Ten New Things – 2023

Time marches on and another year is over. It was a good one looking back, but it certainly wasn’t restful. Dave and I moved this year, so we did little traveling to save money, but between work, looking for a new home, and moving, it has been quite tiring.

1. Build a Cocktail Collection (And Try Lots of Cocktails)

Dave has always been curious to start a cocktail collection and so we decided that each month we would buy a couple new ingredients and try out some new drinks on the newly nicknamed “Wet Bar Wednesdays”. What a perfect middle of the week activity. We have made everything from the Brandy Alexander to the Boulevardier to the Paper Plane. A couple of my favourite discoveries were the Pisco Sour and the Corpse Reviver #2. We followed the Anders Erickson YouTube channel all year and have found so many fun cocktails to make from his sips, tips and recipes. To the bar!

2. Travel to Mexico City

I have still been working on my Spanish, every day for over 550 days and we wanted to hit up another Spanish speaking country this year. People may know that I’m not a real beach person, so to get Dave some sun and heat and to keep me entertained we decided to go to Mexico City. We had a great time taking a taco tour, exploring the neighbourhoods, eating at many good restaurants and feasting on guava danishes. One thing I didn’t love were the fried crickets.

3. High Tea at the Empress

Mom, Bre and Megs came to visit Vancouver in March (for the first time in 10 years!) and we splashed out for mom’s birthday by going to the Empress for High Tea in Victoria. It was delicious and a beautiful setting and I was so happy to have family coming to visit us as we always go to Ontario. This was the first time any of my family had come visit us since our wedding 10 years ago. I’m hoping they come back more often. (wink wink)

4. Magnesium

For years I have had bad multi-day headaches every month and I’ve tried some different things to try to quell them, but this year was the first time I tried magnesium and oh man, it was a life changer. I started in June and have been taking them everyday and I have only had minor headaches or short lived bad ones and no multi-day ones. It has been glorious! If you are wondering what type of magnesium it is the glycinate kind.

5. Hired Movers and Painters

Dave and I moved in September after thinking for many years that we would stay in our old condo forever, but we outgrew it during Covid with me working from home most days and Dave’s music gear collection growing to new heights. Below is a picture of us toasting our new purchase and a pic of our new building, we are half way up on the corner. For our move, we promised not to bother our friends and to save ourselves (and our bodies) a lot of work by hiring movers. It was very worth it. They had us loaded and unloaded in 5hrs and we were unpacked in two days. We also hired a painter, who spent 3.5 days painting over the lavender/grayish walls with our new blues and greens. We also wallpapered one wall with the help of a professional. Again, very worth it. For two people with busy full time jobs and many after work commitments I’m glad we spent the money and let the professionals do their work.

6. Became Landlords

This is something I didn’t think I ever wanted to be, and also the most stressful part of preparing to move. Figuring out the legal rules, rent price (in a wild Vancouver market), and preparing/repairing things in our old condo really was a learning curve for me and I’m glad we started early in August to post, tour possible tenants, do checks and sign a final tenancy agreement. Our current tenants are awesome and I hope they stay forever. (Fingers crossed)

7. Interviewed for One of My Favourite Podcasts

Just before we moved I submitted an application (for the second time) to be on one of my favourite podcasts, What Should I Read Next. This podcast has been around a long time and has listeners worldwide with a large following. About a month after we moved in I got an email that they wanted to interview me. I was SO excited and nervous and spent a lot of time prepping. The premise of this podcast is that the host, Anne Bogel, asks what your three favourite books are and a book you don’t like, then she gives recommendations. She has everyday people (like me) on and also famous authors (Louise Penny, Peter Heller, Shauna Niequist). They asked me to come on to talk about an upcoming adventure Dave and I are going on in March and April of next year and recommend books to help prepare for our journey. It was really fun and I got a ton of recommendations that are now on my TBR (to be read) list.

8. Recorded for Coldplay

Dave and I got tickets for the Coldplay show in September the day BEFORE we moved. Talk about packing in a weekend. I got a free floor ticket and Dave snagged another one at the the ticket booth as the opener was on. We had an incredible time and were about 50 feet from the stages. A month after the show I got an email that Coldplay was recording a new song and wanted anyone around the world to contribute by singing a C note through an online recording app and sending it to them. I haven’t heard the song yet, but Dave and I both recorded our C’s and sent it in.

9. Consulting

This was the first year that I have done consulting. I’m doing it as part of my current job, helping other communities find solutions to youth homelessness. As part of a feasibility study that a small city in another province is doing, I am working with them to look at the need for youth shelters or longer term housing in their community and possible supports. I traveled to the city in November with a colleague and interviewed youth, talked to other shelters in neighbouring cities or towns, and met with people in the schools, food bank, and local LGBTQIA+ community to hear about the needs and dreams they have for the youth in their area. It was a good and challenging trip, and ultimately I think it is going to lead to some positive change for that town. One quirky thing we did was go to this eccentric bar. It was the only thing people in town said we had to see, and see it we did. The place was painted ceiling to floor (tables, chairs, and everything in between as well).

10. F*ke Christmas Tree

Ugh, I hardly want to talk about this but it is a first. Our new building, though amazing in so many ways, does not allow real trees. Perhaps in a less terrible market I would have not bought this place because of that, but it ticked pretty much every other box, so that couldn’t be the hold up. So….we bought a f*ke tree. I called home and told my mom, so that I could get family approval before moving forward. I had to be sure they would ever want me to visit again. It was approved. I can’t say anymore, it hurts too much.

Top Fiction Reads of 2023 (in no particular order)

1. The Postcard – Anne Berest
2. The Eight Life – Nino Hara
3. Pineapple Street – Jenny Jackson
4. No Two Persons – Erica Bauermeister
5. The Brothers K – David James Duncan
6. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
7. True Biz – Sara Novic
8. And Then She Fell – Alicia Elliott

Top Non Fiction Reads of 2023 (in no particular order)

1. Congratulations, the Best is Over – Eric Thomas
2. More Than A Glitch – Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias In Tech – Meredith Broussard
3. Counting the Cost – Jill Duggar
4. Walkable City – Jeff Speck
5. Surrender: 40 Songs 1 Story – Bono (listen to in audio!)
6. Between Two Kingdoms – Suleika Jaouad
7. White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better – Regina Jackson and Saira Rao
8. Spare – Prince Harry
9. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Lie – Matthew Perry

A couple other new things to mention include driving through Northern Washington (really pretty), seeing the Teskey Brothers live, bought and ate a panettone for Christmas, and being named one of the Top 50 Female Leaders in Vancouver by Women We Admire. One last recent fun thing we did was see the Canada Women’s Soccer team play Australia in a friendly match in December. It was our first time seeing them play live and also Christine Sinclair’s final game. She is the top goal scorer (male or female) in international play and she is Canadian!