Never Eat Soggy Waffles

A couple years ago, a friend of mine was advertising how cool a specific Salvation Army Thrift Store in Minneapolis was. He told me it was on 4th Street. Two girlfriends and I drive downtown Minneapolis and find the big Salvation Army by the Target Center. We park. We get out. Get haggled, ridiculed, and soon realize that, as we're walking toward the Salvation Army, that there is a very line of homeless looking folk. The closer we're getting to the building, the more we're feeling that this is not the right place to be...which of course it wasn't. This is a homeless shelter/soup kitchen. There is no thrift store here. Ooops. Later, I find out the Salvation Army Thrift Store was on 4th Street NE.

Today I was checking out a couple blogs on Vancouver and found one telling me to go to the Gastown District and look for the second hand/vintage store called Deluxe Junk. The address is 310 Cordova. I look it up on Google Maps and it tells me to go a little past China Town. Well awesome, cause I wanted to go to China Town today as well! The closer I get to my address the sketchier Vancouver becomes. Pretty soon I'm to the intersection of where this store should be (one block past the jail) and I see a line of homeless looking people covering the whole block. I keep looking. Where 310 should be, there's nothing. There's some kind of a shelter here, and I'm getting harassed, so I'm going to give up looking for this place. I go to China Town and have lunch and walk back towards the hotel. I walk through Gastown again, cause it's a cute little cobblestoned street area. I go into Woo Vintage which was so cute and chic! The worker and I gabbed about all the Halloween sluts roaming the streets in their "sexy cop/nurse/maid/etc" outfits and I looked at their amazing selection. Turning the corner, I run straight into Deluxe Junk. 310 Cordova. West.

One of these days I'm going to learn to get directions as well as the addresses....

Vancouver's Art Scene

Easy to Find : My first night in Vancouver happened to be a Tuesday. I happened to be walking by the Vancouver Art Gallery, which stays open late on Tuesdays. Why not go in?! It is a beautiful building and had some pretty interesting exhibits. For the most part, the art was Canadian and historical. There were a lot of landscape paintings that I would classify as less than masterpieces. There also was an exhibit featuring one of the country's most loved artists: Emily Carr. While looking at her work my first thought was how the heck did she get in a gallery?? (please don't banish me, Canada.) Her subject matter is very native Canadian and her style is pushing landscape and totem polls to almost a cartoon style. Upon researching more about Carr, I have learned more why her style and subject matter are this way and while her art still doesn't interest me, I can see the love her country has for her. Another Canadian artist heavily represented was Scott McFarland. He's a pretty good photographer, and based on the sheer amount of works he had, there were bound to be at least a few that I liked, which there were. Something that I've never seen before and thought was interesting is that there was a room with two small spotlights focused on specific parts of very dark photographs that had obviously been augmented to have one central light source:

So the room is very dark and the light part of the photograph REALLY pops. I'm not sure that I like this much digitalization of photographs, but this concept of bringing the dark room into the gallery is quite interesting.

An exhibit at the museum that was definitely eye catching was their contemporary exhibit: "Is only the mind allowed to wander." The works were inspired by the figure in some way and in most cases resembled portions of the figure. One piece I liked in particular was Patrick Traer's "Baby Blue Balls" and yes, it kind of does look like what it sounds like...It was HUGE and the texture was so soft and inviting...quite the parallel it draws.

Underground : I happened upon the coolest art gallery I've ever seen. Located in a half empty mall type building is Ayden Gallery. When I walked through, there were paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc on the walls, in the gallery. There were some clothing items and turntables where a dj was setting up. Pretty regular for any hip trendy gallery of the day. As I walked around I noticed 4 or 5 artists working on pieces. It was pretty fabulous to walk around the gallery, looking at these finished pieces, but also to watch the artists working. The gallery seems pretty young and the exhibit definitely was chosen based on trends as it was "Robots vs Monsters." This theme of course led for some pretty funky interesting art. Please check out the website to see examples, the artists are very talented. I realized later as people started coming in, the artists finished their pieces, and the music started to pump, that it was the actual night of the show opening.

Those artists there weren't just part of a performance element, but were actually cramming before the opening. (See, not only college students are still painting the walls on the day of their opening...lol.) It made me think that this is an idea I could really get behind...interactive galleries. Any takers?

