Lindork's Lists #55 - Date Night Giveaway, Drive-in Opera, smashed burgers and more!
What To Do, Eat, and Things To Know This Week
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Hi there, here’s Things to Do, Eat, and Know This Week!
Things To Do This Week
Please note: Alberta has pandemic restrictions in place to address COVID-19. I do encourage you to try and support local businesses during this time, if you’re able, but do so in a safe way. Wear masks, sanitize regularly, avoid crowds, keep at a distance, shop alone, choose take-out and of course, stay home if you are sick and choose digital options if they're available.
Catch a Drive-In Opera before it sells out! (Jubilee Auditorium Rear Lot)
The Edmonton Opera is back with a Drive-in Opera Concert performed live from the roof of the Jubilee! There are just 3 performances Fri Mar 12 at 7 p.m. and Sat Mar 13 at 7 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. The earlier show Saturday is already sold out and the other two should sell out too so get your tickets fast for a show featuring music that celebrates spring! $40 per car.
Take in Edmonton Intercultural Centre’s free virtual cooking classes (online)
Thanks to WHERE Edmonton for the heads up that the Edmonton Intercultural Centre is hosting FREE virtual cooking classes "Cultural Fusion: World Flavours" every Thursday night until May. You just have to pre-register and they post recipes so you can follow along. Awesome and diverse classes!
Attend FREE virtual Pride Week events from the U of A and NAIT (online)
The University of Alberta is hosting a number of FREE virtual events for its U of A Pride Week including discussions, drag shows, a Pride Dive Tour, 'Two Spirit Envisioning Futurisms Storytelling,’ ‘Queer Music History’ and more! You can also attend an 'LBGTQ2+ Communities and Terminology' workshop offered by NAIT for its Pride Week.
Keep the Women’s Day vibes going with an inspirational virtual keynote
Most International Women's Day events have happened but there's still one locally that's sure to be inspirational featuring Bean Gill, who runs the ReYu Paralysis Recovery Centre changing the way the public sees people with disabilities. Her virtual International Women’s Day Keynote is Sat Mar 13 (morning) and is just $7 to register (additional donations accepted for the InspireHer non-profit).
Paint your own St. Patrick’s Day themed gnome or beer stein!
Clay & Cupcakes Edmonton (429 Parsons Road) is offering Paint your own lucky St. Paddy's Day Gnome or Beer Stein March 12 through to March 17. Gnomes range from $20 to $99 and beer steins are between $40-$50 depending on which you choose. They can accommodate eight guests for 2 hour time slots.
Got an Edmonton area event, virtual event, or something coming up you think my readers would be interested in knowing about? Let me know!
Food To Try This Week
Some Alberta restaurants have reopened their dining rooms. Others are still take-out/pick-up only. Review current Alberta COVID-19 restrictions here.
Pick up some Vietnamese food from the new Co Chin Saigon (10632 100 St.)
Congrats to the family-owned Co Chin Saigon on their opening in Chinatown over the weekend! This started as a home-based business last year, making some Vietnamese dishes not commonly found on restaurant menus. They took the leap and now have a restaurant (during a pandemic no less). Show them some love! (Limited menu right now, but they plan on adding different specials for some of the more unique or sought-after Vietnamese dishes as they go along). It was my first time having a seafood spring roll when I tried them out—delicious! And super crispy.
Grab some burgers and fries at Flat Boy Burgers (8717 53 Ave.)
Thanks to a tweet by @jayrunham, I noticed a new-ish, local burger joint has opened in south Edmonton called Flat Boy Burgers. These are smashed burger patty burgers are available for curbside pick-up on weekends only.
Try a Filipino feast from Sarap Sarap Catering and Restaurant (9540 109 Ave.)
Thank to Christine who sent in this recommendation to try Sarap Sarap Catering and Restaurant! From Christine: “their best seller is sizzling sisig and sizzling pares. But they have a lot of good menu items that you could try like all day Filipino breakfast. They also have awesome unique desserts!”
Get a Taste of Lebanon in Old Strathcona (10105 82 Ave.)
On a garlic sauce kick, and wanting to support more restaurants that opened during pandemics, I picked up the Shish Tawook Platter from a Taste of Lebanon for a picnic in Old Strathcona over the weekend!
Experience the magic of Tiramisu Bistro’s winter patio igloo (10750 124 St.)
