Yes, this is (another) post about loving Mad Men

pictures courtesy of yumsugar.com and trendland.com

I love this show. Period.

Now back when I first started this blog, I said this about joining the legion of people who already have a blog. Well, the same thing applies to me joining the ranks of fanatical Mad Men fans who have professed their love of the show, which explains the post heading. Once again, I am the latecomer to the party, but I make no apologies for that. I'm not even sure where to start regarding my love for this show, except to say I love this show. Love it. To be clear, I love this show. Not sure why all of a sudden I need to shout this from the rooftops, but there it is.

Maybe it's withdrawl symptoms now that season five is over. Maybe it's the fact that I have a long and not entirely patient wait until 2013 for season six. Whatever the case may be, I'm a little shocked and amazed how I ve completely taken to this show.

I was hooked from the first episode back when I started to watch the show in late 2008 (it started 2007). I was hooked. Completely. Anticipating each episode. Looking forward to the various exchanges and scenarios between the characters at the office and at home. Babbling about it to friends and family. Becoming anxious, and yes quite emotionally invested in the fictional lives of Don, Peggy, and yes, even Betty. Watching the evolution of characters such as Joan and Pete. Watching people come and sadly go - Sal (still miss you!!), Kinsey, Lane, the amazing Bobbie Barrett, between seasons. Making time every Sunday to ensure that I don't miss an episode. Downloading the episode on Itunes so I can watch it again the next day (and the next). Jumping to some of my favourite sites to read what others have said about the episode. I have devoured every inch of this show, from the dialogue to the fashion to, of course, the food (and drinks - this lounge in Berlin made a very satisfying old-fashioned - UPDATE 2013, the bar has closed and will re-open as a restaurant - shame really).

I'm often amazed, but not surprised of the efforts that the show creators have gone through to recreate certain dishes (yes Trudy, I noticed the Beef Wellington you made on the table during the dinner scene in Signal 30, check out the pic above, bottom right corner, to see what it looks like - that is one hell of a dish to make and takes SERIOUS dedication!!) No show has focused on 1960's cuisine quite like this one. It has completely revived interest in recipes from that period. My Mum has a ton of recipe books from the 60s, and having gone through some of them, I'm not sure whether to be hungry or horrified - but then who would or could say no to a devilled egg? Who I ask you? Ok speaking of devilled eggs, check this recipe for Devilled Eggs. And if you're feeling really, really adventurous, here is a very good Beef Wellington recipe.

I realize that I'm really going on and on about this show so I'll stop, but before I do, I just want to mention a few of my favourite Mad Men sites you might want to check out, if you're so inclined:

This site is amazing! I came across it during one night of "researching" Mad Men articles to read(yes I know;(1) this time for "research" may or may not indicate that I really don't have much a life and 2) did I not say I was addicted to this show in the opening paragraph?). It not only documents the New York restaurants that are mentioned or recreated in the show, but it also provides detailed descriptions, backgrounds and pictures of what has happened to them since the 60s (if any have closed or are still around). Fascinating! Well, at least for me anyway.

For other great Mad Men fan sites: Check this site! Tom and Lorenzo offer great episode backgrounders, and the best part is their analysis of the shows detailed, amazing and transforming 60's style.

Alan Sepinwall is one of my favourite Mad Men Writers, you can check him out here.

Of course, I can't forget the site that started it all: the fantastic Lipp Sisters. There are a ton of other great sites out there like Vulture, and Slate, so be sure to give them a read as well. Ok, the Mad Men love-in is over (for now...).

A hungry man travels to British Columbia

Ok, so maybe not overly hungry, but I did take a trip out west to British Columbia (BC) for a wedding and what can I say? BC is pretty much what I thought it would be. The mountains and lakes are absolutely beautiful. When I was travelling in New Zealand last year, I used to think that this was what BC looked like, and I'd like to think I was pretty accurate in making that assessment.

My amazing travelling companion, the lovely Lady Sylwia, and I left Toronto and four hours later, we were in Kelowna. The wedding was in Vernon, which was about 40 minutes away from Kelowna (and about five hours by car from Vancouver). We hopped in our rented car and yep we stared in awe as we drove along - the scenery was spectacular! I have to digress a bit here and say that I was a little stressed about driving (I really hate driving when I'm travelling, don't ask me why - oh wait, I can say why. It's because I'm on holiday right? So why stress myself over transportation, when I can get on a train, or bus, or take a cab, or even better, have a service pick me up and drive me where I need to go! I'm aware how this sounds but that's just how I'm livin' and I make no excuses for it!). Turns out the drive was easy, so no need for the Steve stress-ball. I mean cmon, it's not as if I was driving my way through India right?

What can I say about the wedding? Well, Syl and I stayed at this hot mess of a hotel. We shut down Checkers Bar and Grill (yep, you read that right - it's Checkers baby!! Oh you have to check it out here) one night. WAY too many martini's and beers but it was hilarious and fun, and the bartender made a killer martini! Carole and Colin (Bride and Groom respectively) looked amazing (Carole was just beautiful and God, I wish I had better pics to show her off) and very, very happy (with the occasional tears) on the wedding day. The wedding itself was held on a family friend's stunning private property overlooking the lake and mountains, and the day itself couldn't have been more sunny (and damn hot - not ideal when you were wearing a suit but it's all good). The food was good and yes, I'm usually MUCH more descriptive when it comes to my meals - especially on this blog (I'll definitely add that the Chinese food we had on Day One of the wedding weekend was delicious, and I'd LOVE the recipe for the seaweed that was served - note to self: ask Carole for recipe), but I'll just say that overall it was good, and leave it at that.

Now my only complaint was what in hell were town planners thinking when they planned Vernon? I mean it's not really what you'd call a pretty town. It's like they plunked Roseanne's fictional hometown of Lanford into the most stunning area in the country and thought, yup just the way I like it - ugh. At least the people there are great, shame about the buildings/architecture though.

Ok so I did mention I may take pictures in a previous blog and I did - on my iPhone. So once I upload them we'll see how it turned out. This is a BIG deal (to me anyway), as it will be the first time I ve used the pics on my phone for this blog. Once I figuure it out how to do it, Ill put them up!

Update: I did it but I only got one picture??? Ridiculous (on my part)- lets see if the video works.

Update 2: Got a picture of the Chinese food and I'm still trying to upload a video of the wedding but it's not working!!! Ok the trip is over, now it's back to schoolwork!