Wednesday, October 17, 2012

MayGold Village

One of the first nights my mom and sister arrived, we decided to go for Chinese food. One of the best places in town (that we have tried anyway) is called Maygold Village. It's about a half hour drive from where we live now, but the drive is worth it for the food. They usually have a great selection of meats, noodles, rice, veggies and various chinese dishes. Soups usually include wonton and hot and sour (which is my absolute favorite soup but hard to find at Chinese buffets now). They also have various sushi which is a nice addition to your meal, especially if some people in your group like sushi and others don't (Also can't beat having the price of sushi included in your meal as sushi can be pretty expensive).

They also serve this delicious steak sauce that I've only ever seen at another really pricey Japanese restaurant downtown.

A typical supper price will run you about $18 and I believe lunch is around $14.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Body Shop Chocomania Review

While my mom and sister were here we went downtown shopping and stopped for a quick look in the Body Shop. I haven't been in the Body Shop in ages so they had many new products. I came across a line called Chocomania and if any of you are chocolate lovers then this is the product for you.

I bought a small body scrub, body lotion and shower gel to give them a try at home and see which ones I loved the most before commiting to the full size version.

So far I absolutely really like the body scub and love shower gel. The body scrub smells like delicious dark chocolate and almost good enough to eat. I've got a little bit of a mixed feeling on how it "scrubs", as I feel it is a little bit oilier then I would like it to be. I'd prefer a little more of a sugery feel then an oil feel.

The shower gel leaves such a yummy scent on your body. I've even washed a little into my hair after I've finished shampooing to get the chocolate scent.

Brentwood Bay Lodge Pub

After a couple hours walk through the Butchart Gardens with Hubs, my mom and sister, it was definitly time for some food. We decided to skip eating at the gardens and Hubs suggested we go to the Brentwood Bay Lodge Pub, since it was such a beautiful day out. We have been to the Brentwood Bay Lodge many times before and it never fails to provide great atmosphere and amazing food. They also have a Seagrille (which we haven't eaten at) as well as a hotel and spa (neither have we been to either)

When we arrived, it was a little after 3, so he pub wasn't too busy and we were able to get a table outside on the patio. Hubs ordered a beer and I had a good old Bellini. My mom and sister stayed to water. For starters, Hubs ordered a couple of oysters and I ordered California Rolls (you get 8-10 and they are pretty big).

For lunch, Hubs ordered the Halibut and Chips, my sister ordered the Grilled Chicken Quesadilla, I had the Brentwood Bay BLT with sweet potato fries, and my mom ordered the Fire Grilled Beef Burger. We were all happy with our food, it came out hot and was delicious. Our server was friendly and prompt in ensuring we always had water, condiments, etc.

We definitly left with our bellies full and ended up having a light dinner that night. 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Updates

*I can't believe October is almost over and I feel like I have barely posted on my blog. Since my mom and sister went back home I've been catching up on school work and I'm trying to get a little ahead.

*For Thanksgiving, Hubs and I both worked the morning shift, which meant we were able to actually have Thanksgiving dinner together again this year. Last year we bought a turkey meal from a local grocery store which included everything (turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, pie, dressing and gravy). This year we just decided to go out and eat since it would only be the 2 of us and last year we had so many leftovers (We had a couple people cancel out on dinner with us).

We called around and decided to go to a local restaurant just a short walk from our home. Since the weather was so nice, we went for a walk, then ended up at the restaurant. Luckily we got there early as many people had already made reservations and we were able to eat and be out before the reservations started. For $12.95 we got a complete turkey dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, veggies and cranberry sauce. Unfortunately, the meal didn't come with a dinner roll, but I was pretty stuffed by the end of it, so Hubs and I decided to split a piece of pumpkin pie.

*Since my mom's been home, she had an MRI done and her results came back that the tumor has shrunk and she is allowed to drive again. Hopefully she will be able to return to work in the New Year after she has another MRI.

*After having a beautiful summer with very little rain, the last few days have been super rainy, cloudy, grey and cool. We went from having temperatures in the 20's to low 10's.