Tiramisu Bistro on 124 Street now has lovely heated winter patio igloos you can book for a magical dining experience. You need to book an igloo spot in advance and pre-order your meal. The minimum spend for at least two people is $150+GST or for four people $200+GST + 20% tip. Four fits comfortably but you could try squeezing up to six (within your household or with your live-alone friend lol). I love the twinkly lights so much! Great service and food, and it really is nice and warm (there’s also blankets).
Ate something amazing recently? Want to show some love to a struggling restaurant? Have a take-out suggestion? Let me know to include in this newsletter.
Date Night Giveaway!
I meant for my next newsletter subscriber exclusive giveaway to be later in March but timelines have been bumped up so the giveaway is happening RIGHT NOW!! 🎉
Enter to win a pair of admission tickets to the University of Alberta Botanic Garden’s Date Night Under the Stars event.
This lovely outdoor experience includes a stroll the garden, a whirl down an adult-sized ice slide, writing initials on a tree sculpture, listening to live music 🎶 (at a distance), snap photos 🤳🏻 with the lit-up trees and installations, warm up by the fire pits 🔥, gaze at the stars 💫, and level up your date night with paid add-ons like moonlight 🌙 snowshoeing, Indigenous storytelling, light painting photo 📸 sessions, or Northern Light tapas (dinner!) 🍽️ from local restaurants and producers.
This series ends March 14 so you need to enter sooner than later—like as soon as you see this email! I’ll be selecting one random winner by Friday morning (Mar 12) and you MUST redeem your free tickets for the weekend Saturday or Sunday Mar 13 / 14.
To enter for a chance to win:
Simply reply to this email telling me which part of the Date Night Under the Stars features you’d most like to experience (i.e. the lit-up trees, the adult ice slide, the stroll through the garden, etc.)
Please note this prize is just for admission and free activities. If you’d like to add things like snowshoeing or tapas (dinner), those are paid add-ons you need to purchase separately.
This giveaway is sponsored by the U of A Botanic Garden.
New on the Blog
For my International Women’s Day post this year, I wanted to feature Edmonton area Artists, Makers, and Entrepreneurs you could celebrate and support, who don’t have physical storefronts! Check out the 41 amazing women (I chose 41 because I added up 20 + 21 in the year 2021, lol I’m very clever!) and SUPPORT THEM! Follow. Buy their stuff. Share their posts. Find tangible ways to uplift women throughout the year.
Also new (and proving to be very popular) on the blog: my Super Casual Tesla Owner’s Review of Owning an Electric Vehicle (Tesla Model Y) in Alberta! This post is particularly timely as a new report indicates 70% of Canadians say their next new vehicle purchase will be an electric one. I can confirm that electric vehicles (at least, the Tesla), performs with no issue in our Polar Vortex Canadian winter weather. Read about the other reasons why I like and dislike my electric car over on my blog.
From The Blog Vault
Around this time (International Women’s Day) the last two years, I’ve blogged guides focused on women-owned businesses in the Edmonton area! While riding a celebrate / support / uplift women high, don’t forget to check out those previous blog posts too:
2020: Guide to Edmonton & Area Dining + Shopping Itineraries / Crawls Featuring Women-Owned Businesses (a bit of a title mouthful lol)
2019: Shop Local Guide to Women-Owned Businesses in Edmonton and Area
And I also think it’s worth reminding that the best way to celebrate and support women is to do it year-round. Not just for the day. I like this tweet by @EuniceCancino as well, for how to celebrate women tangibly throughout the year.
Interesting On The Internet
I started following a Twitter account called CAPYBARA MAN (@CAPYBARA_MAN) who posts very wholesome photos, videos, and memes about very gentle and lovable capybaras. If you’d like a bit of a positivity injection in your timeline, follow the CAPYBARA MAN!
Social Media Did You Know
Did you see Burger King’s terribly executed International Women’s Day tweet? They broke up their messaging using a Twitter thread in order to create some drama and attention, but failed to understand that many people don’t necessarily click into threads to read multiple connected tweets, and their tweet would look extremely out of context if people screenshot just the one tweet (which many do and did).
Just a good Social Media Did You Know reminder about understanding how threads are shown in timelines (often threaded tweets are truncated in view), how people use certain platforms, how even breaking out posts into threads should be done strategically. This was a strategic thread with an intentional breakout of tweets but they failed to consider common use and tweet display… also in general, a sensational style statement to raise awareness about their scholarship was probably not the best approach anyway.
Thank you!
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