Oh sNOw!

When I left for work this morning, there were a couple of things I wasn’t expecting to happen.

One was a great surprise…

An award I never thought I'd receive!

Woo!

I’ve never been told that I “dress to impress” before so maybe the way I dress slightly awkwardly comes across as dressing well in Canada! As for ‘top jeans sales’, well, that was a complete shock! Although I have bought a fair few pairs myself since I began working there, so maybe that’s why!

The second unexpected & rather unwelcome surprise came in the form of a blanket of snow. I couldn’t take any great photos as it was already dark when I left work, but here are a couple of Downtown Kelowna…

I first found out it had been snowing when a work friend came in to start her shift. Immediately I began to panic. Being from England I am not used to these kinds of conditions & I’m certainly not used to driving in them, so it was such a relief when James’s parents sent me text asking if I wanted them to pick me up & we’d all drive home from the mall together. This made me relax instantly & I was so grateful to them for doing it. We all made it home in one piece & are hoping that the snow will disappear overnight & not return for a few more weeks!!

Sleepy head with a smile on her face

Goodness me it’s been a while since I’ve posted again! What can I say? Well, I’ve mostly been at work, so let me see how much of last week I can remember…

My job has been going well & I was trained to work at the cash desk on Saturday morning, which was great fun! I think it was good to be thrown in at the deep end & work on cash on a busy Saturday; I say this rather apprehensively as I know it will be nothing compared to the next few weeks. I also enjoyed this as it made me feel like I have much more of a responsibility (which is always good!) & I was so focussed on what I was doing that I blocked out the small selection of Christmas music we have playing in store! I love Christmas music, but I think the beginning of November is a tad too early!! Sunday was my day off but I spent most of the day in the mall with James & his family. We had a ‘Family & Friends’ event at work, offering 30% off to family & friends of associates (in case you didn’t guess!). I bought my Christmas presents for my Mum, Dad & sister which need to be posted by November 29th in order to be in England by Christmas (this is the only reason I’ve bought them already – I usually panic buy presents on Christmas Eve!).

Today I was up before the moon & stars had been replaced by the sun & was at work by 6am in order to bring out our new stock. I had tried to have an early night Sunday but had started watching Cars & got too into it to head off to bed. So it was after a few hours sleep that I dragged myself out of bed & headed in to Kelowna. I was at work until just after 3pm, when I recieved a text that made my day 100% better… My family had been looking at flights to come & visit over the Easter holidays & they told me that they have booked their tickets! After a cautious drive home (it had snowed on & off all day & could barely contain my excitement at the prospect of seeing my family) I checked the mail box & found something addressed to me that doubled my happiness… A letter from one of my closest friends who has been teaching music at a school in Kenya, as well as teaching piano & music theory at the Kenya Conservatoire of Music (Miss Georgina Hardiman – SO talented!) for almost 2 years. We are in touch most days over Facebook, but there is nothing better than a good old fashioned letter that someone has taken the time to handwrite & post.

Other than the happy news that has lifted my day, our life has carried on as usual. James & I are trying to decide whether to buy our own car & I am trying not to spend money every time I go in to work!!

(Don’t) Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow….

Snow dusted woodland

Over the last few days the temperature has been creeping down to as low as -8 overnight & not much above freezing in the day, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that snow would be just around the corner…. I woke this morning & after a tearful phone call home (I’m missing my family ever such a lot at the moment) I took a good look out the window. What did I see? Tiny white flakes falling from the sky leaving a dusting on the trees.

Winter has arrived. Luckily it hadn’t settled on the roads so I wrapped up in as many layers as humanly possible & set out on a snowy walk with the dog. It wasn’t too cold underneath my 2 vests, long-sleeved tee, woolly jumper, hoodie, leggings, trousers, hat, mittens & 2 scarves but I did end up looking a bit like a snowman once I’d got in!

I love snow & winter but I’m not quite prepared for a Canadian one yet! Once I’m confident with driving in wintery conditions I’m sure I’ll be slightly more relaxed by the prospect of more snow, but right now I want it to snow in the mountains & only in the mountains!

I was informed by my work colleagues that this mornings dusting of snow is nothing & there will be a lot worse to come. Sure enough by the time I’d finished my shift the snow was gone & there was no evidence that it was ever there, which I know will change in a couple of weeks.

Talking of work I’ve had some really fun shifts lately. We had a staff meeting Sunday night which involved a fashion show of our new products & we were all given a thank you card & were told why we meant so much to the managers. I thought this was such a lovely, personal touch & look forward to the next one! Today I helped out a customer who was after one of our toques (the very one I own!) but there was only one left & it was on a mannequin which was up on a high shelf. I’m not a lover of heights but I grabbed the ladder & with a little encouragement from my colleague I made it up, grabbed the toque & made it back down again to high fives all round, even from the customers! I felt so proud of myself & luckily the customer liked the toque enough to buy it, so it was worthwhile!

