Happy Birthday to Me :)

I don't know about you, but I like to do 'me stuff' on my birthday.  This year I took it to a new level (it's a big birthday!) so I took the week off to knit, sew and spend time in the mountains.  Want to see some pics?

I started off my birthday week with brunch at the Banff Springs Hotel with family and friends:

If you are ever passing and have the option of lunching here - do.  The food is fabulous, the views are amazing and the atmosphere is just perfect.  The hotel is known as the 'Castle in the Mountains' and the architecture is based on Scottish castles.  Lovely!

Next up, a couple of days later, was a trip to Canmore - I actually prefer Canmore to Banff as it is less commercialised, and spent my 'birthday Eve' with my Dad:

Thanks Dad!  We had a lovely lunch and then I hit the Sugar Pine, a fabulous quilt shop:

These are all fat quarters . . . . you see I have a new obsession . . . . more details to follow!

I have to say that I often forget how lucky I am to live within driving distance of the Canadian Rockies -I can actually see the mountains when I drive into Calgary to work/shop etc., and yet it has been a year or so since I visited Canmore or Banff - I like to think that I made up for it (a little) with two trips this week!

I also finished off another pair of socks:

I love mismatched socks :)

And then I played around with McCalls 6361, a trousers pattern with a fly front.

Source

Here is a quick sneak peak - this post is getting rather long and I think that trousers need their own post!

They are actually made out of bright red corduroy, but it didn't photograph very well, so here they are in 'dynamic monochrome'!  Check out those flies!!  I plan on wearing them tomorrow, so will get some proper photos and give you the full lowdown!

How about you - how do you like to spend your birthday?  Do you celebrate or do you prefer to let the day pass you by?