Catching Up: Kristy's Birthday, Boston

Another month goes by... It's amazing how quickly time flies when you're working your butt off...

Last week, I was down in Boston to assist a Seminars for Success, a program that my company gives alongside with Google to teach businesses how to properly utilize tools like Google Analytics, AdWords and Website Optimizer. I flew out on Sunday afternoon and arrived in Boston around 6PM. The weather was beautiful, just like Ottawa when I left. The only difference was that the temperature was a bit cooler (in Ottawa it was 33 degrees with some humidity while in Boston it was ~20 with no humidity). That was the start of a week long of training, but it was enjoyable :)

Boston is a beautiful city, I wish I stayed longer to venture the city some more...

Some highlights from this trip:

• All the positive feedback from the attendees! Some of them event made a comment on the CP Facebook page and on Twitter. A lot of them just spoke up to me while the seminar was running. 
• Dinner at the Legal Sea Foods in the Prudential Mall! 
• Dinner at Wagamama! 
• Dinner at Myers & Chang with my co-worker, ordered Tofu Steak in Soba noodles, mmMM!
• Dinner at  Hamersley's Bistro and had Spring Rabbit with Persian Spiced Chickpeas, Preserved Lemon, Green Peas and Pistachios

It's funny, I look back and notice that most of the highlights were of food :) Yes... go to Boston to eat!

In the midst of my trip, I knew our 5 months was approaching. Pretending that I had forgotten (she claims I forget about everything… sometimes I do), the moment we got onto Skype I said "Happy 5 months!". We spoke for an hour before I crashed at midnight.

Kristy's Birthday Surprise

When I make a promise, I try my best to stick with it. On Vancouver trip, I made a promise to Kristy that I would bring dinner to her on her birthday. Realizing later on that it wasn't possible to hand make or deliver food to her dorm, I needed to think up another way to get food to her room. I will admit, I did some searching around for ideas and even asked a few friends, which in the end I pieced a few things together and came up with the card + pen + video + food delivery gift. 

I told her to not open the card until it was her birthday. But in the midst of her party, she went back to her room so I could sing happy birthday to her. At the moment, I told her to open her present. She knew what pen I gave her, and she smiled at the card, and cried watching my video. 

I made a boo boo in making the video, and she became upset because I had forgotten. Sorry. But I know your tears were of happiness ones, I hope :) 

The next day (her actual birthday), dinner was delivered to her and we had dinner together (it was 6:30PM her time, and 9:30PM my time). Dinner came from Candia Tavern, and she got Lamb Chops. She didn't even put a dent on the food by the end of it. Disappointing. 

Look, she's happy :) Happy birthday baby!

Until next time...

"Awesome" Vancouver Trip

Reflecting back on trip to Vancouver, I thought I'd make a list of all the of the cities I visited, places we went to, things we did and the food we ate. Everything we planned for this trip was done in Google Docs, ain't that amazing ;) ha! Don't believe me? Here... 

Ok, now you can call us nerds :p It was truly an adventure to do so many things in a short span of time. We're awesome!

Cities we touched on:

• Vancouver, BC
• Victoria, BC
• Seattle, WA, USA

Walking across the Capalino Suspension Bridge.

Cool places we visited:

• Vandusen Botanical Garden 
• Capalino Suspension Bridge
• Grouse Mountain - took the skyride up 4,039 feet (1,231 m)
• Stanley Park
• The Prospect Point Lookout
• The Butchart Gardens
• Granville Island
• Make Vancouver - cool store in Granville worth checking out again! We won a pair of custom pins :)
• Space Needle
• Pike Place Market
• First Starbucks Store! (in Seattle)
• Seattle Outlets - spent way too much! Luckily we didn't get charged at customs :)
• The Crab Pot Restaurant and Bar
• Lynn Canyon 

On the Ferry from Vancouver to Victoria.

Awesome things we did:

• Ziplining in the snow
• Cooked crab for the first time, bought fresh at The Lobster Man - it was delicious!
• Cliff Walk at Capalino, walk down the Capalino Suspension Bridge
• Road trip to Seattle - rented an Accent but got a Mitsubishi Lancer instead, woot woot!
• Shopping at the Seattle Outlets - bought a ton of clothes!
• Took a ferry from Vancouver to Victoria - beautiful scenery, but super windy!
• Sake sampling at Artisan Sake Maker - discovered that I don't like Sake.
• The Observatory Restaurant - expensive but amazing view!
• Eating all the amazing food that was in Vancouver.
• Watched Hunger Games - great movie! But for more intensity, I recommend seeing Battle Royalle! 

At the Observatory in Grouse Mountain. The view of the city was just amazing.

Yummy Restaurants worth trying again:

• Japadog
• Toshi Sushi
• Go Fish - amazing fish and chips by the harbour in Granville!
• Lobby Restaurant @ Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier - not the best view but the food was amazingly good! 
• AYOeat - small Indonesian shack, delicious!
• Thomas Haas - good for desserts!
• Kristy's MBA House kitchen with me and Kristy as the chef ;)

If you are in Victoria, try this place out! The dude is hilarious but even more importantly, the food was amazing. Be prepare though, it's spicy!

Delicious foods that we indulged on: 

• Crab and Oysters @ MBA House!
• Green tea waffles @ Vandusen Botanical Garden
• Terimayo and Negimiso @ Japadog
• Indonesian food - Victoria @ AYOeat
• Halibut and Fries @ Go Fish
• Sushi @ Toshi Sushi

Things left undone!

• Bike in Vancouver.
• Drink the Jägerbomb we bought, ha!
• There's probably a ton of other things, can't think of them right now...

And of course... 

