It launched with a major opening party on the 10^th where I got to explore it for the first time. It only took the lobby to win me over – the moment you step in, you realize that they’ve gone all-out creating a beautiful and calming space.

Once you shed your shoes and get inside, you realize how big the space actually is (the largest yoga studio in Canada, apparently!) with two studios on the main floor and two below. I’ve spent most of my time on the lower level, where I tried hot flow yoga and TRX for the first time! First, hot flow – I want to have a hot yoga studio installed in my house. The floor is padded so it’s soft on the feet, and the temperature makes it feel like you’re outside on a hot summer day. It really helped warm up my muscles, and I needed it! I had an awesome instructor named Lorna who took us through an hour of poses that made my muscles stretch like an elastic band. There were lots of experienced people that amazed me with how strong and flexible they were, but she made sure to show lots of easier options for newbies like me. You spend a lot of time concentrating on your breathing, and it took my mind away from all my worries – I felt so calm when we were done.

TRX is much more energy-packed. I walked into the room and saw sets of nylon straps and handles that hang from the ceiling, one for each person. I couldn’t figure out how this was going to work at first, it’s actually a way of doing strength training without any weights – you use the handles to make your own body the weight, it’s really cool! After warming up, she cranked up some sugary energy-laden pop music and we did squats, lunges, push ups, crunches, and lots more using the TRX bands for balance. You spend half your class hanging at a 45 degree angle, which I have to say is a much more fun way of doing a push up than putting your nose to a gym floor.

On the way up, I passed a restorative yoga class – when I walked by, everyone was lying on their mats covered in blankets, with beanbags over their eyes, and incense wafting around – the next time I need to destress, that one is DEFINITELY on my list.

Make sure you give yourself enough time to use the plush locker rooms after – I don’t think I’ve ever properly experienced a rainfall shower before I came here. The showerheads look like they’re 2 feet across – it really is like standing in the rain, if rain was heated and came with delicious-smelling body wash and shampoo dispensers. There’s also heaps of mirror space on the ladies’ side and all kinds of useful stuff like hairdryers and moisturizer so you can get ready to go back to work after. They even provide mats and towels so you don’t need to pack a big bag.

They’ve got a special on right now for their opening – you can get a two-week unlimited pass for $35. That’s what I’ve got, and I’m using it to try out everything I can before it expires! Next up, the yoga wall…and that restorative class with the incense.

Yoga Public
280 Fort Street
947.9642 (YOGA)
info@yogapublic.com

A so-sweet-it-hurts Botanical Paperworks card

I don’t have a date tonight, but I’m not afraid to admit that I love Valentine’s Day anyway. I know a lot of people think it’s cheesy or fake, but I think a day set aside just to say “I love you” – whether it’s to your honey, your friends, or even just that big box of chocolates you found, is a pretty sweet idea. Plus, there’s chocolate on sale everywhere tomorrow! We can all get on board with that, right?

So if you want to join me in the warm ‘n’ fuzzy Valentine’s Day spirit today but your favourite restaurant is all booked up, I have some emergency ideas you can pull off without leaving the downtown:

• Hands down, the cutest Valentine’s day cards in the city are at Botanical Paperworks.  Not only are the messages unique and heartwarming, but they’re plantable and have  seeds in the paper, so you can tell your sweetie that a lovely flower will grow from the card come spring. Awww.
• Sweet things are hard to resist, but heart-shaped box of chocolates can be a little overdone. Alternative solution? Bodegoes at cityplace (formerly known as the Line Up) has sweet treats from Cakeology – pick up some cupcakes or their gloriously gooey and oversized imperial cookies. Dessert Sinsations also has decadent slices of cake and dainties you can take away if you need a big finish to a romantic home-cooked meal – today they’ve got Red Velvet Lady Hearts!
• Casual night in? Run through the skywalks to HMV in Portage Place and get yourself a romantic movie to watch together for a night in – my pick? Princess Bride. Bonus points if you pick up one of Boston Pizza’s heart-shaped pizzas at cityplace along the way!
• It’s a beautiful night – rent skates and take a spin holding hands on the river trail at the Forks, cuddle up in one of the warming huts together, and get yourself a hot chocolate by a roaring fire under the stars.
  

  Cute love stories at Coles

• Go investigate the table with all the red and pink books on it outside Coles at cityplace – there’s a book called “It Was Love When” about how people knew it was right – wrap up the book with a note about how YOU knew your date tonight was the one for you. On the table beside it and just as cute ? A book of love coupons.
• And a final idea for everyone – do your good deed for the day and make someone else’s Valentine’s Day wish come true! Vote for the most romantic entry in my Who Hearts Hockey contest and send someone to see the Bruins this week!

