Win Tickets to Disney Live! Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show! ~ Ottawa

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I’m not sure about you guys but I know what I’ll be doing on March 9th! Feld Entertainment is bringing Disney Live! Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show to the National Arts Centre and I’ve got my tickets secured. It’ll be a nice way to pretend we are still at Walt Disney World as we will have just gotten back. Tickets are on sale now, Right Here!

Here’s what the show is all about and a special clip for you to show the kiddies:

Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy set out on a zany road trip where audiences join in and help find the coolest acts around. Along the way, hit a high note with Cinderella; get your bounce on with Tigger; and shout out your loudest “yee-haw” at a hoedown with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear from Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story! Grab your family for a fun-filled getaway at this live, show-stopping adventure jam-packed with unexpected twists, turns and hijinks —right in your hometown!

How would you like to be a hero and win a Family 4-Pack for the March 9th, 6pm show? Well, I’m going to give you two chances to win and the contest will close next Friday, the 24th at 5pm. Cool? Here we go.

HOW TO ENTER

1. Leave me a comment, telling me who your favourite Disney character is.

2. For a 2nd entry, use the form below to sign up for my mailing list and then leave a separate comment letting me know you did it.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Congrats to our winner, Janette Folkens!

How I Became Known as Prince Chris

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It was this year’s Santa Claus Parade where it was made official. As the amazing staff from Official Princess Parties drew closer to us, my daughter lit up with the joy of a child whose magical belief of princesses always makes me think back to my youth. As they often do, the princesses spotted her, waved, called her name and made her feel like the most special child in the world.

Something different happened this time though.

One of the princesses, Ariel, if you’re keeping track, looked over and said “Hello, Prince Chris”, to which my friends immediately shot my a sideways glance. I’m not sure whether it was because of the fact that she knew my name or the fact that my wife had little to no reaction to the shout out, but I think I managed to explain it to them in a way that didn’t make me look creepy. I won’t go through that process with all of you, instead opting to link to a few times I’ve run in to the amazing princesses from this company, such as Here, Here and Here, plus countless others at smaller events.

Now that I have officially been dubbed, Prince Chris, I feel like I will fit in a lot better at this year’s Official Princess Parties “Royal Ball” on Feb 23rd. I’ve been spending the last few months practicing my royal dance moves and trying to eat properly so the food doesn’t end up on my shirt. It’s a work in progress… Aaaaanyway, I hope to see you at the Royal Ball on Feb 23rd, and don’t worry, it is not necessary to kiss my royal hand. It’s more of a mandatory thing.

Prince Chris, signing off.

Official Princess Royal Ball

Sidney Crosby Tim Hortons

I Was In Tim Hortons’ New Commercial! Well, Almost…

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Thanks to Tim Hortons, I recently had the opportunity to do something that I would have never imagined possible. I was invited to attend the taping of their new commercial (linked below), where I had the chance to act as one of the cheering fans in the stands during a hockey game. The commercial starred Pittsburgh Penguins’ star and recently named Team Canada member, Sidney Crosby and it was incredibly cool to see him in action.

In planning this post, I wanted to share every single minute detail about my time at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, but I felt like I might be a little more excited about the day than you all would be. That said, I still wanted to share some of my observations of the event. First off, for anyone who has ever dreamed of a life in show business, let me tell you something. The amount of work that went into every shot you see in the commercial is beyond anything I could have imagined. Those skaters, including Crosby, must have jumped the boards about 50 times each in the 4 hours it took to record that scene. In fact, at one point in the commercial, you see a man lifting a young skater over the boards. Multiply that by 50…

One of the best parts of the experience, other than the unlimited amount of Tim Hortons coffee, was that I got to share it with two of my blogging friends in Sharon DeVellis & Shannon Mischuk, two women that I respect very much. Oh yeah, and when got to meet Sidney Crosby! We went in to this with no expectations as to what was going to happen, so when we were told that Crosby agreed to take some time out of his schedule for some one on one time with us, we were very excited. I have to point out that between Sharon, Shannon and their young sons, I think I was blushing the least as Sid chatted with us.

