Sample Sale!

I recently blogged about the pair of Zeha Berlin boots which I have been seriously coveting, however, the price tag has kept me from actually acquiring the boots. Funny how that works, right?

Well it would seem the fashion gods heard my cries; AM Collections is hosting a sample sale starting today and lasting until the 27th.

The sale will include various Zeha Berlin's, John Smedley sweaters, Mona Aletheia jewellery and some gorgeous Aunts & Uncles bags, all at a serious markdown from the retail price.

Stop by their studio at suite 200, 1026 Davie street (directly above Celebrities) and get your shop on!

PS - I know I have been going on an on about the boots, but there's something about the Zeha Berlin Oxford shoes that I just keep coming back to. I don't suppose I could find a way to buy both...? I mean who really needs electricity anyway?

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Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project

I am *so* looking forward to this party next weekend, hosted by Smirnoff.

The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is an ambitious attempt to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience on the same night, all over the globe. On Saturday November 12, Vancouver will host the Canadian Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project with a one-of-a-kind Vietnamese themed event taking place at the Salt Building in downtown, headlined by world-renowned Canadian DJ A-TRAK and Saigon's DJ Jase.

The Salt Building will be transformed to recreate the heart of Vietnam's urban lifestyle where the hipster and Bui (street style) scene collide, including a Vietnamese market brought to life with fresh food carts, a karaoke booth, a souvenir shop and a clothing market.

Sounds like fun, right? Tickets will not be sold for this invite only event, but lucky for you, I have a set I'm giving away to one lucky reader!

To enter, simply leave a comment answering the following question:

- After a night out, what's your fav spot to hit up for brunch?

(Contest closes on the 8th)

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A Walk on the Seawall

Only in Canada could you be walking downtown in the mids of all the hustle and bustle, and still run into a flock of Canadian Geese.

Canadian Geese hanging out by the water

Tree lined seawall

Flowers in bloom. Loving the summer weather

Green grass

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Happy Canada Day!

To all of my fellow Canadians; have a lovely Canada day filled with red and white, fireworks, camping trips, hockey games and of course, some Tim Hortons coffee!

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Welcome to Summer 2011!

First things first, I am aware that my last post promised a sea of new entries that never came to light. (My girlfriend from back home has reminded me of this on many occasions; thanks D). What can I say? I have a list of things I want to blog about, but when it came down to sitting at the computer and putting "pen to paper" it wasn't happening.

Well with summer on our doorstep, the living is finally feeling easy and I am finally ready to blog again. Get ready to be swamped with new entries.

To be continued.... (I swear)

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Chelsea Handler Cracks Me Up

This past weekend the always funny Chelsea Handler took her Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang tour to Vancouver. As expected, the evening was filled with dirty jokes, inappropriate language and some really loud laughs. I love this lady, I can't get enough. Seriously, I can't get enough. So you can imagine my disappointment when Chelsea only performed for a whopping 45 minutes! Come on girlfriend. These tickets were not cheap!

That being said, I still loved the show. Brad Wollack, who is also a writer for Chelsea Lately, was a hilarious opening act. I had seen him on Chelsea Lately before and was really looking forward to seeing him perform. He did not disappoint!

I have been a Handler fan since reading her first book My Horizontal Life years ago. With her fourth book set for release this spring, and a second TV show to debut next month, Chelsea is setting us up for many more laughs to come.

Brad Wollack

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Hello 2011!

Happy New Year all!

Classic Christmas Dinner at the Caissie's

It's hard to believe 2010 has come and gone so fast, but here we are; new beginnings. Time to start making promises to ourselves of healthier diets, less drinking and more studying. Nothing wrong with a little self improvement and setting goals to keep ourselves occupied until the next holiday (Easter?? That seems like a long ways away).

In any event, I hope you all had a lovely break. It was great to visit my friends and family on the east coast, even with a minor weather induced setback on my return to Vancouver. I'm looking forward to settling into my daily routine and doing lots of blogging. Over the last month I've thought of so many new ideas to write about, and cannot wait to share.

With the return of Gossip Girl, a new group on Teen Mom and a long lineup of great bands coming to Vancouver, you can expect to hear lots from me in the coming weeks. Until then, let's just enjoy these last couple days of vacation, and drink our last Rum and Eggnog before diet mode is in full effect.

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Tis The Season...

Finished product 

...To be busy as can be! I have been so swamped over the last week getting ready for Christmas and travelling east to visit my parents in New Brunswick that I've had absolutely no time to blog. I don't see the hustle and bustle settling down anytime soon either, so I'm officially putting all blogging on hold until I return to Vancouver on the 29th. You understand, right?

