The Davenport Hotel and Tower- Spokane WA 04/22/2011
Some of the most cherished time in my life is when I get one on one time with my best friend, my husband. Last weekend, my Hubby and I went on a date to the Davenport Hotel in Spokane, Washington. It was a beautiful sunny day, and when we arrived at the hotel we had only intended on checking it out. The beauty and atmosphere of the hotel captured us, and we decided to stay and enjoy a late lunch/early dinner.   In pristine condition, with the finest details the hotel was like no other I have visited. It had a very warm and inviting presence. As good fortune would have it, we arrived at the perfect time to enjoy an Early Bird Special at the Fireside Lobby.   For only $15 you can enjoy a 3-course meal from 3-6pm! We cozied up at a table close to the fire and placed our orders.  My husband chose the Caesar Salad, Braised Short Ribs, and Davenport Sunday. And I selected the Garden Salad, Coconut Prawns, and Davenport Sunday. The food was delicious and in perfect amount, with portions that were not overly big or small. We walked away feeling full and blissful, but not overly stuffed. Most importantly it felt as if we had discovered a hidden treasure and were excited to one day return again. After our superb meal we decided to stay a bit longer. We checked out the Peacock Room Lounge, which was also stunning, then ventured upstairs to explore the hotel further. Upstairs we came across a few glorious old photos of the hotel from 1915 and 1916. It was astonishing how well preserved the hotel is. I thought for sure it had been updated, but in fact it appears that much of the hotel is still in its original marvellous condition. After seeing the photos, the brilliant energy of the place made sense. Years upon years of celebrations and memories lingered in the air.  This photograph of Maypole dancing in the lobby of the hotel particularly caught our attention. Isn’t glorious seeing all the souls, most of whom have passed, gathering in celebration?! In fact, our hidden treasure has been a place of gathering for many generations before us. You cannot fabricate an ambience like that! Did you know my husband is a retired Maypole dancer from the 1986 Expo in Vancouver, BC? I bet ya he is excited about me telling everyone that! :-) What are wives for, right?! If only I had a picture to go with it. Making new memories, discovering new places, and enjoying time spent together is what life is all about. Much happiness was created in that day. Happiness that will be felt for a long time to come! Have a beautiful day, my friends! Happy Easter! Have you discovered any new cheerful places recently?
8 Comments Mongolie Grill – Whistler 06/08/2010
You know I love to talk about food, right? J Well in case your travels take you to Whistler, BC or if you just like to sample different restaurants around the world without gaining a pound, this is the post for you! When we spent the weekend in Whistler we decided to visit one of our favorite casual places right in the heart of Whistler village, Mongolie Grill.  What we love about this restaurant is that you can create your own healthy meal, just how you like it! You choose your favorite meats, seafood and veggies, complete with your choice sauce and they grill it. If that weren’t enough, while you watch them grill your meal they throw in a few spatula tosses to entertain you as you wait.  Here is a picture of only some of the food selections you can choose from.  Mongolie Grill is a casual atmosphere.  We enjoyed our corner seat by the window looking out at the village.   The restaurant provides a bowl of crayons for the kids to color the table. What I meant to say was crayons to keep the kids occupied! J Do restaurants know about washable crayons??? Maybe we should tell them ;-) Pictures of the big grill.   And the best part, the food! Daddy/kids plate  A lot of the time we share our food with the kids instead of ordering something separate. Often it saves money, and the portions at many places are big enough to share. Hubby put lamb in his dish, something he likes but doesn’t get to eat very much of at home. Here is my/kids, well mostly my plate. I made mine a little too spicy for the kids. Our kids are pretty adventurous with spice, but between the spicy chicken, hot peppers, and chilli sauce it was a too much for them. I got a little carried away.   When you are filling up your bowl with your favorite food choices to be grilled it is hard not to go overboard, it all looks so good! I had no room left to eat the rice (choice of jasmine or brown) that comes with your meal at the table. The kids enjoyed it though. If you are in Whistler I recommend eating at Mongolie Grill. You can make your meal ultra healthy or more decedent depending on your mood. The food tastes great and the location is fantastic! Speaking of food, if you have a moment Maple Leaf foods is conducting a short survey to help them understand what improvements they can make for future events. If you didn’t see my post on the Maple Leaf Roundtable event you can read it here. Follow this link to the survey http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/308859/feedback Thank you for your help! I ♥ you guys! Make it a spectacular day! J Question of the day – Is there a vegetable that you don’t like? For me I’d have to say cucumbers :-P
