Weekend Review: Leva, Royal Alberta Museum, & Train Station Piano

Happy December! Though it hardly feels like December with these 4 °C days...not that I'm complaining :) This week I've been keeping busy in medical oncology clinics and have had pretty good karma (so far) with radiation oncology home call. Today I'll spend trying to get on top of some research writing and doing some packing for my upcoming Southeast Asia trip (which cropped up out of nowhere -- 3 more days!). Here are some things that I've appreciated in the past week:

1. macaroon -- I finally tried one of Leva's giant macaroons. It was everything I'd imagined.

   

   salted caramel; I'd thought that was just a decorative dribble, but no, it's filled with actual caramel!

2. festive exhaust stacks -- A sure sign that the holidays are approaching is the light-up of the university heating plant's boiler exhaust stacks.

   

   they even change colour

3. Christmas party -- The medical physics department knows how to host a party. I'm not even kidding. More people than I knew worked in the building attended. It was so casual and fun.
4. museum -- I spent Friday evening at the Royal Alberta Museum's 48-hour closing party. It was clearly the place to be this weekend. All kinds of people were there, checking out the galleries, ballroom dancing in the lobby, or shopping at the craft tables interspersed throughout the exhibits. Such a fun atmosphere and all free (you can still check it out, until 5 pm today!).
   
5. baby! -- I stopped by to visit a friend and her new baby yesterday. She's so cute; everyone's fallen in love with her :)
6. public pianos -- I love seeing pianos in random places; better yet, people stopping to play them (I'd be way too shy!). I pass this one each day in the LRT station.