C.C.

This blog has shape-shifted and migrated!

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:38:00 +0000

Check it out: www.thepurple-iciousdragon.com

I haven't posted here in ages because I have been working on upgrading. Not being an astoundingly tech savvy person it took me a while to figure out all the cool new gadgets on my new and improved platform, but I finally feel ready to unveil: The Purple-icious Dragon. www.thepurple-iciousdragon.com

a lower case edible post.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:19:00 +0000

i love to cook. and i am always looking for inspiration from my cookbooks and the internet. anyway figured i'd share in case you were on the lookout for what to cook... dinner tonight was really good!

salad

arugula
orange pepper
tomato
shallot
bacon
avocado
shrimp
blue cheese

dressing

olive oil
red wine vinegar
dijon mustard
salt & pepper
maple syrup

C2 Summer Reads

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:56:00 +0000

I know summer is coming to a close and this post would have made more sense in June, but I didn't really know what my summer reads were gonna wind up being back in June.

It started with "The Girl Who Fell From the Sky" by Heidi W. Durrow. Then I simply had to re-read the final Harry Potter book before seeing the movie, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling. Next up was Steve Martin's latest novel "An Object of Beauty". Finally, I am finishing up the summer with another book that is now in theaters, "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

I highly recommend all four books and they all carry my #1 mandate for summer reads: they're easy.

My favourite places to read in the summer are at the beach or in the park.

Fort Building 101

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 19:07:00 +0000

For the first time in two years a couple that loves camping loaded up their Toyota 4Runner and headed off into the wilderness.

They ran around all morning like chickens with their heads cut off gathering up supplies only to discover, just as they were ready to blast off like a herd of turtles, that their tent had been stolen from the car in a recent break-in adventure carried out by two local bums. Here's hoping the local bums are getting good use of the beloved orange tent somewhere in Gastown. No doubt the tent went willingly with the bums due to an overwhelming level of neglect by it's rightful owners.

After calling around only to learn that none of their friends were major camping aficionados, as no one had a tent they could borrow, a decision was made to grab a tent along the way. Finally the open road.

Winding north along the coast with Mountains towering majestically on their right and the ocean stretching out mottled with islands to their left, the couple enjoyed rediscovering the freedom of a spontaneous weekend getaway.

Spontaneous is described in dictionary.com as: coming or resulting from a natural impulse or tendency; without effort or premeditation; natural and unconstrained; unplanned.

Upon arrival at the campground the young couple discovered that camping is not an endeavour most people embark on spontaneously. Much like randomly deciding to dine around 8 p.m. at the latest most happening restaurant in New York City, without a reservation for a spot the couple was s.o.l. (shit outta luck!)

Uh-oh now they really were on an adventure. Can a couple city kids make in the wilderness without the protection of a National Park?

A decision was made to stop at the nearby town and ask a local yocal what to do. After mocking the idea that camping in a campground was truly camping the yocal helped the couple out, "That ain't camping. As long as you don't need fancy stuff like toilets and showers there's free camping all over here. Just drive 20min that way and when the road turns to a dirt road drive for another 10min then pick a spot along the river and camp."

About ten minutes down the road the couple realized since they would be camping without the supervision of Park Rangers they ought to head back into town for some water and firewood.

Okay now they were ready, they had all the supplies: tent, wood, water, matches, beer, wine, food, etc.

Time to head into the wild. Holy smokes this adventure was getting extreme. Sure enough the couple found a spot to camp for free beside the river surrounded by trees and mountains.

Here they built their fort, also known as: setting up camp.

Once camp was set up the fishing pole came out and the couple felt like Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Read in the trees!

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 20:41:00 +0000

Great camping reads:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Definitely climb up a tree and read in the branches with this one!)

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer

The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert

Reading any of these books in nature is an epic experience!

This makes me smile :-)

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 16:07:00 +0000

Check out the website: www.playingforchange.com

It's all about connecting the world through music and creating a positive change. What a beautiful thing.

How about a nooner?

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:51:00 +0000

If you live or work or play in downtown Vancouver (all three are acceptable answers) check this out:

Everyday this summer at noon there is a free concert out front of the CBC building at 700 Hamilton St. (Between Robson St and Georgia St. on Hamilton)

Check out the CBC community blog for the full schedule!
http://www.cbc.ca/bc/community/blog/2010/07/free-summer-concerts-on-cbc-vancouvers-outdoor-stage.html

Downtown L.A.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:40:00 +0000

A Night Out

Coles 118 East 6th St Los Angeles CA 90014 (213) 622-4090
colesfrenchdip.com/

Start off at Coles for classic cocktails. The old school bar is classic with movies from the 1930s playing in black and white, and bartenders dressed the part. When you know the man behind the bar is a serious mixologist go for an Old Fashioned or a proper Whiskey Sour (made with egg whites!)

