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My birthday is on Wed but since my day off is Monday (which is really like our Sunday) we decided to celebrate my birthday early. 🙂

Monday morning we got up early and took Fergus to Top Dog Daycare. If you’re a local Victoria person looking for an excellent doggie daycare that also does grooming then Top Dog is the place to go. These guys are so caring and loving with Fergus – I wouldn’t trust him with anyone else.

Then Gerry and I drove to the doctor for his/hers physicals. Isn’t that romantic?

I had my annual pap – with my new doctor and we had a lot of fun… I know that sounds crazy – but I get on with her like gang-busters and we were laughing through the whole thing. 🙂

I have a very tipped uterus and every year it’s a bit of a nightmare for the doctor to get the speculum in place but with my new doctor it was a joy. We were giggling through the whole thing. It made the entire physical much easier to deal with. Gerry didn’t have as much fun as I did. He’s almost 40 and you know what that means … *cough* anus probe *cough*

After our physical we headed down to The Apple Cafe for lunch. I had the raw vegan veggie burger and it was stellar!!

I also saw the Victoria Vegan Fest posters around town … I can’t believe it’s happening THIS sunday!! Eeeep!!

Gerry had booked a guided tour with Victoria Kayak for the afternoon and “someone” was very excited about it.

It was a super cool birthday surprise… and so much fun seeing the Victoria harbour from this perspective.

Kayaking was very physical but not as difficult as I thought it would be… we had a lot of fun and “Someone” was having the time of his life…

I highly recommend Victoria Kayak if you’re in town and looking for a fun way to spend the afternoon.

It was such a wonderful day … Gerry and I picked Fergus from Top Dog. They had given him a mohawk and asked if he could grow his muzzle out for Movember.  🙂 They want him to grow it out long enough that we can do an old-timey handlebar mustache. HA HA!! YES PLEASE!! 🙂

Fergus is quite chuffed with his new haircut…  🙂

We got home and all 3 of us crashed in bed and had a looong nap. What an exciting day and I love that Gerry created such a beautiful memory for me for my 44th birthday!!

I was supposed to attend the BlogHer conference in NYC in Aug but I have some personal stuff I need to attend too and I and am unable to make it BlogHer 2012.

It feels like I’m trying to fit 10lbs of apples into a 5lb bag so I’m afraid I’ve had to step away from attending.  🙁

I want to extend a BIG THANK YOU to BlogHer for understanding and being so cool about my having to cancel. And I’m very sorry to the people who were excited about seeing me do a presentation at the conference.

I’m hoping to do something with BlogHer in the near future and I’ll let you know when that is.  🙂

What an interesting weekend I had  … I have been SO stressed out working on the Victoria Vegan Fest. We have a great crew of volunteers helping organize but there is SO MUCH STUFF that Dave and I are doing behind the scenes that I am starting to feel frazzled. My friend April told me about this Horse Therapy session she had out at Mary’s Farm and Sanctuary.

I read up about Bowen Therapy session and when I read that Cristal Bishop combines her Bowen therapy practice in tandum with her medicine horse Prince… As soon as I read about Prince – I knew I needed to go for a visit. 🙂

We got to the Sanctuary and my heart stopped…

As I walked through the barn and looked out over the 30 acres … I heard a voice inside me say “You are doing it wrong. This is where you should be…”

I really think all this hustle and bustle of the festival planning, running Sarah’s Place, helping Gerry with Tattoo Zoo, trying to keep our house clean, loving my husband and dog, spending time with my family. It’s all starting to stress me out. Don’t get me wrong. I love my life. I created it. But I think I’ve also created too much chaos and it might be time to simplify and spend some time at Mary’s. I’m going to check out doing some volunteer time there.

I met Cristal and she introduced me to Prince. What a sexy beast he is … 🙂

She lead us out to the horse ring where she had a massage table set up in the center.