Champagne Celebration 05/30/2010
My last day in Vegas Jessielynn, Sue and I woke up at a leisurely pace, put on our bathing suits and headed down to the Terrace Pointe Cafe in the Wynn. It was beautiful and sunny. We enjoyed our breakfast on the outdoor terrace overlooking the pool. I had a delicious latte, fresh fruit from our shared fruit platter and Irish steel cut oatmeal. It was a wonderful way to start the day. After breakfast we walked over to the pools for some relaxation. The pools were very crowded, so it was hard to find a seat. At first we had taken someone else’s chair that had left the pool, but they came back so we moved. With nowhere to sit we put our towels down on the side of the pool by the stairs. A nice group of gentlemen who were going back to their room for an hour said we could borrow their chairs. Perfect! As it turned out we were seated next to a friendly gentlemen and lady in Vegas on a business trip. After chatting away it came up that we were in Vegas celebrating my birthday, and the kind gentlemen asked where we were dinning that evening. He said he was going to leave us a bottle of champagne for our celebration, and then he said to enjoy our trip and went on his way. I’m not going to lie, I was very excited but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. We had only talked for a short while, and after all he didn’t really know us or have any reason for doing such a nice thing for us. A bottle of champagne is a pretty big gesture from a stranger. Champagne happens to be one of my absolute favorite drinks, but something I rarely get a chance to drink, especially because it can be very expensive at restaurants. After an hour at the pool the three of us headed over to the Fashion Show Mall, which was right across the street from the Wynn, in search of some souvenirs to bring home. Then it was back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner. We meet up with our friend A who had flown to Vegas that day to celebrate our last night with us. Our dinner reservations were at Bartolotta restaurant in the Wynn. Bartolotta offers Italian Coastal cuisine with shellfish flown in from the Mediterranean daily!   Sue, myself and A After being seated, sure enough, true to his word, out came a bottle of champagne for our celebratory dinner.  Remember when I took a picture of the champagne slots the day before?  It definitely was a sign (figuratively and literally)! I had champagne in the back of my mind for this special trip and it was like a wish come true! *~*never stop wishing! *~* Funny enough about 10 years earlier my husband and I were treated to a bottle of champagne from a stranger when visiting my future in-laws at a champagne bar in New York City. That was the moment I fell in love with champagne. It really can be an amazingly beautiful world when you choose to see it that way! I’ll always carry with me a smile in my heart remembering both acts of generosity. It is incredible the impact we are capable of having on one another with acts of kindness.   Beautiful tiny bubbles  Cheers! Needless to say my dinner was amazing! What is not to like about delicious seafood from the Mediterranean? For an appetizer I ordered one gamberi – tiger shrimp. *Food descriptions are from the Bartolotto menu.  It was every bit as good as it looks! Also for a shared appetizer for the table we ordered cappesante dorate con porcini - seared sea scallops with porcini mushrooms.  Divine and cooked to perfection! For my main course I ordered lasagnette con ragu di crostacei - “rags” of pasta, lobster, shrimp, crab, white wine, tomato.  Honestly, it was unbelievable! The whole dish was super fresh including the pasta. It tasted as though the pasta was just made. The flavors were light and delicious, and the seafood, oh my the seafood, it was heavenly. I wish I could eat it again just looking at the picture. And as if all that wonderful food wasn’t enough, the server brought out a surprise dessert.  I don’t think I have to tell you how yummy this chocolate creation was!  What a birthday!!! Bartolotta was such a special treat! It is a fine dining restaurant perfect for a special occasion. My meal and experience were unforgettable, and I believe it is a restaurant worth saving up for.  Left to Right: Sue, Me, A, Jessielynn Thank you for celebrating with me lovely ladies! On our way out of the hotel we stopped in some of the high end shops the Wynn has to offer. I think we were feeling pretty good after the champagne, but just the right amount because none of us splurged on any purchases.       There were lots of weddings going on that day.  This display reminded me of home with all the umbrellas (we get our fair share of rain in Vancouver ;-). We looked around the beautiful hotel, and then tried our hand at the slot machines.  