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  • Archive for the 'christmas' Category

    Boxing Day Link Fest

    December 26th, 2007 by Miss604 | No Comments »

    Today we’ll be heading out and about in but I really don’t want to divulge the particular activity in which we will be participating but let’s just say it’ll cost about $4.95 for the two of us and I’ll be able to use one of my Christmas presents. You can be sure photos will abound on Flickr later this evening, but now it’s time for some Boxing Day news tidbits:


    Photo credit: Duane Storey on Flickr / DuaneStorey.com - Chilliwack Goodness
  • Happy Birthday “Web Log”! [NPR]
  • Vancouver’s rock radio station *cough* reports that Matthew Good is moving to Hamilton because of a blog post Dale wrote on his site. I’m scared to imagine the how many out there think Brad’s posts are mine.
  • Eva Mendes and the MTV crew will be filming an MTV series in the Downtown Eastside. [News1130]
  • Mexico City opens a giant outdoor ice skating rink. [NPR]
  • Blogger, tired of aggregators scooping your websites and stealing your posts without properly giving you credit for your original content? Try using the FeedEntryHeader Plugin that automatically stamps all your posts with a link to your site and a copyright. It won’t stop them from continuing to violate your license but at least you get the link back that you deserve.
  • A list has been compiled of 15 Amazing Women in Blogging. I have to say, I wish I had Veerle’s artsy talents and Lorelle has saved my Wordpress-using behind too many times to count.
  • We had a white Christmas in Surrey and according to my sister there was only an 11% chance that would happen.
  • snow on christmas day
    Snowy Surrey, YA Surrey!
  • If you’re not already watching Canada’s future stars participate in this Christmas tradition, go flip on TSN and watch the World Juniors, taking place in Prague… right now! (And for the next 11 days).
  • Merry iChristmas

    December 25th, 2007 by Miss604 | 9 Comments »

    For the record, my husband is great at keeping secrets and that doesn’t worry me. He surprised me with some of the most original gifts, all while ensuring they would be items I could enjoy everyday. Regardless, I’m just happy to be sitting here with him and my family as the snow begins to fall in Surrey.

    my other present was a hatchet

    PS I think my thumbs are too stubby for this iPhone and I need to find out how to scroll through my Wordpress categories when composing a post with this thing.

    UPDATE: Photos from John’s new camera. I decided the one he has from 2003 just wasn’t cutting it anymore…


    Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

    Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

    Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

    Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

    Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

    Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

    PPS I think the kids had a great day and I had fun kickin’ butt at Trivial Pursuit 80s Edition with my brother. Tomorrow John and I will be heading out to enjoy something else I was lucky enough to receive today. As he puts it, he has two years to make up for - referring to the two years we were waiting for his immigration to come through and we lived solely off my income. I really don’t need him to play catch-ups with gifts. I’m just glad that he’s happy, he’s working, and we’re still able to do the inexpensive yet priceless activities that we love. More to come tomorrow.

    Christmas in Vancouver: Yaletown Gift Wrap and Green Christmas Guide

    December 17th, 2007 by Miss604 | 4 Comments »

    I admit, I don’t think I’ve ever done any shopping in Yaletown aside from the new Dollar Store I discovered but if you’re out and about downtown and need some of your Christmas gifts done up in pretty little bows, keep this destination in mind.

    For six glittering days from noon ‘til six pm, volunteer elves – direct from the North Pole – will be at the Yaletown BIA office to wrap up your holiday presents by donation. All monies raised will be donated to the Empty Stocking Fund and Yaletown House, right here in the neighbourhood. [YaletownBIA]

    Where: Corner of Hamilton and Drake [Google Map]
    When: December 20-22, 2007 from 12:00 noon until 6:00pm
    More Info: Visit the Yaletown Business Improvement Association website.

    Update: Here’s another program on Robson Street with all proceeds going directly to A Loving Spoonful.

    Where: Milestones on Robson Street
    When: December 17 to 21 – 5pm to 9pm, December 22 to 23 – 12pm to 9pm, December 24 – 12pm to 4pm

    While attempting to locate other by-donation gift wrap centres downtown I came across VancouverPlus.ca’s “Green Christmas Guide“. It offers up “Green Gifts” that you can purchase at various stores and also supplies some useful tips that would nicely compliment Keira’s pointers.

