My favourite sea mammal is the perrrrpoise followed closely by the nerrrrrwhal

On Wednesday afternoon my sister and I had a date. We went to Bellingham! Cross border shopping was on our minds, but first a little trip to Fiamma Burger in downtown Bellingham.

While it was tempting to go to Frank's Place to pick up some used rifles, we stuck with amazing french fries and the fantastic beverage selection at Fiamma Burger. Lydia told me about this burger joint a while back and it's been on my to-eat-at list since then. I enjoy a good burger, but I especially enjoy some good fries. Right off the bat I loved the decor at Fiamma.

The wood panelling was very nice, as were the chrome details. I especially liked the bathroom door was basically camouflaged by way of the wood panelling (maybe would have appreciated this less if I *really* had to go). There's a large drink selection including a number of sodas made with cane sugar, as well as juices and beers. Another drink on the menu is something called "Orange Bang." When I told the counterperson that we were visiting from Canada she insisted that we try a sample of Orange Bang, as well as the chocolate and vanilla frozen custards. Deliciousness surrounded us.

I had a bacon cheeseburger and my sister had a chili-cheese dog, which she said was very "manly." She had garlic fries and I had sweet potato fries with ranch dip. Both were super tasty and did not disappoint.

Besides the food, my favourite part about Fiamma Burger was their focus on using local meat, vegetables, dairy and buns. I like knowing where my food is coming from and I found this interesting and comforting. Also, they're committed to lowering the amount of waste produced at their restaurant so basically everything can be composted or recycled. The take-out dishes are all biodegradable. Who doesn't love that? Only jerks.

After eating our late lunch we went to Bellis Fair for some shopping at Target and Old Navy. I don't know if you remember, but my sister broke her leg a few months ago. She's since done quite a lot of physio, but she needs a cane (called "Pinky") to walk. She was adament that we should walk from one side of the mall to the other. This turned out to be fairly exhausting for her, but it gave us a chance to take in the mall atmosphere and chat. As we walked through the mall, I said to my sister "I've always thought of Hollister and Abercrombie as the "date-rape" stores: the overpowering smell of bad cologne, the dimmed lights and disorienting music and overwhelming feeling that you just gotta get outta there." She agreed and said "Now that's something you should write about on your blog!" There you go, sis, That was for you.

We both picked up some sweet deals at Old Navy. And then we sat on a bench and looked longingly at the Fiestaware display in Macy's At Home. Sigh. I fell in love with a green pitcher, but resisted it even though it was beautiful. While she was resting I ran into Kohl's to check it out. Major FAIL. It was like Winner's, but more disorganized and, given the selection and quality, over-priced. Oh well.

At Target I found some sunglasses as well as some Orla Kiely dishes that I plan on using at my birthday party this weekend. I resisted buying a bowl and did not see the apron pictured in that link, but if I had I probably would have fallen for its charms. I also bought some other party supplies and two boxes of Kashi Autumn Harvet Biscuits, which are ridiculously cheap in America (not so up here).

After Target we made our way over to Trader Joe's, the shop that prompted our cross-border sister date in the first place. I could easily spend hundreds of dollars on bits and bobs from Trader Joe's, but I have forced myself to show some restraint. My go-to purchase is always the frozen tamales and the dried cherries because there isn't much in the way of frozen Mexican food up here in Vancouver and dried cherries are inexplicably pricey. I also bought five different types of cheese, some fancy crackers and a stick of pinot grigio salami to serve at my birthday party. Again, I have to thank Lydia for pointing out to me that frozen treats can be kept frozen using the Trader Joe's insulated bag and this time I loaded up: strawberry mochi ice-cream, green tea mochi ice-cream and mango floes (essentially everything you want in a frozen juice bar, holy crap so good). Other things I bought included organic peppermints, olive oil popcorn, almond butter, instant Indian meal for two and a bunch of snacks for the party. Upon returning to Canada I was envious of my sister's bag of Iraeli couscous, quinoa and other grains. I think my mind was too focussed on snacks. Next time I'm loading up on exotic grains!

PS The title of this post is inspired by the time I made my sister laugh so hard she cried while we were waiting at the border crossing.