New Year's at the Villa Eyrie Resort; and 2022's Reading Resolution Recap

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (and that evening) somewhere new:

I know, amazing, right? That was our view for two days! (pic by L)

Back in February 2022, our friends Chris and Ali sent a group of us an email starting with, "Now hear me out..." which proposed we rent separate suites at the Villa Eyrie Resort and spend our (hopefully) first New Year's Eve together in three years. Ten months ago, and it finally came around! 

My lovely women: 

Me, Yvonne, Ali and Alison. 

My awesome menfolk: 

Nick, Chris, Randall, L and Tony. 

I have loads of pics for you (I'll try not to bore you with too many views), plus my annual New Year's Resolution Reading Recap, so grab a cup of something and settle in, my friends. We have outfits, amazing scenery, plus all the books I read last year, with a bit of commentary. 

For such a complicated weekend - travel! lounging! fancy dinner x 2! partying! more lounging! brunch! more travel! - L and I packed a bit more. It helped that our dear friends Randall and Yvonne drove us both ways (thank you!). 

I decided that my loungewear and my travel wear would be the same, and be super-comfy all weekend.

I'm so sparkly! 

• Lounging pajamas - Adrianna Pappel Evening Essentials, consignment; purchased here in April 2022 for $27.00
• Shoes - Geox, consignment; last seen here in July 2022, but worn almost daily in summer
• Grape Ape coat (below) - Forever 21, thrifted; last worn here in November 2022 for a Mom-Day Adventure in Sidney

The last view of the Castle for 2022.

I look forward to many more Castle pics! 

I bought this lounge pajama set last spring on a big discount at Turnabout, and this is the first time I've worn them on the blog. 

This is not the first time I've worn them, however. Whenever we have friends over for board game nights, this is what I put on. 

They are stretchy velour (so KLASSY) and beaded on the legs and down the front. 

You can see the leg beading best in the stair pic above - it's down the side seams. I have long socks on as the beading is a bit scratchy on the underside of the hem (the pants were pre-hemmed when I got them). 

Outerwear. 

I had planned on taking my mink coat, but the weather's so warm, I knew I'd be sweltering in it. The Grape Ape fulfilled all my needs! 

The resort is comprised of multiple buildings, and you have to walk to the central restaurant complex for meals. 

This coat can go fancy or casual, and it's warm (and has pockets). 

We've got a suitcase (and two knapsacks and two bags of food/drinks) and I'm ready to go. 

I am ready for all the mini-occasions that happened over the weekend. 

Accoutrements:

I tend to pick "universal" accoutrements and jewelry when I travel so that I didn't have to carry extras. 

• Purse - Zara, consignment
• Scarf - thrifted
• Cashmere beret - Club Monaco, thrifted
• Gloves - consignment

The stuff: 

As with the accoutrements, I wore the same jewelry for both days. The stone popped out of my new Lucite ring, but I repaired it when I got home. 

• Black shoes - Summertime Moonbeams, Fluevog, consignment; last seen here (3rd outfit) in December 2022 for Chris & Ali's party
• Steel/crystal cuff - Juicy Couture, consignment; purchased here for $15.00
• Fang bangle - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Sidney
• Lucite ring - vintage mall, gift from L
• Silver/amethyst ring - vintage mall
• Silver/amber ring - antique store, Sidney
• Earrings - Betsey Johnson, swap from Cat

The Lucite ring was only $6.00 at the vintage mall - I was there with L before Christmas, picking out all the cool things that caught my eye. That way he ensures I always get what I like. Win! 

Yvonne and Randall picked us up and drove us to the Villa Eyrie Resort (site here, all links 'cause I love; link here to a map so you can get a sense of where we were on Vancouver Island - zoom out!). 

Backseat gals selfie! It was less than 30 minutes to get to the Eyrie. 

We drove up to the top of the Malahat Drive, then turned off and drove even further higher up the side of the mountain. 

The views started getting even more incredible than usual. 

We checked in, and drove up to our villa. There was a total of nine of us, and we took over one of the villas, Villa Aguila.

The view from my and L's suite. The fancy little building is the spa (not my thing, but Yvonne and Randall both had massages). 

This is the entire Villa Aguila. L and I were on the lower right, Tony and Alison were on the lower left, Nick was above us.

Chris and Ali had the penthouse (top floor), and Yvonne and Randall had the suite below them. I briefly felt sorry for the people in the other two suites as the walls were very thin and we were rather stompy going up and down the stairs until 2am both nights. 

