hmmm, i'm still not really in the christmas spirit. i'm not sure why though...we've been at metrotown 3 times this past week doing all of our shopping (that's enuf to turn anyone into the grinch!). we had our office party at the beginning of december. the chocolates have been arriving on a (almost) daily basis for the office. we had our cookie exchange, and i baked more goodies last night, with more to come later today. christmas eve dinner, and christmas lunch and dinner are all lined up.
oh well, i have a few more hours of work to get through today and then hopefully i'll be in the spirit of the holiday season. right now i'm actually feeling that sense of dread...it's similar to packing up for a big trip...like i've forgotten something important. as far as i know, i've bought all the presents i needed to buy, i've got treats to take to chris' aunt's house and my parents. i'm not sure what i could've forgotten! i guess there's not much i can do about it now!
merry christmas everyone!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
gifts, gifts, gifts
if you're looking for a last-minute stocking stuffer, or a gift for someone that you just don't know what to buy, i have the perfect gift!
"change the world for ten bucks" is a great book full of 50 ideas on how to make your life better, including ways to help the environment. it's not a "preach-y" type book that's all up in your face and telling you how horrible you are for using plastic bags (i'm guilty!)...instead, it gently suggests alternatives to current habits. (at least when i go to superstore, i re-use the plastic bags i already have at home!) not only that, but it has funny little anecdotes to lighten the mood/subject. for $10 (or $9.50 if you have an irewards card), it makes a great gift. i've already given 3 away! the only reason i discovered this great book is because i received it as a gift yesterday :-)
in addition to receiving this book, i've been bombarded with starbucks gift cards. i'm doing my part, and will be buying a travel mug so i can help reduce cup wastage.
and this christmas i bought myself a present :-) knee-high boots! i've been looking for boots (leather, pointy toe, skinny low heel) for years and years, and just when i'd almost given up i went to feet first at metrotown. i was crushed when i encountered the usual problem...i can't zip'em up past my calves. however, this store was different...the salesgirl told me that the leather can be stretched by their leather-stretching machine! what?! that's the first time any store has offered to do that as i face this problem repeatedly. so i left my boots for a couple days and voila! i have knee-high boots that i can zip up! it's gonna be a merry christmas after all!
"change the world for ten bucks" is a great book full of 50 ideas on how to make your life better, including ways to help the environment. it's not a "preach-y" type book that's all up in your face and telling you how horrible you are for using plastic bags (i'm guilty!)...instead, it gently suggests alternatives to current habits. (at least when i go to superstore, i re-use the plastic bags i already have at home!) not only that, but it has funny little anecdotes to lighten the mood/subject. for $10 (or $9.50 if you have an irewards card), it makes a great gift. i've already given 3 away! the only reason i discovered this great book is because i received it as a gift yesterday :-)
in addition to receiving this book, i've been bombarded with starbucks gift cards. i'm doing my part, and will be buying a travel mug so i can help reduce cup wastage.
and this christmas i bought myself a present :-) knee-high boots! i've been looking for boots (leather, pointy toe, skinny low heel) for years and years, and just when i'd almost given up i went to feet first at metrotown. i was crushed when i encountered the usual problem...i can't zip'em up past my calves. however, this store was different...the salesgirl told me that the leather can be stretched by their leather-stretching machine! what?! that's the first time any store has offered to do that as i face this problem repeatedly. so i left my boots for a couple days and voila! i have knee-high boots that i can zip up! it's gonna be a merry christmas after all!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
meet frankie!
for 1 week, nugget and frankie were on a puppyswap. PADS tries to swap the dogs into completely different environments - nugget went to live in a house w/an older couple who don't work and have 2 cats, while frankie came to live in our petless condo, commute on skytrain and accompany me to work. i have to admit i wasn't looking forward to my first swap, but after we brought frankie home we realized that he and nugget were like twins from different mothers! they both love to cuddle on the floor, they both sleep a lot, and they're both super-mellow (nugget's a bit more excite-able). all-in-all, it was a great swap and us raisers were happy to have our little boys back.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
perhaps
it's been a pretty busy week...attended the office holiday party, took my family out for dinner, attended the PADS volunteer christmas party, 2 trips to the doggy park, celebrated sandra's birthday, attended the canucks vs. pittsburgh game, dinner at blue water cafe...yet nothing has really inspired me to write anything. i even have a lot to look forward to this coming week...class at metrotown and the puppyswap, dinner w/bal & sati, cookie exchange, debbie's bday, canucks vs. new jersey.
...perhaps it's the anticipation that we're sending nugget to another puppyraiser tonight, and getting frankie in return. i hope my boy behaves himself, and i really hope frankie doesn't get too stressed out w/us!!