Then head over to Bottega Louie for some seriously good food. The restaurant is housed in an old bank building and the result is a marble open concept dining room that is an experience itself. The confections at the front are so beautifully displayed its hard not to think about which macaroons you're going to have for dessert throughout your meal.

Bottega Louie 700 S. Grand Ave Los Angeles CA 90017 (213) 802-1470
www.bottegalouie.com

Refresh Your Cocktail

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 02:00:00 +0000

Buy some mint. Make yourself a drink. I dare you not to make a classic mojito. Get creative, like chemistry class for adults!

Store your bushel of mint in a vase for fragrant, stylish longevity!

The Vibe of Venice

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 02:01:00 +0000

When it comes to people watching you can't beat Venice Beach. The most eclectic part of L.A., and for a city that collects crazy people like they're going outta style, that is a loaded statement.

Can you spot the creature?

Hop on a beach cruiser bike and tootle all the way from Venice through Santa Monica to Malibu, whilst stopping for wobbly-pop refreshments along the ride...

If you're looking for a party after the sun goes down end your search at Townhouse, it will not disappoint.

Get your groove on!

Stay Classy San Diego ;-)

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:13:00 +0000

San Diego (It means Whale's Vagina ~ Ron Burgundy)

Made famous by Sea World and Comic Con, the city of San Diego is a dream for a chilled out beach vacation.

Play.
Get out on the water in a boat and you are bound to see dolphins playing in your wake. You'll also catch some sea lions chillaxing on buoys and docks as you zoom past.
www.seaforthboatrental.com

Eat.

Check out Waterfront Bar and Grill for an awesome Mexican brunch and a medicinal bloody mary.
Waterfront
www.waterfrontbarandgrille.com

Fish tacos are one of my favorite foods and some of the best in all of the US are at South Beach in OB (Ocean Beach). Eat at the bar upstairs while you watch some gnarly surfing dude!
South Beach
www.southbeachob.com

Play.

A trip to San Diego is not complete without a spin or two on the old roller coaster in Mission Beach.

You may even run into local legend Mike and his epic hair!

A Fresh Splash of Color in Hollywood

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:43:00 +0000

Hollywood Farmer's Market

Sundays from 8am - 1pm at Ivar & Selma Avenue in Hollywood, CA.

Inspire- Go For It... Jump!

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 18:10:00 +0000

JUMP!

I dare you ;-p

Whatever it is in your life that scares you, just tell your mind to shutup and do it.

By the way that day my girlfriend Jenna and me made more of a fuss leaping into a cold lake than jumping off a bridge. Isn't it funny how so often in life it's the little things that bugger us up more than the big things? Think of how much a paper cut bothers you versus a real cut...

Play

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:34:00 +0000

I did a post a while ago that was a sort of class assignment in school. It was about social media and twitter vs. facebook. A recent tweet by Epictweets inspired this post. She tweeted: "Facebook: where you lie to your friends, Twitter: where your honest with strangers"

The truth of that tweet resonated with me. There's something about tweeting that feels anonymous, false sense of security of course, always be cautious about anything you write online. Famous line from the movie "The Social Network": "The internet is in ink, you can't erase it." Aaron Sorkin has a way with words.

Here's some of my fave tweets:

@wblunderfield "Weekly Will-ism: Get so focused on giving your gift that you have no time to judge yourself or anyone else"

@disney "When you're curious you find lots of interesting things to do. And one thing it takes to accomplish something is courage.--Walt Disney"

@epictweets "Don't agree with abortion? Don't get one.Don't agree with gay marriage? Don't have one. Don't like your rights being taken away. Don't take away anyone elses."--epic tweets has a lot of awesome tweets, she lives up to her moniker.

@stevemartin "STEVE MARTIN IS REALLY OILED AND BUFF! OMG, my twitter account was just hacked." -- What a weirdo ;-p

Not gonna lie sometimes the 140 characters limit is a real b!&*h. I don't think twitter is the future. I don't think facebook disconnects us. I just find it all amusing, and facebook on your birthday is the like the best hug ever!

Play

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:05:00 +0000

The concrete jungle...

I love this city!

Style

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 19:41:00 +0000

That's how ridonculously stoked I was to get to wear this gorgeous Obakki dress to the Leo Awards recently.

Obakki is a local Vancouver design house known for their earthy, artistic designs. The clothes are manufactured in Canada, in Vancouver in fact. As well, the Obakki Foundation http://obakkifoundation.org works to support humanitarian causes around the world. Not only are the clothes beautiful and special, the company itself is as well. They were so friendly and down to earth to work with which is not always the case in the fashion world... My mom came with me to pick out a dress and she was quickly converted as a fan of the brand, as she herself began coveting the lovely items on the racks.

