Jumping Into Opera

With my new job I knew I would be exposed to a lot of opera. When I interviewed for the position they knew that I had never attended an opera, however, growing up we were exposed to a lot of different types of arts. Crystal and I were both in dance classes through school, we were also attended many plays and theatre, and have even seen 2 Broadway plays in NYC.

This week it all changed when I heard my first live opera performances. Now there were by no means a full production, but rather solo performances in an intimate setting. The performances were amazing to say the least. We were able to listen to the lead performers for the upcoming Aida production that the Edmonton Opera is presenting. All I can say is that I have never heard singing that powerful.

Although lots of operas are written in a foreign language, primarily Russian, Italian, and French, there are some operas that are written in English as well. During the actual performance there will be subtitles that translate for the audience, but through the sets, emotions, acting and storytelling the story is actually quite easy to follow.

The Aida performance opens on October 19th and I cannot wait to see it in all of its glory!

You Know You Have Made It When...

The last few months I have seen this #4 bus driving around Edmonton. With the help of "the Eng" I finally got a picture of it. 

I guess you know you are a big shot in the cattle business when you have a City of Edmonton bus that reads your farm name. Pretty cool if you ask me!

#43- See Taylor Swift in Concert

Well last night I was able to cross of another item in my 101 in 1001 list! I have always wanted to see Taylor Swift in concert. I really like her music, and find her to be such a great performer and entertainer. There were some pretty high expectations for the concert last night, and boy she sure did not disappoint!

In most concerts there are a few costume changes, a light show, and that is about it, especially when it comes to country music. Last night there was all of that and so much more. Taylor did easily 5-10 costume changes, had multiple set changes, 2 stages, fireworks, a light show, aerial dancers, and regular dancers as well. Oh and she also flew overhead.

She is a true entertainer with the night being full of her telling her stories. It was very dramatic and theatrical, at some points in the night it looked like she was going to cry in a sad song, or was playing several characters during the show.

I would highly suggest going to see her. The place was filled with some any different types of people. Everyone from you little girls, to grandma and grandpa's. Taylor is a true singer and entertainer, and reminds me of a young Reba in her hay day!

Oh and did I mention that I got to touch her? Not bad for a Thursday night out...

Weekend With " The Eng" Part 1

This past weekend "the Eng" decided that he was going to surprise me. I am the type of person who really does not like surprises as I need to be in control of the situation at all time. But with blind faith I decided to agree, not that I had much choice, and let him plan a weekend for us.

He showed up on Friday night to pick me up with some beautiful summer flowers! Not a bad way to start the weekend.

I really need to learn the names of all these types

Saturday started with getting breakfast in bed, followed by me being told we were going golfing. I had a feeling leading up to this weekend that I knew the destinations of the activities we would be doing, but not knowing 100% still bugged me a little bit.

We drove out west of the city to a golf course called, The Ranch. It is a really beautiful course, one that I had always heard good things about but had never played.

Our golf carts had GPS which was cool.

The course is real beautiful and it was probably the nicest day we have had all summer. The bugs were not to bad, and it was hot! The course is really neat as it keeps the ranch theme throughout. There was an old thrasher, wagon wheels, skulls and so much more.

After golfing we headed back and got changed for supper. Again I did not know 100% where we were going, but a had a hunch. My instincts were right and we headed to Lux Steakhouse downtown for supper. This is probably one of my favorite places in Edmonton, so he really did a good job picking!

The Lobster Mac & Cheese is to die for!

It was a great start to the weekend, but Sunday would be the real test for "the Eng"....

NHL Draft Day 2011

Well the time has come again for the NHL Entry Draft. This year the Edmonton Oilers have the #1 pick for the 2nd year in a row. As the Oilers are my favorite team it is pretty exciting to be able to select any player you want.

Last year there was the big storyline between Taylor Hall and Tyler Segin. Edmonton ended up picking Taylor as the #1 pick, and he has already shown that he will do great things for our team.