Autumn Sunshine…

November 2nd brought beautiful sunshine & a near cloudless sky to the Okanagan, so we took Belle for a walk & I took my camera along to try & capture our surroundings looking their best in the glorious weather…

 

 

 

 

Aside from walks in the beautiful Autumn sunshine I’ve been at work for the past couple of days. I am thoroughly enjoying my job, being the butt of a few jokes (I’m still getting my head round what not to call certain items of clothing!) & getting to know my colleagues better.

Taking a break from the dog walk!

I’ve also enjoyed a long chat on Skype with my family (including Max, our pet rabbit) & I’ve tried to be organised & begun to write a list of gifts I’m buying people for Christmas. I haven’t got very far but it’s a start!

I was very excited when I returned home from work yesterday to find the new episode of Glee on TV & stir fry waiting for me! On top of that when I came in tonight there was a burger with my name on & X Factor USA was just starting, fabulous! I do love a good, lighthearted TV show, especially one you can sing along to (although unless I’m home alone I just mime…)

 

So that’s pretty much my last couple of days, hopefully I’ll have more to write about soon!

Leaves are falling, all around me…

Autumn has always been a season I’m fond of (I love all the seasons to be honest!). I love the cold, sunny days & the crunching of the leaves underfoot.

We went for an Autumn walk on Sunday afternoon & decided to take some photos. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me, so I took a few on my phone, which only has a 2 megapixel camera. The pictures don’t do the scenery justice I’m afraid, but here are a few…

A Canadian Halloween

As I mentioned in ‘If I had a million dollars‘ Halloween is a big deal here in Canada, so on Thursday James & I went to buy a pumpkin each to carve. I had a really fun shift at work on Friday, spending most of the time ‘translating’ Canadian words into English, e.g. sweater = jumper, sneakers = trainers, toque = not a word I knew but apparently it’s a hat, pants = underwear etc. Once I was home we set about carving our pumpkins.

James's Oogie Boogie Pumpkin

To me this brought back many childhood memories of sitting on newspaper in our living room (which had a horrendously disgusting carpet at the time) dressed as a witch with my mum & sister, scooping out the inside of the pumpkin with a soup spoon. For James however, this was a new experience.

My 'scared face' pumpkin

He took a great deal more care & time than I did, making sure his ‘Oogie Boogie‘ pumpkin was perfect… It turned out brilliantly & for someone who is incredibly bad at any kind of art, mine was actually pretty good too! The photos also show how much better at photography he is than me (Night time photos are not my strong point!).

Yesterday we finished off finding various things to add to our Halloween outfits before heading out to the town in the evening. Downtown Kelowna was crazy & there were queues lining the pavements outside all the (3) clubs. We chose the club that had the shortest queue when we drove past but when we walked back we found the line had grown. A lot. We joined anyway & had been queueing for about 20 minutes when I heard another person say it was $10 to get in. James & I hadn’t taken this into account (every club where we live is free to get in before 11pm) & instantly realised that even if we paid the entrance fee we would have no money to buy any drinks once we were inside. We dithered about for another 5 minutes before coming to the conclusion that we needed the money for more important things than a night out, so we drove home. Once we were home I took advantage of my costume & hid in various places in our house. Can you find Wally? (Waldo to those in North America!)

Where's Wally?!

Where's Wally & the Boxer

James’s outfit was an easy one, he went as a boxer, meaning he didn’t need to spend any money or much time on his outfit – I need to take some lessons from him on being thrifty! I’m proud to say I gave him that black eye…. (with make-up).

We spent the rest of the evening (once I’d finished hiding) on the sofa with a blanket & some snacks watching one of the many Saw films & trying to stay awake so we could go back into town to collect James’s sister & her boyfriend. Neither of us managed to stay awake but James had put his phone by his face so when they called we both woke up & drove Downtown (having to play ‘dodge the drunk’ as we went). So all in all we had a very low-key Halloween for two 23 year olds. Oh well, there’s always next year!

Working, shopping & baking (& shopping…)

Wow, it’s been a week since my last post! I wish I could say it’s because I’ve been up to eyes in exciting adventures, but it’s really due to the fact that every time I’ve sat at the computer to type I couldn’t think of anything interesting I’d been doing, so I gave up.

Where do I start? The end of last week & the weekend was spent mostly at work. Saturday was rather hectic though, I was in work from 8am-1pm, then came back home to clean & put the washing on in preparation for James’s parents return from their travels. When 3pm came round I was back in the car & off to the airport to collect them, so I was very glad when we were all home & could put our feet up!

