My friend Keira recently adopted a rescue dog and through her I’ve been able to learn a lot more about pet adoption and alternatives to retail stores for acquiring a furry animal friend.

As it turns out, May is also Adoption Month at the BC SPCA so I’ve received even more information about this movement and the 2nd annual Adoption Challenge.

“The BC SPCA’s branches, shelters and community animal centres across the province are competing in the second annual Great BC SPCA Adoption Challenge to find new, loving homes for as many animals as possible between May 1 and 31.” [BC SPCA]

BC SPCA locations will be hosting open houses, adoptathons, mobile adoptions and various other events throughout the month in order to find caring homes for animals.

People may think that getting a brand new dog from a pet store ensures their pedigree and health however many do not realize that some shops could be getting their animals from puppy mills. One of the main goals of the campaign is to educate about how many awesome animals and pets there are available out there – young and old – just waiting for a special person or loving family to take them in.

You can search for your pet online using the SPCA’s database or feel free to stop by your local centre this month to perhaps find a little buddy like Lucky (pictured above) who is currently up for adoption.

As a side note, this is my Kitty (above). We don’t know how old she is, but I have a photo of her with her kittens in 1991 so she must be at least 18 or 19 years old. We adopted her (unofficially) when I was young (my sister used to make fun of me for calling Kitty my best friend) and she’s still a part of our family, living at my mother’s house. We can’t have pets in our building but you can be assured that if we do move, John and I will make the choice to get a rescue animal to join our family.

Quick preface… For those just starting out on Twitter and who looking for followers, the advice I usually give is to just start following interesting people. This is exactly what happened yesterday when I noticed an email come in telling me that @DreamDressEvent was now following me on Twitter. Because of this notification on their behalf, I have not only learned about the Dream Dress Auction, but also the Cinderalla Project – and I’m happy to pass along this information to my readers.

In honour of the Cinderella Project’s 10th anniversary, the Dream Dress Auction came into light with the gracious donation of 25 new wedding gowns. These beautiful gowns ranging in sizes from petite to plus (4 -16) will be auctioned off at this charity fundraiser along with various silent auction items. Whether you are a bride, bridesmaid or friend there is something for everyone to bid on!

Proceeds from the auction will benefit the Cinderella Project, a non-profit organization that encourages youth to stay in school and graduate – giving them the motivation (and hopefully self-esteem) they may need for themselves and their families. Through “Boutique Day” the Cinderella Project provides struggling youth, most in low-income situations, with formal attire so they can attend their high school’s graduation or prom in style and most of all, with pride.

Over the last while, the project has gathered up a collection of wedding dresses, which wouldn’t quite be suitable for grad, so they’re going to auction them off at this special event while also providing a fun environment for brides to be. There will be a wedding specialist on-site, as well as silent auction items like Sugarlime jewelry, Dolce Amore lingerie, gift baskets and dining packages.

The Dream Dress Auction will take place May 31st at Telus House (768 Seymour Street, Vancouver) and tickets are just $15.

Guests should arrive between 12:30pm and 1:00pm and will have the chance to do dress fittings so they can stake out which gown they would like to bid on (and there are photos of some online already). The auction deadline will be 4:30pm that day and if you end up having the winning bid on a dress you will receive a tax receipt for the full amount of your purchase.

If you or your company would like to contribute an item for the silent auction, please contact info[at]dreamdressauction.com and you can also follow the event’s updates on Twitter or Facebook.

Another stop on my Circle Farm Tour last week in the Harrison/Agassiz region was Limbert Mountain Farm, – a heritage farm that offers up fresh organic herbs, teas, garden vegetables, and a tea room / demonstration kitchen for their Simply Fine Foods collection.

We met up with owners, Trudie & Claude Bouchard in their kitchen for tea, fresh baked artisan bread with garlic and tarragon butter, and Claude’s special (seasonal) tulip herb mousse, topped with a chocolate mint leaf. Yes, there is such a thing as a chocolate mint plant.

Walking around outside and enjoying the lovely view, we learned more about upcoming events the Limbert and that it’s perfectly okay (and encouraged) to touch, feel, and smell all of their fine herbs. In the greenhouse, Trudie encouraged us to “hug” the ultra soft peppermint geranium that was as smooth as a kitten (and smelled of peppermint), the lemon verbena was fresh and crisp-smelling, and the pineapple sage was just far out.

At Limbert they prepare everything from teas to pesto, humous, relish, and I walked away with some chili pepper lime dark chocolate from their on-site retail store.

They have many upcoming events (like the garlic festival) and you may notice that for “Brunch on the Farm” you can choose between Limbert or The Farm House Natural Cheeses (this is the whole community thing I was talking about in earlier posts). Limbert is also a stop on the Slow Food Cycle Tour, happening in August. Be sure to call ahead to book tickets for these events as they are bound to sell out quickly.

I had the opportunity to interview Premier Gordon Campbell a little while ago although unfortunately our schedules couldn’t match up to make it actually happen. As such, the Premier took some time to answer a few questions for my readers (some of the questions were sourced from my Twitter contacts as well). Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

On Friday, Tourism Vancouver (@MyVancouver on Twitter) arranged a scenic flight for a select group of bloggers which saw us soar high above the region in a WestCoast Air float plane.

Sean has a fine recap up already so I’ll simply post my photos and note that this was a really lovely experience, shared with Duane, Grace, and Erica as well.

Taking off and landing on the water was actually a pretty smooth ride. In the air it’s pretty noisy with the sound of the prop but that just leaves you to gaze down on Howe Sound, the Burrard Inlet, and the Greater Vancouver area in silence.

I’ve been following the progress of Stanley Park very closely since the great windstorm of 2006 knocked out thousands of tress, however I’ve never seen the damaged area from this perspective.

I was also handed a pamphlet by Errol, the Vancouver Base Manager at WestCoast Air, and was immediately upsold on their “Fly and Wine” tour. Aside from the special tours however, WestCoast Air operates schedules flights to Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.

Our flight was a quick one, just 30 minutes, but it was a real treat to say the least.