West Coast Girl

My whole life I have been a 'Prairie Girl'.

I was born and raised in the prairies.  I am one of those unique individuals who actually knows that bread comes from wheat and appreciates the effort it takes.  I have ridden in a combine.  I know that a prairie sunset can last forever and ever because the sky is so big.  I've been up early enough to see the hint of sunrise in the east and the navy sky in the west.  I've been woken up to hear the coyotes howl in the night sky as the Northern Lights dance overhead.  I've know what it is to experience winters so cold that your eyes actually freeze closed.  I've watched storms roll in from 100 kilometres away and disappear a 100 kilometres in the other direction.  I know that early morning in the prairie is one of the most beautiful things in the world.  I know how to find beauty passing hundreds of kilometres of canola, barley and wheat from one prairie town to another.

I am such a prairie girl that my old email address is actually prairiegirl.  My first production company was Prairiegirlproductions. I am such a prairie girl that I have never considered myself anything but.

I just moved to Toronto with the Engineer.  I feel very out of place.  My mum thinks it is because I am a westerner and I am just not an East Coast girl (New York was in the States so apparently doesn't count.  Even though if I lived there forever I still would never be a true New Yorker).

But am I still a prairie girl?

Truth be told, I never really thought about it. Until . . .

A group of wonderful gal pals and I gathered on a wet Sunday to take a picture.  We had just spent a wonderful weekend at  Sakinaw Lake Lodge on the Sunshine Coast.

In typical BC form, our departure was marked by low, grey clouds and rain.  We all smooshed together, arms around one another, our rain hoods up and our wellies protecting our toes from getting wet.  The owner of Sakinaw apologized for making us take a photo in the rain.

My girlfriend quipped, 'That's okay!  We're West Coast Girls'.

It was then that I realized:  I was less a prairie girl and had slowly become a West Coaster without realizing it.

Obviously I am the sentimental type.  I am probably the only person who was affected by this statement.  I mean I was  dwelling on my departure from BC. On the eve of my move to Toronto, I got to celebrate the West Coast in style.

I have lived in Vancouver for ten years.  In that time, I have shed my ability to withstand cold and bitter winters.  I don't even know how to drive in the snow anymore.  I am now conditioned to drop ANYTHING I am doing and run outside - when the sun is shining.  It gets very confusing when I am in places (like Toronto) that always seem to be sunny. 

From my bedroom, I see the North Shore mountains that turn that lovely purple hue at sunset.  Right now I bet they are starting to get that dusting of snow.  It's a three minute walk to sea water.  My walks through barley fields have been replaced with dog walks in a rain forest.

My footwear of choice are rainboots.  I am comforted by rain and fear snow.


I am a West Coast girl.


In these ten years, I have cultivated some of the most wonderful and strong friendships ever imaginable.  Women who love me even when I lament on the ferry heading back to Horseshoe Bay that it is the last 'BC Ferry (aka White Spot) clam chowder I will ever have' (ummm, I will probably be on a ferry in a month).  Women who love being cozied up inside with a crackling fire watching the mists roll over the lake (or ocean depending where we are).  Women who also love the uniform of lululemon, rubber boots and raincoats.  Women who invited me into their lives ten years ago and have helped to transform this prairie gal into a West Coaster.

I mean some of these girls have had to sit in a car with me as we soar over the Coquihalla as I gush "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!  BC is the prettiest place EVER" (seriously, the views really are hard to beat).  Maybe a bit of my sentimentality has rubbed off on them :)


Anyways, as I adjust to this new life on the East side of Canada I can't help but reflect on the fact that I am a westerner at heart. There are many reasons to miss BC. It's amazing beauty and freshness, the mountains and ocean, and the fact that Vancouver remains green all year round.

But the biggest reason to miss BC, are my West Coast Girls.

Bella Bella Bella Gelateria

Remember my Italian adventures that included a gelato, if not two gelatos, a day?

I just had an epiphany!  Could my gelato over-indulgence have led to my pants not fitting????

NAH.

Gelato's too good to be that evil.

Anyhoo, Italian gelato has ruined me for life (just like French coffee - I used to think a Timmy's double double was delicious.  Now it tastes like poop in a cup.) - ice cream from DQ just doesn't cut it.

Until I visited Vancouver's newest Gelateria.  Bella Gelateria.  It shares walls with the new Pacific Rim hotel but isn't part of the hotel.  It does have Fairmont pricing though.  $5.50 for one scoop.

I dashed in one day when it first opened because I had been anticipating its arrival for so long.  I tried 'Chocolate Grand Marnier'.

O. M. G.

The gelato is rich, creamy and FRESHLY made everyday!  No wonder it has a $5.50 price tag!  They fly their lemons in from Sorrento each week.  It's worth it though because the lemon gelato tastes like Italy.  Beautiful and amazing.

I suspect he puts crack into his gelato because just the very next day I had this overwhelming craving for chocolate grand marnier.  I 'dragged' the Engineer (promising him it was as good as our gelato in Sienna) but was dismayed to discover they didn't make that flavour that day.  Apparently it's a hard flavour to make.  They also like to change it up everyday.

I had honey nougat.

It was so good I would take a bath in honey nougat.

Oddly enough, I had a craving the day after that too!  This is when I discovered they always have about four types of chocolate in store.  In varying levels of darkness.  Apparently the owner and gelato master specialized in chocolate. Like, as a job.  Damn, I am pretty specialized in chocolate - how can I get paid for this?

I had milk chocolate.

And would you believe it?  I had a craving the following day!

This time chocolate sorbetto which is made sans dairy.  I poo-pooed this idea at first.  Isn't the whole point of gelato/ice cream is for the creamy texture derived from dairy?

Well, this sorbetto was creamier and richer than any ice cream I have ever had!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

The evil craving that I just can't deny came back the next evening.  I was at the Fairmont with a friend and just before nine I panicked.  I thought that Bella closed at nine so I literally jumped up and RAN as fast as I could around the corner and down the block.  A family stepped out of my way and offered me their spot in line because I clearly needed a fix.

Turns out Bella closes at 10.

Is this what it feels like to be a drug addict?  You go into sheer panic if you can't get a dose (is that what they call it?  Or is it a hit?).

The next day I looked not only at my bank account (which seemed to be missing about $50) but I saw an unflattering picture of my arms.

You know the saying, 'A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips'?  For me it's my arms.  And it appears that in only a week my triceps had become waffle cones of gelato themselves.

Time to wean myself off.

I am allowed to go ONCE a week.

Better for my arms AND my wallet.

Plus it was getting embarrassing walking in there and having them automatically get my order ready.  It's been open less than a month and already I am the freak customer.

The point?

Get your ass downtown for some Bella Gelateria!