I finally got to enjoy myself last weekend, by going for a weekend trip up to Whistler. It was nice not to have to worry about school or work. The views were fantastic- panoramic and blue, crisp sky. Unfortunately that also means icy conditions too. Since I haven’t gone snowboarding for about two years or so, I felt a bit rusty and had the little voice in my head tell me “what if you fall? You’re going to bruise your tailbone on that ice!” Nonetheless, I was still able to enjoy myself despite the icy conditions- the views were amazing. I caught my board a few times and looked like an idiot doing a few face-plants in the snow, but I think I provided some good entertainment for bystanders at least. 
The picture you see is a view from 7th Heaven, on top of Blackcomb mountain at Whistler. I can see why people have cabins and chalets here! It can be almost hypnotic, looking at a view like that day in, day out.
Another thing that was great that happened this week was that youngandthrifty.ca was featured in Glow magazine (the Holiday 2011 edition). My 2011 resolutions were mentioned in the “We Hereby Resolve… to make our 2012 resolutions a reality!” article. If you haven’t heard of Glow Magazine, it’s the magazine that was created by Shoppers Drug Mart (and its Canadian, eh?). When it first came out, I remember I liked the fact that they included style tips (make up, beauty, shopping) AND health/balanced lifestyle tips. I liked the balance and found it to be one of my favourite beauty magazines.
Here’s the magazine:
Oh and PS, I bought an issue! Even though it cost $4.99 seeing my blog mentioned in a magazine is priceless! Sorry, the fame whore inside me won over the frugal and practical side of me
Well, enough about me- here’s some great PF blog reads to tie you over the weekend:
PF Blog Love
- Aloysa from My Broken Coin talks about the pitfalls of thrift store shopping
- Boomer and Echo asks if a long commute is destroying your job satisfaction? (I know it would eat into my soul if I were driving- a 20-30 minute commute already does for me)
- Simple Rich Living believes that gift giving is overrated. Do you think so?
- Prairie Eco-Thrifter talks about some important things you need to consider before buying a house
- Retire by Forty had a great guest post on his website about why you shouldn’t buy a house for the mortgage deduction (not that we get one here in Canada anyway)
- My Journey to Millions talks about Early Retirement Extreme’s end of retirement
- Sustainable Personal Finance gives us an update on their 1st year of their blog
- Canadian Personal Finance says Christmas is Cancelled (THANKS Nelson for ruining Christmas!)
- Free from Broke gives some tips for holiday tipping
- Yes I am Cheap also has a post about pitfalls to avoid as a first time home buyer
- Oh and Brighter Life is hosting this giveaway for $1000 (x3) every week until early January. You just have to “like” them on facebook to enter.
Have a great weekend guys!
Have you found this holiday season particularly busy, or is it just me?
Oh and PS The winner of the Book Giveaway of the Millionaire Teacher is Jeff Delion! Congrats! Please send me your address so I can send you the book 
Thanks so much for the inclusion.
Sounds like you had a great time in Whistler. It really is beautiful isn’t it. Great picture. We were out in Canmore earlier this year and had a blast.
Hope you have a great weekend.
@Miss T- YOu’re welcome! Canmore- that sounds really nice- I’ve always wanted to go up there too. Is there good skiing/ snowboarding there?
Whistler is pretty cool, but I don’t know if I can hack it anymore. Their green runs are too flat for snowboarding and since I haven’t been snowboarding for 3-4 years, I probably can’t handle the more difficult runs….
Have a great weekend!
@retirebyforty- That’s what I was thinking- “Ugh, I’m getting too old for this!” We actually did the green runs a lot because the blue runs were so icy. But the flat runs were annoying if you get stuck!
Isn’t Whistler amazing!
I love the views and have never been in the winter. Lina and I did the Peak-to-Peak and had a blast in November.
@Steve Zussino- I’ve never been in the summer! I should go though- what did you do there in November? Hiking? Biking? I heard that someone got MARRIED on the peak to peak at Whistler on that weekend I went
I desperately need to go to Whistler. I have only been there for a few minutes – maybe an hour at most – and have never snowboarded there. Looks beautiful!
