Mosaic Monday: Vancouver Weekend

Friday afternoon: I left school as quickly as possible, met up with my eldest daughter and daughter-in-law, and together we caught the 5 pm ferry to Vancouver. My younger daughter met us on the other side for a girls' weekend. We stayed at Ashley's home in the Mount Pleasant area of the city, where trees planted long ago now arch over the narrow streets. 

It was a weekend of good food, laughter, and fun to celebrate my birthday. Ashley prepared a Turkish inspired breakfast on Saturday morning of poached eggs in ramekins with cream, herbs, and harissa oil, along with fresh bread, cucumbers and tomatoes. She used her beautiful Lomonosov china and I'm sure that made the tea taste better. It was delicious to the eyes and taste buds. 

For several hours, we played with Shibori techniques of fabric dyeing. Ashley got her vat of indigo dye working and we tied, scrunched, stitched, and dipped. I'll do another post later on the fun we had and show the beautiful results.

We later wandered through stores we don't have here on the Island - Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, and more. We looked, were inspired, and purchased little. On the way back to the car I spied a clothing store and the girls helped me choose a couple of things for myself. 

On Saturday evening we went to Grub, an unassuming name for a small restaurant that served a most wonderful dinner. I had a roasted vegetable salad, then the most tender gnocchi ever, followed by roast duck, and a Mexican chocolate pie that hinted at cinnamon, served with a pear compote. As we rolled out of the restaurant, we noticed a used bookstore still open and wandered in for a pleasant half hour or so of browsing through stacks of books. We each purchased a few. 

This morning we went to Slickity Jim's for brunch. The menu had such inventive names - my poached eggs with caramelized onions, gorgonzola sauce and spinach on English muffins was called "The Breakfast of Broken Dreams" - others were "Tip toe through the Tulips," "To Mock a Killing Bird," and so on. 

After a rain-filled day on Saturday, Sunday was gloriously sunny and the mountains visible as we drove down Main Street. 

Thank you for your kind birthday wishes from my last post. We caught the ferry home this afternoon and Tim and I spent a quiet evening at home. I feel well celebrated! 

Linking with Mosaic Monday, hosted by Maggie of Normandy Life.