  • Dine by Candlelight - Instead of having your house lit up like a baseball field, turn off the lights and fire up the candles when it’s time to dish out the turkey and stuffing. BONUS: now you know what to do with all of those Christmas candles you have stashed away.
  • Turn off the TV - Do you really need to watch The Grinch again this year? Switch off the TV and engage in conversation with each other instead. Get the kids involved by swapping stories about your best Christmas or the worst gift you ever received. Another suggestion: buy a board game that the whole family can play throughout the day.
  • Recycle your wrapping paper - Instead of crumpling the wrapping paper up and throwing it all in a garbage bag, keep the paper to use for next year. You could also save for arts and crafts time with the kids. Another option: use gift bags or boxes that you can use over and over again. Cloth Christmas bags are also easy to use.
  • For more information and tips on having a “Green Christmas” visit VancouverPlus.ca.

    Christmas Cookie Baking

    December 15th, 2007 by Miss604 | 4 Comments »

    I’m not sure when I last held a rolling pin in my hands. Today I headed to Keira’s for something we’ve been planning ever since she setup her Christmas tree oh so many weeks ago. We baked. We made coloured icing. We baked a lot and we had fun.

    Yay Team Christmas

    christmas angel

    Aww

    every cookie cutter under the sun

    creamed

    Cutters

    baking is pleasurable

    palette

    many colours

    I salute you

    Stanley Park Tree Planting and the Humbug Hike

    December 14th, 2007 by Miss604 | 6 Comments »

    Tomorrow will mark the one year anniversary of the storm that ravaged Stanley Park one night, uprooting tens of thousands of trees and gnashing through the sea wall. Over the last year I’ve kept a close eye on the park, and have many photos and blog posts to illustrate the lack of progress and frustration in regards to the use of “$4 million of $9.5 million” in restoration funds.

    According to the Vancouver parks board’s director of special projects, Jim Lowden, the progress has been “quite satisfying.” So far, the following work has been done:

    - The felling and removal of dangerous trees and clearing of debris and brush is 70-per-cent complete.

    - Three thousand of the planned 15,000 to 16,000 new trees have been planted. The rest will be planted in late February and early March.

    - Temporary repairs have been made to the seawall and permanent repairs will be made in the spring.

    - Cliff stabilization is about 80-per-cent complete.

    To come are changes to Prospect Point and the establishment of educational and interpretive legacies such as signs, programs and static and interactive displays. [The Province]

    After being closed for a year the sea wall is still just “temporarily fixed” and it was actually closed within a week of reopening due to a mud slide. At Prospect Point the area the size of a soccer pitch was clearcut to make room for more parking. With that in mind the tomorrow’s “tree planting ceremony” has become just that, a ceremony for tourists.

    man made clearcut at prospect point

    A tree-planting ceremony will be held tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at the Prospect Point picnic area. The event will mark the anniversary and honour the four lead donors to the park’s rehabilitation. [The Province]

    Although I’m glad they didn’t mention anything about animatronic dinosaurs it seems like the Parks Board (or whichever governing body is in charge of all this) doesn’t seem to realize that people go to Stanley Park because it’s a PARK… not Science World.



    We’re still going to enjoy the park for what it is, a beautiful woodland filled with streams, ancient mossy cedars, challenging running paths and breathtaking lookouts. I think the last couple million dollars should be used to (finally) stabilize the sea wall and replant trees. If more trees are cut to make room for parking, and interpretive centres crop up alongside glossy signs that replace nurse logs at the side of trails telling us what nature is, Vancouver will be closer than ever to closing its crown jewel.


    Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr

    On a side note, an excellent alternative to the horribly crowded and heart-stoppingly expensive “Bright Night in Stanley Park” train is the Stanley Park Ecology Society’s Humbug Holiday Hike:

    Our 30-minute Christmas-themed nature walk takes you and your lantern into the wooded areas along the Christmas train route with nothing but a Humbug to guide you! Find out which Christmas traditions Humbugs really don’t like and learn about the new Humbug-approved Christmas traditions that they would like everyone to adopt. [SPES]

    That’s something I can get behind and it doesn’t involve extra parking stalls or fancy displays. It’s a simple guided walk. The Humbug Hikes run every day from 5:00pm to 9:00pm, on the hour. Tickets are $5 for Adults, $3 for kids, children two and under are free. The starting point and ticket window are located at the Humbug Holiday Hike tent on-site in the train yard, or reservations can be made from Tuesday through Friday by calling (604) 257-6907.

    Also, if you are heading to Stanley Park for Bright Nights, the #19 Bus (Metrotown/Stanley Park) is an excellent alternative to driving in.

