Happy Halloween!!!!!

Here are pictures of the ladies in costumes....

Radio playlist.....

Since I have been listening to the radio when I am driving, I am posting a few of the songs I have heard lately. I listen to FM 107.9 which is commercial free most of the time. A bit of news here and there, the weather, traffic and mostly music.



These are not my fave but just music that are ok to listen to when driving, won't put you to sleep for sure.

Couponing.......not that extreme

After watching the show Extreme Couponing a few times, I wanted to save as well when shopping. I know we don't have the coupons they have in the US but some stores do have them in their weekly flyers.

On Fridays, I take a bunch of the flyers from Edmonton Journal and go over it at home. We also have flyers in our lobby so I pick up that one as well. If I am not out Friday night, I look at what is on sale and cut out coupons, find which store has buy one get one free or buying items in multiples. Since the stores are close by, I go to 3 of them and pick/buy the best price on sale.

It is a great feeling when I know I have saved a lot by just being prepared. I know what I need and look for it or I wait until they go on sale which they will the next week or two.

I don't like grocery shopping but I do not mind it as much when I know I will be saving.

Another week end has come and gone and we will be back to work. Halloween tomorrow and I know some of the ladies are dressing up so I will take pictures and post it later.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!

Cooler weather......

As always, when it is close to Halloween, we get a bit worried that the white stuff will come and surprise us. This morning, it was -3 when drove off to work, but it warmed up during the day to about 8.

For lunch, a few of the ladies at work ventured to another Vietnamese restaurant. I went along and we tried the fried squid/calamari which was spicy and soft and not chewy.

The rest of the ladies ordered different bun and pho.

It is nice when you are in the downtown centre as there as so many restaurants we can try and we seem to be going to different ones trying to find the best.

Now, since it is getting cooler, it is time to get the winter coats, gloves, mitts, scarves out. It is time to put away summer clothes. I have donated some coats to Elizabeth Fry Society which is an organization that helps women/mothers in trouble. My good deed for the day.

I don't have any particular plan this weekend, I would like to do some baking and maybe get my vehicle to the car wash.

Enjoy the weekend.

L2 Grill.....A dining experience

Tonight, a friend and I went to L2 Grill at West Edmonton Mall to dine. I have received a gift certificate last Christmas and it was going to expire at the end of this month so we decided to use it. I do not know why but most of us at work waited to use the certificates until now. One went last Sunday as hers was for brunch and another staff will go this Saturday.

I have never heard of this place but found out it used to be the old Fantasy Grill which was connected with Fantasyland Hotel.

I do not really do reviews so I will just relate our experience. Before going I went online to find out something about L2 and also to read reviews. It got mixed reviews so it was hard to figure out if it would be an enjoyable experience. Just like any other restaurant/hotel/resort/airline reviews, people have different standards of what a place should and how food should taste like.

The decor is very classy, black and red....the chairs, banquette are in red leather and black tables.

This is our experience. I have read one good review and it says to ask for Wallace, a server/waiter. When we got to the restaurant, just before 6:00 p.m., there was just another couple besides us. And Wallace was the server we had.

From the start he was very attentive, asked if we wanted wine but we declined as I was not in the mood for drinks, so we asked for iced tea instead. I have checked out the menu before and I knew what I was going to order.

Of course there was bread (warm) and 2 kinds of butter for starter.

For apps I had crab tempura, it came very well presented. It is crab legs with tempura batter, homemade kimchi, orange dipping sauce and crispy onions. Very good and yummy. Phyllis had crab cakes with gooseberry relish, remoulade sauce and fried capers. Also great. When we finished the apps, we were served with champagne sorbet (two small scoops each to cleanse the palate).

For entree we both had Atlantic salmon with shitake mushrooms, Yukon gold creme (mashed potatoes, really good) lemoni sauce with broccolli, zuchini and green beans cooked just right.

By then we were full so could not order dessert, but we were serve with 4 white chocolate truffles.
When the bill came, he also gave each of us a small box of milk chocolate with 9 small individual size so that was not expected.

