Are you feeling it?

Six o'clock on a Friday. That might be my most favourite time of the week. The sun is still shining in the yard, the buds are popping.

This is the view from my computer.

I've made myself a yummy Caesar and the dinner is in the oven. This weekend holds no real firm plans beyond playing music and hanging out with friends. Juicey and her boy and I went to The Superstore this morning and stocked up on good food for the week. Her son helped me pack my groceries in to the house, just to be nice. God! I knew there was a reason I should have had kids. I think I might just have to borrow J's kids. There already fully formed well adjusted humans and so much cooler than me.

I did make it over to the coast the other day. Here's a shot from the ferry taken from my drivers seat. With a parking spot on the ferry like this why would I want to get out of the car?? I didn't.

I did a little work and then hit the pub for a beer and a bite of food. Good food, good beer, good company. I left there and headed over to my other friends place where we watched the new James Bond movie. I highly recommend it. Had another great visit with my dear friends and hit the sack. When I awoke it was April Fools Day and I sure thought someone was having one over on me. My friend works in the film industry and when I accused him of creating some sort of movie effect he assured me that it was real fucking snow I was looking at. Not cool.
I headed back to the city early in the afternoon. Confused.

I had a visit from my friend Karin today too, she came by to do some shopping in my store and she also brought me a present! It's a Christmas/Easter gift or something like that. Karin loves giving gifts and I love getting gifts so we get along pretty well. She gave me this funky purple Japanese tea pot that I had once admired when I was with her, a beautiful tin of Indian Nimbu tea (Darjeeling Tea with Citrus and Caramel) I can't wait to try, and this super cute green , felt bag with cool dingle balls. A thoughtful gift from a thoughtful person. It was great to see her today!

I choose to focus on all that is positive these days. My life is far from perfect and the illness of my close friend shadows everything I do right now. Now more than ever I need to absorb as much love and joy as I can so I have the strength to give it all back.

What are your plans this weekend? Hope it's all good.

LOVE, xox

How much is too much?

I bought these neat spice/recipe packs from The super Store and I think they are pretty cool. I made Beef Burgundy last night. I served it with egg noodles. It was pretty good and the beef became so tender when it was done. We polished off the rest of the bottle of wine that didn't make it into the stew pot with our meal. It was yummy.

I just got back from my boot camp workout and holy crap. Hardest workout yet. I am still wobbly and shaky. I swear I never stopped gasping for air the whole time. I paid for everything I imbibed in this weekend. Including the huge dent I made in that bottle of gin I picked up on Saturday. We are starting week 7. On Saturday we are all going up to Whistler to spend the night in a cottage and work out on the mountain. I am so hardcore.

Everything feels like it's a bit too much these days. One day I will tell you all about it.

Later.

How's life on the road?

Last week Lorna and I went to the Sunshine Coast for some business and ended up having a pretty wild time. We always have so much fun on our little road trips and this one was no different. The weather ended up being pretty great and I was thrilled to see this gorgeous trailer as we were getting off the ferry. I took this photo from our moving car as we passed it on the way up the hill to Gibsons. Of course I waved and gave them the thumbs up as we went by. I think they got it, they waved back and smiled a lot. When we drive Big Momma (our car), we are always waving at people and trying to get attention. It helps to drive a car with big pink flowers all over it. Little girls and old men seem the most affected.

As we were driving up the coast we saw something that always cracks me up, they don't have bus benches or shelters so people just put plastic lawn chairs at the bus stop so they have a place to sit. I don't know why I think it's so funny but we were joking that when someone has a big BBQ they just drive up the coast and collect all the chairs they need and return them the next day. This time I noticed that some of the stops have hand made wooden stools as well as plastic chairs. I think it's nice.
We arrived at the B&B in Sechelt and it was really beautiful. The house itself overlooked the water and our hostesses wasted no time in pouring us some wine and getting us all in to the hot tub for some fact finding and business talk. A couple of hours later we were treated to a lovely dinner, more wine, more hot tub and some more wine. Some people really know how to look after guests and make them feel comfortable. Our hostess was the mostess. After we covered all possible topics and realized we were extremely pruned up we wandered over to our room at the B&B attached to the house.
The room is nothing if not opulent. So beautifully decorated and perfectly appointed. I can't wait to go there with my honey for a night of romance. Lorna and I were sufficiently impressed and after we boosted each other up onto the huge bed we both fell into a bit of a tipsy sleep. I woke up once in the night to use the bathroom and I had to crawl backwards off the end of the bed and search for the floor with my feet like a toddler. The stool at the end of the bed was necessary for re-mounting the king sized platform. King size is good for two girls that don't need to cuddle.
We woke up in the morning and headed off for breakfast, explored Sechelt a bit and then off to do some business. It ended up being a good match for us and after loading thousands of dollars worth of designer shoes into the back of Big Momma we hit the trail back towards Gibsons. We stopped for a quick and delicious lunch at Molly's Reach and then headed of to Happy Tails Ranch to visit Dave and Chari and about 18 dogs. They board dogs and since it was coming up on Thanksgiving weekend they were at full capacity. It was quite the welcome. This is a picture of Maggie, she is the matriarch of dog society and the mistress of the house. She also has a new outfit. I think she looks smashing.
After some cocktails we brushed the dog hair off ourselves as best we could and hit the road to catch the ferry back to Vancouver. We were tired so we stayed in the car enjoyed the pretty pink sunset and relaxed. It's only about 20 minutes from the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay to my place. It's fun to go away I LOVE the Sunshine Coast but I am always glad to get home safe and sound from any trip. Looking forward to the next road trip!

