pack, drive, unpack

We did it! I am now settled in Fernie, B.C, or as settled as you can be in 2 days, and I'm just starting to breathe a little and look around me. It's so beautiful here. Today I'll tell my moving story in pictures...

1. Packing. Thanks, Dana and Rod!! We're a good team.


2. The loading. For the first 6 hours, of the 15 hour road trip, we were terrified that the truck will tip over. After 6 stops at the side of the highway in the first 7 km, we decided to get the plastic wrap out and secure the tarp like real shippers would. Rod is so smart.


3. Driving across British Columbia. No problems at all, other than a terrible accident that happened just outside of Invermere, which had us sitting at the side of the road for almost an hour. That's not so much a problem for us as for the people involved in the accident. In the picture to the right you can see the shadow of our questionably loaded truck.


4. Unpacking. I basically unpacked the whole trailer and truck on my own. I am a MACHINE!


5. Living in Fernie. Chopping wood, gorgeous sun sets, photographing Fernie and working in my new fabulous office...

Thanks...For Everything

Ken and Junko cooked up a marvelous feast last night at The Lion's Den. It was exactly what I needed. Dana Oikawa and Jason Hasselmann were decent side dishes as well. They tasted a lot like chicken.




I'm going to miss this place. I'm going to miss a lot of things...

Prettyland For Thanksgiving

Dana Oikawa and I, Brina, left for Vancouver Island on Friday to spend a couple days with Karen and Werner (a 1st introduction for Dana) in their "new" house. It was a trip later titled the Farewell Tour but not because I won't be returning ever again, but because I leave for Fernie on Sunday!! HOKEY DOODLE!


We entered their new house (after 6 hours of traveling) and during the initial tour we flipped through the pictures taken pre-renovations. It's such a 70s house from the outside but it has been transformed on the inside.


All Dana and I wanted to accomplish was hanging out with Karen and Werner and that's exactly what we did. We helped them move a couch outside for pickup, took their recycling to the traveling depot, watched Werner dig up roots, watched Werner hang pictures on the wall, watched Werner cook us omelets and watched Werner check his forum. Werner is really fun to watch.

It was much better than it sounds.







We also each ate 3 donuts, drove to the salmon run (2 weeks too early,) played games and had breakfast with Alice Young.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

You are correct in observing no thanksgiving dinner in these pictures but dinner takes place tonight at the Lion's Den. Junko is preparing a traditional thanksgiving feast for anyone that comes in (not for free) and I am planning on eating a minimal lunch to make sure I'm ravishing by the time I get there.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Les Faux Bourgeois

It's just fun to say outloud! "Les Faux Boooourgeoooooois"

PLUS, it's a fantastic new french restaurant that just opened up on East 15th (Kensington area) in Vancouver.

Now I wish I had taken a picture of it because it's a beautiful restaurant that a few people in the area put large amounts of work into in order to offer us, the lucky ones, delicious "unpretentious" french cuisine at a great price, while breathing friendly neighbourly air. It works!

One of the partners of Les Faux Bourgeois introduced himself to us at the door and immediately seated us at the bar. He shook our hands and then we met our bartender Nico. I believe this is the kind of place I would stumble into alone to discuss my problems with Nico over a cold beer. If I had problems! ha.

And then Dana would come in and carry me home, tuck me into my bed and place a muffin on my bedside table for the morning.

Les Faux Bourgeois
663 15th Avenue East, Vancouver, BC
map

Robo's Fantastic Weekend

It's been over 4 weeks since I've seen Robo. This weekend visit was highly anticipated and needed. The visit isn't over just yet, in fact, he's behind me right now cooking me breakfast. AWESOME!

Here's a couple shots from our sunny happy weekend.

On our way to Spanish Banks to meet up with Albertine, Ben and their crew, we stopped by the Arbutus Cafe where Dana Oikawa works and works very hard.



Spanish Banks was great but since the buses took so long (has anyone else noticed their inconsistencies lately?) and our visit with Dana ended up being longer than we expected, by the time we arrived at the beach Albertine and Ben were on their way out. Rod and I stayed and laid on the beach for a few hours anyways. I taught him how to play Sudoku, we drew quick house plans for my move to Fernie and tossed Ben's frizbee around a bit until my neck couldn't take it anymore.


Sunday included a movie (Burn After Reading,) scrabble in the park and fish and chips at Go Fish. Best weekend ever!

Robson Park Block Arty

Yesterday afternoon my friend Derrick dragged me to this horrible block party with games, more games and then even more games. As you must know, I'm not one for games...WHAT?!! No seriously, it was lots and lots of game fun. A group of girls on E 13th street got a grant from the city to put this block party together for the community and everyone was welcome. All sorts of people and dogs were there to keep the day going from morning to night. Derrick documented the day with his fancy cam and gave me a few good ones to post.

Our day started with Square Ball. This was the first time I had played this game and I LIKED it. Except Mr Curious Kid cheated me out of the King position.

After a quick hotdog...

we were taught the game FrizKnock. I first heard stories of this game in Fernie in May, so i guess it's really catching on. You basically just try and knock your opponent's cups off their poles with the frizbee. Easier said than done, my friend.

Soon after Frizknock we were on the street drawing pretty chalk pictures

Precious moment of the day goes to this little girl who came up to me and said "chalk"... so I gave her my chalk...and then she walked away. Precious!

The kids were entertained with bubble making, tye dying and water guns. I miss the days of water fights.

