Breakthrough

I love Project Runway. When it first came on I worked with my good buddy R. and we used to dissect it every week at work. Even though we don't work together anymore, we still email about it every week when it's on. But we've never watched it together!

On Saturday I went into Vancouver and we finally watched it together. R. taped the last four episodes and we watched them all at once. We had chocolate, tea, snacks, chocolate....it was The. Best.

On my way home I took transit to get to the ferry. As I was sitting on the first Skytrain I started to look around and realized how many people were clamoring around. Everywhere.

Then I remembered what my bestie said when she moved away from Vancouver in March*. "There are too many people with too many intentions. I have to get outta here." At the time I didn't understand what she meant but now I do: everyone is climbing all over each other to get around, to get by, everyone is going in different directions all at once.

After these totally foreign (to me) thoughts started going through my head I started to freak out a little bit. You guys know how I feel about Vancouver....

I wanted to distract myself so I decided to put my ipod on. It was on full blast and I. couldn't. hear. it. I realized that my 'full blast' in Victoria is a lot different than my 'full blast' used to be in Vancouver. I used to be part of that crowd, blend in, flow with it. Now I feel like I stick out, like I don't belong.

I freaked out some more.

Then I realized that I can't imagine commuting to work like this anymore. I like my short walk to work where I listen to La Boheme and think about going to the opera in Rome**. I like the little 5000 square foot office I work at. I like my 12 workmates, rather than the 150 workmates I had in Vancouver. I like the slow pace of Victoria.

All of this is now okay with me.

The next thought that quickly flashed through my mind.....so brief I wasn't even sure I had it:
"I don't think I want to live in Vancouver anymore."

Gasp!

Then this image: I started to get super emotional. Then I realized that I couldn't wait to get back home to Victoria.

Saturday April 9, 2011 - I finally had my breakthrough about Vancouver. It only took 2 1/2 years.


*more on this later, I have some catching up to do
** yes, I do this every morning

Over Stimulated

I have this strange experience every time I fly now. Whether it's a little float plane or a big jet plane.

Sigh, yeah.....when the plane starts to take off - I cry.

It's not like blubbering tears or anything, I just get super teary and then it passes.

Photo: Ted Topping

So anyway....the plane lands in Vancouver and I begin:

"Holy shit that's new?!"
"Woah, that rain drop is SUPER cool!!"
"A lego whale?!"
"Where did THAT building come from?"

Totally over stimulated and I haven't gotten off the plane yet. I guess I've been living away from Vancouver long enough that it seems super busy and crazy when I go back.

One of the meetings I flew in for was cancelled (??) so I dropped in to visit Rawbean and my old work mate R. for the rest of the afternoon. Flew back to Victoria on the last flight of the day. I love 'work days' like that, don't you?

Vancouver 2010

Woah.

Yesterday we took the ferry over to Vancouver. What the hell - the Olympics are going on right now and from what we've been seeing on television over the last week it is the place to be. And not just because talented athletes are there but because the energy of the people in general looks fantastic.

So we got up at 4:30 am (I know) to get the early ferry. Because everyone is heading over, there was no parking at the ferry terminal so we had to go with 'Plan B' which involved taking a bus to get to the ferry. Well I won't get into it but the bus didn't show up, so we missed the ferry. Ahem. I'll move on.

The ferry was FULL, I've never seen it like that. Once we got off the ferry the crowd control started and really - thank God, because it was eerie to be in such massive groups of people. We shivered as we heard the announcements on the SkyTrain platform "bzzzttt crackle...please report any suspicious behavior to your transit authority bzzzzt crackle...." Yikes, 1984 much?

Once we got downtown we decided to check out the cauldron. I really apologize for the picture, we had the camera on the wrong setting - but check out the crowds.

As we were walking towards the cauldron with thousands of other people, we were thinking it was like everyone was going to see an oracle.....it was seriously crazy. The crowds - I can't even describe it. Anyway, here is another shot of the cauldron.

It's located right next to the new convention centre and I was seriously blown away by the building. I worked close by when they were building it and it was a construction site for so long that I just got used to it. This is the first time I laid my eyes on the finished building and it's beautiful.

Check out the planet earth inside.

So I could sense the Vancouver I know and love, but it was so disguised by all the people and extra things going on that it was like being in a different city.

