Sophie's cosmic café - a retro diner with self-described "garage sale décor". It's a wacky and wonderful place to have breakfast. I thought at first that the décor might be their primary focus and the food second. Wrong. Their food was amazing. I was completely smitten with my waffle and heaps of fresh fruit.

And then we met the most unbelievably cute puppy on our walk home. After a few minutes of petting & cuddling, I realized that it was a seeing eye dog. Whoops!

Have a lovely weekend!


*Explanation for huge delay between posts = started my teaching practicum block. It's taking over my life.

Granville Island is filled with little shops, restaurants, galleries, a market, and a marina. It's a fun place to wander around, but I also loved just sitting by the water. It's pretty spectacular to be surrounded by the ocean water and towering skyscrapers.  Although one had to be mindful of the swooping seagulls - Melissa just narrowly avoided being pooped on.

Mike and I just fell in love with Vancouver this week*. So many neat spots and neighbourhoods - I can't wait to go back when it's sunny!

*This maybe sounds like I'm done with Vancouver posts - hardly. I'm just already reminiscing.
*As per usual, more photos here.

These past few days, Mike and I have popped into quite a few antique/vintage/thrift shops. We have come out empty handed, but the unusual items often prompt interesting conversations. Or in the case of of the toy periscope, we spent about ten minutes taking cool photos with it.

More photos here.

I already have many stories and photos to share from Vancouver (and we're only half done our trip!), but I think Gene Coffee Bar is a good place to start.

White walls, minimal décor (except for the amazing light installation), long, sturdy, wooden tables for people to share, and three walls of windows that let in enormous amounts of natural light - this was a bright, beautiful place to spend a few hours.

I felt lucky to have visited this place and I felt even more lucky to spend such quality time with a dear friend. Melissa is one of those friends that makes me laugh all the time, but also really gets me. It's a pretty beautiful thing.

Post script:
Gene Coffee Bar has to be one of the most interestingly shaped cafés I've ever been in. Regrettably, I didn't get a shot of the triangular shaped café from outside as it was raining by the time we left (look here if interested). Speaking of rain, it has unfortunately been raining almost our whole trip. Fortunately, we have an umbrella and we don't let it stop us at all!

Tomorrow evening, Mike and I are leaving for a week long trip to Vancouver! I get to introduce Mike to my extended family living in BC and spend some time with friends. We're so excited! But first, I need to finish my last school assignment! Back to the books... xo

dani press

my dear sweet friend danielle, is quite unlike anyone else i know.
she is incredibly passionate, independent, driven, insightful, and drop dead gorgeous to boot.

while i was visiting her in vancouver this past december, i was able to see some drafts of a card line she was working on. i FELL IN LOVE and have been anxiously awaiting the opening of her big cartel shop. well, the wait is over, dani press is up and running!

if you love beautiful photos + little type written messages, get over there right now and buy a bundle!
(danielle is also donating 10% of sales to an awesome organization working in africa called these numbers have faces!)

here are some of my very favourites:
(dani includes a little story behind each card on her website)

oh dani, i couldn't be any more proud of you...

(and thank your readers for letting me shamelessly promote my friend! that's what friends are for, right??)

murder.

while in vancouver last month, i had picked up a murder mystery game from a thrift store for $5. score! so a few weeks ago, a group of my friends and i dressed up + got together to solve the murder of our college pal stephanie stephens. the game promised to be "fun and entertaining while sometimes shocking" - and OH WAS IT EVER!

dear stepanie stephens had been a sneaky lady, so all of us had good motive to kill her. however, it turned out our quiet, unassuming friend megan was the culprit! she could not have played the role of the murderer any better...

so basically, best night ever. i will now be on the constant prowl at thrift stores for murder mystery games...

hello miss holga.

after seeing so many lovely + weird holga pictures taken by fellow bloggers, i asked for my own little holga for christmas. my first roll of film was a complete bust, but the second roll from vancouver fared a bit better. those double exposures were complete accidents, but i kind of love them. miss holga, i look forward to getting to know you better.

