Erin Archives - Page 2 of 5

Beer Exchange Day 11

December 22, 2023 No Comments

Can I just say how many times I recounted today to confirm it was actually Day 11? It just does not feel like December 22. It does feel like the Christmas season (for me at least), but it doesn’t seem that close to the actual big day. I think I usually wrap on this day every year and it’s like 9 pm and I haven’t pulled that together yet so… um… probably not? Somehow I’ll figure that out tomorrow. I work at the studio and I need to record MOA, but as y’all know – I’m really good at fitting a lot of things into one day.

But not today! Today is not about wrapping presents. Today is about talking about Beer 11, which I obviously drank while watching the Survivor season finale. Behind the cut is beer spoilers and also Survivor spoilers. You’ve been warned.

YYCEats

Beer Exchange Day 9 (plus a bonus cookie recipe!)

December 18, 2023 No Comments

How is it Day 9 already!? (Of the Beer Exchange, I mean, I know it’s Day 18 of Blogmas.) I know people always say that as you get older, time passes more quickly, but this year it really seems that way. Whether I’m at work or at play, the one thing that seems consistent is that I look up and suddenly hours have passed.

I am getting so much done in those hours, though! (Except for making my home not be in disarray. I haven’t found time for that yet. But I do have my Christmas tree up, so what more do you want from me?) For instance, yesterday we did our traditional Christmas baking with the girls and we somehow whipped through the four recipes in just over two hours. We are becoming efficiency machines!

Of note (and maybe why we were so fast), we didn’t have our usual little helper yesterday. Rylee was feeling a little boogie, so she stayed home to have a “couch day” with her daddy. And the little helper we did have was pretty chill – introducing Wren!

Wren had very little input on what we baked yesterday.

We made a few usual suspects – the gingerbread cookies I shared a few years ago, classic chocolate cookies with Rolos in them, and our Toblerone shortbread. Plus we busted out something new – Mars Bar Squares. They were truly delicious. And Canadian.

Beer 9 wrapped (with toblerone shortbread recipe)

Plus, I took this opportunity to enjoy Beer 9 from the exchange! So follow me through the cut to find out what the beer was and maybe even get a recipe as well…

YYCEats

Beer Exchange Day 8

December 16, 2023 No Comments

I feel like you all can kind of guess what’s coming. This is the point in December where days are getting busy. We have nine (9!!!) days until Christmas and my schedule is starting to get jam-packed with plans. In fact, I’m darting off this post quickly before I go to see blog favourite, Forte Musical Theatre’s Naughty… But Nice!, enjoy my yearly festive get-together with Claire and Kendra, and then read a new play by one of my favourite new collaborators.

So, you can imagine – I was looking for a little bit of consistency, familiarity, and comfort this week. Beer Eight gave me exactly what I needed as I settled in to watch another episode of Survivor. (And significantly less infuriating than last week’s episode! What a delight!) Though Austin should definitely be making that penitent face that he is making in this photo.

Beer 8 unwrapped - Sea Change Brewing Company's Prairie Fairy

Life

Great Gift Gambits: a Flimsy Approach to Secret Santa Success

December 3, 2023 1 Comment

Hello and happy to Day 3 of Blogmas, my friends! It is very late on this Sunday and I just spent almost an hour on the phone with my mom, trying to decipher a financial spreadsheet. (In case you didn’t guess, that is so not my sort of thing.) And suddenly it’s 9pm and I need to write a post, so I’m including you in my most recent stress spiral: what Secret Santa gift should I buy for my male coworker that I’ve literally spoken to thrice?

Right!? Last year we did a White Elephant style exchange and all I had to worry about was bringing something cute that most people like! (Spoiler: I brought a selection of local shower steamers and soaps. Big winner.) But this year we decided to do Secret Santa gifts! And the pressure is on! I have to pick something personalized!?

Drawing of a Secret Santa making a "shush" sign while holding a present

Ugh. So here are the things that I’m up to while I’m not at all stressed out about doing a cool and festive thing that I signed up for in my workplace.

Culture, Stuff About Me

Riverona – Nov 12

November 15, 2023 No Comments

Another Sunday, another Riverona rehearsal.

This day was a bit of a unique day because we actually started out by having a production meeting between myself, Claire, Megan, Hans, and Kevin. (The team that writes the Riverona script.) There are many forms a production meeting can take and most of them are significantly more professional than what ours look like. (I assume. Because we meet in a place with great food and drinks then proceed to discuss every element of the production and make sure someone has every element in hand. Or we decide we don’t care about that element anymore. haha.)

We spend most of our writing or production meetings at First Street Market, by the way. If we’re not currently in production, catch us there on a Tuesday evening, y’all.

Image of FCT working on Riverona at First Street Market — Yes, Feb 28 was a Tuesday.

