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  • Category: Canada

    • beautiful british columbia

      Posted at 9:19 am by jasminedesirees, on July 18, 2016

      A few months back, I was lucky enough to make a trip to northern B.C. to visit my best friend. Unfortunately, it was for sad family reasons, but I’m glad I could be there for her, and also see this amazing place for myself, since she has been trying to get me to visit for years.

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      It’s not an easy place to get to though. I flew from Phoenix to Seattle, Seattle to Bellingham, where I was picked up by her and her husband. We drove across the border into the GWN, and spent the night at her mom’s house in Fort Langley, B.C.

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      The next morning, we were up bright and early to walk around Fort Langley a little bit (it’s such a neat little town, their town hall is used in a lot of movies and TV shows, incuding Once Upon a Time and Supernatural), and eat amazing scones from Blacksmith Bakery.

      british columbia

      british columbia

      Eventually we got ourselves in the car, stopped at Timmy’s for provisions, and then again at the grocery store to get Canadian necessities (read: Cheezies, Hickory Sticks, Ketchup Chips, Sour Soothers, Dill Pickle Dip, Pizza Pops, Dad’s Goodie Rings) to keep us alive through the weekend, and set off.

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      From Fort Langley, we drove into Vancouver, where we caught the first of two ferries. I was kind of nervous about the ferries because I got motion sickness on a ferry from Cozumel a few years back, but I was quickly distracted by the fact that they served Nanaimo bars at the restaurant. And also they had a White Spot, which is kind of a famous Canadian burger place, my mom has been telling me about it for years, but I had never been.

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      After the first ferry, it was about an hour and a half drive to the next ferry stop, another hour long ferry ride, and then about another hour until we finally arrived in Lund.

      I didn’t really mind the long journey though, because being with your best friend and a hydro-flask of craft beer and all the Canadian goodies you could eat against the backdrop of the ocean and the Rocky Mountains is kind of the best way to spend a Friday afternoon.

      british columbia

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      Lund is the cutest little town, right on the ocean, and the people there are very friendly. I would seriously move there tomorrow, if I could find a job.

      Actually, I kind of have a job scoped out, the morning before we left we stopped in at Nancy’s Bakery, which is a really cute little restaurant that has amazing food, and even more amazing baking. I had one of their butter tarts, and almost cried, it was that good. It’s right along the beach, and I think baking all day with that view would be kind of unbeatable.

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      It was a very quick trip, I flew out Thursday night, and back to PHX Monday morning (but not before making a stop at BP’s for their spicy pierogi pizza), but I was very glad I was able to make the trip.

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      It was really nice to travel with her and see a new place, and it kind of got us inspired to take a trip somewhere together, maybe to the East Coast of Canada, since I’ve never been further East than Toronto.

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      I would also like to add, after reading through this post again, that I wasn’t just there for the food. I really only get back to Canada once every year or two if I’m lucky, and ALL my favourite foods are there, so I don’t feel bad about eating all the things whenever I have the chance, since it happens so rarely.

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      Posted in B.C., beach, Canada, travel | 0 Comments | Tagged B.C., british columbia, Canada, ferries, Lund, travel, Vancouver
    • lord stanley

      Posted at 8:49 am by jasminedesirees, on April 2, 2014

      We weren’t in Toronto for long, and most of the time we had there was for wedding activities.

      Besides Niagara falls, and a feverish dash to a few different mini marts to stock up on my favourite Canadian snacks (mmmm Cheezies), we didn’t have time for much else, but I made sure we made time to check out the Hockey Hall of Fame.

      It’s located in downtown Toronto in a building filled with amazing stained glass windows. It has tons of memorabilia, facts about players and trophies, including the Stanley cup.

      I had my picture taken with the Stanley cup, and with some of Mario Lemieux’s jerseys. He was my first love, I remember watching a game with my dad when I was four or five and seeing him standing for the national anthem with his helmet off and thinking “That guy is beautiful”. He still is.

