The Best Day Ever

Awesome...I finally figured out how to download pics off my iPhone so I'll now have tons of pics for the blog...eggsellent!  Ha ha, couldn't resist a little Easter humour.  Yesterday I had one of the best days ever - it was the end of my birthday long weekend...I hit good old 42 on Wednesday (my god, how did that happen?!) so figured I may as well drag it out until the weekend.  Why not, right?  We all deserve a little spoiling!

Because we got our long run done on Friday, we decided to take a total rest day on Saturday and sleep in.  We didn't really sleep in much though - darn internal clocks!  Hubs and I have been mourning the fact that we're not getting our aloha this year and going to Maui, so decided to have some Hawaii-like foods to help bridge the gap until next year when we head back to our favourite place on earth.  On the menu was homemade banana buttermilk pancakes with coconut syrup....ahhh....as soon as we put the fork in our mouths we were transported back to paradise.  After getting a hearty breakfast in, we were off for our day - Hubs wanted to check out some bikes as he wants to ride along with me when I do my marathon training this year as he worries about me when I'm out on my own.  Such a caring boy!  The day was absolutely gorgeous...beautiful, warm...which of course brought out the hordes thinking the same thing that we were.  The bike stores were all humming!  It was crazy.  Anyways, looks like Hubs has his eye on a few bikes so we'll see what happens.  Marathon training doesn't start until June-ish, so still some time.

After a day of vigorous bike shopping, I was thirsty so stopped at a little corner store and picked up some of this stuff:

I've heard a lot about kombucha, so thought I'd give it a try.  It supposedly has all sorts of cancer fighting properties, and is kind of like a fermented tea.  It has a really interesting taste...kind of tart and vinegary almost, and sort of fizzy.  I didn't mind the taste at all but maybe not for everyone. 

Next stop?  My favourite place on earth, Lululemon!  I've been wanting a pair of their Wunder Under crops, and have been coveting their Savasana wrap:

I've tried it on a few times but I was always swimming in it so decided to try a way smaller size than I normally wear in Lulu stuff.  Bingo!  I LOVE this jacket.  I normally can't do this type of style as I tend to look like I'm pregnant, but the cut of this jacket is perfect.  SOLD!  Even Hubs liked it and he's meh about Lululemon stuff.

After our retail therapy session at Lulu, Hubs and I had a date for dinner to a cool new restaurant called Ulla that's been the talk about town recently.  It recently got an honourable mention in Vancouver Magazine for best restaurant in Victoria, so when Hubs asked where I wanted to go for my birthday, this place was at the top of my list.  A good sign when we first sat down - a shelf full of fabulous cookbooks - Keller, Larousse, David Chang...I felt a frisson of excitement. 

Our appetizer - grilled octopus with potato, lemon, mint, yoghourt and pickled cucumber.

I couldn't believe how tender the octopus was...it was the texture of chicken, slightly smoky and so good.  The accompanying veggies were a nice touch...I wouldn't have thought to have pickled cucumber and potatoes, but it was a great combo with all the different textures...really fresh and different.

Here was our mains:

Mine - lamb sirloin with spinach and ricotta gnocci, roasted peppers and olives with a red wine/garlic au jus:

Hubs' dinner - crispy chicken with israeli couscous:

Our dinners were outstanding...I  haven't felt this way about a restaurant in Victoria in ages.  The lamb was fantastic, hardly gamey at all and the perfect level of doneness (and I'm super picky about how my meat is done).  Hubs' chicken was the most moist chicken I've ever had in a restaurant and the meat was perfectly seasoned all the way through. 

We also had these drinks:

A yummy pomegranate fizz for the boy and mine was a ginger soda made with real ginger syrup - both were so good and refreshing.  A wildly enthusiastic two thumbs up from us for Ulla!

Hubs had noticed that a Cold Stone Creamery had opened up in town.  Our first experience with Cold Stone Creamery was in Maui - so we had to finish off the evening with some ice cream from there:

I had the Peanut Butter Cup Perfection (choco ice cream, peanut butter, peanut butter cup, fudge) as I'm obsessed with peanut butter - I can't get enough of the stuff.  Hubs had the Coffee Lovers Cup (coffee ice cream, almonds, toffee bits and caramel).  And of course, a waffle cup.  Yum!

So overall, the best day ever - sleeping in, beautiful weather, my favourite guy, ample retail therapy and great food.  What more could a girl ask for a birthday weekend, right?