Good ol’ Stella. I have been following along with them more closely since La Societe was on everyone’s beaks1 last year and after they threw the super awesome, super secret Underground party in the old Bay Subway station and I thought I was completely sold.
But their latest campaign that got people talking about how their Street Teams were giving away complimentary samples of their beer just made me love them even more… add to that how amazing anyone on the Stella Street Team2 and they’ve found themselves a fan for life in me.
And you know what happens when you love a brand right? They love you right back and I have some lovin’ to give right back to you, my darling readers, by way of TWO lovely Stella Artois Legere t-shirts designed by Toronto artist Dave Murray. You can see what it looks like in the pictures below… once the winner is picked, we’ll talk sizing.
Oh but that’s not all – I’ve ALSO got two pairs of passes to the Block Party on August 13th that I am sure will be super awesome3. Side note: I’m going on the assumption here that you know that #downtown won the race for hosting this block party and my id and I would like to think that I had something to do with it but my ego knows better.
TO QUALIFY we must be friends on facebook so add me up. Please include a message to tell me that you’re a reader of my blog and that you want to add me to enter the contest4. After you’ve done that, you’ll want to give the ol’ thumbs up to Stella Artois Legere’s Facebook page. because I will be checking and I’m sorry to say but you can’t win if you haven’t given ‘er.
After that? I’m afraid you’ll just have to watch my news feed on Facebook to see how you can actually win these things. What, and you thought this was going to be easy? Clearly you don’t know me at all5.
I’m going to leave you with some details about the block party:
DATE: Saturday, August 13, 2011
TIME: 8pm-midnight
LOCATION: 525 King Street West (West side of Starbucks, South side of King street)
(The party will be for 600 people, entrance is subject to capacity. Now, anyone of legal drinking age or older can RSVP to get on the guest list – all you have to do is go to Stella Artois Legere’s Facebook page. If you’ve already RSVP’d, no need to enter6 but feel free to anyway).
The above is a cute movie I found when I went on flickr and searched for the tag “Hope”.
I am almost 30 years old and I never thought I was one of those people who let the numbers of their age affect their outlook on life but I suppose that’s one of the last1 naive sort of things that you think when you simply haven’t realised any better yet.
Some people who may be reading this and know exactly what I’m talking about will nod in understanding and some who haven’t experienced this2 will be confused and for that I apologise because I’m not going to elaborate on this right now.
What I want to talk about is dating; more specifically: sex and dating. Why is it SO difficult for us to be honest about what we want? Why is it so difficult for us to be more open-minded when we finally hear the truth from someone?
My heart hurts right now because some very dear friends of mine have gotten hurt recently; regardless of whether the hurter3 intended to be dismissive of the hurtee’s4 feelings or not – a sudden change that causes the hurt doesn’t make the hurting any easier to deal with.
Almost two months ago, I decided that I was done with the lifestyle that I had been keeping: casual, distant and unattached5; I decided I wanted to try being in a serious relationship again. I guess in a way, I decided that enough time had passed since I broke someone’s heart and that my heart had been tricked by someone else. I thought I was ready.
Naturally my focus shifted to other things a little more: exercise, eating right, work, my passions, friends, family… and I haven’t really been dating. And the recent news of my friends getting hurt has made me realise just how much I have been hoping6 that this date that I have tonight is somehow going to be the one I’ve been waiting for.
What a dork. That certainly snapped me out of that! However, it also got me thinking about my past relationships and the hurt I’ve experienced in the past. I wondered why it is that I’ve been able to keep hope in love. I don’t have an answer yet. But I did want to ask everyone out there…
She writes everyday, takes care of a handful of a baby girl, keeps a wonderful home for her rock star1 husband and manages to look amazing the entire time. Joanna Haughton is an actress, tv hostess and martial artist. I met her through Victoria Murdoch2 and am so glad I have her in my life.
She started writing her blog, Moda Mama, not long after she gave birth to her beautiful baby girl. She recently finished an 85 dress challenge, where3 she had to wear a different dress for 85 days without repeating one. It was partially a way to try to see what she could get rid of from her closet and also a challenge to herself to put together different looks.
