I’ve been watching the series on Netflix. It’s not your run of the mill cooking show. It’s so much more because in each hourly episode the series focuses on a particular chef that will inspire the hell out of you.
From Chef Meets BC Grape
You find out their story: what drives them, how they shop, about their relationship to food and their style as they prepare a culinary specialty. And it all looks so pretty….even something so simple and singular as a carrot. But it’s not just a carrot, it’s a carrot from the chef’s family run farm that tastes unlike any other carrot. And it makes everything you make seem so……...well, ordinary?
Anyway….just wanted to tell you about two upcoming chef inspired events in my home town, Vancouver because I really feel that Vancouver is becoming a world class dine out city. So much so that I just found out about a dine out week taking place next month that is very inspiring (UPS – upcoming post soon). But in the meantime:
#1 – Chef Meets Truck:
Roaming Dragon Pan-Asian Food Truck
On September 13, the Chefs’ Table Society of BC, in partnership with the Yaletown BIA and the Streetfood Vancouver Society host the inaugural event Chef Meets Truck in Yaletown at the intersection of Hamilton and Nelson. The event will run from 6:30pm-9:30pm and consists of Vancouver restaurant chefs hopping on board local Food Trucks to serve up the foodie event of the season. This collaborative event brings Vancouver’s hottest restaurant and food truck chefs together for the first time ever.
Purchase tickets to the inaugural event for $69 + taxes and fees here. Tickets include food samples from the eight participating food trucks, as well as, wine and beer samples from Nichol Vineyard, Lock and Worth Winery and Brassneck Brewery.
Thursday, September 15
Vancouver Convention Centre East
999 Canada Place, Ballrooms A, B, C
7–9:30 PM
Tickets are selling fast to the largest tasting of BC VQA wines in Vancouver! This popular fundraiser is a unique opportunity to taste a selection of more than 300 wines from 90 of BC’s top producers.
A tasting event for both novice wine tasters and connoisseurs—you can expect to sip and savour vintages of established labels, and find new favourites from an abundance of up-and-coming, family-run, and boutique operations. Guests will also have the opportunity to taste specially prepared pairing dishes from 12 BC restaurants!
Participating restaurants include:
Chicha Restaurant
Fable Kitchen
Hart House Restaurant
Lift Bar and Grill
Miradoro Restaurant
Provence Marinaside
Torafuku Modern Asian Eatery
Tickets are selling fast—buy now to avoid disappointment!
“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” – Edgar Allan Poe
Everyone knows that Poe is a Poet but we all have different viewpoints of another person’s image. That is called perception. What happens when someone doesn’t fit into the “usual” image we form for something they represent?
What is Window Horses?
Window Horses is a new Animated, Multi-Cultural, Unusual, Smart Feature Film with a Message. I find it inspiring. It is written, directed and produced by someone I know, Ann Marie Fleming, who has been making award winning films for over 25 years. Because she is such an unusual & inspiring person herself I knew that at the very least it would be interesting and worth checking out. So….
Rosie Ming is a mixed-race, 20-something, introverted, closet poet who dreams of going to Paris. She doesn’t know a thing about her parents. Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy, Sideways, Under the Tuscan Sun, etc…) is Rosie. Her work is about transformation!
Taken from the Website:
This film is our small effort to try and add a little more peace, love and understanding to our increasingly complex and conflicted world through art, poetry, history and culture. Heady stuff!
Not to give too much away but….
It’s about love (it’s always about love…) – love of family, poetry, history, culture. Here’s the story: Rosie Ming, a young Canadian poet, is invited to perform at a Poetry Festival in Shiraz, Iran, but she’d rather be in Paris. She lives at home with her over-protective Chinese grandparents and has never been anywhere by herself. Once in Iran, she finds herself in the company of poets and Persians, all who tell her stories that force her to confront her past; the Iranian father she assumed abandoned her and the nature of Poetry itself. It’s about building bridges between cultural and generational divides. It’s about being curious. Staying open. And finding your own voice through the magic of poetry.
Rosie goes on an unwitting journey of forgiveness, reconciliation, and perhaps above all, understanding, through learning about her father’s past, her own cultural identity, and her responsibility to it.
WATCH the Trailer:
“Window Horses hits all the things that are important to me: it’s pro-girl, pro-tolerance, pro-diversity and PRO-ART!! My nieces are mixed race and it’s very important to me that they see themselves represented in this society.” – Sandra Oh
Heady Stuff Indeed!
Window Horses will be playing during VIFF (September 29 – October 14, 2016). For program & tickets please visit:
“The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last for ever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year – the days when summer is changing into autumn – the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.”
―E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web (As a child adult I loved the book & animated movie). I am proud to say I’ve never killed a spider.
