Christmas at Canada Place: A Holiday Tradition

Okay, yes. I work at Canada Place. I may be a WEE bit biased, but I wanted to share with you this awesome Christmas activity in Vancouver, Christmas at Canada Place, presented by Port Metro Vancouver. It brings together two of the most important factors when searching for a holiday experience for your kids - it's undercover/inside and it's FREE.

For the past few years Canada Place has been restricted for space due to construction, Olympics prep, etc during the Christmas season. This year the entire experience will take place down in the cruise ship terminal. Some of it is in the covered outdoor area, some is inside the actual terminal. The theme is "Christmas in Canada."

This year's activities include:

• Live performances (click link for schedule)
• Covered synthetic skating rink "under the Northern Lights," sponsored by Northwest Territories
• Curling
• Mini holiday train, sponsored by CN
• Avenue of Christmas Trees
• Santa (weekends only)
• Food trucks - BeaverTails, Sugar Shack and Poutine, anyone?
• Mrs Claus' Cafe - hot cocoa and coffee
• Santa's Workshop craft area
• Storytelling
• Canadiana photo booth

And who remembers the Woodward's Windows? I remember my parents taking me downtown to wander past the amazing characters and animatronic displays. When Woodward's closed down, Canada Place purchased the windows and they've been part of the Christmas at Canada Place experience ever since.

Check out the full performance schedule, but there are some great performers coming in. Community choirs, carolers, kids' performers.  Can you say Will Stroet and Bobs & Lolo?

Christmas at Canada Place runs December 1-31, closed on Christmas Day. Hours vary by week, so visit the website for the full schedule.

As I said, I work there. But as a parent of a four and six year old, I am pretty confident we've made the experience worth the trip. Come on down and celebrate the season!

Review: "Skinny" Wines

Whether it be celebrating your holiday of choice or just spending a relaxing evening, it's nice to be able to enjoy a glass of wine. But what will you give up to make up for the calories? The roasted potatoes? The scoop of ice cream?

I hate the concept of having to "give up" foods you love. My whole journey has been about balance, and a lifestyle change that restricted my choices too much wasn't going to work for me. If it means an extra long run or workout on a day I knew we were having a big meal, so be it. 

Well, alcohol companies are getting smart. People are getting healthier and reducing their consumption to avoid drinking their calories, so what  do you do? Make products with fewer calories! You've likely seen the commercials for the 64 calorie beer, but now the shelves are starting to stock low calorie wine! 

I've found two so far, Skinny Girl by Bethenny Frankel and Skinny Grape. Skinny Grape gives you marginally more wine for your 80 calories at 142ml (versus 125ml for Skinny Girl). It's not a massive reduction in calories compared to a standard wine, but you could save yourself about 100 cals per glass, depending on the size of the glass. 

Here are the labels and nutritional info:

And the wine is not bad! I've had more expensive, "fancier" wines that have tasted worse. Both offer a decent taste and are completely drinkable. 

On the Skinny Girl website they list a whole whack of additional varietals which I have yet to see in stores, but you better believe I will be hunting down that Prosecco for Christmas morning! 

As they say, drink responsibly. And enjoy!

I Woke Up And It Was November

How did that happen?! Where has this year gone?

I was telling someone the other day that I was a blogger but that my page was fairly out of date. Um...that was an understatement. I've been posting regularly on my FMW Facebook page, but haven't been able to find the time to sit down and compose a post.

Why, you might ask?

Since my last post oh-so-many months ago, here's what has happened:

• Three more half marathons - BMO Vancouver, Scotiabank Vancouver, and The Biggest Loser half in Seattle.
• I got a NEW JOB! I now work for Port Metro Vancouver and Canada Place. My team is responsible for producing Canada Day at Canada Place, the second biggest Canada Day celebrations in the country. We also manage all the community relations, community investment, corporate communications and educational programs. Busy, but awesome. 
• Painted walls in our living room and bedroom.
• I've traveled to Kelowna, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and just got back last night from Orlando. 
• I turned 38. 
• We're currently working on Christmas at Canada Place.
• Most recently I started Shaun T's Focus T25 workouts, but it's challenging to fit them in with my running schedule. Still working on that. 

And all that is on top of spending time with Mr. Awesome and the kidlets with their own increasingly busy schedules. And my friends. And the house, the garden...

Blog? What blog? 

I really do miss it. I love having a place to create, to share, to vent. It's all about what fits, and I will just have to make it fit. Working out is making time for me, and so is blogging. It's that 30 minutes I get to spend just in my own head. 

Time's up. Back to the laundry.