One of the best parts of this process of getting our place finished is finally getting rid of a lot of clutter and junk that we had been accumulating that we really never use. We do have a storage locker in our basement so we’ve been using that to store mostly seasonal items, such as our camping gear. It really makes a big difference in terms of space in our apartment!

We finally finished off the “Sports Room”. Really the easiest way to show the change is to show before and after pictures. Here is the “before”. Previously, as you can see, this room was basically a catch-all for our gear. 3 surfboards, 4 snowboards, 2 sets of wetsuit gear, 2 sets of snowboarding gear, 2 sets of ice hockey gear, 2 sets of golf clubs, plus camping gear and miscellaneous items. Phew! It was a lot of stuff to cram into one room.

And here is the “after” photo! We really wanted the room to feel more like a fun, bright place where we could show off some of our gear but also be functional in terms of storing everything.

That’s when we came up with the idea of mounting our gear to the walls. When we originally measured out the surfboards, we realized that Allan’s longboard was WAY too big for the walls. Then we noticed that there was a strip of wall that actually went above the door… and bingo, the surfboards all fit on the far wall.

We mounted the surfboards using handmade wooden racks made by Hawaiian Gun Racks. They’ve got some padded material on top to keep them from denting the boards, and also a dowel on the end to prevent them from slipping off just in case. They really are both beautiful and sturdy.

We also mounted the snowboards to the other wall. Mounting everything to the walls really freed up a ton of space, and also I think it looks pretty neat. We installed a cabinet to the wall as well, and put all our books and DVDs in there to save space from the living room. We also are using it to hold some of our snowboard gear such as boots and goggles. It’s also a great place to display some photos of some of our adventures.

From left to right… 2010 Men’s Burton Supermodel, 2007 Women’s Burton Feelgood, 2010 Women’s Burton Malolo… Boots: 2009 Burton Men’s Serow Japanese Exclusive Model, 2010 Burton Women’s Supreme Boots

The snowboards were mounted using HangtimeUSA wall mounts. They are plastic mounts that basically hold to the width of the board, so they are easy to pull in and out of the clips. They can also be mounted diagonally. We were really impressed by how sturdy they were, and the mounting hardware that came with them was awesome.

We fit a couple more things into the room like my golf clubs and the skim boards, but most of our gear is still tucked away in the closet in that room. We purchased a used red microfiber sofa that I LOVE and a couple lamps to complete the room. Not pictured are all the game plaques that Allan and I have from working in the video game industry… you get one when you “ship” a game. It’s kind of a fun addition to the room.

The last part of the room I wanted to talk about is probably my favourite… the coffee tables. We covered one of the coffee tables in all the sporting goods stickers that I had accumulated over the past few years, and that Allan has accumulated pretty much his whole life. There’s a lot of history on that table. Not only is it covered with our favourite brands, but it’s covered in memories of accomplishments, events, special milestones in our lives, and our favourite activities. It really completes the room for us.

So what do you think of the transformation?

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?

As promised, here are some of the Tofino pics I’ve been meaning to post from the last couple trips. Bear with me… there’s quite a few!

HD Video of Tofino is still on the way… I’ll probably have a chance to edit it this weekend. In the meantime, hope you like the photos! I’ve still got a few more somewhere that I’ll post soon.

The view from our campsite… the ocean, the trees, the sun! That’s why it’s my favourite spot to camp…

Our car just full of camping stuff… skim boards, cooking gear, coolers, food etc… yep… gotta admit food takes up the most space. Luxury “car camping”, as Tawcan would call it

A citronella candle in our campsite… I love to scatter these everywhere around the site. They look beautiful when it is dark out. Plus… a mosquito perimeter… a bonus for those who dislike bugs as much as I do

Making mojitos at the campsite…

Crista and Trev put together some yummy beer-braised ribs over the campfire…

Allan and I make up some mango-topped thai coconut Pacific halibut (caught in Tofino of course, by us)…

Tent City! And tarp city I love how camping is the perfect excuse to wear all sorts of silly non-matched things. Who cares! You’re camping!

I love the ripples in the sand.

SPLASH!