My husband specially set aside a few dollars for me to try blackjack for the very first time. He said it was a must-do, and who am I to argue? J It was actually a lot of fun! Much more fun than I expected. Fortunately my friends and the nice people sitting beside me at the table were there to help teach me. It was a memorable experience AND I didn’t lose all my money, whoohoo! Jessielynn and I had to get up nice and early for our flights the next morning. I think we may have slept 2 - 3 hours?! It was well worth it. This trip is forever going to bring me many happy memories. To say I had a blast would be a complete understatement. I am pinching myself at how fortunate I am! I’m extremely grateful to my husband for planning this whole surprise for me, and for loving me so much to give me a spectacular birthday and a much needed break. Also, so grateful to my friends for coming to Vegas to celebrate with me. I’m one lucky girl to have such amazing people in my life! Au revoir Las Vegas!  I miss you already, but I couldn’t wait to get home to my family who I missed even more!!! Is there a birthday celebration you’ve had that you’ll always remember? Please share in the comments. Love Stack 05/27/2010
Our evening on day 2 in Vegas was just as spectacular as the day. Lisa from Modern Mom gave me the most incredible suggestion on how to spend a night on the town in Vegas, The Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil followed by dinner at Stack restaurant. Jessielynn and I headed over to the Mirage, home to both the show and restaurant. After picking up our tickets we had a little bit of time before the show started. We decided to pop into the Beatles Lounge for a pre-show cocktail (I may have had a little -I mean a lot!- to drink on this trip ;-). It is a good thing we did tons of walking ;-)  Jessielynn in her fabulous new wrap dress we found on the strip. My lovely friend Sue flew into Vegas to meet us that evening, and even with a delayed flight Sue made it just in time for the show.  There were no photographs or videos allowed in the show, but let – me – tell – you, it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The three of us LOVED it! The music was fantastic, the dancing simply breathtaking, and it’s Cirque (enough said!). If you never been to a Cirque du Soleil performance you don’t know what you are missing. I can only say it is worth every penny. Watching the show you felt as though you were caught up in the whirlwind of the Beatles, and a part of their history. You don’t have to be a Beatles fan to LOVE this show, and you may walk away becoming one! My only wish is that I had purchased the award winning CD on my way out so I could relive it again and again in my head. I would definitely go to see this show again! After leaving the show we were all on a little bit of a Beatles/Cirque high and we had some time before our dinner reservation. With 2-for-1 drink coupons from 8pm to 10pm that came with our show tickets it was back to the Beatles Lounge we went. For a drink I was hoping for something not too sweet. I could already feel my indulgences adding up, so Jessielynn introduced me to a drink I had never tried before called a Gimlet- a combination of vodka and lime juice if I remember correctly. It was good. The drink had a sour kick and was not overly sweet, which was just what I wanted.   Sue and I at the lounge.  The Beatles Lounge  A close up of the ceiling. From there we headed over to Stack which was really close to the lounge and theatre. Stack describes itself as a fine-dining, cutting-edge American Bistro. We loved the food selection on the menu. While making our final food decisions I ordered a “New” Cosmo from the cocktail menu. It was hard to choose because everything looked so good, but in the end the three of us decided on getting 4 small plates to share: *Descriptions from the Stack Menu "Lettuce Cup" Sesame Chicken, Shitake Mushroom, Hoison Dipping Sauce Lobster Tacos Grilled Mango, Cilantro Miso Black Cod Lettuce Cups Adult Tater Tots Bacon & Brie How could we possibly resist something called an Adult Tater Tot?!? The food was simply incredible. Each and every dish was unforgettable. When we finished our meal we were perfectly satisfied but not overly stuffed, which was a great feeling. The lettuce cups and wraps made the sesame chicken and black cod dishes light and crunchy.  Miso Black Cod  The lobster meat and flavor combination in the lobster tacos was delicious.  The tater tots were a nice crispy indulgence.   Oh Yeah Baby!  And as if the food wasn’t good enough all on its own, we had great service and they brought us limoncello shots for our celebration. If – I mean WHEN J- I’m in Vegas again, I will make it a point to visit this restaurant again. I highly recommend it! Thank you Lisa for the wonderful suggestions! This fantastic evening would not have happened without you. Question of the day: What is your favorite Beatles song?
