Orange Stand

House Hippo starts the morning off right with some exercise. 

On Target

Colourful and coordinated collages of ordinary everyday things in red and white subtly hinting and not-so-subtly creating the bulls eye logo... Major collaborations with luxury fashion designers (such as Rodarte and Missoni)... Despite the loss of Zellers and the knowledge it was another US retail chain coming into Canada, I was really excited about Target. 

But I may have been misled. 

It turns out, they're just a store.  I'd hoped for a quirky and stylish fashion and furnishings destination (a cross between H&M and IKEA, without the build-your-own-furniture bonus).  What I found was something more like Walmart's quirky teenage sister.  (Granted, this was Bonnie Doon Mall - home of weekend antique fairs.) 

Despite not meeting expectations, my first trip wasn't a waste.  Target, it turns out, is a great place to hunt for hibous. 

It was most comical.  They were barely hiding in housewares as mugs and glasses. 

They were in bathroom accessories masquerading as soap dispensers and bath mats, and taking over shower curtain prints. 

For the bedroom they covered beds, pillows, and wastebaskets. 

And, in the living room, a storage ottoman to rest your feet!  (Which also featured hedgehogs and squirrels.)

More stock was still being put out - so who knows what other owl-ed items there might be... 

Anyway, a part of me still hopes that the my dream store will be made true at other Target locations (Kingsway's is still renovating).  But even if not, there's still a fun vibe here that promises interesting (quirky) things to look at and touch even if not to buy... Oh, out of the corner of my eye I could see there were other things like groceries, toys, and electronics too.  I'll have to look at those next time -- there might be more hibous...

Paper and Cotton

I was much too full from tea to really eat anything for dinner, but it was the thought (and surprise) that counted. 

For our first year anniversary celebration dinner, Paul took me to The Creperie - the same place he took me for one of our first(-ish) dates.  Just like last time, we combed over the menu (checking possibly more intently for mistakes -- it has definitely been updated, but we still found some), and took probably a bit too long to order. 

Then we talked over dinner about practical things, how eventful a year it had been... what we want for the coming year... and silly things too.  I "joked" about creating a jar-filled-cinderblock wall just like restaurant. 

Back at home, Paul had another surprise for me: A present! 

The grey tissue paper carefully unpeeled to revealed a wooden-covered photo album with prints from our photo shoot.  He's so sweet. 

My gift for him was downstairs guarded by Coconut and House Hippo. 

 

(Left: A kind of sort of family portrait.) 

The chocolate bunnies were an extra...  So was the Butterdome... The actual gift was inside the butter dish: A gift certificate for a canvas print -- Because the canvas was likely cotton! 

Why is that important?  Because cotton is the first year anniversary gift.  But... isn't that paper? 

Without really talking about it, both of us had thought of giving each other anniversary presents based on the traditional list.  But just like our wedding, "traditional" turned out to be different things.  I'd used a "Traditional UK" list and he a "Traditional US" list. 

Oh, well, another thing we can laugh about!

Not so funny though, was Paul's computer troubles.  He tried turn on his laptop (for us to listen to something or find something...) before going to bed, but ended up getting a scary error screen.  Fingers crossed it's fixable. 

Anyway, the next day our bunny counterparts seem errily even more like us (left).  Mrs. Bun lists to her left due to a gammy foot just like me. 

Birthdays Tea with Duchess

She tentatively took a bite.  And no one hit her! 

We cheered.  After years of being negatively reinforced by her sister for eating cherries (i.e. she got smacked), Steph, with our peer pressure, ate one and actually, kind of, sort of enjoy it. 

Not everyone can have such breakthroughs from having tea with friends, but it certainly did feel soul healing for me to be there -- I'd missed them.


I missed how we could be silly or rude or gauche while dressed up as if we were "proper" ladies.  How we could indulge in our sweet and rich food with little guilt -- all in the name of celebrating birthdays (both Sophie and Na's).  How Rem stayed silent and made these funny expressions when we went off on a tangent (re: P&P or Benedict Cumberbatch).  It was just too bad Jenn was sick. 

(Above right: Paris Brest at Duchess / Above left: Goodies from the Duchess - the chocolate plate.)

In the past, the location for these celebrations would have obviously been the Rutherford House.  But unfortunately, their restaurant recently closed.  (We "wondered" / suspected what happened.)

Steph wasn't going to let that stop her from having a tea.  She took on duties to host and we made a trip to Duchess Bake Shop to supplement the menu, which already included lovely, homemade cucumber sandwiches and cheese pinwheels that were just as tasty as Rutherford's. 

I ate too much, drank too much tea, and just had so much fun laughing.

In between all that, I tried to get some photos...

 

The one I missed / wish I caught: Steph, Sophie, and I dressed for tea, stomping along under colourful umbrellas and in our extremely fashionable wellies, holding our treasures from Duchess.

I guess we'll just have to do it again...

Making Moves

I'm so proud of Celina! 

