If you know me, you know how much I love Love LOVE food and wine. And the absolute highlight of the trip was dinner at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. It’s one of few restaurants where the quality of the food is not inversely proportionate to the quality of the views. We were incredibly lucky to get a reservation there - I called from the Airport on Friday before we left, and the caller before me had just canceled their Saturday reservation. Otherwise it’s generally weeks to get a weekend sitting.

We had the tasting menu and accompanying flight of wine - and let me tell you, there are only a few things in this world (which I won’t mention, since my Mom reads this, but you get the idea) better than the taste and mouth-feel of amazing food with perfectly paired wines.

I’m mostly posting this so I can go back and reminisce over the menu at some point, but for the curious (because I know there are at least a few food/wine nerds reading), here’s what we had:

Amuse Bouche: Tomato Gaspacho, Rabbit Confit on Crostini, Crab Cake
Champagne - estate and vintage long forgotten

Cold Foie Gras Torchon, Duck Prosciutto, Fig Compote
Trimbach Reserve, Pinot Gris 2003, Alsace France

Maine Lobster, Fennel Remoulade, Herb Salad
Schafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay 2005, Napa

Braised Filet of Halibut, Artichoke, Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pascal Jolivet Sancerre 2005, Loire Valley France

Roasted Rack of Lamb, Confit Eggplant, Tomato Tart, Tarragon Jus
Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2002, Alexander Valley

Crispy Michigan Farmstead Artisanal Camembert, Almond Apricot Petite Salad
Wedell Pinot Noir 2004, SantaRita Hills California

Eiffel Tower Dessert: Neil had the Apple Strudel, I had the Chocolate Sampler
Clos Uroulat Jurancon 2004, France

It was all just as good as it sounds - possibly better.

In point form, because I am still damn dehydrated, the plane was very delayed last night, and I’ve got lots of work to do:

Destination: Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada! (but oh the desert is dry! I feel so, so crusty)

Airline: West Jet - Captain Dave missed the runway on the first approach in, so we got an extra roller-coaster ride and some sore ears upon arrival (can we say 1,000-10,000 feet in 3.6 seconds?)

Hotel: Planet Hollywood (Formerly the Aladdin) - yay for the birthday upgrade! We got a junior suite on the 50th floor

Shows: Random comp tickets to Jay Leno at the Mirage on Friday (6th row centre) and bought tickets to Blue Man Group on the 28th

Sights: It was too damn hot to walk around much, so we pretty much stuck to the Centre Strip - Bellagio, Paris, Bally’s, Flamingo, Mirage

Shopping: Oh the shopping! I can’t wait to go back in November (work-trip for DevConnections) to load up again!

Fooding: Amazing Birthday Dinner at the Eiffel Tower! Six course tasting menu with accompanying flight of wine and beautiful views.

Relaxing: I’m glad we brought the bathing suits anyway, because we spent most of Sunday in the hotel pool before heading to the airport.

Gambling: we watched lots of tables, but with minimums starting around $10 and my severe lack of any skill at card games whatsoever, I figure I’ll practice at the casinos here a bit longer and try gambling on the next trip. We did hang out at the penny slots for a while to take advantage of the free drinks though!

And that’s all she wrote folks - I’m in love with Las Vegas, it really is like Disneyland for grownups, and we’re already planning our next trip!

To Me!

My one and only Champagne Birthday is coming up in two short days!

I’ll turn 27 on the 27th. Even cooler (at least I think it is) is that I’ll turn 27 on 27-07-2007.

I was going to throw a big party!

Until I was informed that there is something else in store.

All Neil would tell me is that I had to cancel the party, since I won’t be home Friday night (or all weekend at all, actually).

Other details I know:
-I should pack “airplane friendly”
-Dinner attire is required
-A bathing suit is not required

Anyone want to hazard a guess on what could be up?

Update: (July 26, 8:30am)

Because Neil is a horrible secret-keeper, and I am a) freakishly observant and b) a bit of a pest I can add the following two details:

-We are leaving the Country
-We are not leaving the continent

So uh… what are your votes for American or Mexican cities that I could be visiting?

A letter I just submitted through Chapters’ online Customer Service form:

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I am completely and utterly disappointed by the way the Harry Potter release “delivery day shipment” was handled.

I’m not sure whether it was an issue with Chapters, or with Canada Post, but my order was NOT delivered today, Saturday July 21st by the time of writing (9:40pm). Canada Post’s tracking information states the book is still “out for delivery” as it has been since 8:11am.