This is the swankiest place I've ever stayed in! This is our living area. 

We had a few folks over on Sunday/New Year's Day to watch football here.

Trying to figure out the Nespresso coffeemaker. This is important for the two mornings - Madame needs her coffee!

We didn't use the giant dining area, but I did unpack my slippers there. 

L, unpack and get settled! The poor man looks dazed. 

Our room was roasty-toasty from the fireplace when we arrived. 

We had a peek at Yvonne and Randall's room, which had a big soaker tub in the middle of their bedroom. 

Yeah, I'm with you, Yvonne, that's a weird place to put a tub. 

Their view. 

A little higher, a little nicer...and a little more expensive! The hump of a mountain in the centre is Mt. Finlayson, and that body of (salt) water is Finlayson Arm. 

Randall checked out our sundial. 

"I declare this...a sundial!"

The clouds in the far distance are masking the Olympic Mountain range in Washington State, USA. 

We checked out the whole villa, which was built in the early 80s (you can really see it in the architecture), and remodeled more recently. 

Love the big (real) chimney! 

That's the penthouse at the top. 

We invaded Chris and Ali's to drop off our NYE food, drinks and snacks for later. 

Wow, what a huge space! 

What a hideous view. 

Shame about that, heh heh. 

It's like a postcard. 

We could faintly hear the traffic on the Malahat Drive far below us. 

We partied here before dinner both nights, and after dinner until the wee hours. 

Thanks so much to Chris and Ali for hosting all of us! 

We horsed around taking pictures on the deck. 

Nick, you scamp. Get that angle! 

Timer picture! 

L, Yvonne, Randall, Ali, Chris, me and Nick. Tony and Alison arrived a bit later and we didn't see them until cocktails before dinner.

L and Nick showing off their satin bomber jackets. 

L is wearing his Boston Bruins (hockey) bomber, a gift from me from a Christmas past; Nick is the Seattle Seahawks (football) fan. 

We decided to hike around the property while we still had light. 

I guess that view's okay if you like that sort of thing. 

We had a beautiful sunset. 

Looking down from above our villa.

This is the standard view to the south.

Amazing. 

Looking to the east, we could see Central/North Saanich and Brentwood. Sidney is a bit further to the left.

All those islands are in the Straits, between Vancouver Island and the mainland of BC. 

Yawn, more of the same view. 

Scroll, scroll. 

We took a driveway that pointed to Villa Ciello (link here), where you can also rent the entire villa for a special event. 

The views get better the higher up you go. Go figure. 

It was a very steep walk! 

We were huffing and puffing by the time we got to the top. 

And we're not quite there yet! 

I have never been to this resort before - I've been missing out! 

More awful views. 

Ooh, I see Victoria! 

Zoom way way in...

Yup, we live somewhere over there, towards town on the right. 

Randall, what is that? 

"That would appear to be a helicopter pad."

As the sun went down, we could see the lights of cars zooming their way along the side of the mountain. 

Chris forgot his suit for dinner, and drove home to get it. He was gone and back in less than an hour! 

Here's Villa Ciello. 

We just walked around it - no need to peek in the windows! 

And let's go back down now. 

I need a nap before dinner (also, football was on). 

We all dressed up for New Year's Eve. 

I went through my gown collection and picked out this one, only worn once before! 

• Dress - Cachet, consignment; purchased and first worn here (2nd outfit) in June 2020 for our first pandemic gathering at Ye Olde Pandemic Park

I used the timer on my camera and posed near the fireplace. 

I felt very swanky in my gown, swooshing about.  

Outerwear for walking to the Alpina restaurant (dining/about the chefs here).

L also dressed up. 

Looking fabulous! Thank you for another year of putting up with your cranky-with-a-heart-of-gold wife, my love! 

We had some cocktails and snacks at Chris and Ali's penthouse, and posed for pics.

Thanks to Randall for taking the picture! Me, Yvonne, Ali and Alison (looking swanky as heck in her gold dress!). 

The men: 

Nick, Chris, Randall, L and Tony. 

Look serious, gents. 

Okay, now party! 

The lights came on in the garden below. 

We were all so stuffed from our 5-course dinner (which took over 3.5 hours!), that we had a 2-hour dance party afterwards. I changed back in my black velour lounging pajamas for that. 

We all slept in/watched football in the morning. 