First Night in Vegas Baby! 05/24/2010
The day finally arrived and now I am very excited to both share with you and re-live my first night in Vegas baby! Stay tuned for the winner of the Maple Leaf Giveaway! The trip started with a direct flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas on West Jet.  The solo flight felt like a nice break. Nothing to worry about but what I was going to watch on my individual TV (love that!)  After I clued in that I could change the channel ;-) I chose to watch The Doctors of course! I had lots of room and a great view sitting by the window in the exit row. The flight actually went by very quickly, and soon I looked out my window and became very excited as we approached the strip.  I could even see my hotel!  Where did my wonderful husband book me for my surprise birthday trip?  The Wynn! :-D This is where I met up with Jessielynn, truly one of the dearest people in the world to me, my beautiful friend for life. I’m a blessed girl to know her.  She is so much fun to hang out with! The room was beautiful, and I especially loved the bathroom. What’s not to like about a television in the bathroom on vacation?!  OK, so with all the amazing activities we were doing I didn’t actually have time to use it, but it was sure cool having it there. J The view from our hotel room was great! There was a view of the hotel’s pools.   The entire golf course.  I couldn’t help but dream of coming back again even though it was only my first night, and watch my husband golf at the course while I chill in the room...before my spa treatment of course ;-) Hey, you never know if you don’t dream, right?!  You could also see the beautiful mountains in the distance. I liked how even the candy reminded us ‘to behave’...he he J After catching up in the room, putting luggage away, and a few pictures, Jessielynn and I headed out. The chandeliers in the Wynn were beautiful.  Especially these colorful ones.  Photo opp!  Jessielynn  Me That is a gorgeous waterfall fountain outside the window in the background. Breathtaking flowers were everywhere in Vegas. These beautiful balls of flowers were hanging from trees inside the Wynn.  Here is another stunning waterfall outside the Wynn.  The weather was perfect for an evening walk; warm with a light breeze.  Jessielynn and I headed over to Treasure Island to catch the pirate show called Sirens of TI. The cab driver told me about the free show during the ride from the airport.  We watched the show from the outdoor section of Christian Audigier the Nightclub at TI.  It was a great place to sit outside, have a cocktail, and absorb the Vegas night life.  Photo taken by Jessielynn  We both agreed the show was NOT for kids. There were some girlie giggles between the two of us, skimpy outfits (on the performers that is) and singing “a whole lotta sugar, and you shake it, you shake it!” (Not an exact quote...I was drinking a rum and coke J) The fire and water spray were pretty cool. Following the show we headed over to Caesar’s Palace and spent some time in The Forum Shops at Caesar’s.  This is where we ran into Zoltar who gave Jessielynn her fortune. The exact words I’ll never tell but if you run into him be sure to get your fortune.  One of my absolute favorite ♥shops in The Forum shops at Caesar’s is Peter Lik. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the photography in there and highly recommend you check it out if your travels take you to Vegas. My plan, come back to this store if I hit the jackpot because my home could definitely use some of this photography hanging in it! I could go on and on gushing about it, but I think you get the point ;-) ♥♥♥ By this time it was getting pretty late and we were about to chew our arms off. We ended up at Sushi Roku for dinner where we thoroughly enjoyed california rolls, spicy rock shrimp with asparagus rolls, spicy yellowtail rolls, and assorted vegetable tempora. Yum! Look at the great view of the strip from my seat in the restaurant.  After dinner we headed back to the Wynn  And on our way to the elevator we gushed over our favorite window display raining shoes; Manolo Blahnik shoes that is. We may or may not have picked out every show from the display we liked. ;-)  Then it was back to the room for some girl chat where we reminised about our second grade sleepovers together and how happy we were to still keep them going. What an amazing first night in Vegas! Now for the winner of my first giveaway! I wish I could send one to everyone, thanks for the love. Drum roll please.... To pick the winner I used Random Integer Generator from Random.org And the winner is Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers: 1 Timestamp: 2010-05-25 03:26:56 UTC Amber Smith Congratulations Amber!! Thank you for entering. I can’t wait to send it to you J Please email me at wendy@givelovecreatehappiness.com with the address you would like the package sent to. Question of the day: Do you have any favorite Vegas memories? Date Night at Acacia 04/01/2010
