A weekend of culture... sort of.

Friday
Part of my job is doing really cool things, like going to street namings and flag raisings. On Friday night, we took part in Culture Days by "officially" opening the Listening Lights on Market Avenue. I was afraid that we wouldn't have many people out, but we ended up attracting a nice little crowd. (Thank you, Twitter.) And I didn't even mind working late or hanging out in the rain.

After the opening, we wandered over to Bannatyne for a pizza at Corrientes. My half was amazing - arugula pesto, smoked salmon (for authenticity, please pronounce the L in salmon), sunflower seeds, goat cheese, red onions, and a fresh arugula salad on top. Seriously nom. My fella had something with chicken. I think. Too busy eating.

Saturday
The first part of the day was pretty typical - Starbucks, Costco, the gym, more grocery shopping, more Starbucks - and, come to think of it, the second part was pretty typical, too - dinner, movie, SNL. The bestest part, other than discovering that my T-fal ActiFry makes perfect wings, was watching The Iceman. I had to watch with one hand over my face, but it was so, so good.



Sunday
After a fun class at the Reh-fit, I hopped on my bike, collected my fella, and embarked on a big River Heights adventure, which, of course, included beers at the Grove. I had a big, yummy toasted wheat beer...followed by a big, toasty nap. Perfect.

And, of course, Sunday night's big event was the finale of Breaking Bad. It, too, was perfect.

I heart donuts.

Did I ever tell you that I have this thing about finding random hearts in nature?

I'm not sure if a Tim Horton's box can be considered "nature", but I was delighted when this little beauty showed up in my office today. And, the best part? It was an old-fashioned plain - my favourite.

Weekends are delicious.

When it comes to tucking into a big bowl of noodles, one of my very favourite things is the Spag Boo at Cafe Carlo and one of my fella's favourite things is the Fett Chile at Cafe Carlo. (See? We're a match made in heaven!) To avoid the chance of ever getting bored with the Boo/Fett, we try to limit our visits there to once every several months, or until the cravings get too strong.

This weekend was one of those "can't wait any longer" times, so we made our resos for Saturday night and started fasting.

As usual, the service was endearingly pokey and the food was fantastic. Due to some glitzy re-branding, my beloved Boo is now called "Mediterranean Spagattini", but it was just as good as ever. So was the bread. <--- joke="" p="" private="">
On Sunday, we decided we'd better venture out on a healthier persuit, so we packed a picnic, loaded up the panniers on my bike, and headed for a sunny spot in Omands Park. It was a beautiful first-dau-of-fall. And the sandwiches were pretty good, too.

 

Socks, rocked.

Things that rocked my socks this weekend:

Friday night was absolutely perfect to join the "Canola Girls" for an elegant little fall supper. Of course, in true Canola-style, we were shuttled out into the middle of somewhere (a farm close to Newdale, MB) and treated like royalty. Dinner was prepared by the amazing MJ Feeke from Benjamin's in Selkirk and I have no problem admitting that I went for seconds on the veggies...and potatoes and salad and bread. We also had the chance to take part in a frank and open discussion about GMOs with a real, live farmer and someone from Monsanto (I know!) It was great to see the gang again and I was more than just a little jealous when the Be Well campers got on their bus and headed for the Barn in the Bush.

Saturday night, my fella and I put on our dancing shoes and went to the Pyramid Cabaret for Factory Reset Redux. The event was both a fundraiser for two community AIDS organizations and a tribute to former Happenings DJ, Eldon Ross. (Oh, how I loved Happenings.) The music was amazing, as I expected it to be, but it was seeing all the familiar (yet slightly older) faces and dancing 'til two that made my night.

 

On Sunday, I started to panic about the number of bikeable days left this year, so I grabbed the chance to take Norma Jean out on a loooong bike ride. Instead of my usual "to the park and back", I decided to go out to Assiniboine Forest and then out to the Perimeter via the Harte Trail. The trail is fine, packed gravel and winds along an old railway bed. For most of it, you have farmland/forest on one side and houses on the other. (That being said, the semi-urban setting is still pretty rural; I even saw a big deer wandering down one of the side streets!) The whole adventure took a couple of hours and I managed to put another 34kms (round trip) on my bike.

Honourable mentions: scrambled eggs, bagels and sangria for breakfast on Saturday (followed by a 2 1/2 hour nap...lol) and pizza made with fresh dough from Deluca's. Twice.

Vive le Weekend!

Things that made me ridiculously happy this weekend (in no particular order):

The 4th annual Winnipeg Tweed ride. This time, with 100% more fella! We had a blast winding around Wolseley, Assiniboine Park, and Wellington Crescent before heading downtown for a picnic on the lawn at Dalnavert.

My first drink in the Palm Room at the Fort Garry Hotel. I ordered a Kir Royale, because why wouldn’t I?

Laying on a blanket in Assiniboine Park. Also, sitting on a lawn chair in Assiniboine Park. (Ever notice that you feel guilty for laying around the house doing “nothing”, but a simple change of venue makes it perfectly acceptable?)

Finding my favourite brand of Oatmeal at Costco after months of being forced to eat icky porridge oats. Where did it go? Dunno, but I’m glad it’s back.

A Random Act of Saskatoon Pie. Thanks, Heather!!

Being the meat on a Shel/Susie sandwich at the 100 MileDinner. So many laughs, such good food. I also got to take home the centerpiece because I had the “worst seat in the house”. We also got a shout-out for adding to the "cool factor" of the evening.