The Robson Square ice rink is hosting 12 Days of Christmas fun, festivities, and free entertainment starting December 12th.

Photo credit: BC Gov Photos – Submitted to the Miss604 Flickr Pool

Admission to the Robson Square ice rink is free. For rentals, skates are $4.00, ice cleats are $2.00. Helmets are included with skate rental.

The The Robson Square ice rink will remain open until the end of February, 2016. Tag your photos with #robsonsquare on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to share the fun. Robson Square is located at 800 Robson Street between Robson and Georgia, Howe and Hornby.

The fireplace is roaring, you’re snuggled up with a cup of hot chocolate, your favourite holiday movie is on TV, and without even slipping out of your blanket cocoon on the couch you have done all of the grocery shopping for your family, for the whole week. This is a blissful reality for many Vancouverites that have discovered Save-On-Foods’ online ordering system, for delivery and pick-up orders.

Save-On-Foods Grocery Pick-Up and Delivery

I recently spent the afternoon with Save-On-Foods’ personal shopping team at the Grandview store in Vancouver, fulfilling orders with team leader Jay Sahota. His squad is on the receiving end of all regional online grocery orders and with their trusty inventory guns, crates, and carts, they set out through the store several times a day to do your shopping for you.

Snaking up and down aisles with online orders pre-loaded onto the store’s mobile devices that track orders and inventory locations, these shoppers pick up everything in your order. Green bananas, ripe tomatoes, thick-sliced deli meats, low sodium soup, however custom your order or whatever special instructions you leave online, they will make sure your groceries are delivered just as you ordered them.

Personal shoppers in 10 participating Save-On-Foods locations in BC use the inventory guns, which map out their route in the store to ensure an efficient shopping time and also come loaded with your specific order. Any item they pick up and scan is either checked off the list or it will make a sound letting them know they have picked up the wrong item.

In the event that items are out of stock or they don’t have exactly what you selected, and you have indicated that they store may make subs for you, the personal shopper will complete the order for you in the most accurate way possible. If you indicated that you would like 1-litre ketchup but it’s out of stock, the personal shopper will sub for 2x 500ml and adjust the price accordingly.

“I like to remind my team that they should feel as though they are shopping for their own families.” Jay told me, asserting that trust is key with online customers. “It’s all about instilling trust to make sure the customer’s time isn’t wasted and that they get the very best quality out of this experience.”

How The Process Works

1. You go online and create an account; you choose your items (including any special product instructions), with a minimum order of $40.
2. The Save-On-Foods team shops for you, bagging up your groceries, securely storing them, and preparing your receipt. Items are stored in three spaces to ensure freshness: The eComm area for “ambient” items, a fridge in the back of the store, or a walk-in freezer. The delivery vans also have these three compartmentalized areas inside of them for your delivery.
3. After work or school, you can keep the kids in the car while you pull up to the pick-up lane in the parking lot. Buzz the team through a speaker system and they will bring your cart full of groceries right to your vehicle and load them up for you.
4. If you selected delivery, you’ll get your groceries direct to your front door during your selected delivery window time.

Jay recalled a conversation just last week when an in-store shopper discovered the service the personal shoppers offer. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are you guys doing?” said a gentleman who was just starting to fill a basket with groceries in the produce department. Jay replied, explaining that he was fulfilling orders made online for pick-up and delivery service customers. “So what am I here doing my own shopping like a schmuck?!” The man asked Jay if he could just leave his basket with him, which he did, and he promptly returned home to watch the rest of the football game. From the comfort of his couch he then placed an order that afternoon to have it delivered.

Save-On-Foods has turned the average 1-hour shopping trip into a 7-minute online experience and the service is definitely picking up steam. Jay and his team alone have prepared hundreds of orders a week following the instructions of each individual customer.

The team of 16 personal shoppers at the Grandview Save-On-Foods is extremely efficient, and what took Jay and me 1 hour to complete during my visit (I asked a lot of questions, took a lot of photos), he could have fulfilled on his own in 10 minutes and started on another 10 orders.

Delivery windows are between 8:00am and 2:00pm, and 4:00pm to 10:00pm. If you place your order online before 10:00pm, you can get next-day delivery. For same day pick–up, order by 12:00pm and pick-up between 4:00pm and 8:00pm.

