Finch's

Had some errands to run downtown today and then went for lunch with my mother.

"Where are you taking your mommy?" the receptionist asked, as we were leaving.

"To Finch's," I replied.

"Oh, they've got great salads," she said. Her dog appeared from under her desk to give me a big mungy kiss on my hand.

"I had a cheese plate there once," I said, "It had warm blue brie cheese, sliced pear, a fresh baguette and pepper."

"Pepper?" she asked.

"You know, pepper. A pot of it."

"What do you do with a pot of pepper?"

"I don't know. I dipped the cheese in it." I mean, what else would you do if someone gave you a largish pot of cracked pepper?

No pepper pots today though. I had a bococcini salad sandwich, which was really good, except if I had made it myself, I would have left the salt out and added more balsamic vinegar. Other than that, the basil was cut right off the plant and the baguette was fresh so I was happy. Their baguettes are always fresh.

Mom had my personal favourite, the walnut and blue brie salad. They load it up with tomatoes and cucumbers and pour vinegarette all over it all. Quite delicious, if I might say so myself.

On our way back to her office, we stopped in at Artopia to see if I could get a new pen, the kind that you dip in the pot of ink. That's the best kind. Sadly, they didn't have any in stock. "Hi girls," the guy said. He was at least half my mother's age. "What can I get for you?" A new fineliner, of course, because I needed one of those too. 70% off because I'm a student. Pretty cool.

There's a new store down on Cordova called Mintage and we decided to check it out. It's another one of those vintage consignment stores with some pretty cool looking stuff in it. I especially liked the hats, but I walked out with a new blazer instead. And two doors down is Deluxe Junk, so we had to pay that a visit too. I am now the proud owner of a new pair of mittens. They're awesome. Pictures to follow eventually.

Back at the office, the manager in the office next to my mother's asked what we had gotten for lunch, then declared he was hungry and left for his second lunch of the day. That guy's amazing. He can sit down and eat an entire chicken in one sitting and still be hungry. It's all that tae kwon do and long hours at the gym, I guess. I could never do that.