Get away for one night of magic on stage combined with stay at an award-winning boutique hotel in the heart of Yaletown! Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the the smash hit Broadway musical, is coming to Vancouver in February and I’ve partnered with the show and the world renown OPUS Hotel to offer you the chance to win a fabulous date night in the city.

Broadway Across Canada presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Based on the Academy Award-winning animated feature film, this eye-popping spectacle has won the hearts of over 35 million people worldwide. This classic musical love story is filled with unforgettable characters, lavish sets and costumes, and dazzling production numbers including “Be Our Guest” and the beloved title song.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast features the Academy Award®-winning score with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by the late Howard Ashman, with additional songs composed by Alan Menken and lyrics by Tim Rice. The book is written by Linda Woolverton. Based on the 1991 Academy Award®-winning animated feature film and celebrating 20 years since its Broadway premiere in 1994, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has become an international sensation that has been seen by over 35 million people worldwide in 22 countries, and has been translated into 9 different languages.

Broadway Across Canada presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre from February 3rd until February 8th, 2015. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster or by phone 1-855-985-5000.

OPUS Hotel in Yaletown

Uniquely stylish and always fresh, OPUS Vancouver is showcased by vibrant design, sophisticated style, and intuitive service bringing contemporary innovation to life. Recognized in the 2014 Forbes Travel Guide as Vancouver’s only four-star boutique hotel, OPUS remains a leader in redefining the boutique hotel experience, located in the heart of Vancouver’s see-and-be-seen neighbourhood, Yaletown.

Located in OPUS Vancouver is the award-winning Northern Italian restaurant, La Pentola and the recently revamped OPUS Bar: an effortlessly cool and chic cocktail destination re-imagined by acclaimed Vancouver interior designer Robert Bailey in collaboration with design consultant Craig Stanghetta. Echoing his colourful revamp of OPUS Hotel’s rooms, Bailey has created a space full of personality and warmth: hip coffee hang-out by day, complete with cozy fireplace and serpentine style royal blue banquettes, OPUS Bar transforms into a sexy and sophisticated space at night.

From January 16th through February 1st, OPUS Hotel is offering a Dine and Stay package as a part of Dine Out Vancouver, including overnight accommodation in a Standard King guest room, three-course Dine Out Vancouver meal for two at La Pentola, and valet parking for one vehicle, from $270.

Win a Beauty and the Beast Date Night

I have a pair of tickets to give away to opening night of Beauty and the Beast at the QE Theatre as well as a one night stay at the OPUS Hotel in Yaletown. Catch a show and stay overnight downtown in style. It’s a perfect date night combo just ahead of Valentine’s Day. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment naming a song from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Friday, January 23, 2015. The winner will receive 2 tickets for opening night of Beauty and the Beast on February 3rd as well as a one night stay the at OPUS, valid only on February 3rd.

Follow Broadway Across Canada on Twitter and Facebook for more information about their shows coming to Vancouver in 2015.

Follow the OPUS Vancouver on Twitter and Facebook for more information about their packages, dining options, and more.

Theatre tickets and the hotel stay are for February 3, 2015 and cannot be exchanged for other dates. Offer cannot be exchange for cash value. If the selected winner cannot attend on February 3, 2015 a new winner will be drawn.

Update The winner is Christy!

The Vancouver Maritime Museum is hosting a special event for families to meet a popular character who lives in a pineapple under the sea. SpongeBob SquarePants will be in Vancouver for the first time ever on Saturday, January 17th to promote the new 3D movie, “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: Sponge Out of Water”, which hits theatres February 6th.

From Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Movies comes The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie: Sponge Out of Water an all-new 3D adventure that’s as wild and funny as its name. For the first time, SpongeBob SquarePants, the world’s favourite sea dwelling invertebrate, comes ashore to our world for his most super-heroic adventure yet. Produced by Paul Tibbitt and Mary Parent. Based on the series “SpongeBob SquarePants” created by Stephen Hillenburg. Story by Stephen Hillenburg & Paul Tibbitt, screenplay by Glenn Berger & Jonathan Aibel and Paul Tibbitt and directed by Paul Tibbitt.

