Lorna is...

watching Urban Cowboy with my honey after a yummy dinner of take-out Ashiana Indian curry and a fine bottle of Gewurztraminer.

So many fond memories - I SO wanted to be Debra Winger's "Sissy" to John Travolta's "Bud" and drink beer and two step and get a new mobile home and drive a pick-up truck...Oh - what big dreams I had:) And look at me now - I could never have dreamed such a life as this! Happy Friday to you all - and happy weekend adventures. We're off to look at houses in Gibsons tomorrow. Maybe one day we'll have our very own over there.

Warning - extreme graphic violence!

Well, maybe I have an unusually sensitive psyche but this movie disturbed me for days after seeing it. It wasn't something that I'd been looking forward to seeing - it was a free movie matinee through a friends' work. (I'm not mentioning names here to protect the innocent:) I'd never heard of it and had no idea what we were in for. I'll tell you what we got - incredibly violent and graphic violence from the first scene to the last. I almost walked out half way through but it would have disrupted too many people (in hindsight, I should've just left anyway). The storyline was actually interesting and the acting definitely impressive but did the close-up, graphic, blood-splattering violence enhance the movie in any way for me? Absolutely not! The movie? Pride and Glory Just so you know...

And now for something a bit lighter - It's Love Thursday...so take a moment today to say thank you, smile at the stranger walking towards you on the street, lend a helping hand and embrace the love that surrounds you! Happy Day to you...

Happy First Day of Summer!

Well...I know you're all sitting by your computers, waiting to see what I decided to do yesterday so here you go:)
I went to see Sex and the City with George (who played the part of my gay boyfriend nicely - except for the gay part - haha). I loved the whole experience!!! It's been so long since I've been to a movie at the theatre, I just took it all in. Popcorn - check, monster-size pop - check, m&m's - check, centre seats, big screen, massive speaker system. The movie was nice - I loved the crazy and sometimes over-the-top fashion, friendship dialogue, gal travel to Mexico, and the sensitive and funny bits that made me laugh and cry. There were a couple of particulary funny scenes at the hotel in Mexico where I surprised myself by how loud I laughed but I won't give them away in case you haven't seen the movie yet. I'd definitely go again with some girlfriends just to be able to talk more about the fashion and enjoy the heavy focus on female friendships. And also to get another look at all of Carrie Bradshaw's shoes! I give it two well-manicured thumbs up.
After the movie - we decided to go and check out the new Burgoo restaurant on Main and it was really great. If you haven't already experienced Burgoo at one of the their other locations on West 10th or North Van, you'll need to check them out. It was only their second night open and they were very busy. We ended up sitting at the bar which I love (always a great opportunity to chat with the bartender!) Here's what we had...first, this delicious plate of Italian appies (tomatoes, bocconcini, artichokes, crustini) and then...







George had this loverly dish called Zarzuela - a spanish seafood, tomato and saffron dish topped with ground almonds. I couldn't resist comparing my recent tastes of Beouf Bourguignon (apparently I've been spelling it wrong all along) in Paris to what they were offering up. DEElicious! Served with mashed potatoes, lots of carrots (as you can see) and a nice red wine gravy mopped up by the fresh home-made bread. The Hester Creek Cab-Merlot was the perfect choice to accompany our mains!

I shouldn't even tell you that we also had dessert but how could we resist the banana chocolate cake topped with ice-cream???

'nuff said!

My day is an open book...

I got these beautiful peonies from my friend the other day (from her garden). Aren't they loverly?

The crows are going absolutely crazy outside this morning. In the past, it's meant there's a raccoon around but I haven't gone out to check what the kafuffle is about. I do try to love crows equally to all birds but sometimes they push my buttons:) They don't have the prettiest "caw" in the world and just seem to hang around and get mad at everyone. Last spring I had one make a b-line for my head when I was running. I know it was protecting its' nest but hey! After that incident, I always ran by that spot with my hands waving in the air trying to look much bigger and more dangerous than my wimpy self. I'm sure the families at the nearby park got some good giggles out of that!
Today is an open book. I'm not going in to the store and had made plans to get together with a friend but her kidlets are home with colds so...hmmm...should I go see Sex and the City??? What do you think? It would feel so naughty to go to a movie in the middle of the afternoon. Not sure why. It's not like I haven't done all sorts of other crazy things of an afternoon. Any suggestions?

Monday, Monday...

I took a bunch of pictures of all of the gardening we did this weekend but my camera battery is dead and I can't find the charger so here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago. There's way more flower action now. Still nice, I think?
Had a pretty good weekend.
Went to the driving range early Saturday morning and then off to the Trout Lake Farmer's Market for the first time this year. What a beautiful market. If you haven't been, you should definitely check it out. There are so many plants - edible and beautiful - that are so inexpensive compared to the gardening centres. We bought 4 tomato plants, more petunias, nasturtiums, salvias and an air plant. I could have bought so much more! There's also great organic veg, baking, mushrooms, meats...It's a great way to kick start your Saturday and support local!
We watched two french movies over the weekend in preparation for our upcoming trip to Paris. Paris, Je T'Aime and Amelie. Definitely starting to get excited about visiting this beautiful city!
Yesterday Barb invited George and I to Eat! Vancouver at BC Place. Wow! So many foods, so many people, so yummy:) We sampled Mexican, Indian, Westcoast, Okanagan wines and local cheeses. Everywhere you turn, someone has some kind of fig jelly on a cracker or muskoxe jerky ready for you to try. It was pretty cool. We sat through a wine and cheese pairing put on by the Wine Diva which was yummy and I learned a few things too. OMG, that white cheddar was delicious!
I'd say one of the highlights of the weekend was just enjoying our back deck which we finally got cleaned up and comfie. I love it back there - it's usually quite calm and peaceful (except when we get invaded by the neighbours and all the kids:).
Happy Monday everyone!