Nose Hairs and Other Odd Things

Have you ever really looked up your nose?  I mean REALLY looked up your nose?  Taken a mirror and "studied" the nose canal?  If you haven't I highly recommend that you do.  Why you might ask?  Well, why not?  I thought I knew every inch of my body really well but apparently not.  I was sitting in my chair tweezing my eyebrows when I noticed my nose.  Then I took a look and my oh my, I had NO idea I had such a hairy nose.  Hmmm.... I think it's hairy as I haven't really looked up people's noses before to compare.

Today I decided to work from home and clean my Loft and let me tell you, it needed it.  Being in a relationship is super awesome, however being in a relationship where the guy is allergic to cats and just lives next doors makes it really easy to spend zero time at home. Don't get me wrong, I do come by once in awhile to change, do some laundry and make sure the cats haven't killed each other yet.  However it's been awhile since I've really REALLY scrubbed the Loft down.  So today I did and I have to say, it feels pretty damn good.  Really good actually.  Silly little projects that I've put off are now complete. YAY!

I'd like to type more but my belly is grumbling and my spicy quinoa salad is calling my name. Later.

HOLY CRAP

I can't believe my last post was in April.  So much has happened I'm not even sure where to begin!  I've switched companies, made new friends, I have the most amazing boyfriend ever, I ran a half marathon, a 10K, Tough Mudder, booked a trip in September.... the list could really go on and on.

So Just know that I'm back, I'll blog more (I swear) but right now my doggie needs a walk.  :)

Love and Vending Machines

Love is something people don't usually talk about unless they've just fallen in or out of it.  We are all capable of feeling love and giving love, but what is our own definition of love, or being in love?  What makes love?  For the purpose of this conversation, I'm only referring to love in the romantic sense, not the family or friends or "boy I love my dog" sense.  

I was asked if I had ever been in love before.  My immediate response was "yes, of course".  But then I started to think about it.  Have I ever been in love?  I had said yes because I have been in relationships before, but is that love?  There's always the honeymoon stage of any relationship, that's scientifically proven.  But what about the remaining time in a relationship?  Seems like people fall in and out of love so easily, so what is love and what makes it last for those who are clearly in love after many many many years of companionship?  

I've asked a lot of people this question and it's really interesting that every body's response has been so different.  No wonder relationships don't last, everyone seems to have their own opinions of love and they aren't the same!  So that brings me to my theory that those people that are in long lasting loving relationships, it isn't because of their own definition of love, it's understanding their partners definition and showing them or making them feel loved by their own definition and vice versa.  What a novel concept!  

So give it some thought people, what's your definition of love?  Are you understanding your partners and making sure that you are both being shown love in the way you want?  Remember, that's a two way street, if they will love you in your way, you must love them in theirs.

Now on to a lighter note.  I had recently made a trip to Victoria with a bunch of friends as we were all participating in the Times Colonist 10K.  What a weekend!  Such an amazing time, I'm really lucky to have the people in my life that I do.  There's too much to tell so I will share one of the crazy events.

On the ferry ride home, Christine and I decided to get a special snack from the vending machine.  Christine made her move first, putting in her $2, punching in 112 for a bag of White Cheddar Popcorn.  As the vending machine was doing its thing, I had decided on Hickory Sticks.  All was good until it became quite clear that Christine was not going to get her popcorn as it was balanced just so on the ledge, never dropping from it's spot.  I guess I too was going to have popcorn as my bag would technically in theory push her bag off the ledge and land at the bottom with mind.  Did I mention that this would happen in theory?

Of course that's not what happened, not even slightly.  Now my bag was on top of Christine's bag, both hanging off of the ledge.  So it made sense for us to put another $2 in to see if we could get the machine to drop our two bags, the only two bags of popcorn left.  This did not happen.  So being lucky that I am, I thought that my $2 would do the trick.  It of course did not.

Brad and Jessica came around the corner and asked what we were up too. We explained our situation and that we just wasted $8.  A nice guy offered to shake the machine for us.  Nothing.  A girl had mentioned that if you go find someone of the ferry, they will refund your money.  A fine plan.  So we left Brad and Jessica guarding our machine as we made our way to the gift shop.  The nice lady there told us to go to the cafeteria.  There, after filling out some paperwork, the nice young man gave us $4 back (I didn't tell him that we actually had spent $8, that would make us look foolish).  We made our way back to the machine where Brad and Jessica had so kindly protected it from people tempted to put $2 in for our popcorn.  They did however let people use the machine if they were selecting other items.  They even helped out a kid who didn't know how to use it.

