A Day With Lauren

Well! It has been a busy week for this girl, but a great one. I celebrated my day of birth and for all you Virgos out there you can attest to the fact that we are very stubborn people and I personally would rather fuss over others than others fuss over me. This week turned out to be a series of wonderful events that allowed me to spend my time with some of my favourite people. Overall, it made for a very memorable and enjoyable birthday week - a week that may take me another week to recover from.

My friends and I have been going down to the watch the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners play for 5 years now. This year the series landed on my birthday, so to keep up with the tradition 10 of us headed down to Seattle (along with the rest of Vancouver and any Blue Jay fan in the tri-state area), to cheer on what would hopefully be the turning point of the recent subpar Blue Jays' performance (and, of course, to heckle some Mariners along the way.) The Jays put on an epic performance and had all of Safeco field erupting in excitement with their 10-2 win. I love Safeco field: the roof was open, the structure is simple and airy, and I also think there isn't a bad seat in the place. Another selling feature of the stadium is the garlic fries - who doesn't love to eat chunks of garlic?? Well, some people I'm sure have a garlic aversion, so I'd recommend it to be an all or nothing decision in the group because the smell is STRONG. With the buzzing energy of the game, the after party led us to the infamous Cowgirls. Think Coyote Ugly meets Urban Cowboy: girls in leather chaps and a mechanical bull. The Blue Jays even made an appearance, they must have heard it was my birthday...

This weekend I was also gifted a Brewery Tour from my sister! A first for me and definitely on my Vancouver to-do list. I'd highly recommend Vancouver Brewery Tours - our guide Rachel was awesome and very knowledgable! Vancouver is now home to 50+ breweries and that number is only growing. We visited 3 breweries: Brassneck, Strange Fellow and Storm. My preference of beer is not as extensive as my preference of coffee by any means, so I was excited to learn more about the art of craft beer. My lovely mother (an avid wine drinker) joined me so it was a fun new experience for the both of us. I've summarized each brewery along with my favourite brew and some facts I learned along the way:

Brassneck:
- What I learned:
  - The 4 ingredients to Beer: Yeast, Hops, Water and Barley.
  - There are actually only TWO types of beer: Ale and Lager.
- What I drank: No Brainer, Hibiscus Wit, Old Money Mild, Passive Aggressive.
- Favourite: No Brainer!

Strange Fellows:
- What I learned:
  - A brewery known for it's sour beer selection and aged beers - that's right: like wine, beer can be aged for years! On average, most beers age 6-8 weeks but some can be up to 15 years.
  - Oak Barreling: Offers a different depth of flavours and aromas that are absorbed by the beer over time.
- What I drank: Sour, Saison, Dunkel, White IPA.
- Favourite: Saison or the Sour - it almost tasted like a cider.

Storm Brewery:
- What I learned:
  - Vancouver's oldest brewery! (In operation for 22 years).
  - When drinking a sour beer you are supposed to take 3 sips to appreciate the taste.
  - The owner does NOT like pumpkin beer but brewed an 'Apple Pie' Lager which was delicious for fall!
- What I drank: Vanilla Whiskey Stout and Apple Pie Ale
- My Favourite: BOTH!!

My birthday celebrations concluded with a girls' night out for dinner at Hapa Izakaya for some sake and sushi, followed by bubbles and live music at the The Lobby Lounge in the Fairmont Pacific Rim. A great spot for live music and even better people watching.

So there you have my birthday round up. It was a great week and I'm so lucky to have all the amazing people in my life that I do (insert sappy emoji here).