Where to begin...

Where to begin...

I have been completely un motivated to blog recently...I have been SO busy finishing up summer classes, which means stressing over and finishing up assignments.  But, I am happy to announce that I am DONE summer classes!! WOO HOO.  After I finished my final exam and handed in my last assignments on Monday I met up with Britta for lunch!  

Britta and I met back in 2009 only once, but have been keeping in touch over our blog and texting almost everyday.  I'll admit I was a little nervous about meeting up, wondering if we would get along or not...but honestly, I knew deep down that we were just meant to be friends and I was RIGHT!  We have SO much in common, it's crazy!

Anyways, after I picked her up and gave her a big squeeze, we headed off to Rebar for lunch :)  She has never been there and out of all of the places in Victoria, I thought she'd love Rebar the most.  They have such wonderful, healthy options.  They use fresh ingredients and everything is just so flavorful!

I started off my meal with a shot of wheat grass, chased with a small apple juice (because I am SUCH a baby).  I then ordered the wild rice, quinoa bowl.

So fresh and delicious.  I definitely took some home and had them for leftovers :)

Britta got the Schezuan Noodle bowl and LOVED it! She also bought the Rebar cookbook, which is AMAZING! She can now recreate this at home whenever her heart desires...

and then this happened, obviously.  Two chocolate lovers and a Chocolate Belgium Brownie? What else were we supposed to do? Just stare at it? We devoured this bad boy and enjoyed it til the very last crumb!

After lunch we wandered around downtown...I showed her a few of my fav. spots like Violette Boutique and Emporia Boutique, Murchies anddd I think that was it for the day!

I was happy to show her around and she was happy to pick up a few goodies to bring home with her :)

And this is me...trying to find my car in the parkeade.  It took us about 5 minutes of non stop laughter to find it. 

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Tuesday:

I picked up Britta SUPER early (6:30 am) to head out for a run.  

We drove out to Elk Lake and had a fabulous 7 km run.  We walked the last 3 km of the 10 km loop.  We talked the entire time! It was fantastic!

I totally stole this from, Britta :)

We definitely took some pics along the way and after!

After our run I wanted to show Britta one of my favourite markets, Dan's Farm.  That is where the fun began... 

We browsed around...

ate a fresh fig...

very mild, but delish nevertheless...

...paid for our berries and went out to the car.  I went into my purse to look for my key and it wasn't there.  We looked everywhere in and around the market and thought it must be in the car, even though we couldn't see it.  After about 2 hours of looking we called a towing company to open the doors.  The key wasn't there...

We searched for another 2 hours, high and low, every square inch of the car and the market and the key was no where to be seen.  WTF? We ended up calling the Nissan dealership, thanks to the help of one of the market employees, and Britta's friend, Cam (it was their idea) and asked if we could get new keys cut, because this was our only key...  Then we had to find a ride to the dealership, which proved to be quite a problem since all of my friends are away at the moment because we just finished school and they are on vacation!  In comes my friend, Jesse! She came and got us around 2:00 pm (we were there at 9:00 am).  While we were waiting we decided to have breakfast and lunch, since we didn't get a chance to have either (crazy for us since we both NEED food, especially after a run).

All we could find that was reasonably healthy were these Beanito chips, made of pinto beans and flax (they are to die for) seeds, carrots, granola bars and apples.

They were actually really really good! I think we both felt better after we had a little food in our bellies!  After we were picked up we went to my apartment for some much needed tea (Bellocq earl grey and milk) and relaxation.  

We then waied for Britta's brother, Max to pick us up after work and bring us to the dealership to get new keys, which only cost us $10!!! I was SOOO happy about this!

Max and Britta were lovely enough to drive us back to our car (Francis met us after work at the dealership - he was on Saltspring Island all day so he wasn't able to help us). Britta and I were both EXHAUSTED after the day that we had...but I will say that we learned a lot about each other and are really good problem solvers ;) We both agreed that it was awesome that we get along really well otherwise the day would have been even worse!  I don't know what I would have done without her!!

I still can't believe this happened...Last week I spilled coffee on my macbook air, they told me I just had to replace the keyboard and then a few days ago they told me that it is worse than they thought and well, let's just say it is going to be extremely pricey to fix.  Not sure what to do.  And as if that wasn't enough, this silly key situation happened.  Hopefully my bad luck is over! I have a feeling that it is :) 

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Wednesday!

