August Break

In May, I took Susannah Conway's brilliant Unravelling course: An online writing/photography class for women. For course info, click here. We were set up in a private Flickr group and welcomed into Susannah's online classroom. We quickly bonded and formed an amazing tribe of women stretching the globe. Every week we were given unique photography assignments and had to share four photos per person. It was unbelievably inspiring and creative to see how different we were in our perspectives of the same assignment. It was by far THE BEST photography class I've taken. I honestly was up at midnight daily and had to get up at 5:30am for work, but I didn't care. I was so excited to pour over everyone's photos & find out their unique histories. Now that it has wrapped up, I'm going through serious withdrawal.  I was UBER excited to find out Susannah has created the August Break. Each day in the month of August, we will snap a photo and post it on our blogs. So far over 190 people have registered their blogs. I can't wait. It will definitely be a creative challenge and put my love of procrastination to the test. See you in a few days! For more info, click here.

Manning Park

forbes & jacinthe's wedding

Friends and family gathered around on a sun drenched rooftop patio overlooking Kitsilano as Forbes and Jacinthe became Mrs. & Mrs.
The sunset ceremony was jaw-droppingly gorgeous as the two stunning brides, accompanied by their brothers, exchanged vows. I still get teary eyed looking at the photos - I couldn't be more proud of these two remarkable women. The setting was like something out of a magazine spread. Their friends, Gord & Jojo, offered up their stunning mediterranean-style condo for the ceremony. Their rooftop patio has a panoramic view of Vancouver - the perfect backdrop for an unforgettable night. The evening was a constant blur of laughter, dancing and outpourings of love.
It's so amazing when you find sisterhood in another - a true friend who you can grow with and laugh with, learn from and lean on  - and to watch them walk down the aisle with their life's partner -well, it doesn't get any better then that.
Here's to Forbes & Jacinthe - I couldn't be happier.

For more photos click here

dining alfresco in mom & dad's garden

rest in peace little louie

It's hard to believe so much love could be found in a few pounds. You will be dearly missed little buddy.

I'm a big dog kind of gal - I love labs, retrievers, huskies, Bernese mountain dogs - you know, dogs of substance; dogs that leave a shadow. But all it took was one visit with Karen and Kelsey's little sidekick Louie, where he hopped up and fell asleep on my lap, and I was sold.
He was definitely a character - and I'm pretty sure he had more outfits than I do. He had a passion for mini carrots, hated walking on grass and always got to be alongside his family - whether they were relaxing at home or taking him to work. He was spoiled by everyone who met him and in all ways, always made us smile.

Salt Spring Island

We packed the car full of camping gear and headed for one of my all time favourite Gulf Islands - Salt Spring. We hit it just in time for the amazing Saturday Market in Ganges- full of fresh local organic food, flowers, clothes, and an endless supply of incredible wares from the local artists: paintings, pottery, photography, carvings, jewellery, hookah pipes - you name it, they smoke sell it.
We perched ourselves in the park and lazed in the sun with all the locals.
We camped at Mowhinna Creek Campground, only 1 km south of Ganges  - complete with flush toilets and hot showers. Hello!
If we weren't travelling with Molly, I would have taken part in the Salt Spring Island Studio Tour - you can visit any of the 34 working studios and meet the local artists. But because we were with our pup, we hit a lot of amazing local parks instead: Ruckle Park (rugged trails along the bluffs where you can hike in your camp gear and get amazing waterfront sites), Southey Point (located at the Northern tip of the island - we found a great trail that winds its way through the woods to a private beach), Reginald Hill (the ironic thing is that we set out on an easy beach trail and picked the wrong trailhead which led us to climb straight up, but the payoff at the top was worth it - spectacular views of Fulford Harbour. Duck Creek park was dreamy - fields full of wild daisies and golden tall grasses - Molly was blissed out.
Word to the wise - reserve your ferries. We thought coming home on a Monday would be no problem - but the sailings were all booked up. Luckily, we got a spot on the last sailing. I didn't mind at all that we got to spend extra time on the island - we ended up going for an amazing dinner at the Tree House Cafe (grilled yam quesadillas) and sat outside in the sun so that Molly could catch our crumbs.
People would continuously walk by our outdoor table and Molly didn't care. Then suddenly she started barking and raising her hackles at a man passing by. Of course, this set off all the other dogs dining al fresco - and suddenly they were all barking. The waitress came out and said that our dog had good instincts. The man she was barking at considered himself to be a local Warlock and would threaten to cast evil spells on people. So there you go. Now we can add Warlock detector to Molly's lengthy list of talents.

Funniest line of the weekend - Locals came into the Tree House Cafe and said they were looking for "somebody" but not "joe somebody". At first we didn't get it, and then we saw the local electrician drive by - you guessed it, his name was "Joe Somebody".

I love island living.

For our little getaway slideshow - click here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/50481252@N06/sets/72157624314810537/

the bad ass inside