Keira-anne.com

Today, Charley’s five-month birthday, also coincidentally happens to be the first Snow Day of the season. I’ve always hoped to be around to see her during her first glimpse of the white stuff in the Comox Valley, but unfortunately I missed it by just a day. Thankfully my mom was home and was fortunate enough to snap some shots.

The verdict: she loves it! Charley couldn’t get enough of the snow and prounced and bounced throughout the flakes while pushing it along the ground with her little snout.

I’ve been spending another rushed weekend on Vancouver Island with my family, and part of what makes the time feel as though it flies by is the fact that I always try to pack so much activity in such a short period of time. Today was no exception. Being that my birthday is officially next weekend, I’ll be sipping pinot noir and noshing on chic tapas with a few fabulous and fun friends at “Chez Jack.” This weekend was reserved for celebrating with my mom, aunt and Charley with a big vat of Szechuan beef and chow mein before ice cream cake.

And guess what?

I photo-blogged.

Being the lover of First Nation art that I am, my mom thought it appropriate to get me a birthday card designed by a local artist from the Comox First Nation. This untitled piece is, for all intensive purposes, entitled “Queneesh.”

“The Majestic Comox Glacier is a symbol of our community, heritage and one of the physical features that make our area so beautiful. Recent reports have made it evident that the glacier is disappearing at an alarming rate and will likely be gone within my lifetime.

For members of the Comox First Nation, the glacier has even more significance according to stories such as this: An old chief was forewarned of the coming of a great flood. He was told by the Creator to prepare four canoes, great lengths of rope and to pick the strongest and most attractive members of the community. When the flood came the selected people went into the canoes. Whenever non-selected individuals tried to enter a canoe, the craft would magically move away from them. The flood destroyed the village and the rest of its inhabitants.

The people in the canoes floated around for a while with no evidence of land in sight. Eventually, they spotted a large white whale. They attached their ropes to the whale. By the time the water receded, the whale landed on the sight of the glacier, keeping the Comox people in our territory. To this day we respect our Heritage and refer to the glacier as “Queneesh,” or white whale.” - Andy Everson

For months, I’ve been covetting this hoodie. It was designed by Sheri Moon Zombie, one of my personal heroines. She defines individuality and has created her own “sexy.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with her, she’s not only the wife of Rob Zombie, but also the star of a handful of his films (including one of my personal top tens, ‘The Devil’s Rejects‘). Add “designer” to her roster as she’s created her own line of hot tops for men, women, kids and pups with Total Skull.

Please don’t copy me, k?

After all birthday celebrations were said and done, it was time to trim the tree. My aunt was displaying a previously unseen level of Christmas spirit, and surprised me by showing up in a Santa hat.

Needless to say, the hat got passed around.

The pre-Christmas festivities proved to be a little much for Charley. In no time at all, she was tuckered right out…

And last, but certainly not least, I want to turn your attention to a fairly new cosmetic line from Australia.

Today I was on the hunt for a fantastic new lip balm or gloss and was directed to Bloom Cosmetics. Though the line’s been around for almost 15 years, it’s based out of the southern hemisphere and is something very new to me. I snagged their grapefruit-flavoured ‘Delicious Lips’ lip balm and I’m completely sold. Their products are made with mainly natural ingredients, including the succulent essential oils contained in the lip balms.

Stay tuned because I’m quite sure that I’ll have more to say about this line in the future.

Like clockwork, I’m headed to the Island once again after work today, so if I don’t write every single day over the next three, you know why…

I’d like to say that the snowboard season is nearly upon us, at least for Vancouver Island, but so far it’s not really looking that way. The following was captured by the Mount Washington Snow Cam at 11:45 a.m. this morning:

Keep your fingers crossed for snow. With a usual opening day date in early December, it doesn’t look like they’re even close to being ready. I’ll continue to keep you updated on the mountain’s snow status.

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Rebecca wrote a piece this morning with regards to Skytrain fare enforcement. Transit always seems to be a hot topic in Metro Vancouver, so head on over to her space and have your say.

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Sadly enough, I’m out of stuff to write to you (for now). Though truth be told, this wasn’t much of anything to begin with. Perhaps creativity will strike me later today. Rest assured that this weekend will have a whole horde of photos with many new ones of Charley and her scruffy fur. I miss that little poo-eating monkey.

Keira-Anne out.

I really and very truly have nothing of consequence to share with you. The well’s been dry these last few days, and researching into Christmas events on Vancouver Island yesterday really exhausted my brain. Today’s post will be in point form and will most likely be nothing but ramble…

- Today is quite obviously Friday, the day I most look forward to each and every week. Since I’m not going home to my mom’s today for cuddles with Charley, I’ll be grabbing a bottle of pinot noir, and slipping into a hot bath before pulling on my leg warmers for a cozy night on the couch with myself.