*Hubs and I also booked an unexpected trip to Cuba! I won't say when we are going or where until after we get back for safety reasons. But we are super excited and can't wait to explore a new country.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Wish I could be spending it with my family or Hubs family. Both of us are working unfortunately, but we did at least get our version of Thanksgiving dinner in over the weekend.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Flowers and Cider

Hubs and I actually have Thanksgiving weekend off together (which almost never happens) and we decided we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We started the day off with a visit to the Buchart Gardens (Another separate post to come on this later).  We first visited the Gardens when my mom and sister were here. Not sure why we waited so long to get there, its absolutely gorgeous and well worth the money to visit (Those of you who live local will find a 12 month pass is much more economic)

Afterwards, Hubs suggested that we pick up a bottle of cider from the local Sea Cider Farm.  When we arrived, we found out they did tastings (short or long row) and decided to do a long row tasting, consisting of 8 ciders and one of their cider cocktails. We also shared a Ploughman's lunch which consisted of fresh local bread, crackers. 2 types of cheeses, 3 types of meat, a chutney, a salmon spread and lavender shortbread. It was soo delicious, and the first time either of us had done a wine tasting.

We ended up picking the Rumrunner cider to bring home with us. The Rumrunner is 12% abv and runs $17 for a 750ml bottle. The description on their website for the cider is

"Rumrunner is crafted with home-grown heritage apples including Winter Bananas and Winesaps. The apples were hand pressed using our traditional rack and cloth press, slowly fermented with Champagne yeast then aged in rum barrels. Notes of brown sugar and spice give complexity to this semi-dry sparkling cider". 

There were a couple others we would like to go back and pick up (the pommeau and the pippins).

Friday, October 5, 2012

Holy Moly It's October

I can't believe it's October already. The 3 weeks my mom and sister were here just flew by. I have so much to talk about and not enough time to do it in right now so for now here is a brief update.

Initially, I only knew my mom was coming out to visit. The day she arrived, Hubs kept calling me asking me when I would be home (I had to return something quickly on my way home). I figured he and my mom might suprise me and come into town to meet me. They didn't come into town, so I figured it was just Hubs being up to his antics of tricking me. When I got home, my mom and I talked for a  few minutes when Hubs said I should show my mom her room. I was a little suprised that he hadn't already done so considering she had been there for 4 hrs already. I grabbed her suitcase and brought it down to the spare room and as I was about to set it down my sister popped up from beside the bed. I was so suprised to see her and so excited I would be spending 3 weeks with her as well.

While my mom and sister were here we did lots and lots (and I mean lots) of shopping. We hit all the malls in our area, and also shopped till we dropped downtown. The day we went and shopped downtown we also went for supper with a good friend of mine at Swiss Chalet.

I was a little hesitant at going to Swiss Chalet. Hubs and I had a couple of previous bad experiences with the place and weren't sure if we wanted to go back. I read up on some current reviews and they were mixed good and bad. In the end I have to say, the food was excellent, came out hot and was a pretty filling meal for $35 before taxes and tip (for the 3 of us). Because my sister has an SPC card she was able to get a free appetizer with her meal. My only complaint with Swiss Chalet is that the dining room is far to open and you dont feel as though you get any privacy and we felt as thouhg we were sitting right on top of the table next to us.

Also while my mom and sister were here we did the following:

-Went to Buchart Gardens
-Ate at the Brentwood Bay Lodge, The Noodle Box, MayGold Village, IHop, Buffet on BC Ferries
-Went to Vancouver (Stanley Park, Metro town, Ikea)
-Went to the Women's expo
-Went to the Fall Fashion night at a local mall

I'll post more about these fun times in upcoming posts. I just wanted to write them down so I remembered to blog about them.

Currently, I'm getting back into the school work and enjoying working at my new desk, my Hubs built for me.

The weather right now has been soo nice. It barely rained while my mom and sister were here. During the day the temperature averages 20oC. The mornings and evenings are getting cooler, averaging around 5-7oC. It's also getting dark here by about 7:45, which means I'm barely home from work before it gets dark now. I'm already wishing summer was back.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Updated 101 in 1001

I've updated my 101 in 1001. Also my mom and sister are leaving tomorrow morning so no big blog updates until then. I've definitly got a few great posts to talk about. See you all soon.