Birthday Anniversary Weekend

I had a great birthday! On friday a friend took me out for a pedicure and then we headed to the boathouse for dinner. We had a lot of fun, several mojitos and ate too much food. On Saturday we headed up to Whistler to attend Feast of Fields and it was amazing. There are some spectacular chefs in Whistler and the local food movement is coming up fast and strong. I can't even begin to recall all of the yummy foods that I had but I'll see if I can think of a few favorites:
-there was a vegan chef who made some amazing dishes... one that stuck out was something with "ricotta" made from cashews
-wild mushroom crepes
-smoked salmon (done in house) on blintzes with creme fraiche
-some sort of cone like thing with raw (I think) salmon in it.
-mojito shrimp with a peach and blueberry salsa in lettuce wraps
-flourless chocolate cake

There were several wineries there and they were all doing large pours. There were also several microbreweries there. I had one glass of beer - which is a big accomplishment for me as I typically do not like beer - and it was pretty good. I stuck to wine mainly. I had a nice amount but I didn't get too happy.

Afterwards we walked through the village and did a few things before heading back to the lodge. We had dinner there and chatted with old friend while Justin and Steve played guitars. I felt a little off so didn't drink but sat up with a few aussie blokes until 2:30. Next day woke up with a killer headache and felt hungover even though I wasn't drinking. Ick. Slept until 1:30 and then we headed to the adventure zone for the kids.

We headed out for dinner that night, dropping the kids off for dine and climb, a babysitting service at the rock climbing centre. The kids get pizza and learn rock climbing while there and hang out with other kids. We went to the bar at the bearfoot bistro and had oysters (on for cheap when we got there!!) and then a 3 course dinner. It was our anniversary :-) I also had champagne cocktails. I started off with the menu but the bartender was a sweetie and she started creating things for me. Her last creation was the best and it was champagne with fresh lemon juice, muddled with basil and something that had ginger and some liquor as well. It was divine. She also let me sabre the champagne bottle... this involves going down to their amazing wine cellar (truly amazing) and then using a sabre to hit the top of the champagne bottle forcing the cork and glass to break and fly off. It was the coolest thing EVER!!! Truly an awesome party trick!! For dinner I had a crab appetizer that had these cool sugar pop rocks with it, duck for dinner in a sauce and there was gnocchi and mushrooms but I forget the rest and then I had something chocolate for dessert. All very good. And because we were just at the bar, it was a bit more casual - perfect for my mood that night - and our bartender was a lovely server. Friends joined us at the end and we had a drink and then picked up our kids.

Back at the lodge, Danielle was making frozen raspberry drinks and I made fresh pico de gallo and we sat around eating salsa and chips, drinking, talking, laughing while Justin and Steve went at the guitars again. There was Danielle and Chris who are my friends from Aus who got lost in the snow last year, Mike from Germany, Terry, STeve and Donna who are local, and then Andrew and Rob joined us at about 1:00. They are also from Aus. We had a great time and went to bed at 4:45, the aussies boys were still up. Woke up in the morning, walked into the village, went to lulu lemon and bought a few much needed tops and had lunch on the patio before driving home. Good weekend!!