pretty skanky and it freaks me out cos Kay might be doing this soon!! Aaahhhh!!!!

Sunday, I visited my dad cos I hadn't seen him in a while and I wanted to know how the test results were from his visit to Richmond hospital a couple weeks ago. Plus my brother is on vacation, he's in Hawaii for two weeks so I figured he could use some company since he's been alone at home altho I am sure he's been out visiting friends. My dad is a bit of a social butterfly. My father does not have cancer but he has something else and I am not quite sure what it is cos he didn't explain it to me. After visiting for a couple of hours, we decided to head out for dinner, I wanted something quick and cheap but daddy took us to this fancy chinese restaurant, he dropped me off to get a table while he drove around to find parking but once inside, I realized it was going to be too expensive and we were def not dressed for it! Kay and I were dressed really casual in shorts and tankies! Plus I didn't want my dad to spend the money there so we ended up at No. 9 restaurant for some yummy BBQ pork with rice! After dinner, Kay and I met up with Ben to hit the nightmarkets which were not that good! Either of them (Richmond and Chinatown) barely had any good stands but I wanted one item and it was a fm transmitter for my ipod which I found for $20! I hope it works!

Gosh, it was a super busy weekend and I'm so glad that it's over! (PS. Check out flickr for more FUN pics of Sat. night!)

Corteo - Cirque Du Soleil

Wow! What an amazing show! If you have never been to a Cirque show, you must check out Corteo, it's a magical and very entertaining. Now, I am a huge fan and I will be attending every show when they are in Vancouver!

Jas and I scored some tickets for 30% off and we could not resist since neither of us have been. Although, I have always wondered what it was like in the big blue and yellow tent set up by the water. Our show started at 4.00pm and we arrived 30 minutes early as per our tickets. It was a super hot day and we hoped that inside the tent it would be air conditioned! Once we made our way to the tent, it felt like we were in a theatre and the the stage set up was not as far as I thought. It was not as large inside the tent as I though it would be and we were seated in the back rows but we had a clear view of the stage. It was a 2 hour show with a 30 minute intermission and of course, I had to pick up some souvenirs during intermission, a program with CD (music from the show) and a mug. After the show, we decided to head over to Fat Burger for a burger cos we hadn't had dinner yet! Fat Burger was not as impressive as I thought it would be. Oh well, onto the next burger find!

Overall, it was a great evening and I am so glad I got a chance to see a Cirque show!

Congrats and Good Bye!

Congrats and Good Bye to Erin and Nick! We are going to miss you both but Erin will be back in a year after her mat leave and Nick will move on to bigger and better opportunities! Wow, I can't believe Nick is no longer AN ENGINEER :) Good Luck and be sure to keep in touch and when you make your first million, you must come back to take us all out for lunch :)

Happy Birthday Vincent!

Happy Birthday Vincent!

Tonight, we celebrated Vince's *ahem* 30th birthday! Meryl threw a small dinner party with his family but gave him quite a surprise by inviting a few of his close friends over too. I had boot camp at 6 (which is what time the birthday dinner started) which meant I arrived a bit later than everyone else. It was nice to see his family (everyone is so nice) and to gather with Ana, Rochelle, Jas, Vince and Meryl as we don't see each other much anymore due to our busy schedules! The birthday cake was amazing (as always) and I had way too many pieces (3 to be exact, although they were very small and thin slices) but I couldn't help it cos Meryl kept offering me another slice! I cannot turn away fresh mango cream cake,mmmmmmm. It was lovely to see everyone and we ate good food, drank some good wine, played Rock Band (well, I didn't, I just took pictures!) and we had to call it an early night (almost 11pm!) cos most of us had to work the next day! Thanks Meryl for throwing this together and inviting us all over. Enjoy the photos!

Latino Night!