Can I have a ride?

We survived another weekend! This summer has sure been shaping up, what with the great weather and the parties and all.

Saturday was interesting, as we were puttering around the apartment we noticed there were some loud motorbikes coming and going. When we went onto the deck we were greeted by quite a site. This is only a fraction of the bikes parked outside. They went all the way down the block and around the corner. COOL!

Of course the event brought a spirited bunch of folks with it and by the time we went out at 9 there was a lot of tire squealing and general monkey business taking place. I wish we could have stuck around to see it all go down and maybe go over for a beer or two, it looked like good fun.

Instead we headed off to a house party and it was a good one. Friends of ours have a house in East Vancouver that time seems to have forgotten. The house is on a huge lot buried in a little chunk of old growth forest. The house itself is around a hundred years old and has never been upgraded or renovated. It's a slice of east Van history and the folks that live there are hip retro style people from the clothes they wear to the decor of the house, it's a pretty cool place to be. Not to mention the number of amazing musicians that were there, there was live house-rockin' music in the living room stuffed full of sweaty happy dancers. And cheese puffs too. Good times.

Moving pretty slow on Sunday but managed to get myself going with a trip to Costco to do some shopping. What the hell was I thinking? It's almost impossible to actually buy anything there if your not buying for a family of four. I can't get my head around all the massive quantities that everything comes in. I simply cannot store that much food. I know I might be sad in the event of a disaster but we do live above a grocery store so I figure we should be good for a while.

Today was just a bit of a silly one with a morning filled with phone calls and sad stories, dealing with little details at work and buying office supplies. Had a lovely lunch date though, good food and great company. Not bad at all.

Where's the party?

Happy Birthday Erin!
I have decided to use more names in my blog. I even find it confusing to say BFF all the time without being able to say who is who. I don't really think it matters but I wanted to ease into this thing a little with anonymity to start and maybe more details about my life as it feels comfortable. This way I can promote their businesses, talents, blogs and websites too.
We had a lovely time on Thursday night at Erin and Paul's place, the first yard/bbq party of the summer and it had all the elements. Great weather, lots of yummy food, good friends we haven't seen in a long time, new people to meet and of course the loveliest of birthday girls. All good! Thanks guys!
This weekend is the big Pemberton Music Festival. There was a time when I would be all over this kind of event but there is no way in hell you could get me up there at this stage of my life. I don't need to be in a remote area with over 40, 000 people, nothing to do my business in but a blue plastic pissy/poopy hotbox and a 10'x 10' camping area to call home. Are you fucking kidding me?? There are so many restrictions at this event, you can't bring in your own booze you have to buy on sight, not a bad idea I guess but I imagine it would be an expensive little outing when you tally it all up. The weather report is calling for rain tomorrow. If I went it would rain for sure. I am convinced that global warming really started in earnest when I threw away my tent. I had about an 80% chance of rain whenever I set it up. It was uncanny. It got to the point that whenever there were freak rain storms in the middle of summer my mother would call me after and ask if I was camping. Why else would it rain for no reason. The last time we camped, we went to sleep in the warm summer night and woke up to a torrential rainforest downpour. We had to pack everything up and into the car to catch a ferry. I was drying out the tent in the living room of our apartment for a week. That's when I decided I was done. I would love some sort of camping house, how about that little trailer in my header?? That would be perfect. I think I would make a good RVer too. Maybe one day. Until then it's staying at friends houses or motel/hotels. I've earned it.
Tonight we are going to a rockin' house party. Some of Vancouver's legendary Rockabilly, Roots musicians will be there and these parties are always interesting and fun. I'll tell you all about it on Sunday.
Yup, summer is in full swing! I hope my liver can stand a little more.
Cheers Ya'll!!!

How is it?

Aw summer. It's been a good one so far. Just a quick post before we head out to friends place to do some singin' and playin' and drinkin'. That's right we don't need the letter "g" to have fun!

Footloose is on right now and Kevin Bacon is just about to go to the town council meeting. Superman thinks they will dance and change every ones mind.

