Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Smart Man


We have bigger houses but smaller families;
More conveniences, but less time;
We have more degrees, but less sense;
More knowledge, but less judgment;
More experts, but more problems;
More medicines, but less healthiness;
We've been all the way to the moon and back,
but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
We build more computers to hold more information to
produce more copies than ever, but have less communication.
We have become long on quantity,
but short on quality.
These are times of fast foods but slow digestion;
Tall man but short character;
Steep profits but shallow relationships.
It's a time when there is much in the window,
but nothing in the room.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Robson Square Ice Skating

This morning, we went to Robson Square for some free ice skating!

Melvin and I are terrible on ice skates and haven't skated regularly since our Drexel University Late Skate days (ahem, over 10 years ago). That, combined with trying to teach Julian around a bunch of Canadians that were probably born with skates on?  Not a pretty sight...

Luckily, Julian had enough after one (1) spin around and the lady at the rink told us that we could bring the stroller on the ice (did I mention this city was kid-friendly?) as long as the kids were wearing helmets! This, combined with our double stroller, allowed us all to be on the ice together. It was a pretty funny sight. 


It's nice to know we can have a fun early weekend morning activity together every once in awhile this winter. The kids had a blast and we felt like we were 18 again :)

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Baby Girl Blue

Wowsa, Jay-Z & Beyonce are getting a lot of heat for closing off an entire floor of Lenox Hill Hospital, as well as the entrance to its NICU so they can have their very healthy baby boy "Blue"...

AS THEY SHOULD!

Seriously, that is just wrong to keep parents from seeing their babies fighting for their lives, just so you can have a catered lunch for your visitors at the hospital.

J&B - it's time to get your PR people to work and write some sort of an apology or acknowledgement for the first mistake you've made as parents...and shame on you, Lenox Hill Hospital, for allowing such a thing!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Coming to Canada...

Target Stores are coming to Canada!!


Whoo hoo, right? BUT, all the stores are opening up in Ottawa!! Where, one may wonder? Clear across the country from Vancouver. Well, news have said that Target has also bought out Zeller's, which there are a lot of in Vancouver, so I am still hopeful.


Toronto Sun:

Target is snapping up 220 Zellers locations for $1.82 billion, paving the way for the U.S. retail giant to open its first stores in Canada by 2013.
Target expects to open 100 to 150 stores throughout Canada in 2013 and 2014. This will provide an initial foundation for a more "robust" presence over time, the company said in a statement.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Hello, 2012

The last week of 2011 was rather busy, since Julian was off from school. After having Amélie in potty train mode, two trips to Science World, vaccinations for both and 2 gingerbread house decorating sessions later, I was exhausted. I indulged in 3 Kundalini Yoga classes, which I'm surely starting to appreciate. The classes are super invigorating and truly relieves any sort of "heaviness" you come to class with. It definitely helped me get through the week, that's for sure. Hence, it is over with the blink of an eye, as most things are, and 2012 is here.

We had a really fun night at our friends' Andrea & Pete's apartment for New Year's Eve. There was a good mix of family vs. single folk and the kids had a blast. She does a fondue party every year and the broth fondue  (with meat, shrimp, noodles and greens) was delicious. I concocted a chocolate fondue, which was a hit, and went well with my much-deserved red wine.



This afternoon, we'll be heading up to Grouse Mountain with the Cole Crew to see the reindeer and play in the snow (perhaps ice skating?), before dinner. 

Here's to 2012...may we all start the year in the best way...with a quiet and peaceful mind.

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Potty Christmas

Last night, our friends from North Vancouver threw their annual Christmas Party. There were 30 adults and 20 kids and while they have a cozy home, it was a success. Our friends love throwing parties and we're so blessed to have met them almost as soon as we arrived in Vancouver. We've met a lot of people through them and know they can always be counted on for fun, a good meal and play date (they have 2 kids, ages 3 & 1). 

Anyway, lots of food, drink and desserts as usual. Polar Express was shown for the kids, which enabled the adults to be able to eat and talk in peace for awhile. They also had Santa come to distribute gifts for our kids exchange. It was a wonderful night. 


This morning, Julian and Amélie woke up to gifts under the tree from Santa, mommy/papi and Tita May. They played so nicely while Melvin made a pancake breakfast.

So why the Potty Christmas?  WELL, 
Amélie decided this past Wednesday that she wants to start peeing in the toilet. Therefore, today has been the first day since then that we've been home and able to encourage it. Personally, I'm not ready to potty train (she's only 20 months), but this girl has been taking her diapers off since our trip to Hawaii (picture Amélie commando in random Hawaiian food court).  Nevertheless, we don't want to discourage it and who ever said kids care about our schedule?

We had a breakthrough this morning! Amélie finally did #2 in the toilet. Whoo Hoo! The things that excite us these days.

Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas Tree Rentals

Before I get into the rentable Christmas Trees, I want to mention that Julian had a ski lesson on Sunday and did wonderfully. We were pretty surprised and impressed and he felt all cool doing a couple jumps in his skis. I think we've been watching too many skateboarders at the playground.

Anyway, onto the topic at hand...I've stated before that people are very "green" and environmentally friendly here. Today, I encountered a concept I have not heard of before and it's pretty interesting: Rentable Christmas Trees.

They are potted and delivered to your home. Once the season is over, they are picked up and re-planted. Ingenious! Too bad our building doesn't allow for real trees, but I do like that concept rather than the thought of all these poor trees being cut down to decorate one's home for a few weeks and then disposed of!  Don't get me wrong, our chemically filled fake tree isn't any better, but this is why I feel I had to share this concept.

Here is a company local to Vancouver, but surely this can be found elsewhere.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Night boardin'

Melvin and I are recovering from a night of snowboarding at Cypress Mountain. The local mountains, all located within 15-25 minutes from downtown Vancouver are Seymour, Cypress and Grouse. Grouse is the closest, and most tourist-friendly, so we've always gone there with the kids and our guests. All of them have night skiing, so we figured we'd heard great things about Cypress and checked it out finally. We snowboarded from 6:30 until 9:30pm last night, with a break for a burger and poutine in between. It was super fun! 

My goal this season is to figure out if I want to get ski or snowboarding gear. I found that skiing was really easy to pick up and I'm comfortable on skis and find it relaxing. Snowboarding has not been as easy for me and certainly NOT relaxing. I find myself falling way more, harder to get up and it's harder to get the technique down. After 4 runs last night, I was nowhere close to being "good" at it, but I definitely found it fun (finally) and I started to get more comfortable on the board (finally). I am going to give it a go one more time and I think at that point, I'll be ready to make a decision and get some gear. Stand by for updates...

Monday, December 12, 2011

Oink, Oink

As if all the eating we did in Hawaii was not enough, I had ordered 1/2 a pig from Gelderman Farms in Abbotsford, B.C. prior to our departure. It was ready for pick-up the day we landed! I've always wanted to buy part of a pig or a cow from a farm ever since I saw it on Jon & Kate plus 8, especially since I'm a big supporter of local farms, produce and vendors (no matter where I'm living). I've been buying pork chops (bone-in of course) from Gelderman Farms at the local farmer's markets when I figured, hey, why not? Our friends agreed to split 1/2 the pig (so we got 1/4 each) with us, since I was afraid it wouldn't fit in our freezer. 

Well, what does 1/2 a pig get you, one may ask?
3 rolled roasts (butt or shoulder) or 8 steaks
3 loin roasts or 27 chops
4 hams or 18 cutlets
7 lbs bacon
1 spare rib
12 lbs trim (sausages and/or ground)


Turns out our freezer could handle it just fine!! We'll likely have Pernil (Dominican Pork Shoulder) on Christmas Day and perhaps, Baked Ham on New Year's Day. Oink, Oink

To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living. ― Anthony Bourdain

Saturday, December 10, 2011

We're Back...again

I know our trip to Dominican Republic was only a month ago, but we just returned from Hawaii for a friend's wedding. Occasions always seem to happen around the same time rather than spread out, so off we went on a flight to Honolulu 3 weeks after unpacking from Santo Domingo. Luckily, it was a hop, skip, jump from Vancouver and we did not have to endure an 11 hour flight from New York. We returned on a red-eye this morning and are already almost done with the laundry. Success!

We packed a lot (beach gear and toys takes up a lot of space) and as we get on the plane, I realize we forgot our suiter!! This was problematic, considering it held Melvin's suit AND 4 dresses (rehearsal lunch, wedding + 2 casual dresses) of mine. AHHH!! My mind was racing. Upon landing, I called our good 'ole friends, Robyn & Reggie (the ones that visited us in Aug) who were coincidentally in HI for ANOTHER wedding. Long story short, we wear the same sizes as them and we rocked their outfits at the wedding. PHEW. Crisis averted. It was also a good conversation starter at the wedding, according to Melvin: Hi, nice to meet you. We forgot our clothes at home and this is our friends' outfits. 

Our friends, Roland & Maeann (the ones that helped us find our apartment in Vancouver) are now newlyweds and had a fabulous wedding at Kathy Ireland's estate on the island of Oahu. It was literally picture perfect. 
VIEW FROM OUR TABLE

Aside from the wedding, we were able to meet up with friends from University, which was a great reunion. We went to a traditional luau at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and it was a really fun night, which the kids enjoyed so much. I feel like we went on a food tour of Oahu, which was no joke. Wailana Coffee House, Side Street Inn, Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, Leonard's Bakery, Papa Ole's...Sinfully delicious! My sister and her fiancé also met up with us there and we shared a condo together. It was beautiful watching them spend time with the kids and they took care of them during the wedding, which was perfect. We had plenty of beach and pool time, as well as visited the North Shore to see its amazing waves.
Banzai Pipeline during a surfing tournament
Living further has made us take more of a conscious effort to spend "quality" time with people when we see them. It has been so fun spending time with people in other states/countries. It is a great revelation.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