This was my lounging/brunch outfit. Caught me in my slippers! 

• Dress - Zara, consignment; purchased here for $40.00
• Sweater - Sonia Rykiel, consignment; last worn here in May 2022, layered under a big top
• Velour leggings - no label, thrifted, not tracked
• Slippers - Morelands, thrifted, not tracked.

There we go, ready to be in public.

I enjoyed wearing this sheer embroidered dress. 

It worked well with the leggings. 

We had a view full of fog on New Year's Day.

Mountains? What mountains?

After a scrumptious brunch, I needed to not be around people for a while, so I watched football in our suite, read a book, and napped until it was time to go for pre-drinks in the penthouse. 

I swapped back to my black cami, popped on a pair of black shorts, and my same fishnet tights from the night before. 

Legs McGee, that's me. 

So what if I'm 55? I can wear short skirts if I feel like it! 

Here's to a year ahead of fashion rebellion! 

After another blast of an evening eating, laughing and hanging out with our friends, we met up at the restaurant on Monday morning for our final meal together. 

We missed the glorious sunset (yeah, no, I don't get up that early), but we had crisp views of the until-then-hidden Olympic Mountains to the south while we had breakfast. 

The pointy little bump on the far right horizon is Mt. Rainier, near Seattle. 

We're at cloud level, as you can see! 

A gorgeous view of Mt. Baker to the east. 

I loved that we were home less than an hour later! 

The thing I hate most about traveling (especially because we live on an island) is that it takes forever to get anywhere. I would totally go back to the Eyrie again for a fancy dinner, and would recommend it for a special occasion. What a wonderful way to see in the New Year, with some of our dear friends. Such a great idea, Chris and Ali! 

Of course, some of our friends were not able to join us. Cat and Ross took care of Vizzini while we were gone.

"That's twice in two weeks you've left me!"

We're so sorry, buddy, but I know they love you and spent some time with you. 

"I only love the Man."

He likes to rub his head on L's moustache. 

We missed our little guy. No more travel for a while, Vizzini, we promise. 

"I don't believe you."

Maybe some cuddling can convince you otherwise.

And now...

2022 Reading Resolution Recap

As I've done for the last several years [I even copy the text over from last year's post!], I make the identical New Year's Resolution: Meet or Beat the number of books read the previous year. I've been tracking my reading for over 10 years; here's last year's New Year's Eve outfit(s) and books, if you're interested.

Last year I read 40 books and this year, it's...39!  I didn't quite meet-or-beat, but I'm happy with that number, considering we mostly got our lives back on track this year, going into the 3rd year of the pandemic. We were busy! 

Here's my list - no books got a 5/5 this year (I think for the first time ever!), but I've bolded my favourite 4/5 books and some of my 3/5s (I'm a hard marker), and would recommend any of those. As I'm willing to read pretty much anything, and I pick up a lot of old vintage paperbacks when I'm out thrifting, and those can bring down my ratings. I also didn't rate any books 1/5 this year, so even though some of these titles were "blah" very few were actively bad. Any books labeled "(BC)" are ones chosen by Book Club members.

1. Bone - Jeff Vandermeer - 4/5
2. The Meaning of Everything - Simon Winchester - 3/5
3. The Echo - Minette Walters - 2/5
4. Craigdarroch Castle in 21 Treasures - Moira Dann - 2/5
5. Where the Grass is Green and the Girls are Pretty - Lauren Weisberger - 2/5
6. Broken Monsters - Lauren Beukes - 3/5
7. A Carnival of Snackery - David Sedaris - 3/5
8. French Exit - Patrick DeWitt - 3/5 (BC)
9. Thunderstruck - Eric Larsen - 2/5
10. The Madness of Cthulhu - S.T. Josh, ed. - 2/5
11. Life on Planet Rock - Lonn Friend - 3/5
12. Gateway - Frederick Pohl - 4/5
13. Beyond the Blue Event Horizon - Frederick Pohl - 2/5
14. Whereabouts - Jhumpa Lahiri - 4/5 (BC)
15. The Long (and Short) of It: The Madcap History of the Skirt - 2/5
16. Dead Astronauts - Jeff Vandermeer - 2/5
17. I'll Drink to That - Betty Halbreich w/Rebecca Daley - 2/5
18. Thorns - Robert Silverberg - 3/5
19. The Fifth Child - Doris Lessing - 3/5
20. The Library of the Unwritten - A.J. Hackwith - 2/5 (almost 3/5)
21. After the Fireworks (3 Novellas) - Aldous Huxley - 2/5
22. Vintage Jewelry - Caroline Cox - 4/5
23. The Strange Bird - Jeff Vandermeer - 3/5
24. The Three Sisters - Hazel Harris - 2/5
25. Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett - 3/5
26. Shorefall - Robert Jackson Bennett - 3/5
27. Son of Elsewhere - Elamin Abdelmahmoud - 3/5 (BC)
28. Web - John Wyndham - 3/5
29. My Gal Sunday - Mary Higgins Clark - 2/5
30. Yes Please - Amy Poehler - 2/5
31. On Beauty - Zadie Smith - 2/5
32. If It Bleeds - Stephen King - 4/5
33. Veniss Underground - Jeff Vandermeer - 3/5
34. A Woman of No Importance - Sonia Purnell - 4/5 (BC)
35. Quarry - Max Allan Collins - 3/5
36. A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine - 4/5
37. Vintage Style - Tiffany Dubin, Ann E. Berman - 2/5
38. Mexican Gothic - Sylvia Moreno-Garcia - 3/5
39. The Snowman - Jo Nesbo - 4/5