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      Posted in Canada, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged Canada, hockey, hockey hall of fame, Mario Lemieux, Stanley cup, Toronto
    • niagara

      Posted at 6:50 pm by jasminedesirees, on March 26, 2014

      The first thing we did when we arrived in Toronto, after a feverish race for the nearest Tim Horton’s (they didn’t have Nanaimo bars there, and I was very sad) was rent a car and head for Niagara Falls. We had no idea where we were going, our phones didn’t work, but we were just hoping for the best.

      It was a freezing cold, extremely icy day, we’d had to sit on the runway for an hour after landing because it was too cold for the ground crews to come get us off the plane, and as we drove toward the Falls there were vehicles in the ditch left and right.

      I was pretty nervous and wasn’t sure if we were being stupid to try to get down there, there is something to be said for seizing the moment and taking advantage of your situation when traveling, but there is probably an argument to be made for not being unnecessarily reckless, which is one I’m still not usually able to win with myself. If I want to do something, I’m usually doing it, regardless of consequences or changes in circumstance, but we made it there without incident.

      I had to be back later that night for the bachelorette party, but we had a solid few hours to spend creeping around and checking out the Falls. I imagined us strolling around the walkway and taking in the view from all angles.

      Those plans evaporated almost immediately once we set foot outside the vehicle, even though it had been a few hours since our plane landed, and it was very sunny outside, it was still bitterly cold. We raced down to the overlook, took some pictures and enjoyed the gorgeous view for as long as we possibly could, which was all of 10 minutes.

      Still it was amazing to see Niagara Falls in person, it was especially neat to see parts of it frozen. I would have been sad if we’d been so close and wouldn’t have made the short journey, even if it was a bit treacherous.

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      Posted in Canada, exploring, travel | 1 Comment | Tagged adventures, Canada, frozen, Niagara falls, traveling, waterfall, winter
    • shark

      Posted at 11:47 pm by jasminedesirees, on November 7, 2013

      I’m off to my first Sharks game of the season. This is about to be me:

      Luckily I look amazing in Kelly green spandex

      Nothing takes me back home as fast as the smell of a hockey rink, the snap of the cold and the sound of a blade cutting into the ice. The second I walk in the door I’m five years old again, and I’m eating old rink burgers (a truer delicacy has never been found) and fries with salt and vinegar, with gummy cobras for dessert, and then running around through the entire rink, under the bleachers and back to the zamboni playing tag with my friends.

      I don’t think I went on a single date that wasn’t to a hockey game until I was 18, and let’s be honest, why would you want to go anywhere else? Plus they serve Canadian at the Shark Tank, and to be honest I’m not much of a beer girl, but I’ll take my Canada where I can get it, and I haven’t found anywhere else in California that serves it.

      Plus he plays for the Sharks. Enough said.

      Dibs.
      Posted in Canada, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Canada, hockey, san jose, sharks
    • homesick

      Posted at 5:38 pm by jasminedesirees, on August 23, 2013

      I met up with a new group of ladies last night, and we were getting to know each other and talking about where we are from. We started talking about winter and the leaves turning colours and it made me really homesick.

      Then today I saw this:

      “A Canadian can be English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. A Canadian can be Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani or Afghan. A Canadian may also be a Cree, Metis, Mohawk, Blackfoot, Sioux, or one of the many other tribes known as native Canadians. A Canadian’s religious beliefs range from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu or none. 

      In fact, there are more Muslims in Canada than in Afghanistan. The key difference is that in Canada they are free to worship as each of them chooses. Whether they have a religion or no religion, each Canadian ultimately answers only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

      A Canadian lives in one of the most prosperous lands in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which recognize the right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

      A Canadian is generous and Canadians have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return. Canadians welcome the best of everything, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services and the best minds. But they also welcome the least – the oppressed, the outcast and the rejected.

      These are the people who built Canada. You can try to kill a Canadian if you must as other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world have tried but in doing so you could just be killing a relative or a neighbour. This is because Canadians are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, can be a Canadian.”

