Summer Vacation '11 in Fair Haven, New York

I'm all blogged out for today.

Here is a montage of our summer vacation. I mentioned before that a picture is worth a thousand words, so this should do the trick.

In addition to spending time at the cottage, we also visited Skaneateles (pronounced like "Minneapolis") for some sightseeing and Syracuse for a little retail therapy at the Carousel Centre.

Fair Haven, New York - Little Sodus Bay

My family and I stayed here from July 16 to July 23, 2011 and enjoyed every minute of it. We love this cottage very much. There were 4 of us (me, my husband, my 16-yr old daughter and her friend) and we all agreed it is like being on a very spacious and clean houseboat / beach house with all the comforts of home.

The minute we walked in, T's eyes lit up: "Wow, mom!" -- If you have teenagers, you know this is a very very good compliment indeed.

There are 3 spacious bedrooms in this 2-storey cottage with air conditioning on both floors. The entire cottage is equipped with everything you need for a relaxing vacation. If you are spending time indoors, there are plenty of books, magazines, games, DVDs / VHS tapes, as well as Satellite radio and TV and secure WiFi.

The kitchen is fully equipped with everything you need to make meals - just bring your own groceries (IGA Grocery is a 15-min drive from the cottage in Hannibal, NY). A grill right out the front door ensures your BBQ enthusiasts can cook to their heart's delight.

We spent most of our time relaxing on the deck and swimming in the clean bay... literally right out of the cottage's porch.

The location is perfect; right on Little Sodus Bay, breathtaking views of sunrise, sunset, and waterfront living in all its glory. Some houses around the bay are perched on a little hill, this one has the privilege of being right on the water - much preferred by us!

If you're lucky, there are two ducks who will make friends with you and hang out during your stay; the baby ducks visited us on Day 1. They just stay a foot away from you on the deck, sometimes they are just swimming in the bay along with the many fish that just hang out in the water right by the cottage. If you're inclined to feed them, do so with some bread.

Greggy and I love nature and animals and we grew quite attached to our little duck friends.... spectacular experience!

The best part of the experience is my dealings with Scott, the cottage's owner. He is so helpful and always prompt to answer my millions of questions. His family uses the cottage for their vacations and keeps it impeccably clean and comfortable. Kudos and many thanks to Scott for being a professional and honourable man.

If you are lucky enough to find this cottage, guaranteed you will enjoy every minute of staying here, just as we have.

To rent the cottage, visit VRBO: http://www.vrbo.com/280126

Running Log - Week 9 - In Fair Haven, NY

Sun 17-Jul-11 30:00 (and Greggy's B-day!)

Mon 18-Jul-11    - Rest -

Tues 19-Jul-11   30:00

Wed 20-Jul-11   - Rest -

Thurs 21-Jul-11  30:00

Fri 22-Jul-11   - Rest -

Sat 23-Jul-11 - Rest - Back to Toronto -

Running Log - Week 8

Sun 10-Jul-11   - Rest -

Mon 11-Jul-11    28:12 (3.6 Km)

Tues 12-Jul-11   28:09 (3.6 Km)

Wed 13-Jul-11   - Rest -

Thurs 14-Jul-11  30:06 (4 Km)

Fri 15-Jul-11   - Rest -

Sat 16-Jul-11   - Rest - OFF TO NY -

Hiatus

I'm not slacking off, just vacationing with my family in upstate NY.

I'll be back!

Chocolates Make Me Sneeze

The secret to killer grilled pork chops is white vinegar
Greek yogurt is better than sour cream
Bol Antep Fistikli Kokolin Kapli Krokan is really good
Too lazy (and sick-ish) to go swimming today
I love my cat Pepper.

Running Log - Week 7

Sun 03-Jul-11   - Rest -

Mon 04-Jul-11    20:00 (Massive nose bleed like Dexter gone crazy, couldn't go on)

Tues 05-Jul-11   28:32 (8 laps)

Wed 06-Jul-11   25:56 (8 laps)

Thurs 07-Jul-11  - Rest -

Fri 08-Jul-11   31:23 (4 Km)

Sat 09-Jul-11   - Rest -

Practical Career Strategies - Dress Code

I will randomly post gold nuggets of wisdom on practical career strategies. Most of them will be based on personal experience and several books I've read in the past. I appreciated these tips throughout my professional life and I'm certain you will too.

It doesn't matter if your workplace has a business casual dress policy. This is a trap. People (especially Executives) are judgmental and will totally assume certain things about you based on what you wear to work.

If you're a man, do not wear dress shorts to work. Seriously. 

I don't care if you look like Brad Pitt or that devastatingly handsome dude named Turkish from Snatch. You won't be able to pull of this look, even if your friends tell you it's totally rockin' the Miami Vice vibe.  You will never be promoted and people will laugh behind your back (or worse, they will laugh in your face).

Instead, wear jeans and a dress shirt. If your ego is out of control and you really really want to stand out, wear a suit jacket paired with a crisp white shirt and jeans. People will look at you and think Tom Ford.

