Visited Platform 7 for coffee with S before going to Closet Raid this weekend:

The ambience here is fantastic, especially the little garden outside where we chilled for a bit. Other than coffee, I’ve lately been obsessed with plants, so this was a perfect environment for me. Fantastic cappuccino, energized me enough to battle the other girls looking for deals at the sale.

S had the mocha (top):

On Sunday, I went to Twin Falls with Mom: 

This was such an easy view to get to, not more than 15 minutes from the parking lot at Lynn Canyon. Going back up the stairs was a bit more work for my mother. She also yelled at me to not go down into the trees, off the sturdy wooden path, to get this shot, but I knew it was safe enough. There was a good system of roots to form a bit of a staircase. Listen to your mother, but not when she hikes less than you.

Today, I spent an extra 30 to 45 minutes, schooling somebody to do a task the right way. It was tough, they fought back hard because they believed that there are lots of different paths to get to the same destination. I knew I was right though, and I didn’t even bother to say it in my usual passive aggresive way. I was too tired for that today. How do some people have such faith in their believes, thinking with their heads up their ass, that they don’t bother trying to understand the other side? 

If I’m not happy, it’s not the end yet.

It was 3PM… I picked up P to go to Kings Cafe on Kingsway (ha. what a great name.), which I had been curious about since their renovations from a few weeks (months?) ago.

It’s pretty quiet inside, filled with Macbooks and small groups of students. I had a latte and P had the mocha (see above), and we shared the chocolate oat bar (above). The coffee is subtly strong, because at the cafe, I couldn’t taste it, but here I am at 3AM, writing this post. The oat bar was alright, looked and tasted like the ones at Starbucks, which are acceptable. Apparently, they get all their baked goods from a wholesale Italian baker, located in Vancouver. I think they do try to keep their store as local as possible.



IT’S 3AM AND I CANNOT SLEEP. Planned out Toronto instead (9 days left!). Paid my credit card bill. Trying to distract myself from a gnawing hairstyling obsession that is growing since trying to style J’s hair. Hopefully, I get to go outdoors this weekend.

Took a half day at work to get my hair did, and ended up going to 49th Parallel on 4th for the $5 Sakura donut. Was it worth it? It was STUFFED with cream, I wish I got a chance to document it oozing out with every bite. The cream is supposed to be a matcha white chocolate mix, but the matcha can only be faintly tasted. It’s pretty sweet, but it goes so well with the coffee.
Coffee was strong and on the acidic side.


49th Parallel is always so busy. Too crowded for my liking, but can't resist the donuts.



Afterwards, went to the bank to save money. I should try to save more money, but I really want to get this:

It would look nice in the office, and I could bring it around instead of using disposable cups! We were born to consume after all, and I should try not to worry too much about the trash I’ll be leaving behind. Speaking of the office, I think I've learned to really enjoy the office environment. People can be so funny sometimes if you don’t take them so seriously.

G for Gerry or J for Jerry?

The next day, it was pouring. 

M was not feeling her usual self (possibly wine induced) so we thought a pick me up at Salt Spring Island Ales would really help. We arrived at the sign that said “Spring Island Ales this way, open from 12 – 5PM daily) at around 11AM… So, we stopped at Fulford Harbour and explored the southern part of the island a bit, because we knew it would be another while before we would come back this way. Picked up a turkey sausage roll from the Salt Spring Mercantile (more on this at the end…).

12PM sharp:

Very friendly bar tender, told us about the offerings of the day. They had a sweet winter ale that was only available on tap. Earl Grey IPA was sharp. The others were drinkable. I would buy this again, if I saw it on the shelves and felt like a specialty IPA. The seasonal pour tasted very organic and not like beer at all, and it was really just for the gimmicks that we tried it. The flight cost about $8.50. We spent about 30 minutes here, and took the advice of the bartender to hit up Salt Spring Cheese Company…

View from brewery entrance. It’s tucked in the middle of a grove of trees.

What a feast… Samples of their cheeses, different jams and jellies, all along the bar:

H was in heaven. We picked up some of the truffle cheese and a jar of the Pear and Ginger jam, as well as Onion and Thyme jam from Salt Spring Kitchen.

There was still time leftover before our ferry reservation, so… one more stop at the cider place. I don’t like cider, so don’t ask me about it. There was a cute pooch there by the name of Penny.



