The weather has been pretty hit or miss the last few days, but summer is apparently on its way to Manitoba!  Over the last few weeks I’ve been enviously reading various Peggers’ tweets about their first few trips to the lake of the season, and they often involve what meals they’re making. This got me to thinking about some edibles that I’ve come to associate with Manitoba, and specifically, summertime in our lovely province.

Bag Tacos

I first heard about bag tacos from a teacher friend of mine whose students are big on these sinfully delicious yet junky “salads”. Basically, you take a bag of Doritos, crush them up a bit, and add taco meat, veggies, salsa, sour cream, etc.. Shake it up, and voila, a self-contained, no-plates-required meal. I didn’t think they were a particularly Manitoban thing (my sister said she’s heard folks in California call them “walking tacos”) until I read a post by Kath at Food Musings, who talked about tacos in a bag and said a friend of hers got the idea from attending pow wows around the province. And then! I saw them on the menu at Sub Zero Ice Cream, so in my mind, they’re now associated.

Campfire Pie

When we’re at my husband’s aunt’s cottage, once the sun goes down and the fire is in full swing, it’s campfire pie time! A campfire pie is basically a toasted sandwich made in a special iron – but it’s the pie filling inside that makes it such a treat. Campfire pie is such a beloved part of the family that it was actually mentioned in a relative’s obituary.

Pickerel

I do believe the only fish I’ve ever caught in my life was a pickerel. I was probably 10 or so, and my granddad took me fishing during a visit to their house in Lac du Bonnet. My grandma cleaned it up, pan-fried it, and I ate it proudly. Ah, the tasty pickerel, also known as the walleye.  For our honeymoon, my husband and I spent a few days at the (now defunct?) Radisson Hecla Oasis Resort, and I must have had pickerel at every meal. Pickerel is one of the few readily available local fish here in our landlocked province, and you often see it featured as food fit for a 100-mile diet. When Little Gray Bird pointed to pickerel cheeks as a Manitoba delicacy, I knew I had to add it to the list. I recommend the pickerel fish and chips at Lobby on York. Mmm…

OV

Before I moved here, the standard nothing-fancy beer was what I now think of as Alberta Pilsner (usually referred to as “Pil”, but actually called “Old-Style Pilsner”). But when it comes to curling or lakeside lounging, the beer around here is OV (Old Vienna).  I’d never heard of it before, and to be honest, it really is nothing special. Cheap, but not suspiciously cheap. It has a reputation for the kind of beer that old men drink. In fact, I once saw it listed as the special for “Drink your dad’s beer” night at Boston Pizza. Now, Manitoba does have lots of excellent locally-made beers (Half Pints, Fort Garry), and they’re special in the same way that Big Rock is an Alberta classic and Granville Island (and Steamworks… salivate…) are musts in BC. But call me crazy — when I think of Manitoba’s signature, no-frills beer, I think of OV. (I suspect this is completely due to my in-laws!)

Again, I know these items are far from unique to Manitoba, but they remind me of our gorgeous summers. We just got an invitation to the lake — with any luck, I just may sample all these scrumptious things in one day!

What tastes like summer in Manitoba to you?

Referring to the recent spate of complimentary articles about Winnipeg’s downtown revitalization, One Man Committee (another new-to-me blog!) ponders:

“Considering that downtown Winnipeg is only now beginning to see its first significant amounts of residential development in nearly 20 years and retail growth remains slow outside of the Exchange District, articles like this latest in a series of Globe offerings are like getting hearty congratulations upon completing the first mile of a marathon. In other words, the praise might give one the warm fuzzies, but it also makes it easy to lose sight of all the work that remains.”

(emphasis mine)

I’m glad he wrote about this, because I’ve been thinking that people are putting all their eggs in the NHL return/Human Rights Museum basket. Some people think the moment these two businesses are up and running, there will be an outpouring of downtown love. Well, I hate to be a Debbie Downer (especially when it comes to Winnipeg!), but I really doubt it.

Don’t get me wrong, I think they’re going to be amazing assets. But they won’t come close to fixing it all, because regardless of how much good stuff surrounds Portage and Main, people don’t like coming downtown.

Why? Some of it is social – perception or reality. People are turned off by poverty and scared to be there, and that’s its own serious issue.  Some of it is consumer-based – ‘Peggers love their big box stores and rock bottom prices and they get them at “power centres” which are everywhere but downtown. But I think a huge factor is this bizarre parking issue.

