Birthdays and Anniversaries Oh My

This weekend I want to give a shout out to my Nanny. It is her 80th birthday. Happy Birthday Nanny! You're the best. I hope I'm half as awesome as you are when I'm 80! Hope you enjoy this post and wish I was there to celebrate this milestone with you!

So couple of weeks ago on the 14th it was our second anniversary. 2 years! I can't believe it's 2 years it feels...so....much...longer than that??

Just kidding we're having a great time! So for our anniversary I arranged for us to get a couple's massage at Spa Utopia in the Pan Pacific Hotel downtown near the cruise ships. I had a gift certificate too so we decided to splurge. It is a beautiful spa.

We took the Canada Line to the waterfront stop. It was super fast, I could not believe it. Two stops and we were there. Love the Canada Line.

We went in and they show you to the change rooms. They give you towels, a bathrobe, sandals and a locker. There are all kinds of of awesome things like cucumber or lemon flavoured water, beauty products, etc. We got changed and then came out to the lounge where they serve anti-ox tea and nuts and fruit like apricots, grapes and figs. They came and got us and we had a relaxing, fantastic Swedish massage. Afterwards we had some more healthy snacks and took our time getting cleaned up. We then went outside and it was a gorgeous day.

We walked around down by Canada Place and took a look at the new convention centre. It is new for the olympics. It is massive and the seawall goes all around it.

We watched the float planes take off and then we took a seat at this grill down by waterfront.

We had some yummy mussels, pizza and some fresh Granville Island beers.

We walked all around and came across this new outside art.

It is a circle of red metal statues of men squating. It looks really odd from a distance as they look very real.

For dinner we went out to our favourite Indian restuarant. We hadn't been there for a while, yum!

I got Mike some new sneakers especially for doing the grind. They are super light and have gripping soles especially for sports like that.


Mike got me beautiful Tiffany earrings and a necklace

They match last year's bracelette which is my favourite piece of jewelry. I'm so spoiled! Last year was supposed to be paper and this year coton, but I'm not complaining for sure.

We walked back to the Canada Line station. It is one of the coolest stations. It's in the historic Waterfront station which is a really beautiful place. Gorgeous old historic building.




The next weekend was Mike's birthday. I got him some new roller blades that he really likes. His old ones were starting to fall apart and he uses them nearly every day with the dogs.

I also got him an icecream cake which he must have on his birthday to make it complete. :)

I wanted to have a birthday party for him, but he was not having it. Instead we went to a UFC event with our neighbour-friends. We had a fantastic time and discovered a new restaurant that is a great place for the events in the future. They came over and we dusted off rockband and had an fun time into the wee hours.

Tomorrow we're actually going to a Pearl Jam concert and really looking forward to it. They are one of my all time favourite bands and on my "have-to-see-in-this-life" list. Here I come Eddie!

Edmonton

Last weekend I finally went and visited Emily, Heather, Kim and George in Edmonton.

Kim had her baby on Aug 30, so I was very excited that I would get to see my tiny nephew (Daxton Michael) too!

I arrived in the evening around 10:00 through the worst turbulence I'd ever experienced yet.

Could barely keep my wine in it's glass and in my mouth ;) George and Em picked me up from the airport. I was very grateful for that as the airport is a very expensive cab ride to their place unlike the Canada Line. I rode the Canada Line after my practice run perfectly to the airport for this trip except for the fact that I'd left my cell phone at home charging in Mike's charger. The train was 3 minutes away when I realised my mistake, but I needed that phone. I don't know Emily's number, Heather's number, Kim's number or Mike's number off by heart, so I started to run home from the station. On my way up the stairs I met my fantastic, amazing, considerate husband running down the stairs to give me my phone. He had run the whole way to give it to me. I love you Mike! I ran down just in time to catch the train.
When I arrived Emily and George picked me up and it was 32 degrees in Edmonton! It had been hot in Edmonton before I came but there was a little rain storm and then it cooled down.

That first night I just had some drinks and snacks with Emily and Goerge.

The next day we got some provisions and then we went out to dinner with Heather at this nice little place called The Blue Plate.

It was very tasty and somewhere that I think Mike would enjoy if he were to visit. Everything was fresh and local, very yummy.
The next day Emily and I met Heather and headed to Whyte Ave. We browsed in some cool shops but then Heather had to go off to work so I said goodbye. I did a little shopping and we browsed the market picking up some fresh things for dinner.
We then went to a little pub and had a beer on the patio in the sun. I did get some really nice weather when I came.

Emily and I then headed back to Emily's place on the LRT and got ready to go hang out with Kim.


Emily came over with me and we ordered some pizza, Kim made a salad and we picked up some fixins at the grocery store for dinner.

My little nephew is sooo cute! He's so tiny and just an adorable little baby.

I'm very proud of Kim too. She's doing a fantastic job as a new mum. Just as I thought she would.





She was always the most marternal of my friends. Babysitting she always looked like she was the mom rather than an awkward teen unsure what to do with little babies.

However I'm sure it's not as easy as she makes it look and I'm sure she's really tired too, it looks like a tough job.

Emily went home and Kim and I stayed up quite late talking and getting my fill of my new baby nephew and just watching random tv shows.

If you can't tell from the photos, he has blond hair and blue eyes and is only 6 pounds 15 ozs.






The next day Emily and George picked me up and we went to a Mexican place for lunch.

We played scrabble on their balcony, had some beers and then had dinner.

George made extremely hot jerk chicken for dinner.

It was too hot for my blood so I stuck to salad and veggies. I tried, but I always order mild. I'm a bit of a baby with hot food.



Their neighbours came over and we hung out with them for a bit. They are very nice people from St. Johns NFLD.

On my last day we all had breakfast, and I got packed up. Emily and George drove me over to Kim's

They were the best hosts. They are great cooks and very nice about carting my but around from one end of Edmonton to the other.


George also had to withstand a bit more girl talk than is healthy for the average man to hear ;) Thanks very much guys for your hospitality. Can't wait to return the favour!

Emily and George dropped me off at Kim's and we said our goodbyes. Kim still has her two cats so George had to steer clear!

Kim and I took the baby to the mall and picked up some things at a department store, then we went to Boston Pizza and had a nice lunch before she dropped me at the airport. I had a short uneventful flight and I finished watching my the movie "The Proposal". I then took the Canada Line home and Mike was waiting for me at the station with my lovely two dogs. (what a sweetie) We took them home and went out for dinner and I told him all about my trip.