Friday Favourites

 Happy Friday! I'm a little slow getting this post out as I was out last night at the golf club.

On Tuesday I posted about our trip to Whistler. I forgot to include this photo from our last night.

We also received this lovely gift, showing some Squamish FN imagery. 

E and I golfed on Tuesday night and then ate dinner on the patio.

Our lovely weather is here!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Things I've Been Enjoying

Like what does this title even mean? But it’s just that “things”, not books or shows, random things that I have taken note of that I’m glad I purchased (or received as a gift), and most aren't even new.

Electric Kettle - We used to boil water in a kettle on the stove and then somehow I figured out that electric kettles are the way to go. I know it’s the same motions - put water in kettle, turn something on (electric switch or stover burner), water gets hot, you pour it out - but for some reason the electric kettle way just seems so much better.

Dyson Cordless Vacuum - We have had the regular one for years but then my mom (I think) suggested the cordless one and it is so nice to whip it around for a quick vacuum without needing to deal with the plug and cord. We got an extra wall charger so we have one on the second floor and one in the basement to make charging even easier, but the charge lasts a long time anyway. 

Electric Blanket - There are those days in the winter when it’s hard to get warm and an electric blanket does the trick. We keep our house pretty comfortable for temperature but do make it cooler for sleeping. That said, I like to get into a warm bed so on those extra cold nights, I will “pre-heat” my side of my bed with the blanket before turning it off for the night. 

Fancy Sunscreen - I have always bought my sunscreen at the drug store, and more recently Costco, but even those are getting expensive. For Mother’s Day I got a bottle of the Bask brand from The Good Neighbour store. It has such a nice scent and is smooth to put on. I prefer a lotion to a spray. 

Gratitude Journal Prompts

 16. Write about one sound you are grateful for.

Rain on the roof because it means I have a safe place to be in a storm. When we renovated our house to add another bedroom, I was adamant that I wanted to keep our sloped roof over the back living room. I love lying on the couch when it is raining. And Q’s room has a flat roof with no attic above it, so that’s another great place to hear the rain.

17. Write about three things in nature that you are grateful for.

Birds - Yes, I’m a woman over 40, we love birds. Haha. But seriously, birdsong is a wonderful sound, and seeing them flit around the backyard, or soar, if you’re in different spots to see hawks or gulls. 

Flowering Trees - Part of what makes me grateful for these is that they aren’t around for a long time, so you know you need to appreciate them when you see them. Bonus points for when they are accompanied by delicious scents, like lilacs. 

Ocean - The ocean looks different everyday, it’s amazing. The colours can range from dull greys to bright blues and no matter what, it is beautiful. 

18. Write about a place that makes you happy.

Currently I can say two - the golf course and the baseball field. Those are the places I go right now that aren’t work or home. It is a privilege to watch Q play baseball and for all of us to golf together. 

Whistler Trip Recap

 Dave and I enjoyed a few days away together last week. The reason for the trip was for Dave’s company’s  “Circle of Excellence” for those that were the top performers. We had a few nights at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler so we added an extra night in Vancouver so we could have some work meetings on Tuesday.

This is us driving to the airport. We love a family vacation but it is also nice to go somewhere without the kids.

We arrived mid-morning in Vancouver, I met someone for lunch and then headed to a meeting. Dave took some of his team out for lunch.  Then we checked into our room at the Fairmont Waterfront. 

It’s right across from the cruise ship terminal so it’s a busy spot, lots of people coming and going.

We wandered around to find a place for dinner and decided on Cactus Club. Tuesday was half price wine bottles :)

Heading back to the hotel. 

The next morning we worked out at the gym, this is the view from the pool deck.

It was a beautiful day, since we were officially on holiday at this point, we did some shopping and wandered around until it was time to catch the shuttle to Whistler.

We travelled to Whistler on the Sea to Sky Highway. It was a pretty drive. 

I love a hotel lobby and this one was exquisite. It was wonderful at this time of year but I can just imagine how cozy it would be during ski season. 

This was our keycard, made of wood. 

We decided to have dinner at the hotel bar. They make a good Negroni!

We were going golfing the next morning. But first we got breakfast at one of the restaurants at the hotel. 

A beautiful day to be golfing. 

We golfed with one of Dave’s colleagues. 

Mountain views at every turn. 

And we were promised bears, and we saw bears!  I have never seen bears in the wild so it was quite thrilling.  These bears aren’t really interested in us, but we were told to keep all food in our cart coolers. 

Those little specks in the bottom right are the bears 

See?

On the next hole they were eating in the bushes near the tee box.

If you zoom in behind me, you can kind of see them. 

After golf we had a massage at the spa and then spent some time at the pool. 

More people from our group were arriving that day so we saw a bunch of people by the pool.

We had a welcome reception and then went to dinner with some of Dave’s colleagues. It was a delicious meal but so late! We didn’t get home until almost midnight. 

We golfed again the next morning. It was a different day than the day before, grey and rain in the forecast.

And more bears! These one were right in front of my tee box. I was a little nervous but then had a great shot and we were able to drive away without bothering the bears.

Less Mountain views than the day before but the clouds parted a few times. 

We had lunch at the golf course and then went for a walk in the village. 

We stopped in at Longhorn, which you can tell is a big apres ski place in the winter. We had drinks with Dave’s colleagues there and watched the mountain bikers come down the bottom of the hill. We decided to go back to the hotel for dinner and had a small dinner there.

View from our window the next morning.

We worked out at the gym, and the set up by pool for the morning. It wasn’t super warm, but the sun was out and we went in the hot tub. It was nice to just do nothing for awhile. 

For lunch we decided to go to the brand new Milestones next door where we knew they would have the Blue Jays game. 

We went to a dinner at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. We got to look at some of the displays before dinner. It is a beautiful spot.

After a delicious meal and some dancing, we headed back to the hotel, all lit up. We enjoyed a few more drinks at the hotel bar and then headed to bed.

Our shuttle back to the airport wasn’t leaving until 8:00 so I had some time to take my coffee and muffin out to the pool for a few minutes. 

We flew home and arrived in Toronto around 9:00. We were excited to see the kids and very grateful that Dave’s parents could stay with them. They were quite busy - several baseball games and practices for Q, a Blue Jays game, and golf. They all did well!