ode to a spice

I have been searching for the past few years looking for the perfect spice rack to fit my Henry Watson spice jars. At some point, I realized that I was not going to find a spice rack - rather, I would have to have it custom made for me. Seemed like a rather luxurious request and I had resigned myself to storing my spice jars in a cupboard for another few years.

Recently, my co-worker needed some framing done in his house and asked if Brian could do the job. Brian agreed. As it turns out, my co-worker's wife is an artisan - making fine furniture and jewellery out of wood. At my request, they agreed to trade some hours so that we could have a spice rack built (my husband is the BEST!). This is the result:

The spice rack is beautiful and I love it! If you're ever in the market for custom furniture, just contact Lindsay Staniforth. I highly recommend her! Her studio is here in Vancouver but I'm sure if you need something shipped out-of-town, she can accommodate you as well.

a coconut by any other name...

I love coconuts. My dad makes the best coconut ice cream, hands down - even though he doesn't make it anymore! (guilt trip!)

I recently had a particularly tasty coconut tart from T&T supermarket. It's hard to make a good coconut tart - there is a fine line between too much tart and too much coconut. I think T&T does a good job of balancing it.

T&T has a particularly fine selection of chinese baked goods, and at reasonable prices! I highly recommend you try them out if you are in the mood for tasty chinese treats (like coconut tarts!).

Congratulations, Larry and Sandra (and big H)!

HA Liem (aka Little H) was born this morning at North York General Hospital. Don't know what the weigh-in is yet, but mom and baby are both doing fine. Little H has the honour of sharing her birthday with Dad Van Dop and Bri's sis, R. Happy Birthday, everyone! I'll post photos as soon as I get some (hint! hint!)...

the BEST way to travel

Everyone always says that the BEST way to travel in Europe is by rail. Now, no one ever said that it was the cheapest way to travel! We just spent Cdn$210 for the 2 of us to travel by train from Paris to Le Mans (return) for MotoGP. That's one expensive train ride! On the plus side, we're taking the TGV, France's high speed train. We are going to travel 200 km in 56 minutes. Wow. That's 200 km/h. What a way to get primed for a motorcycle race! On second thought, maybe that train ride is not so expensive...

catching up with friends

It seems that time flies by so quickly and before you know it, you haven't visited with friends in a few months! This is the way it has been with ex-Chancery friends - Jean and Danny. When I first left Chancery in December 2004, the 3 of us would get together for brekkie before work once every couple of weeks. Eventually, that tapered to once a month...

In August 2005, Jean left Chancery and then in December 2005, Danny left. By that time, we were barely getting together once every couple of months!

Today, we met for brekkie for the first time since October 2005 - ai-yah! It was great to catch up with them - so much to talk about - Jean has since gotten engaged! We are so excited for her - Congratulations Jean and Dave!

I miss hanging out with my ex-Chancery friends. We vowed that we wouldn't leave it that long before our next gathering. I guess only time will tell...

the miracle of twins

My brothers are twins - Lawrence and Leonard. They are the youngest of the 5 of us siblings. When they were born it was like a small miracle in our family. It didn't matter to the rest of us that they were always the centre of attention - after all, they were "the twins".

Last week, Brian's sister, Renee, found out via ultrasound that they are going to have twins - a boy and a girl! To me, it's like a small miracle all over again. I'm sure that the prospect of having twins is quite daunting to the parents. I can't imagine. But no matter what, there is an air of excitement that it brings and the Van Dop's are thrilled to be welcoming twins into the family. Congratulations Renee and Geoff!

the meaning of 4-way stop

The power went out in a large grid in Vancouver yesterday night.  I was in pottery class on Granville Island, throwing a pot on the wheel.  Needless to say, my pot will likely look a little wonky and unfinished <sigh>.  We were told to go home because no one knew when the power would come back.  So I cleaned up as best I could in the dark and hopped in my car for the drive home.

Firstly, it is a WIERD feeling to be immersed in total darkness in the middle of the city.  Granville Island was eerily dark.  And having no street lights feels like something out of a horror movie.

Secondly, and most important, if you are driving on the streets and the traffic lights are not working, please remember to exercise the 4-way stop procedure!  This means that you stop at the light as you would if there were stop signs in each direction at the intersection.  Sounds pretty easy, eh?!  Apparently not!  Some people think that it is a 'keep going because the cars in front of you went and cross traffic is stopped anyway' procedure.  Everyone is still trying to get somewhere and we're all trying to do it with as much order and courtesy as possible. So, please remember the 4-way stop procedure...