Bowled Over

If any of you are familiar with accountancy, you understand that the main busy period (is not tax season; thanks world), but year-end. Year-end can happen at any point in the year (depends on the company) but guaranteed that when it does, it is hectic times for all parties involved. Ours is March 31, which means that the next two months are almost completely and utterly devoted to madness and when we emerge on the other end – which we always do, relatively unscathed – we celebrate. Last year we went to Tap-Ins in Chilliwack, and the year before that, golfing. Taking a break from the action of swinging clubs, this year we decided to throw balls. You’ll see.

It all starts with a lunch. This year we had BBQ. My department people make fun of me for taking food pictures, but seriously, I probably linger longer on food pictures than any other kind. Yes, I may have problems.


The windy patio – the site of this years’ lunch.





I was asked to supply the music and I immediately became apprehensive – eeek! How can I know what people want to listen to? I kind of just plunked it on the little mini player and let someone else decide. My poor little ancient iPod.




Ha ha, Regina hates getting her picture taken.


Okay now, (vegetarians aside) who doesn’t want to eat this? Like, yum.


Conveniently, (or inconveniently, when she doesn’t do my filing) I get to work with my sister.

Part 2 of the extravaganza was at Galaxy Bowl – the sweetest bowling alley of my life. No word of a lie, I was so thrilled by their sweet bowling shoes.




How are these not rad? I mean, !! Of course, it didn’t hurt that they matched with what I was wearing.


It’s like I’ve traveled back in time to 1987. Analog is underrated.





So, as it turns out, I’m really good at bowling when I turn around and shoot it from under my legs. Like, strike central up in here. So I bowled a whole round that way. I just may bowl that way forever.

I also never knew that the ladies in my department could get so wild. Or me, from playing bowling. It was like the apocalypse. (I think I say that a lot…)

So fun! I think I’m going to join a bowling league.

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Photographic Memory

In my mind, May long is really the beginning of summer – people at start to take their holidays, grad prep is in full swing, and the parking lots at work make going home for lunch possible. Last May long, I went trekking with Yin and Schatz but this year was decidedly more low-key. Other than completely kicking back and tackling the ever-present load of schoolwork, we did pick one day to venture into Vancouver for dinner – I selected the Keg at Granville Island after some shopping at Pacific Centre. Granville Island was as nice as ever, but the wind was a bit nippy that day…



























So that’s Granville Island…again. It’s nothing you haven’t seen plenty of times before, but if I don’t document my May long weekends, I’ll become old and confused before you know it. Trust me on that.

May long weekend is also opening weekend for the Richmond Night Market, or as it is known post-lawsuit, the Summer Night Market. (The original Richmond Night Market has now moved to New Westminster…apparently.) Anyway, the crowds just swarmed to the market on this particular night and, to be honest, I was in no mood to deal with them and we only ended up staying for an hour before escaping to Starbucks.








Cheap baby socks. Just what I needed.

The real reason I usually come to the market is to partake in the food stalls. But during the peak hours, jostling down this packed corridor is an exercise in patience.











Well, that was that. Now that life is back to normal (aka. no trips), blogs will shorten and my burden will be lighter. Light, summer reading for you! Or just look at the pictures. More than half of you already only do anyway. I ain’t mad atcha!

I’m not sure what’s next, but I can promise that the regatta blog is coming…you can see be try to be sporty while sculling.

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(Day 8) Deluxe Dining

Sister makes a killer smoothie. Literally, it just might kill you if you consume three massive cups full of the stuff. But it was so good! This is my portion:



After another trip to Holt Renfrew last night and this morning, I finally got all my shoes business sorted out and am the proud owner of a pair of slick-looking (literally, the are patent) flats. You’ll see me trotting around in those soon if you haven’t already. But this isn’t the point of today. No, Sistre and I are just chillaxing and checking out the Calgary Saturday scene. When lunch rolled around, I was craving ramen, so Sistre was a good sport and off to Shikiji we ran.



We hit up the Camera Store, Market Mall, and Costco before dinner, which was at the illustrious, hugely classy, Olive Garden. Don’t get me wrong, I love Olive Garden. But Calgary’s was so…ghetto-ish.


Whatevs, those breadsticks are worth the wait.

Since I was still reeling from the bad cake last night, Sistre decided she would make me a proper red velvet cake – you know, the ones from a mix and then adding a s-load of other stuff. We had a gay old time watching SNL that night and stuffing our faces with the stuff. Still wasn’t the same, but it sure was soft and tasty…which is more that I can say from last nights’ blasphemy.

The next day we kept it really low-key. I was glued to a TV broadcast of the “First Wives Club” and then we headed to a diner – Diner Deluxe – for lunch.





The emo waitress there thought Sis and I were so adorable. That’s always nice to hear.



After a brief panic-attack, I realized that I had actually an hour less to get to the airport than I had previously thought. Apparently accountants can’t count? That sucks. I made it though I kind of felt like barfing from all that…great. But it was a fun trip and I am looking forward to heading back there – I’m sure Calgary is waiting…?



AND THERE IS A BABY WAITING FOR ME IN BC! CONGRATS TO GRANT AND RACHEL!!

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(Day 7) Red Velvet Rebellion

Up and checked out of the little Juniper, we headed into Banff town with our little sacks of remnant food and enjoyed a picnic by the river.








Not human! (chills)





After a quick coffee pickup, Sistre and I were on our way out of Ban-fa-fa and back to the big city.






Oh, just another wild animal in the road. This is Canada, after all.

Sistre and I came back to the real world in the most immersed way possible – by spending our afternoon at a massive shopping mall, Cross Iron Mills. It’s a behemoth stuck out in the middle of a field somewhere. As if Calgary needed to be even more spread out.



For dinner, Sistre and I headed to her favourite sushi joint, Sushi Kawa. As soon as I sat down, the couple at the table next to me passed me over a roll they had hardly touched. Wary, I examined it and deemed it fully edible and thus did so. I’m still alive right now, so I’m pretty sure they were just full. Or maybe it fell on the floor or something. It sure did confuse the waitresses – I hadn’t even received a menu and already had food. Ha ha.













Despite all the pictures of beautiful sushi, none of it was actually mine except for the donated roll shown first. I, again, couldn’t resist the call of curry and ended up with chicken curry udon.



After dinner, we had a sudden, joint, sisterly craving for cupcakes. We drove to nearly every cupcake spot in town in search of red velvet cupcakes. Every damn place closed at six, so we were S.O.L. While I realize this is something of an odd, spur-of-the-moment craving, it was nonetheless very powerful and all-consuming. Empty-handed, we returned to her apartment to set our strategy. Equipped with the internet, I hunted down a café on the east end of the city that apparently had the best red velvet cake people have ever had. While not in cupcake form, we were desperate and booked it on over. It was called ‘Nectar’.





Grossest. Red. Velvet. Cake. Ever. It was so dry and flaky and I had to drink water to get it down. Are you horrified yet? You should be. I was. For over $8, I would rather have had a bowl of ice cream (and I’m lactose intolerant) – yes, I think it was that much worse because the place was so pretentious. Ugh! What a disaster.

Well, all bad cake aside, today was another memorable adventure for me with Sistre. Tomorrow we do some odds and ends and other stuff, and the day after, I’m off to home. Since I didn’t take many pictures, tomorrow’s blog will be short. (Hurrah?) Then back to reality…

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