an ode to aych, ie. h, aka heather and her 40th birthday weekend.

one of my most specialest friends is my friend heather bourne.  i like to call her h because that is how she used to sign all her emails.  anyways today h's birthday.  her big 4-0.  the 4-0 is a birthday of note, as i think you'll all agree.  h came down to richmond last weekend to celebrate with me.  i wanted to have my house all spic and span for her.  i wanted to have a fresh and sweet kitty litter box (does such a thing exist?  if so, sign me up!) for her.  i wanted to have her birthday lemon tart whipped up and ready for her in the freezer and i at least wanted clean sheets for her on my bed.  but it isn't what happened.  what happened was she arrived to a messy house, a foul litter box (ya ok, i know she doesn't use litter boxes, but she has a very sensitive nose ok?), cat hair sheets and no lemon tart, not to mention me all wrapped up in a very good episode of doc martin.  h takes this all in stride because h is generous like that.  while i watch the end of my all engrossing show, she says "do you mind if i empty your litter box?", a question i was not fully cognizant of until minutes later, after she had already done the dastardly deed.  "uhhh did you just empty the litter box?" i asked her as she came into my room.  she laughed because she knows that i can block out the world when engrossed in something.  then she watched the rest of doc martin with me.  doc martin is a show h told me about.  she knew i would like it because it's funny and british and the doc is just so hilariously rude and awkward.

after that i convinced h to go with me to price smart so i could buy the ingredients for her tart.  i didn't tell her what i was making but she figured it out as i bought the ingredients.  besides tart supplies we each bought ourselves some haagen daz ice cream.  i chose chocolate peanut butter because i love the big swirls of peanut butter in it, which is the precise reason h does not like it.  she likes the mayan chocolate because of the cinnamon chocolate combo. i can dig that.  we also spent some time pondering the fun factors of different chips and settled on a new kind--sure to bring much fun to us on the morrow.  

later we watched more doc martin.  i tried to wash the sheets but the laundry sink was backed up so i couldn't use the machine.  h got out my big heavy duvet, and i was content with my light holey blanket.  that is the way we roll.

the next morning h showered and i did some t-tapp sweating.  then i made us some german pancakes which we ate with lemon juice and honey.  

we went to o.w.l. it's a rescue and rehabilitation centre for birds of prey.  we were supposed to stop at the bank but didn't, so we pooled all our change for a donation.  h had slippery coin syndrome when attempting to slide the coins into the slot of the donation box, so i first made fun of her and then helped her.  that is also how we roll.  after the donation box fiasco, we inadvertently began to give ourselves a tour.  but that was only because the signs they have at that place are misleading.  we felt we were heading towards the office to get a tour but stopped to look at the birds on the way.  well we were not heading to the office at all and two volunteers reigned us in and gave us the tour.  there were some cool birds.  my favourites were the owls.  one owl, daisy, kept puffing herself out and giving us a wonky glare.  there were turkey vultures named precious, chuck and peppe.  apparently turkey vultures have an enormous sense of smell.  one of our guides was from mississipi and he knows.  he said to find gas leaks they follow the turkey vultures who are attracted to the sulfer smell.  he said you could be standing beside something dying and not know it, and a vulture will be a speck in the sky and smell it.  turkey vultures aren't kidding around man.  all the birds we saw were permanent residents.  they had partical wing amputations and head injuries and stuff.  then we got to meet a barn owl named sarah. she was beautiful.  i want a barn owl of my very own!  if i had a barn, i could have gotten an owl box and a pair of barn owls for it, for free!  i need a barn.  help me.

heather doled out some zucchini bread and we ate it.  if there are birds to see h will have banana bread, zucchini bread or at the very least, some granola bars.  it's mandatory.  also she always has a water bottle and she always shares it with me.  i never have one.

after that we hung out on the dike.  the dike is part of boundry bay regional park, but it's at the deepest part of the bay, not near centennial beach.  we found a path leading towards the water and we took it.  the dunes were full of grasshoppers.  everywhere you looked was a leaping grasshopper.  we stopped and sat on a log once we reached some slippery dried sea weed.  we were still miles away from any water.  we sat and enjoyed the peacefullness.  well it was peaceful until i felt a tickle on my leg and looked down and saw a huge fuzzy orange caterpillar on the bare skin of my calf. i yelped and shook it off.  where did a caterpillar come from anyway??  it seemed to know where it was going though.  then we had fun with chips.

