Our condo sold right after the open house on Saturday, just as we’d hoped it would! No subjects… It’s a done deal. And, yes, we are pleased with the final price. The only compromise was the closing date (later than I’d hoped), and they wanted some of the furniture included in the deal. No big deal. We’ll buy new stuff.

The new owners take possession mid-April.

So, we’re moving with piece of mind, this week! Next up… house hunting in Calgary!

Thanks so much MJ, for doing such a great job with the condo sale! We’re so happy with the results!

Your turn: How was your weekend?

Sorry guys… I know I should practice what I preach to my clients — and when it comes to blogging, that means having at least somewhat of a posting schedule that people can rely on. Frequency and decent content is everything, after all.

I’ve been completely overwhelmed with everything going on (see the previous post for some of the things I’m so very thankful for), and these past two weeks feels like a farewell tour of sorts. It hasn’t left me a lot of time to check in here.

But, that’s all about to change. I promise! I’m actually going to schedule in time with my blog at least three times a week, after I’ve moved to Calgary. It’s my only way to update all my friends that are back in Vancouver with all my adventures, and tribulations!

One of my blog readers dropped me an email the other day asking about how I could have the faith to move, and the courage to know I’m going to be okay when I get there, despite everything in my world changing.

I guess, the easy answer is… Because if I don’t take any risk, the rewards don’t come, either. And, I love the rewards that come when I follow my passion, and my dreams. For me, the risk is not taking that leap of faith and finding out what happens! I’d be losing out on some fantastic opportunities for growth, and for life experiences, after all… and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take. I’m going with what I know… And what I know is that I love Barry, my career and our money will always be available if we work for it as a team, and my home is where Barry and I share, no matter where that may be.

And, that’s enough deep thought for today…

Next up, something fun for a change! Check back tomorrow! (And, hey, maybe we might have some good news about our place? Check in and find out… Want to see our MLS listing? Click here!)

It seems that I’ve been talking a lot about changes and personal growth lately — and consequently Jennifer Priest who has helped facilitate many of these changes, while working with me — but I can’t help it. I’m on the precipice of my whole world changing. But, I’m learning (albeit very slowly) how to find the cool, and great stuff, while going through all this upheaval.

So, this blog post is dedicated to the letter “G” for Gratitude… Because I’m grateful for many things in my life! Thanks Jen, for reminding me to enjoy the ride!

Here’s just a few things:

• Barry, who makes me giggle with his crazy dances (don’t ever stop your sprinkler dance, or the finger dance, please… even if it looks like I think you are a weirdo… You are MY weirdo!) and silly one-liners. I might roll my eyes, but inside, I’m howling. You inspire me, every day, to enjoy the moments.
• Even when everything gets overwhelming, I have my wonderful friends to scoop me up and take me out for a girly day, complete with brunch, a spa day with manis and pedis, and a hair cut to boot (that only took over a year to get to a salon for a cut!). Miranda and Monica, you guys rock. That was the best day with you two.
• Al, who wouldn’t hear of us going anywhere else but his place, while we look for our new home in Calgary. We really don’t know what we would have done without you! I can’t wait for the adventures to begin in Calgary, with you as our guide to our new home city.
• I’m so thankful to have a realtor like MJ, who can quell the crazy in me, while our place gets listed — she’s been my “real estate rock” and great friend through this whole process. The condo goes up on MLS today, and she’s ready for a stellar week of showings…
• I wouldn’t have had the guts to embark on these crazy life changes without Jennifer, who has been a true inspiration during it all. Her hard questions, and guidance to keep me accountable, has given me the confidence to find the success that I seek. I mean it when I say, I couldn’t have done it without you.
• My family (and friends I consider family), who have assured me that they’ll come out to Calgary to visit often. I couldn’t bear to start fresh in a new city, if I thought I’d never see you guys in my new home. You guys make my life special, and no one will ever replace you.
• All the awesome new Twitter pals in #YYC who have welcomed me, before I have even arrived! I can’t wait to get to know you… Bring on the fun!
• And, of course Reilly, who’s photos made our condo look like it jumped straight out of a magazine! I am still in awe of the photos he took — I’m sure that will be a very big part of why we’ll get so much interest over the next week before we take offers on Saturday. Blue Olive Photography rocks my world!

