Women Making a Difference

 

 

Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of getting to know some of the ladies that help to make the Italian-Canadian community in Toronto strong and proud. They are teachers, mothers, friends, philanthropists and health care professionals that have given their skills and their time to enrich the lives of many people around them. I profiled three of the women for the cover story of Panoram Italia‘s special September issue celebrating women in the Italian-Canadian community. Check it out online here!

Awareness Through Dance

I’ve gone to see one of the most popular ballets and have interviewed one of the most esteemed dancers in Canada, but until I wrote this piece for the February issue of The Beat I had never heard of a ballet raising awareness for domestic abuse. Ghosts of Violence is a ballet created by the Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada to provoke conversation and dialogue about domestic abuse issues in our communities. It will be presented across Ontario this month. Read about it’s creation and its mission here.

‘Tis Better to Give Than to Receive

I’m having a hard time thinking about what I want for Christmas. I’ve spend the past few weeks reading dozens of holiday press releases and compiling gift guides about the newest and greatest gifts to give this season, but I still can’t think of anything that I’m dying to get on December 25.

Call it gift overload if you will, but its probably because the things I want can’t be purchased at Yorkdale and wrapped up in a red and green papered box. I’d like to have some time to relax, read some books, watch some movies, eat some good food and just hang out with some of my favourite people in a place where the temperature will be in the double digits. And that’s exactly what I’m going to be getting this year and that’s good enough for me.

Here's to Christmas at the beach. Better than any other gift.

But still you’ll want to buy something for those special people in your life, and you might want them to buy you something too. I’ve found some lovely things to get and give which are featured here in Whatever Magazine, and small indulgences to add to the stockings on Christmas morning here on Hipurbangirls.com and here on styleninetofive.com

And if you really insist you have to get me something, then I guess I take an iPad 2 please and thank you. What? I can use it to read, watch movies, and look up recipes to make meals while I’m on my family vacation!

The Eleventh Month

Happy November or Movember for those of you growing ‘saches for the next 30 days. I invite you to celebrate the month with the new addition of The Beat Magazine. Ever been to a poetry reading? I speak with London poet Carey Toane about her upcoming poetry reading and her new collection of pros, The Crystal Palace.

The Beat July 2011 Hot off the Press

Happy Canada Day long weekend!

Looking to read up on some Canadian talent? May I suggest you pick up a copy of The Beat London Arts Magazine, or if you are off to the cottage, downoad the online version for your leisure reading. Celebrate everything Canadian, including the arts. Have a great weekend!

This Time Last Year

It’s funny how you can look back on things  and decide they were even better than you previously gave them credit for. Like when you were younger and you couldn’t wait to drive a car, make money, or pick your own clothes.

I’m just getting into the groove of 2011, but I still find myself looking back. Looking back at Facebook photos, archived emails and blog posts that remind me of where I was and what I was doing exactly 12 months ago.

My first picture as a Pinellas News Intern

Not only was I still a journalism student last January, but I was also an intern at the Pinellas News in St. Petersburg, Florida. Who would have guessed it would have been such an exciting and such an eye-opening learning experience. Not me.

It all started with a trip down to the Sunshine State. Funny enough I’m back down here right now and I wish I could be spending my days again reporting for the community paper. But my internship is long over and whats more is that little paper no longer exists.

As I took a drive downtown yesterday to visit my old stomping grounds as an intern reporter, the nostalgia really set in. This little community that I had known as my vacation hideaway since I was three years old became a place full of lively stories and interesting people that I was so eager to meet and write about. In the beginning I was quite intimidated at the thought of having to report in a city where I hardly knew anyone or anything, but that all wore off quicker than I expected just by talking to the natives and doing as much research and exploring as I could.

The view of downtown St. Petersburg

Not only did the internship give me a ton of great reporting experience that I have been able to build upon in my career, it gave me many memories and a newfound appreciation of the city of St. Petersburg that I will keep with me and think about every time I come back to visit.

Reporting from President Obama's town hall meeting in Tampa

Looking for a dose of the past? You can check out the stories from week one, two, three and four of my internship.

Tis the Season for Giving

As much as we complain about the stress and lack of time, shopping for presents around the Holidays really can be a pleasant experience. Seriously!

"Honey you got me a new ride? You shouldn't have!"

 

The stores are festive and inviting (ok minus the crowds and never ending lines), there are so many new and exclusive items to choose from and you go home carrying a parcel that is sure to put a smile on the face of the receiver.

Getting from the store to the present exchange part, however, can be rather intimidating for some (we can’t all be shopping pros!). You may be dealing with a receiver who has everything or a person whose only interests are obscure and hard to purchase for hobbies, or maybe you just really want to step your game up and find the ultimate gift for that special person.

Have no fear my gift giving-challenged friends! There are many wonderful Gift Guides out there to inspire the perfect present for anyone you love.

Particularly if you are in the market for something red or something gold to give this season, may I suggest you check out my themed gift guide in this month’s issue of Whatever Magazine.

In the words of Toronto rap sensation Drake, you can thank me later!

Sneak Peak at Tweak

Good things show up in your Inbox when you least expect it.

As an aspiring writer, I’ve come to learn that quick replies from editors are not common. Sometimes you can wait weeks and even months to hear back from someone about a pitch, job opportunity, or to find out when they will be publishing your latest assignment. I have to say it’s not easy to just sit back and wait, and sometime you can find yourself becoming  borderline stalkerish sending constant emails and leave too many voice mails trying to get any sort of answers.

But as soon as you stop obsessing a breakthrough will arrive- seriously.

This week I got word that a story I had written back in May (yes, that long ago) was going to be published in the lifestyle section of the London Free Press.

Photo by Shopsterium

Back when I was in j-school and doing shifts at the Free Press (also so very long ago it seems) I got to know the lifestyle editor at the paper and expressed interest in writing for the section. She had assigned me a profile about a local jewellery designer to do on my own time, and I almost forgot all about it until now.

In the last few months as a recent grad I’ve found the waiting game almost too much to bear, but that saying, “Good things come to those who wait” really reins true.

Patience my dear, patience.

Check out the story about Tweak Boutique Jewellery designed by Caroline Bruce of London, Ontario here.

Bake Box

What’s better than interviewing interesting young entrepreneurs? Interviewing interesting young entrepreneurs who make yummy treats and let you sample them!

On one of my many writing adventures this summer I interviewed 19-year-old Eric Battiston. Eric is the owner of Bake Box, a custom cake design studio in Vaughan he started a year ago.  I interviewed him for a feature in Whatever Magazine as he put together a two-tiered orange and blue fondant floral cake. And then he sent me home with raspberry buttercream frosting cupcakes (best interviewee ever? I think so!). I hope many more food-related stories are in my future.

You can check out the latest issue of Whatever Magazine and the story here.

I’ve Been Busy…

 

Writing makes me smile.

 

It may seem like I’ve fallen into the deep, dark depths of suburbia since I returned home from J-School, but I assure you I am alive, well and managing to make it into 416 regions quite regularly.

I’m still searching for my dream writing job, but until then I must say I’ve been happily keeping up my writing by contributing to a number of publications. It’s a great break from the humdrum of my summer job in finance (yes I’m working with numbers not words, it’s totally foreign territory), and it’s helped me to keep my writing skills fresh since graduation.

Here are just a few of the pieces I’ve worked on this summer. The rest should be available next month.

Profile on the star of CBC’s Heartland series, Amber Marshall- Your Pets Magazine

Interview with London playwright, Michael Wilmot- The Beat Magazine (June 2010)

Interview with Liz Currado, owner of LPC Productions in London, Ontario- The Beat Magazine (August 2010)