Vancouver

A staple of summer and one of the funnest places to spend your nights for delicious food, great deals, and a late night out with friends. Nightlife Host Christina Meng heads to the Richmond Night Market to take in the sights, sounds, and tastes of this exciting night spot. Richmond Night Market Opened May 17, 2013 About 24/604 24/604 is the New Vancouver Lifestyle Show that will take you on a journey to introduce you to some of the Gems of our City! From Active Activities, to Amazing Places to Eat, and the Best Spots for a Night Out, we will be your Vancouver Video Tour Guide. For more information Like us on Facebook at fb.com/24604 and Follow us on Twitter at @24604tv

I have no idea who coined the phrase "patio dress", but I love sitting on patios and I love wearing dresses so I'll use it for this post. The Victoria Day long weekend has come and gone and I feel like summer is just around the corner. As usual, I'll be frequenting lots of patios. Here are some dresses I think will be perfect to wear while sipping chardonnay:sourcesourcesource

I took over 700 photos today…over 500 of them were at the Alice in Wonderland play my buddy, Fiona, is directing. I just have to tell you, if you ever think the arts are not going to survive, just go to one high school play and you will see that there are people who love and can’t wait to keep the arts alive! In music! And dancing! And acting! And plays…as in, acting live, no retakes, no photoshop, just people who have taken the time to memorize so many lines and put on make up, and help each other. NOW, I’ve got photos of all those things, but I have to wait to get permission from everyone before I put any of those photos on my blog. It’s the right thing to do! I can’t wait to show you. I took all kinds of portraits at that play. It was lovely. I was the only one taking photos and could just go wherever I pleased. That is quite the privilege. I am so glad I got to do it. After the play, I headed home to rest (because I think I’ve got a cold coming on…or something is up, but I refuse to be allergic to anything, so I’ve decided it’s a low grade cold), but got an invitation to go on a photowalk with Mike & Scott. They took me to a waste water pond and then to an overpass so we could take photos of the traffic coming off the Alex Fraser Bridge. Boy. Do they know how to show a gal a good time or what? Even though I took photos of the cars zooming below us (ZZZZzzzz) I found it much more fun to take photos of Mike & Scott. I brought my lensbaby and my 50 mm. I opted out of a tripod because I knew I’d have to hand hold my camera – lensbabys are tough to focus on a tripod. I was hoping to get lots of groovy bokeh photos. Here are my grooviest: Scott, who could NOT be happier to be standing on an overpass, in the chilly wind, taking photos of cars…which, as it got darker, became just trails of lights, which, was actually pretty cool. Mike also had  his tripod out AND his gopro: Mike also couldn’t be happier taking photos in the cold of cars and 18 wheeler trucks as they drove by. We were in an industrial area and I counted 3 semis for Canada Bread drive by us. That’s a lot of bread to be transporting around. So, the ONLY photo I took of the traffic that I liked was this one: Falling stars! It’s just traffic after the sun went down (the red streaks are the rear lights of cars) and the stars above that are a combination of street lights and some lights from the bridge. I think I’m just going to stick with candid portraits. I like them the very best.

© 2004-2013 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604. Reflections is a patio lounge and restaurant tucked into a 4th floor courtyard at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia with covered open-air seating, a fire pit, comfy couches, and water features that help you escape the bustling city below. Having recently re-opened for the season, you can enjoy cocktails, lunch, and dinner in the lounge seven days a week from 11:30am until 11:00pm with live music on Sundays. The seasonal lunch menu includes dishes like the roasted summer squash salad (with raisins, pine nuts, and sherry vinaigrette); the seared albacore tuna sandwich (with arugula, sun-dried tomato, black olive tapenade, on a ciabatta bun); charcuterie (country style ham, manchego cheese, quince, toasted hazelnuts, grilled baguette); and more. To celebrate the opening of Reflections for the season, they have offered up a prize for a Miss604 reader that includes lunch for two and bottomless mimosas. Here’s how you can enter to win: Leave a comment on this post (1 entry) Post the following on Twitter (1 entry) RT to enter to win lunch for 2 + mimosas at @RWHotelGeorgia’s #Reflections from @Miss604 http://ow.ly/ldzpb I will draw one winner at random from all entires at 10:00am on Saturday, May 25, 2013. Must be of legal drinking age to enter and use this prize. Please enjoy responsibly. © 2004-2012 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604.com. If you are not reading this via official Miss604 channels, this content is being reproduced without permission. The post Win Lunch at Reflections at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia appeared first on Vancouver Blog Miss604.