The constant refrain of people who never spend any time downtown is “there’s no parking!”. This is incredibly naive (or ignorant?), because obviously, there is more than enough parking. What they don’t realize or can’t accept is that like in any big city, you might have to walk a block or two to your destination once you park.

I personally think that until folks get a reality check on this fact (or figure out that depending where you’re coming from, taking the bus is actually really convenient!), they’ll continue to resist going downtown, which is really a shame. Parking lots already have their own awards – maybe they need to start doing a little PR and advertising, too. Would a car-crazed city like ours respond to that? I think it might.

I place a lot of stock in the continued U of W and RRC expansions. These are the projects that will get people out on the streets during the day – regardless of how they got downtown. I think the Downtown Peggy project is really effective, and I’m impressed that the Downtown BIZ has been steadily increasing their efforts over the last couple of years. Stella’s, a taco truck and a poutine specialty shop are welcome new additions to the food scene, too. People continue to be nuts about the Exchange and more people are living, shopping, and recreating there.

I do believe that good things are happening in downtown Winnipeg, but nothing is going to create huge change overnight. In a dream world, I’d like to see Portage & Main reopened to pedestrians. I’d like to see big stores like H&M and Chapters open up downtown, and I wish like crazy Ikea would have opted for a downtown storefront. I hope the Bay is on its way to being restored to its former poshness. It’ll be very interesting to see what the next few years bring!

Everyone has their own ideas on what it will take to make our downtown a bustling, desirable, and profitable place to do business. Build it and they will come? Come, and then they will build it? It’s gotta be somewhere in between. But as someone clever once said, there is no reality, only perception. Perception will play a big role in changing people’s minds about downtown. So I don’t know…. maybe these “puff pieces” are, in fact, just what we need.

What do you like to do downtown? What would bring you downtown more often?

There are a couple of new-to-me Winnipeg blogs —  Nothing in Winnipeg and Love me, love my Winnipeg —  that I’ve been meaning to mention. I had to laugh when I discovered that they both just wrote about the wacky keywords that bring traffic to their blogs!

Nothing in Winnipeg is written by Melissa, a 29-year-old writer who has lived in Winnipeg her whole life. From her manifesto:

“Some words on the city. The city is my love, my co-dependent love. We validate each other’s flaws. If Winnipeg is frustrated and unlovely, and I am frustrated and unlovely, then we can cling to each other. If one of us pulls back from its potential, the other can too. We’ve comforted each other, but we’ve also held each other down.”

This blog is beautifully written, and I’m looking forward to ploughing through the archives.

Love me, love my Winnipeg is written by Winnipeg Girl, who’s been asked if she works for the local tourism board because she touts Winnipeg so much! She writes thoughtfully and humourously about her life in the North End, which I appreciate as it opens my eyes to the neighbourhood right across the Redwood Bridge from me. We definitely need more people talking positively about the North End! Oh, and she’s addicted to Slurpees. Go figure

Anyway, I’ve added them both to my Google Reader  - you should, too! I’ve been updating my blogroll lately, deleting some defunct blogs and adding some new ones. What’s your favourite Winnipeg blog?

Well, it’s just about wedding season, and that means only one thing in Winnipeg… weird wedding traditions!

I sort of avoided writing this post for a while, since it’s bound to ruffle some feathers. I’ve touched on it before, but not in any real depth. So here it is: Winnipeg (well, Manitoba) has some weird wedding traditions. And by weird I mean, sort of unsavoury (the “weird” was more for alliterative purposes). Where should I begin? At the beginning.

The Social

The wedding  social is one of things that a lot of Manitobans are fiercely proud of, and yet is completely foreign to most people outside of the province. People throw socials as fundraisers for all sorts of reasons, but a fundraiser for a wedding? I had seriously never heard of this until I moved here. Apparently, they do have versions of this sort of event elsewhere in the country – I think they’re sometimes called cabarets in Saskatchewan, and Buck n’ Does or Stag n’ Does in some parts of Ontario – but here, it’s all socials, all the time.

The concept is this: you need money to pay for your wedding. So you throw a party, and sell tickets to everyone you know. You rent a hall and book a DJ. Then at the party, you sell alcoholic beverages and tickets to “rainbow auctions” (formerly known as Chinese auctions, but really just raffles) for prizes donated by family and friends.  To your guests, you provide snacks like Old Dutch ripple chips and pretzels throughout the evening. Towards the end, you bring out the “social food”: rye bread, kolbassa and rolled up sandwich meats, and cubed cheese, along with jars of mayo and mustard so you can make a sandwich.  If done well, you can walk away with thousands of dollars of profits and voila! Your wedding is paid for! After all, social-goers pay $10 or $12 for their ticket, spend another $20 (or more) on booze, and another $10 or $20 (or more) on auction tickets. The particularly rowdy ones will easily spend $100 — a tipsy social-goer and his money are soon parted.

