brief hiatus

last weekend:
Chateau Whistler stagette for Julie-dearest with some of the loveliest women I know.
A midnight drive home to wake up with my sweetie on our one-year anniversary
A surprise night at the Banff Springs Hotel and onward to Swift Current.

this week:
Sis-in-law's highschool grad festivities and 2.5 solid days of family visits.
Another 15 hour drive.
Wedding rehearsal and dinner (pray the b-maid dress fits!)

next weekend:
Posh mansion wedding and dancing the night away :)
Pack and bid farewell to the love of my life :(

thus, the blog is on the fritz. Check back in a week or two for status updates.

xox.

photo-therapy

My gorgeous little cousin got married the other weekend.

We Smiths have always partied well together, but I think this event took the cake—I've never seen the fam cut loose to such a degree. Working through cases of champagne and endless appies, tearing up a rug while shouting for the band to play louder (dad!) and genuinely enjoying one another's company on such a blessed occasion.

These two photos of my dad and his mom sum up the night splendidly.

Battlestar Ga-crap-tica

I blame Trevor.

When I married Dean I knew he wasn't your typical "cool" guy, but at least he wasn't a sci-fi nerd. I thought.

It started slowly: "I'll just rent the mini-series and see if Trevor's right."

Then gradually I found myself in bed alone reading while Cylons and humans duked it out in the living room, Dean looking on. Eventually "Starbuck" wasn't merely a coffee we enjoy, women could be president and Vancouver was a cylon-ruled wasteland. I would be asleep when my own newly minted sci-fi nerd crawled into bed.

You've heard of Golf Widows? I had become a Battlestar Widow.

Fortunately Dean's busy work schedule means he's less likely to go out to the videostore, so things slowed down for a while and I got to enjoy quiet evenings with hubby again. Then we discovered tv-links.co.uk. Trips to the video store became obsolete and thus, so did my Space-channel-free existence.

The topic came up last night while we (Dean, myself, Trevor and Kelly) sat in the crowd at Bard on the Beach waiting to see The Taming of the Shrew.

I was waxing eloquent about how, in spite of seemingly progressive turns the genre has taken with this show, I still can't handle sci-fi and find the dialogue predictable and dull. Mid-sentence I looked up at the crowd and pointed.

A: Funny, that lady looks a lot like the President from Battlestar
K&D: [bite their tongues from saying, "oh don't be silly Amanda"]
T: That IS the President from Battlestar
D: and that's Apollo beside her!
A: [simultaneously smug and shocked and feeling guilty for bashing the show] yeah!

We all stared unabashedly for a little while and during intermission made the requisite (and unfulfilled) bets about whether Trevor had the guts to go up to them and say "Battle Staaaaar" in his best impression of Mary Katherine Gallagher :)

why not NY?

If I lived in New York here's where I'd have been over the weekend: Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair. *sigh*

But I suppose THIS wasn't a bad place to spend to spend a Father's day.

Sister, husband and I caught the slow boat from Horseshoe Bay on Friday and got to p-ville past midnight. good thing a regular feature of island visits is sleeping in. Thus we did, in between fishing, hunting for Ewoks, admiring rooftop goats and embarrassing Dianna.

Some bad news: our two top-pick flats (Westburn Road and Willowbank) have slipped from our grasp. Aberdonians: keep your eyes out for good flats to rent! A very select few get listed online and stupid letting agents forget to remove the listing even though the property is taken.

FLAT HUNT 2007

Less than three weeks now until Dean's departure (within that time I'll fit one Whistler stagette weekend, a one-year anniversary, one trip to Saskatchewan and one best friend's wedding) so we're feeling the pressure to find a place to shake off our boots—a brightly coloured door of our very own in Aberdeen.

The hunt is on, but it's no easy feat from across an ocean. Plus our favoured pick just got taken off the market b/c the current tenants extended their lease. Here's what we're left with:

The West End Open Plan

PROS: Our own garden, contemporary decor, new floors, ritzy neighbourhood not far from downtown.

CONS: further from med school and supermarkets, small rooms, no tub


The Main Thoroughfare Bargain

PROS: in city centre, we know & trust the landlord, new gas fireplace, new kitchen, close to church and beach, across the street from supermarket, a steal at 600ppm

CONS: on heavy traffic road, far from med school

The Downtown Luxury Apartment

PROS: Big kitchen, built in wardrobe, in city centre but close to med school, rotunda!

CONS: Pricey, ugly bathroom


The Two-Minute Walk

PROS: across the road from med school, close to several friends in lovely Rosemount, allocated parking, ensuite!!

CONS: expensive (same price as the rotunda), but what's with the decor (or lack thereof), are those walls peach?


Turning it over to you all (especially the Aberdonians): your thoughts?

fashion-spiration

Parisians just do clothes RIGHT.

I fell in love with this blog today:

Dans Paris

on Target

It's hard not to love Target. Even before they brought on the likes of Proenza Schouler and Paul & Joe, Targé was a favourite spot for cheap CDs and knick knacks. Add some bold designers and genius marketing to the mix and they've landed themselves high in the ranks of my fave places to shop.

So needless to say I was thrilled when I saw some pages from Izaac Mizrahi's latest lookbook on the blog of a Glamour editor. Looks like I'm nearly due for a cross border shop. My Fourth of July Seattle trip just got a little sweeter ;)

counting cars

[Dean Regier photo]

news flash

Blogs everywhere are dead.

I'm really trying hard to defy the status quo and post at least bi-weekly. Facebook still has a powerful pull, but the attraction is waning—especially as it daily adopts the messiness of myspace.

Meanwhile I have a month of weddings and family visits ahead. But our Scotland departure is coming up quickly and I'll be more inclined to share when there are, in fact, things to share. Bear with me, readers, in the summer months when I'd rather be outside playing than inside clacking keys.

Until then, I'll continue with the updates and run downs:

It was a full weekend of sunshine. Friday night we went on a much needed date—appies and cold wine at Bin 942 where, in true Dean and Amanda style we made some nice friends at the table next to us. I spent Saturday in Langley touring townhomes and making big plans with two of my favourite ladies. That evening we celebrated Trevor's "retirement" and subsequent big step toward pursuing his dream of film production. And since yesterday was a day of rest, we went to Lighthouse Park where we played with starfish and crabs and eels and got ourselves some sunburns and mosquito bites.

Skin ailments aside, it was a lovely day.

Tomorrow is my last day of fulltime work. woot.