So back to the turkey sausage roll from the grocery store right next to the Fulford harbour:



This place is amazing. The pastry was so fluffy I could die, the sausage filling was so flavourful… They had other pastries, but once you walk in, all you can smell is this mix of butter and meat. I still wouldn’t ride the ferry for 3 hours for this, or any of the above places, but it’s nice to know that it’s there, for the times that you want a quick get away from life.



Return to Day 1 on Salt Spring
Return to Day 1.5 on Salt Spring

And the rest of the weekend was skiing and eating.

Sunday morning, we just chilled around the village, because we stayed up late playing Machi Koro the night before. We originally wanted to brunch at Araxi, but it was no longer open for the breakfast hours and we were hangry.Ended up here, at Stonesedge:

I was impressed by the décor, and the presentation was very appetizing. The Mexican mocha hit the spot, I could imagine hitting up this spot for a drink après ski (wow so much French today). The food was not the best though… Everything seemed a bit overcooked on my plate of Breakfast Poutine, while S’s steak was a bit undercooked. Drinks, good; food, meh.


I feel like we missed the whole Women’s March, and now, looking at the news is just depressing. Hoping for the best, still…

Read the previous post for Part 1: http://luwesa.blogspot.ca/2017/01/55104-inauguration-weekend.html

1. Coffee:

Visited Culprit coffee for the first time. Cozy, bright, and a lovely place to focus on your work. Read a couple pages, and decided to use my caffeine high to go shopping.

2. Books. They keep me calm sometimes. This one is pretty funny! Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin, focuses on the wives of the rich and privileged in New York. Not sure if this is what’s stressing me out these days – I am so influenced by how these women shop, eat, work out, and just act in general.

3. H putting up with me.

4. Friends and family.

5. Generally healthy. Other than stress.

‘Nuff said.

Now that the whole wedding shenanigans are over, I thought I would have more time, but that’s just been replaced by other worrisome things (the sad weather, the company getting sold, gas prices going up, my hair needs a cut… the list goes on, but let’s try some positive thinking tonight).

38/52: Visited the Scandinave spa, went for tacos at La Cantina, and went to Garibaldi Lake.

Clockwise from top left: Scandinave spa; La Cantina decor; messy burrito topped with avocado and lots of sauce; wouldn’t be a food post without a flatlay – tacos and the same burrito drowning in sauce.

The burrito was soggy. The taco shell was too thick, but had pretty strong flavor (corn?). The toppings on the tacos were lacking. This ain’t Tacofino, but it’s pretty good for a small joint in Whistler. We were starving, so it was wolfed down pretty quickly.

We also visited this green juice shop called The Green Moustache:

Shots!

Healthy shots of green juice and something with ginger and tumeric. Apple slices to chase. This place felt very hipster and new age and organic/gluten free/vegan/whole/clean. Just full of good stuff. I get cravings for smoothies sometimes, so it’s nice to know there’s this place readily available in Whistler, after a day of whatever it is I’m doing there.

This wasn't even the whole weekend! I’m one week behind, and yikes, playing catch up sucks. I’ll have to post everyday to get up to date, with all the mini day trips and meals I’ve been having.

Took advantage of the extra day off to spend more time with my lovely friends, who I feel like I haven’t seen in forever. I may have been neglecting them a bit, but weekends are now for working and napping. S and I went to Nelson the Seagull in Gastown…

Above: Poached eggs with mushrooms for $11 + $3 = $14. These were a little difficulty to eat because they were poached hard. I suppose I should’ve specified medium, but who likes hard eggs?! Other than that little blip… The bread was very fresh and good (IT BETTER BE, THEY BAKE IT IN HOUSE). The salad and mushrooms were acceptable, and tasted like they’re probably freshly grown/local.

Above: The Full Nelson – I don’t remember how much this cost. $13? Black forest ham, tomato, lettuce, and cheese (swiss?). Question marks because S ordered it and devoured it to soak up his hangover. He seemed to enjoy it, although the ham was all piled in the middle and not evenly distributed, according to S.

Below: Latte with almond milk, made in house, and a little plant.

Overall, a good experience, because it’s a nice atmosphere to meet friends and the coffee’s strong enough. I would not recommend eating here, because there are other breakfast/brunch places with better eggs.



And yes, I’m happy. As happy as an angry little girl could be.