Settle in, grab a drink and let's go! It was a busy time and I took a LOT of pictures. 
Me and L! Partners in life, shenanigans and everything else.
I had many fans of my ensembles.
Done up for the chilly morning in Victoria on Saturday.
The pockets in the coat were perfect - I kept my glasses/sunglasses in one and my phone in the other.
I did my usual travel capsule.
A funky jacket, a cool skirt, groovy shoes and a rotation of band tees that I sleep in.
- Denim embroidered jacket - Paparazzi, thrifted, Vancouver; last worn here in March for work and a concert
- Teenage Art Scene tee - concert merch, not tracked
- Tulle skirt - Papillon, sample; last seen here on Yvonne in February for the VFF Gala, and here (3rd outfit) on me in December 2025 for theatre with pals
- Shoes - Half-Truth Tanya, Fluevog; last worn here in September 2025 with my Picador skirt
I changed up socks, accessories and jewelry, as well as the t-shirts for my daytime looks.
I chose the jacket because I bought it in Vancouver here in March 2015 - and realizing that, I added a few more "bought in Van" pieces.
I opted for this skirt for Drama and for clambering in and out of seaplanes, and for easy-on/easy-off-ability while shopping.
My little plastic purse was just right.
The first day/travel outfit.
"Where are you going?"
I mostly had the scarf on the purse handle. We had a gorgeous weekend!
Here's my full packing.
I wore the Iggy tour shirt on the trip home, and Amyl and the Sniffers for Sunday's shopping day. The Amyl show was my last trip to Vancouver, back here in March 2025.
I wore this to dinner on Saturday night, which was at an upscale restaurant, so I needed something a little dressier than a tour t-shirt.
I steamed them, then rolled them up and stuffed them in my knapsack.
I also brought this Baden Baden top because it scrunches into a tiny ball, and doesn't need ironing.
- Crinkle top - Baden Baden, consignment; last seen here in February with long leopard
The stuff:
My little purse was solid - it also had many admirers.
- Plastic purse - souvenir Hermes knock-off, Paris 98 Expo, thrifted, Vancouver
- Silk scarf - Smoking Lily, thrifted
The purse was bought on the Winesday Vancouver adventure years ago, here in July 2023.
I wore Mom's old kilt pin on the jacket to connect the lapels.
Silvery bling:
- Lucite/silver bangle - Alexis Bittar, consignment, Vancouver
- Silver/malachite bangle - consignment, Sidney
- Silver/aventurine ring - consignment
- Silver/malachite ring - consignment
- Sliver/green stone ring - thrifted
- Iridescent earrings - consignment
- Steel loop earrings - gift from Lise
Another Vancouver item: the bangle with the giant sterling silver balls, which I got at Turnabout when I flew over for the day to visit Melanie and Shelley here in June 2019.
The other stuff:
These shoes were great for the first day, but then the heels started to rub and my toes were feeling pinched.
- Belt - Fluevog
- Pewter necklace - Robert Larin, vintage 70s, thrifted, Sidney
I found the necklace in the backpack when I was loading it up - I missed it when I unpacked from our last Powell River trip! I took it with me, 'cause why not?
A last couple of pics of the boys before we headed off on Saturday morning to catch our float plane.
"I'm snoozy..."
Soaking up the morning sun.
"I like Ross and Cat!"
You like everyone, Barnabas, but yes, they are wonderful people who took good care of you boys while we were away.
Whateley wanted one last play session.
"It's in this drawer."
They paw at the drawer where the cat toys live. Their faves are a laser pointer (I run Whateley up and down the hall) and a "fishing for kittens" rod with feathers. They both love to leap at it.
My favourite fat pink blossoms are out!
It was a slightly overcast morning, with a little bit of a chill.
We walked to town, down to the harbour.
There's the legislature (the green dome), and I spy a Harbour Air plane bobbing on the water.
I was also astounded to see a ton of starfishes as we entered the terminal.
Cool!
There's our plane.
It was a full load on the Twin Otter, and other folks had priority boarding.
L and I had cheap but non-refundable tickets, bought months ago.
It was a full load on the Twin Otter, and other folks had priority boarding.
My seatmate offered to give up her window seat so L and I could sit together. "We won't be talking," I said. "Enjoy the views."
I used to write angsty poetry at that lighthouse when I was a teen (before there was a safety barrier on the entire thing).
L read his book, and I craned around looking at everything. We had to follow the Coho ferry out - I like that it has US and Canadian flags.
Hello, Breakwater!
Bye, Victoria!
You can see all the coastal mountains on the mainland. Good visibility!