I have never had issue receiving orders from Canada Post at my apartment before - they manage to deliver my mail daily, and yet I have not received my order, nor any slip on my door or in my mailbox stating that they were unable to make a delivery and I should pick up my book at a postal outlet. The tracking website also has not been updated to state that an attempted delivery was even made.

I believed in the promise that Chapters and Canada Post made to their customers, that pre-orders received by a certain date would be honoured and delivered between 8:00am and 6:00pm today.

Because that promise was broken, I will be returning my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows whenever it arrives, and purchasing it instead from an independent book retailer.

I purchased from Chapters because I believed your organization had the corporate skill and ability to effectively partner with an organization that would deliver my book, conveniently, as promised, on the day of release.

Instead, I have wasted an entire day waiting for a promise that wasn’t fulfilled. And it will certainly cause me to rethink my decision to purchase from Chapters - either in-store or online - in the future.

Sincerely,
-Jennifer

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Canada Post will be getting a similar tirade, once I have access to a browser that is compatible with their site. Anyone else have this problem, and anyone know of a store (that isn’t Chapters) where I can buy a copy of the damn book tomorrow?

Update: July 25/07

Chapters = Awesome

Canada Post = Not so much.

Chapters was really accommodating responding to my request, taking my return at the store and refunding my purchase including shipping. They have apologized profusely, and basically done everything right.

Canada post told me initially they couldn’t help, and when pressed, relented to “sending a message to the depot, with instructions to tell all carriers to always attempt delivery.” Considering Chapters’ site stated that posties were already instructed to attempt delivery whenever possible, I don’t have much faith in their instruction. I was also explicitly told that I shouldn’t expect a follow-up.

I am still not impressed, and disappointed on Chapters’ behalf, because while they did everything right I still won’t buy from them if they partner with Canada Post again for a release like that. I hope they’re wise enough to use a more reliable courier if there is a next time.

So, work.

I forgot how much I missed it.

Seriously.

Stop laughing.

Really though, I work with a really great group of people and get to deal with a product that I’m actually interested in and care about.

Strangely enough, I’m also socially connected by 1 degree to a few people in the company - it’s strange, but nice to know that these people are actually “my people” (or more accurately, the people of my people).

Speaking of “people” - if you’d like to be one of the people, we’re on a crazy hiring spree at the moment as well. If you are, or know of someone looking for work as a C or .NET developer, or an Office Manager (must be able to do payroll and that other “office managery” stuff like ordering supplies, etc.) then drop me a line - jenATthisdomainDOTcom. I’ll fill you in on the deets. Also, you’d get to work with me, and how much fun would that be?

Unfortunately, what I’ve been doing most of this week is slightly less than exciting. I’ve been reading a LOT of background material and getting myself settled in. Upside: the company is moving into a downtown office space at the end of the month and everyone is still working from home - so most of the reading (on days when I don’t have meetings) is being done sans pants. Which is awesome for me, but not so much for you, because I don’t leave the house often enough to find adventure to blog about.

Hopefully when I’m working a full 40-hour-pants-on week I’ll have more tales of tomfoolery and office hyjinx to share with you.

Until then, I’ll leave off with telling you that I’ll be doing some travel for this job - I already know I’ll want noise-canceling headphones, but which ones to buy, and what else will I need?

A collection of random things, because I am seriously all out of drama for this week.

I’m typing up a fact sheet and for some reason, my brain thought “Monitoring” and my fingers output “Minotauring” - because it’s important you get all your half-man/half-bull needs taken care of.

We were supposed to be moving this month. Our condo is not finished yet (thus far the estimate is still December). This makes me very sad. Not because I want the penthouse views or better layout or hardwood floors. No - because I HATE the countertops here. They are all super porous laminate that stains like a mofo. The kitchen counters are splotched with red wine, coffee and other mystery stains. Know what the bathroom counter has absorbed? Smells. Including the smell of wet, nasty dog from the skunk incident last week. The new place has granite. And a damn dog-washing station in the parkade level, so she doesn’t have to shake all over our bathroom.

Three words that made my day: Man Eating Badgers.

I have taken to going outside and caressing our monster tomato plant, just because then my hands will smell like tomato plant - which is, as far as I’m concerned, one of the best smells in the world.

Remember the awesomeness that is the Bodygroom and the shaveeverywhere.com campaign? They’re back! This time with the Story of Sack! Now that the sun’s come out, are you beach ready?

