Victorian weekend and Wedding Dress Shopping with the In-Laws!

First and foremost: RIP Winehouse. You were so talented, no doubt about it. But my dear, you should've gone to rehab.


Had an AMAZINGGGGG time in Victoria! The weather in combination with the scenery was.... nothing short of breathtaking!!! Mucho sympathies go out to my loved ones on the east coast that have been hit with the heat wave. You survived the weekend and now you're experiencing more pleasant 80 degree weather.  Don't forget the sunscreen my friends!

Glorious view of the mountains en route to Victoria

So far, the mumsie and I have been blessed with an abundance of beautiful weather and I'm hoping that it will continue during me and Brian's (Brian and my? Mines and Brian's?) camping trip down the west coast next week.

So I was SLIGHTLY nervous about the meet-the-parents weekend but it couldn't have gone any better (Not that I really had anything to worry about in the first place)! Brian's parents were gracious as always and my mother was delighted by the beauty of the town.

While in Victoria, Brian's mother and sister joined us for brunch and a little girls' outing to the local bridal boutique. Although nothing was bought, it was fun to try on the dresses with the in-law input.

For your viewing pleasure, some snippets:

At Blush Bridal Boutique!

Mom being a ham

Waiting for me to pick out dresses

Heather and I oooing and aaahing over the gowns.

Mom's little sneaky attempt at snappin' some photos. This dress was ha-YUGE.

In the end I was extremely sweaty and my left nip was severely chafed from having to pull scratchy dresses on and off. OUCHHHH. So I was much obliged when the last dress was off. All the dresses I tried on were beautiful and it's getting more and more difficult to pin down a dress since I've tried on about 70 now. WHEW! They all start looking the same at this point but I'm hoping that once we narrow down a venue (Which is a whole 'nother post) I'll be able to narrow down my selection. It was starting to get crowded in the shop anyways so we moved on to bigger and better things... like getting ready for DINNER AT PAGLIACCI'S! :)

After dinner, we did a small tour of downtown Victoria inner harbor just so the breadsticks would settle and they were having a lovely busking festival and street market going on. It was a perfect night for a walk around town.

Pre-dinner walk

Post-dinner walk.

The Parliament Building

The ladies.

Mom and her statue fetish.

The monument that may or may not have always been there.

Blurry view of the Empress Hotel

More statues

Brian reppin' the awesome balloon I found.

On Sunday, we all went to church and had communion and while my mother had a little bit of difficulty keeping up with the readings and singing out of three books, she had a wonderful time (It was her first Anglican experience). She got a bit teary-eyed during communion because she was so moved and overwhelmed by the service (Our communions aren't quite so elaborate) and she thanked Miss Carol (Brian's mother) for inviting her to the service.

After church, Brian's dad made yummy yummy waffles and then we all packed up the car and said our goodbyes. Waffles are always a great ending to an amazing weekend.

We're back in Vancouver now and the mother is gettin' ready to leave for the airport. I'll miss her company but I have a Holistic Nursing final on Wednesday and I know NOTHING. If there are any hypnotherapy, reiki, or acupuncture experts out there, I am totally willing to pay for Skype lecture sessions!

I will probably spend the next few days studying and finishing this Stephen King short stories collection (Which is ehhh.... entertaining enough) and then early Saturday is when Brian and I will be embarking on the great outdoors! I'm excited and nervous and slightly scared. I just read an article on CNN on how four teens got mauled (While in WILDERNESS SURVIVAL CAMP) by a mother bear and her cub. Eek! Gotta brush up on my playing dead technique.

Of course pics will be amply provided for those who wait. :)


Viva la summer!