November was a very eventful month, as the Sip Family moved from condo to townhouse and began the long process of settling into our new home. Mixed with the pain of such a progression was a few nights of pleasure here and there. Here’s what the Sip Advisor got up to on rare breaks:

Early in the month, Mrs. Sip and I were offered a date night by Ma and Pa Sip. Well, it was sort of a working date night, as we also capitalized on the child-free time by visiting a number of furniture stores, looking for new pieces to fill our palatial mansion (there’s so much more space to fill than we are accustomed to). The fun part of our date night – because who actually enjoys furniture shopping? – was spent enjoying happy hour at Milestones. While I went with the impressively discounted 1989 Burger and a serving of Granville Island English Bay Pale Ale, many other viable options were considered from the restaurant’s fantastic happy hour menu for both food and drinks. Seriously, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such an impressive amount of options on a happy hour menu before. This certainly wasn’t the typical offering of a couple lame appies and house beers and wines.

We spent much of the Remembrance Day long weekend moving stuff from our storage unit and condo into the townhouse. Our reward at the end of the weekend was the Sip Family attending a Vancouver Canucks game. Prior to the on-ice action, we had dinner at the Boston Pizza near Rogers Arena. There, I had the Chicken Strips in Sweet Thai Honey Garlic sauce, along with a Caesar Salad. The meal was quite good and I love when places offer sauces for their chicken dishes.

Two days later, I was back in Vancouver for another Canucks game, this time attending with a friend. After our first two choices to meet up at were too busy, we ended up at Original Joe’s. I’ve had a number of good visits here, but this trip had some issues. First, we waited 20 minutes to be seated, as there was no host and servers didn’t even acknowledge new customers that had walked in. After about 10 minutes, I felt like I waited long enough and was committed to staying, plus I’d lost out on spots at other eateries in the meantime. We were also warned food would take a while to come out, but we were just happy to be seated and had time before the game. I drank two OJ’s Red Ales and ate the Chicken Club Wrap with Fries and Coleslaw. I will say that the food was good and I love that burgers and handhelds come with two sides.

This past week, we had to pick up some orders from our U.S. mail service, so treated the Sipplings to a visit to PlayDate at Bellis Fair Mall. While the kiddos played and Mrs. Sip shopped, I enjoyed a pint of Ten Pin Snake Eye Stout, which was very good.

I ended the month with a weekend of contrasting events. First, the Sip Family attended the annual Disney on Ice travelling spectacle. The show was very entertaining and it was so much fun watching the kids react to the characters and action. Beforehand, we rushed through a dinner at White Spot, as we saw how bad traffic from New West to the Pacific Coliseum was shaping up to be. I ordered my usual Legendary Burger with Caesar Salad, which always hits the spot.

The next night was quite epic, as the Sip Advisor and some buddies attended WWE Survivor Series: War Games 2024. Our day began with meeting up at Devil’s Elbow for lunch. My Duck Bacon BLT was delicious, paired with pints of Steel & Oak Smoked Honey Doppelbock and Superflux Colour & Shape Hazy IPA.

At the show, which was amazing to be in attendance for, I had multiple drinks over the course of the afternoon, including a Spiced Rum and Coke, Coors Pineapple and Cherry Seltzers, Nude Lime Vodka Soda, and Simply Spiked Lemonade.

We must have enjoyed Devil’s Elbow so much earlier, because that’s where we ended up again following the show. On my second tour of duty, I tried the Faculty London Fog Ale, followed by the Backcountry Cherry Cola Sour.

That wraps an eventful month in the lives of the Sip Family. December looks to be restful and without much fanfare. Ah, who am I kidding, the Christmas season is packed to the brim with fun and fancy, including a getaway to Great Wolf Lodge!