an amazing birthday surprise [cedar row farm sanctuary]

 

my birthday this year was amazing. it was perfect - full of friends and family and brunch and animals...

that may sound a little strange, so let me explain.  

last saturday b had a birthday surprise for me. he told me very (very!) little . we promptly left our little home at 9am and headed out of the city.  

two hours later we had arrived...at the cedar row farm sanctuary.  

a little back story...i'm a huge animal lover. when we drive around in the country, i always ask b to stop so that i can go see the cows (here is proof). i also really want to move out to the country and have a little farm of our own - somewhere to keep way too many pets and grow our own veggies.

this farm only offers work visits (you volunteer a few hours helping out around the farm), and they all end in a group potluck. so we grabbed our wellies and spent the rest of the morning helping out.

after the potluck i got another birthday surprise.  my gift from b was sponsoring an animal - chickpea, the black and white cow.  rescued from a vet because she was born very premature, she is such a beautiful, kind, gentle creature. 

thanks for letting me share my birthday adventures!  it was such an amazing experience. one that i will cherish forever.

[d]

vancouver [british columbia]

i was so excited to take b to vancouver this year.  we were going out for my brother's wedding anyways, so we stuck a few days on to do some exploring (only had 3 days in the city since we were in whistler for the wedding).

even though it rained every day (we arrived at the same time as a major storm), we still had a blast celebrating new family, birthdays, & catching up with old (university) friends.



vancouver is an amazing city, & 3 days was just not enough!  here are some of the things we ate, drank & did on this trip:

> vancouver aquarium. the two beluga whales, aurora & qila, are adorable!

> walking along the sea wall in stanley park. it's just beautiful.

> vancouver has a growing craft beer scene.  we did a self guided "beer hop" with an old university friend.  on her recommendations, & b's research, we started at tap & barrel, continued on to the steel toad brewery, & finally to 33 acres brewing company )which was so awesome we decided to spend the rest of our evening there).

> eating lots of taco's at la taqueria. this place needs to come to toronto, it's amazing.

> brunching at spot cafe - great eggs benedict!

> shopping along main street (between 2nd & 25th).  loads of cute, unique clothing, stationary & home decor shops.

> eating, drinking, shopping & antiquing in gastown.

> dipping fries in the coconut curry sauce (from the green beans dish) at chill winston. a restaurant with a focus local, sustainable & responsible dining, the food is really delicious.

> the greedy pig makes a mean whiskey sour.

> i did not know so many types of whiskey existed, until we had a drink at shebeen whiskey bar.

> ...and a few places that were on our list that we didn't get a chance to visit this trip: suspension bridge in lynn canyon, hiking up grouse mountain, checking out the public market & brewery on granville island, wreck beach, & commuting along the water with the false creek ferries.

any vancouver recommendations that i missed?  i'd love to hear!  comment below or send us an e-mail.  i always love a good recommendation.

thanks for letting me share our trip out west!

[d]