Sunday we lazed around & watched films, including TRON: Legacy, which I enjoyed despite not really knowing what was going on! I also began a new book after finishing James Corden’s autobiography, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I downloaded a few free books for my kindle when I first bought it but hadn’t got round to reading any, so I started Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a book I’d never read the whole way through. My Mum has a very old copy that is beautifully illustrated & when I was younger I spent many an afternoon with my nose in the book just looking at the pictures but never actually reading the story, although I know it quite well.

Showing my love for where I work - all clothes & jewellery by American Eagle Outfitters

Monday & Tuesday were spent at work & both were great days. The store did really well with sales & I felt I’d contributed to quite a few by acting as almost a personal shopper to our customers. I also treated myself (although I shouldn’t have) to a few items of jewellery that were in the sale.

My fabulous red jeggings!

I wore my red jeggings to work on Tuesday & was taken aback by the compliments I recieved on them. They were a massive impulse buy & not something I would usually choose to go for, but I thought they looked funky & decided while I was on the other side of the world (almost) from home why not go for something completely away from my norm. I was even told by a customer that “Those pants look really cute on you” which took me by surprise as I still think of pants as underwear!

My 'Lush' goodies!

Further along the mall the new Lush store had a grand opening event with great deals & freebies, so I popped in there for a quick nose after I’d finished my shift. After saving up for this event to come around I finally purchased a pot of ‘Vanishing Cream’  moisturiser & ‘Grease Lightning‘ cleanser. I also got a ‘Cupcake’ fresh face mask as well as a free pot of ‘Dream Cream’ & some bath bombs & soaps. Lush indeed!

Chocolate cupcakes

Today I did some baking for the first time in a few weeks with mixed results.The cakes taste fantastic, but I put a tad too much mixture into the cases & the tops of a few overflowed slightly, ending with them falling off when they were taken out of the muffin tin. Ah well, never mind. They’ll only be eaten anyway!

 

Working, shopping & an increasing Rupert Grint obsession…

Belle & I looking across the lake

Monday morning I was up bright & early ready to head off to work. The sun was shining but it was a chilly 4 degrees, so I turned the heating up high & snuggled in to the driving seat. Once I’d finished in the late afternoon James & I headed out for a dog walk alongside Gellatly bay in the sunshine. The sun wasn’t far from setting, casting beautiful shadows & reflections over the water.

Tuesday I worked again & while I was there I made a mental list of things I liked that we had in store. I almost stayed to shop after I’d finished my shift, but changed my mind when I thought of James’s reaction to me shopping (it’s not a positive reaction, I’ll tell you that for free!).

Wednesday I wasn’t needed at work, so we spent the day chilling out & walking Belle. In the evening James had a football (soccer) match, so he dropped me at the mall for an hour while he played. The main reason he let me loose on my own was to check my work schedule, which is usually available on a Wednesday. It just so happened that this week it wasn’t ready, so I just had a little nose round the store & tried on the items that were on my wish list. I ended up loving almost everything that I tried, so I left the store with a few more things than I thought! Luckily James’s football team had won, so he was in a relatively good mood!

This morning I talked to my family on Skype, which was lovely. I am so thankful for Skype, it makes being apart a bit more bearable. We had a long catch up & general chat about how we are & what we’d been up to. We threw a few Gavin & Stacey quotes in to our conversations before saying goodbye.

It was after our chat that I loggged in to Facebook to catch up with friends. It was here that the next phase of my obsession with Rupert Grint began. James’s step-sister (who also adores R.G.) had posted a video (click to view) on my wall for a song. At first I wasn’t sure why, as I hadn’t heard the song & didn’t really know the artist, but I clicked play anyway. I am very glad that I did. Starring in the music video was the one & only Rupert Grint. I actually really liked the song (Ed Sheeran – Lego House) too, so overall it was brilliant. I may have watched it a few times…. I know Mr Grint isn’t to everyone’s taste & I have taken a lot of ribbing from my friends & family for finding him attractive but I think he’s lovely! I think it mostly stems from reading Harry Potter & absolutely adoring the character of Ron, so when that character was brought to life by Rupert I loved him even more (his facial expressions in particular!). I just hope that now the Harry Potter films have come to an end that that won’t mark the end of Rupert, but even if it does I’ll always be a proud Rupert Grint fan.

Mini mini-break in Vancouver

Just one of the many views en route to Vancouver

Saturday morning we were up bright & early to begin our long drive to Vancouver. James’s Dad was flying back on Sunday so we decided to make a weekend of it & spend the night there. The drive south-west was beautiful, the sky was blue & that made the scenery even more stunning.

We arrived in Vancouver & headed straight for Granville Island.

A sample of some of Granville Island Brewery's beers

None of us had been there before but we’d been told we should visit & we were very glad we did! It was definitely worth the drive! Granville Island was so unique, full of galleries, studios, shops, cafes & restaurants all along the waterfront. Not to mention the theatres & brewery, which we popped into for a quick taster of their beers. We spent a lot of time just sitting in the autumn sunshine taking in the atmosphere & the views across the water.

