Just Throwing This Out There

Tomorrow is December 1.  How the fuck did that happen?

In other news...

(put those nerd brows down, I know it's "fly" and not "run."  but the kitten, fml look at that face!!!)

Review: Burt's Bees

I'm kind of a chap stick hoarder.  It's common practice around here to check all my pockets before throwing anything into the wash because I've usually got some sort of chap stick stashed somewhere.  It's also pretty common around here to find all kinds of brand new chap sticks stashed in all sorts of places because I'll misplace them, then buy a new one, only to find the only-used-once one I just misplaced a couple days later.  

But I'm a loyal chap stick hoarder and my go to fave is anything Burt's Bees.  I haven't tried their other bath or body products because I'm afraid it will turn into a problem, but I have tried basically every lip balm they have to offer.  My all time favorite is the round tin.  Love, love, LOVE the tin.  I can't even really explain why I love the tin so much, but I do.  If I had to choose between the Beeswax stick or the Beeswax tin, the tin wins every time.  

My favorite kind though is probably the original Beeswax.  It lasts for a really long time, it has that nice cool, refreshing tingle and it tastes good (not that I just sit around eating sticks of lip balm, but when you forget you're wearing it and lick your lips, it's always nice to be wearing a balm that is pleasing to your taste buds).  

That's not to say I don't like their other kids.  I really like the Replenishing one that has pomegranate extract in it for when I go to bed.  It packs a lot more moisture than the original beeswax, almost like a gloss, but without that gross sticky feel.  It too lasts forever and I wake up in the morning with silky soft lips.  

I've also tried the honey, which is a great, regular ol' chap stick.  Doesn't pack that tingly sensation like the beeswax, but isn't glossy feeling like the replenish. It's a good in between.  

They also have a lifeguard one that has SPF in and is meant to protect your lips through heat, water and bitter cold.  Whenever I swim laps or go for a run, I like smacking this one on.  It makes my lips feel invincible to the elements.  

I've also tried various tinted ones, which I also like because for some reason I cannot apply lip gloss without a mirror.  I think the little stick thing throws me off.  But a tinted lip balm?  I can put that on while merging on to the freeway (not that I ever do that of course) and not look like some toddler applied my lips that day.  

In short, I love everything Burt's Bees.  It lasts a long time, they're reasonably priced, they taste good (always a plus) and other brands that I've had to get in a pinch just don't compare.  

My grade: A++

The Dog Got Sick, and Then Thanksgiving Happened, and Now There's Pine Everywhere

Anyone else feel like Thanksgiving snuck in the back door, showed up unannounced, and then left down the fire escape like a dirty little mistress leaving you to feel used and almost unable to enjoy it all?  Yeah, me too.  

But before Thanksgiving could sneak up on me, our poor dog got sick.  We have no idea what she ate, or how she got it, but she somehow managed to get a bacterial infection in her small intestine, which basically means that she had a hose spewing poop colored water out of her butt for three whole days.  Not pretty.  So after an accident all over her crate when I had to go to school, two nights without sleep because she had to go out every couple of hours, a really gross stool sample for the vet, $100+ at the vet's office for antibiotics and an anti-diarrhea shot, five days later and she's finally almost back to her normal self.  Poor thing, such a trooper.  Even when she had her accident she had this look of utter shame when I got home.  Normally I don't handle the poop, that's the husband's job, but I didn't even care this time.  I just wanted to make sure she was okay.  But even though she was clearly not feeling well, she still was her usual self, wanting food, wanting to play, wanting to go on walks, which is why I didn't take her in for a couple days when I first noticed... the problem...  Our vet suggested a bland diet of white rice, pasta and low fat cottage cheese (all things I don't eat, btw) for about 3-4 days, half walks a ton of water and Imodium AD as needed.  Some things I learned through this whole thing: diarrhea isn't really something to get super concerned about, unless it goes on for several days or if there is vomiting.  Vomiting apparently is the big red flag.  Bananas don't bind dogs like they do people.  And dogs can have Imodium AD as needed (this is one of the million reasons why I love our vet, he's practical and will often give us OTC people substitutes for the animal only prescription to save us a bunch of money).  

