The Green Living Show Vancouver

Just got back from the Green Living Show at BC Place. I ended up going for the last 2 hours of the day, which I'm actually really glad I did end up going so late in the day, when most of the people had already left; gave me more of a chance to chat with the people at their booths.

I first stopped off at: bamboostyle.com
Complete with an adorable cartoon bamboo. They offer a variety of bamboo products such as towels, yoga and baby wear as well as candles and other products. I picked up two really awesome soft bamboo tank tops from a $12 discount bin. Looks like they are in the process of setting up online shopping, but isn't quite up yet.

Northern Voice 2008

Last week was Northernvoice 2008 at UBC, this was my first NV, and I had a really great time! So this is a bit delayed, but I seem to have a really really bad habit of writing half of a post and not finishing. (I assume it'd be bad to not blog about the blogging conference you attended.. better late than never..)

Mosaic by Duane Storey

Northernvoice 2008 Highlights:

NV08 dinner at the Tiki Lounge at the Wardorf hotel, complete with bamboo walls, drinks, a roasted pig and blog post readings.
Myself with Miss 604 - Photo by Retrocactus

Saw Sonata Arctica in Concert Tonight! It was AMAZING.

Sonata Arctica is a Finnish Metal band I've been following for a while now, I hadn't listened to their new album until after this nights concert at the Plaza Club on Granville st. I was so impressed with the performance I bought the album Unia from iTunes as soon as I got home!

They played In Black and White from the new album as well as bunch of awesome older songs Black Sheep, Gravenimage, Full Moon, Wolf & Raven..
Put together an attempt at video reviewing, and some terrible cellphone video and photos. Hopefully @jeremylim will have better footage to add later on :P
I was particularly impressed by the quality of the vocals, a fact which is clearly not properly represented in the following video...

In case you hadn't noticed, I love my job

As many of you probably know, I've been working at the exciting startup Strutta.com since October, after the development team of Outcome3 was incorporated to theirs.

I've already expressed my happiness to be working for an interesting, laid-back, youthful company. And strutta is for sure a fantastic place for creativity, and fun. It's fabulous to be working in an environment that is both hardworking and dedicated, but also where we are all friends (and we don't take ourselves too seriously), and able to hang out after work. We're also building something pretty cool.

It's Not Easy Being Green

As Kermit the Frog sang: "It's not easy being green." But it's getting a lot easier. Especially with the appearance of Happyfrog.ca, an online directory of sustainable, green businesses in British Columbia.

At Happyfrog.ca you can register, and add new sustainable/green listings, or rate and review existing ones.

I've spent a long time collecting a directory of various green/natural/sustainable businesses in the lowermainland and online. And a lot of times, it's not that easy to find what exactly I'm looking for. To finally have a directory like this, and one that is local-- well, I just can't explain how incredibly excited I am. Happy even. (Happy like a happy hopping green frog)

Adventuring Down Main st: Twigg & Hottie

I love finding stores that sell local designer's clothes/jewelry. Twigg & Hottie at 3671 Main Street Offers one-of-a-kind/small run designs with prices that reflect that. While a lot of their clothes are priced a bit in the highend, there are lots of their clothes that are quite reasonable. Shirts upwards of $60-80, and a few hats for $45-50.

Very small, busy store. When I was in there, lots of people were flowing in and out of the store. I did look at a few tags, for what fabrics the designers were using, many were recycled fabrics or some just said "made from eco-friendly materials", but didn't specify if it was recycled or organic or what. I may have just missed another tag, but the ones that were easily accessible didn't say.

Finally! Organic, Sustainable & Local Clothing!

I have yet to find a place in Vancouver that has a better selection of organic and sustainable clothing from a variety of brands than Organix in granville island.

Am so glad they finally moved to a larger space in Granville island, now located at 1524 Duranleau Street- with lots more products. (I just picked up a nice recycled Wool Jacket for winter by Grace & Cello, a no-sweat shop canadian company based out of Montreal-- am SUPER pleased with)

Always a great experience walking into Organix: friendly, helpful atmosphere.

Large selection of Sustainable/Organic fabrics: Organic Cotton, Soy, Hemp, Bamboo clothing (my fav!) and beautiful Bamboo Towels by Shoo-Foo!- extremely soft, and absorbent- (Can use one towel for two people!) I've picked up two bath towels, and a few hand and face clothes and been very happy with. I purchased the undyed natural coloured towels, but they also have black tea dyed, a dark blue, and light green coloured version.

Devil May Wear: Very Cool Local Clothing

Devil May Wear is slightly hidden off of main street amongst lots of the trendy main street clothing stores. They have a sign sitting out, so make sure to look for it when passing by, and definitely go inside!

They have an online shop on etsy.com, (a site for handmade products) so if you can't make it to their store at 198 E21st ave, some of their products are available there.

Their store is very cute and small, packed full of local designers clothing and some sustainable fabrics. They have some very soft bamboo tights in multiple colours, which I've been eyeing up but haven't yet bought. I was really amazed by the amount of clothing there was in that small of a space, but it was all well layed out so was easy to navigate, however doesn't take much for the store to be pretty crowded.

Organic Coffee, in the midst of Canadaline Construction

Trees Organic Coffee house.. Makes a very delicious Chai lattes, and really yummy looseleaf green tea bags. Friendly, warm atmosphere. Only serves 100% organic coffee, which is roasted on premises. Is a really great place to hang out with friends for a chat over coffee, or have a casual business meeting. I frequently go there to use their free w i-fi and chat about projects and life over a warm beverage.

Located on 450 Granville st. Always a quiet atmosphere, and large enough that even when there's a lot of people there, can always find a seat on either the very strange, but oddly comfortable wooden chairs, or a large comfy couch. They serve sandwiches, fresh soups and lots of pastries and cakes (the 'best cheesecake' in vancouver!), even some vegan items! They also offer catering.

BarCamp 2007 Wrap-up

So the crazy weekend is over.

My apologies to Boris.

I'm sure some of you noticed I was not there on Saturday-- I was not passed out anywhere, I unfortunately had to attend a Wedding up in Kelowna, so I missed Saturday. (Besides the 4 hour drive, I felt fine!)

Hopefully next year will be able to attend both days. Met lots of people. Was definitely an interesting experience.

HAHA. Have enjoyed hearing how everyones nights went. Too bad I had to miss it. *grin* It's always good when you don't have an internet connection for a few days, and suddenly everyone is talking about you and you had no clue.

Ah, all good times. Cheers!