Birthdate

Today was Boy and my designated "birthdate". We both had the day off and decided to take advantage of the beautiful October weather and go on an adventure--and this was my first time biking the seawall! Boy, Pal (his bike), Nutmeg, and I biked from Kitsilano through the Burrard Street Bridge to Stanley Park and then back again--and I didn't even fall or have any emotional breakdowns! Though I did find the anticipation of biking on the bridge very stressful...

Seawall and mountain biking Boy

My only complaint was that the wind made it a bit too cold for jacketless us, and since many parts of the seawall was shaded, it made me hopeful to find some sunny stretches.

Nutmeg soaks up some sun

I have a whole new appreciation for biking and seawalls.

Then we had an early dinner at Apollonia, my favourite Greek restaurant.  I had mentioned it to Boy many times before and I was glad that he could finally see what all the fuss was about. I ordered the keftedes dinner with a peach cider and he had humous with pita and roasted potatoes. We were stuffed and I had to rush off on my own to the sold-out Ed Sheeran concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. I'm so glad I checked Twitter that day because I found out that Selah Sue, an artist whose song I heard in Italy last year, was the first opening act and would start right at 8pm. She was awesome. I had no idea that she was from Belgium and her sound was a unique mixture of reggae and soul.

The second opening act was a guy named Mike who called himself Passenger. His British charm and wit immediately made most of the girls in the audience fall in love with him (I, being claimed for, was impervious), and he told us about how he was used to busking for money up until pretty recently. His music captivated us all, and as he finished his set I speedwalked to the merchandise table to buy his and Selah's CDs. We later found out from Ed Sheeran that Passenger was an old friend and one of his favourite artists.

Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran started his show on time and did his whole act acoustic with a guitar and looping machine. I came to this show only knowing his hit song "The A Team", which is pretty mellow, and was surprised to see what a broad range of genres his style covered. At some points he too was a bit reggae--he did some unbelievably fast raps in his British way and also had a lot of soul. He was a great entertainer and really encouraged audience participation (except during his quiet songs where he would encourage us to gently stroke the back of anyone who was talking).

He ended up playing for a whole two hours (how it could be a one-man show for that long is still beyond me!) and he achieved his goal of making everyone smile.

Cellphones are the new lighters

On my way out, I stopped to get my CD autographed by Selah Sue.

Selah Sue, me, and a bored man

Then I went back to Boy's place where we (=I) sleepily finished There Will Be Blood. How festive!