My lovely friends from high school took me to Kelowna and Big White for my bachelorette party and bridal shower (the wedding day is creeping up not too slowly). We walked past Parlour Ice Cream in downtown Kelowna, saw the huge ice cream cones that people were coming out with, and we knew we had to go in to try some. 

Everything is made in house, with ingredients sourced as locally as possible. While the waffle cones were not my favourite because they're meant to be soft, and I prefer the crispy texture, the ice cream itself ranks high on my list. They clearly put a lot of thought into each of the flavors, and I quite enjoyed their Birthday Cake: 

It tasted like real vanilla cake. I tried the Lavender, Cookies & Cream, and Salted Caramel as well, and those were pretty tasty too.



This was a memorable weekend of non-stop activities that my lovely bridesmaids planned, including a surprise party with some of my oldest friends, who traveled and drove for hours to be there. It's so important to have people in your life who travel at the same pace, literally and figuratively. We've all grown up together, bought property around the same time, and we all sort of walk at around the same speed. This group has really influenced the way that I am now, and some of them continue to amaze me with what they're able to accomplish. Including how late they can stay up, playing Super Smash Bros, every single time they get together.

Labour day long weekend came and went. Some great memories with H, and the Point Grey homies (PNW).

Sunrise on the 1st Day

Cedar Creek

Cheers!

We visited the Lakeside Dining Room at the Hotel Eldorado for brunch:

Fabulous.

Supercalifragilicious.

There were so many options! Alaskan king crab, mussels, shrimp, waffles, eggs benedict, omelettes, and real chicken, didn’t taste like it was made in bulk although it was. There was a roast beef station with one lonely chef manning it. He was also making the omelettes and the waffles, handling the line up like a pro. Then, there was the dessert table – fluffy tiramisu, creamy crème brûlée, chocolate cake and cheesecake, and MORE. Sometimes buffets are just disgusting, because all the food is cold and just looking sad, but this was nothing like that. It was definitely one of the best buffets I remember going to my life (perhaps the fact that we were starving from all the wine tours contributed to the deliciousness).

Us after the brunch.

It was a nice chill weekend, nothing strenuous, other than stretching our tummies. I love going to the Okanagan! Maybe H and I will make it a yearly thing, and eventually visit ALL the wineries there!
Real life caught up though, and the Samsung Note 7 exploding batteries are really traumatizing me. It doesn’t help that J at work keeps sending me links about exploding Jeeps, garages burning down, and warnings to not use the phone. Apparently some airlines are banning the use of Note 7’s. The Samsung store reps are just horrid though – they don’t really care about helping the customers and wouldn’t let me return my phone without all the accessories in hand. Their response to the whole thing:

“Samsung prioritizes the safety of their customers, but to date, there have been no instances of the Note 7 exploding in Canada.”

What if it’s my phone that is the one in a million explosive one? The sales reps at the Metrotown store just brushed me off. He showed me that he still had his Note 7 in his pocket, and seemed to insinuate that I’m wasting his time. I can see you’re busy, but providing customer service and helping out your customers is what you’re paid to do. The sales rep made me feel stupid for even coming into the store to ask him to exchange my phone when it’s their manufacturing defect that is inconveniencing all their customers. Horrible experience, after paying close to $1000. If I’m crazy and the phones are actually safe to use, why is Samsung bothering to recall them?

Others are having a tough time exchanging their phones too, and apparently, it should be powered off now.

Well, let’s just hope nobody gets hurt in this. I’m not charging my phone overnight if I can help it, but it's my alarm for work... 24 in a million chance it will explode...