Thank you Obakki! Their flagship store in Gastown in Vancouver is worth checking out based on the layout alone. It won the Governer's General award for its innovative and contemporary design.

Style

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:20:00 +0000

(My dress courtesy of Obakki and Brad's pink ruffled shirt dug out from deep within his closet!)

Today is a red carpet day! How ridiculously exciting is that! My talented boyfriend has gone ahead and gotten himself nominated for a Leo award which means we have a red carpet event to attend this evening!

So that was a couple weeks ago and now I'm gonna finish the post...

What a great event, we really had a wonderful time at the Leo Awards 2011. It was our first time ever doing a red carpet event, press line and the whole gambit. I felt the same as when I used to play dress-up in my mom's closet when I was a little girl!

I definitely had a moment of panic when I realized that I had no idea how to get done-up for a red carpet event. Note: always be sure to paint your finger and toenails the day before, not hours before, because if you wait to the last minute on that step it just makes everything else more complicated. And as Brad and me learned in spades, just be yourself, wear what you want to wear, if you are confident and comfortable you are always in style.

Brad's pink shirt was a hotly debated item before we left the house. I cannot lie, myself and my parents were voting for a safe GQ look of just a white t-shirt with his tux; but he knew what he was comfortable in and everyone loved his pink shirt. Now he's threatening to give us all style lessons (cue eye roll.)

Obakki was kind enough to lend me a dress to wear for the event. That whole story is such fun that it gets it's own post!

(Special thanks to Miss 604 @ www.miss604.com for the use of her photo!)

Play

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:20:00 +0000

It finally happened, that magical first day of summer weather in Vancouver. The day we anticipate all February (and this year all march, april, may...) it felt like summer was never gonna arrive. We certainly missed out on spring entirely; which is truly a shame because Vancouver can have such magical springs. Not this year though, this year we got winter until June! It was painful. I am so so so tired of my winter clothes, at this point they are hanging on by a thread courtesy of over use.

Bring on the warm sunny weather and hello short shorts!

Cue Bill Withers "Lovely Day"

Style

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:39:00 +0000

I am a big fan of wearing scarves. They're an easy way to update your wardrobe, refresh old clothes, and keep warm! Furthermore, in the heat a light weight scarf is a brilliant sweatband of sorts, a discovery I made while traveling around South East Asia. My mom who is well aware of my penchant for scarves recently sent me the following video on You Tube; it's a crash course in scarf tying that will revive your style!

Some visuals of the hot weather travel scarf style:

Play

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 19:15:00 +0000

As if the movie really needs more hype at this point but after seeing "Bridesmaids" last night I have to give the flick a shout out because I'm still laughing! All the ladies are hilarious. Potty humour tends not to be my thing but the food poisoning scene nearly made me pee my pants... Now I can't stop jumping around singing this song:

In other music news, post-movie my girlfriend Christie (www.vancitydiary.com) were super bummed we couldn't get into the sold-out Foster The People show at Venue :-( Give 'em a listen, word on the street is they are gonna be HUGE!

Give it a listen...

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:10:00 +0000

I'm always on the lookout for new music. I am not one of those people who is so incredibly hip they are on the forefront of what is happening in the music scene. I often feel like I am completely out of the loop, so when I hear people discussing artists they love or I meet people who are obviously too hip to be square, I literally grab a pen and paper and take notes.

I'm currently slinging beer at folks who enter the pub I am working at post-grad, oh the joy, and my ears perked up when a couple of co-workers were discussing a the Aloe Blacc concert they were going to at Fortune. Those who weren't going were drooling over the opportunity and I was standing there thinking, "How do you spell that? Allo Black?"

Apparently I had probably heard his song "I Need A Dollar," I said "No, I haven't but I do need a dollar. Actually I need quite a few dollars!"

So I busted out my trusty pen and paper, got the correct spelling of the artists name--Aloe Blacc--and eagerly awaited the end of my shift so that I could search the internet for some new tunes.

Aloe Blacc rocks new soul style music that I love love! The video for his song "I Need a Dollar" has over 10 million hits on youtube, so I was the only person who hadn't heard that one.

Now hear this track "Loving You is Killing Me" and check the little dude dancing, damn he's good!

What now?

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Wed, 11 May 2011 23:09:00 +0000

It has happened, I have passed all my courses and I qualify to graduate. In a couple weeks I will walk across the stage to receive my B.A. diploma in English Literature. I am seriously proud of myself for this accomplishment, heaven knows it wasn't easy. My boyfriend often remarked that I made getting a first class education seem like serving a life sentence in Guatanamo Bay (I don't know how to spell that but whatever, moving on); and it's true I did.