 on the way home (not on the way at all) we stopped in steveston where we purchased exactly nothing.  papi's was closed and that's where h. wanted to pick up some lemon curd, and citrus stuffed olives and maybe a panini or two. but that didn't stop us from looking around a bit.

we went home and i made us a big salad which we scarfed down.  then heather had a 'nap'. while i made her tart and watched more doc martin. (i can't get enough!).  

when it was time to get ready i helped h with her make up as requested.  h does not get dolled up often, but when she does--watch out.  hubba hubbs if you know  what i mean.  she has these gorgeous deep set brown eyes.  as i was putting the gold shadow on her lids, i took special care to brush softly.  however h informed me that i was shoving her contact lenses around her eyeball and requested that i do it softer.  "uhh i felt that i was," i confessed.  i then proceeded to fair dust her eye lids with baby's breath strokes from my eyeshadow brush which made us laugh.  heather looked good.  i only made a lame attempt to spice up my outfit, such as  i added purple to my shadow and wore my church flip flops.  meh.  not my day anyways--h's day.

we drove to pick up shauna.  i clicked this of h somewhere along no 4 road heading north. she was driving.

 we got down town and found a parking spot on the cobble street right beside victory square and we still had half an hour.  so i took some more clicks of heather after all she was rocking her look.

 then we walked around the block a bit.  h and shauna were nervous because the neighbourhood was sketchy.  we looked for lemon curd.  but eventually we made our way to nuba, down the steps, inside and were ushered to a table for 4 near the back.  scott was late but soon enough we were all together.  i think h and i were the most excited for nuba's delicious lebanese cuisine.  scott and shauna i think, merely endured where as h and i dove in and indulged.  we started off with two orders of najib's special which is a crispy lemony cauliflower that changes your life forever. we also got halloumi, a seared cheese served with tomato and a pomagranite nut dressing and fresh mint.  yum and double yum. scott got hummus and pita and we partook.  shauna who does not care for cauliflower or cheese, got a red lentil soup.  then came the mains.  i splurged and got the roasted half a chicken which they do fresh.  you have to wait 25 minutes if you order it.  it was glazed with honey, cinnamon and cumin.  it was tender and delish.  heather got the other thing i wanted. maakroun.  what is maakroun? maakroun is heaven.  in other words, sauteed lebanese potato dumplings served on a garlic puree with oven dried cherry tomatoes, oyster mushrooms and aparagus.  i tried one, and they were so flavourful and their texture was perfection.  h and i were both over the moon about our food.  we were going to share 2 orders of chocolate quinoa cake between the four of us for dessert, but they were out of it, so instead our waitress brought us a long skinny platter of little lebanese pastries for FREE.  and they were flaky and nutty and sticky and hit the spot.  shauna took a bite of one and heather asked her if she was allergic to nuts and she was and heather was all emergency mode, "here spit it out!" she offered her a napkin with urgency that was kind of funny and dramatic.  shauna was a lot more calm and just took an antihistamine and everything was alright.

after our meal we drove to a park in yaletown and never got out of the car.  just sat and talked until scott decided to leave and then we drove shauna home and that was the end of our day besides obviously eating two pieces each of lemon tart ala biff when we got home.  obviously we did that.

i'm so thankful for my friend heather.  she brightens up my life. she's tender hearted--will mother any animal including seals asleep on vast california shores, a lonely snow goose, or a chickadee in her hand (if she hasn't inhaled it with surprise and delight first).  she's fierce--don't tell her we are not getting nut bars at american costcos! it's gonna happen or you will face her wrath.  she is my kindred spirit of bird watching, tidal pool gazing, wilderness tromping, naturalist anything and road trip adventures.  she has a passion for harry potter which runs deep and cannot be fully understood.  she is a voracious consumer of good books.  she shares my addictions to period dramas.  she is funny.  she is kind.  she is so so so loyal.  she's my friend.  i love her.  happy birthday h.