This was helpful because a girl had purchased the bag of chips that was next to our popcorn, which made our popcorn move.  So Brad suggested that we buy the bag of chips on the other side and that should do the trick.  OMG, it worked!!!  Sort of.  As we all stood around watching in excitement, only one bag dropped, the other got stuck half way down.  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.  I had to put a further $2 to buy the bag of Sun Chips which pushed the last bag of popcorn down.  Dear Lord.  20 minutes and $12 later we got two bags of popcorn, Sun Chips and All Dressed chips.  Needless to say we weren't in the mood for any of them at that point but more importantly, the vending machine didn't win.   :)

Birth Control

This blog is about birth control and what we as women do, or shall I say, put ourselves through in order to have sex without worrying about the end result being a lifetime of responsibilities that maybe we're not ready to have yet.

There's that magical moment when dating someone that you discover that perhaps things are progressing to the next level and that maybe now is the time to have the "talk". You know the one.... "do you have cooties?" "do we now only sleep with each other?" "what do we do about not getting preggers" etc. This particular time in a budding relationship is nerve racking, exciting, makes you kind of want to barf a little, makes you feel a bit vulnerable, yet it needs to be talked about.

After you have the "talk" and you're both on the same page (and possibly with paperwork showing a clean bill of health), you then move on to the "what can we do about not getting pregnant" which really translates to the guy meaning "hey baby, I don't want to wear a condom anymore and the pullout isn't always effective, so what are you going to do to ensure we don't get prego". Ok, it's not just the guy thinking that, but for the purpose of this blog, the guy is responsible. :)

There are many different types of birth control out there, but one thing I do know is I'm not ever going on the pill again. I was on the pill for close to 18 years and I have to say I've never felt better then the day I went off of it. It's been a couple of years and I can say with all honesty: NEVER AGAIN. So for me, any kind of birth control that involves hormones is out for me. The other options are all invasive so in my mind the next best option would be a diaphragm. Up until recently they've only been available in the latex form but now they have silicon (yay!) which makes me happy because latex and I don't get along.

I made an appointment with my doctor to discuss the various options of birth control and her thoughts about getting a silicon diaphragm. I arrived feeling confident with my wealth of knowledge on the various types of birth control after spending some good quality time with Wikipedia. We discussed the various options and decided that indeed the diaphragm would best suit me. I was feeling good until she said "Ok, here's a gown, I'll give you a couple of minutes to get undressed". My heart started to race and I quietly asked "why?". "You have to be properly fitted for a diaphragm." She handed me the gown and left.

I panicked. I wasn't prepared to hop up on the bed, feet in the stirrups and have my doctor "measure" me. I contemplated running but thought better of it. So she measured. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it was going to be so that was good. She gave me a prescription and off I went. It took a couple of days to get it because it was silicon and had to be specially ordered. It was also expensive, $80! But that's ok. The hardest part was trying to find the spermicide to go with it. I pounded the pavement going from drug store to drug store but alas, I could only find the foam. That would have to do.

I got home and ripped open the box to see what my new purchase looked like. HOLY CRAP THAT'S SUPPOSE TO GO IN ME???!!!! I wasn't expecting it to be so freakin' big looking. Very daunting. So I read the instructions and it said to practice taking it in and out. It sat in it's box for about two weeks, I was too chicken.

After finding new confidence and thinking that I'm a pro, it was time. However, me being me, I insisted that we don't "use" it quite yet because me feeling confident and it actually being done properly are two different things. I thought everything went well until it was time to take it out......I couldn't get it out. My worst fear emerged. It wouldn't freakin' come out! Again, I panicked. I was alone and freaking out and wishing that Christine lived a few blocks away. I went home and contemplated what to do. I finally gave in and had to make a doctors appointment to get it out. My doctor laughed and said no problem, she does this everyday (us newbies I guess). Needless to say it's back in it's box and will stay there for another few weeks or until I find new confidence again.

Of course me being me I've told just about everyone I know because I do think it's kind of funny and every guys response is the same: "Jesus, glad I'm a guy". Yup, guys really don't have any idea.

Steak-Off

A few weeks back I had the absolute pleasure of enjoying not one, not two, but THREE of Vancouver's steakhouses all within one weeks' time. This blog is about them and my assessment of what "makes" a steakhouse a good steakhouse. Now I know a good steak. I wet-age my meat and can BBQ it to perfection so trust me when I say, I KNOW STEAK.