...perhaps it's the realization that christmas is 2 weeks away and i still have 90% of my shopping to do! at least i've got my mom's present taken care of...she's the most difficult to shop for :P
...perhaps it's knowing that every day we're getting one day closer to saying goodbye to nugget forever. in less than 2 months he'll be back at pads being assessed to determine his future. in a way it still seems far off, but thinking how fast the past 4 months have gone by, it'll be over in a blink.
...perhaps i really do know the reason for my lack of inspiration. whoever said knowledge is power obviously didn't know as much as i know.
anyhoo...back to work. back to life. back to just plain old being me.
...perhaps it's the anticipation that we're sending nugget to another puppyraiser tonight, and getting frankie in return. i hope my boy behaves himself, and i really hope frankie doesn't get too stressed out w/us!!
...perhaps it's the realization that christmas is 2 weeks away and i still have 90% of my shopping to do! at least i've got my mom's present taken care of...she's the most difficult to shop for :P
...perhaps it's knowing that every day we're getting one day closer to saying goodbye to nugget forever. in less than 2 months he'll be back at pads being assessed to determine his future. in a way it still seems far off, but thinking how fast the past 4 months have gone by, it'll be over in a blink.
...perhaps i really do know the reason for my lack of inspiration. whoever said knowledge is power obviously didn't know as much as i know.
anyhoo...back to work. back to life. back to just plain old being me.
Monday, December 03, 2007
spice up your life!
oh my god...my ears are still muffled! last night i went to the spice girls concert with my workmate, taleen. i have to admit that i thoroughly enjoyed myself and it's the first concert that i actually stood through from start to finish. my poor feet were killing me in my stupid-old boots...darn crappy weather! the girls were looking in fantastic shape, and while they're not known for their stellar dance moves (except maybe scary spice!) , they still managed to do some booty-shaking. i didn't do a stroll down memory lane before i went to the concert and i actually surprised myself by still knowing most of the lyrics. and of course, who can forget the choreography to "Stop"?! i had a blast :-)
one ironic thing i noted...for a group who created "girl power", all their back-up dancers were boys (albeit, i think more than a few of them were gay), and from what i could tell, their band members were also of the male variety. interesting, no?
all-in-all, i got what i wanted, what i really really wanted :-)
one ironic thing i noted...for a group who created "girl power", all their back-up dancers were boys (albeit, i think more than a few of them were gay), and from what i could tell, their band members were also of the male variety. interesting, no?
all-in-all, i got what i wanted, what i really really wanted :-)
Thursday, November 29, 2007
nugget's bald spot
so i had a pretty rough weekend shopping in seattle (yah, right!), but on his mini-break nugget also had a rough time. when i picked him up on sunday, we noticed a patch of blood on his head. turns out he got bit by one of the other PADS dogs. they cleaned it up for him, and we headed (no pun intended!) home. well, as the evening progressed nugget's head started swelling, as did his left ear, and he was lethargic...i couldn't even entice him to play w/his new toys i got at target. that's when we knew something was wrong.
on monday afternoon i took nugget to the vet, where they indeed confirmed the bite on his head (duh!). and to be safe, they shaved the top of his head so the wound could be further checked out and disinfected. after a quick penicilin shot, a medicated cream for the hole, and some antibiotics we were on our way home.
nugget is pretty resilient, and he was almost back to his normal self on tuesday. he's still sensitive about his head, but at least he's playing with his new toy...which is actually almost destroyed :P so now everyone on our commute is inquiring about him...we travel at the same time every day, so we generally see the same people and now everyone's concerned for nugget. it's sweet, but also very annoying :P 'sides, nugget's a big bully so he probably deserved the bite on his head. ha!
on monday afternoon i took nugget to the vet, where they indeed confirmed the bite on his head (duh!). and to be safe, they shaved the top of his head so the wound could be further checked out and disinfected. after a quick penicilin shot, a medicated cream for the hole, and some antibiotics we were on our way home.
nugget is pretty resilient, and he was almost back to his normal self on tuesday. he's still sensitive about his head, but at least he's playing with his new toy...which is actually almost destroyed :P so now everyone on our commute is inquiring about him...we travel at the same time every day, so we generally see the same people and now everyone's concerned for nugget. it's sweet, but also very annoying :P 'sides, nugget's a big bully so he probably deserved the bite on his head. ha!
