Friday's Favourites--Village Ice Cream

For a good long time, my favourite ice cream cone ever was this amazing soft serve ice cream cone I had in Denmark when I was 16 years old. My travelling companion had purchased it because she thought the dark sprinkles were chocolate. Luckily for me, they were in fact salted black liquorice. If you know me at all, you know that I am a liquorice fanatic. The way the salt mingled with the ice cream and the liquorice. It was pure heaven. Add in to that the fact that I was in Denmark...and you get my very favourite ice cream cone. Until now.

This week, after a crazy session(which I promise to share later), I suggested that we meander over to the Village Ice Cream shop downtown. I had heard the rumours of it being incredible and I am happy to say that it surpassed the hype. I indulged in the salted caramel with a waffle cone. My advice is--GET THE WAFFLE CONE. I think the cone was what made it. Simply the best cone I have ever had--worth the extra dollar. The salted caramel was utterly divine. I would have tried the 'earl grey' but they were sold out. Next time ;) This has become a must stop destination for me the next time I am downtown with my kids. I like to think that we are raising mini foodies--especially Georgia who has extremely expensive food tastes. They will go crazy for this place I'm sure. We actually make our own ice cream and are pretty picky about ice cream we purchase. This ice cream is the real deal for sure. And, now that warmer days have arrived--I suggest you all take a trip down to the Village Ice Cream Shop.

~Dana

Friday's Favourites -- Soda Stream

Okay...seriously. I had my doubts. To me a soda--in particular a diet soda(OMG I know the horrors...it's okay, you'll get over it) is one of my favourite treats. And, my kids...well, we don't really let them drink soda at all actually. Trust me, I have heard the word 'hypocrite' dancing on the tongues of my overly bright 11 year old more than I'd like. So, the idea of buying a machine that would make soda more readily available to them(and to me) wasn't high on my priority list.

Then, a good friend of mine admitted to having one. I was shocked. Why? Why would you have one of these in your home? The answer surprised me. She said she just made sparkling water from her tap water and drank it on ice with a bit of lemon. It made increasing her daily dose of water so much easier. And, if your kids are going to drink pop, now you can TOTALLY control the sugar in it.

So, I caved and bought one. And, to be honest, I freakishly love it. It makes my boring water seem ever so fancy every day...and, it even has the kids tricked into drinking more water. I now buy lemons in bulk from Costco and make sparkling water a couple of times a day.

Here's a cool trick--you can turn wine into 'sparkling wine' too...at least, that's what I've heard. I would never try that as the manual says ONLY WATER. ;) The only thing it took me awhile to understand was that when you are finished with a CO2 canister, you have to return it to the customer service desk at Walmart(or where ever you are going to buy a new one). They'll recycle the old one and give you a new one there.

Just a little something you might consider treating mom to this Mother's day. That is...if you haven't treated her to a session at my Pop-Up Studio in Calgary. There are still two spots left. I can't wait to meet all the moms and grandmas!!! Going to be a super fun day!

~ Dana

Canada Photo Convention 2015

I'm pretty excited to announce that I'll be speaking at next year's Canada Photo Convention in Vancouver. I'll be speaking on Day One(April 20th) with an incredible line up that includes Jonathon Canlas and Jenna Shouldice. The conference is 3 days in length with each day costing $250. Right now, there is an early bird special where you get three days for the price of two. The early bird price is available until May 15th, so act fast ;) And, make sure to say hi to me in the halls between the presentations! I love meeting new photographers.

~ Dana

Mother's Day Pop Up Studio

I've decided to do a Pop-Up studio!!! Just for moms and their kids...or grandmas and their kids. Let's celebrate the special ladies in your life and get them in the pictures. 15 minutes to create fantastic portraits of moms with their kids(no family pictures...just moms and kids).

50% of all session fees raised will be donated to Jenn Unplugged's fundraiser for Gastrointestinal Cancer trials. I had the privilege of working with Jenn once and she was just amazing. I had to do something to honour her spirit.

Sooooo...can't think of something to get mom for Mother's day!! Here it is.

There are limited spots, so first come...first serve!

Thanks,

~ Dana