It seems my readers are a fairly risk-averse crowd, with a surprising (at least to me) number saying go for the larger company (Job 1).

I honestly thought for a very long while that’s what I wanted. After some serious navel-gazing and some counsel from close friends and family, it seems that, well, not so much. Thinking about my “favourite” jobs (or favourite aspects of past jobs) I kept going back to the crazy, crazy times I had in startups and non-profits. Few people and fewer resources were balanced out by a lot of enthusiasm and energy. The successes were always far, far sweeter at the end of the day.

The craving for stability has been a response to external pushes. Criticisms that my resume showed too much “movement.” Too many industries. Big red flags. It was a serious barrier to getting interviews. However, the companies who did think to question the situation and my motivation were generally impressed with my chutzpah, ability to recognize opportunities and damn impressed with my work samples to boot. I still hold an impressive interview/job offer ratio, being offered about 75% of the jobs I have in-person interviews for. Perhaps this “liability” has acted as a filter for companies where I could do well instead?

My biggest concern was still figuring out what I wanted out of an employer. Job 1 isn’t a typical “big machine” large company, and Job 2 isn’t a typical startup or microbusiness. Looking at the day-to-day work and opportunities, while I could definitely see myself at Job 1, I was more excited and actually starting to strategize campaigns in my head for the role at Job 2.

That doesn’t mean my decision was any sort of easy, though. I ended up navigating my way through my first salary negotiation/bidding war. Probably not very successfully (depending on your definition of success - which probably isn’t “sit at home a freak the fuck out for a few hours on which way to go while offers and increases roll in”), though I’m still pleased with the outcome.

Both initial offers were completely fair. I make it a point to stay on-top of salary surveys etc. for my industry. Both were on the higher end of the median for that role and my experience. Job 2’s initial offer was higher, though not substantially so. And salary certainly isn’t everything.

After presenting their offer, Job 2 called a couple times to see if I had any further questions, and to lay on the “we really want you” sugar. I expressed my concerns about the potential risk. This is when Job 2 increased their offer.

I really appreciate the way Job 2 went about the process. They acknowledged my concerns, put their money where their mouths are and increased their compensation in a way that showed they were serious - though the increase was certainly not excessive. Their recruitment was aggressive, but I never felt unduly pressured. I also strongly suspect they did their homework, googled me, and may have been reading my blog yesterday. Blogging as negotiation tactic? Perhaps something to explore…

Anyway, I informed Job 1 of the situation, and that I didn’t expect them to change their compensation, but wanted to thank them for the opportunity and tell them that I’d be declining their offer.

Job 1 immediately offered to match Job 2. A full 25% increase in salary and 50% increase in vacation compared to their initial offer. Of course that showed they wanted me on their team, but it also showed they really low-balled me on the first offer. Their first offer was fair and exactly within the range I told them I expected, so the huge increase seems knee-jerk and based on nothing more than competition. I still have mixed feelings about it. So I declined again, and faxed my acceptance to the start-up.

And that’s where things stand today.

My first day’s on Monday, and I’m beyond pleased that I finally feel settled.

Besides which, if the company does tank in a couple years, I’ll just give up on work to have tons of babies, and the Job 1 crowd can all tell me “I told you so.”

The past week has been an absolute whirlwind - and a complete 180 from the 13 weeks beforehand.

I’ve been interviewing like mad (5 work-days, 5 companies, 7 interviews) and find myself presented with two offers (well, 3, but one is totally unsuitable, and the other two companies just haven’t replied yet).

In any case, I’m firmly wedged between the proverbial rock and hard-place with these two offers. Both are great. I’m having a really hard time deciding. So I figured, why don’t I ask the internets what they’d do?

First, the similarities: title, job scope, commute, industry, opportunities for mentorship, vacation time and benefits. You know, the things I was going to use as my differentiators when making the decision on the really *right* place to be.

And now, the differences:

Job One: Is exactly what I asked for when I first started this job-hunt thing. Mid to larger sized company on a growth trajectory. They have made a lot of recent acquisitions in the past months and need to expand their marketing department to deal with it. The majority of work would be doing brand unification and change management. I found this job through an internal referral. There wasn’t actually a position in existence, but a combination of really clicking with the VP of Marketing and their need for people led her to push through the creation of a position to bring me into the team. Speaking of which, there is a team of about 6 people - so lots of opportunity for collaboration. From the state of the company today this could be a great 3-5 year (or beyond) opportunity.