This year the draft is a little bit more open. Not only will Edmonton pick #1, but we also have the #19 pick. My hope is that we trade the #19 pick and  player or other pick to try and move up higher in the first round. We are in a big rebuilding phase and there is a lot of great talent in the draft this year.

The two players that the Oilers will pick from are Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Adam Larsson. I am really hoping they take Larsson as we need some strong defense on our team, but I guess we will find out what is going to happen later tonight!

1. RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS

2010-11 Team: Red Deer Rebels	League: WHL
Position: Centre	Height: 6-1
2010-11 Stats: 69 GP, 31 G, 106 PTS	Weight: 170 lbs.
NHL Central Scouting: 1 NAS, International Scouting Services: No. 1, The Hockey News: No. 1

TSN Scout Grant McCagg:

Had a slow start in terms of goal production, including going goalless in 13 games in October, but ended the 2010-11 season with 17 goals in his final 20 games after being cut from Canada's U-20 team. Strengths - high end skills, including amazing vision and agility. Quick elusive skater with superb edges. Soft hands and creative puck handler. Solid work ethic and character. Weaknesses - Needs to add some muscle to compete with NHL defencemen in tight quarters. More of a playmaker than a goal scorer, although he began showing more finish at season's end. NHL Upside - first-line center who draws comparisons to Pavel Datsyuk in terms of style.

2. ADAM LARSSON

2010-11 Team: Skelleftea HC	League: SEL
Position: Defence	Height: 6-3
2010-11 Stats: 37 GP, 1 G, 9 PTS	Weight: 200 lbs.
NHL Central Scouting: 1 ES, International Scouting Services: No. 2, The Hockey News: No. 2

TSN Scout Grant McCagg:

He's already a solid contributor in the Swedish Elite League. Tried to do too much in U-18 competitions last fall and was prone to mistakes, but simplified his game at the WJC and dominated physically and defensively despite playing with a knee injury. Strengths - Thick, physical kid with some jam, poised puck mover, has some power play ability, hard shot, can contribute at both ends of the rink, keen hockey sense, solid positionally. Weaknesses - he's a clunky forward skater. Not most fleet of foot. Loses concentration at times, not fast enough to be a frequent puck carrier. NHL Upside - Has been compared to Victor Hedman, but with more offensive upside. Projects to be a workhorse, a top two defenceman that can do it all.

Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse

I love trying new resturants in the city. I have to say that it is one of perks that makes Edmonton a great city to live in is the diverse dinning that we have, and some great restuarnts too.

My lastest place that I tried was Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse. It is located right downtown, just north or the Legislative Building at 9929-109 Street.

 

Pampa is a region in Southern Brazil where cattle-raising takes place, and in particular, it is the birthplace of both: the gaucho and churrasco. Using large wooden or metal skewers driven vertically into the ground near a wood-burning open flame, the gauchos have been preparing churrasco for hundreds of years.

 PAMPA offers a unique fixed-price dining concept known as “rodizio.” This service style features continuous table-side service of a wide variety of select cuts of beef, pork, poultry and lamb. Included in your “rodizio” experience is our one-of-a kind salad bar.

Guests control their service with a small red and green-sided disk. The green side signals the grill masters to bring this variety of meat skewers to the table, while the red side may indicate a pause in service or that you are finished. Turning back to the green side indicates the grill masters to resume service.

 

We did our best to eat as much as the meat as possible, after all that is what you come there for.  We were told of 10 selections that would be brought around on this evening; Pork Sausage (house made), Parmesan-Crusted Pork Loin, Chicken Drumsticks, Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Bacon, Picanha (top sirloin) – Pampa’s signature cut, Garlic Picanha, Bottom Sirloin from Spring Creek Ranch, Beef Ribs – slow roasted for 6 hours, Ribeye, Leg of Lamb, and Chicken Hearts. 

We ended up trying about 8 of these through the night. My favorites were the Beef Ribs, Chicken Drumsticks and the Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Bacon. Because the meat does some from Brazil, you can taste a difference to our Alberta Beef we are used to eating here.