While Cristal worked on me – Prince did his thing. He ate grass, wandered around the ring and then would come over and breath on me.

He seemed to know where all my pain was because he would bump the area with his nose and then he would hang out over that spot and breathe. He spent a lot of time near my jaw/face which is where I sustained a big blow to the head during a robbery on a trip to New Orleans (which I write about in Vegan A Go-Go).

After our session was done Prince came over and I thanked him for the treatment and he snuggled my face for a few minutes. I thought I would cry but instead I was just filled with gratitude for my life and for the time I got to spend with Prince and Cristal.

On the way back to the barn we bumped into this guy …

After we said our good-byes – Gerry, Fergus and I went to Goldstream Park for a walk… we walked through the tunnel and because it’s early in the season the riverbed is dry and we were able to walk all the way up to the waterfall…

As I walked up to the waterfall I felt my eyes fill with tears … I felt like I was out of my body and so deeply in my body all at the same time. I have been having a lot of pain in my left arm (due to an old car accident injury) and Prince had spent a lot of time on my arm. He even gently bit the area (with just his lips – no teeth) and when I got to the waterfall my arm was throbbing …

So I dunked it in the ice cold water and let the water run over my arms … I ran my hands over the cool rocks and found one that fit perfectly in my hand. We got back to the car and I felt AMAZING!! Full of energy and full of love. It was a wonderful day.

I brought my little rock home and have it sitting on my bookshelf in the hallway and now every time I walk by it – it makes me smile and think of Prince and his magical horsey powers.

Mary’s Farm and Sanctuary is having an open house on Sunday from 11-3pm. If you’re in the area – pop by. I’ll be there making lovey-dovey eyes at Prince.  🙂

Sarah’s Place is hiring for the summer! 🙂

I am looking for someone with:

• Must have prior retail experience
• Familiar with how to work a debit machine
• Someone who is organized, a self starter and is a people person
• Must be passionate about veganism, animal rights and also enjoy fashion
• Someone with a flexible schedule who can occasionally work more then 2 days a week if needed

What I am offering:

• Part time – starting at 2x days a week
• Minimum wage to start
• I have several out of town events this summer and I will need someone who can cover for me on those days I am gone

Please drop off a resume to Sarah’s Place or e-mail to sarah@govegan.net

YAY!! I’m so happy to announce that Sarah’s Place is now carrying Flavour Design – Buddha Bowls!!

This bowl is one of Oprah’s “favourite things” but I have loved this bowl LONG before Oprah discovered it!! 🙂

The Vancouver Island designer (Élan McPherson) was inspired to create the Buddha Bowl for her grandmother; who having arthritis couldn’t hold chopsticks, so Élan designed a smaller, easy-to-hold bowl that rests perfectly in the palm of your hand so you can use it for every items like rice, lattés, vegan ice cream, and even cereal. Sublimely simple, the Buddha Bowl will quickly become your favourite.

Don’t forget – I ship WORLDWIDE so grab your self a Buddha Bowl HERE.

Look at this cookie tin banjolele my husband had custom made for me for my birthday!!

Yes. You read that right … It’s a banjo/ukulele made out of a cookie tin! WHAAAAT??

What on earth is going on here?? A New England winter scene with a space cowboy from an alternate universe tearing through the other side to change the space/time continuum and save the world from an untimely end?

According to my pal Karla May it’s a it’s a fruitcake tin from Collin Street Bakery in Corsicanana, TX. The birthplace of Lefty Frizzell but it doesn’t explain the cowboy in the beam of light.  🙂

The coolest part about the banjolele is the little bent fork at the end that holds the strings and also can attach to a strap if I want to sling it around my neck …

It all came to fruition because Gerry mentioned to our friend Beard (his nickname is Beard because he has a beard) that he wanted to find me a cool ukulele for my birthday and Beard told Gerry about his friend Rik who was making them out of “found objects”. So the other night Gerry said “Get in the car. We’re going to pick up your surprise present…” and we drove out to Rik’s workshop where I got to pick out of a group of 4 banjoleles which one I wanted.

