a new tradition...

Last night the philosopher and I got back from a quick little trip to Vancouver with L's mom, Christy. It was a lot of fun. We picnicked by a rose garden, ate interesting food and spent hours walking through Stanley Park admiring the gardens, interacting with the raccoons, looking at the trees, and talking.

The raccoons were very, very unnaturally social and absolutely adorable. They were so used to people feeding them peanuts and such that they would walk right up to you with their big eyes asking for food.

We also spent over four hours at the Vancouver aquarium looking at fish and watching the dolphins play. Oh, how I love dolphins! It was the first time, that any of us could think of, that we've been to an aquarium that wasn't solely focused on entertainment. There was a big social push for sustainability and alternatives with our fishing practices. It used to be that the aquariums went and caught their whales, dolphins, otters, sea lions, etc... But surprisingly, and sadly, most of their whales, dolphins, and sea lions were rescued.

...And then we walked and talked a little more.


{all photos by my philosopher or myself}

today

{image found here}

I want to go camping in a backyard that looks like this.

a little something unexpected

If you haven't already noticed, I am on a massive picnic kick. First I came across the cutest red retro picnic set, then this picture, and now this:


Strolling through the old posts on Design*Sponge I struck gold. This is pretty much the coolest thing ever. Check out the full post {here} for more photos and a detailed "how to". I love the cool wooden utensils too!

inspiration

{photo found here}

This picture has been really inspiring me lately...
even if the model looks a lot like Taylor Swift.
Actually, that might be Taylor Swift. No matter.

I'm also loving this retro picnic set.

{picnic set found here}

It makes me want to go to the lake,
picnic with my philosopher,
and lay in a hammock cuddling and reading
for the rest of the afternoon.