Now, apparently this tradition has well-meaning roots. From what I understand, a couple’s wedding party would organize and host this event for the bride and groom, instead of holding multiple showers, stags, stagettes, etc. Since it was likely the couple was young, and still living at home, the social (“A social evening in honour of… “) and its proceeds were a gift, a trousseau of sorts, to the couple from the wedding party and community. This scenario is not particularly offensive to me. However, this tradition has morphed into an additional wedding event, and most often hosted by the couple themselves, for the ostensible purpose of paying for their wedding.  I know someone who remembers precisely the first time she was asked to buy tickets to a couple’s own social – it was that surprising and unusual – but now, it’s pretty commonplace.

When I was getting married, I had quite a few people ask me, “So when’s your social?” Notice, they weren’t asking “Are you having a social?” And it was pretty interesting to hear their responses when I said we weren’t having one (I learned quickly to stay politically neutral on this topic – saying that we just wanted to keep things simple). Some people asked me why not, and it was like they were genuinely distressed that we weren’t having one. “But you can make so much money!!” Others were almost relieved on my behalf, and said that it would save a lot of time and energy.

In a previous post, I wrote that “I still feel a little conflicted about the concept of fundraising for weddings, even though it seems like it’s basically the same pool of money (and crushing sense of guilt and obligation) that passes from one couple to the next.” It’s like an extremely well-oiled system of microloans, because the Manitoba Code of Professional Socials Conduct dictates that if someone comes to your social, you must attend theirs. But the guilt doesn’t stop there.  To get out of buying tickets for a social – any social, it would seem – you had better have a really good excuse!

There are varying degrees of commitment and support when it comes to socials. At one end, you buy a ticket to assuage your guilty feelings, but have no intention of actually going (and everyone knows this is exactly what you’re doing. You’re not fooling anyone).  Or maybe you donate a prize to be raffled off. A typical level of involvement would be to buy a ticket and attend, and while there, drink and try to win the “lottery ticket tree” (which now apparently has changed to “lottery tickets encased in a picture frame”). On the extreme end (if you are in the wedding party or are a family member) you do all of the above, plus sell tickets to anyone you’ve ever known plus anyone those people have ever known, help set up the social, help take down the social, and probably clean some puke up. Now that’s love.

So what? If everyone is a willing participant, what’s the big deal? Well, some would argue that the whole thing is akin to saying “Please come to my house for dinner. But I can’t afford to make the meal, so please bring me a cheque to help me cover my costs.” I have also heard of plenty of couples who did not need the money but had socials anyway, because it is part and parcel of the whole sequence of wedding traditions in these parts. So what if the proceeds are actually going to pay for your honeymoon? Or basement renovation. Or 52″ flat screen TV. Everyone does it. (Well, not everyone, but a lot of people.) Does that make it right?

Here is a list of justifications people give when defending socials. (The fact that they have them ready begs the question of whether they know socials are sort of controversial to begin with.)

• Having a social will let us have the wedding of our dreams that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford
• A social gives people who will not be invited to the wedding an opportunity to share our joy
• It’s a fun way to celebrate with the whole gang before the wedding
• Everybody has a social. It’s just what we do in Manitoba.

I don’t know. I don’t buy any of these. First, couples should have the wedding that they can afford, period.

Second, you think anyone’s consoled by the fact that they didn’t get invited to the wedding, but at least they’ve been invited to help pay for it? And don’t even get me started on socials for destination weddings. Or the idea that businesses should donate prizes, as if your wedding is a charity!

And third, fun? The guests are likely having a great time, but I know brides who were a million times more stressed out about the social than they were about the wedding. And for good reason! If the social flops, you’re out a couple thousand bucks. Seems to me like people’s priorities are a bit out of whack.

The last reason (“everyone is doing it, so why shouldn’t we?) is the only one that I think has any merit. Right or wrong, it’s a cultural custom, so of course there are bound to be outsiders who think it’s weird (or unsavoury). Does it really matter what I, an outsider until quite recently, think?