Last night was her high school's Fine Arts Gala.  I'd been hearing (and reading) about her dance practices, but this was my first chance to see her in action. 

The Citadel's "jungle space" had been set up to display paintings and sculptures.  The Maclab Hall was where the performance arts were featured. 

I'd expected only dance numbers,  but the whole thing kicked off with music from the jazz band.  Ah!  That's Mr. Miller on trumpet!  He was my band and vocal jazz teacher! 

Discovering he was still at the school made me curious if my other teachers had stayed.  When I scanned the list, I saw a name extremely similar to Travis's (from the swing days - could Edmonton be so small?), but no one else familiar. 


A few drama performances had been squeezed in too, but the bulk of the program was dance.

Celina's first appearance was in a sequined. shimmery black halter top to  Propellerheads & Shirley Bassey's "History Repeating".

It was later followed by hip hop (with the Hip Hop Collective).  Other members of the group did smaller numbers and one with a swinging lights in the dark. 

 

 

And then Bang Bang by Nancy Sinatra.

For the night's finale, all the different dance groups joined together to cover the whole stage.  Unfortunately, by that time I'd run out of camera memory to tape or take additional photos. 

 

Afterwards, there were hugs and congratulations in the foyer.  I was so happy for Celina's great performance.  But her attention, understandably, was with her friends and fellow performers. 

 

Paul and I caught the bus home.  

 

I thought about this feeling of elation, seeing Celina dance, and again I want to use the word proud, but of course, this wasn't my achievement.  And with that, maybe that's why the secondary feelings mixed in were a bit more blue: Nostalgia and lacking. 

 

I'd liked the songs Celina danced to but Paul actually knew them. In turn, I was able to identify the show tunes and jazz numbers (so there!). Oh, such different musical spheres we have. 

Soup with a Faint Beet

Oh, lovely beets.  A gift you were.  You moved with us.  Finally, it's time to eat!  

Jitterbug Perfume made me have some pretty big expectations of beets.  From the smell to the colour to the taste... the senses evoked in the novel had been summed up into one word in my head: "intense". Especially the smell.  But maybe because they were so old (and stored in the refrigerator for so long), the smell wasn't that noticeable.

It was the colour that captured me.  They bled red and purple and stained my hands when I peeled and chopped them into wedges of ruby.

And then I followed the rest of the recipe. I'm still not convinced it's borscht, but at least I made it. It tasted pretty good; Paul ate it not suspecting beets at all.

The beets (removed as instructed, after their "bath" in the soup), however, had tasted great.

Vacation Daze

I have the rest of week off, but I almost didn't know what to do with myself. 

Yes, there's housework, but this is also my chance to go out and see and do things, right?  At once I'm free to do anything, but then I'm not free to do nothing because I'd be wasting it... brain was so tired. 

Sarah saved me by arranging a lunch date.  We met up at her office, she gave me tour, showed me a flower box that was blooming like crazy, before taking me to a nice (very efficient, catering especially to the downtown lunch hour)Italian restaurant. 

And then, with no distractions or a band playing behind us, we talked.  She told me about her weekend -- she was in Calgary too!  But our paths (obviously) didn't cross.  I told her about ours and how we actually went to see a movie.  She shared some of her friends' "vacation only" activities (shopping, eating out...) 

Now that Grant's graduating soon and looking for a post doc outside of Edmonton, they've taken to having weekend "staycations" to explore more of Edmonton (such as the farmers' market only blocks away from their current place).  It's pretty cool, too bad it's taking an impending move to make it happen. 

I felt a bit lost again once our lunch was over, but felt immediately better when I took on Sarah's advice: Just take a walk.  And so I did.  I found a bit of art on a dumpster in the alley and that made me smile.  I visited a bookstore.  Not necessarily purposeful and it was a bit windy, but not bad at all. 

A bit more Calgary and then Home Sweet Home

We were still in Calgary Tuesday morning, but already Paul's mind was back in Edmonton and to work.  I used my remaining few hours in Calgary to do things my way and with a bang!

Breakfast was about trying the waffle maker I'd eyed since day one, and then tipping the syrup grenade (liberally) over the resultant waffle.  So bad for me, but so yummy too. 

(Left: Though they were pretty, I didn't eat them.)

I started my adventures and exploring by returning to the Red Mile (17th Ave SW).  Famed for being the party / bar area at night, it was quite a bit like daytime Whyte Ave during the day -- without the night crowd line ups and neon lights, the coffee shops, bookstores, and interior decorating shops stood out.  I explored a couple, but kept walking further past the shops.  My goal was to find the wire fence that had been strangely covered with clothes on hangers which I saw from the car last night on our movie outing. 

 

The fence was there, but the clothes and hangers were gone.  No matter, the sign explaining what it was still there (a clothing exchange). 

 

Wonders did not cease!  The house right next that fence had another fence with art and yoga poses and messages... I'd stumbled onto something! 

 

(Left: I'm glad someone else also made the connection.)