One of my fave restaurants in Tofino… Shelter. We always ask for the best spot in the whole restaurant… the couches right by the wood-burning fire that they stoke all night. Perfect.

Shelter’s yam fries (the best in my opinion), and some wings for appies.

We also like to eat at the Wildside Grill for Fish & Chips, grab a lime and mint slushie from the taco cart in the back, and grab a coffee or tea from the Tofitian. The very same plaza also has Live to Surf, which we always check out to see what new surfboards they have in… and try to avoid the mass craziness of people renting 9 ft easy-rider foamie or plastic longboards! Aahhhh!

Long Beach, on a good day.

Ready to surf! Yay for Burton snowboarding socks to keep the feet warm just before hitting the cold water.

Allan riding down the line… wheee… small summer waves.

Me riding a tiny wave… I look pretty lame here. I wish I had good surfing photos of myself! Of course, when the waves are big and the surf is epic, there’s no one to take pictures of you

Allan and I riding whitewash into the beach together, hurray! Haha.

A children’s toy shovel left on Long Beach…

Golfing at Long Beach Golf Course… 9 holes… lots of fun, with J, Trev, and Crista.

J decides to ride on the front of the golf cart…

Me chipping a ball…

Allan flying the trainer kite… blue, blue sky.

Me flying the trainer kite. Once upon a time we thought we were going to get into kite surfing, but then we realized how expensive the gear was, and that we wouldn’t have enough time to do kite surfing along with all the other sports we love. So it kind of fell by the wayside. Maybe one day we’ll get into it again… maybe kite snowboarding

Smoooooch! Allan and I in the water…

So fun! More photos coming soon

Quick post on Costa Rica today. It’s strange writing back and remembering, even though it was only a couple days ago…

On my last day at Paradisus Playa Conchal, I booked a tee time on the Reserva Conchal golf course at 6:30 AM… yes, 6:30 AM. Too early.

The Reserva Conchal golf course is a beautiful course in Costa Rica designed by Robert Trent Jones II. It’s a challenging course, fairly tight fairways and some tough greens. It is really amazing to think that they can keep a golf course in good shape like that in the hot weather.

It was strange playing a golf course by myself. Some background on golf and I… I started playing golf about 4 years ago when I was dating someone in university who used to play golf a LOT. He actually taught kids camps, etc. I wasn’t very good at all, but I did go to the driving range quite a few times that summer. Flash forward several years, and I’m still not very good at golf. I did start going to the driving range a bit last summer, I bought a set of irons, and I played in the company golf tourney.  Now this year already, it’s almost the end of July and I’ve only gone to the driving range a couple times this summer. I really need to start going more.

It’s a love-hate relationship.

So imagine my surprise when I played the Reserva Conchal course with my rented clubs, and I pulled out a driver for the first time, and actually managed to hit it alright. That’s the first time I have ever hit a driver without it hitting someone else, popping straight into the air, or divebombed 2 yards in front of me. It was exciting!

So, when I got back to Vancouver I bought myself a new driver because I was so excited. Needless to say, I have not been able to replicate my success and continue being a hazard to all at the driving range with my driver. More on this later in the week.

There were some gorgeous views of the ocean from some of the holes.

There was tons of wildlife all around the golf course, including these cute birds all lined up along the side of one of the holes…

… and this gigantic iguana!

After playing the course, one of the guys I had made friends with at the Pro Shop, Mauricio, was kind enough to drive my luggage and I to Tamarindo where I would be staying in an apartment rental there. I can’t thank Mauricio enough!

I was staying at Villas Langosta, just outside of Tamarindo on Playa Langosta. I loved Playa Langosta last time I was in Costa Rica, but I have to say… really disappointed with the apartment rental. It was totally functional and definitely no-frills as I expected, but for the price ($110 USD a night), I’m not sure it was worth it compared to some of the other B&Bs or vacation rentals in the area.

There was a kitchen which was functional and had everything I needed to cook, but there were TONS of cobwebs everywhere, and huge HUGE spiders in all the cupboards. For those of you who know how scared of spiders I am, it wasn’t a pleasant experience to be cooking by myself there!

