Browsing “Just plain AWESOME!”

What’s the best thing about Spring in Calgary?

It might be gardening. We’re indeed digging away at C.I.A. - I’m sure you’ve read our post on planting your first garden in Calgary.  And… look at MY babies!  (See below.  I had to show someone.  Thanks for caring).  They’re being planted this weekend.

What about biking?  I’ve been back on my bicycle for weeks now, which for car-free-me means my world has exploded and I can reach far-away things (like Montreal bagels at Elbow & Heritage – this weekend).   The chorus of tail pipes in my neighbourhood suggests that those other types of bikers are happy to be out too.

Exposed skin?  Yep.  Put away those parkas and pantyhose!  This city is so whack with the weather that when it is finally warm out, we all deserve to take the sundress or muscle shirt to the max.

However, if I had to pick the single best thing about Spring in Calgary, I would pick the CANADA GOSLINGS.  Seriously.  Check out this flock of fluffies I encountered on the shore of the Elbow yesterday:

I admit I was surprised to learn from the City of Calgary that geese are a “problem,” in a number of ways (Geese attacks! Calgarians slipping on geese excrement!).  But the goslings make it all worth it.  Here’s wishing that you all get to see some soon.

We’ve partnered with the folks behind the new development at Bridgeland Crossings to take an intimate look at this awesome Calgary neighbourhood, the people, and the homes themselves.

It’s one thing to live in a great neighbourhood, it’s another thing to have great neighbors too. Bridgeland is a community that has tons of restaurants, services and amenities just a quick stroll from home. Need your morning caffeine jolt? Want fresh homemade meals on-the-go? Looking to unwind and find your zen with a yoga session? It’s all nearby when living at Bridgeland Crossings. Plus, homes are much more affordable here than in downtown – and you are just a 4 minute C-Train ride away.

There are just a few of our favourite businesses that help make Bridgeland awesome.

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The third annual Why?Race will take place on Saturday May 11, 2013. Why?Race is a day-long team race through Calgary’s downtown core, Amazing Race style. The race is BeCause’s most popular event to-date, offering participants a perfect opportunity to learn about our communities social issues while having a lot of fun with teammates – and rivals!

The event’s format calls for teams to race across the city, stopping at 25 road blocks along the route. At each road block, teams must complete either a team-building, educational or research challenge before they can advance to the next challenge and move closer to the finish line.

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The atmosphere was that of celebration. All around the Sunnyside block people laughed, talked, danced, all in the name of creation in destruction. There were dozens of bikes along a fence at the start of the block, music coming from a garage in the middle and a handful of houses lit up, art burning into the dark Calgary night.

Friday night was the opening night of WRECK CITY and it was one hell of a party.

Photos by Amy Jo Espetveidt, Quadrophonic Image

What all started as an epilogue for 809 Gallery, an influential garage gallery scheduled for demolition along with the rest of the block, came to life Friday night with a bustling opening filled with whimsical art filled homes. All the houses will be torn down to make way for a 115 unit residential complex and gave the artists unique opportunities to destroy and create. Some are mischievous and some are funny while others are downright creepy. It’s certainly a sight to be seen with amazing and intriguing work.

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Last month we posted some touching anonymous gestures of Calgary love that I ran across in my neighbourhood.  We also called out to you, lovely readers, to capture and send us the love surprises you’ve found your hoods.

And we love what we received!  Check out the pics below, lovvies.  XOXO :-*

Most lovey YYC yarn bomb EVER, on the pedestrian overpass near Bodhi Tree Yoga.  And what are those yarny balls on top – knitted stuffies?? Amazing. (photo credit: @imagineCALGARY)

This street-post-box-thing sends traffic signals, and other sorts of signals (photo credit: Irene Seto)

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What makes Calgary great? Well. Everything. And now there’s video proof (as if we needed it to know our city is pretty darn sweet).

Hundreds of YYC’s movers and shakers gathered at Theatre Junction GRAND this evening to see the final cut of a new promotional video for our fair city called Right Here and you can check it out for yourselves below.

It gathered 280 Calgarians, utilized an Alberta-based crew of 21, was shot in 11 days and gathered more than 3TB of footage.

