THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SUMMER
Summer is Vancouver is a funny thing. I always hear that it is too hot, too cold, too rainy, too dry… it seems like summer can never truly assuage Vancouverites. Personally, I don’t mind the mix of conditions… definitely keeps things interesting!
Although my favourite season is Fall (the colours, hockey starts, snowboarding starts, and there’s still surfing!)… it’s impossible to not love summer in Vancouver. That small slice of sun and warmth that we get is irresistible!
My favourite things about summer:
- Surfing
- Enjoying sun on the beach
- The gorgeous sunsets
- BBQing
- Parties with friends
- Summer blockbuster movies
- The humidity
- Fresh, local, organic berries
- The vegetables and fruits that come out of our garden
- Golf
- Summer dresses
- Vacation!
- Wearing flip flops 24/7
I’ve been playing golf for a couple years now, but I usually only go 5-6 times a year or so. Each year, I find myself having more and more fun playing golf… even though I’m terrible at it!
Aside from Costa Rica, I’ve never really played a full golf course… my experience is pretty limited to the driving range, pitch and putt, and executive (academy) courses.
This was taken at the Academy at Westwood Plateau… their 9 hole course. My best shot of the day, right onto the green! I seem to be improving, albeit slowly.
Allan, Kim and Dave on the course at Westwood. What a beautiful view of the city from up there! The course, even though it’s an executive course, is very challenging… tight fairways and tricky greens… lots of elevation changes too. It’s on the side of a mountain!
I’ve decided that this summer I want to play my first real full-length golf course in Vancouver. So Allan and I headed over to Golf Town in Richmond several weeks ago and I tried about 20 different Ladies drivers.
No surprise of course, that my favourite and the one I ended up buying was the Callaway FT-9 Ladies Driver. My iron set is already Callaway Ladies so it was fitting. I am completely terrified of my driver. I feel pretty comfortable hitting my irons, but the driver is just a whole ‘nother story. It is very intimidating. I need a lot more practice and time with it, but hopefully it will come around. It’s a great club.
The head cover that comes with it is also pretty swanky! Looks like it is from the future.
The Fujikura shaft and the Winn grip are just icing on the cake. I love love love the grip.
At Golf Town, with the purchase of my FT-9, I also got $250 free credit to spend on any Callaway goods. So I bought Allan a nice free Callaway Men’s Driver, some Callaway golf balls, and a glove for myself. Great deal!
Tonight I’ll be trying out a full golf course, so I’m pretty nervous. My first time ever in Vancouver! I’ve had my new driver for a couple weeks now and I’m feeling a bit more comfortable with it. My game is improving but nowhere near where I’d like it to be. Hopefully all goes well today!
Other things I love about the summer… definitely BBQing!
Here’s a tray of food about to go out to the BBQ. The trick for good BBQing… a good grill, good BBQ sauce, lots of seasoning, good quality meat, a smoky rub…
… and hickory wood chips for extra smoky flavour! We soaked these first and then put them in aluminum foil and placed these under the grill.
Surf and Turf! Yum! Alberta aged AAA beef steak with smoky rub, and Halibut grilled over a Maple plank for extra flavour. SO GOOD! Can’t recommend the wood planks enough for grilling. I also made a side of Orzo with veggies to go along with it, and we grilled some peppers.
I also caved in and bought my Jimmy Choo sunglasses before I left for Costa Rica. I haven’t had a chance to post pics yet, so here you go. They are kind of big and silly but I like them.
Also, to end this post, Allan takes silly photos of me. This time I’m not swatting bugs away. We were just being silly. 
What do you love about summer?
Tags: barbecue, BBQ, Callaway FT-9 Driver, Golf, Golf Town, golfing, ladies, surf and turf, Westwood Plateau, Winn Grip
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August 12th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I suck at golf, that’s just leave it at that hehe. That food picture is making me hungry. :S
August 12th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
The summers in Vancouver are magical, too bad it ends to soon. All I ask for is one more month of summertime goodness.
Love the shades and that last photo is funny. Hope the rest of your summer goes well Allie!
August 12th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Kudos on the golf, Allie – I hope it goes real well! And gosh you eat well, and take the most delicious looking photographs of the food! Jealous!
August 12th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Allie you are too cute. Those sunnies are not silly big and they look perfect.
I’m soo glad summer’s back today; summers here are definitely glorious but all too short. I love berries in the summer and also peaches, nectarines and other goodies from the Okanagan.
personally I hate golf but I can see that it’s a great way to spend your time outside with greenery. I also suck at it big time.
August 12th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
Those Jimmy Choos are hot! They are joining a pair of Tom Fords on my sunnies wish list.
And that surf n turf dinner looks unbelievable. I’m not ready for summer to end yet…
Thanks for coming back to visit us! New Tales coming up in the am…
August 13th, 2009 at 8:33 am
I haven’t golfed since high school, I might hit up a driving range this off season (winter) to work on my paddling rotation
This summer has been filled with dragon boating (of course), weddings, a new hair cut, lots of new clothes and shoes.
Hope your summer has been going well. By the pictures it looks like it has
August 13th, 2009 at 9:17 am
hi you have a very nice camera out there. I love your photos its clear which is suited for blog.
can we exchange link?
email or comment me pls
arnoldsantos2008@gmail.com
August 13th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Ha…you beat me to the summer post. I was thinking about all the fun summer things yesterday just as the temps are starting to drop and lead us down the path to fall.
Sounds like you know what you need to do to get better at golf. Practice,practice practice.
A good driver you feel comfortable with can change your game. I just picked up a Cobra offset and love the distance it gives me. Is there any kind of coupon book down on the coast? Here in the kootenies they have a coupon book that has 2for1 green fees at all the courses. It makes for some cheap golf. Its not much fun when you’ve paid a lot of money and your having a bad game.
This is about the time I start to think of all the other things I haven’t done yet and have to cram them all in before summer is over…..
August 13th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Love your sunny g’s. Love your hair flipping photo. And I especially love how outdoorsy you are.
As for what I love about summer — definitely hiking. Spending the day outside makes me feel like I’ve done something productive. In fact, I’m going on Saturday
August 15th, 2009 at 10:52 am
It must be fun, but I have no idea about golf.. any.
My list is something like that but adding ice-cream and some more.
The ice-cream cannot miss!