SpongeBob SquarePants at the Vancouver Maritime Museum

I know parents and kids alike who absolutely adore SpongeBob so this is bound to be a popular event — and a great time to visit the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Families will have the opportunity to meet the new Superhero SpongeBob and take photos with the famous character. Mini movie posters will also be available, while quantities last.

Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum (1905 Ogden Avenue)
When: Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 1:30pm to 2:30pm
Admission: Regular admission rates apply

The Vancouver Maritime Museum is a not-for-profit museum and gallery that celebrates the profound significance of the oceans and waterways of the Pacific and Arctic, through the preservation and growth of its extraordinary collection, and as a centre for dialogue, research, and experience. Current exhibits include the St Roch National Historic Site, Where Land and Water Meet, Creature Comforts, and Western Waters.

Follow the Vancouver Maritime Museum on Twitter and Facebook for more information.

There is more to the Penthouse Night Club on Seymour Street than a neon sign and a boxy marquee encouraging you to book your stag party. This unassuming “after-hours watering hole for the famous and infamous” was the place to be seen in the 1950s and 1960s and the upcoming Secrets of the Penthouse tour will reveal its storied past.

Photo credit: François Péladeau on Flickr

Secrets of the Penthouse Tour

Tour inside Vancouver’s most notorious venue with club owner Danny Filippone as your guide. You’ll hear stories of vice squad busts, mobsters, bootlegging, Rat Pack parties, fire and murder.

The Penthouse was opened in 1947 by brothers Joe, Ross, Mickey, and Jimmy Filippone and soon became the place to see and be seen in Vancouver in the 1950s and ’60s. Acts like Sammy Davis Jr, Nat King Cole, and Duke Ellington regularly performed on the Penthouse stage, and the venue was one of the few in town not only to welcome African American entertainers, but to house them as well, at a time when Vancouver hotels refused to.

Audiences often included visiting stars such as Frank Sinatra, Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper, and many others. In the 1970s, the Penthouse became infamous for its exotic dancers, resulting in a colourful, lurid history involving vice squads, politicians, judges, and con men, and culminating in the murder of Joe Philliponi, known as the “Godfather of Seymour Street,” in 1983. However, through decades of evolving social mores and changing cultural styles in a city constantly trying to reinvent itself, the Penthouse has somehow survived, a testament to its storied history and the fortitude of the Filippone family that still owns it. [Source: Liquor, Lust, and the Law]

Forbidden Vancouver Tours and Heritage Vancouver Society present, Secrets of the Penthouse on Thursday, January 22, 2015. This will be a unique guided tour inside the Penthouse nightclub by owner Danny Filippone, author Aaron Chapman and ex-VPD Grant McDonald. Hear first hand from Grant McDonald, the retired VPD cop who raided the Penthouse in the 60s and 70s. Grant even worked undercover in the club to infiltrate crime bosses.

Photo credit: roaming-the-planet on Flickr

The backstage guided tour is held twice in the evening – an early tour at 6:00pm and a late tour at 7:15pm. After your tour ends, enjoy an Italian buffet dinner served up with Mama Filippone’s original spaghetti and meatballs recipe from the old country. During dinner award-winning performers Cabaret Torlage – an electric mix of burlesque, cabaret and dance, will provide live entertainment.

The club opens for regular business at 9:00pm and tour guests are welcome to stay in the club after that at no extra charge. This is a one-of-a-kind event for anyone with a love of Vancouver’s history.

On January 22nd proceeds from the Secrets of the Penthouse tour will go to Heritage Vancouver. Heritage Vancouver members get a $10 discount on their tickets as well. All proceeds support Heritage Vancouver’s initiatives to conserve Vancouver’s built heritage. Each tour lasts about an hour and guests should arrive 20 minutes prior to start time. Book your tour online now. The Penthouse Night Club is located at 1019 Seymour Street in Vancouver.

