I apologize for the lack of updates lately! My life is in boxes and so was my computer!

The move went well on Saturday. We managed to pack up the entire apartment in 24 hours. The movers came Saturday afternoon and it only took them 3 hours to do the entire move. Wow! Super fast. Allan and I were helping the entire time so that’s probably a big factor for why it went so fast. My forearms and quads are still tired! But at least it was a good workout

Despite the crazy move on Saturday night, we still managed to get out for a friend’s birthday and play… of all things… bingo. It was entertaining to say the least. And then a late night Wendy’s snack.

Sunday was spent unpacking, mounting the TV (took a couple hours), cleaning the place, getting cable hooked up, and installing some curtains. We didn’t get much of a chance to really unpack any personal belongings.

Monday I started my new job in Gastown! I’ve got a beautiful view that I can see from my desk of Canada Place and the water. It makes a huge difference on my mood when I can see the water and the mountains in the background. Keeps me invigorated. Everyone at the company is SO SO nice. Ridiculously nice, really. I’m having a little trouble adjusting to all the new systems I am learning, but each day I am feeling more and more comfortable. I hope I can make a big difference.

I have tomorrow and Friday off for moving chores and because of the Nexon Big White trip. Even though the studio is now closed, we all paid for the trip already so we’re going to have a great time snowboarding and skiing together. I’m really excited. Looks like the conditions up at Big White won’t be too bad!

I have two of my really close university guy friends (and roommate!) coming up from San Francisco to visit me and also to go on the trip. They’re arriving Thursday and Friday, so somehow I have to get the entire room that is full of boxes and sports stuff somewhat cleared. I honestly don’t know how I’m going to do it in one day by myself. Scary.

Either way it looks like it should be a great time at Big White and so far the move is going alright! I can’t wait to show you guys some of the pictures from the place now that it’s starting to get somewhat organized

Well I’ve been waiting a long time to talk about the big news… so here I go!

On Sunday I received a full-time job offer from the company in Gastown I’ve been interviewing with… and I accepted it. I’ve turned down some really good opportunities in Kelowna and LA to work there… but I know I made the right decision. I start on Monday although my technical start date is March 3rd (so much moving craziness to sort out that I don’t want to interfere with my job). I am so excited. I am happy to have not settled on any level. I’ve worked and traveled with some of the people there before and they are all great. Smart, fun, professional people. I will be a Product Marketing Manager there. I can’t wait to make a big difference.

The other big news… is that I will no longer be living in an old apartment building! That’s right… Allan and I signed a lease on Wednesday for a new 2 bedroom in South Granville/Fairview. It’s only a couple blocks away from where we were living before, and steps from our friends. It’s also close to Granville Island and the Capers Organic Whole Foods Market we go to. We really wanted to stay in the area… it’s so central and close to downtown without having to live in the coldness, crowdedness, and big box apathetic feel that I don’t like about downtown living.

Old Place, Bedroom (Half packed up)

Old Place, Living Room

Old Place, Kitchen

We managed to check off every single piece of criteria we had for an apartment:

- In the South Granville/Fairview area. Close to downtown but not downtown. Check.
- Ground level. (Try dealing with a 9′6″ surfboard in an elevator) Check.
- Brand new. Check.
- Large patio. Check.
- Nicely appointed kitchen with new appliances, especially a dishwasher. Check.
- Big enough bedroom for a king size bed. Check.
- Spacious living room. Check.
- Carpeted. Check.
- 2 bedroom. (2nd bedroom will be the sports room) Check.
- 2 bathrooms. Check.
- En-suite laundry. Check.
- Walk-in closet. Check. (Not as nice as Lindsay’s though!)
- Included parking and storage locker. Check.
- Gets afternoon sun instead of morning sun.
- Quiet neighbourhood NOT on a busy street with good neighbours. Check.

Best of all… we are moving on Saturday! Yes, it is really soon and so we are spending all day today packing. Craziness. I prefer a swift transition though than dragging it out and waiting. Plus I want to get this all settled and sorted out before I start my new job.

I’ll try and get some better pictures of the new place. These were snapped quickly right after we signed the lease.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we can decorate it and what sort of furnishings we can use to complete it. I’m thinking it’s going to be west coast style (of course) with themes of our activities and passions. Allan has been living in his apartment for over 3 years and I’ve been living here for about a year and a half. It’s pretty much like a storage locker, there’s so much stuff accumulated over the years. I’m hoping this move will give us a chance to have “our” place together, rather than either mine or his. I’m hoping the interior design will reflect that eventually.

New Place, Kitchen

New Place, Living Room & Patio

New Place, Master Bathroom

New Place, Walk-in Closet

I’ll be posting pictures over time to show how the place evolves. It’s going to be pretty bare bones as we both get adjusted to it and furnish it over time.

So that’s the big news! I’m so excited about moving forward into the next stage of my life. It feels like nothing but sunshine in my life right now

Okay… back to packing!

I have some great news to tell everyone (x2) soon… I can’t wait to share!