Doesn’t it feel different already? We’re in that in between stage – not quite summer (even though it is officially still summer) but not quite fall. Temperature is a bit cooler and it gets darker earlier. Just giving us a little glimpse of what to Fall for. I actually don’t mind it as much as I thought. I’m all for a little change as long as it’s not too too sudden or disturbing. I’m trying to embrace change. Not crazy life changing change….just little changes here and there that are healthy and positive.
What I’m Falling For this Year:
For starters exercise and diet – and it’s not even New Year’s Eve! I’m starting early. That’s not to say I don’t look after myself by getting proper exercise (I do) and eating as well as I can but I’m making an effort to do it better and more effectively. I’m kick starting this because I’m of no use to the important people in my life or anyone else if I’m not in top notch health myself.
I believe in looking after yourself as best you can and keeping your house in order. Otherwise things can get out of control.
I’m exploring some alternative methods of relaxation like meditation to help improve sleep and anxiety. I’m looking into acupuncture….just because I believe it can help with a multitude of symptoms. Not just for myself.
Getting back to reading. By that I mean….books. I have too many gathering dust up on the shelf.
Getting rid of excess. Going through clothing and other items that I no longer have use for. A few of these are bigger ticket items like condos & cars (possibly).
Dancing for exercise, enjoyment, expression, social and fun.
Language for communication & the mind (it is said to help prevent alzheimers).
Philanthropy because it feels good to help those more “in need”.
I’m researching some things on my own. I will look forward to sharing them with you in the upcoming months. I hope to bring more inspiring posts to this page over time. That is the main purpose of having this blog. By keeping track of things that inspire, make a difference and improve life mixed in with the usual fashion and fun.
On the ferry ride over to Victoria we were lucky and so delighted to spot from a distance a pod of Orcas – not once, but twice!
Church + State Vineyards
We were joined by others for tastings and a great outdoor lunch with a view at Church & State Wines:1445 Benvenuto Ave, Brentwood Bay, BC. Then off to…
De Vine Vineyards: 6181B Old West Saanich Rd, Saanichton, BC.
Simply De vineOn the grass outside winery wearing my gingham picnic shoes. Aren’t they cute.. or at least quaint?
A frog hopped on my skirt, looked me in the eye and asked for a kiss. I’m sorry little froggy but I already have my prince. You’ll have to jump on someone else.
We went via private boat to stay at this Rustic Oceanfront Cottage on a remote Gulf Island.
Cruising by Moonlight (this photo does not compare to how gorgeous it actually was). The night before the moon was red & I could not capture its incredible brilliance.
I heard scratching at the door around midnight. Turns out it was the next door neighbour. He was cute so I let him in and he made himself at home…right next to me in bed.
I woke up to this. Unfortunately my little friend went home shortly after sunrise. Guess he just wanted a warm body to curl up with.
Everyone seems to enjoy themselves when they have the freedom to do exactly as they please…..or just enjoy the peace and quiet.
And nature on the island. Looking towards the beach with 4 deer and 2 fawns.
This is grocery shopping island style at the local Sunday market. The honour system is alive and well and besides everyone knows where you live.
But I picked these myself – literally from several different trees.Then it was off camping in an even more rustic fashion. I can’t pretend it was glamping. At least by gorgeous waterfalls and lots of hiking trails. No time to makeup. We bathed in this calm crystal clear river.
More island shopping at Coombs Old Country Market (they have everything you can imagine) even goats up on the roof.
This one is saying “p…. off”Then a visit with my one & only sis on return with me sitting and her lying down on her lovely deck with a fluffy friend named Rufus – a lambadoodle.
She gifted me with tickets to Gwen Stefani last night at Rogers Arena. My friend and I & millions of millennials among us really enjoyed the energy in that stadium. Gwen is not even real – at 46 she rocks in every single capacity! My friend asked “where have we gone wrong?”
This might be a little off my regular subject matter but it has a lot to do with life and how women treat and regard one another. I’m questioning why some women are intentionally not supportive of other women, why some will go behind your back, deliberately try to make you look bad and play one against the other in a sneaky manner. And think they can get away with it. It’s so high school! Speaking of which…And you have to wonder where it all comes from. Why do some women purposely work against you instead of with you? Why are women so competitive? Maybe the same way men are? It’s a competitive world no doubt. But you don’t have to be nasty about it.
I don’t relate to this type of negative behaviour but I’m willing to bet most women reading this have experienced some type of purposeful hurt caused by another woman with the main intent to make you look less than, embarrass you or try to one-up you. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about right? It’s not a feel-good feeling. Here is a recent example of an unpleasant experience of mine:
A woman I know but who is not a close friend (even though it seemed like she wanted my friendship) was starting to call me on a regular basis to complain about another woman we know who did not treat her in a very respectful manner. I listened to her and it seemed that she was being treated unfairly by adult bullying (sadly, there is such a thing). I offered my opinion in that I suggested that she not come down to the mean womans level. It felt uncomfortable but I thought she was a little shy at standing up for herself so tried to help as best I could. Well….