Job Two: Came out of a posted position I applied for. The company is a startup, going to market ideally in September. After researching the management team, questioning their motivation, business plan, beta program, funding and talking to some industry people who may be interested in their product this is a good opportunity. The majority of work would be doing product launch and buzz generation. There is some limited travel involved (about 10%). I’d be working primarily with the VP Marketing, VP Project Management and Director of Business Development. The position has been designed to ramp up to management (where I’d build a team of reports) in a fairly short timeframe. The starting pay is 13% higher. The offer comes with stock options - though I generally don’t take those into consideration. More often than not they turn out to be worth less than the paper they’re printed on. I don’t think this company will fail - but taking into consideration the current state of things, I see this to be an 18-month to 2-year opportunity before IPO or Acquisition takes place. I see acquisition with this particular product more likely, and that move would likely render my position redundant.

So - taking into account the facts I’ve presented (and probably ignoring my speculation) - what would you do?

I’ve even included a handy poll for your voting pleasure!

UPDATE! would those who are voting in the poll care to actually comment with why they’d make the choice they have? Thus far the comments and poll results are diametrically opposed.

I need to have an answer by the end of the day tomorrow. Of course I’m going to choose the one that I ultimately decide is best for me, but I am interested in what *you* would do, or if you think there are other factors I haven’t considered.

Honey-Moon that is.

Both Neil and I are getting itchy feet again, and the uncertainty around my work situation has meant that we’ve had to keep our travel planning fairly limited in terms of destination and duration.

So what does one do when they can’t plan for a vacation in the immediate future? Plan for one in the not-so-immediate future instead. We booked the major airfare and a custom, private tour for the first part of our honeymoon over the weekend!

The plan is to fly out of Tofino either Sunday evening (March 30) or Monday Morning (March 31) back to Vancouver. The evening of the 31st, we hop on another plane to Morocco! We’ve got a 12-day itinerary with a private guide and A/C Land Rover at our disposal for the duration (I’ll post details after the jump). After that, we’ll make our way across the water to Spain, and hopefully spend the next 6 days recuperating while lounging in a villa near the Costa del Sol before flying from Malaga back to Vancouver on April 18th.

So, of course I have questions for the intrepid globetrotters out there:

Killing Time: Have any of you been in the British Airways executive lounge at Heathrow? Is it worth the price of admission? Both arrival and departure flights have 3 hour layovers there, and the Heathrow cattle-pen isn’t really all that awesome for just hanging out in.

Also under the killing time umbrella, we’ve arranged for extended leisure time in Fes and Marrakech - any suggestions for must-see and don’t-bother sites? Same question for Southern Spain - though nothing too taxing of course.

Planes, Trains, Automobiles: If you’ve travelled between Africa and Spain, how did you get from point A to point B? Our options seem to be Plane or Train/Ferry. Plane is slightly more expensive (by $75 each or so). Ferry ride is 6 to 9 hours.

Home, Sweet Home: Any advice for places to stay in southern Spain? Must be self-catering, so we can privately gorge on Serrano ham and Sangria. Neil definitely wants something beachy, but we both agree that we’d prefer to be a little off the beaten path so we’re hopefully not lumped in with the droves of packaged-tour pink Brits who flock to the area to soak up the sun.

Wardrobe Crisis: Again, in an effort to be as inoffensive as possible, I’m looking for suggestions on what to wear in Morocco. The country is primarily Muslim (with a few Berbers and even fewer Christians thrown in for good measure) so I must be mostly covered. Other than stocking up on long linen pants and skirts and a large hat for the sun, what would y’all suggest? Bonus query: recommendations for comfortable, non-sneaker footwear?

Watch your Language: Between us we probably have enough French (which is similar enough to Spanish) to get by in that department. However, we’d love to get some Arabic under our belt before we go. Is there anywhere in Vancouver we can take some conversational Arabic classes - or a good “book on tape” program anyone can recommend?

Shutterbugs: We’ll need a new digital camera before we go. Something with enough power and options to take effective night pictures (remote control, long shutter speed settings), but not fancy enough to be inconvenient to carry or attract unwanted attention from those who’d prefer to relieve us of it.

Thanks in advance for answers to those, or any questions I’ve not thought of yet! And of course, after the jump, our Moroccan itinerary:
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I only wish I were talking about Neil’s stanky running shirt again.