All the vet stuff of course had to happen the day before Thanksgiving.  And while I was balls out excited for the holiday, my dog also has a sensitive stomach, and 13 people were coming over, and I was worried that all the excitement would upset her tummy even worse and I'd spend half my time baking bread rolls (but they're just bread rolls - lol, mom) and half my time letting her outside so her butt could explode.  But she did great!  No exploding butt to speak of, she slept through the night and we were able to minimize the amount of people food she ate (probably had something to do with me parroting over and over again to the kids, "Can you help me be the doggy police?  Doggy doesn't get any people food, okay?  Go!" Amazing what you can get done when you give a 4year old a job).  The holiday as a whole though kinda passed me in a blur.  All of the sudden I was elbowing my way through the lines at the grocery store because it was the Sunday before, and then it was the day before and after the vet I was making the first batch of bread rolls, and then people were here and we were all over eating and now my fridge is still packed full of leftovers I don't even know what to do with myself.  It was definitely a wham, bam, thank you ma'am kind of a holiday.  Even though it went by so fast, I am full of pleasant memories (even the blurry ones) from the day and new inside jokes with friends, some old and some new.  I was full of contentment and thanks on that day.  I even managed to squeeze in a video chat session with my family back in California.  :)  

Now Thanksgiving is over and so Christmas is in full swing (I always feel like there's no recuperating time between Thanksgiving and Christmas - they both just happen in such excess right after the other).  Christmas songs are on all the radio stations, tree lots are appearing everywhere and fresh pine wreaths and bags of pine cones are filling up up the stores.  I know that they put things like wreaths and pine cones at the entrance and near the registers because they're hoping to trigger your brain as you walk into the store to buy it, and then reminding you again as you are about to leave that you should buy it.  Normally it doesn't bother me.  But today as I was checking out at the store picking up a few things for the week, the cashier person looked at me with genuine concern and empathy and asked if I was okay and if there was anything she could do for me.  At first I was like, wtf is up with this chick?  And then it dawned on me that my swollen, red, watery eyes and constant sniffling was making me look like I had just been dumped by someone.  So as I calmly explained to her that I'm totally fine just really allergic to pine, hoping to clear up the confusion and have a good laugh, she looked even more forlorn and said in almost a whimper, "Oh honey, you're allergic to Christmas."  ::face palm::

I've been allergic to pine for a really long time, and my allergy has gotten progressively worse as I've gotten older.  First it started off with me being a kid and needing to decorate the tree in long sleeves, pants, socks and gloves because I'd break out into hives if I touched it.  Then I started to get respiratory infections in addition to the hives.  Then I had to stay upstairs when my mom would cut up the tree after Christmas because it would send me into a full blown asthma attack. Then I had to stay outside when it happened.  Finally by the time I was a teen and I was having to practically sit in another room to open presents while I nursed a bitchin' cough and was sucking on an inhaler, my mom suggested a fake tree.  Nonsense, I said.  My sister is allergic to cats and we don't have fake cats, do we?  That argument stopped holding up when my mom had to spend the rest of Christmas day in urgent care with me.  So, now we still have real cats, but fake trees.  ::shrugs:: I'm still hunting for a fake tree that doesn't look anorexic and has nice full branches.  

Review: Dragon Dog Toy with Chew Guard

I got this at PetSmart for about $13 on sale.  Kinda expensive for a dog toy, sure.  They market them as nearly indestructible.  And since I am the proud owner of a dog with jaws that could rival a tree chipper both in power and speed, I was intrigued.  See, we've purchased Sappho soft, fuzzy things like soft, fuzzy beds, little stuffed animals etc.  They've all lasted about 5 minutes before that awful RRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPP sound and all the guts and stuffing come out and then it looks like it fake-snowed in my house.  

This means we don't get her many toys because they're all destroyed within minutes.  She can't even have a stuffy to snuggle with because the poor thing just doesn't stand a chance against that massive mouth and chomping power.  Thankfully she only rips apart things that are hers.  Thank god.  