In the meantime, here is a little recap of the ski trip to Sun Peaks two weekends ago. The snow wasn’t great and we didn’t get any fresh snow at all, so most of it was spent ripping around the mountain doing little jumps and having fun… and the evenings spent drinking, doing some stupid things

Check out the video by clicking above! Note: This video is not 100% work safe, but it’s not too bad. Featuring snowboarding at Sun Peaks, our condo there, drinking, wrestling, and tequila drinking.

Trev and J on the hill..

Our condo was great!..

Getting out the Patron on the hill..

Some of the group getting ready to go out to the bar..

Our group hit the dance floor hard, haha..

We wandered around a bit afterwards on the way home after a long night out..

… like running around on snowbanks

Today is one of the busiest days I’ve had yet! I’m just going to write a short post before we head out tomorrow to the Island for Valentine’s Day stuff and snowboarding.

When I woke up today, I had no intention of cooking a Valentine’s Day dinner… however by the end of the day I suddenly decided I wanted to cook something up before we left to eat while watching “Lost”. In fact, I shouldn’t even really call it a Valentine’s Day dinner because it’s definitely not how I would have liked to do it. Our real V-Day dinner out is tomorrow

I knew I wanted to buy Allan the pasta maker he’s been eyeing at Williams-Sonoma, so I headed over there at the end of the day. I got him a couple supplies to get started quickly if he wanted to.. even though in the future I want to make the pasta from scratch.

I also picked up a little present for myself while I was there… a Cuisinart Pressure Cooker! What I desperately want one day is a beautiful proper slow cooker, but for now… and for my busy life, I think a pressure cooker is more appropriate.

So Allan opened his presents after work today and he was super stoked. He got an Imperia pasta maker made in Italy, a silicon rolling pin (these things are amazing), some pasta sauce, and some pasta flour.

I didn’t really have a plan for dinner tonight so I decided to make something with the new pressure cooker… Caribbean style braised beef short ribs. I picked up some nice Alberta fed short ribs from Granville Island and grabbed some mushrooms, carrots, and potatoes to go with it.

While it cooked in the pressure cooker for an hour and a half, Allan started using his new pasta maker! It did a really nice job.

The ribs didn’t turn out too bad. I was a little disappointed with how fatty they were, but they really were tender. They literally fell off the bone while cooking. The sauce was nice but next time I think I will pick a less fatty cut of meat.

It all went together pretty good… it was a neat experiment. Next time we’ll make the pasta a lot thinner and I want to season it a bit more to be more flavourful. I think a cream sauce would have been better with the fresh pasta.

Anyway, all in all, a fun experiment and I can’t wait to cook more!

Tomorrow morning I have a quick skate at 8 Rinks and then it is off on the ferry to Victoria! We’re staying in my favourite BC hotel… the Fairmont Empress.. and eating at one of my favourite restaurants… the Empress Room. Wohooo! I can’t wait. It’ll be nice to have a mini getaway with all the stress that’s been going on lately. Then it’s up to Courtenay for the snowboarding weekend.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day and weekend!

One of the best parts of looking for a job at the moment is having a couple spare moments to go grocery shopping and cook meals. I generally cook quite frequently, but the free time is allowing me to be a bit more creative with my meals. Despite being so busy lately that I haven’t even had a chance to sit down for longer than a couple minutes, I find myself always trying to at least make time to cook a nice dinner from scratch. I generally don’t make anything too fancy. My motto is quick to make, simple and tasty! And always using fresh local organic ingredients.

Above is the Panko and Pecan Encrusted Halibut I made last night. The crust has olive oil seasoned with ginger and green onions, a little chopped habanero pepper in the crust, and it is topped with fresh tomatoes over a bed of garlic ginger broccoli and served with yukon gold nugget potatoes. On a side note, the halibut was previously frozen but it is actually the halibut we caught when we went deep sea fishing in Tofino last summer.

Here’s what I call “The Meat Lovers Kitchen Sink“. This is definitely Allan’s favourite. It features 3 kinds of organic meats: bacon, pancetta, and chorizo sausage. The sauce is a homemade spicy tomato sauce and there’s a number of vegetables in there, including zucchini and peppers. The noodle there is a fresh tagliatelle pasta from Granville Island.

Here is my Tandoori Chicken with Green Curry Vegetables. I always try to find a way to make sure there is a large serving of vegetables with every meal, and curry sauce is one of the best ways to include them! The Tandoori Chicken is marinated and basted with coconut milk, lime juice, garlic, cumin, coriander, pepper, saffron and an indian blend of chilis and spices.

This is called “Heart Attack on a Plate“. Yummy big fresh pappardelle noodles served in an alfredo sauce made with heavy cream, parmigiano reggiano, and green onions. Mixed with my favourite of course… LOTS of double smoked bacon, and some spinach, mushrooms, and asparagas.

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On a non-food note, I’ve been enjoying Twitter very much lately. Just to clarify, I’m not planning on using this account for work purposes or anything, it’s just a life feed from yours truly when I’m in between blogging. http://twitter.com/VancityAllie

I’ll be posting photos/videos from the trip this past weekend to Sun Peaks. Also, this coming weekend I’ll be doing a little Valentine’s stint in Victoria and then up to Courtenay for the snowboarding trip to Mount Washington every year with Allan’s friends.