Keep your slippers on, watch the end of the big game, and save time this holiday season by letting Save-On-Foods, Jay, and his team do your shopping for you. Sign up now and discover over $25,000 in prizes to be won, including 20 $500 Save-On-Foods gift cards, free grocery delivery for one year, and daily instant prizes of up to 5,000 More Rewards points.

The Shark Club is back! A staple of the pre-game/post-game scene in Vancouver has re-opened its doors and it’s bigger than ever. The original Shark Club opened at 180 West Georgia Street in 1993, and after an 18-month rebuilding, a new team of designers, chefs, bartenders and staff has brought the bar up to a new level.

The refreshed Shark Club in Downtown Vancouver

The 9,250 square-foot space has hit the big leagues with an open, loft-style concept featuring a vintage sports theme, wrap-around score tickers and central, 66-foot-long bar clad in industrial steel. Two giant 12-foot-by-seven-foot media walls offer everyone VIP, front-row seats to all the action, with an additional 60 oversized, flat-screen TVs catching every play throughout the multi-functional room. After the game, the lounge turns into an overtime dance floor with beats thrown down from the fully operational scissor-lift DJ booth.

The revamped menu from Chef Brandon Thordarson combines classic snack and fan favourites, with a modern twist that reflects the updated space. Whether you’re looking for decadent Dirty Chips (A.K.A. blue-cheese potato chip nachos with bacon) or a kale & quinoa salad, or staples like oven-roasted chicken wings, burgers, sandwiches, pastas, salads and top sirloin steaks.

As for the bar, that’s where an all-star team of Vancouver’s top mixologists has created a custom cocktail lineup to compliment of 20 revolving taps of local, craft, and big-name beer.

The Canadian Tuxedo, by Gez McAlpine (The Keefer Bar) for The Shark Club

Win a Shark Club Gift Card

If you would like to check out the all-new, fan-favourite Shark Club, I have a $100 gift card to give away. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

The Shark Club is open Sunday to Thursday from 11:30am to 1:00am; and Friday & Saturday: 11:30am to 2:00am. Follow along on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news, events, and offerings.

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 6:00pm on Sunday, December 13, 2015. Must be 19+. Please enjoy responsibly.

Update The winner is bjh!

You really can’t go wrong with a classic date night that consists of a dinner-and-show, and when the local restaurant community supports theatregoers, it’s just that much better. I recently had two date nights ahead of two Arts Club holiday shows, and each was just lovely.

It’s a Wonderful Life on Granville Island

I was going to be away for my sister’s birthday this year so I invited her to It’s a Wonderful Life at the Arts Club’s Granville Island stage. I arrived at 5:30, when the box office opened, to pick up our tickets then I walked over to the Edible Canada bistro where I had made pre-show reservations. At the table, I was handed menus including a “Theatre Express Menu“.

The cast of It’s a Wonderful Life. Photo by David Cooper.

This prix-fixe ($35), three course offering was crafted specifically for theatregoers. “Designed to take you from the first bite to the box office,” my sister and I indulged and had plenty of time to enjoy our selections: Vancouver Farmer’s Salad, Ling Cod, and Maple Bread Pudding. We could have also selected the Hazelmere organic soup, the butternut squash risotto or bison bourguignon, and the artisinal cheese plate.

Paired with a couple glasses of bubbly to celebrate her upcoming birthday, we finished our meals with plenty of time left over to walk to the theatre and pre-order our intermission drinks.

I haven’t seen the Arts Club’s It’s a Wonderful Life in several years and I was very impressed by the production quality. I loved that clips from the old black and white movie by Frank Capra ran on a screen at the back of the stage, even supplying opening credits for the players. It’s a story I have seen and heard a dozen times but I absorbed much more of the history of the characters this time around.

Bob Frazer is a compelling George Bailey, Jennifer Lines is lovely as Mary Bailey, and Kyle Jesperson deserves recognition for playing a handful of characters throughout the story. I really enjoyed Irene Karas as Tilly as well, a person that never really stood out to me before.

It’s a Wonderful Life is not a simple “Christmas” production, but it evokes joy through the power of its characters and the delight of their undying passion for all they believe in.

A Christmas Story: The Musical at The Stanley

I can’t get John to join me for many musical productions but when I told him that a film that “defined most of his childhood” was adapted into a Broadway production, he was definitely curious. We met up with friends for a double date night on South Granville ahead of A Christmas Story: The Musical at The Stanley Theatre. Again, we stopped in at the box office to pick up our tickets before walking over to Luke’s for a pre-show meal.