I have purchased four of them over the last couple of years.  See, they are pretty much indestructible, but they do have one weakness: the wings.  The wings can be ripped off and then the guts are exposed and then you have to pull all the stuffing out and the squeaker before she eats it.  But once the wings are off and the guts and squeaker safely removed, it doesn't really fall apart anywhere else.  She hasn't been able to rip off the eyes (oh poor little piggy...), the nostrils or the legs, and my dog doesn't know the meaning of light play.  They last several months, and best part, they're washable.  

My grade: A

Vancouver, BC Part 2

Okay now to on the stuff we did!  

1) Vancouver Aquarium!  The Vancouver Aquarium is a non-profit aquarium that takes all the profit it makes and puts it right back toward saving marine life and habitats.  They have white sided pacific dolphins, harbor seals, two porpoises (porpie??), sea otters, tropical fish and frogs, coral reefs, two beluga whales (which are so fat and graceful it is unreal), and penguins that when we saw them were all huddled together napping with their little faces slightly turned upward toward the sky like a bunch of little mob bosses.  In their big tank they had all kinds of fish that I can't remember, but that is also where they hold Sea Star Wars, complete with a real live diver who brandishes a plastic light saber at the sea stars and breathes heavily into his face mic about being their dad and how the force is strong with them.  What I loved the most, aside from the sea otter eating happily from its belly or the beautiful dolphins, was that instead of gutting the land that the aquarium is on to create a completely man made and enclosed space, they built into the land instead.  Ever greens and giant cedars grew right over the dolphin and whale tanks and created a wall in those areas.  

2) Capilano Suspension Bridge.  Oh my god so beautiful there I can't even begin to describe it.  But what I can describe is the 400+ foot suspension bridge that we walked across, the cliff edge we walked out onto, and the tree top adventure which was comprised of sky high platforms and mini suspension bridges connecting them all up in the canopy of the rain forest that we walked through.  The entire time we were there we alternated between being in pure awe, and giggling at imaging how Juan's mom would react to being there (she's deathly afraid of heights and to even get into the park, you have to walk across the suspension bridge that spans a giant canyon complete with roaring river and rapids down below).  We didn't see any bald eagles while we were there, but we did see leaves as big as my chest (I don't know if my childhood cat Weasel would be in heaven with so much leaf hunting to do or if it would overwhelm him and give him an aneurism) cascading down like rain, we saw squirrels and fish and even a resident dog that was there with some of the staff.  We marveled at trees that were over a thousand years old and over 37feet wide.  We stopped and read almost all of the placards and learned a bunch, and took a ton of pictures.  

3) Granville Island.  Granville is just a two minute ferry ride away with an amazing open market with the freshest produce and meat I have ever seen or smelled, little shops and boutiques galore, and the little island is even home to it's very own brewery.  Super cute place.  

4) Gastown.  Gastown is a historic little town outside of Downtown Vancouver that is just adorable.  There's a steam clock there that whistles on the hour, monuments to the founders (a quick digression, if you're going to Vancouver, take the Hop On Hop Off bus tour.  Go through the whole thing once without getting off so you can learn of all the cool stuff, then use it as public transportation.  Best way to go) and historic markers, another brewery, the Original Old Spaghetti Factory and a bunch of maple syrup places!  Nom!  

5) We also visited Yaletown and China Town which were both so impressive.  Yale Town reminded me a lot of Flagstaff, AZ and China Town, well, reminded me of China Town.  It's the second largest China town outside of China itself and according to the locals has the most authentic Chinese food you can get.  We didn't eat there because we were just in a constant state of over full by the time we got over there so we just looked and smelled and oo-ed and ahh-ed instead.  But China Town also has a beautiful garden that is very zen and as our tour guide put it, will make you ten years younger by the time you walk out of it.  

6) Shopping.  There are two streets, Robson and Granville that are shoulder to shoulder shops and boutiques.  It is home to the original Lululemon Athletica store, designer brands EVERYWHERE, local boutiques EVERYWHERE.  Basically so much all over that you get a mild case of whiplash trying to take it all in.

7) Stanley Park.  An amazing gorgeous park that the aquarium lives in, as well as a bunch of First Nation Art.  We were encouraged to rent bikes and ride around, but because it was raining the day we went we walked under our oversized pink umbrella and it was magnificent.  So beautiful.  So many historical look out spots.  

