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Last weekend was AWESOME!!

On Friday I worked a short easy shift (while watching the Lake Placid World Cup race… so cool to see my friends racing!!) and then we all headed to Mahony’s for Christmas Lunch. Thank you doctors for covering the bill. We opened our secret santa gifts and I got an awesome tea tumbler. It’s so nice! Now I need to get some loose tea to put in it.

A photo posted by Rosemarie Perkin (@reirameso) on


Scott, Rosemarie and Lauren picked me up and then we headed straight to Whistler. Half way there we realized that Scott didn’t put my skeleton backpack in the car so I was missing a speedsuit, shoes, mouthguard and gloves. But my coach helped me scrounge up a pair of shoes and a speedsuit (that was actually way nicer than the suits I have) and I borrowed gloves from Matt. Thankfully I did have my helmet. I had a bit of a rough session but it’s all about gaining time on my sled. Then we checked into our hotel and went straight to the outdoor hottub. Ultimate relax. We got upgraded to a big penthouse room so everyone had a real bed, which was much better than we expected.

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for SANTA SKI DAY!! There were around 200 santas this year. And one Christmas tree. Rosemarie got TONS of attention and fifty million pictures of her taken. I tried to stick close to her so I could be in pictures too. If your eyes are sharp you can see me a few times in this video.

A photo posted by Rosemarie Perkin (@reirameso) on


There still aren’t that many runs open, but the ones that were open were good. It was my most successful ski day in a while… I even went on a couple black diamonds. Scott, Lauren and Liz did quite well as well.

I have been here for 4 years and I somehow managed to never go the peak of Whistler??!! I always wondered where that inukshuk was that people always post pictures of. I’m not quite sure how that happened. We chickened out on skiing down the bowl though…. it had a scary entrance and there were SO many people around. Someone was even video taping!! But we skied down the saddle instead and it was lovely. So pretty up there.

My snazzy santa suit was actually one of those skin suits that covers your face too. No I didn’t ski like that. But I put it on at lunch and creeped everyone out, hehe. Man oh man that suit was a big upgrade from the felt dollar store special. So comfy and I had lots of mobility. It’s still in perfect shape so I can use it again in the years to come.

After skiing a FULL day, we drove straight back to downtown Vancouver to go to Scott’s work Christmas party at the convention centre. Rosemarie took the car home and Scott and I checked into the Pan Pacific. We got dressed up fancy super quick and only made it to dinner with a few minutes to spare. Scott didn’t even have time to shave, which he later regretted…

Dinner was good, same as the other years. Then they started the speeches. We couldn’t hear anything at all because the table behind us was super rude and loud. So then they were giving out the Award of Excellence… I could barely hear but then I heard the words “telephone” and “sense of humour” and “he” and was like….. wait…… and then “SCOTT JORNA”!! Scott won the award this year!! He got a sweet trophy and a sweet cheque! I’m so happy for him, he has worked really really hard this year and it’s so good that he got recognized for it. He had no idea!


PS Saturday was also Scott’s birthday. Earlier in the evening his friend had given him one of those pointy kid birthday hats and he almost went up with it on, haha. He got some pictures taken with important work people and lots of handshakes.

THEN, to cap off a really great day, we found out the hot tub at the Pan Pacific was open until midnight (and outdoors!) and we still had time to go for a soothing post-ski dip. It was the perfect way to end a really high adrenaline day.

Next morning we slept in super late and then went out for a nice southern-style brunch at Chewies, which I will review later.

Anyway yeah, so that was our Super Fun Skeleton Santa Birthday Party Hotel Brunch Weekend!!

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Fancy lunch at the restaurant at Burrowing Owl Winery. We got there a little early so we could look around and taste some wines in the tasting room. I guess they also have a hotel there too? It definitely had a beautiful view.

We ordered the breads and spreads appetizer which ended up being this enormous platter with roasted carrot hummus, shrimp salad, and olive tapenade, with three different types of bread. The mini herb loaf was delicious and the soft baguette was so good. I really loved the shrimp salad and the salty olive tapenade. The carrot hummus was ok too, nice and sweet. We must have tried every combination of bread and spread several times. This platter is definitely big enough for several people to share!

I ordered the duck leg confit, which comes with basil gnocchi, a random piece of chorizo, with some vegetables and aioli. It was all very nice, the duck was nice and tender and the vegetables and sauce were prepared nicely. I didn’t understand the inclusion of chorizo at all, I actually thought they had put it on the plate by accident.

Scott ordered the lamb sausage sandwich which ended up being like a fancy hotdog. Which is funny because Scott doesn’t like hotdogs. It had aioli and cheese on it and came with a nice salad. I think he enjoyed it alright, but it wasn’t as nice as my duck.

All in all, a nice meal. Be sure to make a reservation ahead of time as we saw people without being turned away.

The Sonora Room Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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We had such a nice time in Osoyoos last year we decided to rent Julie’s trailer for a whole week this summer. Rosemarie, Scott and I spent the whole week relaxing, and Lauren joined us for a few days as well. IT WAS GREAT.

The week started off HOT, but it cools down so much at night I didn’t find it uncomfortable. Plus whenever we got hot we just walked across the street and swam.

One day we drove up to Penticton to go tubing down a river. The scenery wasn’t as nice as Cowichan River tubing, but the current was a lot quicker so it was easier. Plus instead of shivering we were basking in the sun. I even bailed off my tube on purpose at one point! We brought wine in Rosemarie’s camel pack, which managed to make a $16 bottle of wine taste like a $3 bottle of wine. BLECH. Wine should be enjoyed from a glass, not a tube.

