Local Love
Valentines Day is this Friday, and while this holiday gets a lot of mixed reactions from people I think it's a great opportunity to show people what they mean to you. When we're kids, we give valentines to all of our friends, at some point this changes as we grow up and we only celebrate romantic love. I think it's important to celebrate all love, plutonic, romantic and self love all counts equally. This Valentines Day I challenge you to spread love to your friends, your family, your partner and yourself. Tell your best friend you love them, send your mother a valentine, treat yourself, celebrate love in all it's forms and then keep doing that all year long.
Still looking for something to do this Friday?
Grab a friend, your partner, your brother or your mother and enjoy a Valentines date at one of these local spots.
Sea to Sky Gondola - Squamish
After a long closure to make repairs to the vandalism that shut them down, the Sea to Sky Gondola is officially re-opening this Friday, February 14th! It's about 45 minutes from Vancouver along one of the most stunning scenic drives, you'll want to stop for pictures along the way. I recommend creating a playlist for this little drive and if you want to be extra- add songs that are special to you and your Valentine. The gondola will open at 9:15am and will have a lot of cool things happening for its opening day celebrations, including live music. Check out more info here:
https://www.seatoskygondola.com/events/opening-day/
Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival
Every year local spots participate in crafting incredible hot chocolate drinks for the Hot Chocolate Festival. I'm a big fan of desserts and supporting local business, so this one gets me excited! Here are a couple of my recommendations:
Honolulu Café
Honolulu café is a great local shop showcasing local ingredients and serving all the aloha vibes. Their festival drinks are:
Aloha Macs: chocolate ganache with macadamia paired with macadamia nut butter cookies.
Brok Da Mout: with dark chocolate, ginger tea, steamed coconut milk and cardamom paired with coconut chocolate biscotti.
You had me at Aloha.
Bellaggio Canada Place
This family owned café is serving up Italian charm with good eats. They have a year round patio with heaters and blankets, so you can enjoy your hot chocolate while looking out at the North Shore Mountains. Here is what they got for the festival:
Back to Christmas: dark chocolate and roasted coconut paried with sliced gingerbread
Spicy Winter Night: spiced liquor and rum chocolate paired with dried chili pepper
Sweet or Salty: dark chocolate with salted peanut butter served with pretzel and roasted marshmallow
Yes please!
Check out more on the Hot Chocolate Festival here: https://hotchocolatefest.com/
Grouse Mountain Snow Shoe and S'mores
https://www.grousemountain.com
Grouse mountain offers stunning views of Vancouver, and on top of that you can do a 1km snowshoe trek through a snow covered, lighted trail. If that doesn't sound magical enough, after your snowshoeing adventure enjoy hot apple cider and s'mores next to a campfire.
What s'more could you want?!
More info here: https://www.grousemountain.com/products/valentine-day-snowshoe-s-mores-tour
What are your plans for Valentines Day? Let me know how you're spreading the love this weekend in the comments below.