Baby Beluga in the deep blue ...tank

The Vancouver Aquarium is without a doubt the most amazing aquarium I've ever been to. It features arctic sea creatures: Pacific White Sided Dolphin, Beluga Whales, Sea Otters, Sea Lions, etc. But also it has a whole tropics section including an alligator and lots of frogs. And an open air caged area with exotic birds and even a sloth hanging from the walls. If he was lower I could've touched him! There were plenty of interactive exhibits as well as shows/talks led by the staff.

The otters were by far my favorite. I learned that they have the densest coats of all animals, and they have more hair in one inch on their bodies than humans have on their whole body. They store food in the folds of their armpits and eat at least their entire body weight once per day because they have no blubber and need to keep warm. Plus they're freaking adorable. See for yourself:

The dolphin show/training session was very impressive. The trainers specified that the dolphins are trained with positive reinforcement only and are free to leave training class whenever they wish. But, as with all the animals, they were rescued from dangerous situations, and cannot live in the wild because of impairments (which is awesome that they aren't yanking these guys out of their natural habitats just for zoo purposes), the trainers find they live longer and happier with challenges given to them. So the otters are given tubes and packages to open with food inside and the dolphins and whales are taught tricks. Pretty darn cool.

The Beluga Whales were so wonderful to watch. One of the females had just had a baby, and was put in a separate tank so they could bond. I loved watching the mom and baby swim around together! The baby would follow the mom, touching her underside with her head every few feet or so. The mom would circle around, bump the baby lovingly, and then twist away from her, beckoning her to follow. It just struck me how loving and gentle these huge animals are. Whoever says that animals are just animals...lesser beings...are full of it. It was wonderful to watch this little (huge) family!

On the inside there were a lot of interesting fish. There was a fish I have never heard of called the hagfish that releases a slime when it is in danger that makes it too slippery to catch. It also has no jaw but is a predator. Want to know how that works? It eats its prey from the inside out. And the gross thing is that scientists are looking into it being a food source as we're depleting our oceans. There were spindly sea snakes in a tank with 3 little orange fish. It was only a matter of time before the fish would be eaten. It was so sad watching the scared little fish move around every time a snake would come near. I was just thinking how he must be singing "just keep swimming" in a trembling fish voice... These events aside, I think the most disturbing thing at the aquarium was that they had tuna sandwiches on the menu at the cafe...

Good family fun! : )

Granville (Island and South)

Turn right out of hotel. Head up Hornby Street for approximately 2 miles. Walk until you're at the water's edge and you'll find a rainbow colored little boat called the "Aquabus." Pay 5CAD (so yes, stop at the cash machine on your way) for a round trip ticket across the narrow water to Granville Island.

Once landed on Granville Island (which really isn't an island...but more like a man made peninsula, but who's keeping track anyway?) there are plenty of things to do. It's like a Pike's Place market divided by 20. Small and intimate but still full of stuff for all the senses.

The real draw for me at Granville Island were all the artist studios and galleries. The Emily Carr University of Art and Design is a small art college on the island. Emily Carr is one of BC's most famous artists. The school seems to be pretty cutting edge and the student work on exhibit was really great. I was definitely impressed. Back on the streets/galleries, there were glass blowers, bronze and metal workers, jewelry makers, weavers, and basically anything that can be sold. The artists have realized how to merchandise their product, and as Granville Island draws many tourists, it's a really smart move. I was told that it is federal subsidized housing for artists (much like the Tilsner Building in St Paul, MN) which is pretty cool that their shops are located right there.

I had a wonderful lentil soup at Bridges, a very yellow building, and continued walking "off the island" into South Granville. If Granville Island is the home of the hippie artists, South Granville is where their rich parents live. There are some really neat galleries and also some pretty fancy antique shops and art dealers. I always feel so awkward going into art dealers "galleries." For the most part, there is not much quality present, and if the odd Chagall, Picasso, or Matisse is present, its the leftovers that the museums don't even want. However the employees always make a point to judge me as someone not sophisticated enough to drop 100 grand on a painting. Well, they're right in a way. If there's something I like, I'll most likely make a mental note to paint something similar some day. There were also some great little shops and cafes thrown into this eclectic yet expensive neighborhood. It seemed like the ideal place to exhibit...there are enough galleries that I can't imagine it would be too hard to get some space, and I definitely wasn't the only person spending my Saturday gallery hopping, so sales potential is there for sure.

