Celebrating the Bride-to-be (Part II)

Hola Bloggies:

So after I was pampered and enjoyed a totally swanky afternoon the fun continued.

After leaving the cabana area we headed to a frozen yogurt store located downstairs in the Fairmont Waterfront. Bella Gelateria was absolutely a foodie’s dream! To the owners gelato isn’t just a cool treat. It’s art.

In fact the store is owned by a couple, the male counterpart of which is the gelato maker. To learn how to make gelato, James (the official gelato maker) honed his art at the Italian Culinary Institute and followed that up with advanced master’s training at Carpigiani’s Gelato University. In 2012 James will even represent Canada at the Gelato World Cup in Rimini, Italy.

And the gelato? It was everything you would expect. Decadent.

Eventually we left the Fairmont Waterfront but we did it in absolute style. We took one of the chauffeured luxury cars for a tour of Stanley Park before stopping at my hotel for check-in (The Sutton Place Hotel) before ending up at a Korean restaurant for dinner.

While there are other yummier Korean restaurants in Vancouver, Sura has a great atmosphere.

My go-to meal at Korean restaurants is sundubu, a spicy soft tofu stew. It’s delicious!

I ordered my usual but made a point of taking a picture of some of the other dishes around the table.

While the food was delicious the company was better. Living in the Rockies I seldom get a chance to spend time with my friends. This weekend in Vancouver was a rare and wonderful treat.

As we walked back to my hotel I counted my blessings. I truly am thankful for all I have.

My friends took the time to organize a wonderful bachelorette weekend; It was honestly more than I ever expected.

(part of the view from my hotel room)

I felt truly loved and appreciated.

If anything, this weekend made me even more excited for the wedding. We honestly can’t wait to have all of our nearest and dearest there to celebrate our day!

It’s going be an awesome time. I can’t wait for all the festivities surrounding the wedding day. I get to marry my lobster (Friends anyone?). What a privilege.

You know in The Sound of Music when Maria and Captain Von Trapp are in the gazebo and she sings “’cause somewhere in my wicked childhood I must have done something good . . .” That’s kind of how I feel.

I may not have had a wicked childhood but I sometimes find myself wondering what I did to serve all of these blessings. I’m healthy, I have friends, I have love, I have a darling puppy, I have a family that supports me, I have a great career, I want for nothing, and in November I get to live out a fairytale.

I am ever so grateful.

 

Question: When was the last time you counted your blessings?

Celebrating the Bride-to-be (Part I)

Hola Bloggies:

Sorry for the delay in getting back to blogging. If you follow me on twitter you know that my laptop basically up and practically died on me. Every time I sat down to blog it would freeze up; I spent many hours on Sunday and Monday nights trying to get it to work. But alas!

Eventually I did what any reasonable blogger would do – I went and purchased myself a netbook! I am now the proud owner of a lovely new Toshiba blogging toy!! Perfect for all those trips I always seem to be taking.

Last we talked I was on my way to Vancouver for my bachelorette/wedding shower weekend. I can safely report that I had an absolutely lovely time!!! Honestly, my friends not only did a wonderful job planning but they also made me feel celebrated and loved.

To get to Vancouver I had to take a ferry from Vancouver Island to the mainland of British Columbia. I know the very thought of boarding a vessel to get to a bachelorette weekend is a strange thought to a mainlander but when you live on the Island it’s a way of life.

I have to confess my usually land-locked self loved every moment of that ferry journey. Basking in the sunlight at the front of the ship was in and of itself a highlight of my weekend.

Once I arrived in Vancouver I quickly grabbed a cab and headed to my first destination. The Vida spa at the Westin Bayshore Hotel.

My friends had arranged to meet me at the spa where they had set up a whole host of treatments.

My half-day of treatments consisted of an Ayurvedic exfoliation and massage, a facial and a manicure. Talk about bliss overload. When I emerged from my first treatment I had officially been reduced to a relaxed mush. I don’t remember the last time I felt that way.

Overall the Vida spa was a fantastic place for a girl’s get-together. Especially since they have a trendy and relaxing lounge for you to enjoy before or after treatments. Much of our day was spent chilling in bath robes, relaxing, enjoying either lemon or cucumber water, and nibbling on fruit or nut snacks.

I visit Vancouver often and most of the time I stay at the Westin Bayshore. So needless to say I will absolutely be back to the Vida Spa!

I couldn’t believe my friends had pampered me to such a degree. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better – it did!

Once we were done at the spa I was whisked away to a secret destination. No one would tell me where we were heading!

After some driving around Vancouver we pulled up to the new Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, where one of my friend’s had worked her hook-ups to get us a private cabana! Swanky!!

Our cabana had cushy lounge furniture, drinks, food, a large flat-screen television, and a great view. It honestly was very cool and felt nothing like Vancouver. Instead it felt like the kind of thing you would expect to find in Las Vegas.

My friends outdid themselves and packed a gourmet picnic from a local purveyor. The meal featured a lovely sandwich (un-pictured), some wonderful home-made chips, mojitos, and cupcakes!!!

Everything was absolutely yum but the cupcakes courtesy of the store Cupcakes were my favourite part of the meal. Once upon a time I was fortunate enough to eat one of their treats fresh out of the oven. I’ve been a fan ever since.

At one point in the afternoon we decided to venture up several dozen floors to see the property that secured us the cabana hook-up. Generally, the only people allowed into the cabana level are hotel guests (I considered staying there but they only had one room at $500/night and I’m not that crazy . . . yet) or property owners. That’s right. You too can own a swanky condo at the Fairmont Waterfront.

Want to see what nearly $5.5 MILLION dollars gets you?