© 2004-2013 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604. Vancouver loves its fun runs and the Radiant Run happening at UBC on a warm, dark August evening promises to have plenty of fun included. This 5km run will feature music along the route and participants are encouraged to wear their “neon, craziest, most wildly bright outfit” along the course to make a moving light parade. The event begins at 6:00pm on Saturday, August 24, 2013 at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium and the run starts at 8:00pm. The Freshest DJ Collective will supply the music and beats for runners and walkers of all ages and skill levels. The course, which is fairly flat, will be lit with “glow glow dancers”, colourful murals, and lighted installations. It will go along roads and through plazas, and will have areas for spectators (marked on the course map which is coming soon). This is not a competitive race and everyone is encourage to go at their own pace to enjoy the experience. The Afterglow party will have more music, an assortment of Vancouver’s best food carts, and a beer garden (for those of legal drinking age). Registration is now open and the run is limited to just 5,000 participants. Proceeds from the Radiant Run will support the Make-A-Wish Foundation of BC/Yukon and Cystic Fibrosis Canada. Follow the Radiant Run on Facebook and Twitter for more information and be sure to sign up before it sells out. Miss604.com is a Social Media Partner of Vancouver’s first Radiant Run. © 2004-2012 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604.com. If you are not reading this via official Miss604 channels, this content is being reproduced without permission. The post Radiant Run Vancouver 2013 appeared first on Vancouver Blog Miss604.

Follow Me Foodie to Surrey Restaurant Week! The 1st Annual Surrey Restaurant Week May 24 – June 2! Enter to win $100! Bet you didn’t see that one coming! I didn’t, but I’m happy to. I flip flop with these “Dine Out” events because often I find they don’t represent the restaurant on a regular night, but I do like the fact that it gives people incentive to support the restaurant industry. I have a soft spot for restaurants in the suburbs because they get overlooked. I’ve found some hidden gems and excellent restaurants and some of my favourite places for Japanese, Indian and Latin food is in fact in the suburbs. Downtown Vancouver has excellent eats, but the ethnic eateries in the suburbs are fantastic to explore. Surrey Restaurant Week is May 24 to June 2 (10 days) and is presented by BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA) and Tourism Surrey. Restaurants are offering 3 course set menus at $20, $30 and $40. Over 40 restaurants in the Guildford, Whalley & Surrey City Centre, Fleetwood, Newton, South Surrey, and Cloverdale neighbourhoods will be participating and the dining options are diverse. I took a look at the participating restaurants and I was ecstatic to see Tokachi (amazing gomaae and sashimi), Taste of Punjab, and McJac’s Roadhouse Grille (get a sourdough loaf to go) participating. Those are some local favs in Surrey, and I hope this gives you incentive to make the trip out and visit them. If you’re already in the neighbourhood, than I’m jealous. Those restaurants can rival restaurants in Metro Vancouver. I’m also really curious about Pachamami Sabor Latino and Morgans Restaurant & Wine Bar as well as a couple others. See  the full list of participating restaurants and menus here. Follow Me Foodie’s Surrey Restaurant Week Contest! I’m giving away a $100 worth of gift certificates to a restaurant of your choice participating in Surrey Restaurant Week. Please see here for participating restaurants and their menus. The gift certificate does not have to be used during Surrey Restaurant Week. How to enter: 1) Comment on this post with which restaurant you would like to try in Surrey Restaurant Week. or 2) Tweet: Follow & RT to enter! I entered to win $100 to dine out during Surrey Restaurant Week from @followmefoodie –> http://bit.ly/14IF55N CONTEST CLOSES FRIDAY May 23 AT 11:59PM. Terms & Conditions: 1. Contest open to Canadian residents. 2. FollowMeFoodie.com and BCRFA retain the right to approve entries. 3. Prize not negotiable, cannot be exchanged or taken as cash. 4. Allow 15 days for prize delivery. 5. If winner does not respond within 30 days of the closing date of the contest another winner will be selected.

© 2004-2013 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604. Canadian technology media personality Steve Dotto of Dotto Tech is hosting a series of events around the Lower Mainland with a talented line-up of speakers. The theme for these ProTECHtivity seminars is about being productive with your technology (apps, devices, etc.). The next one is coming up on Thursday in West Vancouver. What: ProTECHtivity North Shore Where: Hollyburn Country Club When: Thursday, May 23, 2013 from 8:00am to 4:30pm Tickets: Available online. WIFI, coffee, and snacks are included. Steve Dotto will be the first speaker of the day, talking about productivity apps, and he will be followed by a coffee break then Victoria’s own Mike Vardy with his session “Personal Productivity Power Session: Task Management”. Darci LaRocque will be up next with “Top Tips Managing your Smartphone AND your Email” and after lunch, Linda Chu’s talk “Paper Chase” will focus on organization. Brooks Duncan will follow with “The Paperless Office”, then Steve will return with “Evernote and Beyond” including some of his essential tool tips to round out the day. I have the pleasure of being invited to Steve’s Dotto Tech show on AM650 radio every few weeks and he’s not only an entertaining and informative speaker, he definitely knows the best tools for the job whatever skill level you might have when it comes to technology. Book your spot today as this event is just a few days away. If you can’t make it to the North Shore, you can catch the same line-up in Victoria on June 6th or in the Fraser Valley on June 20th. Follow @DottoTech on Twitter and Protechtivity on Facebook for more information about this workshop and upcoming events. © 2004-2012 Rebecca Bollwitt - Miss604.com. If you are not reading this via official Miss604 channels, this content is being reproduced without permission. The post ProTECHtivity Workshop in West Vancouver appeared first on Vancouver Blog Miss604.

