Granny Stripe Headband & Vancouver Visit

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We went to Vancouver for a couple days last week and I made these “Granny Stripe Headbands” as gifts!  Aren’t they pretty, especially with the layered flowers as embellishments?  Working on these granny stripes reminded me of the “Granny Square Blanket” that I had so much fun making for Myla last summer 🙂  You can find the free pattern for the headband HERE on “Tangled Happy”.  I absolutely adore this free flower pattern HERE, and it’s a great way to dress up a hat or headband!

I’ve traveled to Vancouver many times throughout the years as I have family who live there.  This, however, was Myla’s first trip and I was a bit nervous…  She did very well on the flight though!

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I thought I would share about some of the delicious food we ate in Vancouver!  Ryan and I always LOVE stopping by the food court at Aberdeen Centre in Richmond for some of our favourite dishes, so we went as soon as we arrived.  The crispy chicken wings are incredibly flavourful and piping hot as they make them fresh each time- we saw many tables enjoying this dish.  The Hainanese Chicken is so moist, tender and delicious with the special rice.  We always get these two dishes whenever we visit this food court!

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We love shaved ice, and I am so happy we decided to try out “Frappé Bliss (also in the Aberdeen Centre food court) that specializes in Taiwanese shaved ice!  The first time we went we customized our own dessert with milk shaved ice, coconut milk, condensed milk, and rice balls.  This was sooo good and it was my favourite dessert of the whole trip!  We went back towards the end of our trip and ordered “The Garden of Eden”, consisting of mango shaved ice, mango ice cream, strawberries, kiwi and mango.  This shaved ice is especially delicious because the ice itself is flavoured (without adding extra syrup or flavouring) and so finely shaved that it is very light and fluffy!

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We always stop by Daiso when we visit Aberdeen Centre as well.  I stocked up on cute packaging as I love giving away crocheted goodies in these adorable bags 🙂

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That night our friends took us to “Sushi California” for some well-priced, delicious sushi!  Look at how thick those slices of sashimi are!  Vancouver never disappoints with its variety and freshness of sushi!

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The next day we went for afternoon tea at the “Truffles Café” in the VanDusen Botanical Gardens.  I looove going for high tea as it’s always such an elegant affair.  The sandwiches were delicious and the view was lovely- I imagine this place would be very popular in the Spring and the Summer when the flowers and trees are all in bloom!

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In the evening we went to “Sura” for some delicious Korean dishes!  This was some of the best Korean food I’ve ever had, and the decor inside was beautiful.  The chab-che and grilled beef were sooo yummy…

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For lunch the following day our friends took us to a little French place called “Salade de Fruits”.  It reminded me soo much of the French restaurants we visited in Paris last year!  The waiters, waitresses and much of their clientele were all speaking French, so we knew this place was very authentic!  I had their mussels and fries and they were very tasty.  As you can see, there were generous portions as well!

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After lunch we took a stroll towards Granville Island.  Vancouver is known to be quite rainy, but we are very thankful that it was sunny and clear for most of our stay!  

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We enjoyed this beautiful view with our strollers 🙂

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We ate dinner at a wonderful restaurant called “Sandbar” on Granville Island, and it was situated under the Granville Bridge!  I had the most delicious ahi tuna that I’ve ever tasted, but I didn’t get a picture of it unfortunately…Myla started crying so we had to eat quickly!

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The next day we visited “Bella Gelateria” for their world-famous gelato!  I had the salted caramel gelato.  I wore this beautiful cape sweater that I bought the first day we arrived in Aberdeen Centre- I really love its beautiful pattern and design!  It also pairs very nicely with my Momzelle nursing tank that I blogged about here!

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For our last meal before we headed to the airport, our friends took us to “La Brasserie” for oysters!  They were so fresh and tasty….I knew I wanted to eat oysters on this trip, and this definitely hit the spot!  The Brasserie Burger that I ordered was also very good 🙂

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Here are some other shots that Ryan took of beautiful Vancouver…

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Vancouver Convention Centre

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Granville Bridge (Ryan calls this photo “Daddy Long Legs” ;P)

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Seagulls on Granville Island

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Waterfront SkyTrain Station

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We are so thankful to our good friends in Vancouver who brought us to all these wonderful food spots!  They are big foodies and are always in the know of new restaurants popping up in their diverse city.  Our friends have babies as well, so most of these restaurants were stroller and baby-friendly (“Salade de Fruits” and “La Brasserie” were the only ones that didn’t fit our strollers since they were smaller establishments).  We had a great little trip to Vancouver full of good food and wonderful company 🙂  Vancouverites, have you been to any of these places?  What are your favourite food spots?