Bye, downtown!
My, how it grows.
There's Mt. Baker.
Off in the US, in Washington State.
Looking back on the other side of the plane, there's Victoria's airport.
Hi, Caro! She lives over there, on the water.
The ferry docks north of Sidney.
The ferries are fine if you want to take 4-5 hours to get to Vancouver, door to door.
But if you want to take 1-1.5 hours, then seaplane is the way to go.
Enjoy Vancouver, when you get there in 3 hours.
Ugh, all the tankers and barges.
Looking north as we near Vancouver.
Big city, here we come!
Vancouver has also grown so much. I remember when the Sears tower was the only tall building. It's the one that looks like it has a space-ship on top of it, middle left.
We're on dry land again!
What? Who is that?
It's even nicer here!
Our plane was the duo-prop one in the middle.
Our tickets were less than $80 each, a very good deal!
We stayed at the Blue Horizon, or as I affectionately call it, The Bloo.
We were on the 25th floor! Woo, great views.
Robson Street below us, water in the distance.
Looking north.
Lots of apartments.
Looking into town.
The Bloo is one of the first tall hotels in Vancouver. Dig that tiled finish! So mid-century.
L and I had lots of time before we were due to meet up with Melanie, of a Bag and a Beret (she's on Instagram here), so we wandered over to a vintage consignment store L had spotted with Casey the week before.
I think they will go with a lot in his closet.
This car was the coolest thing we saw.
We also stopped in at Brown's shoes, where we found L these amazing yellow sneakers.
They're by Veja.
We had a gift card, and I bought them for L as our reciprocal shoe-buying that we do for our anniversary.
We Ubered over to OEB for a delicious breakfast with Melanie.
There were quite a few people in the store, so we took some pictures until they cleared out.
All the cool kids are here!
We hopped another Uber over to the Fluevog store.
Looking fabulous, darling!
We've been meeting up with Mel for over 10 years!
It's so fun to goof off with you!
What a fun tradition.
This shot has become a tradition.
Always! Thanks for an awesome trip, my love.
Busy store.
It felt like there wasn't much stock.
We both wandered around, looking.
They're so cool, but OOF, that is a very pointy and squishy toe and not in a good way.
Nothing grabbed L, and he did not buy a pair (this is when we negotiated that I would buy the sneakers for him).
I wanted to try these green metallic shoes on.
I had a look through the men's designs and quite liked these white ones.
They're very soft and the inside sole is very squishy (in a good way!).
Mel is chatting in the background.
And these are what I ended up getting. They are the Catalyst Shapers, but they really remind me of the shoes Duckie wears in "Pretty in Pink." In fact, these are a slightly different version of the original Duckie that Fluevog made (here), as a nod to the movie.
I ended up wearing them for the rest of the trip!
I shopped all day in them on Sunday, and on our trip home Monday morning.
"Enter into the Kingdom of Fluevog."
The original designs had leather soles - these are more cheaply made. Sad when I start seeing the quality of Fluevogs going down...
My awesome niece Zoe joined us!
"Hey, Zo!" "Hey, She!"
A shout-out to Trasie - what a fabulous outfit!
That jacket is so joyful, and I love that she's looped a tie through a necklace and then looped it and put a bee pin on it! What magnificence!
Mel, Zoe, L and I went to Steamworks Brewery and hung out over drinks for a couple of hours, and we parted ways. L and I headed back to our room to get ready for dinner. I popped into Minted on Robson street, and found this cheap polyester shirt.
Recognize the pattern? It's the same as my Escada jacket (seen here in June 2025). Weird!
I also popped into a collective store that carried only locally-made items.
This reminded me of the kittens! Only a skeleton. Very me! It was $14.00 by whats her face.
Back at the hotel, I changed for dinner.
Me and Laura, on our walk over after dinner.
Socks off, belt left on, change the top and earrings, and add the pewter Robert Larin necklace.
We had a fantastic meal at Cin-Cin, then walked over to the lounge at the Sutton Place hotel.
Get in here, boys!
Tony and L, and we're all having a blast!
Tony and L.
We're all writers, which makes for fun conversation.
Two very long-time friends.
They grew up together in Powell River.
Me and L in the foyer after the lounge closed.
I was feeling very tired, and my feet were sore.
But first, formal poses are called for!
As noted, I wore my new Fluevogs with sparkly black socks, and my Amyl tour shirt. I skipped the belt because they get in the way when trying things on.
But first, formal poses are called for!
It's been two years since we saw our dear friends! Too long!
After crashing into bed back at the hotel, L and I were up early on Sunday to meet up with Spence and Kim.