There’s a warm fuzzy feeling you get when you visit a restaurant with a caring chef who uses the very best ingredients, he or she takes the time to tell you what went into the cooking process, and they beautifully present a delicious meal. You can tell when someone takes pride in what they do and has a passion for it. I got that same feeling when John and I visited Ella Shoes and met co-owner Jenny Rodriguez last fall.

Jenny, who runs the business with her husband Jorge, personally walked me through the entire store to show me their styles — from sandals, boots and pillowy walking shoes to the most piercing stilettos — and she could tell me about every shoemaker, the type of material used, the process of how they were hand crafted, and which styles were even made from recycled material. The shoes I ended up purchasing also have a fully detailed sustainability report available online.

Jorge’s family has been in the shoe business for a long time, and he joined in at age 14. Originally from the Dominican Republic, his father manufactured of footwear and imported popular European brands, particularly from Spain. Jenny, originally from Cuba, met Jorge in the Dominican Republic. The couple married in 1996 and honeymooned in Canada, where they fell in love with the West Coast and emigrated in 2009 with their four children, calling Vancouver home. As they began looking at local business opportunities they saw a need for affordable fashion choices in quality footwear.

Ella Shoes first opened their flagship location on south Granville Street as well as a smaller store in Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver in 2010. Their downtown location opened in 2012 and in the summer of 2014 they opened a new location in Metropolis at Metrotown. You can visit them today at 640 Granville, between Georgia and Dunsmuir, or at Metrotown.

My El Naturalista Octopus shoes from Ella

Ella Shoes has a simple goal: To operate beautiful boutiques that provide the very best in European footwear designs and first class service in store and online.

The El Naturalista shoes I picked up in the fall have turned out to be the most comfortable heels I’ve ever worn. They look good with jeans, with a dress, and my feet feel great even after I take them through the trails of Stanley Park for 3 hours. I love them so much that John even got me a gift card to Ella for my birthday last week.

My El Naturalista Octopus shoes from Ella

Ella Shoes Giveaway

See the beauty and quality of Ella’s styles for yourself as Ella Shoes Canada has generously offered up a $300 gift code for one lucky Miss604 reader to purchase a pair of Ella Shoes online or in store. To top that, they are also letting you nominate a friend who will ALSO receive a $300 gift code. In total you can enter to win $600 in Ella Shoes for you and a friend to split! Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post naming a style/brand that Ella carries (1 entry)
• Share, like, or comment on this Facebook post naming who you nominate for the other half of the prize (1 entry)
• Share this image on Instagram tagging @EllaShoesCanada @Miss604 and #TellElla the friend you are nominating for the other half of the prize (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Follow Ella Shoes Canada on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more information about their shoes, styles, and locations.

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, January 22, 2015.
A one time use $300 discount code will be provided to each winner (the Miss604 winner and their friend) and will be redeemable nation-wide at www.ellashoes.ca or in Vancouver store locations. The discount code will be redeemable for one pair of shoes valued at $300 or less and in-stock. If the total value of the goods is over $300, the discount of $300 applies to the total value of goods. The code is not redeemable for cash.

Update The winner is @Poetall on Instagram!

Dine Out Vancouver returns January 16 to February 1, 2015 with more than 70 food-themed events, 25 hotels offering special room rates and packages, a record-setting 277 restaurants dishing up prix fixe menus at $18, $28 and $38 price points. A big part of Dine Out Vancouver over the years has been its events and nothing gets Vancouverites quite as excited as food trucks and unique street eats.

Street Food City

Now in its fourth year, Street Food City will be a pod of food trucks and mobile vendors centered at the Vancouver Art Gallery from January 19th to January 25th, 2015. Showcasing more than 25 food trucks, Street Food City will be open to the public Monday to Thursday from 11:00am to 3:00pm and Friday to Sunday from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

There will be special Dine Out Vancouver creations and pricing along with tents, tables, seating, and a soundtrack provided by 96.9 JACK FM and LG 104.3 FM daily. Find all the trucks on the north side of the art gallery plaza. Entry is free.

Street Food City Participating Food Trucks

Follow Street Food City on Twitter with the tag #StreetFoodCity and for the latest festival information follow Dine Out Vancouver on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, along with the tag #dovf.