Birthday Love Overfloweth

My friend Tanner, whom I've known since grade 2, is having a big birthday this weekend. I knew I wanted to do something super nice for him, but my creative birthday ideas bank was coming up short.

Until CBC rescued me!

Last week I was reminded by CBC radio 1 that Blue Rodeo was going to be in town playing two concerts at Malkin Bowl at Stanley Park. It just so happens that Tanner LOVES Blue Rodeo. I snagged a couple tickets from a friend who had extras and off we went on Saturday night.

It was a delight. And the delight did not end there.

My good friend Tanner spread the birthday gift love by calling his dad and connecting with him from the show. It was beautiful: a special father/son moment across a few provinces.

The State of California in My Heart

One of the highlights of this summer was my weekend in Seattle. It was a happy reunion with friends from California that either live in WA now, came up for a wedding that weekend, or came up just to see me (and maybe hit up a baseball game, too). It got me thinking about my time spent living in the SF Bay Area. My California experience still follows me around and reveals things to me about myself, people, the Divine, and the search for home.

Though my time in California was often overwhelming, stretching, heartbreaking, and completely too big for my prairie britches, it was also a time when I felt incredibly loved, was allowed to grow up into myself and into the world, and that gifted me with some of my most favourite friends. The weekend I spent with these friends was like a hot cup of hot chocolate or the feeling I have just after I brush my teeth - mmmmm sooooo good.