Halifornia

I went to Halifax last week.  It was a brief business trip - about 48 hours - and it was a really nice experience.

The trip started last Wednesday morning; I cabbed from my apartment to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.  I rarely take cabs in the city but since I had luggage - albeit light - and since it was business, I thought I'd treat myself.  It's too expensive though.  I took the airport shuttle and subway back when I returned to Toronto.

I went to the airport much earlier than I needed to, as I had a conference call placed awkwardly in my day - too close to the flight to wait until after the call to head to the airport... too early to be at the airport to take the call there.  That said, I'm of the "early is never a bad thing" school of thought, plus I love the lounge at the island airport, so early I would be.

Porter refers to its service as Flying Refined, and it really is.  I sped through security and arrived in the lounge with time to spare - enough time to get a coffee, some almonds, and set up shop for my call.

The flight itself was lovely, too.  Tell me - why do I instinctively crave tomato juice on planes?

I got into Halifax around 3:00 pm and was at my hotel - the Westin Nova Scotian - in downtown Halifax by 4:00.  For the record, I am not an extremely experienced traveller and I haven't stayed in a lot of hotels, but I've stayed at the Westin Nova Scotian twice now, and it's the best hotel I've ever been to.  I feel special there.  It's fancy yet not too pricey.  During my stay, I had two delicious breakfasts at their restaurant, Elements; room service for a late dinner, which was a total treat; watched cable in bed on the big screen TV; had a bath; had two glorious sleeps... it was heavenly.  I highly recommend staying there if you get the chance.

The view from my hotel room of the Halifax harbour.

Earlier that day I tweeted that I was going to Halifax and asked the Twitterverse whether anyone had any recommendations for restaurants.  Though I'm not pretentious enough to call myself a foodie (nor do I think the label necessarily fits), y'all know I love food and good restaurants, so I wanted something great.  At least two people recommended The Five Fishermen, so I made a reservation online and around 6:45 pm I walked over.

 

My desire was t ohave a quiet, luxurious, and delicious evening out, and that desire was mostly fulfilled.  They had a table for one near the fireplace ready for me; there was no awkward removal of a second place setting.  Much appreciated.  The Five Fishermen nailed service and ambiance; it was quiet, had a great vibe, and no one made me feel like I was there too long (I was there for two hours).  I had a great time there.  I took my time, had a delicious glass of Nova Scotian wine, ate lots, started a new book (The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb), and deliberately kept iPhone use to a minimum.  However, the disappointing part?  The food!  I know!  Unexpected.  At the time I was totally satisfied, but I think I was full on great dining... not great food.  Maybe my mistake was that I didn't order a main.  I didn't want to spend too much, so I opted for wine + access to the mussel and salad bar ($25) + bread and butter + clam chowder.  The mussels got cold really fast and the cowder was very bland.  I finished with dessert, which was really delicious.  I had coffee and sticky toffee pudding (yum!) with their housemade icecream (YUM!!!).  All in all, it was decadent, but if the food had been better than the rest of the experience..... well, I might not have left Halifax.

Regardless, I was in a coma on the way back to the hotel.  After a bath and a dose of cable, I was out like a light.

My colleague and I met for breakfast at 9:00 and enjoyed delicious eggs Benedict (and he informed me that it was St. Benedict's Day... how about that!).  I then retreated to my hotel room for a few hours of peaceful and quiet work.

Business trips are great, for so many reasons.  I don't have to travel much, so they're still a novelty.  I keep busy enough these days that sometimes I forget I've got a trip coming up, but I really enjoy it.  It's paid travel and related expenses, a break from the routine, a chance to see a different city... but for me it's also an opportunity to slow down.  It's a chance to treat myself, a chance to catch up on emails, a chance to read, a chance to go for walks and see new things, a chance to do work that on any other day might seem tedious, but somehow in a hotel room feels therapeutic... the list goes on.....

I don't know if traveller's guilt has anything to do with Catholic guilt, but I have small cases of both.  I'm grateful for traveller's guilt when it's not too extreme though because despite how lovely a day spent in a hotel room might seem, TG kicks in and I know I've got to get out and do something.



Beautiful Halifax buildings that I saw on my walk to the Citadel.