What are you thankful for, these days?

——-
Jennifer Priest is a personal coach, facilitating creative solutions, inspiring motivation and creating accountability in clients’ personal and professional lives. More about Jennifer is available at her site here.

So, how about I give you four, for now? Thanks to Reilly and Blue Olive Photography for the stunning photos. You guys outdid yourself, once again!

More photos to come… But, in the meantime, we have showings to get ready for!

I have no idea why, really, but I’m frustrated and angry today.

There’s a ton of little things pissing me off. And, it’s probably mostly due to “too much change going on in Tanya’s world” — Let’s face it, I’m ms. freakin’ grumpy pants when I’m dealing with too much.

And, lately, the amount of change happening in my life is clearly over the top. Because, I don’t do change half-assed. Ever.

Oh, and. Nothing is going quite like I hoped. I know it’ll all turn out the way it should, and is supposed to, but, it’s so f’n frustrating in the meantime.

Let’s discuss:

• Finishing the renovations on the condo
• Cleaning the condo and staging it for sale
• Packing up the clutter to sell said condo
• Having no room anywhere to hide the boxes that need to be packed up to hide the clutter in the condo so that we can sell it
• Learning that because I haven’t waited a year, I have a $6000 bill for the damned property transfer tax (read: BC’s stupid tax grab) because I don’t get a free pass as a first time home buyer if I don’t keep my place for a year (and there’s simply no way I can wait to sell… we need a down payment for the new home in Calgary, not to mention the massive mortgage rule changes coming to Canada April 19th that I’d like to have the condo ready for)
• Doing the math after factoring all the costs associated to selling the condo, and realizing we’re barely making any money on the place when it’s all taken into account
• Finding out that my blog contents have been used for evil, instead of good (who does that?) really frustrates the snot out of me
• Finding two temporary homes in Calgary, while we look for a house to buy there (one at a friend’s place for a couple of weeks, thank god for that… and a furnished place so that I can work from home until we finally move into our new home)
• Getting all the wedding planning done in this chaos (who knew shopping and deciding on a wedding dress would be so darned stressful? I still don’t have that finished yet.)
• There’s a ton more, but I won’t bore you with the details…

So, when Jennifer and I had our regular coaching call last week, it didn’t really sink in what she meant by “have a plan B ready” — Now, it does. I’ve clearly been caught ill-prepared for the forks in the road this time. I thought everything would go smoothly, and it obviously hasn’t. She’s wicked smart, I tell ya! If I’d listened to Jennifer during our last call, I would have come up with contingency plans, which ultimately keeps me prepared for almost anything, rather than thinking I was ready to go, I wouldn’t be in this predicament. If you ever have a chance to work with Jennifer (and I highly recommend it…) LISTEN to her.

Hopefully, my mood will improve in the next few days. In the meantime, I’m headed home to help Barry get the place ready for photos for our MLS listing — Reilly is coming by to take some clearly exceptional photos this afternoon!

——-
Jennifer Priest is a personal coach, facilitating creative solutions, inspiring motivation and creating accountability in clients’ personal and professional lives. More about Jennifer is available at her site here.

Welcome, everyone! Continuing where the lovely Michele left off… Here’s your Weekend Meet n’ Greet!

Thank you to the wonderful people who play multiple times, each of you are guilty of spreading lots of comment cheer – hugs from me.

Spread the Comment Cheer!

How to play:

1. Leave a comment here that says hello.
2. Now, visit the person who commented above you, leave a comment on their site that includes the oft-repeated tagline: “Hello, NetChick sent me”.

Please play along.

Note to the first person commenting: simply say hello to me.

And YES, of course you are invited to play often. As you know, Michele always encouraged this, and so do I!

~ Tanya

—-

Help spread the word: Please ReTweet the game by clicking on this link, or let your own blog community know about it… Always fun to get new faces in the mix! Thanks guys!

This chick is moving… to Calgary!

