Sunday, July 25, 2010

Edmonton Fantastic #3 - Festival City

Edmonton has the well earned title of "Festival City" in the summertime. From Freewill Shakespeare in the Park, the Honda Edmonton Indy, Taste of Edmonton and Capital Ex to HeritageFest, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival and the Edmonton Fringe Festival, residents of Edmonton are spoiled for choice of activities all summer long. In fact, sometimes there's TOO much choice (I'm just saying....)!

This weekend I took in Freewill Shakespeare in the Park with my friend Sarah who happens to be on the board of directors. I studied Shakespeare for a semester in uni and I've seen his plays brought to life in many different ways and venues but watching Much Ado About Nothing in Hawrelak Park yesterday was probably my favourite. (Many thanks Sarah for the ticket and for the gorgeous afternoon of Shakespeare).





After the performance in the park I drove to Fort Saskatchewan to my friends Melanie and Gerald's for a BBQ with their friends Chris and Peter. On my drive north to Ft. Saskatchewan bad weather was building and by the time I arrived at Mel and Gerald's I was trapped in my car for about 15 minutes while it poured and hailed on me.





Once the weather cleared we were able to enjoy some great company, fantastic weather and tasty eats on on the back patio. This week I'll be heading down to Taste of Edmonton, so look for photos from that too.




Sunday, July 18, 2010

The best weekends are these

The best weekends are the ones that are loosely planned but always involve good friends. This weekend I had some great friends in Edmonton from Saskatoon to do a bit of shopping but also to do a whole lot of visiting.

These are the moments I enjoy the most, hanging out around a firepit at night. Thanks Blythe, Dale and little man for the visit!



Saturday, July 17, 2010

Some pretty things

With all of the photos I've been taking for specific events I'm always left with a bunch that are pretty but don't quite fit anywhere. So here they are - in no particular order - but mostly dealing with the gorgeous Saskatchewan prairie near my family's home.





Sunday, July 11, 2010

The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth

This is what it has been billed as for the past 98 years and I'm inclined to agree with them. After spending a Thursday chatting with up and coming PR students at Mount Royal University, I spent the rest of Friday, Saturday and Sunday enjoying the kick off to the 2010 Calgary Stampede.

This annual event has a rodeo, chuckwagon races, country music performers, agricultural shows, handicraft displays, a carnival/midway and no end of other sights, sounds, smells and deep fried foods to enjoy for the 10 days that it is on each July.

I couldn't resist spending some time rediscovering my cowgirl side as my last Stampede was 2007 as I was planning my trip to Australia. I brushed the dust off my cowboy boots and my straw hat and hit the town with my fantastic friends Courtney, Paisley, Denise, Jason and Sean.







2010 didn't disappoint as we hit the local hot spots by day and night, crashed a few pancake breakfasts, wandered the Stampede grounds, took in the spectacular kick-off parade and enjoyed the fireworks at night.


As promised I've been playing with my new camera and have some video of the parade to share as well as photos of all the fun.

Back to School

In 2007 I graduated from Mount Royal College with a Bachelor of Applied Communications degree in public relations. Since 2007 I have plied my trade for non-profits in Calgary, agencies in Australia and corporate/governmental in Edmonton.

Most days I feel like I have so much still to learn about public relations and the growing industry of communications. But for one moment this past Thursday I was invited back to Mount Royal University (as it's known now), to share with the International PR students my experiences as an English teacher in Taiwan and South Korea from 2000-2004.

Stepping foot back on campus for the first time in 3 years brought back a lot of warm and fuzzy memories and as much as things have remained the same, there is a lot of growth and change on campus as the college fills to fit the status of the university it has become.

Many thanks to Jim Wood for inviting me to speak to the 2010 senior class and for making me feel like I am still connected.









Monday, July 5, 2010

Being Canadian - on Canada Day

Canada Day 2010 offered up an extra long weekend, thanks to furlough days at the University. With Thursday through Sunday off work I took the opportunity to go home to Saskatchewan to hang out with my family for the Canada Day long weekend.

The weather was gorgeous, the yard at my folks place beckoned and they were the perfect company all weekend long. We didn't get up to much but it still felt like it was quality time well spent on the farm. And what could be more quintessentially Canadian than watching some good old football. The Saskatchewan Roughriders kicked off the CFL season with a barn-burner of a game finally defeating their Grey Cup rivals the Montreal Alouettes. I thought my heart might stop a few times watching that game.





My digital camera finally died the weekend that I was in Medicine Hat ~ the poor thing didn't owe me anything; I had purchased it in 2004 from TechnoMart in Itaewon, South Korea. It had traveled the world with me chronicling my adventures and it was high time to update it with a new version. The camera I've replaced it with can do just about anything. As I experiment with my new toy you'll be getting video and photos from me.

Here are just a few photos of my long weekend at home. I hope everyone had a fantastic Canada Day.