Early last week Tristan and I decided that we would in fact head over to Vancouver and get a taste of the Olympic madness. We found out Christina Craft and her husband Cary were headed over at the same time, so at 4:30 monday morning the four of us met up and headed toward the ferries. Christina’s photos from the day are up on her blog. Over the next two days we did as much walking as possible. The city looked great and there was barely a soul not wearing Canadian olympic clothes. By the end of monday I thought my legs were going to fall off, but we still ran across half the city to find a screen that was playing Virtue and Moir’s gold medal skate (I knew they were going to win). We finally found it showing near Yaletown, and watched along with my sister in law and her boyfriend in a parking lot. I was so excited I barely noticed all the people behind us that were equally as thrilled. It was so much fun to be apart of the city during that time, and to be with a crowd as the skaters performed flawlessly. What a good decision it was to visit.

Sunday afternoon after Team Canada’s gold medal game, Tristan and I (along with plenty of others) filled the streets of downtown Victoria. It was an amazing experience to be apart of such a happy group of proud Canadians. I can imagine it was a small celebration compared to those in the big cities of this country, and it was wonderful to know that it wasn’t just Victoria. Cars were honking and people were screaming from coast to coast. One of our closest friends said she spend the afternoon with her head hanging out of the car window like a dog, screaming “sid the kid!” repeatedly. Such an experience. On top of all the excitement, we only had one camera between the two of us. This is another (good) experience in itself. Tristan’s shots to come on his blog soon. I will link to them so you can see what happened when I was left camera-less.

Yet again Veronique rolls out yet another successful girls night. This time however the guys were allowed to join at 10:30, and had arrived by 10:32! The Oswego hotel was the our new host and our ears were delighted with the sounds of Diane Pancel. At one point in the evening I heard someone say they were motivated about networking because it’s not just about selling yourself, but it’s also about finding what you need. If you want to be apart of the action, check out the group’s facebook page to be updated on the next event!

And last, a shot of my two cuties! (Ryan & Tristan)

Last night I attended another fabulous Girls Night Mixer, hosted by the beautiful Veronique Da Silva. One year ago Veronique held the first mixer in her own living room. The mixer quickly grew in numbers and is now held at the much loved Union Pacific, with 75 women attending! Last night’s anniversary mixer was the 4th gathering, and I think it was the best one yet. This time we even had some mini-networkers join us! I was more than happy to photograph the event again, and share with you what I got from the night.

So far I haven’t double posted on the photographer network blog and this one, but this week I couldn’t help myself. What I didn’t mention in my last post about the networking mixer, is that before and after the event I was actually spending my time in the hospital, with my friends Cat and Shane who were welcoming little baby Marcus into the world. For photo of the week, I chose both my favourite picture and my favourite moment from the day(s)… the first moment we got to see his precious little face.  If you don’t already, head over to the network to watch for new photos every monday from myself and 4 other talented photographers and friends.

A few months back I attended and photographed the second Girls Night Networking Mixer at the Cornerstone Cafe in Fernwood. GNNM is a wonderful event held and organized by the lovely Veronique DaSilva. This time around the mixer was at my favourite place in Victoria, the Union Pacific Cafe. The mixer is growing in popularity, and proves to be different each time it’s held, with more and more women wanting to be apart of these events for obvious reasons. Veronique is building such a dynamic network of women in Victoria with passion, drive and creativity. She is my networking hero and I love being apart of her events. If you’re interested in taking part in the next mixer, pay attention to Veronique’s blogs for more info.  Here are a few pictures from the night. 

Yesterday I tagged along with Vanessa and Jenny (the wonderful florists of Verbena Floral Design that i’m always talking about) to attend “Let them eat cake” a benefit for the Women’s Transition House of Victoria. This fashion show and silent auction was put on by the owners of Addiction, Rebel Rebel, Bernstein & Gold and Luv It. Besides a great excuse to hang out with Vanessa and Jenny yet again, I went along to photograph the floral arrangements they put together for the event. They’ve updated their website in the events section with some of those pictures. As well, they have made a blog post with a few more pictures from the event.

I also took some photos of the fashion show behind the scenes. There were a few other photographers there to capture the main runway shots, so I stuck to the kind of photos I like to take and here is a bit of what I got. 

Ok so I’ve been backposting a lot of blogs lately because I am finally having a chance to catch up from the season. There is still a ton to post from this past summer and fall which I will get to… but I wanted to skip ahead to the present, at least for this post. Last night I went and joined over 50 other women in Victoria at the Cornerstone Cafe in Fernwood for a girls night networking mixer! Veronique daSilva was the amazing host of this event, which is the second of its kind. It was an awesome collection of business women, mothers, artists and activists (many a combination of all 4) getting together to enjoy a night out to chat about what they do over a few glasses of wine (or for some it was a night of ‘heavy drinking’). Of course there was also lots of chocolate and cheese! I didn’t get a chance to talk with everyone there but the women I did meet were really sweet and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again! Here are my shots from the night:

A couple days after photographing Jessie, I had a pretty cool day with Tristan’s brother Kaspar. Kaspar is quadriplegic, and this summer decided he’d like to skydive. So I went with him and Rod (their dad and my father in law) to photograph the entire thing from strapping him in to the landing. Most the of the time was spent on preparing for the jump. In this case getting strapped in was a lengthier process than for someone able-bodied. They asked me if I wanted to go in the plane as well, but I’d have to help with the launch and not be able to take pictures, and I’d also miss the landing. I decided I’d rather be on the ground to see his face when it was all over and I’m glad that I did. It was an awesome experience to be apart of. It was the beginning of many cool adventures I’m sure. On this day, my favourite moment was as we’re wheeling back to the car with Rod, and Kas says “Sweet I’m stoked I didn’t break my legs, every quad I’ve talked to that has gone sky diving has broken their legs on the landing” My eyes bugged out of my head. Ok then! I’m glad you didn’t break them either! That’s Kaspar for you though. Gotta love him… doesn’t let anything hold him back, and doesn’t hold anything back. You couldn’t ask for a better brother in law. Always keeps me entertained.