Monday, November 26, 2007
black friday, sleepy saturday
what a weekend!
thursday night...after a 1.5 hour wait at the peace arch border, we arrived at our hotel in lynnwood. a short rest later, we were back on the road to the seattle premium outlets for midnight madness! the #1 store for us was banana republic, where the entire store was 40% off. i thought i was a lucky shopper when i found 5 different items to buy. considering how busy black friday is for retailers, it was surprising to find out that they accept exchanges/returns that day. so we decided to buy right away, and try on later in the day, and then do our returns (if any) afterwards. my #2 store was kenneth cole where everything was 30% off. i lucked out and found 2 great tops. thanks to coordination, pris was my line-up stand-in :-) after hitting a few more stores at the outlets, we headed back to our hotel at 2:30 a.m.
friday...we were up bright and early for target's opening. unfortunately, arriving at 6:30 a.m. was far too late...the line-up to pay was snaking up and down the aisles...we could've been there for 3 hours just in the line-up :P needless to say, van spared us the pain and we left right away. one of the great things about our hotel was that a hot buffet breakfast was included, so i got my fill of bacon, eggs and sausages. yum! after breakfast we headed out to alderwood mall. we fared a bit better at this mall...and we all walked away with purchases. even though there weren't too many sales, with the exchange rate on par, it was totally worth it. it was such a long day (and night before) that i was absolutely exhausted and went to sleep at 8 p.m....i just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer :-(
saturday...we went to university village, target, cascade mall, and the burlington outlets for more shopping! the US has so many amazing stores, we were just in heaven. we discovered "storables" and "the land of nod"...all 3 of us bought stuff at those 2 stores...so much fun! we managed to get a lot of shopping done at a variety of places over a 48 hours period.
and now my mastercard is taking a much-needed break :-) well, at least until i can hit the malls for the rest of my christmas shopping!
thursday night...after a 1.5 hour wait at the peace arch border, we arrived at our hotel in lynnwood. a short rest later, we were back on the road to the seattle premium outlets for midnight madness! the #1 store for us was banana republic, where the entire store was 40% off. i thought i was a lucky shopper when i found 5 different items to buy. considering how busy black friday is for retailers, it was surprising to find out that they accept exchanges/returns that day. so we decided to buy right away, and try on later in the day, and then do our returns (if any) afterwards. my #2 store was kenneth cole where everything was 30% off. i lucked out and found 2 great tops. thanks to coordination, pris was my line-up stand-in :-) after hitting a few more stores at the outlets, we headed back to our hotel at 2:30 a.m.
friday...we were up bright and early for target's opening. unfortunately, arriving at 6:30 a.m. was far too late...the line-up to pay was snaking up and down the aisles...we could've been there for 3 hours just in the line-up :P needless to say, van spared us the pain and we left right away. one of the great things about our hotel was that a hot buffet breakfast was included, so i got my fill of bacon, eggs and sausages. yum! after breakfast we headed out to alderwood mall. we fared a bit better at this mall...and we all walked away with purchases. even though there weren't too many sales, with the exchange rate on par, it was totally worth it. it was such a long day (and night before) that i was absolutely exhausted and went to sleep at 8 p.m....i just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer :-(
saturday...we went to university village, target, cascade mall, and the burlington outlets for more shopping! the US has so many amazing stores, we were just in heaven. we discovered "storables" and "the land of nod"...all 3 of us bought stuff at those 2 stores...so much fun! we managed to get a lot of shopping done at a variety of places over a 48 hours period.
here's what we've learned:
- the midnight madness deals may not be worth the trouble. none of us got doorcrasher deals that couldn't wait until "regular" hours.
- staying in lynnwood was a great idea, since we were travelling between tulalip and the university area.
- vanessa can estimate shopping time like nobody's business! thanks to her spreadsheet we managed to hit everywhere we wanted and we all got what we needed.
- for 3 girls, my car was just the right size after all our shopping was done. my trunk was completely stuffed! any more people, and we would've needed a minivan!
and now my mastercard is taking a much-needed break :-) well, at least until i can hit the malls for the rest of my christmas shopping!
Thursday, November 22, 2007
black friday
oh my god. it's finally time...priscilla, vanessa and i are heading to seattle tonight after work for some serious shopping!! i'm so ridiculously excited, i might pee in my pants :P
nugget's mini-break has been arranged, the travel/shopping route is planned out, the hotel is booked, midnight madness sales are highlighted in yellow along with my shopping list...i don't think we've missed anything! well, except for some much-needed sleep :P i'm going to run on adrenaline for the next 2 days...i can crash on sunday night :-)
so much shopping to do in 48 hours...i can't wait! see ya sucka's!
nugget's mini-break has been arranged, the travel/shopping route is planned out, the hotel is booked, midnight madness sales are highlighted in yellow along with my shopping list...i don't think we've missed anything! well, except for some much-needed sleep :P i'm going to run on adrenaline for the next 2 days...i can crash on sunday night :-)
so much shopping to do in 48 hours...i can't wait! see ya sucka's!
