Downtown

 Not to worry!  Read up and you won't have to ask yourself any longer... Vancouver Car Free Day + Main St. Market at Blim = Awesome Sunday!

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, remember how much fun World Naked Bike Ride was last year?   Saturday it returns!

Fun times!

Friday, December 19th - lovely dusting of snow, viewed through the window of AB headquarters.  Finished off and had a great evening with friends, then spent Saturday and Sunday running around prepping to leave for LA, where I was heading to spend Christmas with my cousins.

Then came the onset of the snow-mageddon.  I have never seen such a thing in downtown Vancouver, nevermind what hit the entire country!  By Sunday night I was growing very concerned about the state of things, and by the time I was supposed to be leaving for the airport, I realized that the likeliness of being able to get to the airport, nevermind actually fly out was quickly dropping.  I admitted defeat, and Boris cheered me up with some stick to yer bones, hot tasty lunch, and a big tupperware full of leftovers.  Good thing too, as the snow continued to fall so much so that I couldn't even get to the North Shore for Christmas to hang with my mom's side of the family, and happily ate the leftovers for the next three days.

Needless to say, it was a quiet Christmas. Steven suprised me and saved Christmas Eve by making the trek across downtown to hang out for the evening, which was very nice as we were long overdue for some quality time.

And on the upside, I got a full refund for my flight, so I'll be able to reschedule and go later on.

Aside from that and the occasional venture out on foot to stock up on food, it was a quiet and relaxing week...maybe a bit too quiet, but I did my best not to let it get to me.  One perk of being downtown when it blizzards, is that I (being a person who normally avoids boxing day like the plague) took the bus up Robson on boxing day and did a little shopping--it was totally dead out there, and I scored a few great things including a nice wool jacket (I've been searching a loooong time for one).

Then, since I didn't go away, I got to hang with Tall Scott on Sunday before he headed out to go visit with Scott in Argentina for the next few weeks.  Looking forward to having both of my Scotts in back town again a month from now!

Today I finally managed to get my car out after it being stuck in the snow for the last 9 days, and went and bought a new mattress, which will be arriving Wednesday.  Exciting!  The rest of the crew continues to trickle back into town, and this week is looking like it's going to be a lot more fun, which is great after all that resting!

Hope everyone has an excellent New Years Eve--stay warm, be safe, and appreciate having your loved ones nearby!

It's supposed to go down to -19C with the wind chill tonight.  Totally unheard of.  Everyone is complaining about the cold like crazy, and yet I'm pretty sure a lot of people are really enjoying it (myself included).  Maybe it's the lack of rain, but people seem pretty cheery.

Of course for a lot of people who aren't as lucky as us, it's very, very tough dealing with this kind of weather.  I feel even luckier that usual just to have my warm, dry apartment and a nice bed to sleep in.

By the middle of the week I finished my antibiotics and started feeling quite a bit better, which was a huge relief.  At least I got through the worst of it before going to visit my cousins.

Yesterday and today have been great days, especially in contrast to the rest of the last week and a half.  Spent the evening doing some power Christmas shopping on Denman with Tall Scott, which was perfect as all the stores were open, but totally not busy, and Denman's actually great for shopping for presents!  Then did a little impromptu gift exchange with a few friends, and spent the rest of the night reading each other excerpts of some funny books, and laughing hysterically to the point of tears and cramped stomach muscles.

What a lovely way to finish off the week.  Feeling very optimistic right now.  Like finally I'm starting to get things right.  For all the things that have gone wrong this year, each one has been a great learning experience and has brought me closer to where I want to be.  A better version of myself, unappologetic for those things about me that I can't change, and constantly improving those that I can.

1. Beautiful snow-covered Vancouver.
2. Friends who are family.
3. Awesome job, working with awesome people, doing awesome stuff.
4. Good books.
5. Sleeping in.
6. People making me cookies made of love.
7. Family who are friends.
8. Mom and dad.
9. Legwarmers under jeans.
10. Getting to pet a dog in the bookstore.
11. Someone mysteriously brushing off the tank so I could drive it today.
12. Laughing till you cry and your stomach muscles and face hurt.
13. And what would a happy list be without cute boys?

Lots of love, safe travels, and happy and relaxing holidays to everyone!

1. Sunshine
2. Facetime and food with lovely nerdfriends
3. CBC radio one
4. The book Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, by Vincent Lam (it's very good and you should read it)
5. Marimekko socks
6. Sneakers
7. And I think I can say it again cause it's a friggin gorgeous day out: SUNSHINE!

But considering the mood I was in earlier this week, I sure did need some fun, and it was a great day!

1. Sunshine.
2. Farmer's market.
3. Free ice skating.
4. Finally meeting penpal Andrea and (a couple other people that were only names and faces prior to today)!
5. Coming out of ice skating into the warmth of the heat on asphalt.
6. Awesome afternoon nap after skating.
7. Super amazing dinner of pan cooked tuna, grilled pork tenderloin, asparagus, wild rice, and salad, with figs and nectarines for desert (thanks Merv!!!)
8. Spending the evening talking and laughing with friends.
9. Feeling a little bit calm again.
10. Wrapping up the night reading and eating cookies on the couch.

Yesterday was okay, today was a little worse, I have high hopes for tomorrow, and am planning to actually *gasp* DO things.  Mainly, go for a massage because I'm all sore from sitting around and not doing much for THREE WEEKS (*rolls eyes*), and if I have energy later on, I hope to try and stop by the Drupal BBQ, though I'm not sure how long I'll last...

The last list sucked, so without further ado:

1. Friends who help put things in perspective.
2. The sound of loud fireworks.
3. The awesome fruit coffee cake I baked.
4. BarCamp08!  (It's not till September, but registration is open and as of now, there's only 39 spots left!)
5. Getting a massage tomorrow.
6. CBC Radio One
7. Earplugs... which are hopefully going to allow me to go to sleep early despite the craziness outside.
8. My mom might come out to visit in a few weeks and go on a road trip to visit relatives with me!
9. DaveO's Gravelly Beach podcasts.
10. Getting called 'awesome'.

Wow, ten!  Things must be looking up.