Ummmm . . . hello, ridiculously unobstructed views! WOW!!! That place was out of control. Drop dead gorgeous. And yet – maybe not $5.5 MILLION dollars gorgeous! lol

There was still more bachelorette fun to come in my day. But I think it’s safe to say I was already feeling very very very happy!

To be Continued . . . .

Question: What did you do for your bachelorette? If you’re not married – what would you like to do?

A Party Unlike Any Other

 

Hola Bloggies:

Sorry for my unexpected absence from the blog! Last week was kind of crazy with overnight guests to the casa. First the Fiancé's family came to visit. And then a friend of mine drove down and chilled during the weekend. It was super fun but it left no time for my neglectorino of a blog! No worries though – I’m back to finish my epic Vancouver 2010 recap!!

 

When last we left off the Canadian Men’s Hockey Team had just won the gold medal . . .

The atmosphere in the room was awesome! No sooner had the game ended when random people started heading out on the streets. The once deserted roads were full of cars honking their horns with complete abandon.

Truth be told I don’t even remember when the Fiancé and I decided to head downtown. All we knew was that there was going to be a crazy celebration and we had to be there! So we got in our car and headed to downtown!!! WOOHOO!!!

One of the most vivid images of our drive will forever be the kids on the overpasses. You see to get to downtown Van from where we were (Coquitlam) we had to take a highway with a series of overpasses. It seemed that practically every overpass had a kid holding a flag, waving it like there was no tomorrow! And so we honked!!! We honked because we could. Because it would make them happy. And because we too wanted to share in the joy.

Instead of trying to drive straight into downtown (they were starting to shut down the roads to prevent over-crowding) we decided to drive to North Vancouver and take the Seabus to Vancouver. Once we arrived downtown I looked up and realized that the grey clouds that had prevailed during our visit were gone. In their place was the most gorgeous blue sky! I couldn’t imagine a more fittingly beautiful Vancouver afternoon!!

And the crowds? They were CRAZY!!!!!!!! But in a really good way!!!!!!!!!! Everyone was decked out in their red and white (we even saw one older lady wearing tight red pants, a red sweater, red socks, and white shoes – it killed us!! lol), waving their Canadian flags (attached to their hockey sticks no less), and loving every minute of the experience!!

I mean seriously!?!? Look at that picture!! That couple is embracing in the middle of what is normally Vancouver’s busiest intersection. That girl I’m sure is on the phone with someone saying something along the lines of “You HAVE to get down here!" lol

It’s hard to describe the feeling from pictures alone. And so I bring you some video – the scene a couple of blocks away from Robson and Burrard (more or less the intersection pictured above) looked a little like this:

And yes that would be a random guy high fiving yours truly!! Ahahah! It was that kind of a day!!

It was also a random sign kind of day! Downtown Vancouver was full of people carrying signs saying all kinds of things. My favourite were held by a group of guys standing right near the CTV Network Outdoor Studio. So many people were coming up to them and posing for pictures that they eventually started chanting “Non-stop Photo Op! Non-stop Photo Op! Non-stop Photo Op!” LOL They were hilarious! I may have even gotten a little excited and jumped into the fray!!!

HA!!! I wasn’t faking the amount of excitement you see on my face either! It was totally genuine! I really was that excited!! And I really was having that much fun!!! Time of my life really!!!

What!?!? You think I was the only one!?!?! lol Not so amigos. You’d like to see an example?!??! Okay!

“Hey Fiancé! How do you feel about the Canadian Men’s Hockey Gold Medal?”

Bwaahahhahaha! I’d say that’s pretty unequivocal! Wouldn’t you!?!?

Remember how I said that there is no activity more Canadian than kinds playing a good old hockey game!??! Well it turns out that the same is still true on Gold medal Sunday. Imagine my delight when in the midst of the downtown mayhem we discovered an impromptu street hockey game. Classic.

Those kids will always remember that on the day the whole country celebrated, they played hockey. On the streets. Of Vancouver no less. And I think that’s all kinds of amazing!

Eventually we decided to leave the mayhem of the crowds in favour of taking a walk on the Sea Wall. It was a spectacular night in Vancouver and we wanted to drink in the beauty of the place before heading away from the Coast the next morning!

Le sigh. Have I mentioned how much I love the views in Van-city?

During the Olympics whenever Canada won Gold the Olympic rings floating in the harbour would change colours to a yellow hue. On that night – the colour of the rings was particularly lovely!

After a quick visit to say goodbye to the Olympic Flame we found a cafe to watch the Closing Ceremonies. It was with a decidedly heavy heart that we watched as the Vancouver 2010 games were officially closed. But instead of dwelling on that feeling we decided to go back out and continue enjoying the party!

I wish I could bottle the feeling of being in Vancouver that day. In fact I wish I could come close to describing how it felt to be there. I don’t think I can! You just had to be there!!!! And I was!!! It was one for the books boys and girls!!!

We stayed downtown as long as we could but soon enough we had to call it a night. And so we headed to the Seabus while enjoying the very last of the Olympic celebrations.

I won’t lie. It was hard to leave Vancouver that night. It was hard to say goodbye to that feeling of complete elation. Of overwhelming joy on the streets. Truth is, as Canadians we don’t often toot our own horn but for two weeks we tooted to our hearts content! And on that last day we waved our flags, grinned like silly people, and loved the feeling of being proud to be Canadian! Unlike our friends to the South we don’t engage in such blatant acts of patriotism. But maybe we should.

At the end of the night I was decidedly melancholic and said to the Fiancé, “The World came to visit! And now they’re all leaving . . . When will they come back again?” His reply, “They’re always here Karen.” I hope that’s true. I hope we Canadians are fortunate enough to experience an event like this again. I hope the feeling of patriotism lives on beyond Vancouver2010. And I hope all of you enjoyed coming to our corner of the World – because we sure loved having you here!

 

Signing off from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games,

 

A Toronto Girl out West