People have different ideas of what makes a good steak. Some prefer steak to smothered in some kind of sauce or melting blue cheese or perhaps both if it's a special occasion. Some people like the good old reliable Montreal Steak spice. Or perhaps just a naked steak seared on each side for approximately one minute so it's still blue and mooing in the middle. But no matter how the final presentation of the steak is, people just want a good steak.

My first steakhouse that week was to Gothams. I hadn't been to Gothams before so I was pretty darn excited to be treated to this steakhouse. I had heard many fabulous things about this place. The decor, the food, the overall experience. Well........it was good..... but quite frankly.....it wasn't how I had pictured it in my head. It wasn't really busy (granted it was a Monday night) so we sat in the lounge. I had pictured the room to be filled with men in suits smoking cigars, drinking a fabulous Bourbon or scotch, the air buzzing with conversation. But alas, no.

I knew I was going to another steakhouse later in the week so I had decided to stick with one cut of meat, the New York strip. Yum freakin' yum. So I had ordered that, medium rare. And that's exactly what I got. It was pretty tasty, but it was also $47 for 16oz (or 14oz, can't remember). Oh, and this isn't' the Keg, it's not like you get "sides". You have to order sides and pay for them separately. I think what made Gothams fun that night was because of the peeps that I was there with more than the food. Not sure if I would go back to tell you the truth.

Two nights later I had the pleasure of going to Black and Blue, a fabulous steakhouse on Alberni Street. Wow, now that place was happening, even for a Wednesday. I again had ordered the same size New York strip but I did add a tiny bit of blue cheese to my order. Can I just say....yum freakin' yum. But again, $47 and you had to get your sides separately. However, that being said, dear Lord they had the best creamed corn. Creamed corn with jalapenos. UM, YUM! At this point in my adventure if I had to pick between the two steakhouses, Black and Blue hands down. The price is the same but the quality of food (including the sides) and the atmosphere is better at Black and Blue.

Then came the last steakhouse......the one I was most excited about trying. The Brave Bull House of Steaks at the corner of Clark & Hastings. I have been driving past this place since I was a kid and after awhile it was added to my huge list of things to do. The only problem: finding people to go with me. This place doesn't exactly look like it would be a great place to eat, it's creepy. But after awhile I finally found two crazy enough friends to join me, Scott & Justin.

I had read a lot about this place over the years. It's run by the most lovely little Asian couple, Linda and her husband (his name slips my mind). She handles the front, he does the cooking. We got there and there were only a few other tables, the place was empty. However, every time someone would come in off the street, Linda would kindly turn them away explaining that they were full..... yes, there were many confused looking faces from these people that had to leave because the place was seriously empty.

I had ordered the same cut of meat, $14.95 and it came with your choice of soup or salad, a baked potato and veggies. You can tell that Linda's husband cooked our three steaks one at a time because of they were certainly not cooked exactly how we had asked, but it didn't matter. It wasn't necessarily for the food, it was for the overall experience and to meet Linda. She had come over to our table and spent quite a bit of time talking to us. I had told her that I had been wanting to come here since I was a kid and if it would be ok to have my picture taken with her..... she couldn't have been more delighted. So I got my picture taken with Linda and I will be taking her a copy because she wants to hang it on her wall. AWESOME!

So to conclude, I wouldn't go back to Gotham's. I would go back to Black and Blue, the food was amazing and so was the atmosphere. As for The Brave Bull, I had such an amazing first time there, I wouldn't want to risk ruining the memory with a second. :)

Steak

"I LOVE STEAK"

For those of you out there that might not quite know me all that well, there is one thing that you should know..... I was a vegetarian for 14 years. Yes, 14 years. Perhaps longer if I think about it. I grew up in Kamloops surrounded by farm animals. They were my friends. But being a child you don't really get much input in what you can and cannot eat. Well, I guess in retrospect I could have said something but I'm pretty sure the response would have been "Eat it" with a look that only a mother could give that would submit you into doing exactly what she said. Just one look, that's all it took. My mom was really good at giving the "look". I didn't really do anything wrong out f fear of getting the look of disappointment followed by the slow shake of the head and her turning and walking away. No words had to be spoken, that look was enough.

So a few years ago when I started to date my ex, he spoke highly of steak. How delicious it was. How tasty it was. Satisfying. God-like meat. In my defense, I had been contemplating eating meat again. So after weighing the pros and cons I decided to try a bite of his steak. Just one bite..... one small bite...... OH_MY_GOD. Really? It was the most tasty bit of food I had put in my mouth in a looooong time. Long story short, I basically ate his entire steak and for the next 8 days I had steak every night.