Some assorted musings on what I read:

• I've finished everything in Jeff Vandermeer's back catalogue now, and can recommend his Southern Reach trilogy - the other books above are only if you really liked those first three (which I read last year and the year before). He always has new books out, so I'll still give those a shot.
• I continue digging for good books about fashion - Vintage Jewelry book by Caroline Cox (#22) is amazing, full of pictures and is a fantastic reference if you are interested in collecting or learning more about vintage jewelry. #15 and 37 were both misses for me - I didn't learn anything new from them. 
• I read a lot of biographies this year (#5, 7, 11, 17, 30), as well as non-fiction (#2, 4, 9, 34) and the results were mixed, with A Woman of No Importance (#34) being my favourite book of the year (and it was my pick for Book Club too!). Why hasn't this been made into a movie or a limited series??
• Like with my thrifted clothing, I often pick up books just because they are cheap and look interesting (I'm a sucker for a groovy 60s or wacky 70s cover) - and while this has resulted in a few winners (Web by John Wyndham, #28, and #18, Thorns by Robert Silverberg), it's also yielded a few stinkers (#3, #17, #18, #19). #29 was picked up in desperation ("I need a book!") while on holiday in Powell River in the summer.
• I'm happy that all 4 of our Book Club picks were 3/5 or higher, although we weren't able to meet up as much this year. I love the variety that our group selects - those were all worthwhile reads, even if not all of them totally rang my bell.
• My favourite genres (sci-fi and fantasy) were less well-represented than in past years but I also added in a bit of horror and hard-boiled crime fiction, as I worked through my stack of Books To Be Read. Nearly half, 8 of my 39 books read, fell into these categories. 

Best discoveries: 

• Not really anything this year could be classified as a great discovery. I was looking forward to reading more Robert Jackson Bennett and I did (#25 & 26) and they were good, solid reads. I'm done with Eric Larsen's books now - I'm getting diminishing returns on them. 
• I did very much enjoy #36, and have another Arkady Martine to read in my stack. Fingers crossed.
• The Jo Nesbo book was excellent, and found for less than a dollar in the thrift store - I'll be looking for more of his books in the future. 
• L and I were both very excited by #12, Gateway by Frederick Pohl, which I thrifted; it is excellent and well worth reading...but....

Biggest disappointments: 

• ... Under no circumstances should you read the two sequels to Gateway. The second one (#13) was...okay, but full of sexist garbage. The third book was so bad, I stopped reading it. Both L and I have been warning people away from the sequels. 
• I experimented with Doris Lessing, but didn't enjoy her writing, and I thought I would like Huxley more than I did. Ah, well, live and learn. 
• I had vague plans and intentions of re-reading some of my existing book collection, but didn't re-read a single one - maybe 2023 will be the year I delve into some old faves. I did donate 18 bags of books to charity this year, though. 

And there you go. I have already finished a book this year (this morning), and started my second, so I'm off to a good start. Goal: Meet or Beat! 

Wishing you all the very best for 2023! I'll pop around to your blogs over the next week to say hello personally, but I'm going to go snuggle up with Vizzini, who is giving me big sad "come cuddle with me" eyes. Take care and all the good vibes to you and your families and loved ones. Farewell, 2022!