Festivities

Shawn was on rotation at GF Strong for 3 weeks in December. Between work, family and wedding planning, we would have liked to have had more time to visit friends. The year closed out with lots of food, fun and festivities. We're looking forward to all the exciting changes that 2008 brings.

Work and play in NYC

Shawn and I managed to sync up our schedules so that we could meet up in New York City for ten fabulous days. Although I had three long work days, we had two weekends free to indulge in the sights and tastes of the Big Apple.

You all know by now how much of a foodie Shawn is. He just couldn't leave New York without eating a hot dog from a street vendor.

This trip was not without a little bit of culture. We visit The MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). We saw some interesting pieces but my favourites were the painting by famous artists like van Gogh, Monet and Dali. We also visited the Guggenheim.

Thankfully we managed to see two plays before the Writer's strike, Spamalot and Chicago. That night we also went to a lounge for some dancing and drinks.

Bouley. What can I say? If you plan a romantic dinner in New York, I would highly recommend a little French restaurant called Bouley. The food is exquisite and the service exceptional. This was an unforgettable dining experience. After every course, they brought us a surprise dish for tasting that was free of charge. After the appetitizer, main course, we decided to share a dessert. Thankfully we decided to do this because they brought us three more desserts to try that we didn't have to pay for. The best part...as we were leaving they had a little gift for me (us)...a loaf of pound bread to home for breakfast!

For one night, we were allowed to live lavishly. Our company booked one of the rooms at the Waldorf Astoria for a hospitality suite for an event. The suite had a bar, lounge, master bedroom, palour and marble floored bathroom.

We were lucky enough to be in town on the weekend of the Chocolate show. We went a few hours sampling chocolates from all of the vendors. It was sickeningly sweet. The fashion show was really neat. The designers incorporated cholate into their dress designs and we heard that the models could only wear the chocolate for less than an hour before they began to melt from body temperature.

Thanks to Nicole who let us hang out at her swanky apartment.

Apart from all the eating, shopping and walking, we had a really great time hanging out with friends who joined us in New York.

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.