Because we were there for my birthday, we decided that we should try some dessert as well. Our server gave us a few recommendations, and we went with the Chocolate Mousse. We figured it would be a nice light dessert to finish off after a meat heavy meal. The Mousse did not disappoint at all.

Pampa did not dissapoint at all. I would definitely go back for another round or two here in the future. Just a few tips for those of you wanting to try. Pace yourself at the salad bar, don't eat all you salad at once, otherwise you are just left with a lot of great meat! Also go when you are really hungry. Dinner is about $45.00/person so make sure you are hungry enough to eat your monies worth, and leave your diets at home!

Two Great Teams

Last night my friend Shaun and I headed out to the hockey game in Edmonton. I am a true hockey fan. I can compete with lots of guys as far as stats, and team info. I can tell you who is leading in the standings, leading in the points division, and who is sitting in 3rd place in the rookie scoring this year (Yes, it is Edmonton Oiler, 1st overall pick Taylor Hall!)

I especially wanted to go to the game last night as it was my 2 favorite teams playing. Obviously the Edmonton Oilers were the home team, and although they are not having a great season, it is still exciting to watch them play as they get their new young team going. The visitors last night were the Chicago Blackhawks, and current Stanley Cup Champions.

Now it was not the cup win last year of the Blackhawks made me a fan. In fact since about grade 2 I have been a Chicago fan. I was home alone with my sister one day, and the phone rang. We were taught from a young age how to take a proper message and to answer the phone even if our parents were out of the house. This particular call was from a man in Chigaco named Brent, and he wanted to talk to my dad about buying some Angus cows. I took the message just as I had been taught and told the man my dad would call him back that evening.

Later that evening when my dad got home, I gave him the message and my dad started to laugh. He asked me if I knew who this Brent man was. I replied no, why would I know of anyone who lived in Chicago? As it turned out that man was actually Brent Sutter, and he was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks! I was so excited that I had talked to a real NHL player that instantly I became a huge fan (behind the Oilers of course!). I went to school the next day and bragged to all the kids in my class. That Christmas I got a Brent Sutter hockey card, and I still have it to this day.

About 15 years later, I had another run in with the Blackhawks. I was staying at the Westin Hotel in Calgary doing a site tour for work. I noticed a lot of guys walking around the hotel that looked very familiar. I asked my hotel contact if they had lots of sports teams that stayed there, and if the Chicago Blackhawks were there at that time? She confirmed that yes the team was in house. Later that evening we were in the lounge having some drinks, as were some of the player. Long story short we ended up having drinks with a couple of the players, names I will keep to myself, but it was a really fun night to get to hear all about their life on the road!

I will forever be an Oilers fan, but the Blackhawks will have a soft spot in my heart as well.

Hotel Tour: Delta Edmonton Centre Suites

This past Friday was our Delta Holiday party. Yes, it is late to have it, however, if we had it on a Friday or Saturday before Christmas we would be taking away thousands of dollars of business. So we have it in the beginning of January!

The Delta Edmonton Centre Suites is primary a suite hotel, however, we do have some classic style guestrooms that we call Delta Rooms.

All of the rooms either look out into the city, or as we are located in a mall, look out into the mall through 1 way mirrored glass. It makes for some great people watching!

Oh The Italians

So I am a sucker for a good pizza. A few weeks ago we wanted to venture out to the newest pizza place in our area, Famoso.

 

Famoso is authentic Italian pizza. Each franchise owner goes to Naples to learn how to make pizza. These pizza's are to die for. They only come in 1 size, and there are so many different flavors to chose from. The best part, is they are actually pretty healthy for you!

The other night we decided to try the margarita pizza. Not only did it taste amazing, but it was only $11! I can say that this may become one of my new guilty pleasures.

2010 Farmfair Simmental Show

The Simmental Show at Farmfair was yesterday. Farmfair is the largest cattle show in Alberta. Although the Simmental numbers were down a little bit this year, the quality was really strong.

