I first heard about Libre when I was running my contest for the Genie Gift Box. I finally met Wendy of Libre recently and learned a bit more about her product, loose-leaf tea, and the Sunshine Coast.
Libre is a portable tea “to go” mug made of glass and polycarbonate, and the mouthpiece is BPA-free plastic. Basically you can put hot tea right in there (or cold), watch it steep, and take clean sips thanks to the little strainer screen.
If you have black tea or a finer blend, you can flip it upside down to steep and clean out the strainer before taking it on the go. It’s also ideal for blending matcha powder with just a few shakes.
Wendy brought me their “Glass’n Poly” as well as their all-glass style, which is just beautiful. She also supplied me with some local tea from the Tiny Tea Company in Gibsons.
It was really nice to hear about local businesses and what Wendy calls the “lost corner of the 604” since Gibsons is also in the 604 area code.
You can purchase their tea glasses online and right now Wendy is also offering up the following: 10% off on the Glass’n Poly style with 25% of proceeds to a well-known non-profit for clean water. Also if you purchase 3 or more she’ll throw in free shipping.
If you do get your hands on a Libre glass, take a photo and share your “Tea Moments” on their Flickr group.
This was definitely a great reminder that the next Bollwitt day trip adventure should involve heading over to the Sunshine Coast (and that I should be drinking more tea).
Disclosure: I was not paid to write this post however I will be enjoying some local loose-leaf tea in my Glass’n Poly.
After the resounding success of the first NHLTweetup in Vancouver, I’ve joined forces with the king of Canucks tweets, Richard Loat, and plotted the Round Two tweetup.
What’s a NHLTweetup?
An in-person meetup (eat, drink, chat) for people who are on Twitter and like to cheer on the #Canucks. You can read my post from the last one for more information and a recap.
Where will this be?
Richard has secured the big room at the Shark Club on Georgia Street for our group.
When should I show up?
6:00pm on Thursday April 30th – it’s short notice but hey, we just got the schedule.
I am also personally pretty excited to wear my shiny new jersey out in public for the first time since the recent purchase.
If you can come by, just RSVP on the Twtvite page (or using the Twtvite RSVP panel on the main page of my site) and we’ll count you in. All you need to do is show up and watch the game with the rest of us and we’ll have a great time.
Should you or your company be interested in sponsoring a raffle prize or perhaps a round of beer, please leave a comment or message Richard or me on Twitter.
This weekend the city will be taken over by the colossal BMO Vancouver Marathon 2009.
On Sunday May3rd, there will be the marathon for elite and recreational runners (42.2km), a half marathon (21.1km), an 8km run (for runners or walkers), and the McDonald’s Kids Marafun.
Leading up to the event, there is a sports expo down at Concord Pacific Place in False Creek (Thursday, April 30th from 4:00 to 8:00pm, Friday, May 1st, 11:00 to 8:00pm, Saturday, May 2nd, 10:00 to 7:00pm, and Sunday, May 3rd from 7:00 to 3:00pm).
There is an extensive list of road closures downtown for Sunday, which include several major thoroughfares downtown, in the West End, in Kitisilano, Point Grey, Chinatown, Gastown, and False Creek. You can also view race maps for an overview of the route.
I have been told by organizers that they are also in desperate need of volunteers for Sunday so if you’re interested in helping out you can sign up online. All volunteers get a Saucony t-shirt when they check in as well as a certificate for hours volunteered.
Just as I suspected, Wyn will be running the marathon (before heading to Halifax and NYC) so best of luck to her and the other participants on Sunday.
Related post: Check out my fun run roundup for more running events in Vancouver this season.
While discussing her campaign over a mango smoothie on Davie Street I realized that it was probably Drina who got me started with all of these interviews back in the fall.
Drina Read is the Green Party of BC candidate for Vancouver West-End and being a long-time resident she’s very passionate about her community as well as the issues in which the Green Party strongly believes.
Drina has lived in the West End on and off for over 20 years as a renter and as such the renovictions and concerns of renters hit close to home. She spoke at the Renters at Risk Rally in the fall and told me that, “we have to fix the Residential Tenancy Act not only for renters, but for landlords too.”
She says, “the biggest issue of course is raising the rent – just thinking that any moment you could get a notice saying ‘oh by the way, we’re fixing up your apartment, you have to get out‘ and then when you come back you might not be able to afford it.” Drina would also like to see an amendment that would include something like the right of first refusal, so that you can have first dibs on your newly renovated apartment when it’s ready.