We didn't get a chance to hit up Victoria Island or go to High Tea.  Apparently these are all day adventures.  We also didn't get a chance to go tour UBC or the Museum of Anthropology, but these will be things we hit up first on our next trip.  And there will be a next trip.  

Vancouver, BC Part 1

*WARNING: Very long and potentially boring recap of my amazing week long vacay.  Read in one sitting at your own peril* 

Every year the hubby's company gives incentives to their agents based on productivity.  There are bonuses and things that they can get throughout the year, but the creme de la creme is hitting council.  Council is broken up into tiers based on productivity, and the higher you produce, the better the trip you get on the company's tab.  We got Vancouver, BC.  

To sum up in five words or less: I. Am. In. Love. 

This was the hubby's and my first trip together, just us two, since our honeymoon three years ago.  Talk about over due.  Because the hubby got promoted to partner at his company he didn't have to go to hardly any of the agent seminars and we got to spend basically the whole week together doing whatever.  Because there's so much up in the brain, I've broken the posts up into parts.  Part 1 will cover my thoughts on Vancouver as a whole.  

1) Our room.  We stayed in a room with a king sized bed, a covered balcony with a view that looked out over Coal Harbour where we got to watch sea planes take off and land every single damn day.  If the sea planes weren't awesome enough, let me bring you back to the king sized bed.  I went from my crib straight into a full sized bed as a kid.  Meaning I never learned to sleep in one position or in a straight line or without my limbs sprawled everywhere because I never needed to.  This makes sharing a bed with me very challenging.  So in our queen sized bed here at home, once you factor in my sprawled limbs and ever changing positions, and the cat that usually sleeps width-wise on the bed, poor Juan is left with maybe 1/4 of the bed and no blankets.  And usually with my hand in his face or my knee in his chest.  But with a king sized bed, we had a hard time finding each other.  There was so much room.  When I laid in the center of the bed and stretched out as much as I could, I couldn't touch a single corner.  Bliss.  Pure bliss.  

2) Weather.  We drove to Tucson and flew direct from Phoenix because let's be honest, flying direct is way worth the two hour drive to get to the bigger airport to avoid the three hour lay over in some random city that probably isn't even on the way to your destination.  Especially when you have bags to check.  Anyways, it was 90 friggen degrees the last weekend of October when we left Arizona.  While cooler than summer, that's still hot for us this time of year.  Vancouver is much like Seattle weather wise.  We got a lot of scattered showers, lots of cloudy days, really only two days with a little sunshine and no rain.  And you know what?  We didn't mind it.  Not one bit.  I got to wear shoes, with socks, and scarves, and I wore a pea coat every single day.  We walked arm in arm under our over sized umbrella, jumped over puddles and damn near broke out into our own version of "Singing in the Rain" we didn't mind the wet and clouds so much.  We walked every where, our pants got wet, my shoes flooded and we bought me new boots, we had to carry an umbrella everywhere, and it was no big deal.  Everything is lush, and green, and alive and fresh.  

3) My kind of fashion.  Most people who aren't in regular business attire, wear spandex pants, boots of some fashion, tunic length shirts ranging from totally form fitting to big and slouchy, a scarf and a coat.  Even a lot of the business clad women walked around in spandex pants, mini sweater dresses and boots of some kind.  People live in spandex there.  I love spandex.  I love wearing my workout clothes everywhere.  There is nothing more comfortable to me than spandex pants, a sports bra and a tank.  I will have to get my feet more accustomed to walking around in heels though, because good lord, some of the most adorable boots were sky high.  But I accept this challenge.  