Anyways now that I am done I don't know what to do with myself. Great. I have incredible anxiety that I should be busy all the time which my friends who have their degrees tell me won't go away for at least a year. It feels like the one skill I perfected in University (certainly not grammar) is procrastination. I can out procrastinate anyone on the planet (okay that's definitely an overstatement but that's how I feel.)

So here I am on a rainy Wednesday wasting time on the internet psyching myself up to read "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield. I have a heavy sense of forboding that this book is going to hit close to home...

Eat

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 19:26:00 +0000

Vancouver finally has great pizza! You know the scene in "Eat Pray Love" when Elizabeth (Julia Roberts) says, "I'm having a relationship with my pizza!" This is that pizza!

Nicli Antica Pizzeria in Gastown at 62 E. Cordova St., is authentic neapolitan pizza. It was so good I forgot to take any pictures. I could lay down and cry right now just thinking about how delicious it was, I really love good pizza!

The place was packed on a Sunday night. Canucks goalie, Roberto Luongo, popped in to pick up his to go order. Note: we tried to get our order to go, but they don't do take out, unless you're the goalie for the number one team in the NHL.

Maybe I'll have to go back tonight so I can get a picture for this post...

Inspire.

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 04:28:00 +0000

Sleep is totally underrated. I recently took a page from the book of a 4-month old baby, she slept so much. I realized something, I do not sleep enough. Much like the baby when I get overtired I get moody, instead of letting it all out like she does and crying until someone rocks me to sleep, I grab a coffee and attempt to push on through.

I'm currently doing a 30-day yoga challenge which is very rewarding and challenging. A good friend of mine is challenging herself to a detox involving: no sugar, no alcohol, and no caffeine for 30-days. Next month I'm thinking I may implement a 30-day eight hours of sleep a night challenge for myself. I bet it too will be very rewarding and, honestly, challenging to force myself to get to bed on time!

Arianna Huffington, creator of the Huffington Post, recently gave a short but sweet TED talk about the power of sleep. It seems like most of us could use a little more of it.

Arianna Huffington: How to succeed? Get more sleep | Video on TED.com

Create

noreply@blogger.com (Caitlin Cromwell) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:57:00 +0000

The following is an article I have written up for my journalism class. The intent is to create a conversation, so I would love to know your response to this article!

Twitter or Facebook

The consistent knocks on Twitter and Facebook and other social media tools are that they create poor real life social skills and disconnect people from genuine social interaction. Detractors of Facebook say that if they want to talk to their friends they pick up the phone and call them, but with the high cost of long distance it’s not so easy to call your friends around the world. Skype is amazing but have you ever tried scheduling a skype talk with your friend in Australia? Negotiating the time change can get complicated.

What about the power of these tools?

The recent uprisings in Egypt were largely organized via Twitter and Facebook.

Charlie Sheen just landed himself in the Guinness Book for his record breaking accumulation of over 1 million followers on Twitter within a mere 24 hours. For some this makes Twitter more intriguing, for others the site just became a lot less desirable.

Recent BCIT grad, construction manager Nick Postle deleted his Facebook account after seeing “The Social Network” saying, “The movie just really turned me off. I don’t need to have a bunch of people I don’t really know as my friends on Facebook.” Naturally he also does not have a Twitter account.

Social media can be a great self-promotion tool.

UBC Human Kinetics grad Jenna Maxwell uses Twitter and Facebook to promote her personal training business FLIP, “I think it’s great.” she says “It makes me feel so connected to other people, especially, in the training community.” Everyone from business people to movie stars are using social media tools to remain connected within their industry and with the world. Again Nick disagrees with this logic, “I don’t think any of it is necessary as a marketing tool, so many people are like: “I’m Linked IN”, “follow me on Twitter”, “check out my fan page on Facebook”, but it’s unnecessary noise just let your work speak for itself.” Then he reconsiders, “Well I guess I could see how if you are just getting started and if it relates to your industry it could be a good tool, but I’m in construction it’s not necessary.”

Beyond a marketing tool Twitter is a great way to keep up with the news. More and more news stories are being broken on Twitter every day. You can follow reputable news organizations like: the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and click on postings that interest you and read the articles. On Twitter you don’t have to tweet you can just follow subjects you are interested in and leave it at that. On Facebook you don’t have to be friends with people you don’t know, you are allowed to deny friend requests, really it’s okay. Facebook is great for keeping up with out of town friends and family. It’s faster and easier than snail mail and less formal than email.

Social media sites on the web, like: Twitter and Facebook are keeping people more connected to one another than ever before. Since the technology is still new and people are still navigating their way around these sites it is going to be very interesting to see how social networking sites continue to develop.

If you use Twitter and Facebook, which do you prefer? If you don’t subscribe to any social media tools, why not?

(You can follow me on Twitter: @caitcromwell)