Seen and Heard in Edmonton

It’s been so warm outside (though not as unseasonably as you might think, you’ll see at the end), which may lead to thoughts of cracking open a cold one. Let us begin, then, with food and drink:

• Jason Foster discusses Aleberta, the new Telus Optik documentary he appears in about the province’s history with beer.
• Speaking of beer, how about yoga with a side of suds at the BREWGA event, a fundraiser for Knight’s Cabin?
• Stephanie Medford learns about all kinds of fermentation from Jana Sacco, who is presenting on it at the upcoming Resilience Festival.
• Maegan Lukian shares a recipe for chocolate mug cake that is even sort of healthy-ish.
• Would it be cheeky of me to invite you to check out Valerie Lugonja’s mom’s buns? Yes, but I’m doing it anyway.
• Erika Ensign has tips for making the most of your Nando’s visit after a semi-satisfactory first try.
• Fancy something cool and sweet when you’re out with your sweetie? YEG Date Night has four suggestions.

Being thrifty

• Sally Neal takes a look at how close she came to her goal to spend $6 a day on food.
• The end is in sight for Danica LeBlanc’s student loan.
• Katie Kelly lays out a strategy for intentional shopping.
• Nicole Rowan documents her thrifting process.
• Maria K. recycles the straw bales that kept tobogganers safe over the winter into her garden.

Going places

• I have to agree with Lori Godin that Revelstoke is a great destination for families with kids.
• Karlie Marrazzo is giving away a family pack of passes to five great Brewster attractions in the Rockies.
• Mack Male covers Gil Penalosa’s talk about how to turn Edmonton into a city whose streets are for people, not cars. Mack also marked the end of the old coin-operated parking meters.
• Pedestrians treat the intersection of 103rd and 102A Avenue and 101st Street like a scramble, so why not make it official, suggests Stephanie Mah on Spacing Edmonton.
• The building of the Alaska Highway in 1942 had a huge effect on Edmonton, writes Katherine Koller in the Edmonton City as Museum Project.
• Anna Marie Sewell traces the last days of the downtown Greyhound bus station.

The writing life

• Vickie Laliotis offers five tips for working productively from home.
• Jessica of Breakfast Club YEG chats with Megan Kristine, aka Prairie Prancer, a traveller, blogger and bruncher.
• Natasha Chiam is a mother and a blogger and a lot of other things, not a mommy-blogger.
• Laura Frey covers the splashy opening of Stonehouse Publishing, which came into this world with the launch of five novels.
• Stephen Robinson of 52Skillz becomes a best-selling author on Amazon — and so can you!

Communicating

• I have had many meetings with Ashley Janssen, and I can attest that she walks her talk on how to make meetings better.
• Nadine Riopel offers sound advice on how to have better conversations.
• Social media can ruin your business if you don’t do it right, warns Meagan Smith of Kick Point.
• Beverley Theresa has a strange experience with a friend who wasn’t as dead as he appeared on Facebook.

Community and causes

• Jenna Marynowski previews This is YEG, a series of eight new plays written by local playwrights grounded in a wide variety of communities.
• The Drawing Room has news of a Postcard Project done with three Edmonton area retirement communities.
• Ana Pejkanovic hopes you will consider donating your lightly used shoes to Soles4Souls.
• Lindsey McNeill seeks your StoryHive support for Codependent Ghost Girl and highlights other local projects angling for funding.

Wedding bells

• Stacey Knopp talks weddings, local business and Edmonton with event planner Rebecca Koziak of High Culture.
• Lyndsey at Over My Styled Body offers dos and don’ts for bridesmaids.
• Kristina Lynne draws on her own experience to offer advice to brides-to-be.
• If you want to follow along with wedding planning, Cassie Paige is on the road to hers!

Miscellany

• How hard is it to completely renovate a home? Jerad Cox is about to find out, and plans to document it along the way. (Here’s Part 1 and Part 2.)
• The musical discoveries via The Northern Sessions continue — this time they showcase The Northbank Stranglers.
• Mike Ross talks about punk-parenthood with Dave “FatDave” Johnston.
• It seems like we’ve never had an April this warm, right? Well, the data says otherwise, says Chris on Edmonton Weather Nerdery.

OK, I’ve got to stop here, but really, you could find even more treasure at ShareEdmonton. My previous picks are on my Flipboard magazine, if you like that sort of thing.

You can follow Seen and Heard in Edmonton on Facebook and on Twitter, and you’ll get all of the roundups, all of the podcasts and extra insights on local independent media if you subscribe to the newsletter.

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This week’s Seen and Heard in Edmonton is brought to you by CKUA, which is in the middle of its spring fundraiser. Mayor Don Iveson kicked off the campaign with a baritone rendering of the donation line — you have to hear it.

Donate to radio tuned into Alberta at ckua.com, or call 1-800-494-2582.