First, some housekeeping. We are going to do the draw for the 2010 Olympics Men’s Curling ticket contest from the House of Switzerland this Sunday, Valentine’s Day. Stay tuned to see if you won! Second, I have some REALLY exciting news to announce shortly… so keep your eyes on the blog on Monday or Tuesday for my announcement as well as an updated list of the Olympic coverage I am going to be doing in terms of events and new parties I’ll be attending. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter for live Olympic and Vancouver-related updates.

Allan and I had a chance to check out the Holland Heineken House last night to get a first look at the pavilion, the activities and of course the main club venue. Let me tell you this… the city has reached a fever pitch and people were partying before the Olympics even start today. Awesome. Not so awesome: The food and forced pre-pay cards at the Heineken House. And paying for water. Bad bad BAD.

It’s free to get in, but be prepared to fork out cash once you get inside for tiny expensive beers and snacks. Note that only VISA and cash is accepted, and you will have to load money onto pre-pay cards to buy any drinks or snacks once you are inside the club part of the venue. Lineups for these are VERY long, so make sure you load up lots of cash on the cards as soon as you get in to avoid delays.

It was neat seeing the venue before the crazy crowds got there. Everything is very orange.

Nothing like doing virtual snowboarding in Michael Kors boots. Yeah, that’s me.

The stores there are pretty cool… plus there are some very good looking Dutch men working the SuitSupply store.

The SuitSupply store has Olympic-Dutch branded clothing, and I REALLY loved these dress shirts. Really stylish. Wish Allan had bought one but they were pretty expensive ($160-ish).

We also tried out the virtual Volkswagen racing. It was a lot of fun, but note that they are kind of standoffish if you aren’t Dutch, and many of the activities and contests inside you can only win if you are a Dutch citizen.

Check out some of the pics from around the venue. In particular I liked the Gold Medal beer opener (we bought one of those as well as a scarf) and the Converse Heineken shoes. The food was absolutely terrible though, other than the Dutch Hotchpodge featured here. It’s difficult to get into the restaurant without reservations (mostly sold out now), but the food is BAD. And they charge you for water. Yes, water. Seriously, you can’t get free tap water at the restaurant and they don’t tell you that the water you are buying is $2.85 for 4 ounces. Not impressed.

The main club area is huge though, and it’s going to be really neat to see the place explode when they get in famous DJs like Armin van Buuren (rumoured).

The Olympics are going to be crazy. I can’t wait for everything to get started.

Stay tuned for more Olympic updates and exclusive coverage! What do you think of the Holland House? Are you going to go?

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!