looking back

I don't do New Year's resolutions. I don't like the idea of committing to a life change just once a year and that's that. Better to reflect on what needs changing in life through the year and make it happen. Mind you, I don't begrudge others their resolutions. Everything needs a starting point, right?

So let me not call this a resolution, just a starting point for blogging again. I've recently been enjoying seeing some 365 albums on Flickr, and I realized that I would like to get back to blogging. Nothing serious. Food. Travel. Musings. With me?

At this time of year many media outlets pull together top lists or year in review stories. I'm a bit of a sucker for those if only because my memory is so remarkably sieve-like that it's good to have some reminders. I made a list yesterday. Here, then, is a year in review.

But not chronological, because 2011 was all about the wedding. Yes, ten years together, and on the first Saturday after what Conrad and I consider our ten-year anniversary of our first date, we were married in Vancouver. Family and friends came from as far as Sweden and the UK, and there was a healthy Chicago contingent. Allison looked gorgeous as my best woman, TK continued to demonstrate how awesome a best friend he is by standing in my party and doing a reading, and my big sister Marie gave me away. Actually, Marie did a ton more than that - she was the point-person for so many things here in Vancouver, and we really do owe her so very much for all she did in ensuring the day was a good, smooth, and marvelous one.

Anyway, the wedding was lovely, as was the reception. People ask what the best moment of it was. I never can answer that well - so much was a blur in the moment and all the more so looking back. A happy blur, but a blur. I guess the best part is every time I twiddle with the ring I now wear on my left hand and can revel in all that ring stands for and the day when it was given me.


There are many photos from the wedding week - the lead up, the time in Vancouver, the event, the honeymoon (Hawaii, of course) in a Flickr collection. Enjoy.

The end of 2011 saw Marie buy herself a condo, which means that this has been the last year of her living at our Vancouver condo. It's been a good arrangement all along, and we will miss her. On the other hand, we now get to furnish and decorate the place the way we want, and that excites us. The issue was almost forced a little earlier in the year when I found myself applying for and interviewing for a job in Vancouver. I didn't get an offer, and in terms of timing, that was likely for the best. I won't deny it's not disappointing not to be the first choice, but I have a secure position in Chicago, and I'll be grateful to have that job. May I do it well in 2012.

I swam a lot in 2011. I raced a couple of open water swims (fun!),
I did some timed distances in the pool (fun!), I closed the year with a 17-mile week at the English Bay Swim Club swim camp. In all, I was several miles short of 400 miles for the year, but good enough for a mile a day. I'm pretty proud of that. I am not proud of where my waistline is at the end of the year, but I haven't had to go out and buy bigger clothes, so I'll just eat moderately now that the holidays are over, and exercise regularly. About all that can be asked of us, right?

We have dined well this year, at home and elsewhere. Yoshi's has been our cherished regular place as always, of course. Safari Cafe is our coffee spot of choice in Vancouver. I had an unfortunately memorable meal at the Getty Museum in LA - a rare instance where I complained about the food. Best meal? Oh gosh. I ate a lot of very good things this year, not least of which were the deep-fried octopus chips at Boneta a few days ago. I might point to the wedding rehearsal dinner at Campagnolo for its combination of company, energy, location, and food. I still rave about that squash risotto with hazelnuts. Yum!

An interesting thing, though - if you go back earlier in 2011, you'll see some blogging about the cleanse that I did. I kept a few things going post-cleanse. Decaf only - I sleep much better now, seldom cursed with insomnia. I tried to add red meat back to my diet and found it just didn't agree with me much. With exceedingly rare exception, red meat remains out of my diet. Yes, I include pork in that, too. Nope, no bacon for me.

There have been good conferences, swimming events, trips to LA while Conrad has been working there. Thanksgiving in the UP with the in-laws (now officially that) and Christmas in Vancouver with my family and our friends here. Allison and Marie have stayed with us. TK joined them for a bachelor party weekend that still makes me shake my head in happy amazement. That led to one of the concerts we got to this year - the Debbie Gibson/Tiffany reunion concert. What a blast! Call it cheese, call me cheesy, I don't care. It was fun. Right TK? Oh, and there was the night we went with Smelts friends to see Florence + the Machine, and then there was the Dick Prall show Allison and I took in. I even got Conrad to a few movies this year, plus he went with me when I saw a pro-tennis match for the first time (Fish d. Harrison).


I'm forgetting things from 2011. That's fine. I blogged irregularly, but there is evidence of the year that was if you read back. Besides, it's now time for 2012. Which doesn't mean I won't look back again, but this should launch a new year of blogging nicely. In 2011 I hit my 1000th post. 1366+ by the end of 2012?

Labour Day dinner

And I should stress, that's LaboUr Day, not Labor Day...

;-)

No cooking for me today. We've had travel back from the Sunshine Coast to contend with plus some other errands, and - frankly - I wanted to get in to one of our favourite Vancouver restaurants. That it's an easy walk for us is a bonus. That we can sit at the bar usually is another bonus. Just past 6:00, we wandered down to Campagnolo and parked ourselves there, Marie sitting between Conrad and me.




Pizzas. We never eat pizza in Chicago. Well, almost never, not unless work provides it for "free". Pizzas it was. I got a little cranky with the idea of sharing the mushroom pizza (cremini are just button mushrooms with brown caps, people, don't try to fool me), but quickly got over it. A bottle of La Frenz Viognier in front of us, some water, and some food - I was content.

