Of Wonky Knees

Hola Bloggies! I say it's time we get caught up . . .

Running Towards a Half - An Update

You'll probably have noticed that there's been a dearth of running updates in the last week. That's because I started having some knee issues. :o(

In about a week and a half ago I noticed that most of my runs were ending with extreme knee pain. Not only that but it was swelling quite a bit too! Worried about injuries I gave myself a week off from running. In that time I kept up with my weight training (although no squatting or lunging was involved) and stretched things out.

On Sunday I went for a run with the fiance. The plan was to run to the video store (return some rentals) and run back. In total this should have been just shy of 3 miles. I thought it would make a good first run back.

I started off and although stiff I kept going. Then the knee pain started. Of course I decided it was just discomfort and ran through it. Then it got worse. First there was what felt like a pull or a tear behind the knee. More pain and more convincing myself I could keep on going. Then my body decided it needed to take more urgent action to get me to walk. So the tear/pull feeling was kind of huge the second time. I limped the rest of the way home (ran 2.25 miles). :o(

I woke up with a fair amount of leg pain yesterday so I made an emergency physio appointment. Turns out my left knee tends to go inwards. As in it's not so stable (something about my hip being weak and my left foot being flatter than the right). Apparently this is causing my hamstrings to work extra hard to try to stabilize my knee and hence why things are pulling.

Physio lady said I wouldn't have noticed it except that I started running more often. I'm under Dr.'s orders to take it easy. Stretch the leg twice a day, ice twice a day, and run only lightly. I've also been told to make the pain my guide. If I feel pain I have to stop.

So there you have it . . . I think I will head out for a light run tonight and see where that gets me! :o)

Eats - Breakie!

And quickly before I head to work . . .

This was my breakie! An oatmeal pancake (no flour!) smothered in lingonberry sauce. Avec a glass of coconut water. This stuff is yummy! It's also super high in electrolytes so it would be a great recovery drink.

I'm off to work! I just have to make it past today 'cause tomorrow is Canada Day!!!!!!!! Which means I get a day off! As a bonus it looks like there's a rafting trip a brewing!!! Sooo excited! :o)

A Homemade Granola Bar Recipe

Yup that's right! It's time for the long awaited granola bar recipe. Seems all you girlies couldn't wait to get your hands on it! lol

But first let's cover the eats . . .

Eats

Today ended up being an unexpectedly carb-y day. I didn't mean it to be but when I woke up I had few groceries so I threw together something quick with what I had in my cupboards.

Enter whole-wheat pancakes with a small smear of lingonberry sauce on top.

You say you've never tried lingonberry on pancakes? I have to confess I find nothing yummier on pancakes than lingonberry sauce. It's a bit like cranberry sauce but about a million times better. :oP

This would have been a fantastic breakfast except that I forgot I was heading to a brilliant Italian restaurant for lunch. Their menu at that time of day is almost exclusively pasta so I really ought to have stayed away from pancakes at breakfast. Oh well. What's done is done - but boy were they yummy!

Lunch started off with a Caesar salad. It was to have been a bocconcini and tomato salad but they ran out. So I agreed to have another salad instead:

Not bad but I look forward to having my regular salad next time. And it looks like next time will be next Friday so I won't have long to wait. :o)

For my main course I had a lovely veal stuffed tortellini in a garlic tomato sauce with vodka and mushrooms. On top was some freshly grated Parmesan and freshly ground pepper. The dish was much too large and I didn't get to finish it but man was it WONDERFUL!!!!

YUMMERS! :o)

I was stuffed long into the evening so I skipped out on a regular dinner. Instead I had a fruit smoothie while out with the fiance.

The fiance's food was much more photogenic so I thought I'd share that with you too:

That wrap is almost exclusively veggies. It's also a better value than Subway. I think we'll have to visit that resto again. Both the smoothie and the wrap got rave reviews!

A Homemade Granola Bar Recipe

This recipe makes some awesome bars. So awesome you'll never buy store bought again. But I can't take credit for it. It's based on a recipe found in Heidi Swanson's brilliant book "Super Natural Cooking."