The living room was actually pretty big for an apartment rental, but I barely used it.

The bedroom was nice, and I appreciated the mosquito netting… too bad there were tons of ants that crawled in under the door all night!

Anyway, if you’ve been following my Twitter, you know that I ended up coming back to Vancouver early. I missed Allan, I was worried about the cut on my face softening up after surfing and needed to see my family doctor, and I didn’t feel safe in my apartment rental. (It’s not in the best area of town, and I actually heard someone creeping around in the bushes around my apartment, and someone tried to open my patio door)… so I decided to fly back early.

Coming up on the blog this week… I am looking forward to posting some of the surf pictures… as well as putting together a Costa Rica compilation video! Also, I’ll be at Chill on the Hill at Whistler on Saturday thanks to NESTEA and will be SNOWBOARDING in July! Woohoo! Can’t wait to pull out the Malolo.

So, as most of the people who read my blog or Twitter know, these past few weeks have been really hard on me. This past week was spent as a recluse, a complete invalid… hoping my eczema would clear up. After numerous appointments at the doctor, several scares, restraints, supervision and all sorts of craziness I don’t even want to get into, we’ve finally found a solution that seems to be working. And it’s clearing up. It’s by no means healed or perfect yet, but there’s signs of progress for the first time in a long time. There really is a light at the end of the tunnel.

And you know what? I’m tired of wallowing in my own misery.

So while Friday and Saturday was mostly spent recovering still, I decided I NEEDED to get out of the house on Sunday.

First stop was the driving range. First time all year. In July… how sad is that? Nevertheless, we got out and hit some balls and boy, it felt GREAT to be out in the fresh air!

I’m really looking forward to getting to the range some more times this summer, getting out for pitch and putt and maybe a couple full courses later on in the summer. I’m also considering bringing my clubs to Costa Rica since the place I’m hoping to stay at is supposed to have a great golf course.

I don’t have a top of the line set, but for you golf heads, I’ve got a Callaway Big Bertha ladies iron graphite set, with a Big Berta 3 Wood, and a Rossi putter. No driver yet.

After the range we met up with my dad for Father’s Day for lunch at Earl’s (his choice). I had the Green Curry Chicken and it was delicious!

I can’t even tell you how much I love my dad. He’s been there for me my whole life, he’s held our family up through tough times with his amazing work ethic, and inspires me to be entrepreneurial. He works hard in construction 6 days a week and comes home late but he always seems to have time for his kids. He taught me how to ski, how to bike, how to play sports and love sports. He introduced me to the greatest sport of all time and my beloved team, the Vancouver Canucks… and he always encourages me to aim high in life. He’s extremely good-natured, kind, generous, God-fearing, and funny. I love you Dad! Happy Father’s Day!

After lunch, Allan and I headed down to Holt Renfrew to check out the shoes section. I’ve been doing so great with my budget over the past 3 months, sticking to it completely! And I’m so happy to be able to say that shoes are part of my budget. I haven’t bought any new clothes or shoes or anything in the past 6 months and new summer shoes were a real treat!

Holt Renfrew was having a big designer sale, so I tried on about a hundred shoes (including these cool Cole Haan heels) before deciding on some flip flops and a dressy wedge.

I love shoe boxes!

These shoes are TOTALLY me! First of all, I love Michael Kors. Second of all, they are my favourite colour (orange). And they will work well in the city, or on the beach! Love the comfortable, practical jelly. So stoked! And they are cheap too!

My big splurge was definitely these 2009 Prada Cutout Wedges. I completely fell in love with them. And they were on sale. Perfect for the city or walking around a resort in Costa Rica! They are very well constructed, made in Italy, with leather and cork. They are dressy but still summery, and REALLY comfortable! Love love love!

So… I think I’m back! Time to start updating the blog regularly again, and start living my life again. This week will be full of work, and then it’s off to Tofino on Friday for 9 days for the annual camping and surfing trip. And then a couple more days of work before Costa Rica. I hope my skin holds up. But even if it doesn’t, I’m determined to have a great time, get out there, and enjoy all the amazing things this world and life has to offer.

Hope you all are having a great summer so far!