Over the years I have profiled bloggers from the Northwest Territories to the Fraser Valley, anyone that interests me and that I hope will interest you as well. A few years ago I started asking a standard set of questions and I’ve sent these out to a few local bloggers for this week’s series. Click, share, explore, and enjoy.
Vanessa Choot
Blog: Modern Mix Vancouver
Facebook: /modernmixvancouver
Twitter: @ModernMixVan
How long has your blog been around?
I started Modern Mix Vancouver in May 2009, so I have been blogging for over 4 years!
What is your role/involvement (developer, owner, blogger etc.)
I’m the founder and editor of Modern Mix Vancouver.
What does your site do/what is it about
Modern Mix Vancouver is a Canadian lifestyle blog. We cover local events & lifestyle, fashion & retail, beauty & skincare and food & drink.
What can people see, read, and do when visiting your site?
Visitors to Modern Mix Vancouver can read up on the newest beauty products, local restaurant reviews, Vancouver events and lots more. I live in downtown, so naturally, many of the happenings I write about take place in the Vancouver lower mainland core; that is: downtown Vancouver and all its neighbourhoods, Kitsilano and Main Street. I recently adopted a rescue dog named Teddy in January, so some of my newer postings also focus on pet product reviews. Content on Modern Mix Vancouver is written with locals in mind, but I’m sure some tourists stumble across my website as well.
Why do you blog?
Blogging has opened so many doors for me – personally, socially and professionally. It has provided me with very unique opportunities to connect with my city and I’m always so excited to “be in the know” about events, trends and openings in Vancouver. I’ve had the opportunities to work with a wide array of businesses, from large national brands to small local boutiques – every experience has been unique, every event is different and I always look forward to seeing what’s next!
What is the ultimate goal for your site, how would you like to see it grow?
For me, blogging is not a means to an end – I’ve enjoyed this process very much over the past for years. I would like to continue to stay relevant to my readers and to keep up with my postings, which will ultimately help Modern Mix Vancouver grow as a Vancouver lifestyle brand.
Follow Vanessa: Modern Mix Vancouver, on Facebook, and Twitter
Read all entries in my Blogger Profile series and feel free to suggest a blogger for possible feature in the comments of this post.
Next weekend BC’s largest multicultural celebration, the Surrey Fusion Festival, will take over Holland Park with two full days of music, food, and free entertainment. Between filling up on empanadas, Jamaican smoothies, and cannoli or watching Delhi 2 Dublin, Good For Grapes, Hawksley Workman, and Los Lobos, you can take a free walking tour of the city’s new downtown core.
Paul Hillsdon and Nathan Pachal of the blog Civic Surrey will lead a Downtown Development Tour at 11:00am on Saturday, July 21, 2012. You can meet them at Gateway SkyTrain station and join the tour for free, just RSVP. If there’s anyone who can tell you about present and future developments in Surrey, it’s these two.
“The downtown walking tour is an opportunity for locals from across the region to see first-hand the urban transformation underway in Surrey. For followers on Civic Surrey, who read about these changes on the blog, it’s a chance to experience downtown on foot and meet some new friends along the way,” Paul told me.
“We’ll examine SFU Surrey and the new City Centre Library, as well as private developments from Concord Pacific and Century Group. Of course, this is also the weekend of Fusion Festival, so there’s no better time to explore downtown and then enjoy the rest of the evening at one of Surrey’s premier regional events!
If you can’t make it out for the walk, they’ll host a Civic Surrey meetup at the Fusion Festival at 1:00pm on Saturday where you can meet Paul and Nathan, and chat with other readers of the site.
On this day in 1959, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II herself presided over the grand opening ceremony for the Deas Island Tunnel, known today as the George Massey Tunnel.
(Left) 1957 – Banner for the tunnel construction. VPL Accession Number: 41357.
(Right) 1957 – Aerial view of construction. VPL Accession Number: 41355
The premier [W.A.C. Bennett] handed the Queen a costly pair of silver scissors, and she gave him a dime for them. The coin-for-scissors trade is an old British custom, which holds that if the giver of a cutting implement does not receive a coin in return, the friendship between the giver and the receiver will be cut. [Source: Vancouver History]
(Left) 1959 – Tunnel entrance. VPL Accession Number: 41361B.
(Right) 1958 – Walkthrough. VPL Accession Number: 41340B.
This stretch of highway connecting Richmond and Delta/Ladner is the lowest point of any public road in Canada, dipping 20 meters below sea level. It actually opened to traffic in May of that year but the ceremony took place in July. Tolls were applied until 1964 and it was renamed in honor of Delta MLA Nehamiah “George” Massey in 1967.
Bowen Island is just a quick ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay but it’s a great way to escape the city and enjoy the coastal scenes of Howe Sound. If you needed more of an excuse to visit, the Bowen Island Steamship Days festival is on now.
1946 – The Lady Alexandra approaches the dock on Bowen. Archives item# CVA 586-4601.
For over 100 years, Bowen Island has been known as “Vancouver’s Playground”. In 1902 Captain Cates sailed here in the luxurious S.S. Britannia and dubbed her, “The Happy Isle”. Thousands of passengers arrived daily in Steamships from Vancouver to frolic on Bowen’s beaches, picnic grounds and dance halls.
In 1924 The Lady Alexandra, the flagship of the Union Steamship Fleet, brought up to 1,400 passengers a day eager to kick up their heels to some of the best dance bands of the era. Over 200 summer cottages and a lavish hotel were built to accommodate the throngs of summer seekers.
Revisiting the steamship getaways of the past, you can enjoy an outing to Bowen this weekend in particular and check out events, music, games, exhibits, and more. Tomorrow, the legendary Dal Richards Orchestra will be performing on the wharf in Snug Cove (along with the lovely and talented Dawn Chubai) and tickets are just $20.
There’s also a wooden boat show, Casino Night, and a Golf Tournament. Stop by Doc Morgan’s Pub, learn more at the Bowen Island Museum & Archives, visit the USSC Marina, and spend a day on this charming island.
You can even take transit! Hop a Horseshoe Bay bus from downtown Vancouver, walk onto the ferry (it’s just over $10 per adult, return trip), and you’ll be right in Snug Cove in 20 minutes. If you’d like to stay overnight, no problem. There are Bed & Breakfasts and cottages all around. Bowen Island Steamship Days run until Sunday, July 15, 2012.
Fighting Chance Productions presents Rent at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island from July 13th to August 5, 2012.
Rent, Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer and Tony Award winning musical that debuted at the height of the AIDS epidemic, is one of the best known musicals of the past 20 years, and was a huge hit for Fighting Chance Productions in 2009 enjoying 29 sold out performances and shattering box office records for Presentation House in North Vancouver.
There will be previews for Rent July 13th to July 18th with the full run starting July 19th. Evening shows will be at 8:00pm and matinees, starting at 2:00pm, will take place on Saturdays starting July 21st. Tickets are available online ($39.25 for adults, $18.25 for previews) and at the door.
Granville Island is a great place to be in the summer and you can spend an entire day taking a water taxi over, shopping at the market, getting dinner, and topping it off with a burst of entertainment at a live show.
I have a pair of tickets to give away for Rent thanks to Fighting Change Productions. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner next Friday, July 20, 2012 at 10:00am. Update The winner is Maryanne!