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 1/4 cups rolled oats

1 1/4 cups chopped nuts (you can toast them in your oven if you wish)

1/2 cup oat bran

1 1/2 cup unsweetened crisp brown rice cereal (don't use the puffed kind)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut (you can toast this in your oven with the nuts if you wish)

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup brown rice syrup

1/4 cup natural cane sugar

1/2 cup of your nut butter of choice

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Optional Mix-Ins: Carob chips, chocolate chips, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, goji berries

1. Grease a baking pan with coconut oil. I use a 9x13 Pyrex pan.

2. Combine the brown rice syrup, sugar, nut butter, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Allow the mixture to come to a boil and thicken slightly.

3. Combine all other ingredients (including optional mix-ins) in a large bowl.

4. Pour the syrup mixture into oats and mix until everything is evenly incorporated.

5. Spread the mixture into a pan and allow to cool. Then cut into desired sizes.

It's a delicious recipe bloggers! I have to confess I've never been able to get a really solid bar (like the harder bars you buy at grocery stores) but I like my bars kind of chewy. :o)

Also, don't feel constrained by the ingredients. Just stick to the basics of the recipe and then feel free to play around. Make the granola bars your own! ENJOY!!

Happy Eats Friends!

Thank-You for the Music

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

Today the world lost a musical genius . . . a performer like no other. I was genuinely heartbroken to hear of Michael Jackson's sudden death. He may have had his shortcomings but there is no denying his impact.

Michael Jackson's music and his dancing were a gift. Unfortunately by the time I was old enough to appreciate it all he'd stopped touring. I never gave up hope that I would get a chance to see him in concert. I always said I'd pay good money to see him - if I ever got the chance.

Michael's life was too short. Michael's life was tragic. But he left behind a wonderful legacy.

Thank-you for the music M.J. May you find in death the peace you did not have in life.

And in tribute - let's rock it old school style :o)





Eats

I've been plagued with some bad cramps for the last couple of days. As a result I didn't really eat dinner last night. In fact I fell asleep quite early. My body was achy and calling for rest.

Well this morning I woke up but not because my alarm went off. Nope. I was holding my alarm (my cell phone) and managed to sleep past some extended beeping. I only awoke when a neighbour honked a car horn!!!

You can imagine my surprise when I realized it was 8:25am. I am usually at work by 9!!! Eeek! lol Let's hope there are no repeats tomorrow morning.

But let's recap yesterday's lunch when I headed out to a local restaurant with some co-workers. Unfortunately, one of the support staff at our office has been laid off. Ironically, it's not because they are eliminating her job but rather because they are making it a position that requires more experience. The tasks aren't really changing - instead it's meant to protect the position in case of future cut-backs.

I will be sad to see her go but I was glad we got to at least take her out for a good-bye meal. For lunch I had a scallop/shrimp salad. The seafood was good but there was really way too little salad. It was more like what I would expect for a side salad. Clearly, these people haven't been introduced to my massive dinner salads. :oP

Here is my salad:


For dinner I randomly nibbled on a bit of cherries but not much else. I cut the night early and curled up in my PJs. In fact I can't tell you what time I woke up.

Breakfast this morning was hastily assembled for a trip to a local grocery store during my morning break:


That's a purchased granola bar (not one I made). But don't fret - I'll post the much requested homemade granola bar recipe tomorrow!!!! :o)

Today's lunch was another salad. This time from McDonald's. Yes. McDo. Turns out their new Mediterranean Salad is quite yummy. I paired it with a small apple juice (to settle my cramps and tummy) and McDonaldland cookies. Just because.

Don't judge! :oP lol They're yummy!


Dinner tonight was another salad. Ummm . . . I'm noticing a trend here! lol

This one was homemade and contained mixed herbs, cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons, goat's milk feta, and yellow peppers. Yummers!


That's a good looking salad! :o) I figure I'm not going to want to indulge in so many salads once the weather gets cold. So might as well get my fill while the getting is good.