In a strange twist of events the next time I saw these two women together they appeared buddy buddy and the woman who was calling me to complain ended up turning around in front of the one who bullied her and ended up acting just like her. She behaved in the exact manner which bothered her – she put me down right in front of this other woman. This happened shortly after I listened to all her complaining and offered the best advice I knew. And it was so unnecessary and immature of her to do so.
Did she perhaps think that by acting this way she would gain some respect? Who knows? I stepped away from the matter a little befuddled. But…at the same time knowing who not to trust. And…
This is all to say…..what gives girls?
Let’s rethink how we want to be regarded. Stop playing silly games. Your boyfriend, husband, friend, whoever will eventually get to know the real you. It may take a while but believe me…mean girls who turn into mean women never end up winning in the end.
“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.” – Joseph Addison
While researching womens elegant evening wear from the 1920’s I came across these glam photos and wanted to share them. I love this era which embodied elegance, decadence and fabulousness.
Marlene DietrichSilent film actress Thalia BarbarovaI don’t know who this is but I love the lookThree Models 1926. Photograph by Edward Steichen for Vogue. From left to right: Alden Gay wearing a black and white chiffon dress by Madame Frances and a wide-brimmed hat; Marion Morehouse, wearing a light-colored chiffon dress by Jay-Thorpe, with a wide-brimmed hat; Miss Collier, holding a parasol, and wearing a printed chiffon and lace dress with a Tuscan straw hat.Myrna Loy
Because let’s face it…one can never have too many cocktails cocktail dresses.
The BAD NEWS is time fliesWow…we’re almost into the second week of August. How did that happen? The GOOD NEWS is you’re the pilot or the driverSo don’t conk out too soon. “Whoa………..let’s take the bull by the horns and get a move on partner! No time for a bath; we’ll just dust off”Make the most of the rest of your SUMMER
Rio has one of the most spectacular settings of any city I’ve ever been to.No matter which direction you turn it has the most magnificent scenery. Dramatic and breath taking. It’s a city famous for its beaches but there is also plenty of culture, great food and of course year round mild temperatures. The people are vibrant.
I was lucky to have had the opportunity to visit on several occasions while living in São Paulo. The flight is less than an hour and it made a perfect getaway.
At the time I didn’t have Instagram on my phone so when I saw these photos published in Allure Magazine (a popular womens beauty magazine to do mostly with makeup & skincare) I found them well…alluring to say the least.
With the Olympics starting this Friday in Rio and a friend who has just left to volunteer I thought it would be perfect timing to share Instagram photos and a couple of my own of this fabulous city.
Pão de Açúcar
1. Pão de Açúcar
Sugarloaf Mountain, as it’s known in English, gets its name from its shape and is one of the most iconic stops in Rio. You can start your day by taking the cable car up to the top of the rounded peak. But don’t wait until you get to the top to take out your camera—the panoramic views from the car are just as impressive (and Insta-worthy!). People have been enjoying this breathtaking ride since the bubble-shaped cable car opened in 1912—it was even featured in the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker.
Christ the Redeemer
2. Christ the Redeemer
This landmark is one of the most recognizable symbols of Rio. Standing 125 feet tall, it’s practically impossible to miss. The sculpture is located atop Corcovado Mountain, and it’s listed as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. This is definitely a place where playing with a camera drone pays off, allowing you to capture both the sculpture and the city at its feet. A view like this can definitely leave you feeling #blessed.
One of my photos taken from a helicopter rideIpanema Beach
3. Ipanema Beach
Spend the afternoon sunbathing on the steamy shore of Ipanema Beach. This world-famous beach is located in one of the most affluent neighborhoods of Rio. Pack a big sun hat and a teeny bikini and get ready to sip coconut water while the hustle and bustle of the city melts into sea foam. All you have to do is wait for sunset’s magical light to capture the shadows of sunbathers and the mountains in the back.
Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden
4. Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden
The Rio Botanical Garden is a tropical jungle you can get lost in and still easily find your way back to the city. The beautiful greenhouse, many gazebos, and flowing fountains are complemented by the lush nature that surrounds them. Find your way to the Avenue of Royal Palms located within the garden. This long road flanked by enormous palm trees makes it easy to spend hours taking amazing photos.
Mirante Dona Marta
5. Mirante Dona Marta
Who doesn’t love a good panoramic view? Located inside the Tijuca Forest, this lookout offers one of the most all-encompassing views of Rio de Janeiro, covering everything from Christ the Redeemer to Sugarloaf Mountain and the city in between. If sunset photos of this amazing skyline leave you wanting more, the observation deck also functions as a helipad, from which you can take thrilling helicopter tours of the city. Be sure to carry an extra set of memory cards for your camera just in case.
my photo looking towards Ipanema
Of course the city has its well documented down side with poverty and corruption which should not be forgotten amid the natural beauty and the thrill of the games.
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