I've been keeping busy with the usual suspects; baking gingerbread cookies, decorating Christmas trees, buying last minute gifts and spending way too much time in airports due to delayed flights and nasty weather. (It's the most wonderful time of the year...?? For sure.).

Hope you all have a lovely holiday season!

Making gingerbread cookies with my friend Julie

Decorating my apartment 

Pretty tree ornaments 

Mom putting the finishing touch on the tree

My pops

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Happy Friday

It's Friday and that means it's time to plan your weekend. Actually by this point you should have already had it planned, but who am I to judge?

My friends are going to kill me for blogging about London Pub, because some of them are worried if word gets out about how great this place is, we'll be stuck waiting in lines all night next time we go. Not to mention the inevitable cover charges which will be implemented, and then it snowballs and we've got a Roxy situation on our hands.

I'm sorry friends, I need to call it like I see it, and I see it like this; I love London Pub. 

I have to admit, I've never actually had the food there, so I can't offer any opinions on that, but I have been there two weekends in a row now. The crowd, music and drinks are going to keep me coming back for more. Did I mention there's no cover charge?

It's located at East Georgia & Main, and has all of the charm you would expect from a place called London Pub. Just don't tell too many people about it, we need to keep this place (somewhat) to ourselves.

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White Space at The Bay

This week has already been nuts! I came down with a cold/some sort of evil throat bug over the weekend and it threw my whole week off. Now that we're at the hump day there's finally a light at the end of the tunnel.

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the new White Space at The Bay in downtown Vancouver.

Think Holt Renfrew meets, well, Holt Renfrew.

The event was great with a surprisingly high turn out. There was a fall fashion presentation by Rebecca Tay from Fashion Magazine, lots of champagne and very tasty food being passed.

In my goody bag there was a Dior primer mascara, which is a new concept for me. I always thought it was a gimmick, but I gave it a whirl this morning and I can honestly say my lashes have never looked longer!

I always say fall is my favorite season and these shopping events are one of the main reasons why. There's a mile long list of stores hosting events over the next couple weeks, including BCBG on Robson tonight. See you there?

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Vancouver Home + Interior Design Show

Last night kicked off the start of the Vancouver Home + Interior Design Show, and with industry giants HGTV, Benjamin Moore and Urban Barn as some of the sponsors, this event is the real deal.

It's already been a media hit, with a live eye segment on BT this morning, and every radio station in the city talking about it.

As some of you already know, I do some work with Vancouver's fashion & lifestyle PR leaders; Tara Parker Tait PR. Last night I helped out as they hosted a VIP Housewarming Party at the show. I had a chance to look around and check out the booths, and with a rainy forecast looming over this weekend, I'm thinking the Home + Interior Design Show is the place to be.

The show features some of HGTV's most familiar faces on the Urban Barn stage, with presentations from Bryan Baeumler, the host of HGTV's Disaster DIY; David Adjey, host of the Food Network's The Opener; and Janette Ewen, Interior Stylist and co-host of Ty Pennington's Inside the Box.

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The PNE; 100 years of... deep frying?

It's been a crazy week, with hardly any time to blog. With Friday being so close I can taste it, things are finally starting to relax a little bit, thus allowing me time to post a quick blog about my 1st ever trip to the PNE over the weekend.

Most Vancouverites have been going to the PNE every year (for the last 100 years) to enjoy the animals, markets, shows and of course, deep fried everything! I indulged in the mini doughnuts, Ukrainian food and a couple bites of a pulled pork sandwich, but that's where I drew the line. As appealing as deep fried butter sounds... I'm going to have to pass.

I loved the atmosphere at the PNE. Everyone was so happy to be there. I thought it was a bit expensive ($20 to get in, plus $42 to go on the rides), but I guess that comes with the territory. My only complaint is that I wish I’d planned the trip better. We didn’t go to any of the shows, which I hear are amazing, and had I known it was cheaper to get in after 9; I would have definitely been up for a night time visit.

The PNE has packed up for this year, but 2011 better watch out; now that I’m an experienced PNE’er, I’ll be back with vengeance! Mini doughnuts beware!

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West coast LEAF

While I was completing my Public Relations studies at Langara College last fall, two of my classmates and I took on a volunteer opportunity at West Coast LEAF. We were asked to help out with their PR initiatives. Our work included setting up a Twitter account, creating a newsletter, event listings, and finally we decided to create a PSA announcement.

After we perfected the concept and gathered the materials needed, we were able to contract the very talented Ryan Anderson to record and edit our video. The day of shooting was a cold Vancouver Fall day, and asking random people to hold up a leaf and stare into a camera met us with some challenging reactions.