      I can’t find the original link where it’s from, but I wanted to re-post it anyway. Obviously this is idealized, Canadians aren’t perfect, but they are pretty great and I’m proud to be one of them.

      Excuse me while I go sob in the corner and hum the national anthem in French. Humming is the same in every language (probably?).

      Posted in Canada, thoughts | 0 Comments | Tagged Canada, homesick, nationality, pride, thoughts
    • oh canada

      Posted at 4:47 pm by jasminedesirees, on July 1, 2013

      Happy Birthday to the greatest country in the world.

       

      Posted in Canada, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Canada, canada day, June 1st, life
    • nanaimo

      Posted at 2:30 am by jasminedesirees, on April 6, 2013

      I finally got around to making the nanaimo bar cupcakes I was salivating over here. They were really good, chocolatey and nutty with that delicious nanaimo bar filling as icing.

      Next time I make them I think I will leave out some of the almonds though, I only put about half of them in, and it was still a bit too nutty for me, but if you love nuts then by all means, add them all in.

      The icing is sooo good, the situation rapidly devolved into chaos, and we ended up eating most of the bowl with our fingers

      Posted in Canada, chocolate, recipes | 0 Comments
    • favourites…

      Posted at 4:29 pm by jasminedesirees, on December 10, 2012

      Things that are making me happy right now:

      I bought us tickets to go see The Nutcracker at The Opera House in San Francisco. My mom took my sisters and I to see it when we were younger, and it is one of my last good memories with my Great-Grandma Dolly before she passed away.

      It’s also something that we definitely haven’t done together yet, it will be a festive date and a good excuse to get dressed up and drink champagne with the boy.

       

      There are only a few weeks until we leave for 8 days in Ixtapa with my family. Bring on the sun, surf, and other tropical things that start with ‘S’.

      Me in 2 weeks. Probably.

      The above the knuckle ring I got from Etsy. I am constantly afraid it is going to go flying across the room every time I gesture, but it actually stays put.

      Essie Turquoise and Caicos Nail Polish

      The most expensive mushroom soup ever. Canadian Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup is sooo much better so I made Derek bring me back two cases in his suitcase, but then his suitcase was overweight and he had to pay $75.00 to get it on the plane.

      He didn’t even get upset, he is pretty much a keeper. He did say that I better eat it for every meal, but since I know I won’t be getting more for a long time I’ve only eaten one can, and I am squirreling it away in the back of the closet like a doomsday hoarder.

      Posted in Canada, favourites, Mexico | 0 Comments | Tagged Essie, etsy, favourites, the nutcrackers
    • home sweet home

      Posted at 4:40 pm by jasminedesirees, on November 29, 2012

      Thanks to all of the Amerrrrcans and their celebrations, I got to go home for a few days last week. It was amazing to be at home, and I’ve lost two toes to frostbite, so right on schedule, then.

      That one guy came with me, and I got to show him around my hometown and introduce him to some of my friends from high school. The whole weekend was filled with hockey, food, family and fun, we got to watch the Grey Cup, and also spent some time stuck with the truck in a snowbank so it was really the full Saskatchewan experience.

      This stuff will kill you, stay away
      Pasty Mcpaste
      My girlfriend
      Taken by my 4 year old nephew
      This one too
      My boyfriend Bristol, he will eat your face if you aren’t careful
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      Best friend’s from high school, we used to be very bad kids
      Posted in Canada, friends, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Canada, friends, life
    • canadia

      Posted at 6:07 pm by jasminedesirees, on November 20, 2012

      In honour (with a u) of my upcoming trip back to the Great White North, I have amassed some of my favourite Youtube videos that remind me of home.

      The first time I watched this video during the 2010 Winter Olympics I sobbed. Hysterically.

      And this video is just amazing.

      True story.

      Also, this:

      Posted in Canada, life, travel | 0 Comments
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