I gotta thank my awesome tour guide, none other than... baby :) for taking me around. I love you! It was Kristy's first time to many of these places, so it was a fun exploration for both of us. Until next time... hope to visit Vancouver again this year in hopefully June or July. 

Thought Spill: Every photo tells a story. But your story is what most people wonder about.

Every photo tells a story. But your story is what most people wonder about.

— Jackson Lo (@jackson_lo) March 31, 2012

I had this thought cross my mind and I think it speaks true to a lot of things. We often see inspiring visuals, often once, twice, or multiple times a day. I'm starting to see a bridge between tech and social, but also visuals and art. Some argue that art is social, other say that social is its own thing.

Pinterest is a great example where technology + social + art play well with one another. You see something cool, interesting, inspiring - you pin it. You create your own pin boards, and others can follow it. Everything is visual on Pinterest, and that's why draws the 80% of females to be so highly engaged on that platform.

I created a pin board for "Words" because I often get inspired with quotes. If I like it, I repin it to my board. I can go back and review and look at it whenever I want. It will always be on my pin board, yay!

But often you will come across photos with no words, and no description, no story. Not sure about you, but I like photos with captions for two reason: (1) it tells the story the photographer intended to portray and (2) doesn't require me to think about what is taken :) I say "Every photo tells a story. But your story is what most people wonder about." because I truly believe that a lot of people in this world are into story telling. Some examples are those photos you find on Facebook that raises the awareness of the relieve in Japan during that devastation earthquake, or the event that took place in Haiti. Those photos all have a story, and they are told. People like, reshare, and comment. This shows high engagement.

I think, if you can tell a great story, you can do well in life. So put a story to your imagery. Tell your story, and let your viewers decide whether they agree or disagree with you? They may leave a comment, then the dialogue starts. Always think on the positive side, even if the comment may end up to be disgruntling and rude (hopefully that won't happen).

This is just a thought spill... ok I'm done here...

New Windows and Balcony Door, with New Blinds :)

Fiscal Year End...

No... I don't work in the government, but many of the clients that I work with everyday are. Projects are coming to a close... 10 more days to go!

It's been an extremely busy month and I haven't had a chance to blog here so I'm writing a short not to update you what is happening.

Earlier this month, I had new windows and doors replaced in my unit. When I bought my place back in July (wow... shocking how it's almost been a year!), one of the commitments was to sign on to a 3 year project (it was about 1 year in when I signed) to replace the old and worn windows. The balcony door was also part of the project. This assignment was not a cheap one; additional $200 per month to the condo fees. Luckily it will end in a bit over a year once the project is complete.

Here are a few photo of the new balcony door and windows, it's quite attractive ;)

Everything about the newly installed sliding doors I like... the old doors (and windows) were hard steel painted in brown. So the likes:

• It is white
• The left window used to be only half, now it is full height!
• The metal frame that the door slides on is very smooth
• There is a clean screen door (it will only get dirtier over time, oh well I guess that's part of the tasks of keeping your place 'clean')
• The install took one full day. Basically the contractors for this project were tasked to do one side of the building this year, and the other side next year. I'm lucky that I'm on the south side :)

After the windows and door was installed, it was obviously time for me to shop for new blinds and curtains to replace the ones left by the previous owner.

I picked up some faux wood blinds at Home Depot. They didn't have my size which was 57.5" x 68", so I have to take on a special order to get it cut exactly right. I was hesitant on giving my measurements but the lady explained that if you have the metrics for the side to side and top to bottom, then you are safe. Often, window frames / sills or whatever you call it, will have curvatures, or sometimes you pick up the measurements on what you calculate would fit. Don't do it! Measure it from end to end and the blinds will be cut exactly to fit those measurements you give them. So in the end... they fit!

Here are some photos of the installed blinds in the two bed rooms:

Here were the blinds I bought from HD:

The blinds were not hard to install. I found that the screw it came with were way to long, so I replaced them with shorter one and they work fine.

Hope I taught you a thing or two about blinds, ha! Now off to the races to find some curtains for the balcony door... any ideas? Share in the comments below! :)

2012 Leap Day

I was lying in bed ready to pass out until I realized what a long day it's been, and today's not a "normal" day in the year. Leap Year is a special day in the calendar that occurs once every four years. Today being the day, my day was slammed with some unique chain of events.

This morning I was schedule to deliver a training session for one of my clients at their site, and I did. But prior to breaking out of the house, I had a sudden wakening that pulled me out of bed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and the next thing you know, it was only 1:30AM. Clearly I did not know what time of day it was, and didn't even notice that sky was still pitched dark. Very odd. So I went back to sleep and got up at 6:30AM to prepare for my 8AM training.

I got to the client's office only to realize that only two of the front door parking spots were taken up.. "SCORE!". I was able to park my car in the front, which meant that I didn't have to make a trip to the distant parking lot and walk over :)

The training started at 8:30 and ended around 11:30. Overall, I only heard positive feedback, so I guess that's a good thing for moi :) well done!

I headed home and made lunch before I jetted to the office to organize a potential travel that I'd be taking next Monday. The result; I will be travelling to Washington DC to give a training course to one of our clients. The deal was sorted out last minute, so I literally have 2 days to get my things in order before I depart... we'll see how that goes...

So my whole afternoon was figuring that out.

After work, I headed over the James Street Pub for our monthly Web Marketing Wednesday meetup. This week we had Glenn talk about lead generation. Great turn out (roughly 30+ people), great discussions and great vibe overall. The night event quite late; me leaving at around 9:30PM.

Brain is about to shut down.

Body is about to shut down.

Maybe it's time to shut down my computer.

Goodnight :)