stuff i'm into, volume 1

I've decided to start this regular post for a couple of reasons:

1. I think it will be interesting to look back and see what I liked at the time and say, "what was I thinking?!".
2. I want to share things that I've found that I've been really excited about!

I don't want to clutter this with stuff that I've loved for years (e.g. Paris, sushi, etc.) or the obvious (e.g. Brian, Josh, Nikita, etc). I'm just going to post about stuff I've discovered or re-discovered in the past few months that I was really excited about. Since this is the first list, I may babble a bit, but here goes...

#1 Whittards cherry blossom tea - Liezel is my tea connoisseur and she introduced me to this tea. I love it. I take it with a lump of sugar and it's perfect. It's a white tea, and I'm not sure what the deal is with white. I usually drink pretty normal black teas like English Breakfast or Empress Afternoon and I usually add milk and sugar. I also drink green tea, to which I never add anything. This cherry blossom tea is a nice, refreshingly light tea that you can sip on it's own. I typically like to have tea with food, but I enjoy this one much more on it's own so I can enjoy it's fragrance. The drawback with this tea (for me) is that I think you have to go to the UK to buy it. I checked their Web-site and I can't seem to find a "cherry blossom" tea (this particular one is a teabag tea, not loose). Liezel is going back to London shortly and I've asked her to bring some back for me. Cross my fingers that they still have it!

#2 charm necklaces - We went to Seattle a couple of weeks ago for Brian's track day. Since we had a Brian-day on the track, Brian suggested we have an Yvette-day, which, obviously, consisted of shopping. I went into Urban Outfitters, which I usually don't because they are typically out of my price range, but I noticed their accessories and was intrigued. I saw many of these charm necklaces and I tried on a few and ended up buying one. The one shown here is not the one I bought, but it's one I'm contemplating buying. They are long necklaces that sit just below your chest (lower if your boobs are smaller!) but they look great as an added layer in the layered look or even to spice up a plain shirt. I haven't worn long necklaces since the late 80's/early 90's, but I guess they are coming back in style. I like this variation to the long necklace because the different sizes, shapes and colours add texture and depth to the necklace.

#3 shoes from Nordstrom - No shopping trip would be complete without spending the majority of time trying on shoes . And no shoe-shopping trip is complete without visiting shoe mecca - Nordstrom. I commented to my sis-in-law that Nordstrom always has an unbelieveable selection of shoes. Not only do they have the best styles, but they also have a varying range of price points. It truly is shoe mecca. Well, Caroline informed me that Nordstrom actually started out as a shoe store. I did not know that! That explains their uncanny sense of shoe style. So, I bought my first pair of orange-coloured shoes ever. They are fabulous. The colour is actually called "Sunflower Yellow", but they are indeed a summery shade of orange. They are made by a company called Chinese Laundry. Their shoes are more trendy than classic, but they are reasonably priced.

#4 MAC Lustre glass in Love Nectar - I don't really wear make-up. Occasionally, I "try" to apply foundation and mascara, but on a day-to-day basis, you'll usually see me wearing only lip stuff. I'm a MAC loyalist. I've used their lipsticks forever and I can always find a shade that suits me. These days, it's all about lip gloss for me. It is such a refreshing look and believe me, my look needs refreshing! I went to MAC to find a new summery colour of lip glass. The MAC girl suggested a lustre glass - aptly named because it's has more shimmer than the usual lip glass. She recommended Love Nectar. MAC describes the colour as "ultra-soft apricot with pearl". It's lovely - nice, light and summery. Ironically enough, I went back to MAC a few weeks later to get a birthday gift for my sister-in-law. I wanted to get her some lip glass, among other things. I showed the MAC girl a photo and then went on to tell her that I wanted something like Love Nectar for my sister-in-law, because I loved the colour. The MAC girl was actually bold enough to say that I could get Love Nectar for my blonde-haired, fair-skinned sister-in-law. It's a colour that looks good on anyone. If it didn't look good on you, then you likely need more help than just lip gloss. OMG, I can't believe she used her out-loud voice for that comment...

#5 Grey's Anatomy - I know I said that I was wasting away in tv-land, but I can't stop watching Grey's Anatomy! I was going to make the "thing I'm into" more generic - tv series' on DVD, but really, it's the Grey's that I'm into right now. I never watched it when it first aired and I recall that people said it was good. We started watching it religiously in Season 3 when they had the big ferry boat accident, so we're all caught up from there. I was told that the series started out better than it has been recently (especially since Isaiah Washington left), so we decided to watch it from scratch. I think that we've missed alot of the explosive drama because we're watching it knowing how it ends, but it's still good drama. I understand now why people are getting tired of Meredith and Derek's on-again-off-again relationship. And it will be interesting to see where they take Season 5, given that the last season finale was sort of a happy ending. Not like the end of Season 1 where Meredith and Derek are happily in love and Addison walks in for the first time! THAT was drama! I would have hated waiting until September if I watched when it first aired. So, the Grey's thing is almost over, but I've already had recommendations for our next TV series on DVD - Battlestar Galactica, Huff, Lost, Deadwood...

