mother’s day weekend

as mentioned, chaeli and i had our own pre-mother’s day celebration. and yes, she finished all five comic books by dinner time that day. we’ll probably go back in june. and to be honest, because i wasn’t prepared, i didn’t really get a chance to look at a lot of the graphic novels. i want to get back into reading sandman and hellblazer.

it was a very nice, albeit cold, weekend. friday night, we went to oakville to hang with ada and hoa. they took us to a burger restaurant known for their 100+ choices, which was just in walking distance.

a good thing – we needed that walk back just to help digest those crazy burgers! the chain is called the works. and while it’s a carnivore’s heaven, there’s the option of subbing the beef burger for chicken. and a huge selection of vegetarian options (especially the ones featuring a portobello mushroom as the core).

sunday morning, i was prepared for the feasts (yes – plural) ahead of me so i woke up to start my workouts (yes, once again, plural) at 7am. i started with the p90x strength circuit training, chest, delts and triceps, and after a 15 minute rest to re-hydrate and take hobbes out on his potty break, i finished off with a really strong ashtanga vinyasa / power yoga session. i was half way through when doug came home from his shift.

with flowers and fresh berries from the store on the way home, him and chaeli made me a cinnamon bread french toast and breakfast sausage brunch. with blueberries and my favourite, blackberries! oh… and very good coffee!

later that day, we went up to my parents’ place and basically, ate some more. i also treated myself to THREE gin & tonics.

apparently, there’s more, though. while sunday at my parents place was nice for all, i really needed a day for just the three of us and was a bit bummed not to get it. especially as i had a very early morning Monday – had traveled for work to the states – coming home later than usual to boot.

they’re taking me out this weekend. i’m not being told where… just whether i want my brunch on saturday or sunday. so… i suppose there will be a post-mother’s day celebration to follow.

meeting strangers on an airplane

on the way back from our weekend family visit to t-bay, doug and chaeli sat across the aisle from me. it was a small plane. simply because flying back to and forth from toronto to t-bay, you don’t really need a very large plane.

no one really goes to t-bay unless they are visiting family or actually have a business trip there.

anyway… as i was saying, it was a very small plane. just 2 seats on either side. very narrow and of course, unlike porter, air canada did the maximum row allowance. porter at least takes out a row or two and spaces the seats out so that you actually have decent leg room.

so i was sitting on the aisle seat next to this pretty, young blond. she had her chihuahua in one of those carry-on dog bags that fits under the seat in front. and i asked if she wouldn’t mind putting her chihuahua closer to the window (she had her purse by the window and the carry-on dog bag drifting more on my side). it wasn’t that the dog offended me. on the contrary, i didn’t mind at all! but due to the cramp-ness that is air canada, i was really afraid of accidentally kicking her dog. all it would take is a small adjustment and i might land my toes right into the dog’s head!

as i stood up to put my backpack in the overhead bin, she commented, “wow… you must have lost a lot of weight recently!”

with surprise, i responded, “how could you tell?”

“your pants are just hanging off of you!”

okay… must stop here to point out that yes, i was wearing a pair of my older pair of jeans. it’s a little baggy but not crazy-baggy. so long as i wear a belt, i can still pass it off. so i really don’t think the average stranger would take notice.

i responded, “well, yes, i have lost weight. but over the course of 2-3 years. i just still wear these jeans when i travel. it’s comfy!”

we got into talking, because she asked, about what i did to lose the weight.

then another peculiar thing happened. she commented on how ‘skinny’ my legs were. i don’t have skinny legs – muscular and therefore actually bulky, but not skinny. it would be one thing if some one who knew me when i was overweight to comment that my legs look skinny – only in comparison. but i think that the average stranger wouldn’t think this of my legs at all.

third point to insert here – when she talked, she had a really calming effect.

we talked about where we were going  – i told her we were just visiting t-bay because of family and she mentioned that she was on her way home to chicago with a stop over in toronto. and that she was in t-bay for business.

finally, my last point… business? on a holiday long weekend? and she mentioned this was her 8th business trip in a month – she always took her dog with her. if she was going somewhere that could not accommodate her dog, she just wouldn’t go.

i didn’t press for more information. i later told all this to doug and he said it just as the idea was formulating in my thoughts, “might she be in the entertainment business?”