Tomorrow I'm heading off to a nearby city for work. I'm kind of looking forward to lunch because they have an awesome Italian restaurant on the main street. It's fantabulous! A teeny tiny place with fresh pasta and wonderful ingredients.

Off to dream about tortellini :oP

Nighty Night!

Homemade Granola Bars in the AM

Not too long ago I held a blogger exchange with the wonderful Jenn from Eating Bender. One of the goodies she sent along was this brilliant book by Heidi Swanson: Supernatural Cooking

It's a great book! Not only for it's recipes but also because it teaches you so much about eating clean and gaining the benefits from super foods. My favourite recipe from the book is the one for homemade granola bars. I change it up a little (I'll post the recipe soon) but more or less stick to it's yummy basics.

This morning I woke up early and whipped up a batch of the bars! :o)

For breakfast I decided to utilize my yummy bars and crumble them into some non-fat plain yogurt.


Rather yummy! Although it would have been over the top with Oikos. lol Thankfully I'm heading down to Montana this Sunday and I intend to come back with a cooler full. I'm hard-core like that!


Enjoy your humpday!

I'm back bloggies!

So far this constantly updating the blog thing is working out rather well. Turns out it's way quicker and much less overwhelming than letting things build up. I think I found a new plan! :o)

Now for dinner . . .

Yummy, huh!? Yup! :o)

The other day I was at work and noticed that one of my co-workers went out and bought herself a whole roast chicken and some veggies. She then proceeded to assemble a delicious salad. BTW - and this is a total aside - have I mentioned she's done a couple of marathons? Two of them in Victoria (British Columbia) and the third at Boston. Oh and she qualified for Boston twice but was too busy being an awesome lawyer to run. She's cool beans.

Back to my story . . . the salad looked delicious and I was inspired! So tonight I decided to mimic her salad. But instead of buying grocery store roast chicken I made my own. To up the healthy/ethical/and expensive quotient I bought a free-range organic chicken and roasted it in the oven. It turned out delicious! In fact I've definitely noticed a difference in the quality of my chicken eats since I started buying only the good stuff. Yes it's more expensive but I feel like it's an investment in the happiness of the chicken (while it lived) and my health.

There's no going back now! :o)

My Happy Place

I've decided instead of posting huge entries about my Mexico trip I'm going to scatter pictures here and there.

Milamores in Tulum was full of wonderful details. I know it's the kind of place that isn't everybody's piece of cake but for me it was perfection. Take the breakfast area pictured above. Rustic wooden furniture . . . fresh flowers . . . the salty air . . . it was amazing!

Tulum may be far from the luxury of all-inclusives and the hustle and bustle of Cancun/Playa BUT it is close to wonderful places like the Tulum ruins (above). It's also located near about half a dozen cenotes.

A cenote is essentially a sink-hole. They are caves where underground rivers bubble to the surface. And they're gorgeous! Unfortunately I don't have a picture that shows just how amazing they are. But I borrowed one:

Having been to a cenote I can tell you the water really is that colour. They're also full of these little fishes that nibble on you a little. Oh and of course there are bats! But they don't hurt you. They just fly in and out and return to their little hiding places in the corners.

Our particular cenote (calavera) also had swallows nests. The swallows would swoop all over the place. Honestly it was incredible!!!

Anyone who knows me can tell you that I'm a bit of a chicken but I jumped right into this magical hole in the ground and LOVED it. Next time I'll bring an underwater camera with me. Maybe I'll even learn to dive so I can explore them even further.

Near Tulum you'll also find the Sian Ka'an biosphere reserve (a UNESCO World Heritage site). Sian Ka'an is where I discovered endless pristine beaches, massive untouched jungles, and lagoons teeming with wildlife.

The picture above is taken at the observation deck of the visitor centre. And you see that sweaty smirking girl in the picture? She's having the time of her life!!!! The views from up there take your breath away!

There's no way you could stand where I stood and not be moved by the absolute splendor of the place!!!

My time up there was much too short. MUCH too short. In fact I dream of the day I can return to Sian Ka'an.

I guess it should come as no surprise that there in Tulum. Amidst all that beauty. I found my happy place.

