Spring is Near
The first day of spring is tomorrow. That’s also my daughters birthday (she’s turning five)! I’ll be sharing her birth story on social media, as is tradition with both of my kids. Such a special season!
We’ll be removing some COVID restrictions this week. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when people shed their masks and start to ‘get back to normal’ in terms of public habits and social behaviours.
Lots to look forward to with the warmer weather. Will probably be getting my motorcycle out this week. I sold Suzi Suzuki last fall and bought a 2022 Triumph Street Twin (Bonneville). It’s a bigger bike and I’m excited to have my first warm weather ride with it. Lots of moto-social stuff on the go, too.
Excited to eventually get up to the cottage and open things up. We’ll be hosting only repeat guests and are fully booked (again). We’ve been very lucky on the ‘good guests’ front. So much so, that I’ve decided to stop accepting rental inquiries indefinitely. It took a while to get into this groove but now that I’m here, there’s no going back.
If you’re reading this and you were able to contribute to my Dry Feb fundraiser: THANK YOU! We raised over $2,000.00 for the Canadian Cancer Society. It was a long month with some unexpected twists and turns making total sobriety impossible for me, so YES, I had two cheat days. Oh well! We still did a good things and I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished.
It’s a new month and we’re getting back to whatever post-COVID normal life will be and that is something worth celebrating all on it’s own.
New Adventures (in Air Bnb Hosting)
Live the good life up at the lake! Rent through Air BnB NOW or contact me if you have any questions relating to the property. This is my all time favourite place on earth! See for yourself.
Partake Brewing: the Best Non-Alcoholic Beer
Oh haaaaaay, this is an opinion piece - I'm sure you have your fave non-alc. drink and there are more and more options each day. This is a good thing! I'm 32! I can't handle hang-overs any more, yet my love of beer isn't going away... What to do, what to do?
After a particularly gnarly hangover, I decided to attempt a 'sober summer' and so far, so good. Thanks, in part, to non-alcoholic beer!
A huge shout out to Rockfest & Budweiser for selling frosty tall-cans of Prohibition brew at this year's festival. For some, abstaining from beer is very easy - just don't drink a beer! Right? Well, I don't want to drink 10 cokes at a music festival and I really, really like beer. In addition to h2O, it is super lovely to be able to grab what TASTES like a refreshing brewski (well, it tastes like a beer because it is... just a de-alcoholized one)!! I hope more music fests follow Rockfest & Budweiser's lead here... looking at you, Bluesfest!
I've had Prohibition, Grolsch's Non-Alcoholic Radler and Non-Alcoholic beer - and then I tried Partake...
Words cannot adequately describe the taste of Partake *hence the .gif* - you've simply GOTTA try it. This is the ONLY non-alcoholic brew I've tried that, taste-wise, could pass for a regular beer. At 0.26% and 10 calories per can, their IPA quickly became my Top Choice. I can't recommend their beer enough!
The company was started by Ted Flemming, an avid craft beer drinker from Toronto, who's surprise medical situation 'changed his focus'. After trying major market non-alcoholic beers, he decided to do his own thing... which meant, making his own non-alcoholic craft beer!
The company is working on a Stout, which will have 0.5% alcohol content (the highest a brew can have to be considered 'non-alcoholic' and a Lager, also 0.5%. Pictured below, you see their Pale brew which I've yet to track down in Ottawa!
Partake Brewing Non-Alcoholic IPA
Water, Barley, Hops, Yeast
Watch The Americans | #shomiSummer
ATTENTION!! внимание: shomi has launched a Streaming Club and I am leading The Americans show. This is your traditional book club debuting it’s 21st century make-over.
This week shomi launched their first Streaming Club and I've been asked to represent (let's be honest, BINGE WATCH is the more appropriate term here) The Americans – a show set in the 80s, where two Soviet intelligence agents pose as an American married couple to spy on the U.S. government.
With yesterday’s Emmy nomination announcement, it goes without saying that I am so pumped to be leading this title. (The Americans received five 2016 Emmy nominations for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series!)
While this is NOT the typical light-hearted, "turn your brain off and zone out" fluffy, puppy, rainbow sparkles covered series I generally go for when it comes to binge watching - this is taking me back to the 80s, fully, to a time when the fears of the Cold War were felt here in Canada by my parents (I was just a baby, but they've told me about it.)
In Ottawa we literally sit on a stark reminder of the nuclear weapons threat; the Diefenbunker. Join me as we get caught up in the fashion, the tension, the history and sexy/dangerous adventures surrounding the world of international espionage with The Americans.
In addition, shomi is giving away the ULTIMATE STREAMING EXPERIENCE prize pack worth over $2,000 up for grabs. Join The shomi Streaming Club's official event page and use #shomiSummer when commenting for your chance to win* an Ultimate Streaming Experience prize pack including: Apple TV, a Samsung 60" TV, a Samsung Curved Sound Bar and a one year complimentary shomi subscription.
Yes... Watch TV and potentially win some amazing stuff by joining our shomi Streaming Club and commenting along the way! All of the *official contest details are here: http://bit.ly/29yYj8F
For more streaming suggestions, CLICK HERE.
There are a few perks to joining my #shomiSummer Streaming Club; streaming television is easy and takes little to no effort, SNACKS!!! can be fun as a solo OR group activity... Oh, did I mention the prizes?
#shomiSummer Streaming Club's Ultimate Hosting Package contains Bose Mini Speakers, a Chromecast, 6 month subscription to shomi, decor and candy/popcorn
To win the #shomiSummer Streaming Club's Ultimate Hosting Package, simply join me in streaming Season 1 of The Americans, comment on my Facebook Page (Amy Volume) Blog Post and tell me what show you love binge-watching! Winner will be chosen at random.