“that’s somewhat the feeling i got.”

i told him how she noticed things about me that normally strangers wouldn’t at all, “i mean, it IS part of her job right? she’s use to sizing up her clientele right from the get-go. it’s basically a skill she has to have if she’s good at what she does.”

well, one of the skills she has to have.

i’m not judging. but i was curious. she’s either an adult entertainer or a hell of a good sales person.

back from the great white north…

there’s a lot to catch up on here but i’ve been super busy both at work and my home life.

we just got back from our easter weekend in t-bay, visiting with doug’s side of the family. the main reason we all went was because my PIL have closed their craft and hobby (hobbyist meaning more railway train models/sets) and retiring, after being a part of the community for over 25 years. saturday was their very last, official day they were opened for business.

not long after 4pm, they hung up the closed sign and we all pitched in to help out with the party preparations. by 5:30pm, the 35 plus guests had arrived – each one being a significant part of the store’s history. in fact, i even worked the cash register to make it official for myself. i know i was invited because i’m part for the family (both doug and my SIL grew up working it the store), but i wanted to earn my invitation.

i met a lot of interesting people – all who had great stories. i wish i had the time to meet and talk with all of them but the evening went by so fast.

anyway, the toast was quite emotional and to finalize everything, the very first customer they had (one who’s been faithful all these years), made his very last purchase. he wanted to be the first. and he wanted to be the last.

i felt it was very appropriate.

going back to t-bay will be a little bit different. we spent the day doing a lot of ‘traditions’ we normally do. earlier that morning, we went to get coffee (and brunch) at a diner across the street with the regulars – the regulars being old-time hobbyist friends whom visited and purchased from the store often. but throughout the years, the tradition was to meet up for coffee every saturday and brunch on the last saturday of the month. they talked about railroads and trains and everything both in between and outside of their shared interest.

we wanted to also go across to coney island for our usual lunch fare everytime we are helping out at the store. but unfortunately, due to the fact that it was the long weekend, it was closed. we’ll have to still go back the next time we go for a visit. they have these slider dogs/hamburgers topped with their home-made chili. and their fries are one of the best!

it will be different when we go back – not having the store to lounge around and people watch from inside. while it wasn’t the same for me as it was for doug or my SIL, i definitely will miss it.

cool ski chiquita

we decided to take advantage of saturday’s amazing, sunny and mild weather. so off we went for a little longer day out on the slopes.

once again, chaeli did really well. a couple of falls but for the most part, she held her own. near the end of the slope, she also started to pick up speed and do more sudden stops. there was definitely a noticeable increase in confidence.

VID-20130309-00037 a video by shyeyes on Flickr.

in fact, she even was starting to put on this ‘yeah, i’m cool’ aura about her. usually, my daughter is all excited, bubbly and it’s difficult to get her to just calm down when she’s about to do something she really, really loves to do. but as soon as we got there, she strolled into the lodge and was all, “i’m putting on my bored look. because people who look bored are cool. the world bores you when you’re cool. and i’m just very,  very cool.”

if she had a thought bubble above her head, it might even read, “yeah. i can do this. bring it.”

not sure where this all came from. but as she’s not the most athletic kid, i’m glad she has something to be confident about.

my parents came during the last 1.5 hour of our 4 hour rental period to watch chaeli. they were extremely impressed. i may be speaking too early but the kid seems to have a natural ability on the slopes. she comes by it honestly – doug is a whiz on skis.

as for me, i’m happy to say that yesterday was a hell of a lot better than last week. i fell a few times but  for the most part, i got the carving skills back. my s-turns were wide still, but the fact that i was more comfortably able to go from toe to heel and more importantly, heel to toe, made my day more enjoyable and less painful. well, there’s definitely some pain as far as muscle stiffness and soreness.

doug will be taking chaeli on the bigger green runs later this week if the weather co-operates. and i’m hoping, if there’s still enough snow around, i’ll get a chance to hit some of the longer runs myself before the season ends.

there were moments when i was coming down the hill just gliding from heel to toe and back, totally in the zen moment of boarding (exactly the feeling i wanted to get back) but then there were moments where all three of us where going down together – doug and chaeli on skis while i was not far behind them, doing my thing. it felt really good… to glance to the side and seeing them in their own world as well.

if chaeli and i can improve to the point where we can spend more time skiing/boarding during the winter, the cold, long months may not seem so bad.

it was just such a great day, which ended with a crap load of wings and beer (we treated my parents out for dinner).

healthy shy – the zen of snowboarding

< the zen of snowboarding – post from healthy shy

a quick post i whipped about relating yoga to snowboarding.

i’m back into that beautiful feeling of carving those S’ down the white slopes.

more on our actually 2nd time boarding/skiing.

but for now… read on about how yoga has helped prepare me for this winter sport.