There was some public "art" set up on Granville Street, the best were these 'trees'. They were set up on plywood platforms and for some reason (which I still don't understand) everyone who walked past them would stomp their feet on the platforms. (I do still hope that they re-plant the trees that were there originally, check out this post for a picture of Granville Street without all the craziness.)

We headed over to Robson Square where the biggest crowds were gathering. Here is a shot looking towards Granville Street - we even managed to get a guy zip-lining over head in the photo. He is actually headed towards the left of the photo - not straight up the street.

Here is a shot of The Bay. We couldn't tell if there are still line-ups just to get inside but there likely was. I think the building looks fantastic.

Here is a shot of me on the phone arranging to hook up with Rawbean. It kind of looks like I'm standing in the middle of some kind of parade, but I really wasn't. It was just like that everywhere we went.

So overall I'm so glad we went over. It was so cool to be part of something like that even if we didn't go to any events. Today we haven't left the house, we are feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated by all the crowds and craziness!

A Day in Photos (July 2, 2008)

Rawbean and I came up with this idea forever ago. We would choose a day - an average day and document it with photos. I chose a day over a year ago when I was still living in Vancouver and made a little book and sent it to her because I didn't have a blog then.

So I'm going to post that day and compare it with an average day here in Victoria which I'll post later when I get into a routine.

A Day in Photos July 2, 2008

Of course I have to have my Ipod for the walk to work in the morning.

The view on my way to work, over the Cambie Bridge.

One of the construction sites I pass on my way. This is the Skytrain station on the south side of the Cambie Bridge.

I've always wondered what this thing is...you can see it from the bridge.

My desk at work.

Some work I did today.

I like to hook up with friends after work for coffee. Today I met my buddy R for an iced coffee at Mink.

Today I took the bus home. Here is the inside.

And here is the outside, after I got off.

Here is my street on the way home.

After work I headed over to Rawbean's place for a quick visit.

On the way I mail a letter.

When I get home, I cook dinner.

I read for a while when I get into bed.

This was a fun, mental project. So for kicks I'm going to "challenge" a few people to do it too, NO PRESSURE.

Claire, Dana, Ben, and IG.

No seriously - there is no pressure to do this.

As If By Magic

There is a song on the La Roux album called As If by Magic. I listen to it all the time, in fact the entire album is amazing and if it's possible to put a permanent groove in an Ipod by over-listening to something, I've done it with this album.* The lyrics go like this:

And although you're the only home I know
As if by magic, thoughts of you are gone
And now I'm keeping my head in the clouds
And it's not so tragic, if I don't look down

I relate this song to the way I feel about leaving Vancouver, obviously. It really is the only home I know because I haven't been working in Victoria until now. When I got this job I honestly felt like Victoria reached out even more to me, and I'm starting to arrive in my new home.

Sometimes it is like magic and I don't think about Vancouver at all, and sometimes I still miss it like crazy.


*The best part of the entire album is 31 seconds into Fascination. I'm pretty sure Rawbean will be the only one who will bother to check this out and possibly even agree with me? heh heh....

Productive Days

So, today was my second day at the new job. Other than having to wait forever for a Revit re-install, it was really great: I high-fived a workmate when I helped him solve a problem, I talked about The IT Crowd with the IT guy, I bonded with a fellow soy milk drinker and I put Big Toe in his new home on my desk. (Nobody has noticed him yet.)

One of my work mates was commenting on how she doesn't have a window seat. Neither do I, but I certainly wasn't expecting one. I had a window seat for a few months though in Vancouver, here is the view. Yes, I took a picture.

VIFF

VIFF - awesome as usual.

We saw five films: The White Ribbon, Mid-August Lunch, Kimjonilia, Everyone Else and For a Son. My favourite by far was was Mid-August Lunch, we didn't get all the hype around White Ribbon and Everyone Else was okay, but seemed kind of pointless, although it had one of those endings that I love.....

Anyway by last night, I was exhausted. With all the running around seeing films and meeting friends, I was done. Our last movie (White Ribbon) was at 9:00 pm last night. We headed for a snack and looked up how long the movie was - 144 minutes. Really? That meant that when all was said and done, we were climbing into bed around 1:00 am.... targeting the 9:00 am ferry this morning. We made it but I crashed for over two hours when we finally got home this afternoon.