Whenever anybody kisses on TV Superman yells "SMOOCHIE!" at the screen in a slightly odd way. It can be unsettling. Sometimes I think I am marrying an eight year old. But other times...

We had a nice day today. We drove down to Commercial Drive and went to our favourite music store Bone Rattle. Of course we both found expensive things we wanted to buy. We managed to control our urges and went to a nice little restaurant called TIMBRE and had Greyhounds and yummy sandwiches.

Well my friends, off to do some jamming. Talk to you tomorrow and have fun out there.

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

OMG our apartment is HOT. Fourth floor, morning sun, no air conditioning. Right now it's ridiculous, the thermometer on the deck says it's over 50/120 degrees out there. The mercury is at the very top, when I was a kid I thought that it would explode out of the top just like in the cartoons. Just sitting here typing this is causing me to break a drippy sweat. Ugh.

Anyway, enough about that it's probably hot where you are too.

Yesterday was a great day. I came back to town from White Rock and we hit the very last of the season Rockabilly Jam at the world famous Railway Club and it was fabulous. All the scene-sters were there and much beer was consumed and great tunes played by some of Vancouvers best musicians. I got up with a couple of my BFFs and we pulled off a few big harmony singin' tunes with the band. I also got up with Superman and helped him rip off a pretty sweet set, lots of energy and the folks were digging it too.

The jam starts at 4:30 so by 8:30-9 pm we are usually spent and pretty loaded but this was to be one of those magical evenings that doesn't want to stop. A last minute invitation to a good friends house for more jamming, more drinking and more fun. There were 8 of us sitting in a beautiful back garden in East Van, playing music together, lots of guitars and even a stand up bass to make it all more magical.

You know, these things can't be planned, these moments of sharing music in a completely perfect environment with everybody having something of value to add to the sound and the experience. I'm talking about 4 part harmony that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Sad, lonely, love lost songs that bring a lump to your throat. Gospel songs about saying goodbye to your mother before the good Lord takes you home. Honky-tonk songs about forgetting to go home and choosing the booze the floozies and a pack of smokes over the one who's waiting for you at home...and Sunday Mornin' Coming Down. That song just speaks for itself. Whenever we sing it on a Saturday night I know I'm going to be feeling a little like that on Sunday morning. And I do.

if you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

Okay, so it took me all of Sunday to get over Saturday night. I'm not sure what that was about but man, I need to get into training if I want to keep up my regular summer drinking schedule. Summer is just around the corner after all and I can't be taking a whole day to get over one night of drinking.

I did manage to work out this morning so that's something. At the gym not the bar. It was hard. I haven't been doing it enough lately and I definitely felt it. We have a gym on each floor in the building we live in and that is so nice. It's just perfect for one person. It has a treadmill a stationary bike, a universal gym, free weights and one of those big balls. No excuses here. The only reason I don't work out every day is because I am a lazy, lame ass. There is no other reason and I can live with that. Soooo, today being Monday I am trying to start my week off right and get some damn exercise, eat some healthy meals and write here every day. Wow, it's good to have goals.

We have a nice flat screen TV in the gym too so I can watch whatever I want while I'm working out. This is a little embarrassing sometimes because people often walk by when I'm in there and I am not always proud of my viewing choices. Superman listens to Honky-Tonk Country Classics on the music channel while he works out. He listens to it LOUD too. It cracks me up because I always think about the next person coming in to the gym and switching on the TV only to have George Jones or Waylon Jennings singing about drinkin' and lovin'. I don't think ANY of that music was written to work out to. I, on the other hand have the TV tastes of a 14 year old boy. I love adult cartoons like The Simpson's and South Park and some of the newer ones like Frisky Dingo and Morel Oral. I enjoy Mad TV and Saturday night Live anything with a warning screen that comes on after the commercials. I realize I come by this the long way around, my family has always enjoyed this type of humour. I remember my brother and I saving up our money to buy Mad magazine and Cracked and Crazy too. I also remember staying up waaayy past my bedtime when I was pretty little to watch this new show called Saturday Night Live that my older brother had heard about. It was pretty cutting edge stuff back then. I would have been about 9 years old and my brother was 12ish. Oh well, just one more part of my goal to stay young and never completely grow up.

Another thing, how come every time I turn the TV on in the gym I have to change the ratio of the picture. Somebody always makes the picture go as big as it can go and everything looks all stretched out. I think some people just want to get there money's worth with those wide screens and fill up every space. Or maybe they just like working out and watching all the stretched out fat people on TV. Wow, that actually makes sense.

I know you thought I was going to ask you about your work out habits but trust me, I never will. Instead...

What's your favourite summer drink???

The one that you accidentally drink too much of and then fall down on. I myself am partial to a good Margarita and anything Martini makes me do crazy things.