Lots of love to you all,
Peggy

WOW! You guys do love your Jets – a lot of people wanted to go to tomorrow’s game! And I can see why – getting your hands on a pair of tickets is definitely a way to impress a date. But there can be only one winner – so out of all the entries, a very scientific random draw has been done, and the winner of our Who <3′s Hockey Valentine’s Day downtown prize package is….

Stanivan! Their most romantic Valentine’s Day gift is a day of pampering at the spa, followed by a Jets game – well I’ve got you covered for the 2nd half of that wish now! Check your email soon for details on how to pick up you goodies – you’ve got 2 tickets to the game on Valentine’s Day, his & hers Jets gear, a gift certificate for Hu’s Asian Bistro, and indoor parking at the game courtesy of cityplace.

But after reading all these amazing entries, it was so hard to know that only one person was going to walk away with the prize! So many of you had funny, cute, and touching stories of what you would do with the tickets. SO. I thought, and I thought, and I got my hands on a pair of tickets for this week’s Bruins game! I’ve picked my top ten favourite contest entries, and they’re in a poll below. Vote for your favourite, and the winner is going to the Bruins game on the 17th! Voting closes February 15th – it’s going to be a tough call of who to vote for, but I know you’ll choose wisely!

Update: We have a winner for the bonus tickets prize! It was a close race with votes coming in for every single entry, but in the end, our winner was…Bobbi! Congrats Bobbi, you’ll be getting an email from me soon with details on how to pick up your tickets.

Packed house for the AnX opening!

It’s opening-fest downtown today! I just came from the official ribbon-cutting at the University of Winnipeg’s new AnX building in the former Greyhound station (side note, does anyone know where that whole tradition of cutting a ribbon to open a building started?) The place was packed with students, speakers, downtowners and press nibbling on goodies from the two new restaurants that just opened, Garbanzos and Starbucks. Pizza and coffee – isn’t that the perfect combination for students? It’s what I lived off of in university, at least. I’m not sure I should have tasted the opening-day samples all at once, though – bacon is delicious and so are lattes, but they just don’t mix that well. In future, one new restaurant/coffee shop at a time for me. The university’s brand-new bookstore opens today too, and it’s gorgeous – big and open with splashes of bright red everywhere. To celebrate their opening they’re doing a giveaway – a Shogun bike that has a fabulously retro look. I could totally see myself putting on a bell and a basket and riding to work every day in the summer on this.

Prize giveaway at the U of W bookstore

But that’s just one of the openings today – there’s another exciting one this afternoon, for Yoga Public on Fort St! They’re finally ready to open their doors to classes starting tomorrow, and I’m headed over later today to take a preview peek – I’ll make sure to update and share photos here!

For all of those who are panicking that they don’t have anything booked, and places are filling up…well I’ve got something that may solve your Valentine’s Day problems. Even if you don’t have a date lined up, I’m pretty sure this will get you one.

The Jets are playing on February 14th, and I’ve got a pair of tickets! Not just that, but I’ve got some his & hers Jets gear – one fabulous jersey and one super-cute women’s tshirt – a gift certificate for dinner at Hu’s Asian Bistro, and possibly the most coveted item of all on game day, an  indoor parking pass for the night of the game so you & your date can stay toasty warm no matter how chilly it gets in the next few days.

So how do you get a chance at this lovely prize? To enter, vote in the comments: -What’s the sweetest Valentine’s Day gift this year?

• Flowers
• Chocolates
• Dinner
• Jets tickets
• Other (you’ve got to give me your own answer if you pick this one!)

Just one entry per person, and make sure to give me your email when you post! I’ll be drawing for one lucky winner to get this prize pack on Monday, February 13th

PS: If you don’t win, there are still lots of places to catch the game – I’ve called, visited, and hunted out all the places downtown to catch the game and all the cool specials and prizes they have going on for game night. Check out the list here!

HUGE portions - the sundried tomato version is in front

The fabulous Chef Jonny Royal of Diversity Foods at the U of W just announced on twitter the other day that their Pangea cafeteria on has added a poutine bar to the lineup every Friday, and invited me down to try one with all the fixings. How can you say no to that? I can’t! So Friday I was down to test drive the new menu.

First, come hungry if you’re getting the poutine – the portions are absolutely enormous. The fries are deliciously crispy with skin still on – my favourite – but what’s really cool about the menu is the toppings you can choose. Take a classic and add on sundried tomatoes, pickled shitake mushrooms (my choice), artichoke, bacon, chorizo, duck confit or swap out your cheese for a gouda or a crumbly feta.