I also must comment on this: what have they done to Granville Street?! On Saturday we round the corner at Robson and Granville for our first movie and stopped dead in our tracks. We thought we had gone the wrong way. We stood there stunned for a minute, and realized what was wrong. They ripped out all the trees!! You can see all the way to the bridge and it's bizarre. I'm hoping that the orange barrel things mean they will be replacing them, but it was super sad to see.

Anyway, tomorrow is the big day. I felt so elated on the ferry, I actually annoyed Brad with my smiles and outpouring of happiness at returning to Victoria. My first battle will be sharing a bathroom with him, we haven't shared a bathroom since March 2008 and he has to shave in the morning.

Two more weeks until VIFF!

Every year you will find us at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Even last year after we had moved over to the island we still managed to make it over to catch a few films.
(Remember last year? Remember Birdsong?! Worst. Movie. Ever.)

This year we managed (with IG's help) to get a free guide. The year Brad and I met was the first year I went to the festival. We saw a film called Little Otik - completely bizarre! I loved it. After that I was hooked and we've made a ritual out of it every year. We've also saved all the guides since 2003.

2006 was a great year, we ended up choosing fifty two films. Fifty two. We had to narrow it down to ten. How the hell?! We each went through the guide and gave the films a score from one to ten. Anything that scored six and under was eliminated.

After that we made up a schedule. Due to the sheer number of films we had chosen, a lot of them eliminated themselves because they were playing at the same time or only playing during the week while we were at work. 2006 was the year we saw The Lives of Others. Best. Movie. Ever.

So every year we have to sit down, go through the guide and make up a schedule. We did this over the weekend and have chosen five films. Five. How sad. This year's choices are great though - two German films which are always the best!! I'm stoked.

One Year Out

One year ago today I moved away from Vancouver. (Yes, you read that right, we're noting another anniversary so soon after our wedding anniversary 4 days ago.)

For years my best friend Robin and I always referred to the day that I would actually leave Vancouver as D-Day. I added that the only way to get me out of Vancouver would be to knock me unconscious, throw my limp body in the back of a U-Haul and have someone else drive me away. Unfortunately when the time did come, someone had to drive the car, so my plan didn't work out.

So anyway, Robin and I thought it might happen one day, but I guess it crept up on me faster than I imagined. I'm glad I documented a lot of that day one year ago, because it was so traumatic for me I don't remember much. I even took pictures of Brad driving the U-Haul down to our old place to load it up.


Since we had to take a ferry to get over to the island, it made for a long day. But with some help we managed to get the truck loaded and were ready to leave - the moment I had been dreading for years had finally arrived - I had to start the car and actually drive away.

I managed to pull the car around to the front of the building and snapped a picture of Brad who was ready to climb into the truck to lead me out of the city I called home for the last 12 years. He was excited....the tears were flowing on my end at this point.

Don't we look impressed while we wait in line for the ferry? Ziggy especially - he was super calm in the car, hanging out in the front seat. The ferry freaked him out but we stayed below deck in the car with him. This worked out better for me in the end because I couldn't bear to watch the ferry pull away from the mainland.

So, now that I've been here a year I feel like I'm finally settling in. I don't go back to Vancouver quite as much as I did in the beginning. But I do miss it, I miss working downtown (yeah....I miss working in general but that's another story), I miss the energy, the hum of the city - I know it sounds crazy...I can't help it.

Above all, I miss my friends.

On the other hand, Victoria is so slow and casual - it's a nice pace for me right now. And believe it or not as I was typing up this post, a song I haven't heard forever played on Itunes unexpectedly* and made me realize why I moved over here.

What the hell?! Isn't that always the way with music!? It always shows me the way when I need it the most.


*You know how you have all that unorganized crap at the bottom of your music in Itunes? Track 01, Unknown Artist etc. Well, I was sorting through it and letting it play through the songs....

Scale

We are still getting used to the scale of Victoria. Seriously people, it is tiny - check out this map that Brad made for me. (Keep in mind that Victoria is only the area marked as such on the map.

Last weekend we heard that the Victoria Symphony was doing another free concert in Beacon Hill Park. This generates a lot of excitement in our little world so we were all over the web checking to see where to go and what time......needless to say we were a little miffed to find that all the information on where to go was listed as "Beacon Hill Park". Um....where in the park?