Disney World 2013 – Off Kilter

Just one more link I only recently prepared on flicker in order to share… it’s a short video of Off Kilter, the canadian band we had a chance to watch perform at epcot’s showcase canadian pavilion.

MOV08055 a video by shyeyes on Flickr.

Disney World 2013 – final notes

i just wanted to record some random notes about our trip:

• we did get a chance to visit Disney’s Boardwalk which was quite beautiful. i didn’t take any photos because we were there in the evening when it was quite dark. i’ve been to Downtown Disney before, but never the boardwalk. it was a nice, quaint area. the main reason we were there was our reservations at Iron Chef Cat Cora’s Kouzzina’s. overall, it was a good restaurant, but strangely, not my favourite. the quality was good, don’t get me wrong. but i expected more. what was good, however, was the spreads we ordered for appetizers. i have never had such amazing hummus before in my life. and the two types of olive oil they gave us for dipping (with the very good, freshly baked sour dough bread) was also heaven. the trio sampler dessert platter i ordered was also not to be forgotten – especially as it was accompanied by one of the best tasting pressed coffee ever! i’m not sure if it was really that good or not mainly because we had no great comparison for that entire week. the resort, refillable coffee was very much on the sad side. i never thought i would say this, but the next time we go back to disney world, i’ll be looking forward to that starbucks they are replacing Main Street Bakery with in Magic Kingdom.

• disney world marketing blows me away. first of all, since chaeli got a lot of autographed birthday cards and pictures from all the characters we had a chance to meet, i noticed right away that each cast member playing these characters had perfected their autograph. why i know this? i’m a typography-geek after all. of course, i’ve seen these branded disney fonts and i knew right off the bat that these signatures followed very closely to the disney character fonts.

• disney is also known to be quite the shark in the marketing world. on the route from disney to the airport and vice versa, you won’t find ANY bulletin boards/ads from competitors. disney arranged with the county to make sure of this and while it sounds crazy expensive to ensure that they get this way here, i can’t help but to be in awe of this gutsy tactic. i want to just bow down repeatedly while saying, “WE’RE NOT WORTHY! WE’RE NOT WORTHY!

anyway, i’ve been back to reality for the past few weeks now but am going through mickey-ears withdrawal. this happens every time – especially after a good, successful trip to disney world.

we will return one day for sure. but i mentioned to doug that the next time we get the urge to do a disney trip, i would like to try disneyland for just something a little different.

guilty pleasures no. 57

my lastest guilty pleasures no. 57 – pressed pennies!

we collected an album full this last trip alone.

click here to read more…

Disney World 2013 – Magic Kingdom

strange enough, even though we bought the park hopper option, we only visited the Magic Kingdom twice (one evening and then one full day), spending more time in Epcot. while chaeli enjoyed going on all the rides in The Magic Kingdom, she was much more interested in the more interactive, high-tech attractions. plus, i find she’s starting to seek that adrenaline rush for speed.

yeay for minnie mouse ears!

the Magic Kingdom, however, will forever remain my favourite. while i have key favourite elements from the other theme parks, the Magic Kingdom holds the most disney magic, so to speak. i always suggest 2 full days here and then 1.5 days for Hollywood Studios and Epcot. the park hopper option was a good choice, though – it allowed us to return to some of the theme parks that had extended hours (attractions were only opened, during this time, to those staying at a disney resort – we were actually carded for each ride during these hours).

snapped during fireworks

one of our first stop the first night in the Magic Kingdom was the new Journey of the Little Mermaid ride. similar to the classic animatronics style, like The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan in the newly (and beautifully) renovated Fantasyland, it was great for little ones as well as all other ages who enjoy the whimsical delight of what disney’s foundation truly is – to capture the child in all of us.

it was interesting reading some of the reviews before trying the ride myself. people either hated it or loved it. those who felt it was only so-so admitted that they went on it mainly for their children’s sake but that had they been there without kids, they would not have bothered. the ride, however, was geared to follow the traditions of Fantasyland and meant as a family-friendly ride for those that have young children.

the design of the castle encompassing the ride was gorgeous. there was plenty to see and marvel at during the line-up (which was a short line-up for us since we got fast passes).

