It’s the first week of May and hockey fever is alive and strong in Vancouver. The Canucks are 3 games into their round two series with Chicago and around the NHL, eight teams are still vying for a spot in the Stanley Cup final.

We’ve had a fantastic year of hockey in Vancouver so far and no moment was greater than when Team Canada won the gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games.

Photo credit: s yume on Flickr

The Hockey Canada online store is still stocked full with Team Canada gear, from teddy bears and books to pucks and golf bags.

Until Sunday, you can get t-shirts and swag 15% off for Mother’s Day by entering the code “luvmom” when you check out.

They would also like to offer one of my readers $100 to spend on anything they like.

Here’s how to enter the draw to win the $100 gift code for the Hockey Canada online store:

I’ll run the contest until May 18th and will do the draw at 9:00am.

Update The winning entry is Shaylene. Congratulations and have fun spending the gift card!

This afternoon a grey whale (probably the one spotted in Howe Sound this weekend) wandering into False Creek. The whale swam right past Science World, the Olympic Village, and Granville Island where a few lucky onlookers were able to snap some photos.

Photo credit: @katerainy on Twitter

Photo credit: CTV Chopper 9

Photo credit: Vancouver Public Library on Flickr

Photo credit: Bike Hike Travel on Flickr

If you were able to capture the grey whale in a photo please consider adding it to the Miss604 Flickr Group and I’ll showcase it here (with credit of course).

Update CTV is reporting that the whale is still flirting with Vancouver waterways and was spotted well into the evening last night.

If you are trying to spot the whale I’ve been told to scan the horizon and keep your eyes peeled for air and water coming up from the blowhole. That big splash will immediately catch your attention.

This Sunday is not only the Vancouver Sun Run but it’s also a special time of year to let the mom in your life know how much you appreciate them. This gesture, which should in fact be made year-round, is still a treat so shops and restaurants around the city have some special offerings in honor of Mother’s Day.

Photo: asturnut on Flickr

Brunch
Open Table has a great list of brunch spots for you and mom this weekend. The list includes brunch at Bridges where they are serving up a 3 course $35 prix fixe menu, Elixir’s $38 brunch buffet (10% of which will be donated to BC Children’s Hospital), r.tl in Yaletown will have an $18 set brunch menu, or have dim sum at the Red Door Pan Asian Grill.

Grouse Mountain will also host Mother’s Day brunch although several of the time slots are already sold out. Reservations are recommended for all brunch spots listed here.

Chocolate
Purdy’s Chocolates has a special selection of goodies just for mom, wrapped in lovely blue paper. Daniel on Robson also has heart-shaped boxes ready with mother in mind.

If you have something special planned for mom around Vancouver this Sunday I’d love to hear about it. If you care to share what you’ll be up to, please leave a note in the comments.

The Black Keys are returning to Vancouver for a show at the Orpheum this fall.

We saw The Black Keys at the Commodore two years ago and it was one of the best shows I’ve been to. The amount of sound that comes from the two band members is unbelievable. My nostrils tickled, my head bobbed, and shot glasses vibrated right off high top tables as the music engulfed the entire audience. The group’s latest album Brothers will drop May 18th.

Tickets for the concert happening October 3rd will go on sale this Friday May 7th at 10:00am through Ticketmaster and I highly recommend scooping yours up.

Yesterday our friend Henry, who works Chile but was raised in Vancouver, was in town briefly so we went out to dinner to catch up. Since Dine Out Vancouver is still going strong, I made arrangement for us to check out Regional Tasting Lounge (r.tl) in Yaletown.

r.tl is currently only featuring its Dine Out Menu which is at the $28 price point. To start, there were four options including a wild mushroom & truffle risotto, an organic quinoa salad (roasted corn, avocado, fresh herbs, lemon dressing), the oak house smoked duck (toasted pecans, greens, served room temperature) or the wedge salad (romaine lettuce, blue cheese dressing, crispy shallots).

John and Henry had the risotto while I tried the smoked duck – both were delicious.

The main course options were a portobello tacu tacu (black bean fried rice, onion salsa), maple & mustard glazed wild salmon (with warm potato salad), flank steak (with shallots & pommes sautee), or the alderwood bacon wrapped breast of chicken (with braised leek and garlic & chive potato puree).

Anytime you wrap something with bacon it makes it that much more awesome. Henry and I had the chicken while John got the steak. John’s steak portion was appropriately size and considering this was the $28 prix fixe and not $38 it was a good value.

For dessert we all went with the chocolate brownie.

They had a great selection of wines that included many Okanagan and Vancouver Island options (such as Venturi-Schulze), which made me happy.

Once Dine Out has wrapped up r.tl will be changing to a menu featuring South American classics (you can get a taste of the feature by ordering the quinoa salad with Dine Out in the meantime).

You still have a chance to check out Dine Out Vancouver at over 200 restaurants before it wraps up for the year on May 6th.

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