Summer in Vancouver - Part 2

Here we are in the last day of October and I hope you don't mind me sharing my Summer. This post is the 2nd part of my 2013 Summer in Vancouver series. The Summer in Vanncouver - Part 1 was posted a couple of weeks ago.

We love going to Steveston, Richmond. It is still part of Vancouver Lower Mainland and is about an hour drive from our home.

There are a few things we can do here.

Steveston Fisherman's Wharf is one of the perfect places to go when you want a relaxing afternoon. We walk along the pier to enjoy the beautiful scenery. We sometimes see the swans who are not shy! The fish market is a must to go. We love to buy fresh wild salmons and shrimps here right off the fishing boats. We get fresh seafood at a fair price. Plus, we get to support local businesses. What not to love!

Located in Steveston village is the Gulf of Georgia Cannery, a National Historic Site of Canada. It was built in 1894, the largest canning building and the leading producer of canned salmon in British Columbia. It is definitely worth a visit tourist attraction site if you love museums. You are not only able to see the machines but also to touch them, very interesting. Tour guides are available and they are very knowledgable. We learn a little bit of  the history of the workers, how people lived at that time. Life certainly was not easy for them.  

A stroll at the village, you will find restaurants (City Grill is one of my favs), coffee shops and souvenir shops. Fish and chips or Oysters and chips are to die for. And the ice cream is simply delightful!

Here is my son is in action. Tee hee!

We typically grill the salmon. I marinade it with lemon juice, garlic and a hint of salt and pepper. Fresh salmon needs to be accompanied by fresh vegetables and it cannot be freshener than coming from my mom and my brother's gardens. They are grown organically.

Late August/ early September are the time to harvest pears. Oh my, these pears were so sweet!  These again were from my brother's garden.

Here are stuffed mushrooms filled with bacon and topped with cheddar cheese. My DH's favorite.   Mmm....mmm.... :-)

Spending our summer in Vancouver meant that Ethan had the opportunity to spend time with his cousin. They grew up together and only about a year or so apart so being so close to each other comes naturally. Of course, there were times that when they spent too much time together they started to annoy each other. Lol. Nevertheless, aren't they adorable?

Thank you for dropping by and taking a glimpse look of my life beyond adorebynat. I hope you enjoy your visit. Feel free to leave a comment and share this post.

Countdown to Christmas - Week 6

Happy Monday!


Julie and Blu host weekly Countdown to Christmas promotion and the Countdown to Christmas - Week 6  has been completed with 112 linked items! Impressive!

All handmade shops owners are invited to join.  
There is a 3 item limit for each shop or studio. Multiple shops may post three for each. Keep in mind that it's G-rated. Posting starts from Friday to midnight Sunday, which should provide a lot of time to add items. Participate as many weeks as you like.

I have a Countdown to Christmas Pinterest Board for this and tweet and retweet. Working together as a team and promote each other bring positive impact for us with an ultimate goal of making sales.  

Thank you for stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment, share this post by clicking the social media icons (twitter, google+, facebook etc) found on top, just under this blog post title.

Collections of the Week: Friday, Oct 18th to Thursday, Oct 24th, 2013

Happy Friday!

This week has been a busy week including a quick trip to Singapore on Thursday and coming right back on Friday afternoon.

I am honored to be included in the following collections curated by other amazing Artfire members. I appreciate their kindness for including my items and in return, I spread the words out about these collections including highlighting them here in my blog.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Countdown to Christmas - Week 5

Julie & Blu host the weekly Countdown to Christmas promotion. The Countdown to Christmas - Week 5  has been completed with 106 items link! This is a great way of promoting each other if everyone does their part, which I truly hope.

All handmade shops owners are invited to join.  
There is a 3 item limit for each shop or studio. Multiple shops may post three for each. Keep in mind that it's G-rated. Posting starts from Friday to midnight Sunday, which should provide a lot of time to add items. Participate as many weeks as you like.

Collections of the Week: Friday, Oct 11th to Friday, Oct 18th, 2013

Happy Friday!

Here we are on the weekend already.  I hope you had a great week. Guess what? I'm the lucky winner of ShadowDogDesigns' giveaway hosted at http://christiecottage.blogspot.com. I have been admiring Catherine's works so to win a pair of her earrings really made my day. Thanks so much, Catherine! And thank you Jacki for hosting the giveaway.

Copper and turquoise are a perfect combination as this pair of handmade earrings show! Exquisitely detailed copper beads and blue Sleeping Beauty turquoise nuggets are the stars of the KASHMIR SKY earrings. Dazzling for dress up and delightful with casual clothes, the KASHMIR SKY earrings will quickly become favorites as you reach for them time and time again. The KASHMIR SKY earrings were designed and carefully handmade by Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs in a studio overlooking miles of stunning Southwestern desert.

Here is the important information for the KASHMIR SKY handmade earrings:

Fancy copper beads: app. 16 mm x 12 mm
Sleeping Beauty turquoise nuggets: on average, app. 8 mm x 9 mm
Metal: copper and sterling silver
Earwires: sterling silver French hooks with copper bead accent
Length: just a bit less than 2" / 5.1 cm


Turquoise is believed to be a stone of wholeness, promoting a sense of unity with all that surrounds us; it brings peace of mind, a soothing energy and healing of the spirit.  Said to bring wisdom and understanding, turquoise helps in the recognition of beauty, in others as well as ourselves.  It melds together the energies of the heavens with the consciousness of Mother Earth. Copper is believed to allow the wearer to recognize the barriers which are in the path of personal development. Silver is a metal of love and healing; it is a mirror to the soul, helping us to see ourselves as others see us.