At the beginning of our trip to Arizona Hubby and I went on a date night in Tucson to Acacia restaurant. We decided to sit outside overlooking the courtyard.   It was beautiful with the white lights, and such a nice temperature. I am glad we sat outside because the atmosphere out there seemed more romantic than inside. To start things off I ordered a pomegranate martini.  The first sip was good.  And so was the second! Sorry for the picture quality. Things got a bit fuzzy J After a few sips of my martini it was time for the crazy face pictures.  Here is Hubby enjoying a smear of butter on his bread.   Yum! My husband started things off with a Jack and Coke.  For those of you who know him well I am sure that comes as a shock. Just Kidding! Jack and Coke is Hubby’s FAVORITE cocktail, and the drink he almost always orders when we go out to eat. Hubby decided on trying Acacia’s tasting menu paired with wine, and I am glad he did because it was a lot of fun tasting all the different foods and wines. I just ordered a main course and helped him with his plates and wines, and it proved to be plenty for both of us! Here is the set of 3 appetizers and their corresponding wines.  From the Acacia website: Malaysian Sweet/Hot Shrimp and Scallop Cocktail Barth, ‘Allüre’ Riesling Feinherb, semi-dry (Rheingau, Germany) ‘08 Southwestern Caponata on toast point Grilled Eggplant Salad with Tomato Aldial, ‘Castillo de Nava’ Verdejo/Viura (Rueda, Spain) ’08 Crisp Potato Fritter filled with Cougar Gold Aged White Cheddar Keeling Schaefer, ‘Two Reds’ Grenache (Cochise County, Arizona) ’07 Our favorite was the Potato fritter with cheddar. It was also great trying a local Arizona wine made of Grenache grapes. I think that is the first time I have ever had a wine made with all Grenache. Usually you find it in blends. Next was the main course.  I ordered guaymas prawns tossed with linguine, olive oil, white wine, fresh herbs, campari tomatoes and garden vegetables. It was delicious! I loved it and was very happy with my decision. Hubby’s main course from the tasting menu was: Fresh Alaskan Halibut, Sautéed Peashoots, Lemon-Thyme Butter Gordon Brothers, Chardonnay (Columbia Valley, Washington) ’07 Grilled Pharoah Quail Filled with Spring Mushroom Duxelles Laetitia, Pinot Noir (Arroyo Grande Valley) ’08 Mignonette of Beef Tenderloin, Port Braised Onions, Humboldt Fog Valdivieso, Carmenere ‘Reserva’ (Central Valley, Chile) ’07  Neither one of us are huge fish people, although we wish we were because it is so good for you. But our absolute favorite of the 3 dishes was the Alaskan Halibut. It was AMAZING! Light and crispy, with great flavor. I would definitely highly recommended ordering it to anyone visiting Acacia.  Lastly the dessert with Hubby’s tasting menu was: Red Wine Sorbet Mango Cheesecake Paolo Saracco, Moscato D’Asti (Piedmont, Italy) ’08 Warm Cayenne Peach Crisp Adelaida, Muscat/Viognier Ice Wine (Central Coast) ‘05  The desserts were good, but nothing particularly grabbed me. It was a fantastic date night! Great food, great service, and a wonderful outdoor atmosphere. I would definitely go back to Acacia again. What is your favorite kind of fish? Coast Restaurant 02/17/2010
 Over the weekend we enjoyed a special lunch out at Coast Restaurant in celebration of our 10th anniversary of our first date. Our first date anniversary also happens to be Valentine’s Day, making it even more of a reason to celebrate. Here is our Yay, we are sitting down and we can’t wait to have a cocktail faces. :-) It is rare for us to have a cocktail in the afternoon, and I am not going to lie, we were excited! I decided on a Cosmo, and Hubby ordered a Mojito. The drinks came in no time at all. Here is a picture of our 2 drinks waiting for us to take a sip.  Of course I had a sip of both and thought they were delicious! While sipping our drinks we discussed what we wanted to order. We decided to go with several plates to share. The menu had a wonderful seafood selection.  The first dish we ordered was Mango California rolls. We both thought these were good.   