I was so stunned by the surprise that I forgot to take photos of the other banjolele’s. One was made from a cookie tin, one from a small gas can and I can’t remember what the other was made from because all I could focus on was the sexy cowboy in the shaft of light. *laugh*

My husband is so sweet … what an amazing birthday present. AND IT’S NOT EVEN MY BIRTHDAY YET!! That happens on the 27th incase you want mark it on your calender and send me something.  🙂

I am about to do a Go Max Go chocolate bar order. I’ve had so many people come in and buy a full box of Go Max Go chocolates that I thought I’d give you a chance to put in your order. 🙂

If you’d like a full box of Mahalo, Snap, Cleo, Buccaneer, Twilight or Jokerz – shoot me an e-mail at sarah@govegan.net and I’ll add your box to the order. I will of course give you a wee break on the price.  🙂

HAPPY CANADA DAY EH!!
Yeah. Yeah. I know. I’m a month early but that’s because I want to give you a heads up on what’s going on!!

With the help of some incredibly hard working volunteers – The first annual Victoria Vegan Festival (#VVF2012) will be taking place July 1st at Market Square in the heart of downtown Victoria.

This FREE fun family friendly event will feature speakers, entertainers, businesses and non-profit groups, and of course you can expect numerous delicious vegan food samples.

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
In other news… Father’s Day is just around the corner (only 16 more sleeps). Most people go all out on Mother’s Day and then give their Dad a card or a cheap tie. Well this is the year you can change all that and show your Dad how much you loooovvveeesss him!  🙂

Sarah’s Place has all kinds of goodies perfect for Dad. Use the coupon code ILOVEMYDAD for a 10% discount off your purchase.

Don’t forget – I ship worldwide!! See below for gift ideas!

BEER! Is your Dad a beer drinker? Get him THIS whimsical bottle opener! COMICS! THE MAGIC TEETH Comic Book by Gareth Gaudin. A weirdly wonderful colouring book about dinosaurs, Victoria BC and the alphabet! Grab it HERE.

WINTER COAT!! Ha ha. I know it’s summer but I just reduced the price and your Dad will look so hip in it!! Grab one HERE. KITCHEN WHIZ! Is Dad a kitchen whiz? He’ll love this 3-in-1 slicer!! Spirooli is a practical and innovative way to shred, slice and chip most vegetables and fruits and is extremely easy to use. Grab it HERE.

EAT!! Eat Like You Give A Damn shirts in all sizes!! Grab one HERE! Made from 100% RECYCLED MATERIALS. Yes. It is true. 50% recycled cotton and 50% recycled polyester. BOWL-ING! These vegan-positive bowls by Jeanette Zeis are the bomb!! Show your vegan pride with this beautiful bowl that proudly and says it all. Grab one HERE.

Holy Carrots!
I am so busy right now.

First – let me say THANK YOU to everyone who donated an item for the online fundraiser. Please check out our “Sponsor” page and visit each and every one of them. Buy something. Shop vegan. Support vegan!! 🙂

And a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who donated their cold hard cash and helped us reach our goal of $1000. Your support means the world to me and I appreciate it very much.

Dave, the volunteers and I have been working tirelessly to organize the Victoria Vegan Fest – but Friday night we are going to let our hair down and get our salsa on!!

8:30-9:30pm is a lesson and 9:30pm onwards is dancing!

Tickets must be purchased in advance. $15-25 sliding scale (it’s a fundraiser, please be generous), and are only available at Sarah’s Place and Vshoen.

The event is at Club Salsa in the Victoria Event Centre, 1415 Broad St but tickets will not be sold at the door. Only at Sarah’s Place and Vshoen.

Sarah’s Place will be giving away a prize for “best dressed” so dress to impress!!  Hope to see you there!! 🙂