Overall, the experience was amazing and I can’t thank Tim Hortons enough for inviting me to be a part of it. I would also like to thank my good friend, CL Buchanan and her family, for serving me an amazing home cooked meal and also for taking me to the very first Tim Hortons location! Now, without further ado, here is the all new and very patriotic Tim Hortons commercial, starring Sidney Crosby. PS – Although you can’t see any of us in the actual commercial, I can assure you that we were there and that we were some of the best fake goal cheerers you will ever see!

Now it’s your turn to meet Sidney Crosby! Entering the contest is simple – Canadians can visit the #JumpTheBoards app on Tim Hortons Facebook page where you can enter daily until January 25, 2014. On the app, you can also watch and share Tim Hortons newest commercial to ‘fill’ the Tim’s virtual arena and help create the largest virtual audience for Canada’s favourite game.

Good Luck and thanks for reading!

Disclosure: While Tim Hortons didn’t pay me for this experience, they did cover my travel expenses to Hamilton. Also, I did get paid by the actors union, because of my amazing acting chops!

Three Words for 2014

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Last year I was introduced to Chris Brogan’s “Three Words” exercise and for whatever reason, I didn’t create a list of my own. Oddly, it mostly had to do with the fact that I felt I was too busy to fit it in. I would now like to visit last year’s version of myself to quickly say, “Hahahahahaha!!”

As it turns out, I wasn’t busy at all, just disorganized. That said, my first step in 2014 is going to be taking the time to share my “Three Words” with all seven of you reading this. Each word comes with an explanation as to why I chose it, that will make complete sense to me but perhaps not as much sense to you. Without further dudes, here are my “Three Words” for 2014:

1. Push – I need to stop telling myself that something is going to fail before I try it. I have a lot of goals for this coming year that were also on my list from last year. The closer I would get to seeing them through, the busier I would pretend to be. This vicious cycle continued all year to the point where I feel like I accomplished very few of the goals I had set for myself.

This year is hopefully going to be different. I am going to push myself to, at the very least, attempt the things on my list, even if they result in failure. I have been so afraid to make a mistake or fail at something that I have been talking myself out of trying them and that needs to stop this year.

2. Learn – Part of my lack of self-confidence is that I don’t spend enough time familiarizing myself with the projects I want to complete. For instance, I have wanted to start a podcast from Day 1 of this blog but I always give myself a pass because I don’t know the first thing about podcasting. This is despite the fact that I have had more than one person tell me that they would be happy to walk me through the steps and that it would be easier than I thought. I want to take more time to hone my craft, which includes becoming a better writer, speaker and to gain a greater understanding of the social media space.

I would also like to start reading books again. The first half of last year was my most creative by far, and I feel like it is no coincidence that my creativity started to wane around the beginning of summer, when I convinced myself that I was “too busy” to read anymore. I’m proud to announce that I have already started to rectify this situation when I started reading Brett Wilson’s “Redefining Success”.

3. Family – This was an adjustment year for my family. With my wife running a home daycare, I had a hard time figuring out how to balance family and a full time job, along with my writing, speaking, social media work and various other hobbies and part time gigs. I felt completely disorganized most of the time and ended up wasting a lot of time back tracking and staring at blank screens, when I could have been spending time with my family.

Sadly, it took a death in my family this holiday season to really open my eyes to what I was missing, and I have vowed to make some serious changes. What kind of dad blogger would I be if I let this website take away from the very thing it is based on? This goal can be easily achieved by simply being more organized in my day to day life and I am confident that I can do it.

That’s it for my list. I actually got a lot out of doing this exercise and encourage you to do the same whether you intend on sharing it or not. I probably could have listed about 10 words for things I want to accomplish or improve about myself for this year, but one thing I’ve learned is that the more I add, the less I achieve. I hope you have an amazing 2014, filled with happiness, love and dreams coming true!

If You Want To Destroy My Sweater

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The Sweater

We all have our vices. For some, it’s smoking or gambling. Even children may have a special blankie or stuffed animal that they can’t live without. Maybe your thing is a nightly glass of scotch. Not to worry, there’s no judgement here. I was actually unaware of my unhealthy obsession until a friend pointed it out to me the other day. My “thing”, as it turns out, is my obscure decision to continually wear the same argyle sweater anytime I am heading out to an event, or family function, or grocery shopping, or to get the mail, or to work, or…you get the point.