Okay, now, a lot of people I know and love had socials. Whether they chose to have them for one of the reasons listed above, I don’t know – I figure it’s not really my business. I attended exactly one of them, and I had a blast (and won not one, but two really, really good prizes). From what I understand, the couple had gone above and beyond the call of duty for this social: the food was outstanding, the prizes really desirable.  And I loved them, so I was happy to go – it was basically a big party, after all, with fun people and good music. I can’t remember if “Love Shack” was played, but I know there was definitely no polka.

But I also know a handful of people who didn’t have socials, because it was just too much work, or their wedding party never offered to hold one, or the idea of having a social made them uncomfortable. Recently I heard about a local woman who told her son that if he had a social, she wouldn’t attend his wedding.  She was dead serious – she thought they were tacky and embarrassing. So he didn’t have a social. It would seem that not everyone in Manitoba is wild about them, for a variety of reasons.

Ultimately, it doesn’t really bother me to be invited to buy tickets to a social, and maybe that’s because I know I have a “I’m not from here” trump card to get out of having to buy one. But it seems like for many people, after the first few times, going to socials is not really anyone’s idea of a good time. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard strangers grumbling about “having” to go to a social. People in my age range (late twenties to mid-thirties) seem to have a pretty severe case of social burnout – what was initially a fun and novel way to spend a Saturday night has now become sort of like a trip to the dentist – one of those things you just have to do every now and then.  I asked a 30-something friend to estimate how many socials he’d been to in his life, and he immediately said, “Oh, I don’t know, 20?” Then his wife made him start naming names, and he realized it was more like 45. No wonder he said he’s through with socials!

But then, I think of A&G, good friends of ours who met 20 years ago as teenagers at a social in rural Manitoba. They’re now married with three beautiful kids. If not for socials – which were basically the only way for really-small town teens to socialize – they never would have met. And that gives me a warm and fuzzy, “only in Manitoba” sort of feeling.

So, what do you guys think? Do you think socials are fun and in fact, one of Manitoba’s most beloved cultural institutions? Do you have social burnout and hope you never have to go to another one again? Or are you somewhere in the middle – just happy to party with your friends, no matter the reason or occasion?

Here’s your chance to reveal your true feelings – under the veil of internet anonymity!

Next on Weird Wedding Traditions of Winnipeg: presentation.

I’m sneaking this quick post into my workday (sorry, Steve!) to make note of the awesome use of the #portageandmain hashtag on Twitter over the last couple of days, but escalating this morning as we await the 11am press conference to announce (we assume) the return of an NHL team to Winnipeg.

I had to laugh this morning when I heard a reporter say that police “While Portage & Main is a popular place for crowds to gather and celebrate, it is a very busy intersection, so police are encouraging revelers to party at The Forks.”  Um, the point of gathering there is that it’s a busy intersection… maybe even the busiest intersection in town. And without question, a highly recognizable Winnipeg landmark. It makes sense that this is where people gather. Power to ‘em! It looks like yes, the official party is underway at the Forks, but there’s just something so cool about citizens appropriating a space like this. It’ll be interesting to see where the party winds up. It just might be wherever Dancin’ Gabe is.

I’m not even that big of a hockey fan, but it’s a great morning to be a Winnipegger!

Today is Manitoba Day, and over at The View from Seven, the question is this:

If you came to Manitoba from elsewhere, how did you end up living here and how do you feel about life in Manitoba — good, bad or both — after living here for a while as a “Manitoban by choice”?

If you moved away,  how did you end up leaving — do you feel you were ‘pushed’ or ‘pulled’ away? — and how does life in Manitoba appear in retrospect?

And if you moved away and then moved back, how did you end up leaving and end up coming back, and how does life here compare to life in your other homes?

Head on over and leave your thoughts!

I am excited to share another “new to Winnipeg” blog with you! When Jessica Owen was planning her move to Winnipeg, she decided to keep a blog, entitled “Going to Winnipeg“, to document her experiences. Her posts are entertaining, truthful and very well-written… I love ‘em! I interviewed Jessica over email a few weeks ago and am happy to share her thoughts on her new city with you here. Be sure to check out her blog. The “Only in Winnipeg” category of posts is especially funny!

Jessica, looking like a true Winnipegger (Yep, she's holding a Tim Hortons cup!)

Emma: Welcome to Winnipeg! When did you arrive, and had you been here before? And most importantly, why did you choose the Heart of the Continent as your new home?

Jessica: Thank you! I arrived on August 31 of last year. I had been here a few times before, visiting the very person that brought me here to live. Which ties in nicely with your next question. I choose the HOTC as my new home simply for love. My (now) fiance came to Winnipeg to do his Masters at U of M not long after we started dating back in Vancouver in 2007. We did the long distance gig for a while but when it came to his PhD, the distance just seemed to far. So we packed up a U-Haul and came out here together last year. And now we are getting married this summer and I know that our adventure to Winnipeg together has allowed us to take our relationship to that next level.

What a great story…congratulations! You’re about to be introduced to a whole new world of wacky Winnipeg wedding traditions, if you haven’t yet been  Anyway, West Coast winters are totally different from Prairie winters. How did you fare? Now that we’re seeing signs of spring, what tips would you give for a newbie to survive their first Winnipeg winter?

See below in the “stereotypes” question for my thoughts about winter. But as for advice to give to newbies? Well, I feel hardly practiced enough to give advice but for what it’s worth:

• Get outside when you can! Bundle up and take the plunge!
• Be OK with staying indoors
• Scarves saved my life and can double as a face shield when the wind really gets rippin’
• Block heater and car starter! Really help with getting going in the morning…
• Black ice is not always black. It can look brown but cause you to rear-end other cars in just the same way
• Know that it will end. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it will. I promise.
• Get involved in winter activities! (OK, I admit, I didn’t do this. But as a physio, I’ve been seeing a lot of triathletes in this city. There a great number of running groups, x-country ski groups, etc. that go year round here! Next year I’m doing it!)
• Keep a shovel in the trunk of your car

Excellent tips! Might I add curling to your list of winter activities? I know some people laugh when curling is referred to as a sport, but all that sweeping can really get your heart rate up! Next question: aside, of course, from your friends and family, what do you miss about Vancouver?

I definitely miss the ocean and the mountains. Having grown up on the west coast, there’s something about the ocean and mountains that becomes a part of you. It really is hard to put into words. I miss spending numerous evenings every week down at Spanish Banks watching the sunset and listening to the gentle crash of the waves. I miss looking out my window and seeing the mountains craddling the city. I miss how beautiful the nature is in and around Vancouver – the greenery that is present year round. And I miss the energy in the city when the Canucks are a winning team…so I’m really missing this right now! And if they win the Cup this year? I will really miss that!

I know what you mean. The year-round lushness of the environment is so gorgeous, and I miss it, too (especially seeing the magnolias and cherry blossoms at this time of year). When you have visitors from out of town, what places to go or things to do are “Winnipeg Musts”?

When one of my best friends came to visit last month, I took her to The Forks. It was a must (see below). There’s also some great restaurants in town that I’ve already had a chance to explore – East India Company Pub & Eatery, Ichiban, and Burrito Del Rio! And I know there’s many more – Winnipeg has great food! I also think a mini-road trip out past the Perimeter Hwy is worth doing. The prairies are truly beautiful. And even if the sunsets aren’t over the ocean, they definitely have their own unique beauty. When my dad and stepmom were in town, we checked out the Royal Canadian Mint. We did the self-tour and it was neat to see all that coin being made! And for so many different countries! To be honest, I still feel like a tourist in this town and I’m really looking forward to the summer to explore the city further. Oh, and I hear the Manitoba Museum is pretty cool too! That’s on my list…yeesh, I’m a bad “tourist”.

The Mint is surprisingly cool, eh?! Have you had your “I’m a Winnipegger!” moment yet? Do tell!

Haha, I have. It hit me when I was walking back from Dairy Queen a few blocks from my place with a Blizzard in hand. It was probably about minus 30 and the wind was howling. I think the only thing that would have made me more of a Winnipegger was if it was a Slurpee instead of a Blizzard!

Plus one million Winnipegger points if you’d been wearing shorts at the time What summer activities are you looking forward to?

Ahhhh, summer. I can’t wait. I’m really looking forward to all the festivals and the fireworks! I also hear that there is a “Cruise Night” every Sunday evening on Portage where people parade there cars down the street. I’m definitely pulling up a lawn chair for that one. And I hear that the beaches on the lakes are amazing! So I’m looking forward to some trips out of town to “cottage country”. I also can’t wait to head down to CanWest Global Park to catch a Goldeyes game. There’s nothing better than beer, hotdog(s), and baseball on a hot summer day!

The stadium is definitely a Winnipeg gem (and I don’t even like baseball!).  So far, have the Winnipeg stereotypes you’d heard about prior to your move proven to be true? (And is this a good thing or a bad thing?)

