Holiday potluck

Cathy hosted a warm and intimate potluck before the end of the year. She was heading off to L.A. to celebrate New Years. I know how much she loves the place and people, and that she'd like to move there. For those reasons, she's asked me if Shawn would marry her :)

Happy holiday season

The holiday season was a flurry of activities. Having to work left little time to catch up with friends.

The week leading up to Christmas was filled with board games with family, Shawn showing me everyone's presents before he wrapped them (including some of mine), and him bursting into random bouts of singing, in a deep voice, "Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow!"

Talking about singing, we went to the the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden. It was an enchanted wonderland
of 1.4 million colourful, flickering lights. We saw a Gingerbread house surrounded by a lollipop garden. We also meandered our way to Lover's Lookout. We sipped on hot chocolate and Shawn had his hand's full, one with a bag of caramel popcorn and the other in my cozy coat pocket. Sharon's choir was carolling, and we chuckled at the Grinch's version of "twelve days of Christmas".

Before we knew it, Christmas was upon us.

Sharon had three days of entertaining back-to-back. The Gurneys were over pre-Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was the annual celebration where everyone exchanged gifts. I received a Victoria Secret bag filled with Silkening Body Lotion. Shawn's cousin also announced that they are expecting a baby next year.

On Christmas Day, we gathered around the tree and opened our presents. I had already guessed most of my presents or had been shown them earlier. However, the Step-by-Step, Simple Chinese Recipe book that Shawn gave me was a nice surprise. Well, I am looking forward to learning some more recipes this next year.

I spent the Christmas Night with my family, and as always there was food for an army.

Sadly, I drove Shawn to the airport on Boxing Day. We plan to see each other again in February.

Missing Shawn already, I met my cousin at the mall and bought myself the Canon PowerShot SD700. There's nothing like retail therapy!

Holidaying in the Mayan Riviera

Shawn and I thoroughly enjoyed our week long stay at the
Bahia Principe Tulum, a five-star resort about an hour away from Cancun.

On our arrival we were each given a cocktail (major theme of the vacation) and were cuffed with the 'tourist' bracelet, which gave us access to the all-inclusive water sports and the buffets, but made us feel like marked targets whenever we left the resort.

Our room was comfortable and there was a view of the ocean from our balconey. Throughout, the service was excellent. Martina was our maid for the week. On the first day, she made me (us) a swan out of bath towels. We would leave a tip for her everyday but the person I sat next to on the plane told me how he left Canadian presents for the maid to find on the pillow. I thought that was a great idea. One thing that was missing was really good chocolate, so I think I will bring that along as one of the gifts for next time. I was delighted by Martina's handy work. By the end of the week, she had made a swan, doll, frog and teddy bear.

The first few days, we felt adventurous and planned some excursions outside the resort.

We spent a day at Xel-Ha, a mexican caribbean natural theme park with ecological attractions and water activities. We visited the caves and snorkelled in the lagoon where we swam, up close, to a school of tuna, round blue fish, yellow and black, striped fish, and stingrays. It's always a bit of an adrenalin rush staring into the big, bulging eyes of one big tuna then realizing that there's a whole swarm swimming towards you! We also saw some parrots, an iguana and dolphins.

Catching public transit was quite easy. We waited on the side of the road and waited for the Cortivo, public van crammed with locals, to take us to Playa del Carmen. When the van stopped we thought that we were in the wrong part of town. I was expecting something more cosmopolitan, I had to remind myself that we were in Mexico. We found our way to the pedestrian walkway of 5th Avenue (Quinta Avenida), a strip filled with restaurants and gift shops.

Our last tour was to the Tulum ruins for some Mayan culture.

The remainder of the week, we decided to bask in the sun, kayak, and enjoy our resort's own private alabaster-white beaches and coral reefs. In the evenings if we weren't dancing, we were entertained by the Mexican dance performers or over-indulging in eating!

The festivities begin

It's the first time that Shawn has made it home for my work Christmas party. We made it to the party on time, even though I had to buy a pair of stockings on the way there!

The party was held at the Crown Plaza Hotel Georgia. The architecture of the hotel is designed in the classical beaux-arts tradition. Piano music was playing as we entered the lobby which was beautifully decorated with wreaths and Christmas trees which set the mood for the festivities. The CEO's speech was short and sweet, congratulating everyone on their professional and personal achievements over the past year and announcing marriages, births and new home buyers. We all felt like one big happy family.

We enjoyed the food, wine, mingling and dancing. It was wonderful to retire to our suite for the evening. We'll have to stay there again after the new renovations.