It is the new year and I am going to talk about how to put yourself first. I have a very close friend whose husband wanted to give her a break from the kids and himself and give rejuvenate her time to regenovate. I was invited along as a close friend. Her husband paid for an expensive hotel in the heart of Vancouver downtown for us. He paid for the high end room where we had access to the club house and the services offered by the club house. It was nice to have this break from life. All we did was sleep, talk, shop and eat. A day away from the husbands and daily activities of life. I recommend this for any one to take time to enjoy life with your friend, especially to start the new year. We went on a shopping spree that we ending spending about $400 dollars each. What did I end up buying with my $400 dollars.? I ended up buying a beautiful white coat on sale for $200. We went to the kate spade outlet stores that I bought a bracelet, earrings and beautiful gold top for another $200. It was beautiful stayvacation and made me ready for the new year.

The last time we visited New Westminster we went to the popular Waterfront of New Westminster, where we discovered the history of this Vancouver city as the first capital of British Columbia and one of the oldest settlements of Vancouver. Now we are moving uptown to discover the downtown area of New Westminster. Located between sixth and eighth street and stretching from royal avenue and all the way to seventh avenue, we have the uptown area. There is something about this Vancouver Suburb that keeps me coming back. Whether is the look of old meeting the new, the food choices, the thrift stores, the bakery, the quiet relaxed atmosphere, and the fact that you can be yourself, I have to admit New Westminster uptown has grown on me. Here is a few pics of the area to start as we go deeper and deeper into the area this month:

We are almost a month into the new year and I haven’t written my new years resolution yet. in the coming weeks I will write in detail the plan in have for 2020 till mid 2021. But here is my concentration for 2020:

Beauty- take up make-up lessons and lose 15 lbs

Travel- renew my passport and travel to Las Vegas and a poosible trip to Victoria

Professional- Take typing course

Personal-Try reading two books per month and take a cooking course in 2021, Children, restart the process, send my poems in to different publication to see their response

The are so many spots and sights to see in Vancouver’s Granville South that will make you feel rich and trendy. Here is my lists of things to see and do in the neighbourhood.

First go furniture/household shopping in a fashion oriented household and furnishings place such as:

Second go to a book store and visit the local cafes:

Thirdly visit historical buildings and sites:

Lastly enjoy shopping, eating and walking the neighbourhood

In the month of December, an extra paycheck was added for the both of us. I ended up making $2600 for the month and my husband ended up making $3200, for a total of $5800 for the month. For the month of December we ended up spending a total of $4669. So for the month of December, we had a surplus of $1131. For the previous month we had $639 in savings. The total amount of savings we have now is $1770. Here is the breakdown of our spending in December:

	predicted		actual December Figures
BC Hydro	$50			$50
Lotto	$80			$160
Fun	$40			$40
Bmo Line	$450			$467
TD paym	$121			$80
St loan	$121			$89
Bank Fees	$11			$11
RBc pay2	$200			$197
Rent	$1,450			$1,485
BMO PE	$1,200			$1,555
Cibc loan	$20			$120
RBc pay1	$220			$247
Mutual F	$25			$25
Charity	$22			$22
c rbc loan	$121			$121
total	$4,131			$4,669

Granville South is a fashionista’s dream especially if you love women’s fashion. I couldn’t stop myself from drooling as I walked up and down Granville South and encountered beautiful ladies fashions. Here is a sample of what I encountered as we strolled along Granville South:

I am saying goodbye to holiday season by visiting the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens. It is highly recommended place to visit during the holiday and should be on your do to do list during holiday season. The cost for two people is $48. Here are the pictures:

The food options in Granville South is plenty and delicious. A few of these restaurants are going to moving out of the area as lease and rental properties begin to skyrocket. However here are my favorites that are still here in Granville South:

The four flavours of food we sampled in this area were 1) american style breakfast-courtesy of breakfast table located@ 1481 broadway w 2) Sushi van located@ 2566 Granville st 3) Memphis blues located@ 1465 broadway w 4) Jitlada Thai food located @ 1459 broadway w 5) express pho located @1455 broadway w

Let me tell you I am very biased about this area of Vancouver. I love love love this area. The one bedroom rental ranges from $1,800 to 2, 100, but this area offers alot interms of quality life. From the many art galleries, restaurants, shopping experiences, cafes and the close proximity to the city’s downtown. My love affair began with this area, a long time ago and it never seems to disappear. And now to showcase the artzy side of Granville South with a few of the art galleries:

Kurbatoff located @ 2435 Granville Street

Heffel Gallery located @ 2247 Granville St

Ian Tan Gallery located @ 2342 Granville St

Create your own art @ deserres located @ 1431 Broadway W

We are officially saying goodbye to Renfrew Vancouver with the last remaining pictures and our focus for the next weeks will be the area of Vancouver known as Granville Street South. There is a sharp contrast between these two areas of Vancouver that is why I choose Granville Street. But before we move on from the suburbs, just wanted to highlight the beautiful parks of Renfrew Vancouver and what is often very beautiful about the suburbs: