Hip, Hip, Hooray for Day 1 of Christmas Vacation!

My first 30 hours of Christmas Vacation have been incredible. We are just arriving back in the city after a quick night in beautiful Banff, Alberta. Our first night back in Calgary we had a whirlwind evening. We arrived home just before supper and enjoyed a wonderful holiday family meal before jetting off to Flame Central for a kickass Christmas party that The Dudes were headlining. 

I had been jonesing to see The Dudes for years but I have barely been in Calgary since finishing school. “Dudes Christmas Special with Wet Secrets and Shotgun Jimmie” was an awesome, late night dance party that would get even the biggest grinch tapping their toes. I already loved The Dudes, now I am all pumped up about Wet Secrets. Boy, have I ever missed live local music! 

I’m keeping this post short and sweet, it is Christmas and there is just SO MUCH to do in Calgary! The Farmers Market, Zoo Lights, Flames games and sooooo much more!! 

Starting to get into the #Christmas spirit in #Banff! #mountains #Alberta #travel

A photo posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Dec 20, 2015 at 4:01pm PST

#WetSecrets at Flames Central, getting pumped up for The Dudes! #Calgary #YYC #concert @thewetsecrets

A photo posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Dec 19, 2015 at 10:54pm PST

We finally saw The Dudes last night, they are definitely one of those bands that are awesome on the radio but even better to listen to live! #YYC #Calgary #livemusic

A photo posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Dec 20, 2015 at 9:14am PST

Carbs, Crafts, Sickness and a Very Special Lady's Birthday!

I’m sick.

Clearly no one wants to talk to me because I look and sound like I have been smoking a pack a day since I was four and have been forced to walk across Canada all summer in the same outfit without showering. That might be a little harsh but I bet you are get the picture, I feel pretty gross right now.

My weekend was a celebration for my weakness for carbohydrates disguised as my Grandmother MacDonald’s birthday. So I am feeling doubly crappy today. It is like a massive food hangover crossed with a fall flu. Yes, it is totally possible to be hung from food.

Anyways, I bet you never would have guessed that this blog was crafted to wish my Grandmother MacDonald a big ole’ happy birthday. She reads these blogs when I’m not around so someday she will stumble upon this and hopefully smile.

My weekend was incredibly productive until the sickness hit me Sunday morning after a quick staff meeting at work. The productivity started when I made a delicious dessert for our fish and chip party at my parent’s house Saturday night. Peanut butter bar squares garnished with a little grated skor bar.

To be honest with you, my food hangover pretty much centers on these squares. My amazing dessert arrived at the party via a proxy and had melted together so I may have had a little cry in my childhood bedroom with the pan before supper. Yes, that happened. Sometimes I am a grown ass child about things. It is not a family event until someone cries, right? That only lasted about 10 minutes and only a third of pan was sacrificed to my sad. I call it having a sad. Having a sad happens every once in a blue moon and usually before sickness hits.

On top of getting my bake on in a totally domestic fashion I also crafted this weekend. Like most crafts, it sits nearly complete today (Monday) and cost way more than just going to Walmart to buy the item that I originally needed. Breanna and I set out to make corkboards this weekend, hopefully next weekend we will finish them and I will tell you about them here in the blog. You can see it truly is a beautiful work in progress…

As you can tell, now that we have a house I am attempting to be more domestically inclined. This is really conflicting with my desire to not bring in any crap to my house that I do not absolutely love for furniture. I still do not have a dresser, but that is on my list of musts for the week. Our house is a mess.

Anyways, in my hunt for things to make our new house our own I am constantly snooping around my family members homes for things we can use for our house (with permission of course) and I found this hilarious read at my grandmother’s house.

Part of me wants to read this cover-to-cover and learn from it. I hope this book was important and informative for young adults in my Grandmother’s day (much like Adulting by Kelly Williams Brown was for me). And the cynical/bitchy part of me is angry that there are only women on the cover of a book for “Young Canadians”. I am a little conflicted; maybe I will come back to this topic in the future.

Regardless, a big “Happy Birthday” to Grannie MacDonald! I was a tad craft-bitchy at her house on Sunday so I will leave this apology here as a permanent tribute to such an important lady in my life. Sickness and failing miserably at crafts are not a good combination; I hope to someday lose my temper and gain some patience. I also someday hope to be as happy with a Palm Bay tiki girl for my birthday as you were after your trip to the LC with Lisa and Kim. Seriously.

Until then, I’m just a (temporarily) sick 25-year-old inadequate crafter with a weakness for carbs. Happy Birthday Gram, I love you!

Lay's Canada Chip Challenge 2014

Last year Lay’s Canada started an annual competition called “Do Us A Flavour”. Jenny Fines and I were pretty pumped up and tried the four chip flavours competing for the first championship title. Our (and our entire office’s) least favourite chip “Maple Moose” ended up winning the contest, before flopping in the real world potato chip market. You can check out the 2013 edition of the competition here.

“Do Us A Flavour” is back again this year as I am sure you have noticed if you frequent gas stations, pharmacies, grocery stores or well pretty much any place that sells food in Canada. This year at my Grandmother’s 72nd birthday party I thought it would be fun to throw the chips on the table and see what everyone thought of the four new flavours.

This year there is a new twist to the competition; two of the proposed new flavours are featured in different Lay’s textures (wavy and kettle cooked). Over a million flavours were suggested; here are the four that made it into production:

-Lay’s Wavy Jalapeno Mac’N’Cheese created by Randall Litman from Calgary, AB.

-Lay’s Kettle Cooked Tzatziki created by Denise Vella from Cambridge, ON

-Lay’s Cinnamon Bun created by Gloria Melanson from London, ON.

-Lay’s Bacon Poutine created by Guillaume Lorrain from Trois-Rivières, QC.

Last year everyone agreed that Maple Moose was the WORST. Maple Moose chips actually made it into the office garbage can. Clearly we were all surprised when it ended up winning the contest.

This year there is no clear worst chip. Honestly we all thought the Lay’s Cinnamon Bun bag of chips would be gross, but they actually were not that bad. They were more sweet than cinnamony and the balance between sweet and salty was not that bad. People had warned us against them, but they were not even close to being as gross as “Maple Moose”.

My favourite (because I cannot choose just one) are the “Lay’s Wavy Jalapeno Mac’N’Cheese” and the “Lay’s Kettle Cooked Tzatziki”. This may just be because I like the different textures. Honestly, I don’t think I would choose any of these chips over my go-to favourite simple ketchup chips. I think they could have done better with the flavouring for them all.

If the house votes say mean anything it will be a battle between “Lay’s Bacon Poutine” or “Lay’s Wavy Jalapeno Mac’N’Cheese”.

You can vote for your favourite in the 2014 “Do Us A Flavour” contest by clicking here. The winner will receive $50,000 and 1% of their chips sales.

Lay’s is all over Twitter and Instagram and you are able to use the following hashtags: #VoteBaconPoutine, #VoteCinnamonBun, #VoteJalapenoMacNCheese and #VoteTzatziki.

Or you can text your vote to 101010.

Voting closes October 12, 2014.

In case you are wondering, here are the finalists for the 2014 American version of the contest “Do Us A Flavor”:

Lay’s Cheddar Bacon Mac & Cheese

Lay’s Cappuccino

Lay’s Wavy Mango Salsa

Lay’s Kettle Cooked Wasabi Ginger

Happy Moments: A 5th Birthday After Pary With The LePages!

My happy moment yesterday turned out to be hours of happiness with the wonderful LePage family! I got to experience a child’s birthday for the first time, try full-on (real some would say) sushi for the first time and I even had my first cake-pop. I must admit it was amazing I loved the raw salmon and tuna and I totally get what the buzz is about with cake-pops!

Last minute as they were ordering sushi they invited me over, I was a little intimidated by going because I was still kind of gross from my workout and tan but we agreed it would be one of the last chances I would have to see them so I broke from my routine and spend the evening in their amazing company in Robson.