“winnie the pooh is so soft!”

can’t forget little piglet!

chaeli celebrated her 9th birthday morning at The Crystal Palace – another character dining experience with Winnie the Pooh and Friends. She got another autographed birthday card with all the characters from the 100 Acre Woods posing in front of the castle.

in fact, from the moment we arrived to our resort, chaeli was adorned with mardi gras beads, disney stickers and a birthday button. doug and i were given celebration buttons to wear to in order to support chaeli’s birthday week. so long as we wore those buttons, we got little surprises here and there. i know no other place that does it like disney.

anyway, the resaurant was also buffet style but as usual, the food was freshly made. all week, none of the buffets disappointed us – not at all like some buffets where you can really tell that the food was sitting there for awhile under heat lamps. i noticed that all the food trays were actually small for the magnitude of the crowd. i assume it was because they were on heavy rotation from the kitchen where everything was being constantly made, fresh from the stoves and ovens. the highlight was the puffed french toasts.

the characters were amazing. as usual, they played their roles very well but this set of characters looked extra soft that i had to really control myself! i almost ran up to give each one a hug!

spooky, funny, adorable ghosts

now that chaeli is older, i was able to convince her to go on The Haunted Mansion ride. i do remember being deathly afraid when i was really young (5 years old) but as i grew up, i started to appreciate the humour of The Haunted Mansion as only disney can pull off. chaeli was apprehensive at the beginning, when they cattled us in this dark room and closed the door on us – an introductory part before the actual ride began. but once we got going, she was captivated by all the ghostly, special effects.

classic disney parade

as we were leaving the park, we were just in time to catch the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade. it’s one parade we missed the last couple of times so i’m glad we were able to see it. chaeli got a prime spot right at the edge of Main Street just as all the prince, princesses and their friends passed by. she also got a chance to see mickey and minnie at the start of the parade.

• all photos of the Magic Kingdom can be viewed here

Disney World 2013 – Hollywood Studios

the smallest of all theme parks but definitely worth the visit. actually, it’s a good day to plan a visit to Hollywood Studios if you don’t have a full day to spend at a theme park (i.e. if you have dinner reservations at another resort or want to go to Downtown Disney or Boardwalk later on that day). and while it is small, there’s still plentyof things to do.

it does have more potential though – i hope disney will improve on some of the older rides and maybe expand the park to include pixar’s radiator spring (like what they added in disneyland).

shrunken down and playing in the grass

big puppy dog nose

while we didn’t spend as much time in this playground like we did before but as a tradition, i had to stop for some photo-ops at the “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” movie playground set.

“y’all can make yourself at home in the living room until dinner is ready!”

our 50′s style kitchen table

last time we dined in hollywood studios, we tried their Sci-Fi Drive-Thru – the interior was themed to look like an actual drive thru. we sat in cars as our tables and watched old, black and white sci-fi movies on the big screen. i wanted to try something different – hollywood studios has great themed restaurants (like The Brown Derby – also something we tried the last time we visited).

and so i made reservations at the 50′s Prime Time. i thought it was going to be just like another 50′s style diner. but was i wrong! the place was made to look like a typical 50′s style home. the waiting area was really a couple of living rooms. and as we walked to the seating area, we walked through a very retro-style kitchen.

the waiting staff and the host/hostess did their part, too. as we got called up for dinner where we were able to watch black and white comedy clips from the 50′s, we were reminded of the rules – no elbows on the table and we were expected to finish all our veggies! chaeli didn’t like the rules – i had to explain to her that it’s all part of the act. that they weren’t really going to get her in trouble if she broke them!

another restaurant we went to at Hollywood Studios was The Hollywood and Vine. a great buffet! the highlight for me was their lobster and shrimp mac and cheese. chaeli’s fave was the chocolate fondue fountain.

robot scanning luggages before boarding

there aren’t a lot of rides in Hollywood Studios but there were two main rides we went on more than once. one was Toy Story Mania – a must for everyone. this interactive, moving video-game ride is the most popular ride in this park. getting a fast past when you arrive is ideal because by mid-afternoon, all the fast passes are gone for the day.

another important ride for us was the star wars Star Tour ride. i heard they’ve made amazing improvements on this ride and the reviews did not disappoint. it is now a ride made of sequences – beginning, two middle sequences and an end. there are different sequences to each segments and you never know what combination you will get. we went on five times during our entire week and had at least one new segment each time that we had never seen before. i read somewhere that there are over 50 combinations.

we also bought chaeli her own little ewok stuffed toy. it was too cute ot pass up.

finally, we made sure to catch the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. i believe we watched it with chaeli when she was young but back then she didn’t really get some of the side humour and inside jokes from the show. and the intense moments, while it didn’t scare her, made her uncomfortable. this time around, she simply loved this stunt show! and laughed at all the right moments.

• full photo album of Hollywood Studios can be viewed here