Friday, November 16, 2007
nugget's a big boy now!
happy birthday to you!
happy birthday to you!
happy birthday dear nugget!
happy birthday to you!
my boy is growing up...today we celebrated his 1st birthday! he had a special pupcake for lunch, which funny enough, he licked off the icing first, then proceeded to eat the cake :-) his special treat was bought at big dog little dog bakery. the halloween cookie was a treat from a pads staff member last week, also from the bakery :-)
(i made the dog bone-shaped cookies...a little something for our office to enjoy!)
Thursday, November 08, 2007
it's finally happened...
...i've met a spa i didn't like. being the spa-junkie i am, i thought i'd never see this day :P
on november 3 (after much planning and discussing), vanessa, priscilla, dawn and i were spending the day together for our DOF (day of fun - aka, celebrating our 30th birthdays). we started off at 11 a.m. for brunch at elixir. the restaurant was very quiet, only a few other diners, and it was wonderful. i really enjoyed my smoked sablefish hash, and while it wasn't completely filling (and i appreciate the server warning me in advance), it did allow me room for cheesecake for dessert :-) mmmm!
since we were in yaletown we did a bit of window shopping before heading to south granville. this day was about trying different things, so we had appointments at miraj hammam, a middle eastern spa. as soon as we arrived, we were taken into the co-ed changing rooms (no men were present when we arrived), showered, and wrapped in our sarongs. the 4 of us hopped into our private steam room and steamed for (what seemed like) a really long time. it wasn't just your average steam room...no no no, this room was hotter than hot! and it was infused w/citrus-y fragrances. i'm very funny...i don't like heat, but i love to suntan; i don't like saunas but i love hot tubs. anyhoo, this steam room was so steamy you couldn't see more than a foot in front of your face, and it was incredibly hot. after about 10 minutes, my body had adjusted to the intense heat. one-by-one we were taken out of the steam room and had our exfoliation treatments. did i mention we were naked?! um yah. that was definitely different.
after the exfoliation, we were taken into private rooms for our massage or facial treatments. by this time, i had a headache...not a good sign :( the facialist was hoping that a temple massage might help, but alas it didn't. then i thought the sweet tea and cookie might make me feel better, but no such luck. i did manage to sneak in a quick little nap in the relaxation lounge! unfortunately my day came to an end shortly afterwards...i was feeling quite ill by then and headed home. good thing too, because i got sick shortly after :-( i was terribly upset because i missed out on dinner at sanafir.
stupid spa...made me sick. i'm never going there again. i even kept myself hydrated. i had exercised in the morning and had about 3 cups of water and then in the steam room i drank more water to keep myself cool. such a shame. the others were fine, so it was just me who suffered. so sad. well, at least i can say i tried something different, out of my usual comfort zone.
on november 3 (after much planning and discussing), vanessa, priscilla, dawn and i were spending the day together for our DOF (day of fun - aka, celebrating our 30th birthdays). we started off at 11 a.m. for brunch at elixir. the restaurant was very quiet, only a few other diners, and it was wonderful. i really enjoyed my smoked sablefish hash, and while it wasn't completely filling (and i appreciate the server warning me in advance), it did allow me room for cheesecake for dessert :-) mmmm!
since we were in yaletown we did a bit of window shopping before heading to south granville. this day was about trying different things, so we had appointments at miraj hammam, a middle eastern spa. as soon as we arrived, we were taken into the co-ed changing rooms (no men were present when we arrived), showered, and wrapped in our sarongs. the 4 of us hopped into our private steam room and steamed for (what seemed like) a really long time. it wasn't just your average steam room...no no no, this room was hotter than hot! and it was infused w/citrus-y fragrances. i'm very funny...i don't like heat, but i love to suntan; i don't like saunas but i love hot tubs. anyhoo, this steam room was so steamy you couldn't see more than a foot in front of your face, and it was incredibly hot. after about 10 minutes, my body had adjusted to the intense heat. one-by-one we were taken out of the steam room and had our exfoliation treatments. did i mention we were naked?! um yah. that was definitely different.
after the exfoliation, we were taken into private rooms for our massage or facial treatments. by this time, i had a headache...not a good sign :( the facialist was hoping that a temple massage might help, but alas it didn't. then i thought the sweet tea and cookie might make me feel better, but no such luck. i did manage to sneak in a quick little nap in the relaxation lounge! unfortunately my day came to an end shortly afterwards...i was feeling quite ill by then and headed home. good thing too, because i got sick shortly after :-( i was terribly upset because i missed out on dinner at sanafir.
stupid spa...made me sick. i'm never going there again. i even kept myself hydrated. i had exercised in the morning and had about 3 cups of water and then in the steam room i drank more water to keep myself cool. such a shame. the others were fine, so it was just me who suffered. so sad. well, at least i can say i tried something different, out of my usual comfort zone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