Despite the fact that it had only been 3 days long, this week has been exceedingly busy for me. I’ve had 4 interviews in 3 days and managed to pick up a freelance project. Combine that with an evening volunteering, the sudden heat that I’m not used to yet, and the rest of life that needs taking care of - all I wanted to do last night was relax.

After finally finishing for the day and grabbing some dinner out (we have been too busy to procure foodstuffs), it was about 9:30pm and I was looking forward to hitting the couch with a good book or whatever TiVo had in store.

Neil wanted nothing more than to go walk the dog to the beach. Despite his cajoling, I (who’d already been out with the beast twice that day) resisted and grabbed a book while he took the dog and headed out.

I’d only gotten a couple pages in when the phone rang:

Jen: Hello?
Neil: You’ll never believe what just happened to the dog
Jen: uh…. I assume she’s alive?
Neil: Oh yah - but guess what she got into?
Jen: She rolled in something smelly?
Neil: Close!
Jen: Uh…..
Neil: She got sprayed by a skunk!

If you have ever dealt with this before, you know what the rest of my night consisted of.

The Highlights:

-Googling for skunk oil removal remedies that could be procured from either a corner store, 24h drug store or other retailer open at about 10:00pm
-Wrestling with a big, wet, hairy, upset dog in the bathtub, trying to apply vinegar and baking soda to her chest and face
-Realizing vinegar doesn’t work on skunk oil worth a damn
-Sending Neil to the store for peroxide, more dish detergent, and douche (kinda bad for people - apparently good for removing skunk oil from animal faces, where you shouldn’t apply caustic solutions).
-Finding out that nobody who works the night-shift at Shoppers Drug Mart on 4th or Broadway a) knows what products the store carries, b) speaks English or c) cares.
-Applying a foamy mixture of peroxide, baking soda and dish soap to a dog who’s been bathed twice already and isn’t happy about it, and trying to keep her from shaking it all off for 10 minutes.

We finally gave up and got to bed around 1:00am - us in our bedroom with the door closed to protect it from the smell, the dog in her crate in the living room, the towels and clothes we used out on the deck.

This morning we were back at it at 6:00, tossing Neil’s clothes, yesterdays’ towels and anything else that got covered in skunk stank into the laundry or garbage, and scrubbing down the bathroom. Thankfully, it seems like we’ve gotten most of the offending odors out of the house - though I think I need a trusted friend to come by and let me know if it does smell in here or not.

The poor dog seems to be mostly ok. Neil was unable to get the douche solution for the dog’s face, so her wee head still smells a little - but other than her dry fur (stripped of all its natural oils, along with the skunk oil) and her wounded pride, she is recovering just fine out on the deck in the sunshine with a peanut-butter kong. I’m going to go out and try to procure some douche concentrate today to soak her face with, and hopefully that’ll take care of the last of the smell and we can let her back in the house, and get on with life, skunk-free.

I *told* Neil I didn’t think a walk last night was a good idea. I think after all that, he agrees.

They have officially started.

They = wedding dreams.

No, not those dreams that little girls have about a big princess dress, gigantic cake, prince charming, etc. etc. I never was prone to those. I was far more focused on obtaining a pony than a prince. Incidentally, while I have the prince, I’m still 98.5% pony-free.

These are the kind of dreams overextended colleagues and classmates claimed they’d get in times of stress. The kind where you show up to work naked, or show up to class and realize you need to write an exam worth 75% of your grade that you were (up until that moment) completely unaware of.

I’d be the last to say that wedding planning is stressing me out, but I’m still having semi-regular dreams about showing up to my wedding, and realizing I’ve forgotten to organize about 80% of it. Subconsciously created catastrophes have included:

Of course, I show up thinking everything is hunky-dory, and it’s only when someone else in the dream draws my attention to the missing elements that I start to freak out.

And, for a special treat, in a strangely Hofstadtean twist, I managed to startle myself awake from a dream just the other night in which various family and friends were trying to calm me down because I was so freaked out about yet another wedding dream in which I’d managed to forget to plan any number of things.

In case that was confusing: I have progressed to dreaming about having these dreams.

And while I suppose it’s good that my subconscious is acknowledging the momentous nature of entering into a marriage (because goodness knows I’m acting laissez faire enough about the wedding to drive my mom crazy - sorry mom!), these wedding dreams can feel free to fuck right off any time now.

Because if this is what I’m in for over the next nine months… well let’s just say elopement is sounding better and better…