The cast of A Christmas Story: The Musical. Photo by David Cooper.

Luke’s Corner Bar & Kitchen offers 15% off food for those going to Arts Club shows that night and we took advantage of the deal. Our meals were delivered promptly and with some time remaining before we had to be in our seats, we made one more stop before the show.

The friends we were with were craving a good (great) cocktail and I said it would be hard to beat West, which was just down the street from where we were. We sidled up to the bar and perused their booklets filled with mixology masterpieces. My friend swivelled her barstool and saluted me with her cocktail glass and said: “This is the best drink I have had in a very long time.” Sipping every last drop, we grabbed our coats from the check room and headed for the marquee of the Stanley. Note: West also offers an early, prix-fixe menu for the theatre crowd.

Once again the production quality was impeccable, with set design, lighting, and visual effects that enhanced the stage version of a film we all know so well. We were so curious to see how it would be adapted for the stage and while it wasn’t 100% true to the original story, it was definitely an entertaining production.

You get to delve deep into the mind of the father character (Mr Parker), and even the teacher (Ms Shields). We laughed out loud, seeing scenes come to life in a vibrant way, through song and dance, and adored the children who portrayed Ralphie, Randy, Schwartz, Flick, and their fellow students.

If you love A Christmas Story the movie, which you’ll probably see on television about 20 times this season, treat yourself (and your friends, family) by enjoying this new adaptation on stage at the Stanley. It’s not the full movie (for example the Little Orphan Annie timeline is completely omitted) but what it took out it added with hilarious dance numbers and songs. “You’ll shoot your eye out!”.

This season, get in the holiday spirit by exploring a neighbourhood through its restaurants and theatres, enjoying talented local performers presenting classic tales in a new and exciting way.

A Christmas Story: The Musical is playing until December 27th and It’s a Wonderful Life is on until December 26th. Follow the Arts Club on Facebook and Twitter to learn more.

Onyx Aesthetics Studio was just 10 days old when I visited to receive my first-ever CND Shellac Manicure complete with nail art. The new space on Abbott Street in Gastown was warm and welcoming, with a narrow entrance and space that opens up in the back where armchairs welcome pedicure recipients with pillows that say: “This is my happy place.”

“Fashion has two purposes: comfort and love. Beauty comes when fashion succeeds.”
~ Coco Chanel

I sat down facing a wall covered in quotes and inspirational art to get my new nails from a CND education ambassador, who knows the Shellac brand inside and out.

I was handed a hardcover book made by Onyx, printed with glossy images of the nail are they have done and can do for clients. Combined with over 100 options of Vinylux weekly polishes and Shellac Art Vandal spring collections, I was at a loss and couldn’t decide on what to get on my fingers before leaving on vacation this winter. I literally put myself into their hands and went with the flow.

I chose blue from the Art Vandal collection and topped that with sparkly foil accents. To see how best I could spread my look across two seasons I decided it was a Christmas gift-wrapped look.

Things I learned about Shellac:

• Shellac is a brand name by CND, and not actually a gel polish.
• 101 polishes currently available in CND Vinylux (108 in January, once the new Art Vandal collection is available) and 93 shades of CND Shellac (99 in January once the new Art Vandal collection is available).
• It is non-damaging and fully removable, but long lasting (I’m going on 12 days with mine now and it’s still impeccable).
• Shellac is the only non-damaging fully-removable and long-lasting polish requiring no soaking, roughing, or filing of the natural nail.
• It contains no formaldehyde, toluene, or DBP.
• You can easily remove in-salon or at home with CND’s removal kit called “Offly Fast“, available at Onyx.

The entire process was very quick – unbelievably quick – and from the time I entered Onyx, got my Shellac, had a hand massage, talked to the owner, took pictures, and returned to my bus stop, I still had time on my original fare ticket to get home.

Win a CND Shellac Manicure

If you would like to try a CND Shellac Manicure for yourself at Onyx Aesthetics Studio, I have two to give away – for you and a friend! Here’s how you can enter to win this experience:

• Leave a comment naming your favourite nail colour or style (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Follow Onyx Aesthetics Studio on Facebook and Instagram for inspiration and follow CND on Twitter for more information about the Art Vandal product line, their full Shellac offerings, and more.

I will draw one contest winner at 9:00am on Wednesday, December 9, 2015. The winner’s CND Shellac Manicure will be at Onyx Aesthetics Studio.

Update The winner is Dana!