The truth is, I have no idea why I was gravitating to that particular sweater but I’m guessing it has something to do with my recent weight loss. You see, there isn’t a lot of nice clothes out there for us short and rounds, so I had been getting by on heavy sweaters and button up shirts that were way too big. When I recently reached the stage where I could fit into a nice piece of clothing such as the aforementioned argyle sweater, I guess my brain when in to shock and kept leading me towards it at every turn.

I really had no idea how bad it had gotten until the third person mentioned it, which then led me to take a peek at my recent photo albums…

Glennon Melton Momastery

The sweater with Glennon Melton of Momastery

Hannah Alper WeDay

The sweater with WeDay speaker and friend, Hannah Alper

fall family photo

The sweater made it to our family photo shoot!

Angelina Ballerina

Angelina Ballerina had nothing but kind words for the sweater.

Sam Roberts

Canadian rock star, Sam Roberts, was too busy laughing at my stache to notice the sweater

Blissdom Canada

Who could forget the sweater’s appearance at Blissdom Canada??

That is only half of the pictures I had to choose from. In other news, the sweater in question has now been sent on a short vacation while I investigate my closet for other items…

It’s Never Too Early To Start Talking About Cancer

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I had a bit of a scare this year. At 34 years old, I am starting to feel the effects of the strain I have put on my body over the years. It’s mostly from not taking good enough care of myself and that is something I plan on rectifying immediately. While I won’t get into all the details, I was having some pains in one of my manly areas, and they were legitimate enough that my family doctor felt it was necessary to run some tests and eventually sent me to see a specialist.

Anyone who has ever had to wait a month or two for a specialist appointment will tell you how brutal that time can be. It gives you just enough time to panic about all the things that could be wrong with you, which usually turns in to convincing yourself that it’s the worst case scenario. Well, maybe that’s just me. As I would thankfully soon find out, I was not diagnosed with testicular cancer but the scare was enough to open my eyes to the fact that I needed to be more aware of the way I was treating my body.

My son will be 6 years old soon and it’s important to me that I encourage him to make better choices than I did when it comes to taking care of himself. We’re not going to be running any IronMan’s anytime soon but I want to set a healthy example for him to look up to and I also want him to be educated when it comes to the health risks facing men these days. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to put him through a cancer awareness class at the age of 6, but I definitely want to be ready to talk to him about it when it comes up. And it will, and has, come up.

Consider this a personal public service announcement from me to you!

Did you know that Testicular Cancer is the #1 cancer in young men ages 15 to 35? Well, It is. And that’s why I’m proud to be a member of the Team Singles Jingles PARENT BLOGGING TEAM and sharing some important information about Testicular Cancer.

A couple other things you should know:

What can you do?

  • Stop by the Testicular Cancer Foundation website for more information on Testicular Cancer
  • Request a FREE shower card with self-exam instructions – it just might save someone’s life!
  • And share this video with with all the young men in your life!

Lego Captures Fatherhood Beautifully

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For those new to the site, from time to time I like to feature commercials that portray fatherhood in a positive light. This tradition has actually resulted in one of my most inspirational moments as a blogger. This past week, I was introduced to a new commercial from LEGO® that captures everything I love about being a father, and I wanted to share it with you all.

The commercial is a simple yet very effective look at everything being a father means to me. LEGO® are the latest in a line of companies who have shifted the way they are marketing to families, specifically fathers. From Tide and Downy to Clorox and Dove Men+ Care, it seems like the days of the bumbling, useless dad are fading quickly and I’m excited to watch the new trend unfold.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this commercial and the new trend of the modern father being represented in a more caring and competent light.

An Evening With The Cake Boss!

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Last night I had the pleasure of being invited by Canadian Tire to hang out with the one and only Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro, as he launched his new line of bakeware, which will be exclusively available at Canadian Tire. The new line is designed to give people at home the chance to bake like boss and create their own masterpieces! The night was amazing and I even had the chance to sit down one on one with Buddy to ask him a few questions.