Now the video has been complete, and was debuted at the West Coast LEAF Equality Breakfast in March of 2010. The video will also be shown at the Festival Cinemas chain for the month of September.

Without further ado, check out our PSA announcement below.

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Urban Gardening

Living smack in the middle of downtown Vancouver is amazing when it comes to being close to everything and everyone. Not so amazing is the loss of green space. Though my building lacks in the amenities department, (we don't have a gym, a pool is totally out of the question, in fact I don't even have a parking space), lucky for me, what I do have is the most amazing rooftop patio, with huge garden beds.

This year I've grown lots of veggies like tomatoes, lettuce, onions, carrots, basil and dill. On top of that, I've also grown flowers, including these giant sunflowers.

I had never fancied myself a gardener, but it turns out it's pretty fun and surprisingly relaxing!

My veggie garden

Sunflowers growing wild

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Yaletown Pet Hospital

I am definitely an animal lover, especially dogs. So much so that when I was 20 years old, I decided to adopt a cocker spaniel, who I named London. A lot of my friends thought I was crazy but 5 years later, London is still my faithful side kick.

A few weeks ago I called Yaletown Pet Hospital to make an appointment for London to get his vaccines and a physical. I was worried about how much it would cost, since anything with the name Yaletown in it tends to come with a higher price tag, but this place is on my street, and you can't beat a 2 minute commute. They said they weren't taking new patients, but that they would squeeze him in 3 weeks from now.

The day finally came yesterday, and the physical went great! Not only were they kind to my wallet, but they even suggested he not get all of the expensive vaccines he had had in the past. On top of which, he only needed to return for his Rabies shot every 3 years (vs annually, like his previous vet recommended).

I really appreciated their honesty and professionalism, even at their own expense (I was ready to shell out for the complete list of vaccines and services). If you're looking for a place to take your pooche, I highly recommend the Yaletown Pet Hospital!

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Chelsea Handler to host VMAs

Yes! I told you all about my love for Chelsea Handler last week, and today I've learned that she is set to host the VMAs on MTV! I am loving this news but wondering if she'll still have the same edge with the inevitable MTV censoring. Chelsea said in a statement;

"This has been a huge year for hip-hop and rap, and it is well-known that I have the closest ties with these communities – musically and sexually."

Oh Chelsea. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us at the MVAs. I'm sure it will be both hilarious and highly inappropriate. The big event goes down on Sept 12th. My DVR has officially been set.

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Y.E.S!

After confessing my shopping addiction yesterday, it only seems right that I mention my annual clothing donations too. (I'm not all selfish!).

I've recently been introduced to Y.E.S! which stands for Young Executives for Success. This amazing Women's organization participates in Dress for Success, a charity that supplies low income ladies with fantastic suits and clothes for the work force. In the past I've donated bags and bags of clothes to Value Village, but after reading up on Y.E.S!, I'm thinking this could be the perfect networking group for me (and my gently used clothes).

For those of you interested, membership is $100 per year (all of which goes directly to Dress for Success) and the networking events take place at hip lounges around the city (think V at Earls in Yaletown).

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The Perfect Friday

Friday on its own is pretty amazing, but Friday with old friends takes things to a whole new level.

This past Friday (the 13th, might I add) I met some girlfriends after work at Rodney's Oyster House for oysters and bevvies. It's no secret that Rodney's only has male servers, making it the perfect spot to catch up with the girls. After we had our eye candy fix, we headed over to Goldfish where we enjoyed the Yaletown crowd and a glass (or two) of bubbles.

Nibbling on finger food can only hold a girl like me over for so long, so we decided to head up to Granville to check out new spot The Factory. This used to be the home of Whineos, which we were all HUGE fans of and heartbroken to see go, but The Factory is pretty cool and dirt cheap. I'm especially fond of the jukebox which houses a number of bands I'm loving like Vampire Weekend, LCD Soundsystem, and MGMT.

Home and in bed by 11pm, this was one eventful Friday!

At The Factory after seeing how cheap my bill was!

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Hello world!

Well it was only a matter of time before I started my very own blog. I'm a pretty avid Twitter user, but sometimes I just can't fit all I have to say in 140 characters. I'm hoping this blog will give me an outlet to share the latest and greatest in my life, as well as chatting up my favorite spots in Vancouver to shop, eat, and people watch.

I'm still figuring out the layout/design of this thing, so bear with me.

Thanks for stopping by, and if we're not already Twitter friends, lets make that happen asap.

XO
B

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