tall ships

the tall ships, lady washington and hawaiian chieftain, visited the maritime museum and offered public sailings and walk-on tours to the general public. when i first came across this organization, grays harbor historical seaport, i knew my boys would be interested.  within minutes of emailing stefan the information about their 'battle sails', he had bought tickets. 

the visit is part of a british columbia tour. the tall ships hosted guests on a 3 hour battle sail.  the battle sail featured real cannon fire (with blanks) and a demonstration of tall ship maneuvers resembling an 18th century naval skirmish.  what boy, big or small, wouldn't want to go? 

 

  

the lady washington is a full-scale reproduction of the first american vessel to visit the west coast of north america in approximately 1788.



what is most cool about this is the fact that the majority of the crew are volunteers.  you can volunteer to work on the tall ships after a two-week intensive training course and then stay on board from 2 weeks up to 6 months.  what an awesome experience (for someone else, not those of us prone to sea sickness, yup, that's me)!

all images by stefan

play!

did you play and relax on the weekend?  we did and it was a good reminder to play more. it's a good thing.

children's festival

kai and i enjoy the children's festival year after year.  it is jam-packed with music, theatre, and fun!

we went to see 46 circus acts in 45 minutes and it was a fast-paced (to upbeat music), funny, and amazing show.  the acrobats "battle the clock as they bend, fly, juggle, and balance".  check out the video below (from youtube).

we then wandered about granville island and discovered art installations, some still while others roving.  kai had some face painting done.  we ended our afternoon with a chai (for me) and ice cream (for kai).

 
 
 
 

  

steveston

we took kai and his buddy lucy to steveston today.  we were not prepared for how busy it was going to be, the tall ships were on display and the farmer's market was being held as well.  steveston is a quaint fisherman's town.  you can watch the fishers mend their nets and you can buy fish right off the boats by walking down to the pier (you certainly won't find fresher fish).  and so it really is the best place to eat fish and chips, although i don't think any of us had any!!!  how about that, i guess we have visited plenty of times the novelty of fish and chips wears off. 

it was a lovely sunny day.  we ate and wandered around the market. lucy brought monies to buy herself and kai a treat and the two of them were in serious conversation about what they would want. they ended up choosing caramel popcorn.  i chose ice cream for myself.  stefan chose a macaroon.

  

stefan wearing lucy's sunglasses

 

 

 
 

we then settled ourselves on the sandy beach of garry point park.  if you are lucky, and we sadly were not, you can watch for seals in the harbor and bald eagles in the trees.   

the tall ships in the distance, stefan and kai will be boarding one in a few days for a battle!

 
 
 
 
 
 

lovely rooms

these rooms exude natural, simple, relaxed spaces.  i am loving the dining room and don't you just want to climb into that bed?  i do like pops of colour in spaces so am surprised that i am drawn to them.  hmmm, maybe i need to do some tweaking...



image from elle decor magazine



image from design sponge



image from design sponge

novogratz loving

i have been missing robert and cortney novogratz.  they are a husband and wife design team who starred in the docu-series 9 by design.  they develop and design properties while parenting 7 children.  i loved not only their interior decor style, a mix of vintage and modern, but also their parenting style, laid back and present. 

they also have a book, downtown chic, that i own and love.  after renovating a couple of homes, they discovered they had a knack for it and started their family business. the book documents what they have learned in their years of developing and designing homes. 

i won't be missing them for much longer, i just learned that they have a new show starting in mid-july called home by novogratz. very excited!

all images from apartment therapy

anthropologie

when visiting the states i try to make a point of visiting anthropologie.  i love its aesthetic, which makes it a lovely shop to browse.  sometimes when stefan is in the states for work, i will send him on an anthropologie mission.  he has brought me back a couple of pairs of earrings.  i wear them all of the time, i think post earrings suit my earlobes much better than dangling ones (please tell me that i am not the only one with earlobe issues!).

i am so excited that anthropologie opened in vancouver last month. very exciting! thus far, i picked up some 'c, s, k' mugs from the vancouver store.  and i am also loving for the home...

i did try to purchase clothing but to no avail.  i am loving for me...