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
RankCityCountry
1ViennaAustria
2ZurichSwitzerland
3AucklandNew Zealand
4
Munich
Germany
5
Düsseldorf
Germany
5
Vancouver
Canada
7FrankfurtGermany
8GenevaSwitzerland
9BernSwitzerland
9CopenhagenDenmark
11SydneyAustralia
12AmsterdamNetherlands
13WellingtonNew Zealand
14OttawaCanada
15TorontoCanada
16HamburgGermany
17BerlinGermany
18MelbourneAustralia
19LuxembourgLuxembourg
20StockholmSweden
21PerthAustralia
22BrusselsBelgium
22MontrealCanada
24NurnbergGermany
25SingaporeSingapore
26CanberraAustralia
26DublinIreland
28StuttgartGermany
29Honolulu, HIUnited States
30AdelaideAustralia
30ParisFrance
30San Francisco, CAUnited States
33CalgaryCanada
33OsloNorway
35HelsinkiFinland
36Boston, MAUnited States
37BrisbaneAustralia
38LondonUnited Kingdom
39LyonFrance
40BarcelonaSpain
41LisbonPortugal
42MilanItaly
43Chicago, ILUnited States
43MadridSpain
43Washington, DCUnited States
46TokyoJapan
47New York City, NYUnited States
48Seattle, WAUnited States
49KobeJapan
49Pittsburgh, PAUnited States
49YokohamaJapan
Personal Safety Ranking, 2011*
RankCityCountry
1LuxembourgLuxembourg
2BernSwitzerland
2HelsinkiFinland
2ZurichSwitzerland
5ViennaAustria
6GenevaSwitzerland
6StockholmSweden
8SingaporeSingapore
9AucklandNew Zealand
9WellingtonNew Zealand
11CopenhagenDenmark
11DüsseldorfGermany
11FrankfurtGermany
11MunichGermany
11NurnbergGermany
16DublinIreland
17AmsterdamNetherlands
17CalgaryCanada
17MontrealCanada
17OttawaCanada
17TorontoCanada
17VancouverCanada
23Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates
24OsloNorway
25CanberraAustralia
25MelbourneAustralia
25PerthAustralia
25SydneyAustralia
29MuscatOman
30LjubljanaSlovenia
31KobeJapan
31NagoyaJapan
31OsakaJapan
31TokyoJapan
31YokohamaJapan
36BerlinGermany
36HamburgGermany
36Hong KongHong Kong
39DubaiUnited Arab Emirates
40BrusselsBelgium
40Pointe-à-PitreGuadeloupe
42LeipzigGermany
42StuttgartGermany
44AberdeenUnited Kingdom
44GlasgowUnited Kingdom
46LimassolCyprus
47LisbonPortugal
47PragueCzech Republic
49BratislavaSlovakia
50AdelaideAustralia
50BrisbaneAustralia

Sunday, November 27, 2011

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!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

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

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

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...

Sunday, November 20, 2011

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...


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

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!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

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. 


Thursday, November 10, 2011

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

Monday, October 31, 2011

Mission Impossible

...YVR --> LAS red-eye --> EWR --> SDQ (Dominican Republic)
...3 airports = 3 take-offs, 3 landings
...2 sick kids; 1 recovering from croup
...1 luggage full of donations, including 20 lbs worth of Costco products my husband picked up
...1 car seat
...50 degree weather to 91 degree weather
...2 grandparents that will no doubt overwhelm and fight over the 2 sick kids when they arrive


Prayers, miracles...we'll take it.


Santo Domingo, here we come!



Thursday, October 27, 2011

When it rains it pours...

Last October, we were in NY for most of the month, so I was curious to see what the weather would be like this month. Well, sun has been in the forecast and we've been quite happy that the consecutive days of rain has not started just yet. We went out to Abbotsford, B.C. a couple weeks ago and went apple and corn picking...we went on a hayride and did the whole "Hudson Valley, NY experience" except in B.C. It was lovely. I really do love Autumn in New York though. 

When I referred to the "rain" in the subject matter, I meant "life"...things were super slow and steady in regards to my daily grind this summer and it was really pleasant. Out of the blue this week, I end up with a part-time job from home (which I'm anxious, but excited about) and had 2 local meetings I've been asked to work on. Also great, by why all the same time?

On top of this, we have Halloween, Kindergarten Registration and of course, our trip to the Dominican Republic next week! As I said, when it rains, it pours...I guess it all contributes to the rainbow afterward though. 

We're slowly packing and getting our donations for D.R. together, as well as praying for uneventful travel with the two kids and an unforgiving flight itinerary. I will surely send an update...before that, Halloween comes first!

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