Now it's time to share some of fantastic Artfire collections featuring some of my items. Thank you Lisa, Pam, Anna and Valerie for including me on your beautiful collections.

Lisa of cardsbylibe generously made 3 collections that included my tags and banner. Look how awesome her collections are! 2 of them featuring handmade items participated at Julie & Blu's blog:  Countdown to Christmas - Week 4. 

Pam of PebblesatmyFeet curated Pink and Brown collection that made in to Artfire Front Page. Yay!

Anna of craftsofthepast faithfully making collection on a weekly basis for Wanelo Save team. Thanks Anna for promoting us continuously.

And last but not least, let's welcome Valerie of ValeriePullam to Artfire. It is her first time curating a collection and she did it beautifully, didn't she?

Countdown to Christmas - Week 4

Julie & Blu host the weekly Countdown to Christmas promotion. The Countdown to Christmas - Week 4  has been completed with 108 items shared. Impressive!

All handmade shops owners are invited to join.  
There is a 3 item limit for each shop or studio. Multiple shops may post three for each. Keep in mind that it's G-rated. Posting starts from Friday to midnight Sunday, which should provide a lot of time to add items. Participate as many weeks as you like.

There is ONE RULE - You must promote the collection as soon as the posting closes. It is required to promote each item to one social network, preferably Pinterest or Wanelo where we can see the item. Twitter and Facebook are fine, they just do not show the item.

I have a Countdown to Christmas Pinterest Board for this and tweet and retweet. Working together as a team and promote each other bring positive impact for us with an ultimate goal of making sales. 

There are so many beautiful handmade items and it's quite hard to select just a few, so what I do is to come up with a theme and this week I'd like to highlight anything BLUES from the collection.

Horse Bird Pewter Handmade Necklace Quartz Magnesite Unique Jewelry from ShadowDogDesigns

Tree Tapestry Pillow - Handmade Crochet Tapestry Fiber Art - Eco 16x16 from RSSDesignsInFiber

 

Art Glass Plate with Aqua Blue Iridescent Geometric Design, 8 Inch from

ResetarGlassArt

Hand Beaded Agate Slice Pendant Cobalt Crystal Teal Pearl Necklace from specialtivity

Sleepy Eyed Stuffed Hand Painted Owl Toy or Home Decoration from 

Wyverndesigns

Whimsical Snowman With Birds Handcrafted Winter Holiday Card from

cardsbylibe

Blue flower Necklace with Swarovski Crystals Polymer Clay Czech Beads from bluemorningexpressions

Multi-Colored Fused Glass Dichroic Pendant with Gold Plated Bail by

Umeboshi

  

Cute Owl Stickers for Children Birthday or Baby Shower Party by

adorebynat

Until next time!

Summer in Vancouver - Part 1

I can't believe that we are in the month of October already. I guess I wasn't the only one. Last night, we had a dinner with the in-laws and my MIL for a sec believed that we are still in September and said that Oct is just upon us. It's kind of funny because her birthday was on Oct 3rd.

I thought I share with you what we were up to in August and September, in case you were wondering where was I and there is no single blog post here.

Vancouver is such a beautiful place. There are so many outdoor activities you can do such as kayaking, hiking, camping and biking to name a few. We loved to do these when there were only the two of us (hubby and I) and hopefully we can do it again as of next year now given the fact that our little one is not so little anymore.

Strolling the city of Vancouver and its surrounding, or better known as Lower Mainland, is gratifying.

Canada Place is one of the main tourist attractions. It is located in downtown Vancouver, only minutes away from the apartment we used to live. It's the cruise ship terminal that can service up to 4 large cruise ships.

Located just a few blocks from Canada Place is Coal Harbor, where the home of Olympic Cauldron. It fills with new restaurants, shops and sights. This was one of our favorite places to go on Sunday, when the hustle and bustle has died down. Enjoying the fresh air and breathtaking view, Vancouver certainly one of the best places to live. 

Coal Harbor is also a floatplane hub connecting downtown Vancouver to Victoria, Nanaimo and many more destinations along the coasts of British Columbia. I had to fly a few times back in the days when I worked as an HR professional, and I must admit that it's not a pleasant ride. When I was pregnant, I chose the 3-hours commute by a ferry/bus than this 30-mins plane ride (one-way). 30 mins would felt much longer than 3 hours if you have motion sickness. I'd bet my DH and son would enjoy the float plane ride though.

Deep Cove is located in North Vancouver. It's a place to go if you want to do some kayaking. Canoes and kayaks are available for rent.

This cute shop grabbed my attention. It has such an adorable display: the pretty heart garland, the whimsical fonts, and a stack of timeworn vintage suitcases. It's too bad that the shop was closed when we were there, otherwise I am pretty sure I would find some handmade items there.

 

 There are a few more places we went to and things we did that I'd love to share. Stay-tuned! In the meantime, do share your experience if you have visited Vancouver. Or what would be the place you live in or have been that has similarity to what Vancouver has to offer?