It was a really great dining experience, very pricey but I think worth it. I would go back even without the gift certificate for special occassion. It would be nice to have taken pictures but I do not like taking pictures in restaurant. But you can go online to check it out.

My play list..............

It had been a while since I posted about music. Lately, I have been listening to a radio station on my way to work and they play Top 40 songs. I find it amazing that the songs sound familiar and I have no clue of the titles. So even if I want to post some of the songs I like...I have no idea how to get them....don't know the singer either.

So I will post old classics I listen to once in a while.



Garden.....out to the garbage

I did not think that my tomatoes, peppers and herbs would make it to almost the end of October. Yesterday, when I cleaned up the balcony it was so easy. I cut the plants to its stump and just hauled away to the garbage bin. Not a lot of cleaning to do. Everything is put away and out go the winter tires.

Yes, it's that time of the year. This time I am getting rims for my winter tires so it is a lot cheaper to get it installed and taken out by spring. I had to  call my fave brother-in-law to ask which is better --- steel or alloy. And alloy it will be.

At least the weather is still nice and hope it will stay that way for a while.

Next it is time to get the winter coats, gloves/mitts, toque/hats, and winter boots out. Say it isn't so....talking about winter. Let's get Halloween over with and then I guess we can think about winter.

To those who have snow already, we feel for you. As my sister would say...I can\t relate to that. Lucky for her...oh that is actually her name.

Have a great work week and relaxing one for all you retired friends out there.

Shopping.......

Now that I am quite good at grocery shopping and always looking for sale or bargains, I am now doing it when it comes to clothes/shoes/accessories/purse shopping

Thursday was my birthday and I received an H & M gift certificate from work.

Saturday afternoon, my friend and I went downtown to have lunch at Chinatown but parking was hard to find so we went a bit further and found a nice Vietnamese restaurant. We had grilled pork, shrimp and spring rolls with vermicelli noodles. It was really good. Sorry but I have a hard time taking pictures in restaurants.

Then we went to the casino, I only wanted to play $10.00 and that lasted for about an hour. That is what I call entertainment!!!!! My friend won $100.00. She always thinks I am her lucky charm because she wins everytime I am with her.
After we decided to check out H & M to see what I could get with my gift certificate.

I got this winter coat -- 30% off.

I got this cardigan as it is a bit cooler in our new office.

This pair of boots was on sale at another store.

I had no intention of getting a pair of sandals but this was so comfortable I had to buy it. Very, very cheap.

Amazing kid....

When I was in Yellowknife, my niece's son Mitchell gave me 4 jars of jams he made himself. A few days after I came back I opened one of the jars and used it for my morning toast. I like it because it is not too sweet. I hope the rest of the jars are just the same.

He also baked choco flan for Thanksgiving dessert but I do not have picture of it. He also baked cake for Father's day and for his grandma's birthday.

And he is only 12 years old......

Rhubarb and strawberry, blueberry, saskatoon berries and rhubarb jams.

What a talent and passion for such a young age!!!!









Halloween at work......

When I first started to work with this company more than a year ago, I came for the interview and the office was decorated for Halloween. It was one of my earlier posts.

They go all out for every holiday. We had just moved into a new office two weeks ago and there are still some things that are being finished but some of the staff decided to decorate for Halloween.

Located where we will have the water feature. This one talks and his eyes and mouth light up and quite scary.

Entrance to our office.

On the window to our kitchen.



On the way to the back offices.

Carol's decoration

Zarah's window

I am sure there will be more decoration that will be put up in the next few days.















Sunday brunch.....

Today, we were supposed to go for brunch at Jared's restaurant, Urban Diner. We wanted to try their Eggs Benedict which is their signature brunch item.

So we were on our way at about 11:30 and since it is about 4 blocks away, we decided to just walk. As we got closer, there were people outside and we thought they were smokers. But in fact they were waiting and as we opened the door, there were people waiting to be seated. The wait was half an hour.

Since Jared works only the dinner shift, he had no idea how busy it is during brunch time and even mentioned that he is glad he does not work that shift at all.