I did a little searching online and learned about the noontime cannon at the Halifax Citadel.  For at least 100 years they've been firing a cannon at noon to set the city clock by?  Sounds pretty cool to me.  At 11:30 I left my room and walked the very inclined route to Citadel Hill.  I got to the Citadel and it was really cool and quiet; nothing was really open, but a nice staffperson told me a great spot to watch the firing from.  See the video below to see what it was like.  Definitely a good excuse to leave the hotel, and a neat touristy thing to do.  I also learned my iPhone is on perfect GMT.

I walked from there to Pizza Corner (another Twitter recommendation).  I'm not sure if that's the actual name of the joint or if it's just called that because it's a pizza place on the corner.  I was told to try the donair... it was delicious.  Next time I'd like to try a big slice of donair pizza.  Yum!

I walked back to the hotel to rest, work, and get ready for the whole point of my trip - an event on Thursday night.  More work, more TV, more relaxing, a shower, and off I went to the event.

I held the event at the Split Crow.  That's where I held the event last year; it's a popular spot among Dalhousie students and it worked well for what I'm trying to do.  It was a good event this year, too, but I don't think I'll hold it at the SC next year.  The staff was okay but not very accommodating, and sometimes even aggressive.  It was well worth the trip though; it was a great event!

I left the pub earlyish and walked back to the hotel.  Wanna know a secret?  I've never gotten room service!  I have one memory of getting it as a kid - I think - but no vivid memories, and I've definitely never ordered it myself.  Or, at least, I hadn't before... I have now!  I got back from the event and after getting into PJs, I ordered myself a pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries and a pop!  Absolutely divine!  It came on a tray which I sat right on my bed and enjoyed while watching an episode of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon".  Again, heavenly.

Another delicious sleep, and back to Elements for breakfast.  This time, I had eggs, sausage, and homefries.  Then I booked a cab with the concierge, went to my room to pack up, and off I went to the airport.

All in all, a great trip.

Tweet / Poke

I think Twitter & Facebook are meant for different sentiments. You know what I mean?

TWEET!

Here's a weird 21st century concept:

When someone famous tweets @ you or RTs you, you feel famous.

True fact.

EDIT - I wasn't tweeted @ or RT'd by anyone famous, just FYI. I just know a few people who have been AND I know I would feel famous if it happened to me. So new gen.

Gravy LOVES: Alex & Luke

THEIR STORY :

In September of 2009, after a few unexpected life turns, we started planning this project. Restless with our current positions in our respective lives, we set out to see what would happen if we used the power of social media to enable an exploration of North America.

Without a route or any preconceived idea of what we will see and do, we are calling on the communities behind the most popular social media websites to act as our compass (pointing us where to go) and our guidebook (telling us what to see).

Equipped with a small car and a trunk load of equipment, our goal is to travel through every state, province and territory while documenting and sharing the experience through web videos and other internet content available at our website, alexandluke.com.

We will be exploring the gap between real-time relationships and online relationships and it is our hope that connections between these two realms will be made in interesting and unexpected ways. Every individual who participates and engages with alexandluke, both on and offline will play a role in our journey. Sometimes these relationships will be formed deliberately, and other times by pure happenstance.

The desire to explore has been with us for thousands of years. The geography of North America is relatively the same as it has been for centuries. The need to collect and share the travel experience with others is as old as is travel itself. But never before has exploration been so accessible and sharing been so easy.

Who we will meet, where we will sleep, what we will see, and even the most fundamental aspect – where we will go, are all unknown. The notion of directionless travel may not be a new one, but this wanderlust is both facilitated and shared through new social technologies in an internet-empowered world

We leave it in your hands to help us experience the North America that you think we should experience and you can do this in a number of ways. Regular polls will be held on the home page of our website, but you can also interact with us through Twitter (where you can vote and make suggestions), YouTube (where you can vote and watch our videos), Gowalla (where you can check in with our current location and visited destinations) and on our Facebook Fan Page (where you can interact with us and our other followers). Click on the Interact button on our home page to learn more.

We can’t wait to see how the story unfolds, and how your involvement will affect our journey.

Alex & Luke are innovative, fun, smart, cute, and totally plugged in all the time! CHECK THEM OUT!!!

Social Media + Marketing = Mind-Blowing

Before I say anything else, check this out: This is the official YouTube blog. I checked it out for the first time today and yesterday they posted a great entry. It segues pretty well into my topic today:

Social Media and the concept of "Accidental Spokespeople".