She attributes the money grab by developers and property owners to the Vancouver 2010 games, and noted “after the two week party, what happens to the community? That’s my concern.”
On the general housing issue, “the Green Party has a very strong policy on building safe, affordable housing and we would commit 1% of the total BC budget yearly towards building housing for people with disabilities, low-income, people with addictions and allot of programs to help them as well and not throw them out on the street all the time, like the way it has been happening.”
However aside from housing and rent issues she said there’s an even bigger beast: The Gateway Project.
“Billions and billions of dollars being wasted on a freeway and a bridge when we could have that money go towards housing, education, health care, you name it. All of that money could be used much better to improve the transit services, buy more buses, it just goes on and on.” Drina’s been a fan of rail, for freight and passengers, for many years and said that when she heard Stephen Rees speak at the Green Party conference, “everything he said just made sense.”
I’ve profiled Stephen as a blogger but he’s also a Green Party of BC candidate in Richmond. During his talk Drina said he brought up the fact that a UBC study discovered that for the cost of the new Port Mann Bridge, 200km of light rail line could be purchased for the Lower Mainland and the Valley. She also agreed with something else Stephen had mentioned about communities noting that we need to connect communities and not just move people to the downtown core. Connecting places like Surrey, Maple Ridge, Langley etc. is paramount.
With regards to cuts to the arts budget in the province, Drina pointed out the difference between her party and others. “Our members vote on our policies so we will not waiver from the policies as written. We will stick to them – it’s not political expediency that drives us, it’s whats best for everyone and we see a vibrant arts community as being integral to the society of BC.”
You can reach Drina online or through her Twitter account as she notes that using social media “definitely has an effect especially with younger voters from all over BC.”
The BC General Election & Referendum on Electoral Reform takes place May 12, 2009. Other candidate interviews include Spencer Herbert (NDP, Vancouver-West End) and Haida Lane (BC Liberals, Vancouver-Hastings).
I ventured outside of the downtown core to meet up with Haida Lane, the BC Liberal candidate for Vancouver-Hastings.
“I’ve always had a passion for politics,” said Haida who start campaigning later in the game since the untimely passing of candidate Andrew Mak. “Given the opportunity and the need, I knew that this community could use better representation so I jumped on board and have been at a running pace since.”
Being a stay-at-home mom when her daughter was young, Haida began visiting the Hastings Community Centre Family Drop-In, what she calls a “phenomenal resource for communities”. The adult interaction allowed her to meet other parents, build networks, and led to her getting on the board of the Hastings Community Association. She also Chairs the Hastings Sunrise City Planning Committee, which deals with implementing community visions in the area.
“It’s a pretty diverse riding,” said Haida whose electoral district spans from Commercial Drive, to Boundary, then from the Burrard Inlet down to 12th Avenue. “There are a couple neighbourhood centres within that as well as highway orientated retail… …and we have some small commercial districts, low use industrial districts as well so there’s a lot of variety there.” Resources close to home for Haida though will always be the community centres – promoting small business and living in a “walkable” neighbourhood is key.
Haida is committed to informing her constituents, whether it be when they stop by her office, message her on Twitter or leave a message for a call back (which she’ll do personally). “I believe that this is a very precarious time given where we are on the global economic scale and what we [the BC Liberals] have done for BC in the last eight years. I mean we are one of the leaders of the economy in Canada right now… …I know that just speaks volumes so I really hope that people look at that, and realize the full impact of how important it is to have strong leadership.”
Her main platform issues are on the economy, public safety, and the environment. “I would love to see what could be done working with a majority government (if that ends up being the case) to really move the issues of this riding forward in Victoria.”
Photo credit:
houseoftext on Flickr – Hastings Park Conservancy
I asked her what her favourite part of the Vancouver-Hastings area and she had no shortage of highlights to share. “A lot of people, when you say ‘East Van’ they usually go ‘oh, East Van…?’ but this area is amazing!” She continued, “it’s not only just the sense of community that exists but it’s things like your neighbourhood centre where you can do your shopping, there’s neighbouhood community centres,” and also the abundance of parks. Haida recommended the Hastings Park Conservancy and New Brighton Park, which she described as “a bit of the gem on the East Side that not a lot of people know about.”
The BC General Election & Referendum on Electoral Reform takes place May 12, 2009. Other candidate interviews include Spencer Herbert (NDP, Vancouver-West End) and Drina Read (Green Party, Vancouver West-End).
