Quality of Living Survey

Vancouver, B.C. made it to the Top 5 AGAIN!  It really feels good to know we are raising our kids here (for now). Link: Mercer Quality of Living Survey - Worldwide 2011
City Rankings

Mercer Quality of Living Survey - Worldwide Rankings, 2011
Rank	City	Country
1	Vienna	Austria
2	Zurich	Switzerland
3	Auckland	New Zealand
4	Munich	Germany
5	Düsseldorf	Germany
5	Vancouver	Canada
7	Frankfurt	Germany
8	Geneva	Switzerland
9	Bern	Switzerland
9	Copenhagen	Denmark
11	Sydney	Australia
12	Amsterdam	Netherlands
13	Wellington	New Zealand
14	Ottawa	Canada
15	Toronto	Canada
16	Hamburg	Germany
17	Berlin	Germany
18	Melbourne	Australia
19	Luxembourg	Luxembourg
20	Stockholm	Sweden
21	Perth	Australia
22	Brussels	Belgium
22	Montreal	Canada
24	Nurnberg	Germany
25	Singapore	Singapore
26	Canberra	Australia
26	Dublin	Ireland
28	Stuttgart	Germany
29	Honolulu, HI	United States
30	Adelaide	Australia
30	Paris	France
30	San Francisco, CA	United States
33	Calgary	Canada
33	Oslo	Norway
35	Helsinki	Finland
36	Boston, MA	United States
37	Brisbane	Australia
38	London	United Kingdom
39	Lyon	France
40	Barcelona	Spain
41	Lisbon	Portugal
42	Milan	Italy
43	Chicago, IL	United States
43	Madrid	Spain
43	Washington, DC	United States
46	Tokyo	Japan
47	New York City, NY	United States
48	Seattle, WA	United States
49	Kobe	Japan
49	Pittsburgh, PA	United States
49	Yokohama	Japan

Personal Safety Ranking, 2011*
Rank	City	Country
1	Luxembourg	Luxembourg
2	Bern	Switzerland
2	Helsinki	Finland
2	Zurich	Switzerland
5	Vienna	Austria
6	Geneva	Switzerland
6	Stockholm	Sweden
8	Singapore	Singapore
9	Auckland	New Zealand
9	Wellington	New Zealand
11	Copenhagen	Denmark
11	Düsseldorf	Germany
11	Frankfurt	Germany
11	Munich	Germany
11	Nurnberg	Germany
16	Dublin	Ireland
17	Amsterdam	Netherlands
17	Calgary	Canada
17	Montreal	Canada
17	Ottawa	Canada
17	Toronto	Canada
17	Vancouver	Canada
23	Abu Dhabi	United Arab Emirates
24	Oslo	Norway
25	Canberra	Australia
25	Melbourne	Australia
25	Perth	Australia
25	Sydney	Australia
29	Muscat	Oman
30	Ljubljana	Slovenia
31	Kobe	Japan
31	Nagoya	Japan
31	Osaka	Japan
31	Tokyo	Japan
31	Yokohama	Japan
36	Berlin	Germany
36	Hamburg	Germany
36	Hong Kong	Hong Kong
39	Dubai	United Arab Emirates
40	Brussels	Belgium
40	Pointe-à-Pitre	Guadeloupe
42	Leipzig	Germany
42	Stuttgart	Germany
44	Aberdeen	United Kingdom
44	Glasgow	United Kingdom
46	Limassol	Cyprus
47	Lisbon	Portugal
47	Prague	Czech Republic
49	Bratislava	Slovakia
50	Adelaide	Australia
50	Brisbane	Australia

Black Friday

One of the weird things about this week's American Thanksgiving is that I wasn't slaving away in the kitchen. It was weird...but nice! A set of our American friends here hosted us on Black Friday evening and it was great being able to have turkey again, and cranberry sauce again, and mashed potatoes again...I was quite proud of my contribution - Brie en Croute. 

It was a hit, if I do say so myself. I used some Peach & Vanilla Jam, straight from the Okanagan, which I was nervous about, but I will definitely be making this again. We also brought 2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, as I volunteered for my building's "Resident Appreciation Day & Fundraiser" (free donuts) that morning. Indulgence!

Back home in New York, my cousins and I had started a tradition of doing a Black Friday dinner. I think* this would've been our 6th or 7th year? It was typically at the Rojas' home and I made the turkey every year. It was a wonderful tradition, since we got to have a nice sit-down dinner and eat, chat, cook together during the day. Very fun. Well, I missed it again this year, but they skyped me in from my friend's house, which was quite a treat! I don't think they actually missed me (j/k), but I did question their motives when they kept asking me if their turducken (yes, they actually had a turducken - turkey, duck & chicken) looked cooked! Regardless, it was nice to be somewhat of a part of it, since that is probably the holiday/tradition I miss most.