I'm reading this great book right now that my boss lent me. It's called *Personality Not Included and it's written by Rohit Bhargava. I haven't read many (if any) marketing books, and I'm feeling like this book is a great intro. I'm only 60 or so pages into it, but here's what I figure it's about - "why brands need personality in this day and age to be successful". Bhargava talks about social media and the birth of the "accidental spokesperson". This person is someone inside or outside of a company that discusses the company just because they want to, and presumably are enthusiastic and passionate about it. Examples he uses are Intel employees who keep blogs about research, updates, and news regarding the company, Jared from Subway, and this guy named Armand who LOVES Moleskine notebooks. In fact, Armand loves the notebooks SO much that he keeps a blog called Moleskinerie where he discusses all the great things you can do with a Moleskine. Just a sidenote: I have a Moleskine notebook, too. They are the best.

Anyway, what Bhargava is saying is that all these people keeping blogs are amazing assets to the companies they belong to or are enthusiastic about. In this day and age, we rarely look to TV ads (if we even watch TV), newspaper ads, or flyers when we're thinking about buying a product, WE LOOK TO PEOPLE. We ask our friends, we check comment boards online, we ask a Yahoo! question and get a Yahoo! answer... We make it our status on Facebook, we tweet about it to our tweeple... You get what I (and everybody else) am saying. The world is changing, and these bloggers/tweeple/Facebookers are now our authorities.

How cool is that? We have so much power. If I write that I love Diet Pepsi SO MUCH (which I do... I was just drinking it while reading this book), and you read my blog and have never tried it but figure if I love it SO MUCH that maybe you will too, then maybe you'll drink it. I'm not saying you will for sure, but my blog might actually inspire that action. It's a really cool thing.

Social media is something I'm really starting to get into. Not in the sense that I'm registering for all the sites (because I mostly have already... at least all the popular ones), but I'm starting to reflect on its power more than ever. These aren't just sites that we waste our time on anymore. They are legitimate and powerful tools that we utilize to learn, help make our decisions, and keep in touch.

My mind is officially blown. Is yours?

Jacko!

Not that I'm any famous blogger or anything, but I feel the need to blog about Michael Jackson. I refuse to reference it in my Twitter (https://twitter.com/maevaflave) or Facebook statuses because it's all been done, and plus - it's hard (for me) to say anything heartfelt in less than 140 characters.

Sidenote: I am NOT a Facebook/Twitter hater. I love new technology, and I'm completely self-obsessed, so I figure that everyone loves my statuses.

Anyway, back to Jack.

Firstly, an unreal pic is in order:


I don't know if I've mentioned it, but I love The Beatles, so seeing Sir Paul & MJ together, lookin' all stylish and musical genius-y makes me really happy.

MJ changed the face of music and its performance, let's be real. The music he made was new, fresh, and fierce. His dancing was the same, and he did it all SO. WELL.

I know he's done some crazy things, but you know what? Personal lives and professional lives are tied together far too much these days with celebrities. It used to be about the music back when MJ was doing his thang, so why can't it still be about that? I'm glad to see (so far) that people are celebrating his musical legacy, as opposed to harping on his mistakes, etc. I don't know what he did or didn't do in terms of all that, but I know that he changed our cultural world, and hope that we all focus on that.

RIP.

Tweetin'

I am chagrinned. I have neglected this blog. I feel like it's my old toy car and I got a really cool remote control one and have been dedicating so much attention to the new, cool, shiny one, and completely ignoring my old, beaten-up racecar... or really any such analogy...

In other news, racecar is a palindrome, and so is the phrase: "Never odd or even". Coooool.

So yeah - time to reboot Sugar and Gravy a bit, eh? Get some new entries in and try to be a little more consistent? You betcha, I will.

I'm getting adjusted by a chiropractor this morning. It's kinda hilarious because this chiropractor adds me to Twitter and sees (palindrome!) that my birthday is coming up (tomorrow) and offers me a free adjustment. I've never been adjusted before... I wonder what it will consist of. Will it be painful? Whatever... it's one of those things that just comes out of nowhere and you've gotta pounce on the opportunity, I think. I never used to do shit like this, but like my best friend W. and I realized yesterday, or rather, acknowledged, I'm a totally different person than I was 6 months ago. Or not totally different, but vastly different, I think.

Anyway, gotta get dressed and ready to be adjusted.