I was in LA when I first found out that a there is musical based on the movie Bring It On. While driving to the Getty Museum, I noticed little Bring it On: The Musical flags attached to streetlights. How long this will take to migrate north, I thought starting out the window. Well, Six months is the answer because Bring it On: the musical is now playing in Toronto thanks to Mirvish.
I’m not a fan of the teen movie genre. I avoid watching as much as possible. Of course, I enjoy a few like The Breakfast Club, Heathers and Pretty in Pink. So when I sat down to watch Bring it On for the first time I thought I would hate every minute. I hadn’t yet jumped on the Kristen Drunst bandwagon yet and she was just that kid from Interview with a Vampire grown. Bring it On was great to my surprise.
The musical isn’t the same story as the movie but follows a lot of the themes and adds crazy ensemble singing and dancing. The dance sequences are pretty epic and they actually toss girls around a bit. It started off a bit too much like and some after school special program but it definitely picked up after the dancing Leprechaun sequence. It was the best thing I’ve seen in a long time and after that I was in love.
The performances were amazing from both a singing and dancing perspective. The show looks exhausting. Tons of respect to those dancers were doing scenes back to back to back. I laughed a lot more than expected which is always a great thing.
Being it On, the musical has just enough ridiculousness to make it great. If you love the movie I really think you’ll love the musical. Extremely entertaining. I can’t get that Leprechaun dance out of my mind. Best thing ever.
A limited number of $25.00 Rush Seats will be available for all performances, 2 hours prior to curtain time, in-person only at the Ed Mirvish Theatre box office; subject to availability; 1 ticket per person.
Ed Mirvish Theatre (formerly The Canon)
May 2 – June 3, 2012
Performance Schedule: Tuesday – Saturday 8PM
Wednesday, Saturday & Sunday 2PM
Added performance Thursday May 3, 2PM
Sunday May 6, 8PM
No Show Wed May 2, 2PM
Recommended Age: 10 +
Running Time: 2 hrs 27 mins (includes intermission)
images: Bring It On: The Musical – Photo by Joan Marcus (courtesy of Mirvish)
Thank you to Mirvish for providing tickets to see Bring it On: The Musical.
A few weeks ago I received an email from a web consultant that was working with Quebec based Simons. He asked me to write a review of the shopping experience and would provide me with a $50 gift certificate to get started. Simons has always been a must visit on my trips to Montreal. I accepted his offer and hence this post.
The gift certificate came to me via email which I thought was excellent considering a physical card really didn’t serve a purpose in this situation. The Simons.ca website has a clean, simple layout and lots of white space. I hate websites will lots of bells and whistler or ones that use flash and play music automatically. It shouldn’t take the user many mouse clicks to get product into a shopping cart and I tend to give up on sites with lousy user interfaces. The Simons.ca user interface provides all the search functions I expect: colour, brand, price and date added.
I purchased the Trompe-l’oeil plunge-neck sweater and a large cowl neck striped tunic. I spent more than $50 but was pleasantly surprised that in addition to the regular credit card payment options you can choose Pay Pal or Interac. I used Interac to pay the difference and it was super easy. Simons offers free shipping for orders over $40 and free returns. They also gives you the option to pick up your order in store. I also like that I didn’t have to create an account to process my order.
Delivery was very fast. I ordered on the Friday and had my package on Wednesday. Some online retailers don’t put any effort into packaging. I think packaging is one of the most important aspects of an online shopping experience. I automatically think higher of companies that think of both the online and offline experience for the customer. My order came in a perfectly sized box branded with the Simons logo in its signature green. The clothing was wrapped in branded tissue paper and sealed with a Simons leaf sticker.
Included in the box was one of the coolest branded tote bags I’ve ever seen. The tote is included in orders for a limited time only. The last aspect of the packaging that I really liked was the envelope the invoice came in pictured above.
So, I give Simons.ca a big thumbs up for their e-commerce experience. I love that Canadian companies getting into online shopping cause I really hate shipping fees and duties. They are unavoidable in some situations but I’m happy that more options for Canadians are becoming available.
The Old School
Last year, I reviewed some boots on the site. I made a flippant comment about not caring about Cougar because the don’t make my childhood pillow boot anymore. I was completely wrong. I learned at a preview that the classic boot was coming back for Fall 2011. The anticipation for the Cougar Pillow Boot has been building for months. I’m a such a sucker for some of these retro trends and thankfully Matchstick send a pair over to me.
The New School
In 1976, a Canadian classic was born. A tan leather, calf-high lace up with its famous red lining took an entire generation by storm. This fashion icon is the inspiration behind the new Cougar Pillow Boot.