I’ve been meaning to write about her since she started the 85 dress challenge but there has been a lot going on in life that kept me from writing on this blog4. If you like fashion delivered by a quirky but amazing sense of humour, visit Moda Mama and get hooked.
I have always maintained that everyone deserves love1 but I am suddenly finding myself leaning towards the cynical side of life philosophy these days. It’s unnerving but also difficult to shake. I’ve had a lot of bad shit happen to me2 but I have always been able to bounce back into hope. Hope that things will always get better; hope that things always work out for a reason; hope that if you want something bad enough you’ll get it; hope that everyone deserves the best3.
Cynics4 would call me naive in thinking all that but all the ‘pain’ I’ve experienced in my life has been accompanied by amazing life lessons, experiences and memories that I would not trade for anything -no, not even a happy ending. Why? Because who’s to say what happy ending that would have been, and who’s to say it would have actually lasted? I almost had my so-called happy ending, at least according to some, but it didn’t happen because it wasn’t right for me.
Hope would have me believe that the reason it didn’t happen was precisely because it wasn’t right for me; this other side that is creeping into my life philosophy is telling me that I wouldn’t know because it didn’t happen -except that I do know. And so the battle goes. This weekend I witnessed5 some ridiculous behaviour by people. I say people because women are every bit as guilty of bullshit as women are. Yes, I include myself in this. It’s because we don’t know what we want; and if we do know what we want there’s no guarantee that what we want will remain the same for any given length of time.
And to top it off for the most part we are ashamed to admit that we don’t know what we want. Maybe we’re not ashamed; maybe we’re unsure of how to express it; maybe we’re unsure of how it will be received; maybe we don’t even realize that we’re doing someone else’s head in; maybe, maybe, maybe… whatever the reason the truth is that when it comes to emotions and/or sexuality6 our brains don’t function quite the same.
Going back to said bullshit, I should probably elaborate for curiousity’s sake but that’s just not how this goes so you’ll have to take my word for it and understand that the main thing is that there was disrespect displayed7 displayed in several unrelated scenarios that has compounded and made me question my entire belief system. Maybe I’m speaking too soon8 but if this keeps up I may just become a cynic.
I want to try. I want to be stronger than that; I don’t want to give in to the dark side but right now I just don’t think I have enough fight left in me.
It’s funny how you can form a bond with some people in a nano-second. Suddenly, there is this understanding; unspoken and raw. I met Christine Estima in March of this year when a dear mutual friend hosted an Oscar party. In all honesty, I was a little scared. She was animated, loud and also live-tweeting the show. I had seen it done but never in person. It was interesting to say the least1. But despite that, there was something about her that drew me in; I’m certain it had something to do with mirrors in her eyes looking back at me. Over the last few months, we have shared many talks about many things2 and today I got to witness her brilliant mind in action3.
We sat in the Rearview Mirror in Kensington waiting for the actors, script in hand, to start the reading of The Spadina Monologues. It was fitting that it was raining outside as the director broke the almost-silence with the opening lines. Over two dozen people came out to show their support and you could feel the love in the room. As I sat and listened to the banter that was difficult to separate from a conversation I imagine Christine to have with herself I couldn’t help but think about some of my own experiences.
These thoughts were further fueled by later conversation with vlogging superstar Sean Ward as we shot the shit after the show. I wish it were easier to explain how some people just feel comfortable, and some don’t. This lack of comfort doesn’t make either party any less of a person. But somehow it’s hard to express this to someone. It’s hard to say and it is hard to have someone say to you that they aren’t comfortable conversing with you. Beyond conversation, some people are just easy to be around -whether you spend most of the time in silence, simply enjoying their4 aura.
As the perfect example, some people have described me as being brash, blunt or curt5 while others have described me as being warm, caring and charming. I’m certain I’m all those things depending on the situation and those surrounding me. I don’t try extra hard to be anything6 but some people can bring out the worst in you. Some people bring out the best in you too. But don’t ever forget that it is a two way street -sometimes you can bring the worst out in someone, and sometimes you can bring out the best in someone. It doesn’t make you a bad person; just incompatible with that other person.
Having said all that, there are some people who are just evil -they do not fall under the category of person of which I have just written about. I may or may not write about them in the future.
Do I have a suggestion to fix this? Not yet. Maybe one day though. Maybe one day.
