car free days - commercial drive!

Here is the information for Car Free Days on Commercial Drive ....

Please contact Amy, Community Liaison at openstreets@carfreevancouver.org if you have any questions or for more information.

Summer Spaces is looking for performers, musicians, actors, jugglers, non-profits, clowns, visual artists, dancers, creative souls and community lovers to participate in East Vancouver’s first regular street closure!!!!

That’s right folks, every Sunday for July and August Commercial Drive will be closed to car traffic and open for the community to enjoy! All the way from Venables to 1st Ave.

The excitement starts at Noon and all activity must be clear of the street by 7pm.

Summer Spaces will be much smaller than the Car Free Festival. There will be little pre-programmed activity. Everyone is welcome to come down and enjoy this space responsibly. To make sure everyone is enjoying themselves we have thrown down a few guidelines; so please read, and ENJOY!

Guidelines:

• You are welcome to transform the street into anything you wish! Build a giant board game, start a hockey game, draw on the streets, roll out a living room, create a free store, write, play, sing, dance, perform street theatre, ride a crazy bike, juggle or build a street garden……the possibilities are endless!
• Performance for donations is permitted.
• Non-Profits are invited to come down and participate.
• Preference will be given to local artists and community based organizations.
• No equipment will be provided.
• Local merchants will be expanding their shops onto the street, however no 3rd party vendors will be permitted.
• Please remember this is public space for the whole community.
• If the activity you plan will be amplified (although non amplified performances are preferred) or will have a large impact please inform Amy our Community Liaison, of your plans prior to the event at openstreets@carfreevancouver.org

Thank you for participating in East Vancouver’s first regular street closure!

If you have any other questions email Amy, our Community Liaison at openstreets@carfreevancouver.org

villa amato

Villa Amato is a great hidden gem tucked up on top of Mario's Gelati on East 1st Avenue. It can hold up to 600 people and is approx. 14,000 sq ft with a full stage, A+ kitchen facilities, a natural area for a head table, bar window and a full patio overlooking False Creek and Science World.



I was over there for a final walk through last night and Kyra, the venue coordinator, showed me some decor photos she took of Nicole and Jason's wedding from 2007. I didn't even know these existed and being one of our favourite weddings, it was definitely a treat to see these snapshots!



PS. check out more of their wedding on Angela Hubbard's website

car free days in Vancouver!

I kept hearing this rumour about additional Car Free days scheduled along Main Street during the summer months, but could not for the life of me find more information about it. After almost a week of internet searches and emails, I finally the information I was looking for!

Since most of you are probably in the same boat, I figured I would post the details here.

The Mount Pleasant BIA, as part of the City of Vancouver Summer Spaces initiative, will be sponsoring six Sunday street closure events over the months of July and August. We are creating a series of community based festivals which involve our merchants, residents, youth, local community groups and organizations, as well as visitors.

THREE SUNDAYS A MONTH 12PM TO 5PM

Homemade
Sunday July 5th
7th Ave to Broadway

Come see local crafters, artisans and designers as well honey makers, jam experts and canners who will display their wares and demonstrate their skills.

Before there were Cars
Sunday July 12
Broadway to 12th Ave

Come see the various sources of alternative transportation that will be showcased and demonstrated, and maybe even try some of them.

Urban Eating
Sunday July 19th
12th Ave to 16th Ave

Come meet local garden clubs, urban agriculture experts, food charity network organizations, backyard hen proponents, and composting experts.

Youth
Sunday August 9th
7th Ave to Broadway

Come meet the local youth groups and organizations that serve our community and join in the music and activities geared towards youth.

Safety and Security
Sunday August 16th
Broadway to 12th Ave

Come meet local safety & security experts who will explain and demonstrate their skills, as well as some local health and wellness practitioners.

Our ‘Hood’
Sunday August 23rd
12th Ave to 16th Ave

Come meet the Mount Pleasant based organizations and groups that serve and assist our community and our residents.

Pre-registration will be required and space will be awarded on a first request/first approval basis. Priority will be given to those who fit specifically within each week’s theme.

To register please email: market1886@hotmail.com

fundraiser for luke the shop cat

(photo credit to Blue Olive Photography)

I am a self proclaimed crazy cat lady and I pretty much know which shops in town have cats. Yup! Not as much as I used to, but I can definitely point out some kitty friendly places while driving around the City. Luke is one of those felines. I met him a few years ago when I visited the super kawaii Occuppied Shoppe just at the corner of Abbott and Water Street in Gastown. He is so cute! He is suppose to be a burly cat that was rescued from the ship yard, but he lives in all things kawaii! Anyways, I bought the cutest little tea set from the shop and as a thank you, I mailed him one of my cat cakes that are filled with cat nip. I had packaged it up and addressed it to him. You can read all about the blog post on the Occupied Shoppe diary.