I’d have to say, yes, the majority of the stereotypes I’ve heard about Winnipeg have been proven true. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing! However, less than 30 seconds after stepping out of my U-Haul upon arrival into town I had a golf ball-sized mosquito bite on my forehead. So yes, mosquitoes practically run the city in the summer…and they are large enough to ride (well, almost). This is definitely NOT a good thing.

Other stereotypes:

• “Winterpeg”. I have to say, the winter was not nearly as horrible as I thought it would be. Locals I’ve told this to just laugh at me and tell me to wait a few more winters…the first one is always novel. But I actually enjoyed the winter! Sure, there were days that were just too darn cold to go outside (but I’m OK sitting on my couch and watching the Slice network all day if need be), but there was sun!! So much sun! Coming from Vancouver, known to be dreary, cloudy and rainy for up to a month at a time, the sunshine made the winter completely tolerable! I’ve seen more “winter blues” in my old town than in the ‘Peg. But I will admit, when there was a snowfall warning of 15 cm last week and day temps dropping back down to -30 with windchill, I was starting to understand why people say, “the winters really drag on”.
• “Friendly Manitoba”. True. Well, for the most part. Yes, generally speaking Manitobans are a friendly bunch. Everyone is fairly laid-back and seem to be on some sort of “island-time” despite the fact that Winnipeg is definitely not an island. But I will say this – when a Manitoban gets behind the wheel, look out. Drivers here seem to think that they own the road…all of them. As you can imagine, this doesn’t work very well. And if you need to merge to avoid a parked car or to get onto the freeway? Good luck. No one…and I repeat…no one is letting you in. I’m thinking this must be some sort of survival mechanism that has developed over the years in Winnipeg. I mean, if you do slow down to let someone in, you risk getting caught in “blowing snow” or ran over by a snow plow.
• *Grimace/disgusted face. OK, so it’s not a stereotype but that was pretty much the reaction I got from anyone I told I was moving to Winnipeg. It seems that Winnipeg has a bad reputation throughout Canada and this judgment definitely isn’t fair, in my opinion. Winnipeg has some really great, beautiful things to offer. No, it’s not Vancouver. No one is pretending it is. Sure the winters are cold, but if you’re keeping score with Edmonton, Calgary, or Toronto, the winters are very similar (well, at least this year’s was). And have I mentioned there is sunshine here!? Winnipeg has two lovely rivers meandering through the city, a diverse culture, a great arts scene, friendly people, and hot summers. How bad can it be? So if you are one of those people that grimaces when you think of Winnipeg, I encourage you to visit and see for yourself the beauty this city holds (perhaps in the summer). And if you are from Winnipeg and have moved away because maybe it wasn’t your cup of tea, keep the negative Nancy comments to yourself. The city really does have a lot to offer.

Granville Island vs. The Forks. Discuss.

Hahaha, how did I know I was going to be asked this question. And hmmm, where to begin. I will choose my words wisely because I do understand that The Forks is a place of pride for Winnipeggers. And it should be. The Forks hosts some amazing local artisans, musicians, events, and food. And from what I’ve tried of the food, it’s pretty darn good (the cinnamon buns at the bakery are unreal!). And it’s very pretty, being at the fork of the two rivers. So The Forks gets a thumbs up, relatively speaking. Granville Island is really incomparable. Sure, same idea, a marketplace with good food, music and events. But on a different level. I mean it’s like comparing apples to oranges. For those who haven’t been to Granville Island, it’s like The Forks on crack (not that I’ve ever done crack but I think you get the idea). And because BC is known for it’s fresh local produce and meats, this is what you get at Granville Island (unlike the brown-ish meats I’ve seen displayed at The Forks that look like they have been sitting there for over a month). But alas, The Forks absolutely works with what they have, and for that they do a great job!

Thanks for sharing, Jessica!

There have been lots of major changes in my life over the last three years. I was none of these things, but now I’m a homeowner. I’m a wife. I’m a mother. These changes all came about after I moved to Winnipeg. They could have happened anywhere, given the right timing and people, but they didn’t happen just anywhere — they happened here. So lately I’ve been wondering, am I a Winnipegger yet?

I haven’t had a sudden “I’m a Winnipegger!” epiphany. But over the last month or so I’ve had this creeping realisation. It involves a pair of winter boots that I bought during my first fall here. Former WoMH’er Laurel and I went down to MEC and I bought a pair of what I thought looked like solid winter boots. To be completely honest, I think I chose them because they have pink flowers on the soles, and they were on sale. They weren’t embarrassing, but they weren’t really my idea of stylish, either.