Now that we’ve done the river once we know how to do it better next time. First step: acquire a PARTY ISLAND. Second step: park at the bottom of the river and get a taxi to drive you up the river at the beginning. Third step: bring better drinks and snacks.

On the way back we stopped at Tickleberry’s for ice cream. I asked for a single cone in Nanaimo bar flavour and the guy said “Well our single cones have THREE scoops so you have to pick THREE flavours!”. WAT!! That’s too much ice cream. So we got child size, which still has two scoops and two flavours. (I had Nanaimo Bar and pralines & cream.) We couldn’t even finish our cones. Do they have infant size??

If I went back I would split a waffle bowl with someone else to avoid death by ice cream.

Tickleberry's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

After an afternoon of wine tastings we stopped at a U-Pick farm. We went in thinking we would just pick a few peaches since it’s cheaper than buying them. But then we found out they had tons of types of fruits and vegetables!! Most of the vegetables were in this massive overgrown patch. We picked a peaches, nectarines, peppers, and zucchini. Since it was already the end of August there wasn’t a whole lot of good stuff left, but it was still awesome. We kept yelling to each other whenever we found something. “JALAPEÑOS!!” And 99 cent/lb heirloom tomatoes?? That’s crazy! I bought all of them.

Side note: haven’t the tomatoes been amazing this summer? I don’t know I can eat winter tomatoes anymore after this incredible summer of cheap and flavourful tomatoes.

Scott hates corn, but we forced him to eat it several times. But that is corn at its best… fresh cob, tender kernels, covered in butter and salt. Om nom nom. I think he secretly enjoyed it…

We have figured out that you can cook corn on the BBQ (in the husk) anywhere from 5-45 minutes and it comes out the same, FYI.

Other stuff we did in Osoyoos:

  • tons and tons of games, especially Carcassonne
  • tons and tons of cross stitch
  • tons and tons of reading
  • tons and tons of wine and margaritas

Julie and Steve came up for the last couple days we were there too so we got to hang out with them a bit too. Julie made Osoyoos bellinis and Calvin took Rosemarie and Lauren out on the boat. We had a nice family dinner outside their cabin.

It was so nice to unwind and just hang out. We had very little things to stress about and it was awesome. SO nice after a summer filled with work.

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One of the nights we were in Osoyoos the four of us decided to go across the border to Oroville, Washington for dinner and gas and groceries. Scott volunteered to be DD so Lauren, Rosemarie and I could go nuts on their obscenely cheap margaritas. This GIANT margarita fish bowl was $14.50!! It was funnnnnn.

Chimichanga del mar. Had (real) crab, scallops, shrimp, onions in a tortilla thing covered with sauce. Scott and I shared this. It was definitely big enough for two people. It was rich and tasty.

I think this was seafood enchilada? Crab something with a lot of cheese (clearly). Lauren said all he could taste was cheese.

Rose ordered prawn fajitas. The onions were nice and caramelized. Quite tasty. Giant. Good thing Lauren is a bottomless pit. ;)

Sopapilla for dessert. I forget what was inside the pastry bit, but it was covered in ice cream and strawberries. Was ok.

Dronk.

Trino's Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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Time for a picture dump since I’ve been a lousy blogger and haven’t been keeping up with this great summer we’ve been having.

A pretty sunset. It was like this every night for a good two weeks during the heatwave. I used to think I liked 30ºC weather, but I guess I’ve become a real Vancouverite because that is way too hot!! Now I’m happy when I see the weather report say 22ºC, heh.

We spent Canada Day on Kits beach this year with Ryan and Ryan and others. It was hot. The tide was wayyyy out so I didn’t swim. Random raindrops fell from the sky which weirded people out enough to pack up their beach stuff and leave.

Pre-fireworks sunset with Lauren. Always envious of the people watching from a boat. I need to make friends with someone with a boat. The fireworks were good. It was funny hearing the music coming from the speakers and  people’s radios and phone apps all out of sync.

Scott accidentally broke off a whole branch of his tomato plant. Whoops!! By the way the tally so far is Scott: 17, Katrina 41. WOO!! Our plants still have quite a few flowers and green tomatoes but they are not developing nearly as fast so I think the contest is nearly over.

Free slurpee on 7-11. Perfect timing, it was SUPER hot that day.

I went to the Sunshine Coast with Lesley a few weeks ago. It was Sea Cavalcade and there was a parade and fireworks and other stuff going on. We watched the fireworks from a tugboat. I always have a nice relaxing time while visiting her house, like a cottage getaway.

Rosemarie came over and we played Agricola. We finally tried out the expansion! I liked it, even though Scott won both games as usual. Rosemarie still says it is her least favourite game. Sigh.

The second game took so long the sun went down and it was too dark to see the pieces any more. We reached a new level of nerdiness when we brought out my old desk lamp to light up the games table. How lovely it is to be out on the patio all the time this summer though?! Our patio rules.

Many games of Settlers this summer. We’ve gotten quite a lot of use from the 5-6 player expansion!! Thanks MEP and Paul!

Well that’s all I’ve got.

We have one more week of work and then we’re off to Osoyoos for a week. Both of us are really looking forward to this vacation because we’ve been working hard!! Scott has been doing a ton of overtime and I’ve been working every day too. Can’t wait for white wine and swimming all day in the lake.