Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Whistler!

I finally, finally made it to Whistler for a great day of snowboarding! It turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day with 20cm's of fresh pow and patches of sunlight! My legs were like unto jello once we finally met up with Mike's work friends for a brewski at the bottom, and I had a great time! Pricey- yes. Worth it "once in a while"? Totally.

One of the more memorable events of the day was skiing the Blackcomb glacier/bowl. It was a heck of a treck up after you take the T-bar, and then it was so coudy once we got into the bowl - with no reference points to speak of - that I nearly got "car-sick"! You could board down the bowl but not know how fast your were going, or even really see shadows in the snow directly underneath you. Add in that it was fluffy, soft powder, and it felt like you were floating in clouds! Crazy run! It ended - of course - in me 'gracefully' cartwheeling head first on the bottom, flat section. I'm thankful I was wearing my hemlet!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

MOAR PHOTOS!

This is getting to be more like a Facebook album than a blog, but I have enjoyed sharing! Here's some more pictures I found on my phone:

stumbled upon a free event at the Mint store for Chinese New Year and got to strike my own coin! I look AWESOME!

weird sound chair at Granville Island. There's a harp on the back of the seat and you're supposed to feel the sound vibrations. double awesome.

Triple awesome? Me and a co-worker making the best of a very long and boring wait with a patient at another hospital. Think: tape unibrow and blue hairnet beard. yes....

This is How I Know

I've got an important meeting today, and even though I'm positive I know the outcome I'm still nervous (new people, new situation, the unexpected and unprepared for...).

You know what made me feel instantly better?

Singing along to the RENT soundtrack.

Saturday, March 3, 2012

So much cooking!

Just one more post today, I promise! Lately, I've been taking pictures of my endeavours in culinary exploration!

Just after Christmas, it was pie-making time! I used Aunt Lenora's "Never Fail" pastry recipe.
The secret was to use as many different kinds of apples as I could find - some tart, some sweet, some that got mushy when baked, and some that stayed firm...

Rolling the pastry is my least favourite part...always messy, and occasionally the make-or break  moment for the suvvess of the pie!
I'd also found an apple corer, which make the chopping go my much quicker! See how many apples  used! over-flowing! But, I do love a giant, mountain-like pie!

Aside from the eating bit, this is easilty my favourite part. The baking, and the smelling. om-nom!
One must donn swim goggles before chopping onions for seafood chowder, friends!
A pirate's booty worth of seafood for the chowder!
And bacon!

though I may have let the pot boil over...oops. Still tasted good!
The secret to Mike's birthday cake - I cut little holes (using that apple corer I bought for the pie) to stick cherries into! Genius! Slather in Amaretto whipped cream an top with another layer of chocolate cake!
 
The finished Black Forest Cake! The butterflies are a special addition just for Mike (on his own, half-asleep request!)

Seattle Trip!

Did I also mention that I went to Seattle way back in January? I hitched a ride with my brother, and toured around by foot for a day. Mostly I stayed at the public market, but I did eat some great food and stopped by two Starbucks'! The first one was the "Original" Starbucks, and though the line was loooooong, I didn't mind at all. In fact, my barista was thoroughly chatty and helped me navigate my rudimentary map while I waited for a steaming hot latte. yum!

We stopped at Tim's before the border crossing. New Tim's latte = not delicious.
Did some knitting for a baby project during the long drive there and back!
Visited the copper pig!
Spent most of my time here! I even brought home a delicious Sockeye Salmon, which of course had been thrown around first!

Picture Post! : Central Canada Trip - Ottawa

Our third and final stop was to Ottawa for 4 nights! I was all prepped and ready to skate on the Rideau Canal (having packed my skates in my suitcase the whole trip!), eat a Beaver Tail, and take in the Nation's Capital with my sweetie-pie! My head cold had also almost completely resolved, so I was excited when the train pulled into the station.



the Peace Tower and Parliament on the far left  and the Rideau canal and locks in front of us.



The Library of Parliament. When Parliament library burnt to a crisp a hundred years ago, some smart staffer closed the doors to the library and it was the only thig left standing!
Statue of former PM Lester Pearson. We liked that he was chillin out in a sturdy desk chair.
View from the bridge from Gatineau Québec looking towards Ottawa. The Peace tower and the giant Canadian flag are in the middle!
War memorial across the street from Parliament

we took the elevator up the Peace Tower - that's Gatinau across the bridge!
We took a tour of parliament, too! fancy! (we took the tour the day after we'd already been in the viewer's gallery for question period, which was quite fun!

The Seat of Government. Too bad  the weather was consistently grey while we were there...