(photo credit to Occupied Shoppe)

To make a long story short, Luke has been quite sick lately, but he is on the road to recovery. He had stopped eating / drinking and the vet that was she taking him to didn't know what was wrong with him and suggested that he need to be put down - can you believe it!? I'm glad that she went and got a second opinion! The second vet diagnosed him with having gall bladder stones which is quite rare for cats. As many of you know, vet visits and medication is not cheap, so I was asked to make some cat cakes as a fundraiser to help Luke. You can read more about Luke on his blog.


(photo credit to Occupied Shoppe) Luke enjoying a cat cake.



Here they are in neopolitan colours - chocolate, strawberry and vanilla! Filled with organic cat nip.

Buy yours today at Occupied Shoppe at 221 Abbott Street and help Luke!

Hours are:
11:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Saturday
Noon to 6:00 pm Sunday

random snapshots

We always drive past these signs for Mount St. Helens on the I-5, so this trip we decided to actually go and see it. My uncle took me on this trip years ago, but this was Rob's first time and I figured that it would be something that he would enjoy.




Mommy duck with her babies just below Mount St. Helens. This is the marsh that was created after the blast.

The post title pretty much says it all... random pictures from two weeks ago... mostly of food :)


After bumping into Torie somewhere along Hawthorne in Portland, we finally tried Por Que No?. Everybody seemed to be raving about it and we had meant to go during our last few trips, but with constant line ups out the door we were a little scared off. Although, I'm not sure what our hurry was as we were pretty much on vacation! Anyways, finally tried it and it was two thumbs up! I believe this is a picture of their veggie bean bowl with corn tortillas.


Here's Rob enjoying the same, but with pulled pork.


Rob's cousin graduated this year which meant that the extended family flew in for the ceremony. Supposedly, this also meant a trip to the Ukrainian Village Restaurant on Robson and Denman (he's not Ukrainian). For me, it is one of those places that you have been walking past for ages, but we finally got to try it and it was pretty good! Rob and I shared the Ukrainian Dinner with sausage, perogies, cabbage rolls, beet salad, pickle... and the Schnitzel dinner below with mashed potatoes. This was more than enough for the both of us.




To top it all off... I worked on a program last week which allowed us to enjoy the BEST tiramisu I have ever had from Cin Cin's. The pictures do not do it justice as the restaurant was dark and this was through my camera phone.

trash the dress

According to Wikipedia, Trash the Dress refers to a wedding couple dressing up in their wedding attire after the big day and having a photo shoot in an environment completely opposite of what you would think when you say "wedding".



Remember Krista and Matt that got married late last year? Here are photos from their session with the wonderful Craig and Morgaine from Morgaine Owens Photography.





Here are a few more shots from their wedding .....



Beautiful flowers from the Flower Factory




Cupcakes!


Candy apples in their wedding colours from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory




(all photos courtesy of Morgaine Owens Photography)

tim + cecilia

I'm spending part of the day catching up on both this blog and the one over at Got Craft. Head over there for all things crafty including our featured designer series every Monday or stay here for all things wedding and me related!

Here are a few snapshots taken from Tim and Cecilia's wedding at the Pan Pacific Hotel on Friday, May 29th. I love the colour combination of bright fushia with tangerine, but unfortunately, the colours didn't come through very well on my camera phone. You get the idea though .... fantastic couple + beautiful decor = dream wedding!


8th floor poolside terrace - it was HOT!


Floral arrangements by the Flower Factory


Lovely linens by Sweet Beginnings. Each guest received two folded paper cranes in their wine glass handmade by the wedding couple as well as a box full of chocolates.



Congratulations and all the best as you start your new life together!

somewhere in Longview, WA

We ducked out of town for a few days to just take a moment and breathe... nice... Emails will be answered as quick as I can, but with so much happening lately, we really just needed a few days to rest, refresh and regroup.

Left town early this morning and spent most of the day around Seattle enjoying the eats of Cafe Besalu - thanks to J and her post on Seattle! We tested out the Apple Pastries, but will definitely be back for the Quiche as well as the almond croissants pictured above.

Received a call early afternoon from a friend that said he was somewhere in Washington as well, so we did some hotel booking juggling and ended up staying right across the hall from him. Spent the evening somewhere in Longview, WA looking for a decent place to eat that was not a fast food joint and ended up with a dinner of steak fries and scallops (what was I thinking?).

So.. yeah.. taking it easy.. will pop in here and there. Heading to Mount Saint Helen's tomorrow and hopefully a spin past the local thrift stores before heading down to Portland.