- Due to the high Canadian dollar and a severe lack of new and cute panties in my girlie drawer, my friend Susan and I are headed to Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood on Sunday for the day. The plan was to go tonight or tomorrow, but that can’t happen for whatever reason. Most girls live for shoe shopping; I live for panty shopping. And believe me, Victoria’s Secret has a ridiculously wicked selection of festive frillies for my bum.

- Don’t act so surprised…I think my tree and decorations will be going up tomorrow while “Snowed In” melts my ears from my stereo speakers. You can be guaranteed that I’ll have some pictures up on my Flickr soon after.

- I’ve realized that since I started wearing glasses last year, and as I get older, I need them more and more. Walking down the street without them is a near impossibility. However, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions about what they’d like to see me write about today? Something…anything.

I was finally able to capture Charley on camera and shoot a little video. So without further adieu, I present to you Charley, a dental chew and the squeakiest dog toy ever.

This babygirl is getting bigger all the time. She wiggles like a worm, so getting any pictures of her that aren’t completely blurry is a near-impossibility.

Do this.

I’ve only been on the Island for 24 hours and it’s easily been awesome so far. I spent the day with Charley doing mostly nothing, but we did spend a sunshiney afternoon with my beautiful friend Bethany and her babygirl, Ruthie. It’s nice to just breathe.

If you’re on the Island too and looking for something to do, here are a couple options that guarantee fun…

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The snow hasn’t started to fall, but the Comox Valley’s alpine destination is kicking things off. From October 5-8, celebrate your love of all things beer and Bavarian at Mt. Washington. Fat Teddy’s Bar and Grill, located in the lodge at the bottom of the Eagle chair, is featuring various Oktoberfest brews and live entertainment with The Beer Barrel Band. I can’t vouch for the quality of music with a name like that, but go with the right attitude and you’ll have a great time. As an added bonus, a couple of Warren Miller’s adrenaline-soaked films will be screened on Sunday and Monday. Visit the Mt. Washington website for more details.

While you’re up there, get ready for the winter with pre-season deals in the Mtn Tek and Altitude Gift & Sport shops. New gear is also in stock, and you can save anywhere from 30-70% on last year’s equipment. For those of you that are local to the Valley, time is running out to pick up your season’s pass at early bird prices. This year they’ve also added a Night Pass, so be sure to check that out as a money-saving alternative.

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Slope not your style? There’s always mini golf. Paradise Fun Park, on the old highway in one of my favourite little towns - Parksville, is always a barrel of monkeys. The links are only open for another week or two since operations shut down in mid-October, so get your last few swings in while you can. Of course, this is just a shameless plug for my friend Toni since his family owns the park. As a matter of fact, you’ll find me hittin’ around neon balls and kicking ass at pinball tomorrow afternoon. Actually, to be more specific, I’ll be kicking Toni’s ass at pinball.

Photo courtesy of jdgemm on Flickr

If mini golf isn’t enough of a challenge for you, try the arcade, bumper boats or tasty ice cream instead. For more information, visit Paradise Fun Park’s website.

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I’ll hopefully be able to give you another update tomorrow evening, as well as post new pictures of Charley. I can’t even begin to tell you all how much she’s grown over the last month. When she was first adopted, she weighed in at 4.5 pounds, and now she’s pushing 8. I swear with every pound, she gets even cuter.

So I’m sitting here at the reception desk at my firm’s office. Why, you ask? No, I’m not a receptionist, but each of us has to take one turn per week covering the receptionist during her lunch break. It’s absolute torture due to the sheer volume of boredom that doing so induces, but it also gives me an hour to blog. I’ve realized that I really have nothing pertinent to blog about today, so consider this to be your Tuesday grab-bag.

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As you will recall, a few days ago I mentioned the upcoming “Sex and the City movie that’s been slated for a May, 2008 release. I wish that I had more details to share with you, but I don’t. I’ve been slamming through season 4 on DVD because it’s always something that’s good for a girl to revisit. If you need a fix until next spring, that’d be my recommendation. However, here’s another sneak peek at how fabulous the ladies are looking for their silver screen debut.

In anticipation of the miles of style that I know will come from this film, and to coincide with my mom’s week-long visit commencing tomorrow, mumsy and I will be making our maiden voyage to the H&M at Coquitlam Centre. Something tells me I’m going to find something mighty nice.

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Allow me to take a second to show you just how freakin’ cute Ms. Charley is getting…

Tomorrow is her three-month birthday and she’s growing like a weed. And by weed, I mean something pretty like a pink flower. I won’t see her until next Wednesday night, but I am by far excited to cuddle her in my arms again. Never before has there been such a perfect puppy.

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This coming Sunday, September 30 is B.C. Rivers Day 2007 in the Province of British Columbia. For almost anyone who has grown up in B.C., visiting a local river is seemingly a part of any childhood. For my brother and I, it was the Comox Valley’s Puntledge River.

Photo courtesy of digital image fan on Flickr

B.C. Rivers Day 2007 is designed to create public awareness concerning the precious waterways of this province. According to the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia’s (ORCBC) website, province-wide events will include river clean-ups, riverside nature walks, school projects, community festivals and habitat enhancements. To learn more about how your community is celebrating B.C. Rivers Day 2007, visit the official website.