Photo credit: placbo | Flickr Legend has it that the chicken wing, or Buffalo wing if you prefer, was conceived one winter night in 1964 in Buffalo, New York.  Until then, wings were thought of as scraps – used for stock or just thrown out.  Then Teressa Bellissimo, owner of the humble Anchor Bar, came up with the idea of deep frying the puny little things and tossing them in cayenne sauce.  A bar classic was born. Of course, Vancouver’s no slouch either in the wings’ department.  Pub food aficionados know that there are hundreds of places across the city to get a decent helping, from traditional hot wings to crazy variations incorporating everything from pineapple to curry. This month, many of those delicious wings are being put to the test as part of the inaugural Vancouver Chicken Wings Challenge.  Dozens of restaurants across Metro Vancouver are facing off to take home the title of the city’s best wings, from May 14-June 9.  And – in the democratic spirit of chicken wings – winners are picked not by professional judges but by everyday wing enthusiasts across the city like you. Here’s how it works. Stop into as many of the 14 participating restaurants as you can before June 9 and dig into an order of their wings.  Then log onto contest organizer Vancouver Foodster and vote for your favourites.  According to contest rules, wings should be judged on “originality, creativity, uniqueness, traditional, non-traditional, price, value and most importantly taste.” Here are just a few of this year’s entries to whet your appetite: Kimchi Chicken Wings: The classic Korean condiment inspires this creation at downtown’s Rogue Kitchen: Wings are glazed in a kimchi puree reduced with honey, orange and wheat ale, then served with sliced cucumber and herb salad.  $12.99, Rogue Kitchen and Wet Bar, 601 W. Cordova St.   Confit Chicken Wings:  Downtown’s Kingston Taphouse offers an upscale take on the original: Locally sourced Fraser Valley wing confit is fried in duck fat, then tossed with orange cardamom salt and pepper and drizzled with sherry chervil creme fraiche.  $7,   Kingston Taphouse and Grille, 755 Richards St.  Gramercy Grill’s Chicken Wings: The West Side restaurant puts a pan-Asian spin on the classic recipe: Wings are marinated in pineapple, then dusted with roasted garlic and bell pepper and served over crispy vermicelli and red curry veggies.  $12, Gramercy Grill, 2685 Arbutus St. Grilled Harissa Drumettes: Harissa, the Tunisian hot chile sauce, makes this dish pop at Denman Street’s Sol Sun Belt.  Wings are served with mango salsa and house-made harissa and drizzled with argan oil.  $10-$14, Sol Sun Belt Cookery, 550 Denman St.   See the full list of participating restaurants here. Got your own favourite spot for wings?  Let us know below.   For more updates on Vancouver and beyond, follow me on Twitter @RemyScalza.

I love having Monday off. I feel like summer is just around the corner and we have so many fun activities planned. Can't wait....Here's what I got up to this past weekend!mojito madness // Tableau with Jenni Aquabus to Granville Island // Sushi Taking advantage of Spot Prawn season // making pesto // getting back into the roséLinking up with Sami!

I got them done! I will be taking these flags to Amy to take with her to the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild meeting tomorrow. If these hearts look familiar, it’s because I took them from this…I’m not even sure what I was planning when I made it in the first place, but it worked perfectly for this project. And yes, those are roosters on the heart. For reasons unknown, I want the people of Boston to have them. I stamped the back of both of them with some StazOn (permanent ink) and ironed it on for good measure. Soon they will be off to the United States to go along with all of these flags. It will be beautiful. I still have a lot to clean up in the craft room/guest bedroom. Today I just pushed everything aside and sewed in the middle of the mess. Oscar’s been hanging out in this room a lot – he started going in there when Lorne stayed with us a couple of weeks ago. Oscar can usually be found on the bed.  In between piles of fabric and boxes. SHAMEFUL. He doesn’t seem to mind it too much, though. Well. Maybe he minds a little bit. Alright, alright…I’ll get it done soon.