Weekend out of the City

My sister Joy and her Scott were visiting us for the weekend. It was a nice relaxing time for us as we started our Saturday with a trip south for a walk around and some small town shopping. Then it was take out from the East Indian Deli and Meats for lunch. Chicken Pakora and Samosas..Yum!


Saturday night it was off to the April Wine Festival 'Wagers and Wine' in town to celebrate our first banee. It was a great night of wine and food sampling with exciting gambling and auctions.


Then up early Sunday morning for the MS Walk with the Biker Babes, see previous posting for details. After a great lunch at the Barley Mill, we headed to Tickleberry's for a traditional treat.

We then enjoyed a relaxing afternoon at home and a great asian dinner that Joy and I prepared. The menu consisted of Dim Sum; Siu Maai, Ha Gow, Lo Mai Gai; Salad Rolls with Peanut Sauce; and Crab Puffs.

I love it when we get together with Joy and Scott. We always eat so good and so well.

MS SuperCities Walk

The Biker Babes have completed their first MS Walk of 2007. It was a great morning to get out and support the MS society. The team from Valley First Credit Union was is full costume this morning and ready to get our feet moving. We had a lot of fun with family and friends and supported a great cause while getting active in the community. Way to go Biker Babes and many thanks to all my financial sponsors, you know who you are...

Juno what I'm talking about....by Scott

This past weekend I was in Saskatoon at the Juno awards. I was on one of the many "Rock Star" flights flying in, on my flight I had Sam Roberts, Mobile and Bob Rock. Bascially the Juno's is one long party weekend. On Friday night we attended the MTV party at a converted country bar. The only problem was that after 2:00am the party was open to everyone. So the clientele of the bar went down hill fast...did I mention this was in Saskatoon? The party went until 4:00am and by that time everyone was feeling really "good". I even helped make sure that the boys from Alexisonfire made it back to the hotel safe as they are good friends with the guys from Billy Talent. The next day we had the Juno Fanfest and Billy Talent was the big draw with approximatly 200 fans in the line for autographs. After the Fanfest it was off to soundcheck, since the guys were only playing one song the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. That night was the CTV party and when we arrived the venue looked like some crazy hollywood party. There were pastel ballons everywhere and the waitresses had pink wigs on and serving finger food. Most people were in their suits and evening gowns and stared at us when we showed up in jeans and black shirts. We stayed for about 10 minutes and left, as one of the guys girlfriends said "it felt like we were at the kids table". We had an early night as we had dress rehearsal the next morning at 10:00am. During dress rehearsal on Sunday we watched Nelly perform her fly in stunt...no comment on this. I did a walk around the arena and checked out the red carpet area, which was very large. After rehearsel we drove back to the hotel to get ready for the show. The red carpet starts with a holding tent area that is jammed with Rock Stars...the band "wrangler" for the junos makes sure we are in postion for the walk down the carpet. Basically the band walks, waves, stops for some pictures, stops for some interviews, stops for some autographs and then repeats the process till they are done. Since the guys are the first act of the night they go right to the dressing room and wait for the call to get ready. The
Stage Manager for the Juno's wants the guys to be backstage 30 minutes before the show starts!!!! this seemed sort of odd so we waited till just before show time to bring the guys out of the dressing room. I'm sure the Stage Manager went through alot of TUMS wondering where we were. So it's show time and I am standing in the darkest part of the stage so the cameras won't pick me up. The guys bang off "Devil in a Midnight Mass" to kick off the show. I take the guys to their seats so they are in postion for the first award. Turns out the floor is GA so patrons are everywhere asking the guys for autographs at their seats. I allow this to happen during comercial breaks only, the security director of the Juno's gives me dirty looks all night becuase I am allowing autographs. By the time the Juno's are over Billy Talent has won 2 awards, and we have to do an additional hour of press. It's now about 8:00pm and we are driving back to the hotel so the guys can get ready for the after parties. There are three big parties Warner Records, EMI Records, and Universal Records. Each party is jammed with people and everyone is wants to talk with members of Billy Talent. Since Ian is the most obvious (with his hair) I stay on his back most of the night and help keep people from bugging him too much. By 5:00am the parties are over and I have everyone back to the Hotel. The next day we fly out and back to Vancouver.

Back To the Grind

It's been a few days since I returned from 'The Shopping Extravaganza from the South". Here's the rest of the run down as requested by my SIL Sheri;

After a great workout in the hotel gym, quick shower and another yummy breakfast at the Hampton, we headed out for the last day of shopping. We were pretty pooped from the day before but we had a mission and we persevered. After hitting the deal centers of Fred Meyer's and Target the day before, we still had the great Walmart SuperCentre to encounter. We found some nice deals but nothing could compare to the Super Saturday Steals of Kohl's. We then found our way back to the Chelsea Outlet Mall to finish off the stores we did not get a chance to explore on Friday. Some great shoe deals at Naturalizer and trendy name brands we have wanted to check out; Lucky Brand Jeans and Cole Haan. I am so glad that Joy went onto the website before our trip to print off extra savings coupons. Extra savings on already good deals.

Then it was back into the car for one last purchase at the border at the duty free before heading home. We all had such a great time together and hope we can make it an annual event. Keep you posted on any future excursions.

Deals Galore In The Early Am

So our shopping day began with a 6am wake up call with Mom, of course she had been waking us up all night with her night symphony but that's another story. It was showers then down for a yummy breakfast in the hotel, all included with the room. Now you might be saying, 6am while on vacation, but this is a bargain hunter's vacation so as the saying goes the early bird finds the best deals first thing in the morning while the sleepyheads pay full price.
You could find my flock of early birds at the Kohl's store for their Saturday Super Sale. The best deal of the day was an extra 50% off all the clearance in the store, which was already marked down 80-90% off the original price. For example; Joy found Nine West handbags regular priced $50+ for $7.80 or how about her sterling silver pendant and necklace regular priced over $90 for $8.50. Wow! And they just keep coming. We have almost dropped from all the shopping today, but we must refresh and rest for tomorrow's last day of bargain hunting. And of course, let our credit cards cool down from all their swiping...

And So The Shopping Extravaganza Has Begun...

We have arrived in Lynnwood at our great little hotel. We have already stopped at the Seattle Premium Outlet in Tulalip. A few bags have made it into the trunk but still lots of room left for more packages. We are onto the Alderwood Mall tomorrow and then back to the Outlet in Tulalip Sunday. There is an evening reception of snacks and drinks at our hotel. It was great for a little power up before we hit the shops across the street; Old Navy, Best Buy, Nordstrom Rack..we will see how much we get in tonight before we turn in for the night. A hot breakfast, included at the hotel, before we head to the mall for the day. Happy Shopping!

Shopping with the Girls!

I am very excited about my upcoming excursion to the Seattle area for a time of shopping with my Mom, sister Joy and a great 'auntie' Carol. All very good shopping buddies and bargain hunters. We are heading to the Premium Outlet Mall in Tulalip and the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood. Can't wait to update you on the great deals we find....