At the event, Buddy teamed up with Ottawa Senators head coach, Paul MacLean and Paul’s daughter, Erin, to show off some basic techniques that can be done by the every day non-baker. It was a light event with a lot of laughs, especially when Buddy offered to hire Paul MacLean if the Sens ever decided to let him go.

cake boss paul maclean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interview With The Cake Boss

I was also excited to have the opportunity to sit down with Buddy before the show started, to ask him a few questions. Here is what he had to say.

Q: What advice do you have for kids who dream of someday opening their own bakery?

Buddy: Definitely go work in a bakery first, just to make sure that you love it and get as much experience as you can. If you decide that this is the life for you, go to culinary school and aim for your dreams. The business part of this is covered by working at a bakery. They don’t teach you about the business side in culinary school, what it’s like to live and work in a bakery and really see the ins and outs of the real environment.

Q: Any advice for dads who want to be more hands on in the kitchen, to show their kids that it’s cool to try new things?

Buddy: Part of the reason I decided to do this product line with Canadian Tire is to make it easy for anybody to get in to the kitchen and get baking. It’s actually not that hard to do and I’m hoping to give you things that are achievable. We want people to go cake decorating and feel excited about it. For you, I’ll say that fondant is a lot easier than butter cream, especially when you are starting out, and that’s why we did videos with it.

Q: I saw your hockey cake you made for the draft and wondered what is your favourite/hardest project that you’ve worked on?

Buddy: Yeah, the hockey cake was a cool one and, you know, Canada! But definitely the coolest one I have done is the transformer cake. From a challenge standpoint, out of everything I’ve done, the transformer sets the bar on how far you can take a cake.

Q: You are a part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, but you also founded the Momma Mary Foundation and I was wondering if you would talk a bit about what that’s all about?

Buddy: The Momma Mary Foundation is something I started in lieu of my mom having ALS. What we do is we take donations and do fundraisers, to give money for research and to people that can’t afford treatments. We’ve worked with Mass General in Boston, ALS Worldwide and different things. We take the money and give it to organizations that we feel are really trying to make strives in it. It’s especially important to pass that down to my kids and the charity is close to my heart because of my mom having it.

Q: How often does a cake need repairs upon delivery?

Buddy: Oh man, I can remember last year, we got a call that a cake that was sent out to Louisiana had tipped over. We had to spring in to action and get down there to fix it. But, for the most part we only have a few incidents a year and have been pretty lucky in that regard.

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Buddy couldn’t have been any nicer and he even recorded a video greeting for my mom, who is a huge fan of him and his family. His speech about how cake decorating gave him the confidence to go after his dreams really resonated with me as I am currently chasing a dream of my own. He also hopes to open up his own shop in Canada sometime in the next year or so, which is exciting. I had a great time meeting Buddy and want to thank Canadian Tire for the invite and for the very cool samples of some of Buddy’s new products. If you guys don’t a cake post from me in the next 3 months, feel free to call me out as a failure!

Buddy Cake Boss SensCake Boss Canadian Tire

We Day ~ Montreal Recap

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Last week, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend my second WeDay, this time in the amazing city of Montreal. Some might call this greedy but it was a special chance for me to see my friend, Hannah Alper, performing live on stage as WeDay’s newest speaker. Spoiler Alert: She totally crushed it!

The Montreal event was different from the Ottawa experience in that it only had about 2,000 students, which made for a very intimate setting. The crowd was still deafening at times, as they heard from amazing speakers like Martin Luther King III, Chris Tse & the Kielburger brothers, as well as performances by Luca “LazyLegz” Patuelli and Sam Roberts. As you would expect from an event like WeDay, the positive energy flowing around the room was very high and the emotions were even higher.

My Highlights

There were a number of highlights from my most recent WeDay experience and I’ve decided to lay them out in point form to the best of my ability.

1. Martin Luther King III

It’s not every day that you get to listen someone as powerful as Martin Luther King III live on stage and I am grateful for the opportunity. While his message was tailored to the children in attendance, I can assure you that it was certainly not lost on me when he urged them to find their calling in life. It’s something that I am still searching for but feel like I am getting closer every day.