Congrats on getting in Glow. That’s awesome! I would have bought a copy, too.
@Daisy- Definitely- it’s great. But it’s expensive! Like $100 for a lift ticket usually. If you do go, go get your day pass at 7-11. It’s the cheapest there if you’re only going for a one day thing. Otherwise, Edge Card it is!
Weekends! It’s that time I reserve for myself to play with my writing. I try not to write about work related stuff. I simply fire up my text editor and start writing. Sometimes they make sense, most of the time, they’re all jibberish. But that’s fine with me.
@jim syyap- That’s cool- I try to relax a bit on the weekends, but I can see that the creative juices are probably better on the weekends than on weekdays after work though.
Congrats on being featured!
@femmefrugality- Thanks! I thought that it was pretty cool- I love that magazine too. It’s my favourite. Better than Cosmo and their 349 sex positions to please your man articles lol.
Whistler looks amazing, I’d love to go sometime. Congrats on the Glow Magazine mention!
@Echo- Yeah, you should come- it’s a pretty intense day of riding/ skiing. Thanks!
Thanks for mentioning our tipping article!
@Glen Craig- You’re welcome- it was a great article.
Thanks for mentioning moi! Have a great weekend at Whistler!
@SRL- You’re welcome! Nope, no Whistler this weekend though it probably would have been better if I went this weekend because there’s probably fresh snow on the mountains
Congrats Y&T on yet another media mention
Cheers!
@Dividend Ninja- Thanks Dividend Ninja! Hope you have a great weekend
Congrats on the Glow found fame Young! When I’m at Thrifty Foods tomorrow, I’m going to look for your blog mention!
@Andrew Hallam- Awe thanks! Hopefully no one gives you funny looks for reading a female beauty magazine
Or maybe people will recognize you and ask you for your autograph! Have people been doing that more after the success of your book, do you find?
We were there in the fall and did some hiking. We are big hikers and there are some beautiful trails. I would assume the skiing in winter would be just as nice.
@Miss T- Ahh sounds nice
I love hiking too. We live in such a beautiful country.
PS: Your reply button doesn’t work so you may want to look into it.
@Miss T- I know, I’m not sure why its like that. I think it involves coding and I’m afraid to go in there because I’ll screw something up some more. On my wordpress settings I have allowed for threaded discussion but not sure why its not working
Congrats on being in Glow. Now I haunt for that issue.
@The Asian Pear- lol awe thanks! It’s just like one page of the entire 400 pages of the magazine, but I’m still happy with that!
The view is AMAZING. Looks crisp and cold.
Congratulations on being mentioned in Glow! Your blog is great so it is well-deserved! No surprises there!
Thank you for including me in your round-up.
@Aloysa- It WAS crisp and cold. It was nice- my lungs were happy breathing that air in. Awe thanks!
Congrats on the feature in Glow! Too bad you had to spend the $4.99 to get it. If you achieve Optimum Plus status then they will start sending it to you for free. I started getting it this year but I’ve been Plus for years now so I guess it’s a new thing.
Not sure if I’ve received that edition yet or not but if it comes in the mail I’ll be sure too look for your feature!
@SavingMentor- AHHHH thanks for explaining it! I USED to get the magazine and then they abruptly stopped sending it (though I don’t think I was optimum plus, I think it was because I bought some things from their beauty dept). How does one get Optimum Plus status?
I believe right now you have to spend $1500 in a year to become Optimum Plus. They call this “earning 15,000 regular optimum points” or something like that – as in bonus points don’t count towards achieving Plus status which means you essentially have to spend $1500.
You used to be able to trick the system a little bit through buying gift cards first. Buying $750 SDM gift cards would get you half way there and then spending those same gift cards for SDM merchandise would get you the rest of the way there meaning you only have to spend $750 instead of $1500.
I have no idea if that still works or not.
@Saving Mentor- That’s quite a bit of money (at regular points!). I don’t believe tricking the system with gift cards works anymore- I remember reading it in a forum somewhere that it wasn’t allowed
Which is too bad.