And then Dana showed up and we played more games...
like bocce ball and then badminton and then more frizknock.


And there you have it. Robson Street Block Party by Brina, Derrick and Dana.

Thanks, Derrick Belcham, for the fantastic pictures. You're fantastic. And a thanks to the hosts of the block party. Thanks for making me feel like a 12 year old again!!

people taking pictures of Dana's t-shirts #2

I believe this photography series, which I started last week, is really looking deep into the mind of the general public. Everyone wants a piece of Dana. What will Dana wear next? What does Dana think about the future?

Therefore, to find answers within ourselves, we need to take pictures of people taking pictures of Dana's t-shirts. It's the only way. I'm pretty sure you're not following me here, but maybe this photo will say everything I didn't say.

I call this "D on D".

First photo in this series was published on June 22nd, 2008.

jazz festival with dana oikawa

My good friend Dana Oikawa accompanied me to the free Gastown Jazz this Saturday for a day of overcast skies and good music. I have to say there was nothing that blew us away this year, but it's always good to just hang out and be entertained by musicians you might not have heard of or generally wouldn't go out to see on their own.

Dana and myself probably wouldn't be the friends we are today without the Jazz Festival. Is that a bold statement? I'll let you be the judge. When we were working together at the Lululemon warehouse, Dana put it out there to everyone that she wanted to leave work early for a Gastown show and we (Dana and I) were the only ones that went...two strangers living in a dangerous time.

So the Jazz Festival will always be special in our hearts. Hey Dana? Special? OH YOU KNOW IT'S SPECIAL.


***
Speaking of Dana, the other day we were enjoying a nice mid day break on the Heritage Hall steps when a man with a camera came up to Dana and asked to take a picture of her and her funny t-shirt. It was for a series he's working on. HM! A bit random wouldn't you say?

As he took a picture of her, I quickly snapped a picture of them. I'm going to say it's part of my series on people taking pictures of Dana's t-shirts. This is picture number one.

healing in fernie

Last Thursday Rod had surgery on his knee, after a 2 month waiting period, so I flew (picture me as superman) into Cranbrook, BC just in time to take him home...just as soon as he could stand up and not throw up. I've been here for almost a week and he's been healing quite quickly, in my mind. He's bustling around on his crutches, going up and down stairs, like it's no big thing.

Fernie isn't a bad place to be locked up for a few weeks. All you have to do is look out the window and you should start feeling better instantly, in my mind...or maybe it's the T3s.

The best part about this whole situation is my friend Dana Oikawa is in Vancouver healing from the exact same surgery, performed on the exact same day at the exact same time. So Dana and Rod have been bonding daily over their healing experiences. It's nice to have someone who is going through the same thing, and to have someone completely understand the pain you're in.

Here are some pictures of rod, for those who want to see how he's doing...and for those who don't. haha. You MUST look at them. I will refrain from posting the pictures of his scars. Gross.

red square at the roxy

My friend Dana Oikawa, an extremely talented musician, invited me out to see her play last night. She's part of a newish band called red square and they pretty much blew me away. I was so proud to see her on the stage looking very comfortable being a huge rockstar. This was their first show but it kinda looked and felt like they'd been doing it for years.

So I'll keep you posted on when they're playing next because you should check them out...if only to watch Dana play cool "owooooowwwwoowww" and "breewweeeweerrrerererere" sounds while sporting fancy red shades.

Love you Dana!! Thanks for the party!

Sorry about the low quality pics. I'm no Angela Hubbard.

doing it right

I'm not one to really get too into Halloween but last night I was surrounded by people who do and did, and I must say it was VERY entertaining. Only once, above the age of 20, did I thoroughly enjoy dressing up for Halloween and last night, as I sat in a room full of costumes, I asked myself the question "why go through all the trouble?"

And the answer I came up with is: Just Because.

Next year, maybe possibly, there is a small chance I could maybe take the time to get myself organized enough to think about the possibility of putting on a different costume other than the "graphic designer" one I wear day after day. Maybe I'll understand then.

Anyways, here are some special shots of last night's festivities. I hope you enjoy your Halloween.

catching up

October is almost over! The leaves are all turning into their pretty fall colours, Ronnh and Shabina's week of wedding events is fast approaching and the rainy season will bring Teenie's biking season to an end (unless she buys herself a cute little rain jacket). Ohhhh there's just so much going on.

It's nice being in our slow season, although this year it is proving to be more of a consistent good pace season, because we have found time to play cribbage during our lunch breaks and we can put time into adding more designs to our ready to wear catalogue and at the same time joke around with our new neighbours across the alleyway.

Just this last week we had to let our neighbours know that...well...the frosted windows in their bathroom cover enough but...really...not really...well...we can still kinda see them go twosies. SO we let them know with a note taped to our window. They thought it was pretty funny, we hope, and they quickly found their own solution to the problem.

In the last few days we've actually been exposed to the sun for a few hours here and there. It's amazing! I was beginning to wonder if maybe the sun disappeared forever. Nope. I was wrong. It was all in our faces the other night as we walked home over the cambie bridge.

And last night I (brina) had the pleasure of dining with Dana Oikawa. It's been a long time since we've seen eachother and it was SUPER GREAT to spend time with her again. It's about time I introduced you to her. She rocks.

So that pretty much sums it all up. New neighbours, saw the sun again and watched Dana mash up her fancy dessert.