Specifics:

• Marinated olives
• Salad of tomatoes with lomo (Conrad's appetizer, shared with Marie, though I had a couple of tomato pieces when the ham was eaten)
• Summer vegetable salad with the cutest tiny speckled cucumbers you've ever seen!

• Mushroom pizza
• Smoked salmon pizza with creme fraiche (too lazy to figure out how to type diacritics in the browser, sorry)
• Pizza Romana - tomato sauce, olives, garlic cloves, anchovies. This last one was mine.

Ah, we ate well. We chatted cheerily. We sipped. We watched the traffic behind the bar and made up our own running commentary on what must be going on elsewhere in the restaurant. We left without dessert and came home to sit on the balcony with a bottle of a Summerhill Merlot that Allison had given me (ahhhh, deliciously lush) and some cheese and chocolate.

Sunday dinner with Marie

It's nice to have an opportunity to have dinner just with my sister, Marie, once in a while. A week ago she and I sat at the bar at the back of Campagnolo, just the two of us. Dissecting family politics. Talking wedding and real estate. Being the brother and sister that we can be when no one's watching. Sharing a good BC white wine, sharing two different pizzas,
sharing a couple of salads,
sharing some cheese. A very good evening in our favourite neighbourhood joint. Ah yes, it would have been good to have Conrad there, too, but every once in a while, it's a treat to reduce things down to the two of us who've known each other the almost-41 years I've been alive.

Friday dinner, Campagnolo

It's a habit that we've nurtured over many years of dining at Yoshi's: we like eating at restaurant bars. Is it the high stools and counter? Is it the chance to have more casual interaction with the bar staff? I don't know, really. I just know that if we get the option, we often take it. And so it was Friday night at Campagnolo.

Busy place - we're glad to see it so packed if it's a sign that the neighbourhood will continue to develop nicely. When we arrived, we asked to sit at the bar. The backroom where the bar is had a table for four available, but not enough seats for us at the bar itself. Ah well, the table it was. And so we sat with menus and water a handful of minutes, and wouldn't you know it? The bar freed up! We moved quickly (I think the waiter was a little miffed, and I felt badly a moment or two), and soon Marie, Conrad, and I were parked with a bottle of red wine and an order of smaller plates submitted.

I like Campagnolo a lot. It's funny - we almost never go out for Italian food in Chicago or elsewhere. I'm not really sure why. But we like our little Vancouver neighbourhood place in all of its minimalism. In fact, we'll have our rehearsal dinner there this autumn, and I'm excited for that. In the meantime, though, here's a look at what we had:

Marinated Olives (cerignola, mantequilla, peppadew)
Crispy Ceci (chickpeas, chilies, mint, citrus)
Spring Vegetable Salad (crispy bread, bagna cauda)
Bruschetta (trumpet mushrooms,buffalo mozzarella, olive oil)

Conrad and Marie split the Margherita pizza (fior di latte mozzarella, tomato, basil) with prosciutto added while I enjoyed a plate of ravioli (wild nettles, soffrito, spot prawn butter). The butter was an especially sweet and delicious touch.

No dessert, we were well-enough fed (and two bottles of wine meant we were well-enough beveraged, too!). By the time we left, the bar was even more packed, and our spots were being eyed hungrily...

cool things for free

The Olympic posts will jump around now on this morning of catching up. Two days ago, yesterday, whenever.

For example, I had wanted to post these images and video last night, but I was rather tuckered out. We were on our way from the hockey game in search of dinner, and we stopped in at La Maison du Quebec. Ultimately, the four of us ended up at Campganolo for a late-ish dinner and a bit of wine. However, we did have the good luck to hear the tail end of some music and see this guy with his hoop.






Conrad and I had seen him a few nights ago during the performances at the medal ceremony at BC Place, though not so close. This time, he almost got out of control and ran a couple of people over in front of me.

I don't get a lot of the media complaints about this whole event. I wonder if the media are actually getting out and seeing the crowds enjoying the free or inexpensive entertainments like this. I was so very glad we stopped in to Quebec House, and I think I must take advantage of the free download the musical act gave out.

Campagnolo

Yes, yes, we got an upgrade, and thus we "enjoyed" breakfast on the plane.

(not so secret confession: I'm fond of a lot of airplane food and have long had an especial affinity for eggy breakfasts)

(United, this was not one of your better efforts)

It was just after 1:00 when we got to the apartment, and Marie hadn't had lunch, so we wandered down the block to a favourite place, Campagnolo.

(oooo, another aside: fireworks out there - great view, too!)

Brunch it was: all three of us each had the pancetta, spinach, and goat cheese fritatta. Not at all stodgy, very light. A half litre of an Italian white to wash it down, and we were good to get out and start walking.

Poor Conrad. A cold has him down, jetlag hasn't helped. We considered a few familiar options for dinner, but in the end we went back down the block. Twice in one day, but I doubt they mind. The front of the house was busy, but we wanted to park at the bar in the back,
and found ourselves for a few minutes the only ones there.

My pork shoulder was fine (also fine but not photogenic, apparently, were Conrad's flank steak and the olives and hazelnuts we shared), but the winner was the albacore tuna crudo for a starter. Wow. The sushi we had a couple of nights back in Chicago wishes it were such good quality fish.

A half litre of an Italian red kept the food company, and Conrad, worn down, finished and headed back to the condo to climb into bed.