Rocking it Wild West Style

Top o' the morning to you bloggies!

So I've decided to try a fairly common approach to blogging. I'm going to blog my breakfast and a preview of my lunch eats before work. Then dinner and random stuff after work.

You see so often I want to blog but get so behind I end up needing a ton of time to get it done. I don't always have a ton of time but I do have bits and spurts here and there! :o) Hopefully this will help me stay on top of all the blogging I want to do.

If you read yesterday's post you remember that I mentioned the fiance and I took part in a photo shoot. Well it was Wild West style and done not too far from where I live. I dressed up like a bar maid and the fiance was cowboy.

It was loads of fun and I love how the pictures turned out!!!! :o)


Isn't it awesome? Here's another one - it's kind of blurry but my pose kind of kills me. Yup, I kill myself! lol


lol I'm holding a shot gun and fanning myself with money. Presumably stolen! lol Oh the irony! :oP

On to the eats . . . check out breakfast!


A bowlful of brown rice crisps, fresh strawberries (nothing beats fruits in season), a little bit of fat free yogurt, and maple flakes.

The flakes are a new product and I quite like them. But I think they kind of got lost in the cereal. I'll try them again. Maybe in tea or something more delicate.


As for lunch - I'm kind of drooling thinking about it! :oP lol


My main dish is a small amount of Shanghai noodles with free-range chicken, broccoli, and cremini mushrooms. All sauteed in a spicy oyster sauce! YUM! :o)

The other sides are sugar snap peas and a healthy amount of sweet in-season cherries. I kind of have a cherry problem so I love summer when you can get them (relatively) cheap.

Okay . . . off to work! Check in with you bloggies later!


Happy Tuesday friends!

A mi Papa (To my Dad)

It is no exaggeration to say my dad is my rock. He has always been (and always will be) a solid constant in my life.

I never had to worry. I always knew my dad would be there for me . . . no matter what.

He is a strong man. A man of great honour and wisdom. He's someone I admire and want to emulate.

I may not live close to him but I hope he knows how much he is loved. I hope God blesses him always!

I hope he has a Wonderful Father's Day!!! :o)

Running Towards a Half - Update

Wednesday - June 17th

Today was a cross-training day. My legs are still not feeling 100% so I kind of enjoyed the idea of being able to do yoga and weight train instead of going for a run.

Nonetheless I still wanted to get out there and run a bit so I incorporated a short loop around the neighborhood into my cross-training. It amounted to just slightly over a mile which was perfect.

PS: I felt strong during weight training. It was great!

Thursday - June 18th

Thursday I rested. Thursday was great. lol :oP

Friday - June 19th

It has been kind of stormy here lately. All of a sudden the winds will get howling and then the thunder/lightning and rain will stop.

Thursday was supposed to be a 2 mile run + strength training day. I had no choice but to bail on the run (the storm outside told me to) and concentrate on strength training and stretching instead.

I also spent some time icing my knees because I've noticed they're acting up again. In fact the left one in particular is swelling.

Saturday - June 20th

The fiance and I had a SUPER packed day. It was actually a lot of fun and we walked a ton!!! But we still found time to get a sunset run of 2.27 miles. My lungs and upper body felt good. But my knees were suffering. Big time.

I was so slow and I could tell. Kind of frustrating because I was working so hard to keep going. :o(

When we got home I took a ton of Vitamin C (for anti-inflammation) and iced my knee for a good long while. By this point the left knee was visibly swollen. I think I'm having IT band issues again.

Sunday - June 21st

Today was supposed to be a four miler. But my knee was still bothering me. I ran slightly over 3 miles and then called it quits.

At this point I'm afraid to aggravate things. In fact I think I will make an appointment to see the physio. It's probably okay enough that I could keep running (with some pain and discomfort) but I rather deal with the knee issues before they get out of control.

Wish me luck peeps!

That's it for now bloggies. Look for a new post tomorrow! I'll re-cap my weekend activities and show you the results of a super fun and super cute photo shoot the fiance and I participated in . . . I promise you'll love them! :o)

Sleep tight friends!!!

