I Miss You, Mom

It's been a while since I posted.  Again.  However, the last two weeks were more than excusable.  First of all, my mom decided to take her 'staycation' here with me in Edmonton.  To me, this meant no cooking and cleaning for two weeks and also reminisce those days when I lived at home and mom took care of my everything.  Good ol' memories.

Unfortunately, the two weeks my mom was here were also my busiest at work: I got sent to Fort McMurray for two days, and I had to overtime like crazy.  Sucks.  The good thing was my boss let me take one Friday off, and I got to hang out with my mom.

It was nice coming home everyday from work, and the house was clean!  Another bonus was all I had to do was sit on the couch and wait for dinner.  After dinner, I just had to sit on the couch and the dishes will be cleaned by mom.  Yeah, sounds like mom's my maid, but I think she was still pretty relaxed - since she found quite a bit of time to watch some TVB.

Last Friday, we drove her home back to Calgary, and today is my first day without her again.  I came home with the house still clean (from Friday), but I had to cook dinner.  B had to do dishes.  Sucks.  I think we'll have to buy her a bus ticket to come up more often.

Family Day Long Weekend - Pt 5: Last Day

Great long weekends always feel short.  They just have to end.  Boo.

I started my "last day" staring at this around 10 am in the morning.

Sleepy boys

Can we say, lookalikes?!   Poor Roshi though.  He probably didn't have that much fun this weekend.  I barely mentioned him in any of the earlier parts because we were mostly out and he was trapped in his crate.  However, I know his tummy enjoyed his weekend in Calgary.  The grandparents kept feeding him treats.

B dropped me off to see Joni and  Hannah later in the morning.  They made pizza for me, and they were good.  Massive too.  Really, I don't know why and how they think I can eat that much?!   Yeah, I get hungry, and I eat.  Normal.  However, I don't think that's how they see me.

After the pizza, we had a tabletop campfire (made by Ms. Handy Hannah) and roasted marshmallows and made smores.  As ridiculous as it looks, it's a pretty cool idea.  Most of all, it works!  I think I will need to make one myself!  Haha.

Tabletop campfire

It was great to catch up.  I miss travelling with these girls.  Such great times.  Gotta do it again sometime (catching up and travelling together).

Family Day Long Weekend - Pt 4: Family Dinner

On Sunday, I spent a good afternoon with my mom shopping at Chinook.  Surprisingly, I wasn't too into it, but I did enjoy walking around with my mom.  I did however found a sparkly sweater at Banana Republic for $6.28 after taxes.  It was originally $95.  If they're still profiting at $6, the mark up is nuts. Hence, DON'T BUY ANYTHING AT REGULAR PRICE.  I really don't think the majority of the population cares if one is wearing something a few years old.  I don't.  Plus, most of the stuff I get are 'classics'.  They never go out of style!

So to make up for the Chinese New Year dinner, we went out to eat.  Tired of the usual south end Asian restaurants, I looked up a new place:  Li Ao Sushi in Bridlewood.  Look at this massiveness!!!!

Look at those salmon and tuna pieces!!!

I ordered one for each of us, and luckily for me, B doesn't like large pieces of sushi like this.  More for me.  They also had some special rolls and they tasted very good as well.

Lobster Shrimp Roll

Salmon Mango Roll

Caterpillar Roll (I think)

We had two other rolls too, but these were the pretty ones.  A big sushi meal for just $90 bucks.  Not bad at all.  Again, the massive fish.  So good.  I will be back for sure!!!

Family Day Long Weekend - Pt 3: New Look

The one thing I didn't do when I was back in Calgary before Christmas was get a haircut.  I totally forgot about Xmas parties, and my hair was just a mess.  I only noticed it when I was in a mirror on a column in the mall when I was shopping for my 4" pumps.  I was like, OMG, I need to do something about this before the party tomorrow!  So thinking a well decorated salon inside the mall couldn't be too bad, I went for a try.  BAD idea.  I asked for a bob, and well, she cut it like a bob... for a person with straight hair!  Sigh.  Although it was bad, some of the hair did shed off and so it did get somewhat cleaned up.  Overall, it was a bad and expensive haircut.  Blah.

Because of this, I had to get another haircut again.  It's sad I have to drive 300+km, 3+hours, to get a decent haircut, but I only trust this guy with my hair.  He's slow and the wait is long, but well worth it.  While I was waiting, I was flipping through some magazines and noted some latest fashion trends.  All I have to say is ... what is wrong with this world?

"Lovely".  How can this be lovely?

I'm no fashion expert, but these layers are UGLY.  But apparently the trend is crop sweater on top of a tunic, and skinny pants.  I don't see pretty in this.

After a few more flips, I saw this picture:
 

Barf.

Oh fashion, I just don't get you.  Or maybe it's my engineering mind.

Anyways, I got my hair cut.  It's short.  I love it (B doesn't).  I counted, it's been over 10 years since I had really short hair (2010 bob hair doesn't count, since the shortness didn't last too long because of the wedding).  I think I'll keep it short for a while.

After the haircut, I walked into a glasses store in Chinatown.  Ok, I haven't done that for 10 years too.  Most of the glasses in Chinatown are similar to Lenscrafter, Pearle Vision, etc.: boring.  Yeah, they carry the big brands: Gucci, Prada, Burberry, etc., but there is nothing different about them.  My last three pairs of glasses were different:

1. Red metal frames with the lenses 'floating' within (held by clear wires) - love them and my favorite.  Too bad the paint has chipped off the frames.  Otherwise, I would still wear them... more often.
2. Interchangeable half frames - the bottom half of the frames could be switched out with different coloured frames.  Great to match clothes in.  Still wear them.
3. Black metal/plastic hybrid frames - I just fell in love with them when I first saw them.  They're so black too.  Too bad the lenses are so scratched up.  Reason why I was looking for new glasses.  

I first saw wood textured frames in Edmonton too at this 'trendy' glasses store.  Love them, but not the price.  I was surprised I found similar frames in Chinatown. The ones in Chinatown weren't bad in pricing, looked great, and were on sale.  Best of all, my lenses were available, and they could get it done within 24 hrs.  Sold.

So in one day, new hair and new glasses.

2013 Casie's new look

Family Day Long Weekend - Pt 2: Family Lunch

So I've been doing restaurant searches in Calgary too.  I like to try good food, especially holes in the wall.  So one of the popular ones I found was Olive Chicken, a little corner store that sold Korean fried chicken.

Half and Half (2 pieces of hot and sweet chicken,  and 3 pieces of crispy chicken)

Before it was just going to be B and I, but it became a family outing   My parents wanted to hang out with us more, so despite the fact they don't like fried food, they also gave it a try.  By the expression of my dad, I don't think they will come back again:

Dad: Mmm, it's ok. Not.

However, B's expression is always the same - good, bad, ugly, pretty.  However, he said he will definitely eat it again.  Who doesn't like fried chicken?

"I like."

I just had the crispy chicken, but had a bite of B's hot and sweet chicken.  I liked that more.  The crispy one just tasted too dry after the saucy one.  Besides it tasting less fatty and less salty than the 'franchise' fried chicken, it's still fried chicken.  And like my parents, I'm not a big fan of fried foods, so I won't volunteer to come back again.  However, if B wants to, I'll eat it with him, of course.