Business Trip to San Francisco

At the end of October I attended a Marketing conference in San Francisco. There were a lot of good speakers so it was definitely a worthwhile trip. It was also great to get together with Lin for dinner, and to catch up.

October is birthday month

Here we are celebrating a birthday with dad. His co-workers bought him a round of drinks on the golf course so he is looking very cheery.

I attended the Urban Wedding Gala. It is probably one of the smaller of the wedding shows. It would have been more useful at the beginning stages of planning since there were a number of helpful exhibitors at the event. However, all of my vendors were booked months ago. One good thing came out of the event, I booked an appointment for the guys to get their tuxedos. I also learned a thing or two about menswear. I specifically asked if they had men's pants without the stripe on the side. Apparently, this is what distinguishes a tuxedo from a suit. And, the rental came with these hideous, patent, clown-shaped, rounded shoes. Ugh! Apparently, again this is what makes a tux.

It was fun celebrating Andreana's birthday and Sherry's.

This has been such a busy year (with the engagement, planning for the wedding, managing the new product release at work) that I didn't plan a party for my birthday this year. However, it was nice to get together with family and with friends on such short notice.

September summary

We celebrated Nicole's birthday in Yaletown and combined it with her bon voyage as she set off for her 6-month contract to New York City.

For Cathy's 30th, she hosted a charity fundraiser with all proceeds, up to $2,000, donated to the food bank.

The girls got together at Joey Tomatoes for lunch. It was good to
catch up as usual.







And finally...we went bridesmaid dress shopping. With the girls hectic schedules we finally went to try on dresses. I selected 3 dress styles that I liked. Afterwards I asked each of my bridesmaids separately, because I didn't want to bias their selections, which one was their favourite. What do you know, none of them picked the same dress! So, I went to the fabric store to choose material for a dress which combines favourite elements of all three. I think that there will be one distinctive element in the final dress that each one of my bridesmaids will like.

Welcome to the 30s!

To celebrate the birthdays of two of my favourite people, we hosted

a fiesta. It was wonderful to see friends that we have not seen in a while.

Thank you to those who helped with preparations for the food, sangria, decorations, music, games, photography and for helping in the kitchen. Thank you also to the guests that attended. The party wouldn't have been the same without you.

I hope that you were entertained and were well-fed. There was so much food leftover that I had to eat lasagne for a week! It is going to be a long time before I eat pasta and burritos.

Let the games begin! Shawn, Shannan and Sandra take a swing at the pinata. But, Cathy finishes it off :). By the time we were done, the poor pinata was in pieces. It really had me in stitches.

The rest of the photos are now online.

Wedding celebration

This weekend Aaron and Erin tied the knot. Congrats to the happy couple. The ceremony was held at the same church that Erin's parents were married at. It was a very sentimental wedding.

We had the job of transporting the bon bons from the house to the reception hall at the Firefighters' Club. The bon bons made it safely to the destination, although it was mighty tempting to do a little taste-testing.

There was plenty of food and beverages. The bride and groom hired caterers to deliver food to the event and they were allowed to bring in their own alcohol, without having to pay the corkage fee. I wish our venue would allow us to do that.

It was also difficult to keep us off the dance floor and away from the chocolate fountain. It was a happy day of celebrating and what made it all the more special was that my man was in town.

Shuswap - here we come!

This weekend was our annual trip to Shuswap. With people's hectic social calendars permitting them from joining us, it was just me and the guys.

Our trip started off with some fresh sushi. And, just when I thought I couldn't possibly eat any more, we ordered a second round of wild salmon sashimi. Kevin has been lifting weights in preparation for his role as Shawn's best man next year so his appetite was just ravenous. Hearing about his exercise routine was definitely motivating and it was good to see him in good health.

The next day we woke up and we treated to a breakfast of eggs benedict, fresh fruit and scrumptious chocolate brownies by our hosts. The sun was out and we relaxed in the garden which overlooks the golf course and a swan-filled pond which is pretty to look at, but a major water hazard for golfers.

Margaret and Dennis totally spoil us when we visit. I can't thank them enough.

This photo made me laugh. It's so typical of us to be lazing around in the sunshine and having a feeding frenzy with Dennis working hard in the background.

We played poker on the patio as we digested and planned to take the boat and tubes out onto the lake, but the weather had turned and we continued our poker game inside.

Then Margaret brought out her home-made pear pie. It was scrumptious!

Even Maddie was in vacation mode. She was quite mellow and there wasn't much yapping from her.

Dinner felt like Christmas time. Margaret and Dennis made us Yorkshire pudding, turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce.

I had to take a snapshot of the guys busy in the kitchen.

The new home theatre "blew us away". The comfy recliner couches come with cup holders for a true movie theatre experience. I finally got to see the Bourne Identity and Supremacy. We also watched The Interpreter and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

It was a relaxing, fun-filled weekend and now I need to go on diet!

Congratulations!

On Saturday night, Billy & Kim welcomed us into their lovely new home. It was a relaxing evening -- eating and hanging out with friends. Welcome to the neighbourhood!

On Sunday, I was delighted to receive my first invitation from Shawn's aunt to attend her soon-to-be daughter-in-law's baby shower. It also gave my a warm fuzzy feeling to pick Shawn's grandma up from her home and drive solo with her to the venue. Wow! I kept thinking...I'm going to officially be part of this family next year.

Erin is marrying Shawn's cousin Aaron in a couple of weeks and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl two months ago. Here's a picture of Erin with her blue-eyed baby McKenzie.