Tonight I had a night of dinner, dancing and drinks with Charly and his friends, Ada and Ivan. I invited Jas too but she couldn't make it for dinner due to a work function and would meet us later in the evening for drinks at Latin Quarter on Commercial. I wanted to take them to Latin Quarter to see and listen to the live Latino band (his friends are Latino) and to test out the Sangria cos the last time Jas and I were there (many years ago!), the Sangria was terrible! We started the night off at the Cactus Club on Lougheed cos Charly and I couldn't agree on a restaurant and I have been craving for a bellini for the longest time! My brother had stopped by the house so I hitched a ride with him to Cactus he was heading out to Surrey to meet his friends but he ended up coming in for a few beers. His friends weren't quite ready yet and he had an hour or so before he could head out there. Everyone got along great and there were some really interesting conversations at the table. Of course, my brother was not giving us his full attention cos there were way too many hot waitresses on the floor! After dinner, a couple of bellinis and a few smokes later, we decided to head over to Commercial drive. I made reservations for 9.00pm and we still had a bit of time before our reservations so we decided to go have some dessert, gelato of course! We walked up Commercial drive to this new gelato place and they all ordered gelato but I did not (too full from the bellinis!) and we slowly walked back to the restaurant. They had to finish their gelato before heading in cos I'm pretty sure you can't bring food into the restaurant. Once we got inside, I realized we got one of the best tables in the restaurant! A table right beside the huge open windows looking out on to the drive. Easy access for smoke breaks! Just a hop over ;-) Wow, how nice was that?!?! Everyone had a great time, lots of dancing, drinking and enjoying each other's company. Charly's friends are really nice and so much fun! Although, the sangria was a disappointment and the owner was a bit rude cos he didn't come by our table to greet us or thank us for coming. But when I did finally speak to him (closer to the end of the night and he was pretty wasted!), he did not take the criticism too well when I told him the sangria needed more work! But besides those minor mishaps, we all had a great time, enjoyed the music, the dancing and the good company! Even though I don't dance (esp to Latin), it was nice to have Ivan teaching me some moves on the dance floor. I need to learn to loosen my hips and maybe after a couple more dances, I'll get the hang of it. Or I could take some dance lessons at the community centre :) It was very nice to meet Ada and Ivan and we are def going to do this again but it's too bad I won't be coming back to the LQ. The band is fantastic and the atmosphere (generally) quite relaxed and friendly. Ada mentioned a Latino cruise (in July) so I might go with her cos that sounds like a lot of fun even though I am a bit terrified of the water. But for now, I really enjoy little places like this and it's too bad that I will have to look for another place like the LQ. But I am sure I'll find something, Vancouver is full of small and fun restaurants like this!

Enjoy the photos and YES I really did have a blast!!!

JapaDog!

I finally had a japadog today! I have been wanting one of these for the longest time but Ben and I made a pact, we would have it together and we both just haven't been available until today!!! It really is as good as it sounds! I had the Terimayo Japadog....mmmmm...beef dog with japanese mayo with teriyaki sauce, fried onions and shredded nori (seaweed). Delish! Can't wait to have another one :)

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!!

Baking

Today, I spent the day with Rhoda, my BFF :) It is always so nice to spend the day with her even though we see each other on a daily basis cos we work a block away from each other. But on the weekend, it's a bit more personal cos during the work week, we only get about an hour to talk and shop. In the afternoon, she had a dress fitting on Hastings street for Ash's wedding (she's a bridesmaid) and after she was fitted, she came by to pick me up and we headed off to Richmond Centre. She needed to pick up a few more items for the ring pillows, she is making those for Ash/Kent and Cho/Susanna 's weddings. We walked around Richmond Centre for a bit, she found some of the crafty items and we quickly stopped in to check out the awesome sale at Costa Blanca. Gosh, did we ever score some great deals! Lowest ticket price was an additional 50% off!! I picked up a dressy teal top and long sleeved black blazer for under $20!! After we walked around the entire mall, we headed over to Langley Farm Market (which is located outside, no access from the mall) to pick up some fresh fruits before heading back into Vancouver. I picked up another great deal, 3 ripe bags of strawberries for $3.00!! I didn't mind that they were ripe cos I planned on using them for baking and smoothies. Once we got home, I started dinner (quick stirfry with brown rice) and Rhoda went upstairs to visit my mom for a bit while I cooked. After dinner, we took a look over the strawberries and it seemed most of them were pretty solid, very few mushy ones. We chopped the stawberries and mashed some bananas and we made up a new muffin recipe! Strawberry banana muffins. Mmmm.. they were good except that I over filled the muffin tin, overbaked them by 5 minutes and need to add some spices to the mix. Overall, it was a wonderful day and I love baking esp with my BFF :) Enjoy the photos!

Harrods

Thanks Jas for bringing back a limited edition Harrods shopping bag for me! I love it!

I haven't seen Jas since she's been back from London which is 2 weeks! Wow, I can't believe how fast time goes by!! We decided to meet up for dinner as it's Friday night and I like heading out for dinner on Fridays or ordering take out. We wanted to try the new Cactus Club at Bentall 5 but they do not take reservations and when I was there to put our name on the list, we would have to wait 1 hour before getting a table! That's crazy and not worth it!! It's freaking Cactus Club!!! We decided to head over to Joeys on Burrard instead and that was a good choice cos I really wanted to try the apple pie. Mmmm apple pie. After dinner, we headed over to Louis Vuitton boutique cos I told Jas there was a price drop in the luxury items and she wanted to take a look. It's like a sale! How can one resist picking up a most wanted item?? I know what I want..... Monogram Vernis Rosewood in the deep dark purple $890 (price dropped $50!!)

After Louis Vuitton, we headed over to MAC Cosmetics cos they were having a 15% discount on all the products for family and friends until Sunday. She picked up a new lipstick and although I could use some more makeup, I had already picked up my items on Thursday with Rhoda. After MAC, we walked over to PC to check out what was left from the Browns and Holt Renfrew's shoe sales, she picked up a really cute pair of flats (and comfy!) for under $200! I am thinking about buying a decent pair of flats... oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm breaking down and buying a pair of flats! But they will have to be nice flats, good ones not the cheap shoes. After shopping, we decided to call it a night as we were both pretty tired from the work week. It was so nice to finally catch up with Jas!