#6 Google Analytics - my co-workers hooked their blogs up to Google Analytics and I thought it was interesting so I tried it out. Well, I'm hooked. It's a bit freaky, actually. I'm trying to figure out who's checking out my blog in Kentucky! Were they one of the people that found my site in a search engine? And why were they searching for "mini zee" or "satc season 7" or "why does my dog stink?" or, most suspiciously, why were they searching for "motorcycle racer brian van"?! Google Analytics tells you all this. It tells me that my site has had 115 visits since I "hooked it up" on June 23rd and while the majority of visits are from Canadian locations (mostly Vancouver), I've had several visits from locations in the US, UK and Australia. Cool! It makes me nervous what I'm posting now that I have evidence that complete strangers are reading my blog!

brian van rossi

OK, the title only makes sense if you know Moto GP champion racer Valentino Rossi. Brian turns 40 in August this year and for this milestone birthday, I wanted him to be able to cross off one of the items on his life's to-do list. So, I surprised him by registering him in a one-day motorcycle race school on the track.

Brian has been riding motorcycles since he was 12 years-old and he has never ridden on a track. He has ridden dirt bikes, street bikes and his current bike is a Suzuki GSXR 750 race bike. He bought this bike on the off-chance that he decided to get on a track. Well, he finally had his chance this past weekend.

He participated in Mike Sullivan's race school at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington. It was a one-day school that mixes off-track race instruction with on-track practice.

We had to be at the track by 8:00am and as we drove down, Brian said that couldn't eat his favourite breakfast - sausage and egg McGriddle from McDonald's - because he was too nervous. I'd be nervous too. He has an opportunity here to open up the throttle on his bike in a "controlled" environment. Knowing the hazards and risks, how far will he push himself? To add to Brian's nerves, I kept reminding him that he has a family now! Hehehe...

The school divides up the day into 5 one-hour sessions. In each session, the riders get 20 minutes of off-track instruction, 20 minutes on the track and 20 minutes of rest. When I saw Brian go by on his first lap in the first session, I got goose bumps. I wanted to be on the track with him. It was SO cool.

Unfortunately, part way through the first lap, a rider that was 2 in front of Brian lost control of his bike and high-sided. The red flags went up immediately and all riders had to clear the course. I didn't see the guy go down. All I saw were the red flags going up and the emergency vehicles going out. I ran back to our set-up area, all the while praying that Brian was back there. He was. Phew. Luckily. the guy who high-sided was OK and actually went on to finish the day with the rest of the group (though he moved out of Brian's group into a slower-paced group).

Towards the end of the day, Brian started to feel the fatigue. After all, he hasn't had a chance to really ride his motorcycle in the last 2 years! He ended his 4th track session early because he said his head wasn't in it and then he didn't attempt to go out in the 5th session. He couldn't concentrate on the turns and didn't feel like he was at his best. It's like when you are snowboarding and you want to keep going at the end of the day, but your legs are jello and you wonder whether you should end on a good run, or do "just one more" at the risk of wiping out. Well, you don't take those risks when you are moving at 200 km/h. I think he made a wise decision.

On the drive back at the end of the day, as his muscles started to tighten up, I asked Brian if it was what he expected. He said it was more than he expected. It was exhilarating and butt-clenching all at the same time! He said it was alot harder than he expected, but given the opportunity, he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Here are a couple of pics from the experience. I will post more on Flickr soon. Since I had Josh with me, I couldn't really get to other areas of the track, so I took a bunch of movies from the same spot on the track's front straight. I posted one of the movies at the end...

Brian and Josh going for a test ride to make sure the bike is track-ready

Our setup at the race site - since we were novices, we forgot to bring a tent and chairs!

Josh checks out the line-up of Lotus Elise race cars

Brian coming back from a track session - you can't tell, but he's smiling from ear to ear

I can't take credit for this shot - a professional photographer was on site and he caught Brian in action

a belated message from the heart

It's ironic that I'm posting this after a post saying that we're wasting away. I had this Father's Day post in my head for awhile now and I'm finally getting to "write" it down.

This past Father's Day is Brian's second one. As with the first, it was low-key. We got together with Brian's family and just spent quality time together. It's always nice to spend time with family. I think the way we spend Father's Day is a bit of a reflection of how Brian reacts to being a father - he's very low key. He takes everything with a grain of salt and he does things because he knows he just needs to do them.

What Brian doesn't know, is that he is an absolutely fantastic dad. When Josh was first born and I was a basket case, Brian stood firm and supportive. When Josh would cry and I would tell Brian that he was doing something wrong, he would tell me that he is not me, he is not the mommy and he has to figure out how to do things so that they work for him and Josh. When I need a break, Brian takes Josh. When the parental duties need to be shared, Brian is there to feed Josh, change a diaper, give a bath or pick up Josh from daycare. When Josh is naughty, Brian is stern. When Josh gets an owie, he calls "Daddy". When Josh and Brian play, Josh laughs that carefree baby laugh that melts my heart. When we sing songs, we all sing together even though Brian hates singing. When I say, "Are you sure we should have another baby to add to the chaos?", he says, "Absolutely.". And if you see the way Brian lights up when he first sees Josh in the morning or after work, you know he means "Absolutely."

