SF, I love you.

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Sitting in a beautiful Italian cafe called Fiore, amidst the hustle of the Wednesday morning commuters, sipping coffee – I am in San Francisco. The best.

I am here for Alt Summit SF – Alt’s one day version of the design blogging conference. Staying with one my super generous Alt SLC friends has made this trip even more special.

Off for an adventure today. xx

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#MYMIX WITH EBAY CANADA + GIVEAWAY

I love personalized shopping. Especially when you are shopping online. The less you have to search, the better in my books. MyMix just went live on eBay Canada on Tuesday July 2nd and I have been loving it ever since! A similar look to Pinterest – the Feed makes it easy to search for stuff you love in a super visual way. The lovely folks at eBay Canada sent over a $100 PayPal gift certificate for me (and one for a very lucky reader – see below) to try out the new Feed application on the site and pick out some great new goods just in time for summer vacations.

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MyMix is a super sweet collection of summertime must-haves to keep me looking cute and having fun. I’ve been missing the days of Polaroids so I picked up a baby blue Fuji Instax Mini and a pack of Instax film to capture all of my summer adventures – from music festivals to road trips to a fun night out with my girlfriends – I can’t wait to use it. I also love shooting with my DLSR camera so I picked up an adorable new strap for it. I’ll be more inspired to pick it up and bring it out with me when it looks so cute with the polka dot strap.

I’ve been absolutely loving the new She & Him album, Volume 3. I only have the digital album but wanted to get a copy for the record player too – everything just sounds better on vinyl, right? Zooey Deschanel’s voice is just gorgeous – can’t wait to put it on for spontaneous dance parties in the living room!

Lastly, I had to pick up this J.Crew-inspired statement necklace. My favourite colour of flowers – I see myself wearing this well into fall with pretty dresses & tees. Completely adorable.

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To help celebrate MyMix and inspire you to find those must-have summer items, whether you’re looking for the perfect summery white dress or cat eye sunglasses, eBay Canada would like to offer one of my readers a $100 PayPal Gift Certificate to use on eBay!

All you have to do is leave a comment here telling me why you love shopping on eBay. Make sure you leave your name and email address in the provided fields! For more chances to win you can tweet me at using the #MyMix hashtag and Contest ends on Monday, July 8. Open to Canadian readers only. Good luck!

UPDATE: Congrats to the winner Tammy D! I am so excited to hear what treasures you find on eBay Canada! Thanks to everyone who entered!

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THE CALGARY FLOOD

My friends at Let’s Neighbor recently asked me to write about the Calgary Flood. While we are still in the midst of dealing with this natural disaster city-wide, a lot of good has come out of it. A stronger spirit of community, a bigger sense of the word neighbourhood and the importance of banding together during times of crisis.

Last week I spent three days organizing a flood relief fundraiser called Mission:Possible with some folks at the Mission Cliff Bungalow Community Association. We somehow pulled it off and ended up raising over $13,000 and giving out over 2,000 free hot meals to volunteers. We also ‘flooded’ the donation center with clothing and housewares from all of our generous neighbours wanting to help out everyone who lost everything in the flood. It was a beautiful day that I will never forget. I have never seen such generosity before. The comradeship was incredible and I hope this good energy sticks around the city for a long time to come. I have a feeling it will.

I have included some stunning and heart-breaking photographs from during the flood by my friend Andy van der Raadt. He has a beautifully sensitive eye and has captured this tough time with a ton of grace and…stillness.

Centre Street Bridge.

4th Street Bridge.

Elbow Park.

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The remains of a flooded basement in Elbow Park.

If you are interested in assisting Calgary get back on it’s feet, I have rounded up a couple ways to do so.

  1. Donate to the Red Cross to help with immediate relief initiatives in Alberta’s affected areas
  2. Donate to the Calgary Arts Flood Rebuild. So many artists, musicians and arts organizations lost artwork, materials, instruments and revenue during this hard time – help rebuild this community at InvestYYC
  3. Support long-term community recovery efforts right in Calgary area by donating to the Calgary Foundation Rebuilding Fund.

Photos by Andy van der Raadt

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