Fast forward a couple of years, I now consider steak one of the items I shall take with me to a desert island. If I had to pick between taking a friend or steak...well, it better be a damn good friend. I also "wet-age" my meat. Nothing like a big slab of meat soaking in it's own juices rotting for 6 weeks to make your mouth water. Nothing beats a steak.

This week I finally got to try a few steaks houses out of coincidence. Gotham's on Monday, Black & Blue on Wednesday and tonight.....The Brave Bull House of Steaks at the corner of Clark & East Hastings. You know the one, the one everyone drives by and I'm sure shudders.

So I shall be blogging about my three steak houses and the pros and cons of each. But no matter what, no one, and I mean NO ONE can BBQ a wet-aged steak like myself. Just sayin' :)

Birth Control

This blog is about birth control and what we as women do, or shall I say, put ourselves through in order to have sex without worrying about the end result being a lifetime of responsibilities that maybe we're not ready to have yet.

There's that magical moment when dating someone that you discover that perhaps things are progressing to the next level and that maybe now is the time to have the "talk". You know the one.... "do you have cooties?" "do we now only sleep with each other?" "what do we do about not getting preggers" etc. This particular time in a budding relationship is nerve racking, exciting, makes you kind of want to barf a little, makes you feel a bit vulnerable, yet it needs to be talked about.

After you have the "talk" and you're both on the same page (and possibly with paperwork showing a clean bill of health), you then move on to the "what can we do about not getting pregnant" which really translates to the guy meaning "hey baby, I don't want to wear a condom anymore and the pullout isn't always effective, so what are you going to do to ensure we don't get prego". Ok, it's not just the guy thinking that, but for the purpose of this blog, the guy is responsible. :)

There are many different types of birth control out there, but one thing I do know is I'm not ever going on the pill again. I was on the pill for close to 18 years and I have to say I've never felt better then the day I went off of it. It's been a couple of years and I can say with all honesty: NEVER AGAIN. So for me, any kind of birth control that involves hormones is out for me. The other options are all invasive so in my mind the next best option would be a diaphragm. Up until recently they've only been available in the latex form but now they have silicon (yay!) which makes me happy because latex and I don't get along.

I made an appointment with my doctor to discuss the various options of birth control and her thoughts about getting a silicon diaphragm. I arrived feeling confident with my wealth of knowledge on the various types of birth control after spending some good quality time with Wikipedia. We discussed the various options and decided that indeed the diaphragm would best suit me. I was feeling good until she said "Ok, here's a gown, I'll give you a couple of minutes to get undressed". My heart started to race and I quietly asked "why?". "You have to be properly fitted for a diaphragm." She handed me the gown and left.

I panicked. I wasn't prepared to hop up on the bed, feet in the stirrups and have my doctor "measure" me. I contemplated running but thought better of it. So she measured. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it was going to be so that was good. She gave me a prescription and off I went. It took a couple of days to get it because it was silicon and had to be specially ordered. It was also expensive, $80! But that's ok. The hardest part was trying to find the spermicide to go with it. I pounded the pavement going from drug store to drug store but alas, I could only find the foam. That would have to do.

I got home and ripped open the box to see what my new purchase looked like. HOLY CRAP THAT'S SUPPOSE TO GO IN ME???!!!! I wasn't expecting it to be so freakin' big looking. Very daunting. So I read the instructions and it said to practice taking it in and out. It sat in it's box for about two weeks, I was too chicken.

After finding new confidence and thinking that I'm a pro, it was time. However, me being me, I insisted that we don't "use" it quite yet because me feeling confident and it actually being done properly are two different things. I thought everything went well until it was time to take it out......I couldn't get it out. My worst fear emerged. It wouldn't freakin' come out! Again, I panicked. I was alone and freaking out and wishing that Christine lived a few blocks away. I went home and contemplated what to do. I finally gave in and had to make a doctors appointment to get it out. My doctor laughed and said no problem, she does this everyday (us newbies I guess). Needless to say it's back in it's box and will stay there for another few weeks or until I find new confidence again.

Of course me being me I've told just about everyone I know because I do think it's kind of funny and every guys response is the same: "Jesus, glad I'm a guy". Yup, guys really don't have any idea.

OMG, could it be......

A POST! My goodness, where does the time really go? I wake up Monday morning, blink and it's suddenly Wednesday. I guess that's ok, but honestly I'd like for it slow down just a tiny bit so I can don't miss out on the fun that's happening right now.

Tomorrow night is Butter Chicken night and I scared shitless. Yes I swore, get over it. I make damn fine BC however that's usually for four people, not a hundred. Ok, I'm not making it for one hundred people, but it feels like it.