Diversity isn’t alone in this new take on poutine downtown – our heart-stopping options have expanded amazingly in the past few years. There’s Smoke’s of course, with their Montreal, curry, and perogy versions, but there’s a lot more. With a fabulous poutine-themed post, the Savour Winnipeg blog pointed out that there are plenty more downtown restaurants that are taking things way beyond traditional cheese curds and gravy. Some of his top picks:

• Rudy’s Eat and Drink – Lobster and bacon poutine
• White Star Diner – Bluetine, aka poutine with blue cheese
• Peasant Cookery – Oka cheese poutine, with an optional upgrade to chicken confit
• Lobby on York  – Chicken liver poutine with pear and cambozola cheese and crispy onions
• I’ll add one more that wasn`t on his list – Dessert Sinsations has two amazing versions, a classic poutine that mixes of regular and sweet potato fries (link) with a mushroom gravy option for the vegetarians, and a lobster poutine with dill hollandaise – yum!

Want Chef Jonny`s version? Pangea is in Riddell Hall at the University of Winnipeg – it’s part of the university, but open to all.

So if this cold/creative dynamic really works for us, odds are, it would apply in other cold places right? I’m testing the theory at the WSO New Music Festival starting today – they’ve got a Nordic music theme this year, which means they’re featuring a lot of Icelandic composers (including Sigur Ros) They’re packing in more than 50 pieces into 7 days – superstar cellists, modern dance pieces…and of course, no festival would be complete without a big party, so Uptown Magazine is hosting an afterparty on February first to finish up Icelandia evening.

There’s also a new indie festival this year that’s picked up on the idea of cold & creativity as well – Big Fun. It showcases whole bunch of different genres of music with more than 20 local bands playing. And instead of using bars & clubs, they’re taking the shows to new spaces all over the Exchange District – galleries, lofts, and warehouses – all of them close enough to walk back and forth from. It started on the 26^th and is running until the 29^th. (FYI if you’re a Parlour Coffee fan, a Big Fun wristband will snag you 10% off your caffeine fix of choice) It’s the first year, but they’re planning to make it an annual festival – how cool would it be to have this weekend packed with music every year?

So yes, it’s cold – let’s celebrate! Want ticket info for the shows? Check the links above!

I’ll be bundling up and renting some skates this weekend to go explore – if you’re going too, stay warm & enjoy yourselves out there!

Update # 2 – someone’s posted a slideshow video of the huts going up!

Some of the covet-worthy dresses that have sashayed down the runway at the fashion show (gorgeous photo by Vergil Kanne)

Ah, weddings…it seems like every year, more and more of my friends are getting married around me! I’m still a single girl, but I’ve gotten to be pretty expert as a bridesmaid tying ribbons, looking at flowers, tasting yummy food, and my favourite job hands down, dress shopping – picking through fluffy rows of tulle, silk, satin, beads, and flowers to help find the perfect dress for a friend. I just wish I could try them on too!

And the big day (well, the OTHER big day) I get always called in for is the Wonderful Wedding Show that’s happening this weekend. There’s absolutely no bigger display in Winnipeg of dresses, flowers, décor, cakes, invitations, dresses, photographers, and did I mention dresses? More than 100,000 square feet of all this, in fact – so it can be good to go with a friend or two, cause that’s a lot of ground to cover. They’ve got some super-handy maps of the venue that you’ll definitely want to pick up when you first go in, pretty lounges set up to sit and relax for a minute, and sometimes cake samples to help you recharge!

If you spot the bridal stores that look like they match your style but want some more time to browse all the pretty things, I’d recommend heading over there on a girls’ night out. There are a LOT of them packed into just a few blocks, so even when it’s cold you can park and visit 4 or 5 without going more than a block or two outside. Labelle’s, Helene’s, Chantal’s, CKLY are all on the same block, Stella’s Bridal and LA Collection (the city’s biggest bridal store) are just a couple of blocks away. And then, of course, reward yourself for all your hard work with dinner or dessert with the girls!

OK, maybe the beard doesn’t suit me. But there’s a reason for it! I got it from the good people at Shawfest, MTC’s Master Playwright series, which opens tonight. Every year one classic playwright gets picked and a whole series of plays by and/or about him. This year it’s the fabulously bearded George Bernard Shaw. If you haven’t seen his plays, I bet I know something of his you will recognize – the classic Audrey Hepburn movie My Fair Lady was based on one of his most famous plays! And really, how can you not love a man who wrote the phrase “If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you’d best teach it to dance.”

Plays are going on at MTC, PTE, the Warehouse theatre, Aqua Books, and a whole host of other venues from the 19^th until February 5^th – the full listings are here. Even My Fair Lady is going to be there, with a special showing at the Millennium Library!

I’ve got passes to Shawfest for TWO lucky winners! To win them, you have to correctly post the answer to one of these two questions in the comments – first thing tomorrow, I’m going to collect all the answers and draw two winners! (don’t forget to include your email when you respond!)

1) What three film versions of his plays did George Bernard Shaw write/co-write the scripts for?

2) What organization was George Bernard Shaw a prominent member of?