...grey and much warmer than Montréal. The Canal was closed to skating. I was sad.
So we went to the Museum of Civilization instead. Exhibit in the kids' area about world transportation.  It's a Thai Tuk tuk!

I managed to find a car in the Robert Munsch Exhibit! The map on the car shows vancouver, but Guelph - both my and Munsch's hometown - was in large, bold letters! yay!
Old-timey school exhibit. School wasn't thrilling at the turn of the century, either. Although, I did hear a teenage girl say "man, I wish we had seats like this now - these ones are sooo much more comfortable." I have my doubts.
We also spotted a statue that we've all seen many times before! Michael played "match-up" wonderfully!
Winterlude was also running while we were there...though with the warmer weather the ice-sculpures didn't fair well...

I liked to imagine what they looked like originally...like ancient, worm down statues!

Me, on the Rideau locks!

And I visited my aunt while we were in town! It was great to see her, and we took her out one night for Mexican and a pitcher of Sangria! woo-eee! (she's also an expert knitter and therefore one of my personal heroes!)
 And that was that! We had a great time out East, though we've both decided that Ottawa and Montréal might be better visited in Summer (unless we were to come back to skate the canal). Honestly, after being sick for most of the trip I was happy to come home to my own bed and a familiar bathroom. Plus, our shoes were quite salty from the eastern road management tactics. All-in-all...fun!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Picture Post! : Central Canada Trip - Montreal

By Via Rail, the next stop on our trip was Montreal. C-c-c-cold! Apparently we hit Monréal just as the first cold snap settled in. Thank goodness the head cold I'd been incubating was beginning to clear up, because I needed all my energy to keep warm as we investigated the city! Far easier to navigate in English, we stumbled around  the city, eager to run into new and exciting things!

Montreal! Cold, but sunny!
Old Montréal with cobbled streets. This building on the left is, in fact, a mall!
We visited a museum housed in an old fire hall. Here's Mike learning things.
  
The man who holds the numbers...
 The image above and the next few are from an exhibit I found most interesting. Lost Neighbourhoods explains that in the 50's and 60's, the city of Montréeal was keen on urban renewal - larger roads, prettier subdivisions.... But where to start? Something would need to be demolished to make way. Start with the slums. And they did. But they needed to catalogue everything, first. People living in these neighbourhoods had no idea what was coming, but for a time, and interesting man came around with a stack of numbers and a camera...
Photos illuminated on a light-board. They were set up in a little corridor on both sides.
#209. I've just thought these images were so unusual  for cataloguing purposes - many of which seemed to depict people going about their daily life, completely oblivious to the fact that the place they were standing would be completely flattened some time later.
#33. Woman doing the dishes.
#40. Artist in studio. I don't know if this picture captures the space or the people in them better...
#49. A boy and his father...at work. Businesses weren't immune, either. And the kid looks so happy to have his photo taken!
This also somehow made its way into the collection at the museum. oh dear.
Later, we went for food at 'Schwartz's Montréal Hebrew Delicatessen' for a big, fat, smoked meat sandwich. Tiny deli, but awesome guys behind the bar.
It was delicious. (in this image: remnants of sandwich with mustard and the 1/2 inch piece of bread that was the bottom of the sandwich, coleslaw, and a cherry coke)
Over at Ile Sainte Helene and the Expo '67 grounds, I found a sasquatch snow carving!
...and Michael found the giant geodisic dome, known today as the Montréal Biosphere which houses a pretty cool environmental conservation centre. (there used to be plexi glass, but it caught fire a long time ago. I had fun imagining a giant ball of flames!)
"ski hill" at the island, too.
The Tour de Levis on the island. I imagined this was the inspiration for old fairy-tales!
Team picture! That's Montréal in the background
They have a Snow Village, though it doesn't compare to the one in Québec. Sure, it's pretty on the inside, but the outside ain't nothing to look at...
Inside, Mike made me sit on the little ice-chair. Throne hog.
Mike's favourite room.
and Mike's favourite ice-chair.
The ice restaurant was pretty cool, though. Don't tell anyone, but it was closed and I snuck in while nobody was looking...
We hiked up Mount Royal one evening! (I made it the whole way despite decreased lung capacity due to lingering headcold - and with thanks to Mike for not leaving me behind! so. many. steps.)
This was actually at the Biosphere - sustainable couture, and this dress is in a fridge because it's made from salmon skin. Oh, but I'd be the talk of any dinner party wearing this!
and for some reason each piece was accompanied by a celebrity energy conservation...thing. This is Rick Mercer's recycled pill bottle.
Dress made from old books!
...and Strombo's motorcycle battery?
We went kayaking, too.
This picture was in no way staged indoors.
So. Montréal was fun! and cold. This bike was left behind...stuck tight in the ice. I don't know why he bothered to lock it up.