(and if anyone wants to toss any tips + tricks my way, i'd be delighted to hear them! what a finicky little girl she is!)

ps. that's vancouver central library in the first shot. isn't it just beautiful??

the best surprise of the day.

as i was leaving for class this afternoon, i glanced at my camera.

i deliberately decided not to take it,

as i thought that were could be absolutely nothing worth taking a picture of

while i was holed up in classes for four and a half hours.

little did i know that driving home with my friends kari + justin,

the OLYMPIC TORCH PROCESSION would go DRIVE RIGHT BY US.

luckily, the always technologically saavy justin ayson whipped out his iphone
and managed to snag some pictures.

kari and i were oh so excited!

vancouver 2010, here we come!

ps. don't worry my fellow bloggers. i have learned my lesson.

i will never be camera-less again.

this is how we do {vancouver}

we spend time in used bookstores:we go shopping at mintage:

we protect ourselves from the rain:

we document fallen leaves + railway tracks:
we support local coffee shops:we wander downtown van:we love the sea:

we go for coffee:we tango on the street:we walk + talk:we cross the street to check out pretty christmas lights:

*some of these pictures were taken by danielle

christmas on steroids.

also known as, bright lights in stanley park
we didn't have time to go on the little train ride through the park
{we chose zac efron instead.
the movie ended up being pretty cheesy
...so not sure if we made the best choice there}
however, we were able to enjoy the lights in the plaza
we had to do a rushed loop since the park was closing in five minutes.
and judging by this santa, some ornaments were ready to call it a night.
have a great saturday everyone!!

XO

the most lovely spot.

well, my little vancouver trip has come to an end.
but i will be re-living it these next few days
as i share pictures + stories from my glorious little holiday.

first up,
the most lovely spot.
the award goes to finch's.

it's a tiny little breakfast + lunch spot, tucked away in almost obscurity.

the walls are peeling, the floors are old hardwood,
twinkle lights are intertwined with pine garland,
little carnations in tiny glass vases are placed on each table,
and big fat delicous baguettes are brought out on waxed brown paper.

i could not stop gushing about the place in between bites of my delightful baguette.
and i think thanked danielle about ten times for taking me.
{she had been there with her family a few weeks before}so if you ever find yourself in vancouver,
you must must go.

can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs!
it's so nice coming home to a weekend...
between work + two christmas parties + unpacking + christmas shopping,
it's sure going to be a full one!

XO

project sanity: day two.

today, i went to visit these lovely little cousins in abbotsford.

we went out for lunch.
{crayons + kid sized drinks were a must}

the twins got balloons.

the big kids came home from school.
emily + i read charlotte's web.

got my hair did.
took silly picures.
and then it snowed. and snowed. and snowed.
the poor BC drivers don't know what hit them...

heading back out to vancouver tomorrow morning.
h&m, i look forward to seeing you again.

XOXO

project sanity: day one.

project sanity
{aka trip to vancouver}

is off to a good start.

breakfast at weirdly whimsical sophie's cosmic café

coffee + laughs + long updates at arbutus coffee

christmas cookies + facebook stalking/mocking

{it's a fine line isn't it?}

at dani's.

supper on commercial drive.

shopping at metrotown.

eggnog steamers + chai lattés at starbucks.

skytrainskytrainskytrain....

canada line, you are beautiful.

i overheard a lady at the airport gushing about you;

"and it is so fancy!

a woman's voice speaks over the intercom!

and they have extra room for your luggage!"

i too was impressed.

better pictures tomorrow. i promise.

it was hard to pull out the camera between

cackles + gasps + long ramblings....

la chaleur des lumières

{the warmth of lights}instead of studying for exams,
i decided to string some lanterns and hang some lights.
the lanterns + twinkle lights have instantly
made my bedroom feel more cozy + festive.
i'm telling myself that such a cozy atmosphere will surely
encourage diligent studying.
it's working already, look:
{my last required read of the semester. fini!}

speaking of exams,
i'm afraid that it is really crunch time!
consequently,
i will not be spending much time around here these next few days.

as of thursday, december tenth, at nine o'clock pm,
{yes, an exam at night time. what a horrible idea}
i will be free to:
blog + pleasure read + have a sleepover with the niece and nephew
+ decorate christmas cookies + go to vancouver + send off christmas cards
+ go for a massage + christmas shop + cook + organize my photo albums
at my leisure for {almost} a whole glorious month.

see you then!!

xo