I gave my notice at work this morning, although the exact end date is still undetermined… it’s about a month off. Barry got a job offer with his previous employer, and it was a position that suited him perfectly. How could we not go? Calgary is a city that has always intrigued me, and although isn’t filled with the green and the forests, nor the ocean right down the road, it does have a ton more sunshine, a vibrant cultural community, and seems to be a great place to start our lives as a newly married couple.

When I told my boss this morning, he was in shock. I think he asked me at least five times if I was sure I wanted to leave all this in Vancouver, for Calgary. I unequivocally said I was.

And, I am.

I am going to miss my friends and family dearly, but as I said to my step-mom last night on the phone, Calgary is an hour away by plane, which is actually less time than it takes to drive to deep dark Langley in rush hour traffic. (Sorry, guys, but Langley is pretty far away… I used to live there, so I’d know)

Barry came by my office to take me to lunch, and as I was walking him back to his truck, reality hit me. I almost couldn’t breath. Tears streamed down my face. And, for those of you who know me, this is completely out-of-character for me. It’s not the first time I’ve made a move like this — I literally dropped everything here, and moved to Los Angeles back in 2000. It was a tough time, but that time, I was just getting out of a 13 year marriage, and needed to re-invent myself. This time, I’m embarking on an adventure with my supportive and loving significant other by my side… I’m far more vulnerable this time, because Barry has a job, and I do not, but I know that is only temporary.

Everything will work out, and this is going to be the most incredible change and adventure I’ve ever had.

Bring it on!

We were over at the always-entertaining-and-fun-Bart’s place last night for a movie night… And we all agreed on The Brothers Bloom – the cast looked great… Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo, and a one legged cat! Not to mention, one of my favourite narrators, Ricky Jay, (who also narrated Magnolia) started off the narration of this movie.

It looked very promising for the first 2 minutes. How can you go wrong with a one legged cat, and Ricky Jay’s commentary?

Except, then the cat disappeared, the actors grew up, the narration dropped off, and the swindling began. Only, it was us viewers they actually swindled. Poor Bart had to pay for the rental, after all. And, that’s two hours we’ll never get back.

The story was beyond predictable, dumb, and overacted. We all joked that the director must have taken a vacation after directing the first scene or two. There was no direction after that.

So, two thumbs way down on this one.

Your turn: Have you seen a really bad, or better yet, a really great movie lately?

A few weeks ago, I had a call scheduled with my talented personal coach, Jennifer Priest, and I decided to ask her if I could involve Barry in the call for a change — we both had some combined goals we were working on, and it seemed to make sense.

Jennifer agreed, and we shared an incredible call, where some really great ideas were fleshed out for our future.

And, both Barry and I came out of that call with some major inspiration, some solid goals for each of us, as well as some “couple” goals that we could work on together. Of course, Jennifer asked some great questions I would have never thought to ask, as we determined the action we needed to do for each step, as well as discussed the roadblocks we might have to deal with along the way.

I highly recommend this way of getting on the same page with your significant other — let’s face it — if you both aren’t on the same page, you’re likely to be working towards goals without being completely effective.

Barry and I make a great team! It’s so awesome to have a guy who’s as motivated as I am to not only enjoy the ride, but achieve some major success, (as we both define it) together.

——-
Jennifer Priest is a personal coach, facilitating creative solutions, inspiring motivation and creating accountability in clients’ personal and professional lives. More about Jennifer is available at her site here.

Tanya’s list of don’ts when renovating your bathroom:

• Don’t renovate your only bathroom without getting a hotel room for a night or two while doing so
• Don’t leave demolition until the day before the tile guy is supposed to show
• Don’t start cutting the vanity legs off after it gets dark out (kind of hard to cut straight lines with a flashlight)
• Don’t assume that the vanity, with drawers, is going to fit with the plumbing the way it currently is… because it never does
• Don’t listen to Home Depot’s expert who says that the shower tiles should come off easily if the building is 13 years old, because “they installed them differently back then”
• Don’t think you won’t need to replace the cement-backed-drywall where the shower tiles were glued like someone’s life depended on them staying up. Because, you will NEED to replace the drywall. Period.
• Don’t leave the purchase of the granite or glass counter until the last minute. Waiting three weeks for a bathroom sink is the suck.
• Don’t assume the job is going to be a piece of cake, just because it’s a small bathroom. It’s not.