My first winter, I wore them out caroling in December and to Festival du Voyageur in February. My second winter, I stuffed my swollen pregnant legs into them once or twice, again to Festival and to shovel snow a time or two. They were clearly boots with a practical purpose: to keep my feet from freezing.  But this, my third winter, I finally realised they are often the most practical footwear to put on, and have worn them almost every single day. And to my amazement, I get a ton of compliments on them!

My trusty Baffins

You see, these boots are a far cry from the leather knee-high, high heeled boots of my glory days in Vancouver, which I wore with tights during fall, winter, and into spring. These boots are clunky and flat and remind me of being in Grade 3, trudging through Alberta snowbanks on my way to school. These boots are insanely warm and while not particularly comfortable for walking great distances, they keep me cozy while the car is warming up (our remote starter is broken…. boo!) and getting around the neighbourhood.

The first few times someone said to me, “Nice boots!”, I thought maybe I was being gently teased for my sensible footwear. I figured that others thought the boots were a bit over the top, just the sort of thing that a prairie-style Come From Away would wear. But eventually I figured out that they were legitimate compliments. They liked them. They really liked them! I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised: In Winnipeg, people throw around brand names of winter boots like they’re brands of beer. Sorels. Kamiks. Cougars. For the record, mine are Baffins, though I had to go look at them just now to see that.

My boots have made me realise that when it’s cold, I don’t really care what I look like, I just care about being warm. It’s not like I was a particularly vain or fashion-conscious person before, but this came as a real revelation to me. Is this letting myself go? Succumbing to the stereotypical country bumpkin image of Prairie folk? Nah, I think it’s just coming to terms with the reality of our climate. Lately when I put my boots on, I feel myself becoming someone hardy, someone who a little (or a lot) of snow doesn’t bother. Someone practical and capable. I realise that’s a tall order for a simple pair of boots, but to me they really are symbolic of my integration in this salt-of-the-earth city.

One of the reasons I didn’t want to be in Vancouver anymore was that it had inexplicably ceased to feel like Canada for me. And I didn’t really know what that was all about, but then a couple weeks ago, I was talking to a girl who’s just spent her first winter in Winnipeg. She said that all the tuques and scarves and boots that she wore this past winter make her feel ultra-Canadian. So maybe that’s ultimately what I missed when I was living in Vancouver. Snow. Bundling up. Coming in from the cold. Scraping the windshield. (Okay, probably not that last one.)

Every part of our beautiful country has characteristics — good and bad — that make the locals feel like they’re home. When I moved to Vancouver I thought I was escaping Alberta’s snowstorms and the dry cold and starting the car in -30 degree weather, in favour of temperate climes year-round.  (And don’t get me wrong — there are definitely days when I would love to step off a plane in BC and be enveloped by all that glorious humidity!) But it turns out those things were what I eventually missed, without even really knowing it.  I wasn’t born here, I wasn’t raised here, but this city is really starting to feel like home. Slowly, I’m developing the pragmatic sensibility that I’ve always admired in Winnipeggers.

What makes you feel like a Winnipegger?

If there’s one thing Winnipeggers love, it’s a bargain. This I can say for certain after living here for 2 1/2 years. From driving across town to save a few cents on gas — or across the border to pick up 25lbs of cream cheese (I’m looking at you, Auntie!) — to our obsession with garage sales, there are all sorts of indications that there’s little this town loves more than saving money.

One of the perks of having a blog is being approached by companies to help promote their products or services. It’s something I’ve never taken advantage of until now, because I wasn’t really sure whether I wanted to open that particular can of worms. And I’m not sure I would have, except for over the last few months I happened to be approached by two newish sites that are based on the same premise: getting deals through group buying. The idea is strength in numbers. If enough people agree to buy a particular deal, everyone benefits from steep discounts at local businesses, which include restaurants, retail stores, services, recreation facilities, etc.

The concept piqued my interest and, well, it must be something in our fine Winnipeg water, because the deals sound just too good to resist. I took TeamBuy and WagJag up on their offers of credits for their respectives sites, and also some some extras (see Reader Giveaways below)  which I will give to you, loyal readers! And while I’m on the topic of group buying sites, I’ll touch on Groupon and OneSpout for good measure.

