50 Things to Do: Host a Scrabble Tournament #34

Do you have a board game that is nostalgic to you? For me it would be Scrabble. My grandma Nelda (my dad’s mom) and I would spend a lot of time together, especially in the summer time. I loved going to visit them in Southey, Saskatchewan. My grandma always made me feel like she had the time for me and one of the ways we spent time together was playing card games and board games, Scrabble being my favourite.

One of the first things I wanted to do add to my 50 Things list is hosting a Scrabble Tournament.

I have a fancy swivel version of Scrabble but I did decide to go out and buy another one (we needed a few boards).

Christina also brought her board—there are so many different versions of this game which has been around since 1948!

I love board games and want to host a board game night in the next couple of months where we could be playing a few different games and just enjoy all being together. That is what it’s all about right? If you are interested, let me know—I think it is the best cooler weather activity.

I few of my co-workers from Lululemon and teaching joined me for this fun Saturday afternoon. We discovered a few things about Scrabble—people play with different rules (seems simple in Scrabble but you would be surprised—you know who you are!) and while using my vintage 1996 Scrabble Dictionary was initially frowned upon, it did end up coming in handy. And people like to WIN!

We played in teams and the team names were Scrabblicious, The Tile High Club, We forgot the Q and The Buzzwords. Christina set up a bracket (not sure if it worked in the end as we ended up adding in a final round) but it made it feel official, hahaha!

It was a really fun afternoon and Jac & Jen —aka team Scrabblicious, ended up being the winners in the end (at the end of the bracket, it was me & Christina—I had prizes and felt bad winning so we played one more round to make it legit and Jac & Jen defeated us).

I think they were pretty excited about the bragging rights and the Starbucks gift cards :) Got to combine all the things I love!

But the losers also deserved a photo too (I am questioning some of the scorekeeping—you know who you are! hahaha!).

And I will say it again—the best thing about this list is the people who are showing up to help me make it happen. You know who you are :)

50 Things to Do List: #45 Try a NEW to ME restaurant!

Don’t you find that you go to the same places to eat a lot? It’s easy, you know the menu and all that? Well in my quest to have NEW to ME experiences (you know, knowing that you never went to a certain place with anyone before) I wanted to try a new restaurant in Edmonton and I recruited a couple of my favourite people to join me.

In fact, none of us had been there to eat before which was fun for us to experience it together!

We decided to check out Yianni’s Taverna on Whyte Ave. I have seen this place for years and have always wanted to check it out as I have heard it has really excellent Greek food. Greek food is one of my favourite cuisines.

The menu had a lot of options and the atmosphere was great. We went on a weeknight and I have heard on the weekends they have entertainment. I love the open to the street atmosphere but we chose a cozy corner inside.

Marian and I enjoyed a glass of Prosecco and the 3 of us shared the most amazing calamari, tzatziki, hummus and pita to start. I would say that the calamari some of the best in the city that I have had. And yes, I know what you are thinking—-I eat calamari but I had never had a peanut butter & jam sandwich until earlier this year. Judge as you must, hahaha!

I have been to Greece a couple of times (when can I go back? Who wants to come?) and I have to say this food felt pretty authentic to me. I would definitely recommend Yiannis if you are looking for good food and a fun atmosphere.

This portion was huge! It made a great lunch the next day too which is always a win.

Thanks to all of my friends that have been helping me check off things from my list. We are now 8 months in and pretty much everyone I know is familiar with ‘my list’! Now I can say this experience is checked off too!

The best of the best from my lululemon life!

p.s we also got ice cream from Made by Marcus after this and I got chocolate on my yellow pants! I can’t get the stain out—message me if you have a secret!

#35 on my list--Checked off!

Hi friends! I have been so excited to start working on my 50 Things to Do When I am 50 list, but the BEST part of sharing my list has been all of the people reaching out with ideas and to tell me they want to help me accomplish certain #’s off my list. It was a such happy bi-product of creating my list.

So the official first thing I can check off my list is #35, which was to eat a peanut butter and jam sandwich. I have been asked countless times how I got to 50 without eating one of these and the truth is…it just sounded weird (hence why I have also not tried rootbeer yet —it smells weird). So here is my embracing my weirdness! I give this PB & J a rating…so watch until the end!

I am very thankful for the journey I have been on working at Lululemon for the last decade. My co-workers have added so much fun to my life and I am excited to see what other things off my list we can check off together!

Here is Shae and I and the world’s largest PB & J sandwich (on really yummy sour dough!).

Thanks for following along this fun journey—I am super excited for 2026!