    Guide to Holiday Season Etiquette

    December 11th, 2007 by The Brad | 2 Comments »

    You may remember his “Guide to Playoff Season Etiquette” so due to popular demand, I’ve asked my sorta brother Brad to contribute something else to the blog…

    Well its been six months or so, time for me to attempt this whole “blogging” thing again. So i’m gonna sit down and give my legs a rest from jumping on and off the Canucks bandwagon and do my part around here. Actually i’m just doing this to shut Rebecca up. Just Kiddin’ Sista.

    Well Christmas is fast approaching and everyone is starting to move around and scrambling to come up with last minute gift ideas that somehow make sense at the moment, but in retrospect will make you smack your head. And in some unexplainable scientific reason, this time of year causes people to react like barbarians on PCP. So relax people, its Christmas, its about love and helping the less fortunate and it has forced me to blog about it.

    So i bring to you the Guide to Holiday Season Etiquette:

    - Parking at the mall/stores: Ok i’m fortunate enough to live next to a mall so i just walk over and its not an issue for me. However lots of fights and vehicular damage occur due to parking spot incidents this time of year. Yes parking is tight, we all know that. We all know its gonna be hard to find a spot. You know this before even leaving the house. So when you are put in the “spot hunt”, don’t act all angry cause you did put yourself in that situation. The first step in avoiding trouble is knowing of its existence. So use transit or get someone to drop you off there. Simple as that. And if you still insist on driving yourself, don’t get angry during your hunt. Do not ever honk your horn in a parking lot. I somehow don’t think horns were invented for those high speed life threatening “parking lots” that cost so many lives. And it just makes you look stupid. Imagine that ICBC phone call claim. “Yeah well it was a 100KMH collision……in front of Old Navy” On another note, if there is an empty spot and you are gunning for it and so is someone else from the other direction…….there is no shame in giving it up to that person. Cause if you dont, they will get mad and you will come out to your car later and notice slashed tires and key marks on the side and quite possibly with a death threat scrawled in blood somewhere.


    Photo credit: Robert Scales on Flickr

    When parking into your spot, commit to your parking result. Confused? I’ll explain. When parking sometimes you enter the spot at an angle or crooked and a lot of people tend to correct it by backing out a bit, straightening out and re entering the spot. If a car sees another car reversing out of a spot, they will SPEED UP and honk at elderly people to get to that coveted spot. And when they find out you were just teasing them, you can expect……… yes you guessed it, keyed doors and slashed tires. If i saw someone do that, id let them get a good punch at your face before intervening! (more…)

    Christmas in Vancouver: The Vancouver Masters Synchro Movie Sunday

    December 8th, 2007 by Miss604 | No Comments »

    I’m all about the fundraising here on Miss604, but ya know I’m also all about Ralphie. That’s right, little Ralphie from A Christmas Story who wants, “an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and ‘this thing’ which tells time.”

    It’s the lovable cinematic Christmas classic that my husband and I quote in everyday life year round and it’ll be on the big screen this weekend along with It’s a Wonderful Life.

    The best part? Your movie ticket helps get the Vancouver Masters Synchro team to the World Masters Games in Perth, Australia AND the US Masters Nationals in Las Vegas, USA

    What: Double feature big screen showing of A Christmas Story and It’s a Wonderful Life
    When: Sunday Dec. 9, 2007. Doors open at 12:30; First movie starts at 1 pm with a 45 min. intermission
    Where: The Frederick Wood Theatre, UBC [Google Map]
    How much?: $10/person; or $25/family (up to two adults and two children)

    For more information check out the team’s blog (which is built on Drupal… nice!)

    Christmas in Vancouver: The Peak of Christmas on Grouse Mountain

    November 22nd, 2007 by Miss604 | 2 Comments »

    Now that the Grouse Grind is closed for the season, you can head up North Vancouver’s natural lookout for ice skating and more festive activities.


    Photo credit: Richard Eriksson on Flickr

    Enjoy Christmas carols, movies, sleigh rides, learn about Santa’s reindeer and get your pic taken with the man himself, all in a beautiful snow-dusted evergreen setting.

    What: Grouse Mountain - The Peak of Christmas
    Where: Grouse Mountain
    How Much: The cost of a lift ticket, varying by age (from free to $39)
    More Info: Check the schedule for exact times for each event.

    There is also ‘Breakfast with Santa’ from December 15-24, 9am to 11am, call in advance for tickets.

    I must admit, I’ve never ever been up Grouse, not even for the grind or the sky ride, so I’m hoping to change that at some point this year. However due to family interests I think I’ll do most of my boarding at Seymour this year, which will include teaching John how to become a knuckle dragger.