Yes, I admit - I haven’t blogged since Wednesday and I do feel badly about that. However, sometimes life keeps you busy.

My last post included a link to a Port Hardy tourism website. Being the curious lady that she is, my mom checked out their virtual tours section and stumbled upon something rather interesting.

Click on to this link and select the virtual tour of Rotary Park. Once the camera pans from the park, left towards an apartment building complex, there is a little yellow house next to the complex behind a fence. That was my first home when I was brought home from the hospital in December of 1980! We lived on Douglas Street, which also happened to be my father’s middle name. Up the street lived Jim and Dianne, who happen to still be my family’s closest friends to this day.

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Speaking of my father, yesterday would have been his 56th birthday. He gave me a wonderful childhood, filled with colourful memories of being his “princess.” Our relations were somewhat strained through my teens years, but I know much of that can be attributed to just that - the fact that I was a teenager. When he passed away shortly before my 18th birthday, it was tragic to some degree, but also a blessing in disguise in many ways. What I know I will always have with me are the times when I knew I was his “princess” and brought a lot of joy into his life, and vice versa.

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This chica has been on the Island visiting with her family and Charley since last night after work, and let me tell you…Charley’s certainly gotten bigger in the last two weeks since I last saw her. Her personality has really emerged and it’s certainly a playful one. I’ll try and get some pictures today and tomorrow.

The coming week is a busy one for sure, so I’m hoping to actually have the time to blog and tell you all about what’s going on. Monday is the day that Miss604 and I are meeting right after work for copious amounts of chicken wings and beer at Wings on Granville street before watching the Canucks square off against the Ducks in the pre-season at GM Place.

The day after, watch my blog for something super sweet, special and delicious that her and I are getting up to, courtesy of T.P. This super sweet, special and delicious blogalicious entry will, of course, be accompanied by tasty photos.

Last, but certainly not least, Matt’s playing his third show here in Vancouver. To see the final step of a long process will, I’m sure, be somewhat overwhelming. To see first-hand the events that led to H.M., to see the carefully crafted steps that were taken to make H.M. and now to finally see the fruits of his labour shared with those that admire him will only serve to make me prouder still of my dear friend.

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I must offer my appy-polly-logies for such a scatter-brained blog post. I’m hoping to write something a little more interesting and coherent post soon enough, rather than when first waking up to realize that I hadn’t blogged in days.

Love-love.

Last week I managed to snag Oasis’ freshman effort, “Definitely Maybe,” at one of the used record shops on Granville street and have been reliving my high school days ever since. There are tons of charming little details to the record that I am in love with, one in particular on a song called Rock ‘n’ Roll Star. Due to a very strong Manchester accent, Liam Gallagher pronounces the word “sunshine” more like “sune-shine,” and it causes my ears to giggle in sheer delight every single time. Don’t believe me? Go buy the record.

Photo courtesy of Paperback Writer on Flickr

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I have a question for you: how could anyone not love dogs?

Family dinners at Chris and Chloe’s always turn into Dogstocks, with the human to dog ratio being 8:5. That’s more than 50%. However, no one can say that dogs don’t make something great even greater. As much as having Benji glued to my hip can sometimes induce eye-rolling, having him constantly craving cuddles makes me equally happy too.

For as long as I can remember, our family has always had dogs. When I was a little girl, it was Suki. After she passed from old age, we got Brady. Brady lived to be well over 14 years old until we finally had to put her down.

Last week, after being dog-less for more than five years, we adopted Charley. Being a puppy, she’s thus far into everything and a whole lot more. She’s taken to chewing on anything she can get her tiny teeth into. Perhaps the cutest thing so far happens when she’s outside. My mom or aunt will water the hanging baskets on our patio, and Charley likes to perch herself underneath to catch the water droplets on her little pink tongue. However, most of the drops end up hitting her on her forhead. This weekend I’ll be bathing her for the first time myself (my aunt and mom attempted on Sunday), so that should be a photo-riffic experience.

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A couple of weeks ago that little hottie biscotti, Miss604, attended the launch party for the new Vancouver Canucks team logo. In true Miss604 fashion, she soon after shared with the online world what the new logo looks like and, more specifically, what the new logo looks like plastered across the Junior 604s.

Next Monday, the Canucks are taking on the Anaheim Ducks at GM Place during a pre-season game. Becky and I snagged tickets from my friend Craig (who’s a season ticket holder), and I do believe this game promises to be a good one. It’s the first time our hometown heroes will square off against Todd Bertuzzi since his trade to California. Regardless if we win or lose, you can be assured that both my blog and Becky’s will be plastered with not only a re-cap, but also photos of two hot girls drinking beer and rockin’ the new logo.

How can anyone lose with that combination?

Photo courtesy of Miss604 on Flickr

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Looks like I got a bit of my mojo back, kids. But for now, I’ve got a tummy to fill and a kitchen to clean and a body to shower.