A week in the life of...

Warning: This post covers many days, embrace the length and get ready to read...



Last week Peter and I went up to Grouse for the Oakley media party. Peter's boss couldn't make it and canceled last minute. I was fortunate enough to get his ticket. We waited at the base of Grouse where Oakley had set up a couple tents, offering up free espresso beverages, tea, hot chocolate and yummy treats (cookies, brownies etc). I went for the Vanilla Rooibos tea and it was sensational. Once everyone had arrived, we boarded the gondola around 4:30pm.



Once at the top, we were escorted into the lobby of the main theater. There, servers offered up delicious appy's as well as free beer, wine, and champagne. Beer, yes please! The theater presentation was all about Oakley; who they are, where they came from, what their product is all about, and where it is headed. The main speaker and his tech guy did a couple experiments testing Oakley against a few of it's competitors. Clearly, Oakley destroyed the "other guy's" in each of the 2 experiments. An interesting thing I learned was that Oakley makes a lot of the NHL masks.



After that we went up to the bar where 3 Canadian Olympic Oakley sponsored athletes were being interviewed. We only caught the tail end of it but it was interesting to meet them and learn a little more about who they are. I will honestly admit that I am not 'in the know' about who's who in the Canadian ski and snowboard world, but now I know a little bit more and am excited to watch them compete. The bar area were also serving up free drinks and appy's. MMM!

We were then escorted outside for the Fashion show. I was a little worried about going outside because it was cold and pouring rain. Fortunately, we were all under cover, it was the models who were going to have to brace the elements. It's a good thing they were modeling ski and snowboard wear. They kept us warm with our choice of hot toddy's, coffee with kahlua, or hot chocolate with Bailey's and peppermint shnaps! The women came out first and then the men. An Oakley sponsored Olympian named Gretchen (last name ?) had designed the entire ladies line and she was interviewed (see pic above).



After the men's line had been shown, they interviewed Shawn White. This American snowboard trickster is one of a kind and has the craziest red curly long hair. I had never heard of him but I think I must be the only one because he is huge in the half pipe competition. Keep your eyes out for him on Wednesday.

The show ended the evening and we boarded the tram after grabbing our complimentary 'schwag bag' (Oakley backpack). Inside the bag we found an Olympic shirt, toque, and sunglasses! It was an awesome night. Thanks Peter for having such an awesome job where you get the luxuries of such fun events!

This weekend (Valentine's day) Peter and I went to run the start of the Trans Canada Trail (TCT). This trail actually goes all the way across Canada but today we were just taking it from the start and were only heading as far as Cleveland Dam. The TCT stars off with some beautiful hilly single track through the forest. After about 20-30 minutes, you end up scaling this long steep logging road. Once we got to the top of the road we saw some Olympic security signs warning us not to go any further as it was patrolled by the RCMP. Of course, we decided to keep going. The chairlifts were in full view and we knew that the Mogul course was pretty damn close. It was very tempting to want to hike up to see if we could catch a glimpse of the games but we pushed forward. It was only a minute later that ran into a sea of army men all dressed up in camouflage. I tried to bargain with them to let us keep going on our adventure but they weren't really having it. We turned around and tried to enjoy the 20 minute quad burning descent back to the car.

That night we went to the Cannery for dinner and enjoyed a really wonderful seafood dinner. This place is one of the best restaurants in Vancouver and I highly suggest it to anyone that lives or is planning to visit.





On Monday, Peter and I woke up at 3:45am. We changed into our running clothes and were out the door at 4:10am. We were heading up the Grouse Grind to watch the Today show live. Peter's nephew and about 100 other kids were up there because there was a 3 on 3 hockey tournament going on throughout the entire week. Wayne Gretzky was up there and all the kids were excited to meet "The Great One". The hike was great. The temperature was perfect and our headlamps made the Grind very visible.



I get so excited around TV Show/ Movie sets. I just find it very exciting. K.D Lang, the larger guy who read out the poem at the Opening ceremonies from atop the pillar, and Giada De Laurentiis were also being interviewed. We didn't stay too long but long enough to snap a few shots of Wayne and K.D Lang.



(The back of K.D)



Later that day, after finishing off the last episode of Dexter, we went to Granville Island. They have a great market there with such fresh amazing food. I could spend countless hours there. I picked up an organic squash to roast for dinner and some fresh strawberries for our salad.




They have some pretty innovative ideas around the Olympics. Check out these bagels:



Peter and I have been wanting to put another chair or love seat in our suite. However, we don't really have a lot more room in our place. While walking through the shops we stumbled upon the perfect thing...a hammock! The best part, we can take it down when we don't want to use it or if we want to create more space. It is also a multipurpose item because we can take it on trips!



That's about all I have to report. Tonight is the first Canadian men's hockey game and were heading over to Pete's sister's to watch it and have dinner. Can't wait.

Alright, time to go running! See you in the trails.