Man, I can't believe I missed a turducken!!

How ironic...

...that it is Thanksgiving (in America) today and I am here in Canada doing a cleanse and taking a yoga class. It's something that would've never happened on Thanksgiving Day back in NY!


Gobble, Gobble

Julian Updates

Julian turned 4 years old a week from today and he cracks me up with some of the things he says! All of the below are literally just from the past week. 


- Mommy, I want Indian food for lunch! I LOVE Indian food! (and he does)
- Wow! This is AMAZING! (samples at Costco)
- This is so BEAUTIFUL! (upon entering Vancouver Art Gallery)
- I don't want to ski, I want to snowboard! 


He must be 4 going on 40...

Bon Voyage

Today, we're having a going away party for our friends...They (my friend with her husband and 2 kids, ages 3 & 1) are heading to London on Dec. 2nd for 10 months, so she can work on the London Olympics. They'll be back after Labour Day 2012.

We've met so many people that are so flexible and transient for these types of opportunities. I look back at how fearful we were before our move and now, we realize that so many people are willing to move around, see the world and seize opportunities. We've met one family that are from England that have moved to Dubai for 4 years and then Vancouver, another that went from Michigan to San Francisco to Vancouver, and another couple that spent their entire 6-month maternity/paternity leaves traveling Asia with their newborn.   It makes me realize how much of a bubble we were in as recently as last year. 

Some may feel this is crazy for our friends to pick up and move for 10 months, especially with 2 young kids. I think that if it's something they are willing and excited to do, why the heck not? 10 months is such a short amount of time when you look at one's lifespan. Before they know it, they will be back in Vancouver and living life as they were before.

It's times like this I wonder how long our Vancouver adventure will last. It is a strong reminder that it's so important for us to enjoy moment to moment because things can so easily change in life...

How old am I?

When Julian woke up on Tuesday morning, he said, Mommy, am I 4 yet?

It's so funny because this is the first year that he REALLY grasps his birthday and I think we just confused him by having a party in D.R. a week and half before his actual day. This morning, he woke up and said, Am I still 4? So funny!

I baked a banana cake with cream cheese frosting for his class in the morning and then did a small swimming play date prior to his 5:00pm lesson at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre. Nice and low key; however, dealing with 2 kids in a tot pool with a million toys? NOT EASY. Then, showering them and dressing them (and myself) afterwards in a locker room full of families? EVEN HARDER. 

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Chickenpox??

NO! It is not chickenpox!!

We've been home for 4 days now from the Dominican Republic and about 5 people (mind you, we haven't been outside THAT much) have asked us if our kids had chickenpox.

Instead of my typical retort: No, we were just in the Caribbean and they got bit up really badly.

I should respond with: Yes, actually, we wanted to infect everyone at the (playground, store, swim lesson, etc), why don't you bring your child closer...

One may wonder why Melvin and I aren't bit up as badly. Well, during our 2-day road trip, it rained overnight and since grandma doesn't have air conditioning, all the windows were wide open. Those little "buggers" (pun intended) must have smelled fresh blood and they went to town on our kids, particularly Julian's face. He has about 50 bug bites just on the right side of his face - not joking - and literally hundreds on both his arms. 

I can't even bare to take a picture because I feel so bad for him. Hopefully, they will clear up a little bit before his 4th birthday this week. 

Mission Accomplished

We returned from D.R. at 1:00am yesterday and we are so proud of our little ones!


Each way the endured the following: 
17 hour journey 
3 planes 
2 security lines
2 customs lines
2 immigration lines
1 red-eye
long connections, with a switch in terminals

They were rock stars and we couldn't believe it! All in all, the travel portion was painless and the only problems we encountered were the 100s of mosquito bites each kid got and Julian tripped over my luggage getting out of our cab at 1am and bit his lip open. Yes, he is not picture perfect right now between the bug bites and busted lip, so hoping child services is not going to come after us. :)

We had an amazing time. It was wonderful to see family and to see our kids meeting family for the first time. We had a birthday party for Julian and Melvin's dad's 70th separately, so plenty of Dominican Cake to go around! Melvin and I also took a 2-day road trip, leaving the kids with grandma, and explored the entire island with his dad, brother and 3 uncles. Hopefully it won't be too long before we go back. 

Coson Beach - Las Terranas, Samaná