Here are some of the champions from the day

 Champion Female- Racier Farms

 Res. Champion Female- Lewis Farms

 Champion Bull- High Country Cattle Services & Beechinor Bros Simmentals

 Res. Champion Bull- Lewis Farms

We had another great show going 2/2 this fall with our bull. This Saturday we will get to compete in the Supreme Show for a chance to win a brand new Dodge Truck!

Heritage Days Part 1

This past weekend us Canadian's got a long weekend thanks to a holiday know as Heritage Days. Although most do not do anything to celebrate it, the City of Edmonton, hosts its annual festival... The Heritage Festival.

This festival is one of the best attended events in the city, especially since it only runs for 3 days. The festival is made up of different countries from around the world. They bring a taste of their culture to Edmontinians. They do this through food, dance, music, and whatever else makes their country unique.

Today I am going to feature the culture elements, and save the food for tomorrow. Have to keep you coming back for more!

The festival is held at Hawrlack park. This is also where we go skating in the winter!

We went to Ukraine and listened to folk music.

Huge disappointment when they had ran out of peroggies!

We made a stop at India and watched the beautiful dancing

Also at the Netherlands to listen to the whistle/bell machine. It was pretty cool And Scandinavia as well
China was also on our list of places we visited
We stopped at Russia and met Marcus's mother! And then dressed up like little Russian dolls I think my blonde hair matches a bit better the Brett's

And of course we had to stop at Thailand. Oh how I have missed you! We watched the fire dance And the beautiful Thai women show off the Thai silks.

It was an awesome night! I can say that I will definitely go back next year. The food alone is worth the trip.

Painting the Town Red

This weekend Brett and I were both in the city. This is a rare occurrence so we thought we would make the most of it.

We had both been wanting to head to the piano bar in West Edmonton Mall, and thought it would be the perfect night to do it. We got all dressed up and headed to West Ed.

The night started off with a stop at Hudson's to watch the first 1/2 of the Rider game. Brett is a rider fan, and I wanted to watch my friend Keith play.We then headed over to The Red Piano. This place is hands down my favorite place in Edmonton. It has a great crowd, and is just a ton of fun!The singers and performers are amazing! We sang everything from AC/DC to Eminem to Cyndi Lauper! We spend about 4 hours there, and it seemed like just a few minutes. We are already making plans to go back!
We didn't get any pictures of us girls there, as Brett would not let me take any pictures. Lets just say that there was bit of a height difference! More on that to come this week!!

31 Years in The Making

Well after 31 years, the day has finally come. The day the Edmonton Oilers will get the 1st overall draft pick in the NHL entry draft.

This is the first year that this team has ever had the 1st pick, and it has created a lot of buzz within the city.

In this years draft there are 2 top prospects. Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. Both players have extraordinary talent, and will be a huge asset to any team that gets them. It really will be interesting to see what player comes to Edmonton and what player will go as the 2nd pick.

Regardless, the debate between these two players has been beat into the ground. I prefer to take Seguin, let him play another year in the minors then bring him into the team when he is fully developed. Others argue that we should take Hall and let him play this upcoming season.

I guess we will find out sooner then later, what player will be wearing the Edmonton Oilers logo for the 2010-2011 season.

Welcome to Snobwood

This weekend we had a Murder Mystery party to celebrate my birthday! It was great to get everyone together and have a fun night.

The synopsis of the game was that someone was murdered at the country club that we all belonged to. It was up to us to find out who was the murder. The game was really fun and everyone got into it.Stacy "Ophelia- the assistant golf pro" and Pascale "Lucy- crazy niece"

Brett "Sandy- the amateur photographer" and Pascale

Quinn "Crissy- the super model", Brett and Pascal

Courtney "Ivana- Wealthy Socialite" and Sarah "Honey- Lady of the night"

Keith- "Tyler the playboy"

Dayton "Mow- the greens keeper"

Stacy and Chris "Hal- the head golf pro"

Jason "Chip- the Caddy"

Shaun "the business man"

Pascale and Quinn

Keith and Anna "Rosie- the waitress"