We’re only into day two of the bathroom renovation, and I’m already getting flashbacks from the kitchen reno that went on forever… Pavlov’s dog? You betcha…

Before and after photos coming soon!

There has been a lot of talk yesterday about the new iPad and it’s 3G capabilities — Americans (for starters) — how can you go wrong with AT&T’s deal of unlimited data for $29.99 a month for the iPad’s connectivity? You can’t really…

Except, how do you harness that data to make calls with a device that isn’t set up for calling out?

It’s actually really easy! You can try it right now on your iPhone with Skype: (this works for Canada, now, too!)

1. Sign up for an unlimited SkypeOUT plan for about $3 a month (click here to get started!)
2. Make sure you have a reasonable data plan to use (call your cell company to confirm)
3. Get the FREE iPhone app (and I’m sure there’s going to be an iPad app for the 3G model when it comes out) and you’re set!

You can also get an American SkypeIN number if you want, and voicemail is free on the SkypeOUT subscription, too!

How easy is that?

Now, if you are wanting to use 3G rather than wireless to make calls, that’s possible, too. Jailbreak your iPhone (which is stupidly easy to do), and simply get the 3G Unrestrictor available by Cydia installation to fool the phone into thinking it’s on a wireless connection. (This also works on Slingbox streams, too!) — This fix is only needed for the next month or so, as I hear the iPhone/iPad development kit is now available to allow 3G calls over systems like Skype, so that when the iPad launches, no jailbreaking will be necessary on either device.

I don’t know why I haven’t used Skype sooner for my daytime calls up until now — I currently only have 100 outgoing minutes during the day, and now for under $3 a month, I can have unlimited outgoing calls, anytime!

I’d love to hear your first impressions!

Will I be getting one? Simple answer… Yea. I will.

I’m not an Apple FanBoy by any stretch of the imagination. I refuse to use one of the iMacs at work, despite constant griping from my boss about my propensity towards PCs (even though I’m saving him a fortune, because if I were to get the horsepower I have in my PC in iMac format, he’d be paying twice as much for the same hardware).

But, what I am, is a user of technology that makes my life easier, and I won’t exclude any brand just because of the name. Like Apple. I bought the iPhone a year before it was available in Canada, and I was in line for the 2nd and 3rd gen phones as soon as they were available here in Vancouver. I use as much data as I can every month on my iPhone, since I pay for the 6gb data plan on it.

So, when there was even a hint of an Apple tablet on the horizon, I stuck to my guns and refused to buy into the eReaders like Kindle or Sony’s devices — Despite the fact that the battery power was awesome, and the contrast was great. The bottom line is, my demands for devices goes well beyond an eBook reader. But, I didn’t want to replace my top-of-the-line Dell laptop either… I love using it for it’s purpose (to drag around for when I need heavy duty applications like Photoshop or Word) that I can’t use my iPhone for.

But, the iPhone has it’s pitfalls, despite being extremely portable. My eyes are really bad, and even with my glasses on, I find it hard to see tiny things on the screen. I wanted a middle-of-the-road, everyday device that I could yank out of a medium sized purse, and use to compose emails, watch tv (via my Slingbox connection) and movies on longer trips, and read books without packing around four or five on a trip — Which is what I normally fill my carry-on bag with.

Now, I can ditch the carry-on all together — which is timely, since these days, carry-ons are sometimes not even allowed. I can just bring my Apple iPad. And, everything I need for travel, and basic entertainment is at my fingertips.

And starting at $499, I think it’s an incredible deal for the amount I’ll be using it for. Of course, I’ll wait for the 3G model, and will probably get the highest storage unit (64 gb for tons of movies, music, apps, and books) at $829 USD. Oh, and I LOVE the fact that it’s being sold UNlocked for data — Way to go Apple! Now, let’s hope this brings our GSM providers in line with AT&T to offer the $29.99 unlimited data in Canada for the iPad.

