My Birthday

Hi Everyone,

My birthday was yesterday and it was my first birthday, I believe, out of the Maritimes.

So the celebrations were a little bit different, and somewhat long distance, but I still had a great day.

On another note, as you know we've been getting some odd weather in Vancouver.

Although things are back to normal now, we first experienced high winds which caused the water supply to be contaminated with silt. As a precaution, a boil order was ordered which lasted almost two weeks. Soon after this, we had a snow storm as you can see from the picture above.

This may not look like much of a storm to Maritimers, but Vancouver is not well equipped to deal with snow and as such, the roads were a mess and many Vancouverites lost power which was not restored for days in some areas. This was the case for our friends Chris and Rain who were without power for almost 3 days and slept over a couple of nights at our place. We were happy to have them after staying with them for so long when we arrived.

On a brighter note I'll tell you about my birthday. Mom and Dad sent me a great package with presents from them, Heather and Nanny and Grampie. Thank you all very much.

I love the beautiful earrings that Heather made me and the book is a great read. I've worn the jogging suit Mom and Dad got me several times already and I certainly put the check Nanny and Grampie gave me to good use!

First thing when I woke up, Mike gave me his birthday present which was this awesome pink nano ipod. I am getting the hang of using it and am listening to some vintage U2 as I type.
Then I took the ferry over to Granville Island (it was a beautiful day) and picked up my trendy rubber boots. They are sooo comfortable and are great for the slush and rain.

I used to think that my favorite color was blue but, that seems to have changed somewhere along the way to pink and red...I'm beginning to look like a Valentine's day card.

After picking up my boots, I decided to have a day of pampering for my old bones ;) so while Mike took the dogs to Pacific Spirit park with Chris and Rain I went to a tanning session, got a pedicure and a manicure and then went to the gym before dinner.

Here are a couple of shots of the nail place I went to. It is called the "Pure Nail Bar" and it is just a few minutes from my building. The couches and comfy chairs are for customers getting pedicures.

I had never had a pedicure or a manicure before in my 26 years, so it was quite an experience and I loved it. I think I will do it more often for special occasions. It was very relaxing. There were aromatic candles lit, you can buy beverages and even bring your own.
Here is the actual bar where finger nails are done. That TV plays Sex and the City perpetually and I never watched that show, but it is hilarious. I can see what all the hype was about and I want to get the HBO copies of the series.

I did witness some women who obviously get this treatment regularly. From their conversations they don't seem to work and are married to very rich men. Their days are spent shopping, eating well, getting fit, vacationing and primping. Hmmm, sounds good to me, but it must get kind of boring... or maybe not.
So here are my toe nails drying. They soak your feet and hands, trim nails, file them, push back cuticles, trim the skin around your nails, loofah your heels and toe pads and finally massage your feet and hands. Then they are ready to apply a nail strengthener, 2 coats of polish that you pick from a rainbow of colors, a top coat and then a setting spray.

It was sooo relaxing and luxurious, it made me feel like a million bucks. I also got to pick a free bottle of polish.
After my pedi/mani (as they call it), I went to the gym and just got in a 30 minutes of cardio before Mike called to say that he, Chris, Rain and our doggies were leaving to come by our place for drinks before we went out for dinner.

Chris and Rain got me these awesome booty slippers at MEC which I totally needed and love. I've been wearing them all day. They are super comfy, warm and an awesome color ;)
They also got me a bottle of wine and this Entertainment Coupon booklet for Vancouver. This book is awesome. It is full of really useful coupons to restaurants, events, retailers, services, etc. We already saved $5 on groceries at safeway. This thing is sooo going to help us in our quest to do and see as much as we possibly can here. Thanks guys! It was way too much, but I love it all!
So after drinks, it was back on the ferry to Granville Island and to the Sandbar. The Sandbar is a trendy and fairly upscale seafood bar.

Here you see the menu and the fresh catch list. All the punched out dots are their fresh fish items. I have to say, one thing that you don't get here is fresh lobster. I'll definitely be one of those people you see bringing the lobster cartons on the plane as carry on every time I visit the Maritimes for sure.
We got a couple of delicious appetizers to start off and I got the seafood penne. It was delish. This drink was so pretty I just had to take a picture and it's pink! Go figure.

We shared a decadent chocolate truffle slice of cake for dessert and finished off with special coffee.

Yum! Yum!
So here I am 26 years old with my cutie livin' it up on the West Coast!

Until next post everyone, have a great week!