Britta and I spent yet another day together! What? We have to soak in every last bit of each other we can until I leave and she leaves (going to be so sad).

I picked her up a little bit later, at 8:30 am and we headed out to Mt. Finlayson for a hike! One of my absolute favourite ways to spend my day!

STEEP!

You have to pull yourself up the rocks...it's a tough hike but so much fun! Britta and I both decided that we are runner fit (we are both runners), because as soon as we started our hike up this flippin' steep mountain you are out of breath and your legs are a burnin'. That's okay though, because we both love the challenge!

When we got to the top we spent about 30 minutes soaking in the gorgeous view, breathing in the fresh air and chit chatting until we made our way down the mountain!

After our hike we made out way to Lifestyle Market for a little browse, picked up a few goodies and then moved onto Discovery Coffee, nestled in the heart of James Bay, for a soy latte (one of my favourite places for a nice warm drink).

We sat outside and sipped on our latte's until we were too jittery to finish them... 

We took the scenic route home, stopping for some beautiful pictures and a few errands! It was such a lovely afternoon spent with great company :)

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Thursday:

I started my morning off with an amazing bowl of pumpkin pie oats! Bought a large can of pumpkin and have been eating it like crazy so it won't be wasted.  I guess I'm okay with that.  I mean, I sorta like pumpkin...

Unsweetened almond milk, canned pure pumpkin, rolled oats, drizzle of honey.  Topped off with a little chocolatey goodness aka Enjoy Life Mega Chunks!

After breakfast, I headed out to pick up Britta for a run!  We decided to change things up a bit and run along Beach Drive, which is one of the most beautiful sights in Victoria.

After our lovely 8 km run, we headed over to Discovery Coffee, yet again, for some delicious soy latte's, which we enjoyed outside while chit chatting away and people watching!  

recycled pic, but it looked exactly the same and tasted EVER better!

Later on that evening, Britta, Francis, Max, Tyler and I went to Willow's Beach for a picnic!

TWINSIES!

We chowed down on some HUGE sandwiches from Red Barn, Beanitos (new fav chips - I think Britta and I ate almost a full bag together, they were THAT good - try the Chipotle BBQ), crackers and hummus! 

It was a great night spent with some great people! Too bad it was absolutely FREEZING OUT! Is that fall I smell? :)

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Friday...our last day together :(

Friday morning I had a few AWESOME things happen to me.  I say that in the most sarcastic way possible!  I sliced my thumb on a vegetable slicer and then I destroyed my favourite running hat in the dryer :( the day after I was professing my love for it... Not the best way to start my day that's forsure.  BUT it got much better :)

After a quick breakfast I headed over to Britta's to pick her up to hang out.  We both decided that we were super tired and didn't feel like going for a run so we opted to go to Discovery Coffee for one last soy latte instead! 

I am definitely going to miss this :(

Next, we went on a search for a new running hat, which we had a really hard time finding...after we walked around town for a bit, having no luck on our hat search, we both decided to try for a run because it was such a gorgeous day and it was going to be our last run together for at least a year (I know, I can't believe it)...if we weren't feeling it we were just going to walk.  I think those coffees gave us the jitters so we had to run to get them out.

We started off nice and slow and chatted the ENTIRE way, stopping after about 3 km for a nice stretch by the marina.  Then we headed back...the 6 km flew by...we didn't even feel like we were working out.  It was such a great time! We are both definitely going to be taking the day off of exercise today though (Saturday) which is good because I am busy cleaning up and packing for my vacay!

After our run, we took the scenic route to Peninsula Runners where I found my hat only in a different colour (purpley/pink - not my fav. but it was the only one in the same style).  I bought it right away!  Britta got the same one :) YAY for her very first running hat!

Then I dropped her off at her brother's and we said our goodbyes :( Good thing we have skype, texting and our blogs to keep us connected until we get to see each other next time! We have already discussed baking together over facetime! We are SO cool :) Man, I am going to miss that little lady! We had such a great time together this week! But enough of this sad talk... time to be happy :)

Today I am going to finish up my packing and cleaning before we head out to Cali for our two week vacation! Francis' parents live there so we are going for a nice long visit! I will definitely be posting while I'm there, so get ready for some fun posts! Ah, I can't wait! My parents are coming for the first week, too so it is going to be a great time :)

Enjoy your weekend, and I will be talking at you all very soon!

Amy

xo