But, the one thing I’m frustrated with is no flash support. I mean, really. Apple and Adobe need to get their collective asses in gear on this — I don’t care what kind of fighting is going on behind the scenes, flash is here to stay, and inherent on a TON of websites. We NEED to have this supported on our mobile devices. Period.

So, yep… Count me in.

Thanks to TimeLapseHD on YouTube for this… It’s incredible. I saw it last night on the news and had to share it!

Enjoy!

…Tanya

Wedding update… boys, avert your eyes. I know I’m going to bore you with these details.

Firstly, Barry and I got great news last week, regarding our venue search! We’ve picked one, and it’s available!

We’re now booked for 50 people (more than I originally intended, but we needed to have 50 to get what we wanted) on a dinner cruise! YAY! It’s exactly right for what we want — It’s a private space, almost everything is included, it has a west coast theme (how much more west coast can you get, than getting married floating around the ocean front?), and it fits our budget.

Let’s face it — Neither Barry nor I buy into the conventional wedding hoopla and commercialization of it all. We just wanted to say our vows in front of a few close friends and family and enjoy a fun, close-knit party afterward.

It’s perfect. More on the details of the venue in another post.

The dress? It’s almost figured out, too! I’ve decided on a non-traditional dress — I’ve elected to go with an outfit that isn’t white, and certainly wouldn’t be mistaken for a wedding dress when I wear it again. It was actually kind of funny how I picked it. We were at “Indie I Do” last weekend to see the awesome work of Miranda, who organizes the annual alternative wedding planning event. I’m so glad that I did, as the outfit practically picked out itself from one of the companies displays. Once I go out to Fort Langley to try it on, I’ll be able to give some more details — stay tuned!

The invites are almost finished and ready for printing — I’m designing them myself (crazy, I know… not like I’m a designer or anything, heh) and although I almost fired my ass twice during the design process, I think I’ve figured it out now. I’m my own worst client, I tell ya.

I’ve emailed a marriage commissioner in Vancouver, but I haven’t heard back yet if she’s available, so I might have to look at one of the other commissioners in town. I’m sure we won’t have a problem finding one of them, three months out.

Oh, and my wedding will be live-blogged! Yep, I wouldn’t be a NetChick, if I didn’t have our wedding blogged via simulcast on my blog! Thanks Raul for doing this for us! You are totally going to rock it! (I’m still trying to figure out if I can stream video from my iPhone internet tethering to the blog without it costing me two month’s salary to do it)

So, there you have it… Wedding central, all planned in about four days. And the honeymoon? That’s been booked since July — all that’s left with that is the final payment to Celebrity Cruises, and finding reasonable airfare to London on May 2nd.

Phew.

This is one of those times when I wish my blog wasn’t so public — I hate putting up private posts, but I think I will in the next few days. There’s a ton going on with me right now, and my mind is swimming in all the details.

It’s all good, I assure you. But, you know how it is, when your significant other is on the job hunt, you want to be a bit more careful about things you post.

So, if you want access to the post, drop me a comment (or email me) and you’ll get the password when I publish it.

Hugs to my readers… You guys rock!

[RANT] I’ve been running into a lot of roadblocks at work for the past several weeks, because technology hasn’t caught up to the needs of today’s multimedia streaming, and demand for targeted content.

Talk about this being a source of on-going frustration for me.

In general terms… geo-targeting content doesn’t work well, and analytics for streaming media is basically non-existent. And, when you work with media brands, these things are mandatory tools of the trade. [/RANT]

Who’s with me, here?

Consider me be-speckled again! It’s been a while.

A year and a half ago, when I was coming back from my trip to the Caribbean, my very expensive glasses and baggage went through a search after I checked them coming home — The clue was the security sticker on my baggage when I got it from the carousel. Unfortunately, my glasses must have slipped from the corner of my luggage when it was went through (I always pack them in the same place so I can find them quickly when I get to my destination), and they were missing.

So, I’ve been dealing with contacts continuously since then… Which I don’t mind for the most part, because glasses hurt my nose due to all the surgeries I’ve had on my face over the years.