It's funny because everyone tells me, "you're so lucky that Brian is such an involved dad". I used to believe that I was really lucky too. But, I thought about it and I realized that it isn't luck that Brian ended up being such a good dad because he didn't just become a wonderful father overnight. He always had it in him. So, it doesn't make me lucky, it makes me smart because I chose him.

Happy Father's Day, Bri. We love you very much!

wasting away

I haven't posted in almost 3 weeks. Why, you ask?! Because Brian and I have been wasting away in front of the tv watching Grey's Anatomy DVD's from the beginning. Ugh. We KNOW it's awful and we KNOW we can spend out time more wisely. But every night after Josh goes to bed, we quickly do our necessary chores and are usually planted in front of the tv by around 9:00pm to watch a couple of episodes; maybe 3, if it's getting REALLY good. Ugh.

TV series on DVD has to be the absolute worst creation. There is no longer a reason to stop after one show. When you record shows on your Tivo or PVR, you have to wait a week until the next episode airs. But when you have an entire season on DVD's, there is no reason to stop! And it's not like a movie where it's 2 hours long and then it's over. Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy was 27 episodes long!

Well, I'm relieved to say that we are now in season 3 and we're starting to see some repeats of shows that we saw when we first started watching Grey's. Phew! The madness will end soon and I will be able to post the 3 blog postings that I currently have in my head. After that, we will have to strongly consider whether we start watching another tv series on DVD. Maybe we need to set ourselves some DVD-watching rules...

so special

This morning, Josh sat on my lap, facing me, rested his head on my chest and was hugging his lamb in between us while watching tv. I had so many things to do to get out the door this morning but I found myself sitting there with my son. And I didn't want to be the first to let go. It was wonderful...

season 7 of satc

That is exactly what it was. I purposely avoided finding out any details of the new Sex and the City movie because I didn't want to spoil the story. Let me tell you, it was HARD. After all, many scenes were shot in the streets of New York and there were many snip-its in magazines, Web-sites and blogs of what happened during shoots.

This past weekend, we had a girl's night out so that we could watch SATC on it's opening weekend. I'm sure there were many girl's nights over the 2 days! I had a fabulous time and thanks to Lisa for hosting pre-movie cocktails and appies (the mojitos were SO good!)

I won't ruin it for anyone else, but I'll say that the movie stayed true to the series. I really felt like I was watching the next season (fast forwarded to 4 years later). I can't say whether it was good or bad as a movie because it's Sex and the City! However, I can say that I laughed and cried and that I will watch it again if someone in this house decides they want to see it (I won't mention any names for fear of embarrassing anyone that might not want to admit that they enjoyed the series!)

Now, I have to live with the disappointment that "season 7" has ended and we won't know if there is anymore to come...

the big apple

I've used my share of "customer care" services from various industries. And I've had my share of run-ins with service staff who believe that pushing their own agenda is more important that listening to the customer. And I've written my fair share of "I will never buy another product from you again" letters. Needless to say, I'm a little weary anytime I have to deal with customer service.

A few weeks ago, my iPod Classic started to make squeaking noise. It was that "hard drive squeak is never a good sign" noise. Ugh. I could already feel my blood pressure rise at the thought of dealing with customer service. So, I asked some of my Apple-savvy co-workers what I should do. It turned out, coincidentally, that Apple had just opened it's only store in Vancouver. My co-workers suggested I go there to see if they could help.

I decided to make the trip one day after work. My iPod in hand, I was worried that I would be denied service because I didn't have the original receipt. Even though I had already been online and the Apple Web-site confirmed that I was still within the 1-year limited warranty, I was skeptical.

I walked into the new Apple store in the Pacific Centre and I was immediately greeted by 2 people - one wearing an orange shirt and another wearing a blue shirt. My first thought was "sales vultures". But it wasn't like that at all. The guy in the blue shirt explained the "shirt" system, different shirts for different service needs, and it made sense.

He went on, very congenially, to talk to me about my iPod troubles and quickly diagnosed that I needed help at the Genius Bar. I know, it's corny, but catchy (in a marketing way) at the same time. It turned out that I needed an appointment to get to the Genius Bar, but they were all booked for the rest of that evening. They suggested that I could wait for a bit and see if there were any short appointments or no shows. I figured that I wouldn't make it back downtown for a few days, so it would be worthwhile for me to wait.

Luckily, there were 2 consecutive no shows and I stepped up to the Genius Bar in less than 5 minutes. The guy at the Genius Bar, in a different coloured shirt from the first two, examined my iPod, heard the squeaking and with no hesitation, said they would replace my iPod. He double-checked my warranty and handed me the brand new one. A brand new, shiny, unscratched iPod. I was ecstatic! I was in the store for a total of 20 minutes. Now THAT'S what I call service. And I didn't even have their extended "Apple Care" warranty!

I was so impressed by this no-hassle service that I wanted to buy a laptop right then and there. Fortunately, I'm not THAT impulsive a buyer, so I resisted the urge. But you can bet that my next machine will be an Apple. Let that be a testament to the power of great customer service!