With the coat.
I need more coffee!
We went to our usual spot, El Camino's.
Spence, L, me and Kim.
Two guys who love music and the Miami Dolphins.
Love that Sweet tee. L is wearing Alice Cooper.
Me and Kim.
We shopped together for a couple of hours after breakfast.
L getting a brain freeze from his pineapple daiquiri.
Breakfast of champions!
And here's what I bought on our adventures. I found this dress at Bohemia Gallery, a shop I've always had good luck in.
I love the green colour and swirly patterns.
It's by Marimekko.
It was $44.00.
100% cotton!
Unfortunately, it's rather snug (L liked it, ha ha), so I'll recoup my money in the next Limbo sale.
I didn't feel too bad about that, as I had a bunch of prepaid MasterCards from my company's rewards program - I spent company money the entire weekend, barely a cent of my own (just the Ubers).
He also verified that this pristine, never-worn Western blazer was vintage 1970s.
The previous owner was a collector (there was a black one on the rack too) and bought these in Japan.
In fact, the lovely proprietor was going to give this necklace to me for $15.00 but I insisted he charge me the full $25 so that my "free money" would pay for it. The necklace is likely from a department store like Holt Renfrew - he knew the lady who consigned it and that she shopped there often.
He also verified that this pristine, never-worn Western blazer was vintage 1970s.
Isn't it cool?
It's vintage 90s Phat Farm.
I'm glad L bought it.
I thought this cool rapper jacket looked amazing on Spence.
We wrapped up together at Turnabout, with Spence and Kim heading home, and L retreating to the nearby pub with his book and a hockey game on TV. I did a very thorough browse, finding a blazer for L and this crazy top for me.
It's an oversized ruffled front and back sheer organza (it's polyester), with giant puffy sleeves.
It's by WoWo, but I'm not sure that it's the actual clothing line I found online (the labels aren't the same) and when I search for WoWo chiffon blouses, I get a lot like this.
So, maybe it's a fast fashion brand? It was $130, marked down from $324 (!!) by Turnabout, so maybe they know something I don't. Either way, my company paid for it, so whatever. It's my favourite piece, after the shoes, of the weekend.
After ascertaining L would be okay at the pub, I headed back up Main to visit My Sister's Closet, where I found this great camo cropped tee on the $5 rack.
It's by Ajile Active.
Definitely worth five bucks.
I combed the designer section, and there were a bunch of these deadstock dresses. I suspect they were from a boutique that went out of business.
I love the Issey-Miyake-ish vibe of it, and the deep teal blue colour.
There's the original boutique tag.
It has no labels in it, so I don't think it IS Issey Miyake (people like seeing the Pleats Please or Miyake label as it helps it hold the value), but still...$320?
I was happy with $55.00 paid by not my own money. Ha ha!
Done with shopping, I met back up with L and we Ubered back to the hotel for a quick nap before catching up with pal Craig at Earls to watch the end of the hockey game and have dinner.
And a little sliver of moon.
After eating, I loaded up with snacks and hung out in the hotel room, and let the guys catch up. Much hockey and work-talk, no thank you - love ya, Craig!
I got this fabulous sunset.
And on Monday morning, we checked out, walked back down to the docks and headed home.
Hello, Olympic flame! And Canada geese on the roof.
Bye, mainland!
Enjoy arriving in Nanaimo in over an hour, ferry riders.
Within 15 minutes, we were cruising over the Gulf Islands.
That's a smaller ferry that services the populated islands.
There's Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse!
We're nearly home!
Ah, there's the harbour.
Another beautiful day ahead.
Coming in low...
Rock on, my love!
I see Mt. Baker in the distance.
And there's my guy.
Time to hang with the kitties!
"Who are you again?"
That's L's new Versace leather-trimmed blazer. Swanky!
I hope you enjoyed our trip!
Whoa and wow, your trip was a lollapalooza! Lots of friend time (including your neice) and shopping and shoes. :-) HAPPY 29th ANNIVERSARY!!!!! I always enjoy seeing your travel capsule, and it's impressive how just switching the top manages to dress up the skirt - perfect for dinner at a spiffy restaurant.
ReplyDeleteL has a grand set of blazers, including the new one; your white Fluevogs and his yellow sneakers both look quite comfortable (am glad you were able to give your feet a break!), and that red car is a beauty! I think cars and roads last much longer in the PNW because salt doesn't get placed on the roads like it does here. My favorite haul of yours is the blue dress and I definitely like forward to seeing you style it.
Thanks for taking us along on your anniversary celebration! Cheers, Laurie