mom's annual visit

Every year in the spring or summer my mom comes to visit. This week is her visit of the year!

She arrived on Wednesday night and since both my brother and I worked on Thursday, she hung out with Joel and had a relaxing day recovering from he long day and bumpy flight the day before.



Friday was mom's birthday (her 29th of course!) so we went on a photo journey/city wandering adventure. We went down to Inglewood to do some window shopping/real shopping. We checked out a couple of cute kitchen stores and antique stores and then went to the Eco Store. Even though it was my mom's birthday she decided to buy me a signature "hippy dippy" present. A new Kleen Kanteen water bottle and a sweet tiffin and bamboo cutlery set.

After our shopping we were hungry so we headed to a place called the Wilder Nest for lunch. We had heard that they are very accommodating to vegans and vegetarians, so we knew we could find something for mom to eat.



Mom had green tea and a grilled vegetable panini with a funky salad.



I had an apple and pear panini with walnuts, gorgonzola, arugula and a maple spread. Oh gosh, it was so delicious, I would eat that every day if I could! It came with a yummy spinach salad topped with cranberries, strawberries, mushrooms and a lemon poppyseed dressing. So satisfying.

Inglewood is a really cool little neighbourhood in the SE of Calgary. It is historic and ecclectic and full of really interesting stores and things to take pictures of.



There was a whole set of weird billboards on the main drag that included animals doing odd things and food being incorporated into landscapes. I still have no idea what they were about. AND, I missed getting a picture of the one with the moose antlers half submerged in an icy lake.



Seriously. The polar bear is sitting on a stool.



After lunch we went to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary to see what we could see. Mom is an avid birder so she knew what most of the birds were and which ones were special.



And some wigeons (they are ducks) and lots of really cute but common birds like chickadees and robins. And just because I have to rub it in, I got a picture of the elusive Wood Duck.



Apparently they are really hard to find because they are the only kind of duck that roosts in trees. This one was taking a nap on a long branch over a quiet pond.

The second best part of the day (the best part being spending time with my mom) was getting to use her camera! She brought out her Canon Rebel T2i with a couple of lenses and filters and I had a grand old time getting to know it and figuring out how to get great shots with it.



At the end of our time at the bird sanctuary I decided we needed to take a self portrait.



Clearly I forgot that I had the camera set to manual focus and so the point of focus is in the middle of the photo and not on us. Oh well, I love the picture anyway!

Mom is here until next Wednesday, so I am looking forward to lots more adventures with her before she has to head back to Ontario.

Oh and before I end this post - here's a quick heads up. Monday is Giveaway Day! I love this awesome day hosted by Sew Mama Sew. If you don't know about it, it consists of over 500 bloggers all giving away awesome prizes on their blogs. Sew Mama Sew organizes it and keeps a master list of all the bloggers participating.

I will be participating again this year and I can't wait. I have yet to decide what my giveaway will include, but I have some ideas and it's going to be good. Make sure you drop by on Monday to check it out.