Polo Picnic: The Southlands Cup

On August 17th, polo fans donned fancy dress and headed to The Southlands Riding Club to watch the first tournament hosted in the city in over twenty years, The Southlands Cup.

Morning Skate.

This morning, Amy and I dug through our storage lockers and pulled out our rollerblades. For me, this meant hunting them down in the crawl space of my parent's place. Miraculously, we were even able to find our wrist guards. Yup. Little did I know when I put them away for the last time that it would be close to a decade before I saw them again. I'm secretly a closet fan of rollerblading, and ever so pleased that it's on the rise again.

We had grins from ear to ear, as we circled Stanley Park and 'took back' rollerblading. I know you're impressed with the tube socks.

Two Roads (trails) Diverged.

Did Robert Frost have GPS when he took the road less travelled? We certainly didn't. Last weekend (in an effort to take advantage of the scenic recreational opportunities at our doorstep), the girls and I hit the trails in Lynn Canyon. We were hoping to do the 'Lynn Canyon Loop' as I had done it once before, and it seemed like a good place to start. Long story short, we missed one turn, and what began as a two hour hike, doubled in length. Nicola was less than pleased, and we were wet. What started as drizzle, turned into rain, we had no reception, hadn't seen a map in an hour, and only a handful of trail mix between the three of us.

Sail Past

For a number of years I have been fortunate enough to tag along on one of my best friend's sailboats, for the age old naval tradition of Sail Past. I'm usually dressed inappropriately. The first year, my friend 'H' didn't bother to tell me the dress code (navy blazer, white trousers).

McBride.

While we are on the topic of Katie's wedding, I may as well follow the events in sequence and show you a snippet of her Bachelorette party, or 'Hen-do' as I was accustomed to hearing last year in London.

Paradise Found.

My grandfather ('Papa'), used take us as children, on all sorts of adventures during our visits to their place in Qualicum Beach (Eaglecrest to be precise). There was Coombs Market (to visit the goats on the roof), Butterfly World, Go-Carts, and the Wildlife Sanctuary, but our all time favourite was miniature golf.



It made sense that when we came back to the Island for my Grandmother's 100th birthday celebration (opposite side of the family), we would take in a round.

It's a BIG day.

Words cannot describe how excited I am about this evening. Tonight my movers (brothers) are helping me move the larger items into my new apartment.

Ladies Night.

On Friday evening a good friend from high school hosted some of us for a wine night at her beautifully decorated North Shore apartment.

Southlands Stroll.

I spent Saturday with my good friend Nicola, and our SLRs down by the Fraser River. We took a little walk through Southlands, admiring the lovely homes, and their accompanying horse paddocks.

July's Friendly Faces.

July was a funny month. I had so many people writing and telling me they were visiting / passing through London, I had to keep track of them all in my icalendar. Regardless of the 'July Rush', it doesn't matter how many times I tour people around London, it never gets old. I absolutely love showing my friends the things I love so much about this city. It also gives me a sense of peace knowing that there are a handful of people who have a true understanding as to what exactly I've been up to this last year.

I don't have pictures of all of the visits (and I regret that), but here's a look at some of the faces that 

I had a chance to visit with this summer.

First, the lovely Britt came down to London from Scotland for a weekend. We had a great wander through my neighbourhood, and then a walk along the South Bank, some wine at Gordan's (shocking, I know), a power walk through The National Portrait Gallery, and then a night out in Kensington with her friend Emily.

Sangria in Borough Market.

You'll recognize this one from yesterday's post, and as you may know, she's here to stay. Yippee!

I knew we were related when she pulled out this...

And these lovelies came up from OxPrep.

There was a Sleepover with Katie and Callum (they stayed at my flat...in their own bed, you sickos).

Pimms beside the Serpentine (a first for me also).

..and dumplings for dinner in Brixton Village.

One weekend I headed out to Brighton for a reunion with these guys...

Tom hosted a BBQ.

We met originally in Barbados 6 years ago. Awesome right? There's 'M' on the left.

I hadn't seen Laurent (Far Right) since Barbados, as he's been living in San Fran and only recently moved home.

And last Saturday, 'My friend Nick Bell' (that sentence is another story altogether) was in town, 'On Business' (an international policing conference). We had Breakfast by St. Pancras, and then some window shopping along Marylebone Road. We checked out the Wallace Collection (Thanks Rusko), and had some EXCELLENT CHEESE at La Fromagerie. Just ask Nick to tell you about the cheese.

This attractive photo was right before we parted ways. I went off to Hoxton to meet Russell Brand. Did I tell you about that? (joke). Nick went down to the platform for the Piccadilly line (to head to Heathrow) only to find it wasn't operating. He then had a wild goose chase through London with his suitcase. Poor guy.

As mentioned above, there were some visitors that I didn't get photos of. I met up with Kevin (from CW) for some drinks one evening in Central London (you can guess where), and also had a wonderful picnic with Alex and Emily in a private garden in Kensington.

These visits made July truly a special month for me. Everyone thanked me endlessly for showing them around town, but little did they know how much their visits meant to me. Leaving London will be difficult, but it is these (and the many other) familiar faces, that remind me of all of the wonderful people I have to go home to.

As for the rest of you...

There's still 18 days left!

**sidenote: I've added some pictures to the Wales Camping Trip post (evidence that I was actually on that trip) the new photos will be at the bottom if you want to see them **

Mumford & Sons.

Yes, I've been neglecting the blog, but WOWSERS, has it ever been a busy week.

The last week has been filled with great visits from Vancouver friends swinging through London, nights at Wimbledon, attempting work while streaming Wimbledon on my laptop, picnics in the park, rugby triumphs (Go Lions!), and the concert to end all concerts.

Throw in some great weather, and that leaves little time for blogging.



On Saturday we headed to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (along with 65,000 of our closest friends) to watch Mumford & Sons. It gets better. Their opening acts could have held their own at this venue; Ben Howard, Edward Sharpe, and Vampire Weekend. Not too shabby right?

We started the day with a lovely brunch, while watching the Lions try and win the series against Australia (they did).



After eating, the boys continued to cheer on the team, and we headed across the street to chat in the park.

Buckets of water raining from the sky?

It took some time to wrangle all of the troops and then we started the journey to the park. If you've never done the walk to the Olympic Park from the overground, it's quite the trek. They are not lying when they say it is 30 minutes from the station. 

The wild goose chase they divert you on is quite a joke and not for the faint of heart.

Much like Friday and Sunday, Saturday was also a scorcher. Twenty-eight degrees and not a cloud in the sky, makes for a thirsty bunch. 

Seen as they confiscated our waters upon entry, we had little choice...

We slathered on the sunscreen, attempted to drink water intermittently (most of us failing), and held our spots on the lawn (ahem..artificial turf).

With provisions of course...

As one can probably imagine, as the day progressed, so did the tone of the event, as well as our acrobatics. 

Count 'em. Yup, that's three.

Three again... 

(quite certain we had lost our reputation as 'that nice group of Canadians' long before this point)

The show itself was fantastic. They finished, inviting all the bands on stage to play a Fleetwood Mac cover together. As Confetti rained down on us we made our way home.

A few sunburnt spots and a sore foot, but overall, a fabulous day. I arrived home to my flat with barely enough energy to wash my feet in the sink before climbing into my bed a sticky mess (gross, I know). 

Though I absolutely loved the day, I can conclude that I will have to work on my festival stamina and tolerance, should I ever wish to attempt Glastonbury. 

#lightweight

#clearlynotaflowerchild

#liketowashmyhandsbeforeieat

#oldlady

**Thanks Kat for AT LEAST half of these photos**