The second dish we ordered was Eel and BBQ Salmon rolls. Hubby LOVES these! He raved about them. Next I ordered the Organic Greens. I was feeling like I needed some veggies to go with my Cosmo. Unfortunately I was not a big fan of this salad. It was the flavors in the dressing that I was not found of, and Hubby agreed that it was not wonderful. I think I expected the dressing to be on the sweet side and it wasn’t. Also I forgot to ask for the dressing on the side, so the salad was too wet for my liking.  Lastly, we ordered the Tiger Prawn Flatbread.  I thought this dish sounded amazing, but I did not like the combination of flavors on this either. Hubby also felt the same way. The BBQ sauce is what I felt was out of place. The avocado, mango, parmesan cheese and large pieces of prawn were very good, but the BBQ sauce really ruined the flavor for me. There were many dishes that looked fabulous on the menu. In particular the large selection of seafood. I would go again and make some different choices. Even though not every dish was a hit we enjoyed ourselves. The decor was modern and a little bit funky. A picture of the chandelier.   The bar area.   Lastly, a picture of the kitchen.  The staff at coast was very friendly. In the lounge I was talking with one of the Coast employees who said they were getting ready for the 400 dinner reservations that had for that evening. Coast is a very happening place on the Vancouver restaurant scene. Hubby has been there before and really likes it. It was my first time, and I really enjoyed trying a new place. Have you ever tried Eel before?
Get Away to Whistler 01/05/2010
Just a few more days and our family will be off to a weekend getaway at Whistler. We are all really excited. Big Brother said that for his birthday he wanted a sled and pointed out the window and said “I want to go way up the mountain in the snow!” That was just the motivation we needed to plan a weekend up on the mountain. We are fortunate to have very generous family friends who are letting us stay at their place there. Without them this wonderful getaway probably would not be possible. I think hotel prices have skyrocketed in time for the upcoming Olympics. If you see this friends, thank you very, very much for sharing your home with our family. It means a lot to us, and we appreciate it tremendously! Being there brings us immense joy. There are so many things I love about Whistler. First of all it is an amazing winter wonderland, not to mention for you skiers, it is a skier’s paradise. I don’t personally downhill ski, however my husband does and we have some family and friends that are fantastic skiers. I am aching to someday give cross country skiing a try at Whistler. I think I would love it. I didn’t grow up skiing so I think cross country would be a nice fit for me. I think I’ll put that on the Life List, an idea I got from a friend of mine’s blog I love Swoonette. The scenery at Whistler is breathtaking. Being in the middle of beautiful mountains with piles and piles of snow is heaven for me. I love the snow! There is something so magical and beautiful about it that makes my heart flutter. In addition, Whistler village is adorable and a lot of fun to walk around. There are great stores, expensive, but great to visit. As well there are some fabulous restaurants and hotels. One of the most amazing restaurants I have ever been to is Araxi. It was a wonderful and memorable date night for my husband and me. This was pre-children so it was quite a while back now. At some point we like to do it again. Araxi isn’t the only great restaurant though, there are many more to visit as well.  One time we went to Mongolie Grill with our son. It was a lot of fun to pick the foods and portion sizes we wanted and watch them grill it in front of us. And who doesn’t love popping into Starbucks for a hot chocolate or coffee in the midst of the beautiful scenery and cold snowfall? We feel so blessed that such a wonderful place really isn’t too long of a drive away. Especially because car rides that are too long with little kids can be stressful. It is just that perfect amount of time, under 2 hours, for a breathtaking drive along the ocean then through the mountains. The kids are strapped in, and even if they are loud you can sit back and enjoy the view. At least for me because my husband navigates the snowy, windy roads, and fortunately he is good at it J.  