Hi! Sorry for the silence the past few weeks. I have been planning, preparing, and then enjoying my 10th wedding anniversary trip! We celebrated ten years of wedded bliss in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia. I am still floating on a cloud thinking about each fabulous day. We spent time exploring the cities on foot, bus, and water taxi. We hit up the Vancouver Veg Expo on May 5th, and sampled so many new foods that I haven’t seen in the states – like Un-Brie-Lievable cheese by Nuts for Cheese, NoochPop, and Laiki Black Rice With Cheddar Crackers (which will pair phenomenally with the Un-Brie-Lievable if there are any left once we open the cheese). We found every vegan nook and cranny in Victoria, and the biggest jewel we found was Pure Lovin’ Chocolate located on historical Fan Tan Alley. They make vegan, gluten, soy, and preservative free deliciousness using Fair Trade sourced chocolate. What an incredible find!

But I have to say that the theme of our trips was picnics. Steven and I have always enjoyed picnics together, plus we each enjoyed them as kids with our parents and grandparents. During our anniversary trip, we enjoyed picnics in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, inside the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, overlooking the sunken garden inside Butchart Gardens on Vancouver, Island, on the Victoria Waterfront Harbor, at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park (where we were just feet away from a raven!), and in Heritage Park, just steps away from the Washington State Capitol Building in Olympia.

However, the most memorable picnic was on the night of our 10th anniversary. We picked up food from Green Cuisine in Victoria’s Market Square and headed to Beacon Hill Park. We found a park bench tucked next to a pond where we were surrounded by squirrels, ducks, geese, gulls, pigeons, and even a few peacocks. We also had dozens of Great Blue Herons fly over us and land in the nearby trees, in which they were nesting. Plus I had a close encounter with a black Eastern gray squirrel. The funny thing about our picnic was that Steven and I honeymooned in Boston, Massachusetts where we walked up Beacon Hill and encountered our first ever black Eastern gray squirrel, and then we spent our 10th anniversary at Beacon Hill Park, just this time it was in British Columbia.

​The whole trip was magical, and I still can’t believe ten years have already passed. We have changed and grown as individuals, but become stronger as a couple and have learned quite a bit from each other. I am excited to see what the next ten years bring us. One thing is for sure – I know there will be many picnics in our future!