Scott came with me yesterday to help purchase all the necessary ingredients to make my awesome BC. I forgot how nice it was to have a guy follow you around with a shopping cart which allowed me to walk, think and mentally add to my list. haahahahah, just kidding Scott if you're reading this....kind of. :)

So tomorrow I shall bail out of work early and hopefully be able to make some yummy BC for my fabulous team. If not, I'll order pizza. Whatever, food is food..... right?

PS, I made my liver pate tonight for my Wellington dinner on Friday. Did you know that when you fill up a turkey baster you SHOULDN'T point it upwards. It automatically squirts boiling water at you. FYI for you rookies out there. I'm not a rookie anymore as I learned the lesson this evening. Although I did find out that I have quick cat-like reflexes to move myself out of the way of burning hot water shooting at my face. Practicing "dodging" is what I like to think.

Dodgeball Playoffs

I can't believe that I had omitted in my last blog, my dodgeball playoffs!!!! A fellow teammate, who shall remain nameless for privacy reasons (although if you take the letters of my name and rearrange them, you could technically spell his name....just sayin') kindly reminded me that I didn't mention the fantastic Saturday afternoon back at the beginning of December........

It all started one cold, rainy Saturday morning. I had awoken from a crappy three hours of sleep (honestly, at this point one should just call it a "nap" cause if I had slept for three hours during the day it would be considered a nap, but because it's dark out and between midnight and six am, it's considered "sleep"). Ok, got off topic.

It all started one cold, rainy Saturday morning. I had awoken from a three hour nap and pretty much felt like dying. But then I remembered that today was the day for the dodgeball playoffs!!!! My first!!! That perked me up to about 45% mental and physical capability. I barely got myself dressed, remembered my water bottle and wallet and was off to meet my fellow teammates across the street.

On route to the playoffs, I was assured that our team has never done well in the playoffs so it would be quick and painless and then off to the pub. Game, game, game, gone. This thought pleased me ONLY because I was so damn tired and we were all going to pub food after and that seemed more exciting. Murphy's Law....... We didn't do poorly. Oh no, why would we do poorly? Why would past playoff games performances suddenly mean nothing? We did well, really well in fact. Now some people would consider this a good thing, and that's great (just don't be on our team hahaha). It would have been even better IF, and ONLY IF, we hadn't had to wait around in the coldest gym you've ever stepped foot in, waiting to freakin' play.

Did I mention at all yet how hungry I was? All I could think of was delicious food. The teammate who shall remain anonymous, decided it would be fun to torture me with delicious food words. I would be standing there, taking a nap standing up, and all of a sudden in my ear I would hear "chicken wings". Ten seconds later... "Nacho's". "Burger". TORTURE!

Anyway, we did well, we ended up at the pub and had a great time there. We all sat around the table and texted each other. Ahhhh....the new form of communicating with people at the same table. :)

2012

Ok, so it's been awhile since I last did an entry. I've been a very very very busy girl.

Christmas was awesome. I didn't spend it with my family, heck I didn't even spend it with my bestest buds. Christmas Day I got up early, through on my sexy Paul Frank PJ bottoms and Canucks t-shirt and hopped on the Canada Line....yes, in my PJs. I had been invited to spend the day with Liz and Lana, some new friends and it was of course a PJ party. We drank mimosa's, ate WAY too much cheese and watched movies. The perfect day I would say. I was home and in bed by 10:30. :)

New Years was interesting..... fun, but interesting. That's all I'm gonna say.

The best part was January 6th.....the day my sister and I flew off to Maui to visit my parents for 10 fabulous days. It turned out to be my most favorite trip ever, and believe me, I've travelled. But this was a non-stop, action packed, nothing but laughs trip, from start to finish.

One thing I will blog about eventually is my desire to write a book called "Sh*t My Sister Says". April has to truly be one of the funniest people that I know. She had me in stitches before we even got on the plane to go to Maui. Unbelievable.

Next week I have the pleasure of making two dinners! On Thursday it's for my dodgeball team. I'm making Butter Chicken with coconut lime rice. MJ has so kindly offered up her common room in her building which is across the street from me which is good because my place wouldn't accommodate everyone.

The other dinner I'm making is the following night..... EEEEK. I'm making my beef wellington and I'm so nervous. I haven't made it in a very long time so I'm praying it turns out. It's also the first time I'm cooking for this friend so I kinda feel like vomiting every time I think about it. Why oh why did I have to pick the most complicated, two day process meal as the first meal??? I guess I like self torture.

Anyway, I'm at work and that's what I should be doing instead of blogging, work. :)