02 March 12

I didn't go to work because I was too tired. Jeff went with Malloreigh to the Wine Festival in the afternoon, and they called me around 5, completely toasted, asking if I wanted to come meet them for dinner. We then went to Jade Dynasty in Chinatown and ate all kinds of foods that shouldn't be vegan but somehow are, and spilled things all over the tablecloth.

11 February 12

Amanda, Laryssa, and Steph came over (we were also joined briefly by Alice & Josh and Sarah & Onur) and we made five batches of vegan cupcakes! Four of them were to give away the following day, but after making the first batch of jelly donut cupcakes we decided we needed a batch that we could eat. We also made rum raisin, vanilla, and chocolate mint. Above is Laryssa doing a shot of the leftover hot buttered rum glaze from the raisin cupcakes.

26 December 11

New books, bourbon, and Disney movies.

12 November 11

Jeff and I went to Kerrisdale Cameras and got a new lens. Not the exact same, because after reading a bunch of reviews, it turns out our 18-105 lens is not really worth as much as it costs and has a couple of problems that I noticed, but Jeff thought I was crazy when I brought them up. Anyway, we ended up getting the significantly less expensive 18-55 and are intending to get a nice 50mm prime in the near future. I do miss the zoom of the old lens, but it's worth it for the crispness I'm getting at close distances with this new one.
In the evening Jesse hosted a rum tasting party, and unlike the vodka tasting party, all the rums were DRASTICALLY different, and with the exception of the Newfoundland Screech, all were delicious.

09 October 11

We spent the whole day cooking and running errands. In the midst of it, Jeff made this potato-leek soup so that we didn't forget to eat.

19 August 11

Jeff and I went for dinner and drinks in Gastown, and decided to check out Pivo. We had no idea it was their anniversary party, but we got the last empty table and and ordered a beer and some food. And then soon afterwards the server came by with free drink tickets, and then they served up a whole bunch of free appetizers! Even though we'd already eaten, we managed to find room for some homemade potato chips and pulled pork flatbread. We went home nicely sauced and very full, and only spent like $35.

15 August 11

After work I met up with Iain, Steph, Jeff, and Jesse (and briefly J.J.) at the New Oxford pub in Yaletown. We ate some food, we drank some wine & beer, Steph and Iain had some pointless arguments, you know how it goes. Good times.

06 August 11

Tony's birthday party was bourbon-themed and Jeff sorted out a pretty impressive menu of drinks to serve. He and I played bartenders all evening and got nicely buzzed on Maker's Mark ourselves, not to mention full of barbecued brisket, various salads, and two kinds of cake.

04 August 11

Greyhound with mint.

24 July 11

Another hot day in the Okanagan, with an impressive nine wineries visited in the Oliver area. Unfortunately that left us no time to visit any in the Keremeos/Similkameen region. Maybe next year.

08 July 11

Jen Hardwick arrived in Vancouver for an extended summer visit, and she came by for dinner (Jeff's butter chicken with homemade naan, and asparagus in curry butter) and between the five of us we drank two bottles of wine and then figured we might as well open a port as well. Since, you know, we'll be going to the Okanagan soon and acquiring even more wine and port.

07 July 11

I came home and Jesse was doing a test run of Skittle vodka jello shooters for the no-pants party on the 16th. I'm not normally very interested in jello, but these definitely improved the taste of both jello AND two-year-old homemade skittlebrau.

03 July 11

I slept off my hangover until around noon, and then went for lunch with my mom and Jimm in Coquitlam. Took the 160 home and Jeff got in from work shortly afterwards; we had a lovely evening together watching Good Will Hunting (Jeff had never seen it) and eating the food pictured above: wine-sautéed mushrooms and onions with rice and velouté sauce, garnished with basil. And rioja we bought ages ago at a grocery store in the states for very few dollars.

26 June 11

Jeff, Jesse, Steph & I tried to go for brunch at Jethro's, but the wait was like an hour so we instead went to Crave on Main Street and sat on their patio. Steph got a mimosa. I got a sunburn.

29 April 11

Aaron and Steph and her friend Cynthia came over to drink mojitos with Jeff and me and sit in the kitchen talking until almost two.

23 April 11

We went to my dad's place for Easter dinner, where we ate two kinds of meat and two kinds of cake and I spilled beer all over myself. We had to eat early because Dad had to be at work at eight, and I must say it was a nice change to be eating in the warm dining room with sunlight spilling onto the table (as opposed to Thanksgiving, when it was dark and dreary when we got there at 4:30, let alone when we sat down to eat).
Dad gave Jeff and me a bottle of nice tequila and asked us if we could take Ken and Trav home, so we had a short visit there with Mom and Jimm and Alice as well. Mom loaned me some old photo albums so I could scan a few things, some of which can be viewed here, if you're interested in seeing me as a baby and/or my parents' 80s fashion.

04 April 11

Another delicious drink: boozy banana milkshake! Jeff made vegan banana ice cream the other day and it turned out overly hard, so he threw it in a blender with some Kahlua and creme de cacao. Magical!

03 April 11

A friend of Jesse's brought him back some pisco from Peru. We made pisco sours and watched Planet Earth.

26 March 11

Jeff and I had a lazy morning together and when he departed for work in the evening, I opted to stay at home and bake cookies and cake. And drink some beer.

28 January 11

Jeff and I crossed the border in time to go to the North Fork for pizza and beer, although we had to pay more than $1 for our drinks this time.