2. Chris Tse

I’m not going to lie, going into this day, I had no idea who Chris Tse was. I was invited a couple days before the event and didn’t have a lot of time to read up on all the speakers. It turns out that it was probably a good thing because Chris blew me away with his wit and in the way that he poetically threw out his words as if he were writing a book right in front of us. In describing his upbringing, I loved when he talked about how his parents had set up “Math Mondays”, “World History Wednesdays”, and his least favourite, “Non-Fiction Fridays”. He was incredible and is someone I will be following from now on.

3. Spencer West

This says it all.

4. The Alper’s. All of them…

You know the saying, “It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know”? That seems infinitely appropriate here, because without Eric, Candace and Hannah Alper, I would not have been able to experience something as amazing as WeDay. From the initial invitation, to having the opportunity to sneak backstage to meet the likes of Marc & Craig Kielburger, Spencer West, Martin Luther King III and Sam Roberts, I am forever indebted to this family. Getting to see Hannah calmly speak in front of all of those kids, gives me further inspiration and nerves to pursue my goals of inspiring through public speaking. And, she was absolutely amazing as she shared Malala’s story, up on the stage. So, thank you Alper’s! You have inspired me in more ways than one and I plan on using that insporation for good.

5. Meeting Molly Burke!

This was the big highlight of the day for me. Thanks again to Candace Alper, I had the special opportunity to meet and hang out backstage with Molly Burke and her guide dog, Gypsy. I was first introduced to Molly and her story at WeDay in Ottawa earlier this year. Her story of bullying is one of the most powerful I have ever heard on the subject and I wanted to meet her so I could let her know that her message reaches more than just the children she speaks to. As expected, she was very cool to hang out with and admitted that she is very superstitious, just as I am. Her new presentation was just as powerful as the one from Ottawa and the world is definitely a better place for having her in it.

If you have school aged children, I highly encourage you to start by showing them the videos on the Free The Children website and encouraging them to get involved in their school or community. The long term effects of this action will benefit their future multiple times over.

We 365 App

Free The Children also unveiled the very cool, We 365 phone app, which is going to revolutionize the way we give back. It’s an app that tracks all the good you do and awards points for each task you complete and hour your volunteer. It has challenges, allows you to create groups and even has prizes. This video explains it better than I can, and for every sign up on We365, Free The Children will immunize a child overseas.

Martin Luther King IIIMolly Burke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hannah AlperSam Roberts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spencer West

Keep Holding On & Support Women’s Healthcare ~ #WCHFRaiseUrVoice

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Just because Movember is over, doesn’t mean it’s time to pack it in the good deeds for another year. That’s why I am happy to be working with the Women’s College Hospital Foundation in spreading the word about their new initiative!

Women’s College Hospital Foundation has teamed up with Canadian singing sensation, Avril Lavigne, to create a cover of her hit song, “Keep Holding On”, featuring the voices of Canadians from across the country. The remixed song has been released on iTunes, and the proceeds from every download go toward supporting Women’s College Hospital and the future of healthcare for women.

I downloaded the song myself this afternoon and haven’t been able to stop listening to it. It gives me that goose bumpy feeling every time the chorus of voices kicks in, and to know that it is also helping women in need is extra gratifying. The song only costs $1.29 and every single download helps support an amazing cause, so I hope you will head over to iTunes and purchase a copy today!

About Women’s College Hospital Foundation

Women’s College Hospital Foundation is dedicated to supporting Women’s College Hospital as it revolutionizes health care for women. The first stand alone ambulatory care hospital in Canada, Women’s College Hospital is dedicated to advancing the health of women and improving health-care options for all.

Working together with patients, family members, staff, physicians, volunteers, community members and corporations, we raise, manage and invest funds to support the Hospital’s current and future priority needs. Our donors contribute generously to help build our new hospital of the future, advance research and pioneer state-of-the-art programs that address the unique needs of women and their families.

Disclosure: I was compensated by Entrinsic for my participation in this program, but the song, Avril and the cause are all amazing.