Saturday, August 23, 2014

Birthday, Freebies and the Ocean

We had a really nice week as my stepdaughter flew into town for five days and we managed a brief holiday from work to spend some time with her.  This week:
BC Ferries - the Comox to Powel River Ferry
  • I celebrated my 45th birthday.  Along with my mother and stepdaughter we went to my favorite hole in the wall Chinese food restaurant (they don't take credit cards and service is brisk but efficient and the food incredibly tasty) and then went to a movie theatre to see Guardians of the Galaxy.  None of us were expecting much but each and every one of us enjoyed it (ages 16, 45, 52, and 71).  Seeing as how that was the first time I have paid to see a first run movie in a theatre in 1.5 years I am so glad we all liked it, and if you like Bradley Cooper, this is possibly his most adorable role yet (speaking only).  My birthday just happened to coincide with discounted rates for Tuesday night so that was nice.  I also signed up online earlier in the day to accept emails from the theatre and as a reward was given a coupon for a free medium popcorn which hubby and Stepdaughter enjoyed. 
Guardians of the Galaxy
  • I took advantage of some birthday freebies:  a smoothie from Booster Juice, 50 swagbucks and 8000 Shoppers Drug Mart points, no purchase required.

New Birthday Bedding, sorry for the lousy picture, this was the one hubby got to approve the pattern
  • Finally found a bedding set after a two year search, and paid for it using a gift card my stepdaughter and stepson gave me for my birthday.  I really like the bedding, but why do they have to include so much packaging?  I managed to recycle 100% of it but still, lack of packaging is one of the primary benefits of why I shop thrift stores.  I had been hunting for something with a bit of turqoise, light green and black as we have two original paintings purchased from local artists in our bedroom and I was trying to match something to that.  This fits the bill perfectly.
  • Had a mooch around the local thrift stores.  I found nothing (that sometimes happens unfortunately) but my Stepdaughter found two shirts to add to her wardrobe that I bought for her.  I am so proud that this beautiful 16 year old girl likes thrift stores, something that I can say was 100% influenced by ME!  Her mother wouldn't be caught dead in them and hubby has only recently started liking them (my influence as well).  When she was young and over for the weekend I would often drag her along to the thrift stores.  She says it is so hard to justify buying new clothes when she can buy a complete wardrobe at a fraction of the cost.  Smart woman!  She also shies away from expensive brand labels - so refreshing as most of the rest of the world is caught up in that!  I did find a couple of thrift store items last week that I will share with you in my next post.
  • Spent lots of time by the Ocean.  We went shell picking at the beach, had nachos and beer (hubby and I, pop for stepdaughter) at a Oceanside cafe at Qualicum Beach then wandered around the small town like tourists. I bought two books from a used bookstore, hubby and stepdaughter bought two items from  a thrift store.  Cause that's how we roll :)
Seal right in front of my kayak
  • Took my stepdaughter sea kayaking for the first time.  She liked it and we were so fortunate to see a family of four seals catching a 20 pound salmon and eating it right between our kayaks.  At one point three seals were directly below my kayak, as shown in the picture.  I took a couple pictures but then my battery died-lesson learned, always carry spare batteries for the waterproof camera.  It was something that you so rarely get to see in nature and we sat and watched them for 20 minutes as they completely disregarded us while finishing their dinner.  The salmon are running in the river that leads to the ocean right now or this sight likely never would have been possible.

4 Seals sharing a large salmon right under/beside my kayak, click on picture for larger image

It was a very nice week but now we have to get back to work as have an extremely busy fall planned with our business.  Have you enjoyed any last of summer outings?

24 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday, youngster! Sounds like you celebrated in thrifty but great style.
    Love the bedding and well done on influencing your stepdaughter into getting into second hand, most of them are obsessed with new and following trends.
    Those seals! xxx

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    1. Why thank you my dear. I figure she is way ahead of the rest of the pack if she can figure a way to keep her expenses low when she moves out. Considering young ladies spend loads on clothing this is one way for her to do that.

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  2. No outing here since I got back late July from my road trip. Youngest is off to college so we are sticking close to home, just in case college doesn't "stick" with him....tho I doubt that will happen. lol

    End of Sept. and mid Oct. Hubs and I have 2 trips planned--a family reunion in VA and then our regular trip to Ocean City MD for 4 days to decompress.

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    1. You did have one awesome road trip. Your son likely is enjoying his new found freedom, just as you are. So nice to have trips planned in the future, I always need something to look forward to.

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  3. I always try to avoid fish when I'm out swimming but that would have to be a cool encounter!

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    1. We usually only see the small ones (chum) but the salmon are running right now in the river and it is supposed to be one of the best years ever for Salmon numbers - such a good thing when you hear about all the bad crap going on in the world. Good salmon numbers = more seals = more Killer whales = more sightseeing = more tourists = better economy!

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  4. Looks and sounds like a wonderful time! Happy birthday!! Oh and I love thrifting too by the way :)

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  5. Happy Happy Birthday! I won't sing, you are welcome for that.
    I'm so glad that you had a wonderful day and that you stepdaughter took after you in the shopping aspect. She is a lucky girl and so are you!

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    1. Aw come on - I expect a singing Youtube video!

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  6. Happy belated birthday! I have one coming up in September. It is refreshing to hear you talk about your stepdaughter. I think it's wonderful you two have such a nice relationship! As always - I am so impressed with YOU!

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    1. thanks! She is a nice girl and I have known her since she was little so we have had a lot of time to form a relationship. Last winter when she was fighting the most with her mother her and I would talk - I had to assure her her mother still loved her even though it didn't feel much like it. Kind of a tough time.

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  7. Happy birthday! It sounds like you had one heck of a seal-a-bration! lol. My hubby wants to buy a kayak so he can putter around Mobile Bay. Once in a while dolphins will make an appearance which is so cool.

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    1. Seal-a-bration - love it! I would love kayaks, but need a way to transport them. We have talked about it but for now are just renting them. Even the cheap ones are expensive here, and the good ones are the cost of a used car. We would need to get a different vehicle or roof rack as well then find somewhere to store them. Even though it costs to rent I think it is cheaper for right now.

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  8. I am so shocked that autumn is almost upon us so I try to get out everyday on my bike or hiking/walking. It still feels like our wretchedly long winter was just a short time ago and I'm not ready to face it quite yet. How awesome to be able to experience seals that close up!!

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    1. The nice thing about being retired is you can escape bits of winter if you wish - you need to plan some warm holidays in the winter months! No more being chained to a classroom! Our trees are turning here, not from cold but from lack of water. Some of them did that too. They seem to survive the drought conditions though.

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  9. Happy belated birthday! What a great week you've had :)

    xx

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  10. Wishing you the best on year number 46! Happy birthday, belatedly!

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    1. Oh, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings (well, no I don't; I tend to enjoy rubbing this one in) but, now that you're 45, you're in your 46th year. Kind of like when you're born and for those 12 months before your first birthday, you're in your first year.

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    2. If it makes you feel any better, I've been in my sixty-first year for a couple of months now. Talk about DAMN!

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  11. Sounds like you had a great week of shopping, birthday and adventures. You mentioned packaging and recycling. I am so upset with the new BC recycling rules. We take our trash from the cabin to our condo, and used to drop our recycling at the bins at the shopping center. With the new rules, there is only curbside recycling for people in town. Since there is no trash pickup at the condo (we pay for a dumpster to handle our garbage), there is no place to take our recycling unless we drive way north or way south of town to the rural depots. Now all my recycling goes in the regular trash. Go figure. - Margy

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