Whistler, although a winter paradise, is equally as amazing in the summer. It is home to beautiful lakes, glacial lakes that are some of the most gorgeous colors. There are endless trails and activities to explore at Whistler. Too many to get into in just one post. And if you have a large golfing budget, there are some of the country’s best golf courses. One of our favorite quiet time activities to do with the kids while we are at Whistler is to go for a drive and look at some of the beautiful log mansions. I’ll save most pictures of Whistler to share when we go on our trip. In my opinion you can’t beat a quiet evening at Whistler when the kids are in bed, sitting by the fire, drinking a glass of wine looking out at the snow pile up on the tall evergreens. And even better, sitting in the hot tub doing that! I could go on forever about how much I love Whistler. I’ll save some of that for future posts. I highly recommend a visit for all those who have never been. In the very least I hope this post gets you excited for the Olympics that are just around the corner. We can’t wait for the world to see more of this beautiful place we call home. One of the wonderful things about writing this blog is that it gets me even more excited about life’s adventures and moments, which brings a lot of joy. The time spent concentrating on what makes one happy is good for the soul. To visit one of the many Whistler tourism sites go to www.whistler.com Even if you don’t plan on a visit to Whistler I think you will enjoy looking at some of the gorgeous pictures. For places to stay at Whistler, Greater Vancouver, as well as numerous others places around the world try visiting one of my favorite sites www.idealvacationrentals.com/whistler.htm Have you, or would you like to visit Whistler? If so, what do you find most appealing about Whistler?
 It has been a couple of days! Normally I try to keep this blog updated but we have had so much going on this past week that I needed a little break. I was starting to feel overwhelmed with all our activities along with all that needs to be done to keep the kids and home taken care of. I am sure you understand what I mean! Friday night was Hubby’s work Holiday party. We had a blast! Good friends of ours gave up their Friday night, in December no less, to babysit our children. Thank you so much! It meant a lot to us. The party was held at Goldfish restaurant. We were seated at a round table in the back. Round tables really are the best way to dine with a group of people. After checking our coats we started things off with a glass of sparkling wine. Sparkling wine is a great way to start off a special occasion. The first appetizer was oysters. Oysters are not something I have gotten into myself, but my husband said they were delicious. After I finished my sparkling wine I switched over to red wine. When cocktail hour was over we sat down to dinner. Each place setting had a beautiful box of Thomas Haaschocolates. These chocolates are delicious! The chocolates were placed in a gorgeous box with a pretty red ribbon. I took mine home with me and have been slowly enjoying the different chocolate creations. When I get a chance I am definitely going to go check out the Thomas Haasstore. I have a thing for mochas at high end chocolate shops, so I am thinking when I make it over there I will have one of those at their cafe! Also at each place setting was a very funny picture of one of the owners fast asleep at his desk. Word has it this picture is 2 years old and had been secretly saved for just the right moment! It was really funny, and I can’t wait to see the retribution. I can’t blame him for falling asleep at his desk. These guys start work early! Dinner was many small dishes. It was a lot of fun to try so many different things. Some were placed in the center of the table for sharing, while others were brought to you. My favorite of the evening was the mussels. I ate a ton of them. In fact I had so many I was looking for places to stash my shells ;-) My second favorite was the chicken and shrimp gyoza. It was so good! We also sampled lobster ravioli, calamari, scallops, short ribs, fried rice with bacon, brussels sprouts, broccoli, caeser salad, and salad with a mustard dressing, roasted chicken, and a Thai beef dish. There might have been some others as well but those are the ones I remember. The food was very good. Needless to say I was stuffed after! Even though I had a full belly I still had room to taste the sampling of desserts. The two desserts I had a taste of was cheesecake that had a bit of a coffee flavor to it. I loved it. I also tried a baked chocolate dish. I don’t remember the name of it. It was brownie like on the outside and warm oozing chocolate on the inside, del-i-cious! After taking a food rest and chatting for a while I ended things with a decaf cappuccino and baileys. It truly was a wonderful evening. Hubby and I loved getting out for an evening on the town. Thank you to all those who set up this fun night!
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