PS: That picture is of my dad holding my hand when I was a baby. All together now - awwwww :oP lol

Vacation Recap - The Food Post

It's time for what all of you foodies have been waiting for - the Greatest Hits of my Mexico eats! :o)

Are you ready?

LET'S GO!!!!!

These beauties are courtesy of the Westin Resort & Spa in Cancun. Basically it was a cheesecake but it was unlike any cheesecake I've ever had in my life!!! It was light. Very fluffy. Did I mention light?

If only I had the recipe! On second thought - it's probably a good thing I don't have the recipe! :oP hahahha

I still have NO idea what this drink was made of . . . but it was our welcome cocktail at the Hacienda Chichen and I downed it in a hurry! It was fruity and light. So what I needed in the sweltering jungle heat.

The waiter tried to explain what it was made of - apparently they used a leaf as the prime ingredient. He described it as similar to a spinach. In fact it looked a bit like a maple leaf. Must be some kind of jungle plant.

While in Mexico we visited a tiny little restaurant. Really it was a glorified shack. It was recommended to us by a local as totally yummy and totally genuine. And it did not disappoint! It was really good!

The highlight by far was the taco al pastor that I had. Above is a picture of the pork meat turning and getting moist and tender due to the pineapple on top.

Oh and when I say it was a shack I'm not really kidding. In fact as soon as we finished eating all three of us were seriously concerned that Montezuma would be paying us a visit. It's not that the place seemed dirty but the sauces and stuff were out and the flies were inevitably attracted. Plus we figured they'd used tap water to wash everything. Thankfully some healthy doses of vitamin C and digestive enzymes kept Monty away! :oP

In Tulum there's a small hole in the wall restaurant that ONLY sells grilled chicken. I'm a big believer in a restaurant that does one thing but does it really well. And this chicken is right up there with my Paris Thanksgiving chicken (will have to blog about that some day) as the best chicken I've ever had in my life.

And did I mention the meal was dirt cheap? It's probably my most memorable meal in all of Mexico! Go figure, eh? Simple roast chicken did it for me big time!

Now I do have to admit that in Mexico it was kind of hard to find dishes that didn't include a ton of beef or pork. All I wanted was some seafood and vegetables. So you can imagine how absolutely delighted I was when the above dish arrived at my table. Biggest smile that night! :o)

In fact when the waiter came and got the empty dish he asked me if I was done "annihilating" it!!! ROFL!!!! I think I must have looked a tad excited!

You wouldn't know it but this picture above is officially what heaven looks like on a plate. I believe it was a version of banana's foster in a passion fruit sauce. I think I need to get myself back to Mexico! lol


This picture can't even begin to do justice to the lobsters. They were amazing. So fresh and perfectly cooked. The mango/tomato salsa was absolutely perfect for the warm weather too! A big prop to Ruben (the Sommelier at Dreams Tulum) who cooked up this beautiful dish for us! :o)

Here's a link to one of the blogs written by Ruben's wife: LINK

This would be the marmalade of my dreams!!! Or at least that's what they called it down in Milamores. Basically it was a bunch of fruit cooked down with a tiny bit of sugar or cinnamon. I LOVED this stuff! Ate it everyday I was in Tulum and was sad to say goodbye to it . . . yes I was sad to say goodbye to jam! lol

On the bread is a smear of guava and mango. To. Die. For.

So there you have it bloggies - some of my greatest hits. To be honest it was so hot we didn't eat as much as we otherwise would have. It was a pity that we didn't indulge more but we still had some really yummy and memorable eats.

Happy Saturday Amigos!!!

Top of the Tulum Morning to You!

WOW!!! Food porn alert! :oP

I didn't want you peeps to think I went to Mexico and didn't take any food pictures. Au contraire mes amis! I took a lot of food pictures. In fact I think I'll dedicate tonight's post to the wonders of my Mexico eats.

Although there may have to be a later post dedicated to the wedding menu tasting that I partook in - yummers!