It combined shots from Decidedly Jazz, the Alberta Ballet, Calgary Transit, Calgary Police Service, and the Calgary International Airport. There’s an amazing song written by Mike Shields and performed by the uber duo of Jocelyn and Lisa. Mandy Stobo is in it as are nine parks, eight restaurants, four hotels and seven landmarks (I bet you can name them all on your own).

It’s everything that makes Calgary vibrant, amazing and awesome.

And it took five attempts to get a beautiful skyline shot as the crew was continuously foiled by our wacky weather.

Video courtesy of Calgary Economic Development and bepartoftheenergy.ca

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Are you passionate about Calgary? Do you love to see and do new things in our fair city? Are you community-minded and want to share that with our fellow readers? Calgary is Awesome is growing and we are looking for committed writers to join the cause. Being an Editor is a fun way to learn and explore Calgary, share your experiences and get more and more people to realize what a truly awesome city Calgary is.

We are currently looking for Editors to write about awesome topics that we don’t currently cover. Let us know why it deserves it’s own following.

Here is what is involved:

• Must live in Calgary and love it!
• Write one story every other week
• Attend quarterly team meetings
• Excellent writing and editing skills; knows how to write for the web
• Know how to use WordPress and comfortable with content manager systems
• Social media-savvy
• Photographic skills are an asset
• Be an awesome person!

If you think you are the right person to join the C.I.A. team send us an email telling us a little bit about yourself, what category you want to rock, as well as a few writing samples too. All requests can be sent to irene@calgaryisawesome.com by April 21. Look forward to hearing from all you awesome peeps.

TELUS and the Globe and Mail are about to give away some serious cash, $100,000 to be exact. It does, however, come with a few strings attached. To win the dough, you have to be a small or medium-size business (employ less than 150 people) with a business challenge. In 800 words, you have to describe that business challenge (200 words); a proposed solution to this challenge the $100,000 would help with (200 words); an explanation of the results you would expect and a description of how you incorporate the following values into your business: 1) community investment/commitment to charities, 2) customer service and 3) innovation (200 words).

Sean Stanleigh, Editor of Report on Small Business at the Globe and Mail, just released 3 things to think about when entering the contest. He’s a judge, so I’d read the carefully if you want to enter: Read more

Cupcakes! Free cupcakes! Ok, this post isn’t about delicious baked goods but the awesome way in which you can get them: by donating blood. Intrigued? Good.

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) relies on thousands of people to regularly donate blood. In Southern Alberta, over 6,000 units of blood were collected in the month of February. That sounds like a lot but to keep up with regular demand, CBS needs 7,500 new donors from Southern Alberta this year alone. And with only three per cent of Calgarians donating blood, they’ll need more people to help reach that target.

I’ve asked a number of people to join me in donating blood but most get squeamish and are just plain scared of the whole idea. But I promise, donating blood is really easy and you get to save lives! How awesome is that?

Here’s my step-by-step guide on how to donate blood.

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Handwritten sign found on a Calgary street post.

“You make your own happiness.”

It was a handwritten sign, stapled to a street pole on 17th Avenue earlier this winter.  It stood out in the clutter of posters for concerts, theatre performances, and nightclub events, and its message stuck with me as I jogged past.

As I continued, I saw there were more signs, with messages like ‘you are beautiful’, and ‘hug a friend today,’ if I recall correctly.  No attribution, no website, no follow-up – just affectionate, thoughtful messages for passers-by.

That anonymous affection campaign along 17th Ave. was quickly covered up, but I hoped to see some sign of it again.  And sure enough, about a month ago, at the corner of 17th Ave at 7th Street, I found the poster shown above.  Whether it was posted by the same person or group as before, I will never know.  Regardless, I appreciated the sentiment, and the figurative offers of everything from “passion,” to “courage” to “understanding,” to passing Calgarians.

Two days later, most of the tabs had been ripped off, the offers presumably accepted.

Have you experienced an anonymous gesture of Calgary love in your neighbourhood?  Be it spontaneous public art, poetry, a yarn bomb, or something else creative and wonderful, we’d love to share it with our readers.  Tweet it at us @ciawesome or @agrantca, or send it along to andrea@calgaryisawesome.com.

My friend once awoke to find her tree all bikini-bombed and babelicious.