Culture, Stuff About Me

Riverona – Nov 8

November 9, 2023 No Comments

Hello Riverona friends and fans! I’m here with another recap of a rehearsal that will maybe make theatre purists lose their minds about our process. So before I share what we did on Nov 8… just know that we had a very talented cast who is very familiar with our weird vibes. Look at how cool Hans Wackershauser, Sarah Nearing, and Joel Taylor all look in this show photo from Riverona Ep 1: Two Households by Hannah Anson and also know that all three of them are in Episode 2.

Riverona Ep 1 Production Photo of Joel Taylor, Hans Wackershauser and Sarah Nearing — Joel (Benvolio) is definitely saying “seeeeeee”(x). IYKYK.

So anyway. Controversially, maybe… on Nov 8, our fifth rehearsal, we did a stumblethrough of the entire show.

Culture, Stuff About Me

Riverona – A Rehearsal Journey

November 7, 2023 No Comments

Erin Weir (Tybalt) and Megan Baldrey (Juliet) in the cafeteria scene during Riverona Ep 1: Two Households — A very collaborative Director’s Relationship During Riverona Ep 1… (maybe don’t slap your hand over your co-director’s mouth?)

Y’all! I feel like this will be a bit of a unique series over on A Flimsy Plan, but it’s also very appropriate. This blog has always been about fun things that I do in Calgary, with a strong arts lean. It’s also always been super fun when I talk about the behind the scenes of the theatre industry. Finally, as the co-artistic director of a theatre collective in town, I’ve started hosting the Full Circle Theatre website as a sub-site on my blog. (Look, life is expensive now, let’s share web hosting costs.)

So, all that to say… it seems super reasonable that I should document the process of Riverona Episode 2: Yonder Window Breaks, from rehearsal to performance, on my blog. This gives everyone involved in the situation what they want – and also helps me get back into the habit of writing on this blog. You can expect a post sometime after every Sunday rehearsal and sometime after every Wednesday rehearsal.

Fitness

Five Days of At Home Online Workouts

December 23, 2022 No Comments

Alright, my friends. It is already December 23 and things are about to get cozy. The weather in Calgary has actually improved (slightly), but I don’t really think that matters. Ultimately, the weather outside is frightful and the fire is so delightful. So instead of going to the gym or pilates studio, we are all dying for ways we can stay active at home. And, as your non-fitness girl who wants to talk to you about fitness things, I took a hit for the team. I did at home workouts for a week so that I could tell you what was worth it and what you should be doing in your living room.

A few little comments – all the workouts I did were free, youtube videos. There are tons of subscription services out there, especially after COVID where all studios had to pivot to online offerings, but I decided to focus this post on free stuff. I am sure so many of you have passes to your regular studios… but you’re looking for something different to fill your time right now. Maybe you’re out of town. Maybe it’s just too much to drive somewhere away from home. Don’t worry. I got you!

Generally speaking, I tried to do a 45-min to 1-hr long workout. This meant I usually ended up doing more than one video per channel. If I did more than one, I usually tried to do something more cardio-heavy and then something more strength-heavy so that I had a range of workouts.

And, without further ado, here are my thoughts on the five channels I interacted with during my week of at home workouts.

Life, Stuff About Me

Getting Organized for Fall – lolol

September 25, 2022 No Comments

I know. This is a wellness post and it’s not Wednesday, just like my fitness post that didn’t drop on a Friday. My days are all over the place right now and it’s part of why I very much need to write this particular post. About getting organized for fall (hahaha).

Sometime in mid-August, for no reason whatsoever, I announced on Academy Vs Audience that people should read my blog because we were getting organized for fall. Lol, what?

In a not at all shocking turn of events, I proceeded to do nothing. In part because I had no idea where that announcement came from, but in part because I immediately started going through it. You know what it’s like. When everything just happens all at once and you absolutely cannot be alone with your thoughts because there are too many of them to reorganize into helpful patterns so why not buy a $17 cocktail and read a book somewhere loud and crowded so that the overstimulation can override said too many thoughts?

And, honestly, sometimes that is kind of helpful too.

But things are slowing down now and I’m entering a new season of my life both literally and symbolically so… here we are, y’all. Come on with me… we’re getting organized for fall.

Fitness, Life

I Went on a Walk Every Day For a Month

June 8, 2022 No Comments

Hello my beautiful friends! I know you’ve been wondering where I’ve been… what I’ve been doing when I’m not writing in this space… well, if you’re on my instagram, you already know. I’ve gone for a walk every day, for at least 30 minutes, for a month.

I have to give credit where credit is due – I absolutely got this idea from Kayla Nelson. She described walking for 30 minutes as the key to health and, hey, I was done my barre challenge so why not take something else on? (Sidebar: I discovered Kayla’s youtube channel just over a month ago and I’m officially obsessed. I love her realistic approach to fitness, food and wellness.)

I think we’ve all read about the cardiovascular and muscular benefits of walking, so I’m not going to belabor that here, I’m just going to do what I do best – talk about my own experiences!

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