I don’t know about you, but January is typically my least favorite month. The weather sucks, summer feels far away, and my credit card bill is always a buzzkill.  However, things are looking up.  My husband D and I booked our trip next month to New York (!) and I’ve been trying to get out and socialize as much as a I can.  I’ve been fighting a brutal cold for a few weeks now, but while I’m not a doctor, I think socializing and laughter are the best medicines, am I right? Below is a recap of my weekend (well, I’m cheating actually, as I decided to start with Wednesday instead of Friday because that sort of felt like the start to my weekend)…

Wednesday – evening drinks with my friend K at the bar at Blue Water Cafe.  K is single and as much as I know she is tired of the dating scene in Vancouver, her stories are always highly entertaining… and I felt quite boring sitting beside her.

Thursday – casual date night with D at the brand new Tacofino location in Gastown. I wanted to check out the new space and some of the new additions on the menu (they have a few new things on the menu that their Hastings & Nanaimo location doesn’t have… hello chicken taco). The place looks great and our tacos were delish!

Friday – dinner with a group of girlfriends in Gastown.  It was impossible to get a last minute rezzo at most places due to Dine Out but we managed to snag one at Bambudda. The company was great but as much as it pains me to say it, dinner was not.  Which is too bad because I blame (mostly) Dine Out (which I really hate and normally try to avoid because 95% of the time I have found the Dine Out dining experience no matter where you go to be lacking…). D and I went here earlier this year on a regular night and really enjoyed it (although I still thought Bao Bei was better). The shared plates were delicious, and the cocktail list was inventive.  This time… not so much.  I’m willing to give this place another shot sometime though, but I’ll insist on sitting in the main dining area (where I sat the first time, this time they sat us in a disjointed side room with less ambiance) and it will be when I can order shared plates from the regular menu, which seems to be what they do best.

Saturday – more baby snuggles with my brand new niece at my sister’s house! Baby E was a week old on Saturday and she is so, so adorable.  Aside from eating and sleeping, her favorite things are cuddling and bath time.  Maybe this isn’t the most exciting thing to blog about, but it was the highlight of my day!

Sunday

• Brunch with my friend M at L’Abattoir.  This was my second time there for brunch since they started serving it in December and I absolutely love it.  The menu is small but so delicious and they bring around a basket of fresh pastries (jelly donuts, pain au chocolat, etc) so you can have a little treat before your order arrives.  Not only is the food and coffee/beverage list the best, but they take reservations (you can make then online using Open Table) which is so civilized.  If you haven’t been here for brunch yet, you have to go.
• Post-brunch shopping.  The highlight of my purchases is a brand new chunky gold chain necklace with some sparkle from Moule in Yaletown.  They didn’t include the name of the jewelry designer with the box that I took home so I forget it, but I’ll try to find out so I can update this post and let you know who made it.  She is local and I have been looking for something just like this for awhile now, so I’m happy I finally found it!
• Dinner with friends at Calabash.  One of D’s friends from university, L, was in town because her sister was scheduled to have twins the next day! So, it was an occasion to get together with a group of great people over food and catch up. I had never been here before (confession: I had actually never heard of it) but it was good.  It’s a super casual Caribbean place in a bit of a rough part of the DTES (by Pidgen restaurant) – the service was good and the food was really tasty, and I’m glad I got to try it out.

And that’s it! Hope you had a good weekend too:)

xoxo
Karine