If you're a woman, that outfit you bought from Le Chateau or Stitches or some other random store in a mall looks good. In a club. Or if you're at a bachelorette party. Or if you're doing some sort of extreme speed dating thing. Or if you're with Hugh Hefner.

How can you be taken seriously at work if you look like this while doing a presentation or chairing a meeting? How??? Exactly.

Blame Canada (or, a haiku slash random thoughts on how much I love this country)

 

I am so excited that it is (was) Canada Day long weekend. I am more excited that it is a long weekend. Anyway, this is how I spent the days leading up to it (and during, I suppose).

Thursday

Woke up at dawn and ran 4 Km.

Went to work super excited about the possibility of leaving work early (helped by moving meetings around and/or cancelling them altogether).

Listened to Top 100 hip-hop songs of the 90s (skipped any west coast gansta s*** except for Gin and Juice and G-Thang; desk-danced to Wu Tang Clan, Tribe Called Quest, Leaders of the New School, etc).

Worked on status reports.

Researched Roatan, Honduras (for upcoming winter vacation).

Worked on status reports.

Ate chicken souvlaki & rice courtesy of the nice cafeteria lady.

Kept working on status reports (while listening to 90s hip-hop and desk dancing).

Realized that I had a 3 PM conference call that I couldn't skip!

Did more research on Roatan, Honduras while participating in conference call as I listened to hip-hop and ate dried apricots.

Called Sunwing to inquire about the Henry Morgan Resort in West Bay, Roatan.

Called Sears Travel (shout out to Amanda Johnston who is the best Sears Travel agent I've come across so far).

Booked a 2 bedroom villa in West Bay, Roatan at Henry Morgan.

Motored home so I can receive fax, sign and fax back the paperwork.

Had dinner at Niji.

Went to bed at 1:00 AM (a luxury, since in order to do my dawn of the dead runs, I have to be in bed by 9:30 PM at the latest).

Friday (Canada Day)

Woke up at 11:30 AM (sooooooooo goooooooooooooodddddddddddddddd).

Asked Greggy to bring out the lounge for me so I can lay out in our Rivendell-esque backyard.

Laid out in the sun until 5 PM while reading Tina Fey's Bossypants.

Made roast chicken using bone-in thighs and boneless thighs, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, uber garlic Caesar salad.

Watched Hall Pass with Greggy.

Went to bed at midnight-ish (I think).

Saturday

(Greggy went to Port Dover & overnighted (?) overnit (?) stayed overnight at his best friend's cottage with the crazy dudes from Hammer).

Woke up at 10:30 AM.

Picked up one of my (only) good friends JBER, for some much needed catch-up time over lots of food.

Went to Golden Griddle. Do note I watched Man v Food the day before and have been jonesin' for some pancakes and sausage.

Source:yumachat.blogspot.com

What me and JBER had: pancakes, sausage, bacon, chicken, perogies, scrambled eggs, (he had an omelette), home fries, bread pudding, cinnamon buns, honeydew, Diet Coke (he had a coffee).

Checked out JBER's Ford Escape, since I'm thinking of SUVin' it next year (maybe).

Went to Marshalls and bought clothes. Insane after eating the above. But I'm feeling good about myself since I can eat that and run it off, suckas.

Went home. Realized T was home... this is a very rare sight these days. We decided to go to AMC and watch Midnight in Paris.

Snuck in an Isagenix shake in the theatre. I know I'm getting old when I also sneak in my Obusforme back support pillow - which I didn't use - since we got there 5 minutes before the movie started and people would have seen me sneaking in a shake and a roll.

Went home.

Decided we wanted to watch another movie, so we Rogers On Demanded the Season of the Witch. Not bad, but not life changing either.

Went to bed at midnight.

Sunday

Woke up at 8:30 AM.

Went downstairs to feed Pepper, then I brushed (combed?) her hair to try and get rid of the damn undercoat. She sheds like crazy, but I love her anyway.

Drove T and her friends to Sunday church.

Went back home and alternated watching GMA Pinoy TV and a travel show called "Which Way To..." (Egypt, for this episode).

Went to Adult Swimming Lessons at Olympian Swimming (12:30 to 1:30).

Went back home, laid out in the sun until 3:30 PM while continuing to read Bossypants.

Greggy's home now, all hung over and sunburned. I just finished washing my hair. Time to eat a healthy dinner, so Memories of Japan here we come.

Running Log - Week 6

We discovered the outdoor track at SATEC (thanks Freddie!) and have used it exclusively for training this week (Tuesday onwards).

Note: the length of the track is 400 m, as confirmed by the Phys Ed teacher at SATEC when I called pretending to be a parent of a track & field athlete looking to change schools.

6 laps x 400 m = 2.4 Km (I can do this in 15 minutes now). We run 10-12 laps at 5:15 AM, 4-5 times per week.

10 laps = 4 Km

Sun 26-Jun-11   - Rest -

Mon 27-Jun-11    30:05

Tues 28-Jun-11   31:10 (11 laps)

Wed 29-Jun-11   32:14 (4 Km)

Thurs 30-Jun-11  32:03 (4 Km)

Fri 01-Jul-11   - Rest -

Sat 02-Jul-11   - Rest -

Yesterday's Great Daughter Moment

If you read my posts regularly you know that being a parent of a teenage girl is not necessarily a bowl of cherries all the time.