Above, is a picture of my last breakfast in Tulum. It consisted of two crepes stuffed with homemade cajeta or dulce de leche (milk candy) and a tad of mango marmalade (they make this themselves and I intend to wax poetic about it tonight! lol).

Awesome.

In other news - it's Friday!!! Friday!!! Friday!!! :o)

Stunning Beauty - Vacation Recap Part Cuatro

Hola bloggies!

This is the part of the recap that I have just been dying to share with you: the incredible beauty of Tulum!!!!

My photo CD finally arrived so I'm sure you'll understand if I leave the workout details until tomorrow and concentrate instead on sharing some ridiculously beautiful pictures with you! Shall we?

When we last left off we had just finished my Call to the Bar celebration. After what I confess was a ridiculously short amount of sleep we headed to the airport and our scheduled Delta flight to Cancun (via Salt Lake City).

Except things didn't go as smoothly as we'd planned. We spent a ridonculously long time on the tarmac while maintenance tried (time and time again) to fix a problem with the flaps on the plane's wings. The flight attendants kept on insisting it was minor and they would fix it quickly and get us on our way.

Or not.

We waited. Waited. People got antsy. In fact at one point one gentleman said he didn't want to fly on that particular plane and got off. By this point we'd already missed our connecting flight so we made the same call and got off. I have to credit the Delta staff with being very helpful. They quickly got to work and found us a flight on United via Dallas.

It was a detour but in the end I think we felt better about having switched flights. Besides I got to experience Dallas' airport. And I have to say - well done Texas!!! I've traveled all over the world and I think it may be the nicest airport I've ever seen.

When we arrived in Cancun it was late. Much later than we had originally intended. In fact it was pitch black outside and we still had to pick up our rental car and drive two hours to Tulum. Needless to say I was a little antsy.

Turned out I had nothing to worry about. The roads were fantastic, well marked, and very well lit. It was a safe journey to Tulum. But it was far after a day's worth of travel. You see Tulum is basically as far as you can go to get away from the touristy crowds of Cancun. Yes, I did that on purpose. :oP

Our destination was Milamores Tulum - a hotel made up two private villas on the most spectacular piece of property just outside the Sian Ka'an Reserve (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Upon arrival we couldn't see the beach but we did walk inside to the most amazing home ever! I was in awe.

I was also starving. We asked the couple that run the place (Pamela and Alberto) if they could recommend somewhere to eat. Well it turned out to be Pamela's birthday and she invited us to share in some of the food!


The main dish was a regional dish made up of a fried tortilla stuffed with either cheese or chicken or seafood. I had a seafood one and topped it with some beautiful pico de gallo! YUM!


On the side I had some pickled onions and fresh avocado - no doubt from a local tree! :oP lol

I was happy to be there and I hadn't even seen the amazing beach or property yet. All I knew was that I had finally arrived in the Tulum I'd dreamt about for so long. The villa was spectacular (I could tell that much). And the sound of the ocean let me know I was in for a treat in the morning.

Despite the heat (I had sweat dripping down my legs - yuck!) I managed to fall asleep quickly. There were mosquito nets in the room and fans to help us cool down. No AC however. lol And yes I knew that ahead of time too.

One of the ways that Tulum remains relatively horde-free is by operating off the grid. There was 24 hour electricity but you couldn't operate high voltage appliances like blow dryers. The energy was derived from the previous day's sunlight. And in cases where there wasn't enough sun well then the generator would kick in.

The next morning I woke up to find my mom had stepped outside the room to take a look at the view. I asked her what it looked like out there. Her response: "AMAZING!"


I have come to the conclusion . . .


That I could spend a lifetime . . .

Trying to explain . . .


The incredible beauty of Milamores and Tulum . . .


And not even come close.


To be continued . . .

Vacation Recap - Part Tres

Hello bloggies!

I hope your week is treating you well thus far. As for me, my life finally regained some normalcy today.

You see, since I came back from vacation I've been putting a lot of work into prepping for a rather massive jury trial. The trial didn't go ahead which means I can relax a bit. It's funny with trials like these - they're so emotionally and physically draining. Must be the stress.

