Another great weekend in Vancouver

If at some point I complain that my social schedule is way too packed, please slap me. This is precisely the kind of weekend I enjoy. Not too full with activities, but just enough to give me time and space to catch up.

My weekend though started early (Thursday), and with a bang. LB and I went for drinks at Cactus Club. This is a great pub to hang out, they have killer bellinis and the company was absolutely amazing. LB is one of those women who chooses to be great and knows that about herself. She is aware that she is a star, and her self-confidence shows. Plus, she is a total sweetheart. We had an awesome time, and after a couple drinks, I walked her back home.

Friday started with lunch with J at Sodas. Ah, Sodas... how can I not love you? The owner knows me already by name, and he knows that J and I go there all the time for lunch (their burgers are unbelievably good). So when I mentioned that I wanted my VIP Card, the owner kindly gave us two smoothies for free as a token of appreciation for being loyal customers. J just shook his head, because he still wonders how can I get away with these things? Well, I get away with these things because of my eye-lash batting powers :-) Hehehe...

Then I had coffee with BA, where we had a chance to catch up about what was going on. It's always great to see her, for a myriad of reasons. Then I had dinner with B and C and J at Kishu Mountain (sushi). I've previously mentioned that B and C are very protective of both J and myself. They enjoy taking on the role of mentors, and always have great advice. Plus their sense of humour is amazing. They are perhaps the only people with whom I see J open up and laugh a lot. J is very smart and he has a really sarcastic sense of humour, even though he tends to be more shy than I am (well, technically, I am NOT shy at all).

Saturday I had brunch with LM at Joe's Grill on Davie Street. We got to meet "the woman who knows what's going on" and not "the guy who is in charge". Joe's Grill is one of my top restaurants for brunch. The food is great, and the service is amazing. I had an opportunity to chat with the staff and servers and I can't believe how they keep their cool even though they have to deal with a lot of customers. Kudos to them. LM and I always have this type of outings: we just get things done. So she needed to go out and buy computer stuff, and we simply took a drive and went where she could buy her stuff. She's very sweet and her sense of humor is totally aligned with mine. And she gets to hear all my adventures.

Sunday I met with LF for brunch at Crave on Main. Oh, Crave... brunch to-die-for. LF and I are both food snobs (foodies as they say) so we rarely settle when we decide to go out for brunch or dinner. LF is perhaps one of the few people who can scold me and still get away with it, because I know she does it because she loves me (like brother and sister).

After brunch I met with A for lunch although by then I already had eaten. She wasn't feeling all too well and she needed food. A and I are like siblings as well, and we enjoy that (plus we get to gossip in Spanish). She wanted lunch so she settled on noodle soup so we went to this place on Broadway near Cambie that serves it (and as I told A, I have already forgotten the name of the damn place -- I should've written it down). Then I walked her home and hung out for a bit, but I had work to do and she needed to rest so I left.

Finally, Sunday night was dinner with C and H which took place on Commercial Drive (the post below will show my restaurant review). Ah, but one additional item: we met at The End Cafe, which is "like, the coolest place". Located at the corner of Grandview and Commercial, it has live jazz on Sunday nights from 7 to 9 pm. This place is definitely going to be my next hangout. The place really rocks.

So you may wonder -- how the heck do I get work done with this kind of social life? Well, two tricks: One, I always carry my laptop with me wherever I go. Two, I know this city well enough to be able to quickly find coffee shops with wireless. So I can work in between appointments all the time. And really, it's not like I hang out with my friends like this all the time. This was Labor Day weekend!