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WagJag

WagJag recently made its foray into the Winnipeg market with a pretty cool PR campaign: show up at a particular eatery or shop at a given time, and WagJag will foot the bill or dole out some sweet  freebies. WagJag’s offers are often for companies that are a little less well-known, which I think is cool because it’s a neat way to explore your own city and its local businesses. They also have deals for some bigger names, like Hu’s Asian Bistro and Hakim Optical. The nice thing about WagJag is that their deals are often valid for more than 24 hours, and at any given time there are several deals on the go.

With my complimentary WagJag credit, I happily tested out the site and scored a couple of 70% off gift certificates for a eco-friendly house cleaning service. The process was very smooth and took me all of a minute to process.

Reader Giveaway!*

I have 4 tickets to give away to WagJag’s invite-only family-friendly block party from 2-5 on Sunday, March 27. There will be a gourmet coffee bar, a slushie bar, and snacks from local favourite food places. Moses Mayes will be the entertainment, and there will be activities for both kids and adults. Sounds like a lot of fun! To have your name entered, please leave a comment telling me how many tickets (out of 4) you’d like!

TeamBuy

Team Buy is another sweet Canadian company with deals for almost 30 cities. In Winnipeg, they’ve recently featured deals at Marble Slab, The Nook, Academy Uptown Lanes, Archangel Fireworks, Yoga Pilates and More, and Jonnie’s Sticky Buns. I’m told there will be upcoming deals  include Pineridge Hollow Restaurant (the perfect place for a quick road trip, if you ask me!) and Sushi Daruma. I’ve got some complimentary Team Bucks credits burning a hole in my pocket, but I’m waiting for the perfect buy to use ‘em.

I like TeamBuy’s layout a lot,  and appreciate the nicely formatted buy details. You can also send any questions you have about the buy to the vendor, and answers are posted for others to see. Very handy feature!

Reader Giveaway!*

Leave a comment telling me your favourite way to get a deal, and you’ll be entered into a draw for $30 in Team Bucks, which you can use to make purchases on TeamBuy.ca!

Groupon

Same concept as the others. My only real beef is that Groupon, you have to enter your email address to view the deal of the day. Annoying if you just want to see what the fuss is about, but not a big deal if you’re going to subscribe to their daily emails or join the site anyway. I recently snagged a $50 voucher Lux for Sprouts voucher for just $15: the deal was $25, plus I used the $10 off promo code that I got when I joined Groupon. Not too shabby!

Some recent deals include vouchers from 50-90% off at places like Laura Secord, The Body Shop and IMAX.

OneSpout

Hat tip to Save Money in Winnipeg for this one! OneSpout is a Canadian group-buying aggregator – it rounds up current offers for a particular city (in our case, Winnipeg) from a bunch of different group-buying websites and presents them in an easy-to-scan format. Or they’ll send you a daily email that lists all current offers in one go.

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So whether you’re going broke saving money or legitimately saving a few bucks, these team buying sites are worth checking out. Being frugal can definitely be fun. Thanks to TeamBuy.ca and WagJag for the credits and inside scoop on upcoming deals!

*Reader Giveaway details — I’ll accept entries until Friday March 18 at 11:59pm (local time, of course!). To choose winners, I’ll number the comments in the order they’re received and generate a random number from random. org to see who wins!

Giveaway Results:

Christie is the winner of the Team Bucks giveaway, and both Sphinxy and Sarah win block party invites – thanks, WagJag, for throwing in an extra ticket!

Much to my chagrin, I haven’t been able to make it to Festival du Voyageur this year. In explanation, a simple equation: baby + extra-cold temperatures / all of our babysitters are busy going to Festival = no go for us!

But never fear, we managed to enjoy a little Festival in the comfort of our own home, when some friends came for a visit and brought along a bottle of caribou. I choked back one shot, but we concurred caribou just isn’t the same a) if it’s not in an ice glass and b) if you’re not actually at Festival.

Fortunately, whilst at the LC last weekend, I picked up a couple of cans of Fort Gibraltar Premium Lager (made especially by the Fort Garry Brewing Co. for FDV) so we could pretend we were in the snow bar at least once! And I’ve been checking out some awesome pictures from Festivals past from the U of M archives (I think I found this from someone on Twitter but can’t remember who – but a hat tip to you, whoever you are!).

So I’m sad to have missed out this year, but it makes me that much more excited to go next year. I’m really looking forward to taking my little guy to the fiddling and jigging competitions – I think he’ll love the music – and by that point he will be old enough to go on the big snow slide. But I’ll also be sure to plan some adult-only time going to shows and getting reacquainted with my old friends caribou and pea soup!

Hé ho — bon festival!