Anywho, that trial is the reason I worked on the weekend and got home late yesterday. In fact when I came home I was so exhausted I changed into my PJs and called it a very early night. Which basically means I owe you some blogging!


Running Towards a Half - Update

Monday, June 15th

Today the schedule called for stretching and weight training but I decided to change things up and went out for a 2.5 mile run. At 5:00 am in the morning.

Now I don't know why but I felt kind of icky. My leg muscles still aren't as relaxed as they were pre-vacation. I'm going to try to remedy this situation by doing some yoga and hopefully that will solve that issue.

Due to leg pain the run resembled more of a glorified shuffle! :oP lol Having said that I'm proud of myself (and the fiance) for getting out there and getting 'er done! Bonus points for us!

Did I mention it was raining a bit? Even more bonus points!! lol

Tuesday, June 16th

Today I did yesterday's weight training and stretching. Basically just some arm exercises using my Selecttech Dumbbells.

I have to contact my trainer and have him come up with a new weight training routine. Something to compliment my running.



Vacation Recap - Part Tres

Friday was the day of my Call Ceremony. Basically I wore my lovely Barrister's Robes and was presented to a Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (while my parents, family, friends, and old boss beamed proudly in the audience).

After bowing to the Justice I walked on stage and signed the "roll." The story goes that it's essentially a record of all of the people ever admitted into legal practice in the jurisdiction. Presumably these rolls are kept in the Law Society.


If the story is true then it's VERY cool to think that after all those years of hard work (nine if you include articling!!!) I'm part of such a storied profession. Very cool indeed!

Must be the reason why my smile is so goofy in this picture - kind of like I'm pleased as punch with myself:


I was really quite happy after the ceremony. Not only because of the Call itself but because lots of people near and dear to me made the trip and attended the event! Amongst them were my mommy (who flew out from Toronto), the fiance, the fiance's parents, my old boss, and three of my closest friends. It was such a happy moment, made all the more sweet by the presence of those people.

I was a happy camper! :o) Such a happy camper!

Oh but the wonderful day was not over bloggies! After some relaxing we headed out for my celebratory dinner at DB Bistro Moderne - Vancouver. The DB in the name stands for the famed chef Daniel Bouloud.

This eatery is relatively new to the Vancouver scene (it used to be Feenie's - run by Rob Feenie) but is already making a splash. What can I say? I did my research! :o)

One look at the menu and it was clear making a choice would not be an easy task:


Having said that there is one dish that DB Bistro Moderne is absolutely known for:


I sipped on a Kir Royale while I waited for my feast to arrive!


I also nibbled on some of the restaurant's wonderful bread (I was full on starving by this point).


The restaurant was also very kind and provided everyone at our table with some wonderful free surprises. First there were several portions of flat bread with melted cheese. They were amazing - so amazing I gobbled them up and forgot to take a picture! lol

I did, however, remember to take a picture of the beautiful fish balls they presented to us (also free!):


For my appetizer I chose the tomato tarte tatin. Word has it that the pastry is flown in from Paris! Ooo la la! :o)

Given how amazing it tasted, I believe them!


And for my main course I chose the famous DB burger. And oh my was it ever HUGE!!! Absolutely massive!!!!


The burger is made if sirloin beef, stuffed with short ribs, and in the middle of all of that there is foie gras and truffles!!!!!!!! It's not for the faint of heart. Totally hearty. Totally calorie dense. And totally delicious!!!


I'm glad I tried the burger and got to see what the fuss was about. But oh man it was just too big. In fact I think I ate about 1/4 of the fries and just slightly over half of the burger. I'd probably eat it again but split it with someone else.

All in all it was a lovely dinner! :o) Sure the service was slow (molasses like really) but I was surrounded by great company and didn't really mind.

After dinner we all headed back to the hotel lobby to chat and laugh for hours. My mother basically had to drag me upstairs (just like being little again :oP) to catch a bit of rest before our crack of dawn flight to Cancun.

I couldn't wait bloggies! Finally I was going to take the Mexico trip I'd been planning for so long!!!!


To be Continued . . .