I Need a Holiday after this Weekend!

Crazy busy, fun weekend. Want a rundown?

Friday night: Family gathering at my sister’s place to hang out with cousin visiting from England. 4 sisters, 2 brothers, their spouses, my daughter, my mom and her male “friend,” my aunt, three nephews, two nieces, the cousin and her husband — a fraction of the family, just a small gathering. . .

Saturday morning: My usual long run, the Stanley Park Seawall, followed by bacon & eggs and the Saturday papers. Our oldest, her husband, and their daughter, Nola, stopped by to borrow car, and we kept Nola while they did errands. Down to the beach with our little girl. She wondered where the sunset was as we’d sat and admired it on our last beach visit (and told me “Nana, the sunset makes me happy”), so we talked astronomy, meterology, whatever for a minute or two before she screeched her way joyfully into the water. A happy forty-five minutes later, we shook the sand off and headed back for her naptime.

Saturday afternoon: Oldest daughter and I walked a few errands on our way to pedicures. She talked me out of my standard You Don’t Know Jacques (a sophisticated taupe she found too sombre for summer) into a zingy orange whose OPI name I forgot to note. And the pedicurist free-handed a daisy on my big toes to encourage my willingness to shake it up a bit.

Saturday evening: Paul picked us up at the salon and we walked around to Chinatown, letting B catch a bus home there while we headed to Bao Bei for seats at the bar, some inventive and nummy drinks, and a sequence of savoury and succulent Asian-fusion tapas. Lively, funky atmosphere, enjoyable chat with a knowledgeable bartender — we’ll definitely be back here.

We were finished dinner in time to catch a movie at the nearby Tinseltown — saw Bridesmaids which is every bit as funny as the critics have been saying, a chick flick your guy will like as well, especially if you both have some appreciation for lowbrow humour. I was glad it wasn’t too lowbrow and there was enough “true” stuff about relationships, etc. — I’m not a big fan of fratboy movies and have a decided limit for physical humour and poo-poo jokes. (Nola’s loving them right now, though — “I am so funny, Nana”). Walked home, bringing the day’s pedometer up to 20-25 kilometres. No wonder I slept well Saturday night.

Sunday morning: Pater cooked up some pancakes and bacon which we ate while catching up on the newspapers. Then. . . .

Sunday noon: Met daughter and new son-in-law, my niece, a nephew and his friends, four sisters, three brothers-in-law, one brother and a sister-in-law for lunch . . . even a fraction of our family is an instant party. . . .

and the lunch was followed by a stroll across the street to Tom Lee Music for the EP Release Party of my nephews’ band. That is, my nephews Jeff and Jonny AND their two friends/bandmates David and Kyle — constituting The Knots, BC Best Teen Band 2010 (little bit proud, this auntie, sorry).  Their first EP is now on iTunes and on a CD. Of course, I’ve already downloaded it, but I had to buy the CD as well. I also would have bought CDs and/or downloaded tunes by the other young artists who shared the stage today. We were blown away by a young singer/songwriter AlisonElsa — very strong lyrics, solid guitar-playing, and a stunning voice. Such composure and stage presence. In fact, all the young people Sunday afternoon — and I’d guess they were, like my nephews, mainly about 18 — demonstrated confidence and commitment, a sincere appreciation for their audience and a love of their craft/art. The second band had a wonderfully distinctive sound, some great harmonies, beginnings of some really interesting instrumentation, plus their music was almost irresistibly danceable.

I found the afternoon powerfully uplifting — the music, itself, of course, which is always good for endorphins — but also the evidence of young people’s energy harnessed to disciplined work (and believe me, you don’t get as good as any of these musicians without hours and hours of practice) as well as commitment to whatever heritage (in this case, a knowledge of the music that preceded their own, whatever genre they were building on). The Kids, as they say, Are Alright!

And tonight we’re walking across the bridge (having loaned out our car) to meet two daughters and their guys at Maenam — a fabulous Vancouver Thai Restaurant — where we’ll probably order the Chef’s Menu (They do very contemporary Thai food and offer a “surprise-me” option, a sequence of courses, each including a variety of tapas-style dishes — fun and tasty) to celebrate Recent Bride’s birthday.

A fun-filled, if slightly tiring, weekend. And you?