Taves Family Farm | Pumpkin, Corn & Apple Fun

It is fall, it is October which means the countdown to my birthday is on, so let the Halloween fall shenanigans begin! My friend Ruby (@rubygillett ) and I are on a mission to compelete our ultimate fall fun bucket list. This is only the beginning and I cannot wait for everything else we have planned. Taves Family Farm has been on my list of things to do for quite sometime. Taves Family Farm is a third-generation apple orchard in Abbotsford. 

They have a huge selection of apples that you can U-Pick. There are the usual suspects like Gala and Fuji, but personally I am an Ambrosia gal. I find Ambrosia Apples are are crisper and cleaner in taste. There are other varieties too like Honey Crisp and Jona Gold. Basically there is an apple for everyone to u-pick at Taves Farmily Farm. 

Dip & Sip Cocktail Mixers for a night in

 

Craft Cocktails are all the rage and I just cannot seem to get enough. I have found some amazing bars in Vancouver that serve up delicious concoctions with the right amount of buzz at the end, but sometimes I just want to lounge on the couch at home in my sweats and watch Netflix. I have been trying to make cocktails at home, but it is hard and it requires a lot of syrups, ingredients and bitters. I am trying out some cocktail pre-mixes and the first two are from Dip & Sip, a Vancouver-based company run by the cutest French women, Claire! 

Claire focuses on sourcing the best possible ingredients and when possible to use local and organic. I picked up two kits, the Paloma Blast and the Cinnamon Old Fashioned. The Paloma Blast is a combination of organic raspberry balsamic shrub, grapefruit juice and house-made lime cordial. It is best paired with Tequila or Mezcal. This is a very grapefruit forward mix with some added sweetness from the raspberry, but mostly a tart drink. Claire even threw in her Hibiscus Sugar to rim my glasses. This is when I discovered that I absolutely suck at using the sugar and made a massive mess all over my glass. 

Punch Studio gives me a Hair Transformation + Hair Donation

If you follow me on Instagram, then you have already seen the hair transformation I have undergone. Aimee Cox, co-owner and stylist at Punch Studio is the talented women with the scissors who took my long locks and snipped them away to give me a sleek stylish cut that I am in love with! 

Hair is a big part of my identity and I am sure it is for many of you too, so I really wanted to find someone who was going to understand me and translate my thoughts into reality. Punch Studio is a fairly new addition to Mount Pleasant and embodies all the vibes I love. From dusty rose walls to pink styling chairs facing arched mirrors, to fresh plants and fluffy Pampas lining the shelves, Punch Studio is basically a Pinterest board come to life. But what really drew me to the boutique salon was Aimee herself. 

Aimee is a wealth of knowledge in both hair and life - because stylists are practically our therapists am I right? - and being someone who craves new information, Aimee was a pleasure to chat with. 

Sunflowers, Mountains & Blue Skies in Chilliwack

Being the flower obsessed person that I am, I was not about to miss out on the Chilliwack Sunflower Festival. Despite this being year 3 for the festival, this was my first time visiting. Blanketing the fields are sunflowers, but also 50 varieties of dahlias and also some gladiolas. 

When I think of Sunflowers, I picture the giant bright orangey-yellow petalled flowers with the deep brown centre that can grow 3 meters tall. At the farm, you will encounter these tall beasts plus over 25 other types of sunflowers. There were white petalled varieties to dark burnt orange purple-hued petalled sunflowers. There were sunflowers half a meter to of course the towering behemoths. 

Berry Picking at Krause Berry Farms Langley

My obsession with Krause Berry Farms runs deep, so deep that I actually plan my summers around their berry schedule. COVID-19 did throw a bit of a wrench in my plans, but everyone adapted, so I did get my fill of sweet juicy BC berries. Krause Berry Farms has become part of my normal summer routine and it is about time you did the same. 

For starters, Krause Berry Farms is so much more than just a u-pick farm/ berry market.

MARKET | on any given day, it is brimming with baked treats, fruit syrups, fresh produce - also grown at the farm! - cute homeware and more. The market is also stocked with fruit and berry pies all of which are made on-site by a team of grannies and younglings in training. You can watch the pie-making action through the window on the porch out front. 

Dried Floral Display on Robson Street for Pride 2020

Robson Street has been killing it with their celebration displays. This year for Pride, various dried florals and greens were arranged around a massive circular display. There were several different textures from the feathery coloured pampas grass to the ruffles of the carnations and little pops of softness from the bunny tails.

I had fully intended on photographing this beauty and posing with it because I live for anything floral, but due to previous displays being vandalized, the Robson Street team made the decision to move the display inside Chapters Robson for safe keeping overnight. Imagine my horror when I arrived to find it locked away indoors. Why do people have to be terrible and wreck beautiful pieces of work. You ruin it for all of us! The piece was going to be moved back outdoors in the morning, but I had work the next morning, so I needed to settle for pictures through the window. Needless to say, I was annoyed because I was really excited to see this piece in person and photograph it! 

Edgy, Quirky and Offbeat: Why I am Obsessed with The Umbrella Academy a Netflix Original

I am obsessed with The Umbrella Academy and the anticipation for season 2 to drop is killing me. Thankfully we are only a couple hours out because this Netflix Original is back July 31, 2020. At first glance, the Umbrella Academy seems like another comic book superhero adaptation, but The Umbrella Academy could not be further from it. When I first came across this show, I grossly underestimated it and for that, I apologize to all the fans. 

The Umbrella Academy is complex, intelligent, dramatic; yet quirky, edgy, upbeat and completely unique. If I had to sum up the storyline, it would be: 7 gifted children that are adopted by an eccentric billionaire who trains them to become a "child superhero league," but they eventually drift apart, only to reunite under the same roof at their father's funeral which is also they find out they are humanity's only hope of stopping the apocalypse. 

I know I know, superheroes and apocalypse, but I assure you this is nothing like the Marvel or DC shows. The Umbrella Academy is completely different and marches to the beat of its own drum - I really wanted to use this saying, but it is true! 

This is the point where I stop being vague and insert my official disclaimer that there are SPOILERS ahead.