And then ClearlyContacts.ca offered me a free pair of glasses to try out their ordering process. I didn’t even know they sold glasses (despite the fact that I’ve ordered contacts for years from them!) — So, I gladly took them up on their offer.

When I hit their site to see what they had, I was surprised at a number of things… First, the price! Holy, they’re really inexpensive! And, secondly? I could actually virtually try on my glasses, right on the site! How cool is that?

So, that’s just what I did… And found a great pair very quickly! They’re rimless, which is what I need for weight, and they even have ultra-thin lenses as an option to add on the order.

To compare, my old glasses, which were fairly similar with ultra-thin Nikon lenses cost me $700. These? Even with the high-end lenses, they were worth under $200, without any discount! And, if you are happy with standard lenses, they’d be under $100.

Or… Under $50!! Because, if you live in BC, there’s a fantastic Olympic promotion on right now. Just use GOFORGOLD and you’ll get 50% off your order! There’s some other deals for people outside of BC, too! And the best part? You don’t pay for your order until after you get the glasses… Now, that’s just awesome.

Thanks ClearlyContacts.ca — I love my new glasses!

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a fabulous New Years, and holiday season… Mine was awesome.

By the time New Years eve rolled around, I was completely socialed-out, so Barry and I chose to share the evening with another 2 couples, rather than head out for a larger party (as much as we wanted to be with a big group of our friends, I just wasn’t in the headspace to be much fun in that setting).

The evening turned out perfect… We played Dominoes, (and promptly bought our own set the next day because it was so much fun) and poker with Barb and Steve, and only consumed a couple of glasses of wine for the evening. That said, we were enjoying ourselves so much that we stayed until 3:30 in the morning. Thanks guys! Good times.

On the topic of New Years resolutions… I don’t have many. As you all know, I’ve been working with my super-star personal coach Jennifer Priest, and I’m getting things in order to do some goal setting for short term and long term accomplishments with Barry. Our last call was of a more personal nature, so I can’t really share the details here, so instead, I’ll talk about some of my goals for this year:

– Find more time for a close-knit group of friends. I’ve been fairly stand-offish this past year, as I’ve been through a huge amount of change, as well as creating a new foundation for a wonderful and special relationship with my guy. Now that we have that, I look forward to spending some quality time with the special and dear friends in my life.

– Support Barry’s job search in any way I can. He’s got a lot of opportunities, but some are definitely better than others, looking at the big picture. Even if I can be nothing more than an ear, I want to be there as much as I can for him during this time of transition.

– Expand my knowledge on my own career front. I’m already doing this, but I’ve put my studying on hold during the holiday season. It’s time I get back to it.

– Set personal goals with Barry. I’m still sorting this out with Jennifer, and I have a feeling my call with her tonight will be primarily on this subject. I’m looking forward to getting some solid and attainable things set up for us both to focus on. I’m referring to things like, where would we ideally like to live? What does that home look like? What kind of salary do we each want to be working towards? How are we going to get there? You get the picture.

Bottom line — These aren’t really New Years resolutions, but rather setting a path to follow, even if loosely, so we can find success the way we both define it.

How was your holiday season and New Years celebrations?

——-
Jennifer Priest is a personal coach, facilitating creative solutions, inspiring motivation and creating accountability in clients’ personal and professional lives. More about Jennifer is available at her site here.

I wanted to let you know about something special going on at White Spot on Christmas Day… Head on out to White Spot for a Christmas Day lunch, and not only do you get to eat out but your money goes directly to charity!

For more than 10 years, White Spot staff and management at the Richmond Centre and Kingsway and Knight restaurants have volunteered their time and generously donated all tips and net proceeds from the sale of food on December 25.

Each year, the restaurants give approximately $10,000 to deserving charities. In 2009, they will contribute all monies raised to the Richmond General Hospital and Variety – The Children’s Charity. So, between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Christmas Day, guests can enjoy their White Spot favourites and know they are helping to brighten the lives of those in need.

Restaurant locations:
Richmond Centre
Unit 1902 – 6551 No 3 Road
Richmond, B.C.

Kingsway and Knight
1467 Kingsway
Vancouver, B.C.

Way to go White Spot! What a great way to give…