I am so thankful for the wonderful night, a little tired today because I stayed out way past my bedtime. I am going to miss the LePages so much; it was so special to me to be part of Audrey’s 5^th birthday after party!  We had such great chats well into the night, I can't wait to come back and see the girls all grown up and visit Dustin and Selena (hopefully in the not too distant future)!

My first taste Castlegar's Chopsticks! 

Calgary Hosts Canada's Only Lego Kidsfest 2014

Over the weekend I got to take part in an amazing event in Calgary. It was Canada’s first Lego Kidsfest at the BMO Centre. On the one and only stop in Canada (ever), the Lego Kidsfest sold-out every session over the weekend of brick-filled fun.

The model museum is one of the highlights of the stop on Lego Kidsfest. It is an incredible display of what Lego can build. Darth Vader, Batman, Lightning McQueen, Gandalf, R2DC, C3P0 and Boba Fett are just a few of the full-size models on display in this part of the festival. Throughout the over three acres of Lego related fun there are many full-size models.

As you can see, I managed to find Lego Cinderella in the Disney Princess display.

I spent my days hanging out in the Brick Battle Zone with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I think this is the most fun of all the Lego zones. The Brick Battle Zone is an area where kids take part in Lego related activities for prizes. Lego pizza relay races, Duplo bridge building contests and tower races were my jam for the weekend. It was a lot of fun, but Lego sure is hard on the hands. If you are taking in Lego Kidsfest on one of its tour stops make sure you keep an eye on this section of the festival so that your kids get to take part and take home some great prizes.

Other really cool parts of the festivals are the Lego Super Heros and Lego Disney Princesses areas; both of these zones have free photo booths!

Creation Nation is an interactive section of the festival where kids build inside a template of the Canadian flag to make a pretty cool version of Canada in Lego inside the flag.

Another thing you need to check out while at Lego Master Builder Academy. Sign up as soon as you arrive to insure you get a session with a Lego Master Builder. These sessions run about 40 minutes and teach you skills that the people who create the most impressive Lego works have developed. On top of learning the art of crafting the most magnificent Lego works you can enter a raffle for Lego MBA prizes. There are limited spots in this zone so make sure you get in on it quickly!

If you have not watched the Lego Movie yet I strongly recommend it, even if you are not a huge Lego fan. I watched it with a bunch of twenty-something guys stone sober and absolutely loved it. It is hilarious and features some of the funniest actors in Hollywood right now. My favourties Chris Pratt and Will Ferrell start in the movie along with the amazing Elizabeth Banks and Alison Brie. Also, Liam Neeson and Will Arnett are hilarious as Good Cop/Bad Cop and Batman/Bruce Wayne. The star-studded cast really delivers for adults and kids, see this movie now!

Another cool thing about the Lego Movie and the Calgary connection is that Canadian songstresses Tegan & Sara sing the theme song for the Lego Movie, “Everything Is Awesome” with the Lonely Island. I don’t think I have ever heard the word awesome used more over the span of a weekend than at Lego Kidsfest. It was a very appropriate descriptor for the weekend.

On the left is the HUGE pile of free play Lego for kids to go wild in. Seriously, kids went CRAZY over this massive pile of bricks. It was like a day at a multi-color bricks. I saw kids building and burying themselves in this huge mound of Lego. It is crazy to see how much kids love and respect the patterns and models, but still want the freedom of free play.

Get your tickets early if Lego Kidsfest is coming to your area, it is well worth your time!

Thought of the Day... Board Games and Babies

I have an embarrassing love for board games.

Seriously, I will take you on--- any game, anytime, anyplace.

Today I came to the realization (after many hours at Walmart over the weekend trying to prepare for spring cleaning) that the only reason I am even remotely interested in having a child is to have an extra person to play board games with.

It is the one thing that having a child has over having a dog. If you have read some of my blog posts you know how badly I want a dog.

Kevin and I play games all the time. He’s the King of NHL; I'm the Queen of Madden. He usually wins at rummy; I win at Monopoly Deal and crib. Generally it is a toss up who will win at Yahtzee.