We were so hungry that we decided we were going to go to Denny's instead and it was the same. I could not even get parking spot. We then decided to go to Ricky's Grill and again there was a line up. It was lunch time by then and we were going to try a sushi place and still crowded.

We ended up getting take out at Mucho Burritos. I had a medium one and I could only eat half of it. Of course it is not anything like the Eggs Benedict but it satisfied our hungry tummies by then.

Maybe we will try again another Sunday and go early...as soon as they open...9:00 a.m.

Back to work tomorrow.

A day in the life......Yellowknife

As I have posted before I spent five days in Yellowknife. We lived there for 23 years and it was a good place. A small community then where you know a lot of people.

The last time I was there was three years ago and this time it seems like it has grown a lot since then. I always go to Walmart which I call the "meet and greet" place. A lot of Filipinos work there and a lot go there to go shopping. And that is where I see old friends to say hello.

I went for a long walk with a very good friend of mine, must have been 6 kilometers. My grand nephew came with us as well. Half way, we stopped at Tim Horton's to have breakfast. It was refreshing, the weather was cool and it was a good way of seeing the changes.

I intended to take a lot of pictures but the weather did not cooperate. It was a nice visit and I enjoyed it a lot.

This was two blocks away from my cousin's house. Photo was taken by Mitchell.

The vacant lot is where my parents house used to be. The house was demolished a few years ago.

I believe this was the first residential high rise and the penthouse was where the Royal Family stayed when they visited the North a long time ago. The penthouse burned and this was the new penthouse.

The #16 kid is my grand niece who is the only girl member of the team. I managed to watch her the past two times I have visited.

Victoria in action. She scored a goal but was not counted for some reason.

For those of you who have not been up North, you should try and visit especially in the summer time where it is beautiful and lots of things to do.

I had Thanksgiving dinner with the Rankin family but I forgot to bring my camera and I had asked Mitchell to email me the pictures, unfortunately he has not done it yet so I might post it later.

Happy Thanksgiving from Yellowknife........

Yes, I am here in Yellowknife celebrating Thanksgiving with relatives and friends. I left Edmonton when it was 15 degrees and it was cold when I got here and when I woke up this morning there was snow on the ground. Brrrr, but it all melted and it is just raining now.

It was nice to see old friends again and meet a few new people. It was a bit sad as well as I have a relative who is in the hospital.

Last night we had our Thanksgiving dinner and it was really yummy and it was so different. I am going back on Wednesday and hope that Air Canada does not go on strike before then. I will post more after I get back and have some pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

TV watching.....

I don't watch a lot of tv but tonight I watched CBC and was surprised when I saw a young guy I used to baby sit a long time ago when we lived in Yellowknife.

He is competing in the show Cover Me Canada. I know he can sing and sings really well. It was really nice to see how the kids I used to know or baby sit doing well. The parents would go to parties and leave the babies at my place or I go over to theirs. And look, now you see them on tv.

He is Warren Dean Flandez and he covered Dan Hill's Sometimes When We Touch and it was a great performance according to the judges. So now I have a show to follow every Sunday until they have a winner.

Monday and Tuesday nights will be Dancing with the Stars and the X Factor if I could remember what night it is on. 

Another working week, for us a new office and getting used to the very different layout and smaller space for all offices.

What's cooking/baking?

As a lot of you reading my blog know, I am on a diet and doing well with it. But that does not mean, I don't cook or bake anymore. I still do and enjoy it although I don't much of what I bake.

Update.....I have lost 11 lbs and maintaining it and still try to lose a few more. But the best part is that my blood sugar is now quite stable and I am sure I will not go on insulin for now.

I have a lot of support at work and very thankful for that.

Empanada I tried with a different dough recipe

Beef curry as I wanted to use the peppers I planted.

Salmon dinner with some fancy rice, I made mango salsa, again to use the tomatoes and peppers from my balcony garden. Jared cooked the salmon. I guess he is trying to practice for the new job he has at the Urban Diner.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and found bread that had gone bad and I wanted to eat omelet. So I made buttermilk biscuits from a new recipe but will post picture later. It was nice to eat fresh from the oven biscuits with butter. Yummy!!!!