Bye Bye Harry Potter

The end of an era. A few weeks ago, Brian and I donned our Harry Potter costumes, went to the movie theatre at midnight, and stayed up until 2:30 to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in the theatre. The movie was satisfying, but the experience was just okay. Sorry Vancouver, but you don't know how to do Harry Potter parties like Salt Lake City. Prior to the movie we just stood in a line with a bunch of high schoolers in mediocre costumes. Needless to say, there wasn't a Harry Potter wedding at the theatre.

Knowing that there wouldn't be any more book release parties or movie releases, and that Harry and the Potters concerts and Harry Potter parties would become more rare, I made sure to do as many Harry Potter events in the month of July as possible. Here's some photos from the Vancouver Harry Potter Picnic.

Homeless No More!

After a month of living in Vancouver, Brian and I have finally moved into a permanent residence. Our apartment is a small one bedroom in Kitsilano, which is a trendy neighborhood between the University of British Columbia (where Brian is working) and downtown (where I hope to be working). Right now we’re trying to figure out where to put all of our stuff. We’re in the awkward situation of having to get rid of furniture that doesn’t fit and having to buy sofas, bookcases and storage shelves that work with our new layout. We’ll post pictures once our apartment looks a little more like a home and a little less like a cardboard village for the homeless.

1930s Theme Wedding

Brian and I spent last weekend in Colorado to see the wedding of our friends Madalene and Sam. It was wonderful to see them get married after dating for nearly 14 years (not that there’s anything wrong with long courtships J). I’ve known Madalene since summer nerd camp twenty years ago, so it was also nice to see all of her family and our friends from over the years. We carpooled to the wedding with our friends from Seattle.It’s a good thing that Tim and Emily are so cool, because 20 hours is a really long time to spend in a car.

Sam and Madalene had a 1930s themed wedding with costumes and old-timey cocktails, lawn games, and music. Madalene and Sam used our friend Michael Tallman as their photographer. I’m really looking forward to seeing the wedding photos because he did such an amazing job with our wedding. We’ve posted more photos from the wedding on our Picasa site here.

Vancouver is Pretty Cool

Brian and I have been living in Vancouver for about a month now and I really like here so far. The city architecture is very modern with glass skyscrapers overlooking the sea. There are windows everywhere – this is so that you don’t miss the sun on the occasions when it shows itself. The city is incredibly bicycle friendly and both Brian and I have been getting into better cycling shape as we explore our new city.

We’ve been spending our time with some of Brian’s fellow post-docs at UBC. As a result, most of our friends aren’t from Canada. We’re currently scheming for ways to make some Canadian friends.

Vancouver is also literally cool – it’s July and it’s not very hot. Most days the temperature is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and I’m wondering when I’ll have a chance to wear skirts, shorts and summer dresses. I’m looking forward to going to Colorado so that I can wear clothing that’s suited to the 90 degree temperatures that I’m used to.

You can see some more pictures of Vancouver here.