Remember, we are from Vancouver - Stanley Park is massive - it's shown in red below superimposed on top of Beacon Hill Park (shown in green).

So, a friend told us there is a bandstand in the park - awesome. It must be there. We showed up an hour before they were scheduled to start, got out the map and made some strategic plans to park somewhere in the neighbourhood near the park - we figured this would be the closest we could get. We geared up for a half hour walk from the car to the stage.

On our way we decided "Awh, let's just drive into the park and see how crazy it is." Uh-huh.....the parking lots inside the park were virtually empty. We parked the car, looking around us suspiciously like we weren't supposed to be there. We also didn't have to pay which was equally as bizarre.

The concert was great - way less crowded than the Symphony Splash - which we also attended a couple weeks ago. They estimate that over 30,000 people show up for the Splash. The Beacon Hill Park event was more like around 200 people sitting around in the afternoon listening to some great classical music - much more our style.

Beefy Beef Noodle

I went into Vancouver on Saturday to spend the day with IG. It was a much-needed trip as I haven't been over to Vancouver since April and I needed some serious girl time.

It was a great day, we had breakfast and coffee on Commercial, then headed over to Main Street for some shopping. IG gave me a gift certificate to Front, a super cool consignment/new clothing store. I bought a new dress and a much-needed neutral cardigan sweater.

We also visited Voltage, which is a fun store to poke through. A few months ago I visited Rawbean and we hit Voltage where I bought a Yummy Breakfast keychain. They are sold as blind assortments - meaning you pick from a couple dozen identical boxes, not knowing which character you will get until you open it up.


I got the coffee when I was with Rawbean and this time I got the pizza. Can you handle them? I can't.

I miss stores/restaurants like this one that I saw on Main Street:Beefy Beef Noodle? So awesome.

Anyway, we finished off our day with a visit to my old 'hood where I showed IG the super-secret walk from West 7th down to the sea wall.We got some cheap sushi dinner - seriously my dinner cost me $7. I miss those restaurants, although I haven't given up searching for one in Victoria yet.

Is there room for two in there?

On Sunday as the ferry was loading at the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, I was settled into my seat listening to the big rigs bang on board beneath me. It seemed like such a lonely sound...of course no one else took notice.

We start to reverse, the ship shakes a little as it's starting up. When it reaches a certain point in the water, all becomes quiet as we turn around to begin our journey to Swartz Bay. In that moment of calm and silence I felt something new...

A feeling of being pulled in two opposite directions at once.

It's best to visit Vancouver, be cautious and aware of how it's affecting me, and get out quickly if I am to open my heart to Victoria.

I'm wondering if there is room in my heart for two different cities. It looks like one city will have to move over and make room.

Yesterday

I went into Vancouver again yesterday. I know, I know....
(Read on though for good things that happened as relates to Victoria...)

1. I had lunch with four of the most fabulous, unique girls I know. I only get to see them for an hour, but it's worth the 4 1/2 hours of commute time to squeeze in a lunch with them. (Girls, here is the recipe for the salad I had if you're interested.)

2. I had a coffee date with a good friend/former work mate. I killed some time but found myself free early. Rather than meeting him at our favourite coffee shop, I decided to drop by his office.

We used to work together. He was my mentor - basically taught me everything I know and we are still super good friends to this day.

It was so great to see my old office, some old work mates, R's messy office (I should talk, check out how my desk was when I worked there), my old boss (who always gives me a big hug) and find out that this recession isn't hitting them too badly.


The only downfall was seeing some new wallcovering, running my hands over glass tiles and drawings - boy do I need to get back into the working world...

3. I had dinner with another chum at my favourite Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver. He grew up in Oak Bay*, and is an avid, avid sailor. He docks his boat near Swartz Bay, so summer 2009 will be be full of sailing trips and much-needed visits 'home' for him.


3. As I was on the 601 heading into Vancouver I was listening to this song and suddenly got SUPER stoked for their upcoming concert. They were through last year with Cut Copy and I missed them.


4. Last night as the 9:00 ferry left the dock, it was the first time it felt right to be coming back to the island. Not just because all my stuff, oh and my husband are here - but it's starting to feel more like home. Finally! It's only been six months.

