City love.

It's been far too long since I was back home* in my favourite city. The food, the sights, the feeling-- it's unlike anything else. Both my mum and I have visited regularly over the last 6 years (often separate, though) but it has been a while for both of us. We decided to do a long weekend for her ___th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, mum! 

Before I start I must let you know, I didn't take nearly enough photos. For example, one night A and I left for an evening adventure that took us to dinner at Salvation Taco, then to The Junction (hello, new friends) and finally to a Karaoke bar in Koreatown. I'd expect nothing less. But alas, no photos of this... at all. 

This time I really wanted to venture to new places. I had read an interview in Vogue with Christopher Abbott (Charlie in HBO's GIRLS) where he talked about Cafe Mogador in Williamsburg. The name intrigued me, so I Googled and found out that it was a Williamsburg hotspot. A short (ok, sort of long) trek from the hotel to Brooklyn and we were eating delicious brunch in the hippest of hip places. Delicious. 

On the walk to the restaurant on Wythe St. we passed this: 

Of course, keeping in theme with "new things", I realized that sometimes the city throws some surprises my way. Like how I've never been to the High Line park: 

High Line Chelsea views:

And of course, there were lots of adventures at night:

Right near mum's favourite building (The Flatiron building) is the colour changing orb ("Buckyball") at Madison Square Park. It was, as you can probably tell from the photo below, fascinating.  A was also in the city for the month, so she joined us on many of our adventures!

And finally, I haven't spent too many evening on rooftops in Manhattan, so I jumped on getting some photographs from the lovely rooftop of Pod 39.

After too much food, a lot of walking, a few cabs and only 1 subway ride, we came to the end of the trip. This building was on the walk to friend's place on the Upper West Side. My dream: to have a useable fire escape on the side of my New York City apartment.

A Canadian in NYC:

A sad goodbye. 

*New York City is my unofficial home

New York, I miss you already. 

Today I'm thinking...

Carrie Underwood's Blown Away Tour

You know when people says they like all music? Well, I'm sort of like that. This weekend started with Dave Matthews Band (wiki describes them as a rock band) on Friday and ended Carrie Underwood (oh so country, y'all) on Sunday. Musical bookends!

Did I mention that on Friday I won both sets of tickets? One on Facebook and one on Twitter. Sunday's show was courtesy of Sony Music Canada's Twitter page and my oh my was it spectacular! Far more moving pieces than Friday's show. I mean, part of the stage lifted off the ground and moved across the crowd below. Have you ever seen anything like that?

As always, I apologize for the bb quality photos (mission for 2013: buy a phone with a good camera!) but here's a few, anyway. See what I mean about the stage? 

If you happened to be there, do you have any idea where Carrie got the rhinestone Willie Nelson shirt? I need that!

I also discovered (well personally, anyway) Hunter Hayes. Country music star extrodinaire that opened for Carrie. Loved his music... new favourite country song? This one:

Cute. Sad. Perfect! I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing a lot more of this guy very soon. As A put it, he's the country version of the Biebs. Can't go wrong with that!

My playlist tomorrow is going country, y'all!

Dave Matthews Band

Back in 2002, Dave Matthews Band released Busted Stuff. I can still remember going to HMV (at the mall, of course!) to buy it the day it came out. The CD was on high rotation for probably a year and it's still one of my favourite DMB albums. It’s been a while since I’ve put on a full album and just listened, but I’m always happy when songs like Crash, Satellite and Everyday come on the radio.

The band has toured extensively since then, and I have somehow managed to miss every show in and around the Toronto area. Every show. That is until I managed to score 2 tickets to the show at the Air Canada Center from the awesome guys at FanXchange. I entered a last minute contest on Facebook with a story about my road trip (which I have plans to write about over the next month!) to the Southern States. A few hours later: Dave Matthews Band LIVE!

The 100 section was general admission, putting me about 30 people way from the stage. Dave Matthews... a few feet away from me!  They played Don't drink the water, Satellite, Everyday and a ton of other songs I'm not overly familiar with. Or maybe it was only 5 songs? The band does love individual solos!

Everyday was probably my favourite song they sang during the show (well, that and Satellite). Have a listen... so good right? (and look at the 30 Rock connection! It's Judah Friedlander!)

Of course, there were “no cameras allowed”, so I didn’t bring a real camera, only my mediocre Blackberry (Android, if you’re reading this—help a girl out?) to snap some photos. Here is the best of the bunch:

DMB is back on high rotation!  Tomorrow night is Carrie Underwood at the ACC.

 A weekend of concert ticket wins! 

The First Podcast

A few weeks ago I was asked to be a guest on the Not So Mad Men podcast (hosted by two great guys at BridgeCom Media). I'll admit, I was worried/nervous/scared. Does anyone like hearing their own voice? I put my worries aside, went in to the office, sat down and we talked for nearly 45 minutes... go figure!

We covered a variety of topics, but the best bit was definitely our discussion on social media disasters.  Here's the final product:

 Have a listen and let me know what you think!

Tis the season... to send cards.

Every year I have grand plans to physically mail Christmas cards, yet I don't remember the last time I actually mailed anything. It sounds good though, doesn't it? It's almost December 1st and I have yet to purchase cards OR ask for people's updated addresses, so it's looking like it might be the digital version again this year.

I've also been deep into the Holiday Card creation for my 9-5. Brainstorm sessions, photoshoots, meetings...  Next week I'll be able to post the greatest holiday e-card of all time, but until then, here's a round up of a few cute cards I've come across in the research:

Buy it here

Buy it here

This is my favourite holiday card. Just everything about it makes me smile.

Where do I even buy stamps?

Vegas, baby!

I've wanted to visit Vegas since watching both Swingers and Vegas Vacation many many years ago. Finally, I had a few days off work and booked myself a ticket. 

We explored nearly every hotel on the strip, stopping for some very touristy photos. Including, but not limited to:

 

An outdoor ice rink in Vegas! 

While I'm sure the people sitting around me didn't love that I was singing all the songs softly, I completely enjoyed LOVE!

What's a tourist-y trip without throwing rocks in the local canyon?

A self-reminder: Downtown Vegas is NOT the Strip.

 The Hoover Dam was amazing. So much concrete. And memories of Vegas Vacation. Where can I get some damn bait?

Oh course I had to stop at the Vegas sign. There's always so many people around!

This isn't the right song, but it was still just as beautiful. And stunning at night, too. 

And there it is. From the top of Mandalay Bay. Las Vegas is crazy.

When am I going back?