saturdays.

Had a lovely summer evening with friends last night.  After fighting some transit delays, we made it to the Khatsalano Music & Arts Festival.  Saw a few shows, with our favourites being WillHorse (the hair!) & Good for Grapes (happiest accordion player I've ever seen in my life).  Then just enjoyed "owning the city" and walking down the middle of 4th Ave.  Oh, and trying a "screamer," which was a drink layered with soft-serve ice cream, lemonade slushee, and then more ice cream.  Surprisingly delicious!

Then due to more transit delays, we decided to walk across the Burrard Street bridge (my first time!) and enjoy this absolutely gorgeous view.  Good job, Vancouver.  Your evenings are the best :)

Finally, we capped off the night checking out the Comedy Mix, another first.  One of my friend's favourite comedians, Graham Clark, was headlining, and it ended up being a really fun experience.  Would definitely want to go back sometime.

We hadn't gotten to get together in a little while with our busy summer schedules, so this was a perfect way to catch-up & chill :)  Another beautiful Saturday, full of firsts. 

eggs.

Went out to Bitter Tasting Room last night & enjoyed eggs three ways - scotch, deviled, & pickled.  Not bad, but the scotch egg was definitely better at Pourhouse.  Enjoyed the evening of chatting about our holidays while snacking on tasters & drinking a delicious coffee porter.

A wrap-up at Jeanne's pool/hottub/sauna, followed by 90's music at the sketchy pub with $2.50 highballs, was the perfect closing to the night.

bel cafe.

Took advantage of another weekday, for brunch at Bel Cafe.  Wonderful company, lovely pastries & finished off the meal with a delicious PB&J macaron.  Simple things.

st. augustine's.

Had a wonderful catch-up with Karen at St. Augustine's last night, celebrating her return from 6 weeks away in Bali. 

It's a bit weird to think that she'll be around Vancouver for the near future, after years of just short visits.  She is one of my oldest friends, and I'm so happy that we'll get to spend more time together in the coming year :)

As I am fortunate to experience so often - a night of great food, great drink, & great company.

christmas market.

Took advantage of a weekday and went to the Vancouver Christmas Market last week.  Had a wonderful afternoon chatting, eating, drinking & shopping.  Highlights included a mug of apple-mulled wine, waffles on a stick, a ridiculous meatloaf sandwich, and the acquisition of a pickle ornament :)

I'm ready to be Christmas-y this year.

burgoo & mead.

Went to Burgoo last night with some of my good classmates to celebrate the survival of first term.  Finally got to try a glass of mead (warmed Middle Mountain Alpenglow) and it was absolutely lovely.  With beefy cheese grillers, a side of seafood potage, and some excellent conversation, it was a wonderful night off.

Some highlights from the term:
- free candy bowl
- writing an academic paper about my feelings
- dealing with sensitive cataloguing issues
- playing with lego
- not light beer, but beer-flavoured water
- incorporating Harry Potter into my final IT project
 
I swear this is grad school.

cray/crawfish.

Went to try Cray Kitchen & Bar on Main last week.  There aren't many places in Vancouver that serve southern food, so it was interesting to try - I always love seafood.  A nice night out.

Though I'm still not sure if I should call it crayfish or crawfish...

coffee & donuts.

Finally got to try 49th Parallel on Main today.  Delicious coffee in very pretty ceramics, and with Lucky's Donuts located within, I couldn't resist the temptation to try that too.

After a very stressful week, it was nice to get together off-campus and relax a little, while still being productive.  Very nice space to get work done, and not crazy busy on weekdays - this is the part of student life I missed.

scotch egg.

Ate a Scotch Egg at Pourhouse last night.  Don't know how I hadn't yet discovered it... it was delicious and I will now be eating it anytime I see it :)

A hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried - Yumm.

day at a time.

Shrimp sandwich @ Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co. Yumm.

Been an emotionally draining last few days/weeks/months.  Trying to just take a day at a time.  We are complicated beings & sometimes life is hard to navigate.  We can get through things, remember who we are supposed to be - together.

A good friend & a good sandwich is something precious - I feel very thankful <3.

conferences.

Yummy green onion & beef roll at Peaceful Restaurant.  

Been a conference-heavy week or so.  Starting with the Apologetics Conference last weekend, followed by the Rare Plant Biodiversity Conference in Seattle during the week.

Very glad I went to both, for various reasons - lots for my brain to process.

chill winston.

Hit up Chill Winston on Friday night with a few of my favourite girls.  Been there a few years ago for brunch, so was interested in trying their dinner menu.  Got a nice tall imperial chocolate stout with dungeness crab mac & cheese - wonderful.

I love them - they make me feel so loved, even when I doubt myself.

pavlova.

When we were on vacation in New Zealand, we tried their classic dessert - pavlova.  It's basically meringue with fresh fruit and whipped cream... and it is delicious.  Definitely my favourite dessert there.  In New Zealand & Australia, there is a debate as to which country was actually the true inventor (one of many rivalries).

Last week, Elysia and I decided to try a pub called Moose's Down Under before we went to the hockey game, and saw this written on the dessert board!  It was equally as yummy.

Nice surprise :)

afternoon tea.

Went for afternoon tea at the Fairmont last weekend with my sister.  It's usually pretty expensive so it was really nice to have a Dealfind coupon to treat ourselves.  Was relaxing to be served well, drink good tea, and eat many tasty foods.  Didn't look like much at first, and we purposely didn't eat anything beforehand just in case... but we still had to concede and bring a few treats back home.  At one point it took us 25 minutes to get up the willpower to take a bite of lemon tart haha.

It's important to me to spend time with people that are precious in my life, and really get to enjoy quality moments like these.

red wagon.

I love Red Wagon.  Went for the second time today, and the Croque Madame may have topped the Pulled Pork Eggs Benny I got there last time.

Soo yummy.  I will be eating a late dinner.

foo-gos.

Foo-gos - where a guy makes logos out of food.

I love watermelon and I love the Canucks... so how can I not like this?

"anniversary" brunch.

Brunch at Brown's (with a coupon)!  Eggs benny and waffles split into 1 for each of us :) 

Realized that it was our "1 year anniversary" of living together - very lucky to have such a good friend in my life.

creme brulee.

Trio of creme brulee at G-Be Izakaya.  I don't usually like creme brulee because it is too strong and heavy, but I really liked this trio of mini ones!  Good way to break up the flavours.  And the flavours were soo delicious: green tea, jasmine, and earl grey.

Yumm.

They had a 'Vegeta' roll we didn't try, but I liked the name.  Also one called Dragon Ball 'G'.  Yay anime references.

red bean fish!

Soo happy!  Found frozen red bean fish at H-mart yesterday.  Wasn't sure how it would heat up, but tried it today and it is yummy!

Now I can eat them in the comfort of my own home, and don't have to wait for nightmarket or that little stand by the Korean plaza.

charles hughes iii.

Been watching a lot of Chuck's Day Off, introduced to me by Iz.  I am in complete love with this man and his cooking.  He is Canadian, adorable and sexy at the same time, and knows good food.  Love how his dishes are all so fresh and simple - real food.

Want to try some of his recipes sometime.