Granville Island, Vancouver

The view of Vancouver from our hotel room

Later on in the afternoon we went & checked in to Century Plaza Hotel which was located perfectly for our trip. We strolled in to Downtown & had a look around the shops in the Pacific Centre before seeing a bit more of Vancouver, including the Rogers Arena, home to the Canucks! In the evening we nipped to the local supermarket to buy some dinner & had a family picnic in our hotel room while watching the sun set over the Vancouver horizon.

In the morning we packed up our bags & set off for the airport. Once we’d said our goodbyes to James’s Dad, we headed back in to Downtown Vancouver for the afternoon. James & I walked to Canada Place & took a stroll along the pier. Once again the sun was shining, making the views even more incredible. We could see across the water to Stanley Park & further afield to Grouse Mountain (where we will definitely pay a visit to on our next trip!).

The view of Stanley Park from Canada Place

All too soon it was time to head back to Kelowna. We’d had a brilliant weekend & I’d managed to make a long list of things I’d love to do/see on our next trip to Vancouver. This includes another trip to the inner city haven that is Granville Island.

Incredible views, piercings, bowling & plaids

Wednesday was a tiring day! We wanted to make the most of the morning so that I could nap in the afternoon in preparation for the late night shift I was working, so we drove into Kelowna for a stroll along the waterfront & a drive up Knox Mountain.

Rotary Marsh, Downtown Kelowna

The view from the top of Knox Mountain, looking north to Vernon

Once we were home I snuggled down with a blanket on the sofa to try & nap before heading in to work. It wasn’t going well until my phone rang; it was my manager telling me they didn’t need me until 2 hours later than I was meant to be starting. This helped me calm down & I managed a good hours nap before waking up & eating my weight in shepherd’s pie!

So off I went to work, dressed casually & comfortably with a big bottle of water & bags of crisps (potato chips). I have to admit that despite being so tired by the end of the shift that I could barely stand I did enjoy it. We spent the shift setting up the new accessory shop in store, which was fun (& I picked out a few things that are very cute!). I was incredibly glad when my shift came to an end at 2.30am, & glad to be home!

I was woken up earlier than I would have liked on Thursday by Belle treading on me & sniffing my face, then barking very loudly at something out the window. However, when I saw the blue sky through the window blinds I didn’t mind so much. The thought of another hike made me want to curl back up & sleep, but with the weather as good as it was there was no way I was sitting out. I am so happy I didn’t! We headed south to Peachland, which is one of my favourite places locally. It has a parade of cute shops & lovely bakeries. We drove to the trailhead of Pincushion Mountain Park & set off on our hike. The trail climbed quite steeply up the mountainside but once we reached the summit the climb was absolutely worth it…

The northerly view from the summit of Pincushion Mountain

The southerly view from the summit of Pincushion Mountain

After our hike we headed back into Peachland to have a bite to eat & a drink at Bliss Bakery, which makes gorgeous sandwiches, croissants & pastries.

Once home from our outing, Emily (James’s sister) & I changed & headed off to the mall. I was after a new pair of winter boots (I couldn’t fit mine in the suitcase!) & I also planned on having a second piercing in my ear lobes. I found the boots I liked & we headed off for my piercing. I had my first piercing (just my ear lobes) done in Australia when I was travelling there aged 18 and it didn’t hurt as far as I remember. I then had my tragus pierced last summer & oh my goodness did that hurt! It was with that pain in mind that I squeezed Emily’s hand as the piercing gun shot through my lobe, but it was fine, barely painful at all! So that was it, I had added 2 more piercings (most probably my last) to my list.

I was glad to be pain-free as after our mall trip we headed out for dinner, then went to the nearby bowling alley. I wasn’t overly looking forward to this as I am a terrible bowler & no one would let me put the side guards up. Gutter ball after gutter ball I eventually knocked down 9 pins, an all time record! I finished last place, of course, but it was a fun evening.

This morning I was once again woken by my Belle alarm clock, as this time she nudged me out the way so she could sleep in my warm spot. How rude! We decided we’d like to spend the morning playing golf but couldn’t afford anywhere other than the driving range. Once again I wasn’t keen, I’m worse at golf than I am at bowling & that is saying something! We had a good hour’s worth of hitting & I managed to get a couple of shots past 50 yards.

I headed off to work a few hours later feeling full of a cold. I had a good shift but had to run to a chemist to buy some cold & flu tablets on my break. On the plus side I bought my first ever plaid shirt! It is the most Canadian thing I think I own & I absolutely love it!

So there we have my last few days. They have been full of great experiences & memories I won’t be forgetting.