After hours and hours and hours of walking, my feet HURT. I had finally seen everything in Granville Island and seen all the galleries that stood out to me in South Granville, so I headed back to downtown. What a hike! Good thing it was a rare sunshiney day in Vancouver!

Hello Vancouver!

I didn't know what to expect except that I expected to love it.  And I do. 

I got in after a very very long miserable day (including me getting so motion sick I had to have the taxi driver pull over on the side of the highway...and then getting obnoxiously hit on repeatedly by a TSA agent...and then 8 hours of travel...and then getting hit on by the taxi driver who kept calling me 'pretty lady' in his middle eastern accent) and checked in to the fanciest hotel I've ever stayed in.  A place where they don't even give you the option of helping you with your luggage.  A place where the morning room service attendant calls you 'madam' without any connotation that you are old or brothel-y.  A place where I can look out my window and see the city.  The picture above is the view from the hotel on the opposite side of my room.  Pretty gorgeous.  It's been like this every day and I couldn't be happier.  I never tire of telling my fellow colleagues who complain about it how energized this weather makes me!  

I have been working every day until at least 5, running to my room, changing clothes and hitting the town.  So far, I've been walking 2-4 miles a day.  It feels nice to just have things to see and I never will run out of streets to plod.  The unfortunate thing is how early the sun is setting, and with Vancouver being a large and diverse city, there are definitely places you don't necessarily want to be walking in after dark alone (like the neighborhood I found myself in tonight at 9 pm...ooops).  It is because of this perpetual sunset that I don't have many wonderful pictures yet.  Tomorrow I am walking to Granville Island, home of the artsy fartsy folk and will certainly have more images then.  

What I know about the city so far is that it is similar to Europe.  But with the thousands of residential high rises (all topped with trees which I think is the most amazing thing ever) integrated with the old architecture and moody landscape, it's a hybrid I have not yet seen.  The people walk slow but are very thin.  The food/drink selection is limited only by the number of cultures represented in Vancouver...which means they have everything.  And not just knock off everything...good everything.  Everyone I've met at work has been so nice and wonderful.  I think Canada is a good place to be, and I can't wait to see more!

The Postcard Inn on the Beach, St Pete Beach FL

Postcard Inn on the Beach is a brand new renovated property in St Pete Beach, Fl.  You would never know that this used to be a run down Travelodge.  The design team took a vintage surf motif and ran with it.  The rooms were transformed from moldy carpet and floral bedspreads to 70s inspired funky luxury.  The inner courtyard is beautifully landscaped, including many casual sitting areas among the foliage.  The bar on the beach is a famous spot for the locals, but also makes for a great evening of people watching for visitors.  Wildwood BBQ is the NYC restaurant transposed in St Pete and it's pretty damn good!  The original BBQ sauce was really fabulous with the pulled pork.  All in all, if you're looking for a unique vacation spot with a warm staff, Postcard Inn is a good place to look!  

My last night in St Pete, I went to Jimmy B's Beach Bar nextdoor and really enjoyed the less than mediocre cover band.  It was annoying at first, but then after the obvious 40 year old burnout rocker songs were played, they went into even worse covers of that awful song "she was born to do the wild thing" and Jump Around.  The crowd there was loving on the band, dancing around and acting all Girls Gone Wild.  I must say it was a very appropriate send off.  I met some really awesome people there and definitely left with a much better impression than my first!  

Blasius Erlinger

First, click here, then look at the photo on the far left for "latest work." Then look around at all the other photographs.  That first photo takes my breath away.  The composition, the pose!  Everything is to die for.  I had the pleasure of informally meeting the talented Blasius Erlinger in St Pete Beach, Florida.  The Postcard Inn used to be a dingy Travelodge.  In a matter of months, it has been transformed into a hip beautiful property.  Blasius was hired by Travel & Leisure to capture this new fabulous getaway.  It was so interesting to watch him at work.  His twin 15 year old 6 foot + daughters modeled the lobby furniture, surfboards, and rooms.  He ran around capturing the new architectural angles and atmosphere alike.  Usually a man of this caliber would be cold and arrogant.  Blasius was so kind and humble.  He was very flattered that we had even looked at his website, let alone complimented his work.  

It's very rare to find talent paired with kindness and humility.  He definitely deserves a shout out!