*lucky bugger

Emotional much??

Remember this post?

The morning after we decided to move to Victoria, I got on the bus to go to work. I was already a mess. All I could think about was how I only had about 7 more months left in Vancouver and everything that that entailed.

Backtracking....in the summer of 2007 we went to an amazing Spearhead concert at Malkin Bowl.* There was one song in particular that stuck with me, but I didn't know the name of it. That morning on the bus, I sat down, opened the album and randomly chose a song. It was the song from the concert. And the name of the song is Everybody Ona Move. Yeah, considering what was on my mind, I was a mess.

I can think of lots of times in my life when music has been a huge part of an experience for me. That bus ride was obviously one of them.

The only way that I can open myself up to something major happening in my life (whether it's a new city or a new job for example) is if it causes a positive emotional reaction in me. Until yesterday, I hadn't had this experience yet with Victoria, I think this is part of what was bothering me.

These experiences happened to me daily when I first moved to Vancouver. Even after living there for years, it still happened once in awhile. I remember one morning last summer driving over the Granville Bridge and listening to this song and feeling what I can only call an emotional high.

Get this.... it happened in Victoria the other day!

I was standing on a corner downtown, looked across the street and felt Victoria "calling out to me" again, as well as a similar emotional high that I used to feel in Vancouver. I felt like I was in the right place, at the right time. The right song was even playing in my ear, which made the experience complete.

Here is the real street corner:

*If anyone who is reading this was there, do you remember how it rained?! Oh yeah...

Don't forget about ME...

I have a couple of friends who say that of all the people they know, I am the last one they thought would ever leave Vancouver.

When I moved there, I was 21, freshly graduated and ready to start my career. I was pretty much alone and free to create my own life. I did a lot of growing up and discovering myself in Vancouver and my warped brain seems to credit the city with how far I've come.

After a good ass-kickin' from my Mom about the way I've been sad lately about moving away, I'm ready to turn myself fully towards a new life here. Rather than the iron grip that Vancouver has had on me, it now only has a finger on my shoulder reminding me not to forget about it.


It's easy to get around Victoria, there is no traffic, the people are friendly, the ocean is all around us, great shopping and tons of restaurants* and lots of nature to hike and explore. This summer will be interesting when the tourists come and downtown will transform.

Victoria isn't trying to be like Vancouver at all. It has it's own identity and seems comfortable with it. It's been knocking on my door for 6 months now....awh! Little Victoria!

I am more open now than ever to this place.

*We can't seem to find good, cheap sushi though. Any suggestions?

How did I get here?

So, I think it's time I told my story about leaving my beloved Vancouver behind. (I will take my queue from Rawbean and use cartoons - because they make it more fun.)

My then-soon-to-be-fiance had an interview for his perfect job (that we never thought he would get) in Victoria in January 2008. When he got the call with the job offer, we had some serious decisions to make.

This was it! We had one night to finally make up our minds. Well, make up my mind*. We stayed up, no dinner, until late, talking about it, and I finally decided to take the plunge. I felt like I needed an adventure, but I had a sleepless night....


The next day I was a MESS. It involves a Spearhead song, lack of sleep, a bus ride to work, cute sympathetic friends and way too many emotions to name. I had to keep the secret at work because Brad wasn't going to start until April and I wouldn't likely move until September.

But I did feel like Victoria was calling me.....

...but on the other hand Vancouver had** an iron grip on me. I knew it would be hard to escape.

In May we got engaged, which meant we also had a little wedding to plan - in Vancouver. This also meant that it was set in stone that I would stay in Vancouver until September. It was fun planning the wedding, we didn't have a huge event, so it wasn't that stressful. But I was under more stress that I realized***...

But everything worked out in the end. We had a great wedding, moved over here without a hitch (5 days after our wedding), and my old company even offered me employment if I worked from home! So we moved, secure in both of our jobs and excited about trying out a new city.

In November I was laid off****, so until I find a job and get out of the house, I want to give Victoria a fair chance, and I feel like I can't judge the city while I'm not working.

*Brad had been trying to convince me to move away from Vancouver for about five years.
** Has.
*** Or would admit to.
****Damn recession. Then again, working from home is over rated.