Last weekend we spent a delightful Saturday in downtown Vancouver for a few reasons:
1) If we ever go to Vancouver, a Lemonade stop is mandatory.
2) I wanted to go to the meet-up of Simple Bites blog author Aimee Wimbush-Bourque, to celebrate her new book Brown Eggs and Jam Jars.
3) ...and, if it's going to be sunny in February, we're going to Stanley Park.
When I originally asked Stefan if we could make a trip into the city for the cookbook jam (see what I did there?), he said sure, and even though we don't ever celebrate Valentine's Day, I felt pretty loved that he'd take me there even though he had no interest whatsoever, and would have to watch the kids while I was at the event.
The cookbook was the one item I was going to ask him for for my birthday the following month, so I convinced him to get it one month early so I could have it signed at the event. The book is beautiful and full of so many good things besides the delicious recipes, like essays on how to talk to kids about where meat comes from, camping/picnic/daytrip food advice, and delightful hand-drawn illustrations by the author's father. Of course, I wouldn't buy a cookbook if it wasn't full of pictures, and Aimee's styling is so beautiful. If you're like me and need a regular jolt of in-the-kitchen inspiration for dinnertime, follow her instagram photos. They're all gems and give just that.
We don't go into Vancouver often, maybe 5-7 times a year, mostly to visit relatives. It's a beautiful city, but my favorite place is on the outskirts; a small peninsula that has a seawall, numerous beaches, walking and biking trails, large parks with jungle gyms, totems and other historical representations, and tons and tons of trees and green space: Stanley Park.
There really isn't a bad view in the entire park, and you may feel like a tourist snapping photos and exclaiming at every angle, "can you just look at that view!" because I certainly still feel this way. Don't be surprised if you can't get it to look the same as what you see, with the curves of the land, the city-scape, the mountains and islands in the background, the trees! It's so pretty. This winter has been mild and we've had a lot of sunshine. Nearly an entire week of sunshine so far, which is very rare (or so I'm told). Vancouver was showing off, and we took full advantage while the kids played barefoot in the sand.
Now...who's coming up for a visit?!
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