Board game nights are one of my favourite things about visiting my parents in Nova Scotia. Growing up we only had two channels until I was in sixth grade; daytime living was watching movies and farming. Nighttime was my time to shine, family game nights. I started so young when I started playing cards that I would cry whenever I had to pass up a king; it was a “K for Katie”… I was fifteen. Just kidding.

Anyways, my sister can’t take how competitive I get while Robert (my brother) and Kevin team up on me. She usually is the Banker.

Over the weekend we tried to find more games to play for two. It is ridiculously hard to find games that really are good for two. Some are okay, but games like Monopoly are horrible with two people.  

There is my thought of the day.  Sorry, mum.

And to think, as Kevin and I walked across the street to the grocery store tonight a man eyed us up and invited us to a rave. I was still fully decked out in workout gear and freshly home from work. I guess pink shorts mean you want to party on a Tuesday night in the Kootenays.

Family Day Long Weekend in Grand Forks

After a weekend away back in the city, I was totally ready for a weekend full of fun right here in the Kootenays!

Grand Forks really delivered a perfect way to celebrate Family Day Long Weekend. This is my first February long weekend, in Nova Scotia we don’t have anything great like Family Day weekend to get us through on of the most depressing months of the year. I was so excited to celebrate my first Family Day weekend with like-minded folk in Grand Forks.

There was so much going on Saturday Afternoon on Market Ave. (that is where we were set up) and we got to be in the middle of all the action. 

Now, we were there bright and early around 9:30am to get setup and it was so cold. Unfortunately we set-up about three-feet left of where we should have set up in the sun, but it all warmed up. We broadcast live from inside Jogas and had breakfast while we waited for everything to kick off at 11am.

It was so nice that the cold did not keep people from the festivities, there were fire barrels throughout Market Ave. that were busy all morning keeping people warm. The Grand Forks Border Bruins hosted an outdoor hockey game, even though they had a huge game that night. Christina Lake Golf was there as well helping people tee off on Market Ave. with some winter golf (it was so cool and busy ALL day).  And, the Fire Department put on demonstrations and eventually joined in the hockey game with the kids.

And, there was a free movie at the GEM and bowling at Sunshine Lanes!

Border Bruins outdoor hockey game.

We had great draws going on at our tent and we were giving away (surprisingly popular) bubble wands.

It was so nice to see everyone; I love every trip I get to make to Grand Forks. I love listeners coming up to me and knowing who I am (and even when they don’t they usually ask which one I am, Kate or Jenny).  That doesn’t really happen anywhere else, so it is pretty cool when it does.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who came out, it was so nice to spend the day with you and I hope we made your Family Day Weekend memorable. Grand Forks really knocked it out of the park with their Family Day celebrations. The coolest part of it all was that it continued on into Sunday and Monday, the full weekend! You can checkout more events for the last day of Family Day Weekend tomorrow, all the details are here on the poster.

PS: If you haven’t skied at Phoenix Mountain you should takein the free skiing tomorrow! Here is my blog about my Phoenix Mountainadventures a couple weeks ago.

Time for another big THANK YOU, this time it is to all the sponsors who made this great event happen:

Grand Forks Fire Department

Area D Director - Roly Russel

Area C Director - Grace McGregor

Community Futures Boundary

Boundary Country Regional Chamber of Commerce

Pines Bible Camp

Border Bruins

Phoenix Mountain

Christina lake Golf Club

Roxul

Success by Six

Grand Forks Rotary

Interfor

Sunshine Lanes

Bron and Sons

Buy Low Foods

Thistle Pot Gifts

Value Drug Mart

Grand Forks Home Hardware

Rumours

More thanks to Jogas and the Wooden Spoon for donating gift certificates for us to give away at the our tent!

One last thing, I learned a very important lesson on Saturday. Whenever the Grand Forks Rotary is out with their kettle corn buying one bag is not enough, it is amazing! We bought one bag and had no desire (whatsoever) to share it, next time we will stock up.