4) Walking.  It reminded me a lot of Europe in that everyone walks everywhere.  We walked everywhere.  We walked all day every day (except for Thursday.  Thursday we walked half the day and then spent the late afternoon and evening in our room in our sweats and ordered room service just because we could).  We will be moving into our new home in December, which is out the suburbs, and while we have access to plenty of trails for walking and hiking in our community, I will miss being able to walk to the store for a quick grocery run, or walking to the cheap movie theatre that is just across the street from us now.  This brings me into my next though:

5) Everyone there is active and I loved this healthy fit energy that just seemed to be palpable it was so rich.  As a fitness professional, I almost felt out of shape next to the average person in Vancouver.  I mentioned that everyone walks everywhere and it's true.  But people also ride their bikes everywhere, and bring their work out clothes to work that way when it stops raining, they all dash outside and go running around the sea wall or just up and down the city streets.  No really.  Runners and cyclers all day every day.  Office messengers and package delivery people cycling around hauling this trailer full of crap all over the city, rain or shine.  There were 5000 people there with my husband's company, not to mention all the other American tourists, and I'm so sad to say that it was pretty easy to spot the Canadians/Europeans and the Americans.  We are so much heavier.  I knew that America struggled the most with obesity, but this trip made that fact more real for me.  

6) Vancouver as a whole is just cleaner and friendlier.  You can drink water from the tap because it's as good as bottled water.  In the week we were there we heard maybe 3 cars honk.  We only saw ambulance and police go out twice, there was no graffiti and no gum on sidewalks or signs.  Now, since a lot of people walk and use public transportation, it could just be that there was less road rage because there are less people on the road, and I don't know if it's a thing in Canada to chew gum like it is here in the states so maybe there was no gum on sidewalks or street walls because people don't chew it.  I don't know.  I don't know if because of the crazy high tax rate they are able to have a whole team of do-gooders out there like ninjas who go around and immediately paint over the graffiti and clean up the gum and give hand massages to the stressed out drivers, and therefore that makes people smile and wave and say good morning to total strangers, to allow cars to actually merge and let pedestrians cross the street.  All I know is that this is what I saw.  It felt like people there are much more laid back, it's a much calmer and less rushed city than any place I've been to in the US.  Oh!  They also encourage public recycling and composting by having bins for such things in almost every cafe and on the street!  We had a recycle bin in our hotel room!  Now, I'm not bashing on the US.  I love my country and am proud to be here, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel that Vancouver was a step ahead of us in a lot of ways.  

7) Bathrooms.  All the bathrooms, everywhere, were immaculate.  Always clean, with big doors, and always had toilet paper.  Even the public restrooms at the public market were cleaner than the ones here at the mall I go to.  I went to the restroom in the Vancouver airport and then again in the Phoenix airport, big difference.  Going to the bathroom in a pea coat is kind of a process and the only real way to do it with any sort of ease is to just take the damn thing off and put it on the hook in the stall you're in.  This often meant that I had to drop my purse on the floor, and I was totally okay doing that because they were all so clean.  Again, I don't know if that's a tax thing and so they can afford magic fairies, or if people in Canada are just cleaner than we are, but that small comfort in knowing that if I had to go, I'd be able to go in an environment that was clean and comfortable, really stuck with me.  

8) Expensive.  A pint of beer, of locally brewed beer, over $8 on average. Cheapest glass of wine I could order, $8.50.  Every meal we bought for the two of us, easily over $50 every time.  And it's not like we ordered a feast with every meal, or only ordered market price catch of the day either.  Usually we got one entree and an appetizer to share and a drink a piece.  Taxes are crazy high there.  It's one of the most expensive cities to live in, in all of North America (or so our tour guide told us).  But it's also one of the safest and cleanest.  (or so our tour guide told us).  

9) Culturally rich.  On any given day, on any given street, you can easily pass people and hear 5 different accents/languages before you get more than two blocks.  We kept getting advice from locals and shop owners on where to go eat because every kind of cuisine had a super authentic restaurant somewhere in the city.  And I would have to agree.  Usually we try to eat locally when we go visit places (because I can get Subway at home, thanks).  I don't know what "Canadian" food looks or tastes like, but we had some seriously delicious Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Irish, Indian, French, Dutch...  I think that's all, food.  So good.  And while I was whipping my head around and craning my ears to hear all these different languages and tried to guess where they were all from because I was so intrigued, it's totally normal there.  Like, so last year.  

It was such an amazing trip.  It's such an amazing place.  I definitely recommend going there and spending a good week there if you have the opportunity.  It will be so worth it.