Staycation

Devika and I have this whole week off due to Christmas holidays and such. We've been spending these days off wisely and accomplishing a lot. We had a list of things to do, and although we wanted to do everything on that list, we're still getting a lot of it done.

The week has been nice as we spent some time with family over the weekend and also with some friends during the week. We went out each day, even if it was just running a few errands here and there.

It's a nice week off as we both normally don't have days off together, unless we're going on vacation, so this week is a really good staycation. We did a little shopping, went out to eat at a few places, and just enjoyed staying at home but not having to go to work.

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve already, so we'll say goodbye to 2010 and say hello to 2011. As busy and successful 2010 was, we hope 2011 will be even more successful!

We hope everyone had a great holiday and wish everyone a prosperous New Year!

- DD

2010 YIR

Although December still has a couple of weeks left, I decided to do a Year in Review now:

The year began by finalizing some major bookings for the wedding, which included the venue and photographer. As the months went by, we continued on with our schedule and kept by it.

March rolled around, and we thought, we deserve a vacation (it was actually decided around January because that's when we booked it)! We went on a cruise in March with two other couples. This was a first for us to go on a trip with other friends, as all the other trips we've gone on was just the two of us. We had an amazing time and do not regret going on it whatsoever, despite the wedding at the end of the year.

At the end of April, I finally took the plunge. I was looking around for jobs for a while, but after almost three and a half years, I left the job I worked at since I finished school and started at another company. More money + more experience = good idea.

The summer months were filled with wedding planning. We tried our hardest to do whatever we could do early on so we wouldn't have to do it later on. We enjoyed our summer at the same time, but we took advantage of the slower weekends and focused on the wedding (refer to our older posts).

September marked off my first business trip! There was a conference in a small city in Seattle, so I went with my boss to listen in. Flight, hotel, food, and all other expenses were paid by the company [otherwise I wouldn't have gone ;)]. This was my first time on a business related trip, and my first time travelling by myself. I left on a Monday and came back early Thursday morning. 10 hours later, Thursday afternoon, I was back at Pearson with "the guys" to go to Cuba for my bachelor party! Yada yada yada, we came back in the middle of the night on Sunday/Monday. In that single week, I was in five different airports (because of transfers)! Before that week, I was in a total of maybe three airports my whole life.

October! Obviously whoever reading this knows what happened in October. The entire month flew by quickly. The first couple of weeks leading up to the days were all about the finishing touches. That weekend flew by, and then four nights in Chicago (yet another airport). We had tons of fun the entire month, as well as the last week when we came back.

That about sums it up! It's now December and looking back at the year seemed like a lot of events for us. Between the things I already listed, there were other mini events here and there that were equally important. There were also many highs for Devika as well, but I'll let her decide which ones she wants to blog about, since this is supposed to be our blog :)

Christmas is around the corner, and we both have the week off of work between the 27th-31st. We hope to have some things to do during that week as well. We'll end off the year, and start up the new one at a friend's house!

Year 2011 is already a promising one! We're hoping to take some courses to better our careers...close friends of ours are getting married in the summer...and we're looking to go on vacation near the end of the year! Here we come!

- Dennis.

Streetcar Machines

I take the streetcar to work everyday and whenever we go out on the weekends. Is it me, or can people not just ride the streetcar anymore?

These days, everywhere I turn, someone's either listening to music or texting/using their smartphone. This one time, there were seven people around me...five of them were on their iPhone, BlackBerry, or Smartphone. It's not even for business either. They're playing games, on facebook, or whatever it is they're doing. This other day, I saw a guy and a girl, they had to be no more than 16 years old. They're talking or whatever, and then they each whip our their Blackberries and they're on it for a few minutes. What has the world come to?! If I only invented the smartphone...

Maybe I'm just bitter because I (still) have a "regular" cell phone. People are like, "you still have that?". I tell them, "YA, I still have this cooool phone...until my contract is up next month and then I buy an iPhone!!!".

I like to rant about these gadget people on the streetcar, but I'm pretty sure if (when) I had one too, I'd be one of them.

On the flip side, it's nice to see that odd person on the streetcar reading a good ol' book. I'm trying to read more these days. I haven't finished a novel in ages, so I'm trying to finish the one I'm reading right now. Kind of hard when I recently bought a new game for the PS3.

- Dennis.

Presents

It's been almost nine (!) years since we've been together and really, we shouldn't need a holiday to buy each other things...but we do...and Christmas is the best time to do it!

We're pretty bad at keeping gifts as a surprise to each other. Normally, when we buy each other something, we end up presenting it to the other person way in advance. For example, Birthdays; I don't remember the last time we gave each other something on the day of.

About a month ago, we told each other that Christmas 2010 would be the year; the year that we buy Christmas gifts for each other and actually wait until Christmas to open them. We bought a real Christmas tree (a mini one that's about two feet) a couple of weeks ago, decorated it, and the presents started accumulating underneath. After a week or so, there were a good number under there, ones for each other, and ones for other people...

...as of right now, there are only gifts for other people. That's right, we already opened each other's gifts.

Mark my words now -- Christmas 2011 will be the year.

- Dennis.

Holiday Tips

Since it's the holidays and all, I thought that I, a now married 20 something male, can shed some light on some tips for holiday shopping.

Tip #1: Make a list

And check it twice. Making a list of who you need to buy gifts for is always helpful, and add in the approximate amount you want to spend on that person. This will not only give you a better idea of how many items you need, but will give you a budget to work with so you're not overspending.

Tip #2: Decide what to get

If possible, while making your list, decide what you're going to get the person first, or at least have an idea. It makes it much easier to go to the store and just pick it up, rather than spending (and wasting) time looking for something. It IS the holiday season, so people are out there and it's going to be busy, which brings me to...

Tip #3: Go early

Where ever you're going, especially if it's a mall, go early. Go just after the mall opens, or go during an off peak time, because if you don't, you'll have all tons of people in your way. My favourite are groups of people who hang out in the middle of an area which blocks half the lane. I ran into a group this weekend who were standing at the top of the stairs, just hanging around.

Tip #4: Get exactly what people want

If someone requests a certain item, make sure you get details, like the item/size/colour/model/link so you can get that exact same thing, and nothing else.

Tip #5: Shop online!

I'm not a huge online shopper, but I found a lot of deals online this year. A lot of stores have online deals as well, which ends up saving you some money. The only downside to it, which deters me from it, is that you can't see or feel the product to "test" it out, especially clothes.

Happy Shopping! Only about two and a half weeks left!

- Dennis.