My daughter sang solo lead in her church choir concert last night. She has been going to New Beginnings Ministries with her friends, and these young adults are surrounded by positive light.

Greggy and I attended their four-hour murder mix church concert to support her.

I am one proud mama bear. I am amazed that she is doing this for herself and finding her own path and hanging out with church people rather than with roughnecks and people up to no good. There is hope for our youth.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Scarborough Location

Source:blog.to

A couple of months ago, I was on my way to Pho Saigon to pick-up 3 orders of their awesome vermicelli when I noticed that the old Payless Shoes store right across Lowe's (where Walmart used to be) had magically transformed into a burger joint called Five Guys Burgers & Fries.

I thought "shoes then burgers, ok makes sense!" and thought about it no more.

Last Saturday when I was reading the Toronto Star, I came across their article on Five Guys. It was really all about the merits of smashing your burger flat right on the grill to make it taste better. Reminiscent of White Castle burgers, I guess.

For White Castle newbies, this is what their burgers look like:

Source:imonlyhereforthefood.com

Last week we lived on take-out again because it was pure workload craziness for me (plus we were out of groceries). On Friday I asked Greggy if he wanted to try out Five Guys and we did.

The verdict:

For our family of three, we ordered: 2 Bacon Cheeseburgers, 1 Baby Bacon Cheeseburger for me (since I ate a slice of pizza earlier for lunch), and a larger order of fries. The total came out to $31 - something.

I don't place too much care about how much food costs since I'm a foodie and all, but $31 for burgers that didn't blow us away left more than just a crazy feeling of guilt (over eating it) and a mild case of heartburn.

The Five Guys burgers tasted okay, it wasn't life-transforming or anything. The burger buns were soggy (do they steam it perhaps?). The "cajun fries" which you needed to order separately (they don't have combos, I think they're trying to be uppity) were not exactly something that I will crave in the future.

Source:feastingfortcollins.com

I don't think we'll be going back unless we are desperado. For those of you wondering if it's worth it, it really isn't. Try South St. Burger instead or stick to McDonald's. And if you are ever stateside, try White Castle.

Alternatively, if you want to pay me $31, I'll make you 3 really kick-ass burgers that will change your life.

Running Log - Week 5

Sun 18-Jun-11   - Rest -

Mon 19-Jun-11  38:01 five laps

Tues 20-Jun-11   30:50

Wed 21-Jun-11   - Rest -

Thurs 22-Jun-11  30:20

Fri 23-Jun-11    30:09

Sat 24-Jun-11   - Rest -

Hall & Oates, I Can't Go For That, The Bird & Bee Remake

If you know me, you know I'm a die-hard Hall & Oates fan. So when I heard this version last Friday when Greggy and I were at Pier 1, I was almost OFFENDED.

How dare they cover this song!!! If I covered all of Hall & Oates songs I can also get a record deal.

Anyway after I got over my general feeling of annoyance, I admitted that I really like it, so I thought I'd post it here.

Running Log - Week 4

Sun 12-Jun-11  20:0; 31:06

Mon 13-Jun-11  - Rest -

Tues 14-Jun-11 38:37; 38:37 five laps!

Wed 15-Jun-11  31:31; 31:31

Thurs 16-Jun-11  - Rest -

Fri 17-Jun-11  30:30; 30:30

Sat 18-Jun-11  - Rest -

Versace Bright Crystal

I really really super wanted this new perfume Versace Bright Crystal because I love the smell and it makes me feel all woozy dreamy in a good way.

My adorable hubby and I chatted about it last week. It went something like this:

Me:  Babe, I really love this perfume (smelling sample from magazine ad last Saturday).

Greggy:  Can I smell it? Okay it does smell good.

Me:  I'm going to buy it tomorrow.

Greggy:  Honey you don't have to buy it tomorrow.

Me:  Yes I do. You know how I am when I want something.

Greggy:   Babe, your birthday is next Friday (today).

Me:  Oh! But that's a week away.

Greggy:  Babe, you can wait a week.

Me:  Okay okay.

So what I got from Greggy is the BIG Versace Bright Crystal bottle and a gift set. I am a happy camper.

Thank You For The Birthday Greetings!

Shout out to everyone and thanks for the Birthday Greetings, flowers, voice mails, emails and overall general niceness towards me today.

And now, my nieces and nephew (AKA Stone Cold Stoney Creek Crew):

Conspiracy Theorist

I was running at 5:15 AM today as usual. At Km 3, just as I was turning to start my uphill run, I suddenly felt this really crazy jab of jolting pain on the right side of my back, just below my rib and above my waist.

I assumed it may only be a muscle pull, but I wasn't exerting any additional effort than usual and I thought it was super strange.

Naturally my first thought was that someone clearly got hold of some part of me (hair strand? sweat beads?) and is now obsessed with voodooing my ass.