Not quite sure if it was a commune, but it was something definitely community-minded. 

I kept exploring. 

An (abandoned) "Fun" Chapel (right) was only blocks away from this quaint church (below left) on Superior Ave and Scarboro Ave.  Which was all a few block away from a community garden. 

Conscious of the time, I headed back to the hotel on a different route, relying on the grid system to get me there.  The soft hidden community area soon turned more industrial, and then changed again back to downtown high rises. 

 

 

I made it back to the hotel on time to leave.  I didn't get to try the hotel's sauna (it was on my list), but I did feel I got a morning of good exploring. 

Paul took on the hard duty of driving us home.  I took it all as a chance to snooze. 

Back at home, it seemed like everything in the pots had sprouted (and then dried out a little bit too much...)

I prepared dinner while Paul returned the car.  And, it just felt good to back. 

House Hippo and Coconut were happy to see us too.  Especially so when they saw we'd brought them back an eccles cake. 

Vacation Luxuries

Wake up!  Get out bed!  Paul sprung out ready to go.  I rolled.  (Really? The baby crying in the night didn't disturb him at all?). 

He continued to sing and was probably ready in "seconds flat", but I had only just made it to the washroom.  I unwrapped the shower the cap curiously and laughed at its ordinariness.  Then I remembered: This is all luxury!  To have a special disposable cap to protect one's hair from clean,  temperate water was actually rather decadent. 

The water, surprisingly powerful (as if it wanted to push me to the other side of the tub and stop me from turning it off), was practically a miracle itself... as with everything else in the hotel. 

As it was Victoria Day (a holiday), we didn't expect downtown to be any different from yesterday.  Instead, after a very hearty breakfast*, we took the advice of a fellow bird-enthusiast photographer at Prince's Park and visited the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and Nature Centre. 

We drove through an area that looked older but updated.  Warehouses had been converted into trendy looking antiques boutiques... just as Jeffy had said.  A bit further, making us wonder if we missed the turn, a sign told us we were there. 

I had fun walking through the Nature Centre, looking closely at the mural and stuffed birds to help identify ones I'd seen at home. 

(Left: The American robin depicted with a wide open mouth... intentional? :P)

Then we walked out to the actual sanctuary...  And didn't see that many birds at all.  Granted, they probably had better things to do than to parade around for us.  We could hear them. And we could hear the people.  This was a popular place. 

We spent a couple of hours enjoying the walk on the trails.  We found some wildlife and took pictures. 

I probably could have stayed longer -- it was a peaceful place -- but with it being our last vacation night together, there were things to do! 

Back to the city centre we went with the warehouses and boutiques turning into skyscrapers when I see a huge head! 

It's a good thing I wasn't driving -- all my attention was drawn to the sculpture.  I couldn't believe its size and tried frantically to figure out the "trick" of how it was made. 

So much public art!  That's one thing (of many on the list that had formed in my mind) of things I was envious of Calgary... even if it was a bit of a driving hazard.

Paul kept driving and we made it safely back to the hotel for a quick rest and early dinner. 


(Right: A Coconut substitute.) 

(Left: A modest meal heated up / made from the cooking facilities in the suite.)

(Below: A little off rotini.)













And we were off again! 

Q: What is the activity we only seem to have time for when we're on vacation? 
A: Watching a movie in a movie theatre!

O.k. truth be told, I'm not so keen on movie theatres, but Paul does seem to like the experience.  We'd managed to find ourselves with the time and means to go and see something we were both interested in.  Plus there was the excitement of being among the first: Star Trek Into Darkness had opened just this past week!

The movie was exciting to watch.  But some bits were a bit obvious.  Intense as it was, my disbelief still managed to poke through: How was it that everyone was practically a superhero?!  And then there's the coat!  Yes, he looks great in a long coat, but how did it make sense in the story for him, in the middle of a chase scene, to grab a random long coat that ended up fitting perfectly?!  Anyway, the main result from watching this is that my celebrity crush is back in full force.  Ack, stupid, yikes! 

Back at the hotel, as tradition dictated, we snuck up to the top floor to scope out how the rich and famous lived.  Unlike the Luxor, it wasn't that hard... nor as spectacular (a wasted view with large windows covered up by curtains). 

Back in the room, things got heated -- back to figuring out the movie!  Fingers flew across the  keyboard and we searched online:

 

1. Did anyone else see plot holes? 

2. What were they referencing? 

 

But mainly,

3. Did anyone hear what we both heard?**  Nope, it seems no one else did. 

_______________________________________________

 

* I really tried to stick with healthy choices, but the oatmeal had failed so horribly the second day.  It was glue-like and tasteless -- I could see that if anyone tried that as their first oatmeal, they would never go back.  It didn't improve much even after I liberally used the syrup grenade and added bran flakes for texture.  And so, that's my justification for this breakfast:

 

 

** (Spoiler Alert) As in, did anyone hear "My name is Kaaaaaa"?  And wonder why everyone else was gasping?