Vancouver Pride & Guilty Pleasure #343

Over the weekend of August 1st-3rd, I went to the 30th annual Vancouver Pride, which was an absolute blast. The logo for this year's pride-just to the left here-has a lot going on in it and there is a very thorough and intriguing description written for it on the official website for the Vancouver Pride Society.

Just after we arrived in Vancouver on Friday, around 2:30PM, I met up with a dear friend from high school for coffee, a friend that I had not seen in three years since we both visited our alma mater in 2005. My friends and I stayed in a chic hotel room in Yaletown and had an all around great time-except for the spending-ridiculous-money-on-cover-and-drinks over the three days that we were there and a less-than-stellar dining experience at Glowbal Grill & Satay Bar, a trendy, urban restaurant just a few minutes away from our hotel by foot. Overall, Luke and I had a wonderful time together along with our fellow roommates-we had a nice breakfast together at a local diner/bar on Saturday morning, took more than a few cute pictures together, danced, drank, hung out with some of his fantastic friends and went on a spectacular cruise in the waters surrounding Vancouver on Sunday evening.

This is the view from the boat coming back into downtown Vancouver at sunset:


So. Amazingly. Beautiful.

The weather was perfect for Sunday's festivities, although my skin continues to attest to the cloudless sky that was had that day. The parade was 100 times better than Seattle's-just a whole lot more effort and care put into everything surrounding it. People were nice. Good friends were made. And to top it all off, the party cruise was just a perfect way to end a wonderful weekend, especially with an extra special guy.

On Saturday afternoon, Luke and I sat down for some less-than-potent-but-quite-tasty bellinis at Moxie's Classic Grill on Davie Street just a few blocks up from our hotel. After a bit, two of his friends joined us there and while munching on a literal platter of nachos this song came on and while I assumed it was Rihanna, I had never heard it before. Luke's friend said it was a new favorite-Rihanna's new single-"Disturbia." And it has quickly become my own guilty pleasure, #343 on the 2008 list. Check it out.

"...Put on your break lights/
Were in the city of wonder..."
Definitely made me want to dance right there in the restaurant. Thinking back on it, I don't think anyone would have minded all that much, all things considered!