Made with soft, supple leather this next generation Pillow melds a decidedly vintage look with a modern twist, while still giving you the option to romp through the deepest Canadian snow.(source: Press release)
The weather isn’t conductive to a functional review but I’ve been wearing them around the house and they are very comfortable boots. I like the updated design. The grip on the sole is much better than their 70s counterpart. I can’t wait to take them out in the snow this year. Matchstick and Cougar Boots asked to me contribute a photo to their Pillow Boot Blogger Lookbook on their facebook page.
My Cougar Pillow Boot look is thick socks (I need to buy some work socks to really pull this look off) and a Philip Sparks dress. This is the only dress made in this fabric. I just had to have something different from everyone else. I would normally the boots with wool tights and a dress but I was a bit lazy at this point.
There are a number of retailers that carry the limited edition Cougar Pillow Boot. You can find them on the Cougar Website. Thanks to Matchstick and Cougar for making me feel like a kid again.
I decided to put aside my fears of gel manicures as a TIFF experiment. High View Communications and CND invited me to Shellac SpaManicure Day where guests would be treated to a Shellac manicure and meet CND president and founder, Jan Arnold. The event was just in time for TIFF and I liked the idea of CND reps doing my nails.
There are a couple of things that make me wary of these types of manicures.
- I like to change my nail polish up a lot. I worry about being bored with the one colour.
- The colour palettes aren’t as extensive as regular polish
- I’m pretty good at doing my nails myself. I don’t get a lot of manicures during the year
- I have a large amount of nail polish colours
- Hmm, I need to return to the salon to remove this stuff.
- UV lamps, pure acetone and protective masks
- Nail recovery horror stories
The CND team setup their manicure pop-up in the Hazelton Hotel. I browsed the CND lookbooks while waiting for my nail tech. I was feeling adventurous when I accepted the invite and the runway looks from the fall winter 2011 – 2012 season fueled the fire. I would give the nail tech free rein over my nails. My only condition was to use the new Hotski to Tchotchke colour which is a bright teal colour. It was the first time I found a colour I loved from CND. I also learned about the 15 effect polishes that combine with the base coat to produce finishes like shimmer, pearl and sparkle.
Jen Mather of Polished Nail Design Group was my skilful nail tech. She commented on how I didn’t have any visible veins on my hands. Black don’t crack she quipped at me. I laughed my ass off. I was an open canvas to play for Jen to play with. She used Hotski to Tchotchke as the base and Purple Purple (I think) on the tips. Gold foil was part of the initial plan but soon turned into fine blue and green sparkles which she placed in a way to create a sparkly blue-green gradient effect on my nails. I loved it.
The Shellac process is way faster than I expected. My nails had the glossiest shine I’ve ever seen. I was smitten with them and I couldn’t stop starting at them for days afterwards. I can see the appeal now in my pre-removal euphoria. The real test is will happen in a week or so when I book my removal at twitter approved, Tips Nail Bar. I’m hoping for an easy transition back to regular polish.
I love my nails but I’m getting a little bored with them 6 days later. They are holding up very well. There is some wear at the tips but not chips. The glossy shine has dulled a bit too. One of the great things about CND is that you can use regular polish over your Shellac layers. Regular polish can be removed with a non acetone based nail remover without damaging the underlying Shellac layers. Chanel Peridot here I come.
Look for Part 2 of this review, when I get my manicure removed.
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Nails
Earlier in the summer I was sent a pair of Rockport sandals to test out. Rockport isn’t a brand I would normally wear but Adidas has partnered with them and have added the adiPRENE technology to make shoes more comfortable. I’ve had a passing interest in technology like this and wrote about Nike and Cole Haan’s collaboration efforts in the past. The technology has two parts: adiPRENE absorbs shock during walking in the heel and adiPRENE+ pushes on the ball of your foot to create a spring in your step.
The selections of shoes presented to me were definitely not my style as they were too tame and too uninspiring. I don’t look at this as a problem for Rockport because I’m really not their target market. The look of shoe usually trumps any comfort aspirations I have. I’m willing to suffer for fashion in many instances. There are many women who can’t wear the heels I do and are looking for something comfortable but not ugly. While I find Rockport’s adiPRENE selection a little uninspiring, there are shoes that can be incorporated in many wardrobes easily.
I finally decided on the Audry Quarter Strap Woven sandal in Coral. They say the colour is coral but it looks a lot like burnt orange to me. The colour is a great addition to my shoe wardrobe and adds a great pop of colour to outfits. They have a tiny platform at 0.8 cm and a small heel at 3.34. They seem like kitten heels to me compared to some of the crazy high shoes I currently own. I really do wish the heel was just an inch taller.
The sandal may lack in fashion forward style but they are amazingly comfortable. I joke that they are almost like wearing running shoes. The adiPRENE technology does a great job of making these shoes that you could wear all day and night. I’ve done this and can attest to it. At $140 these sandals won’t break the bank and your feet will probably thank you.
