A Vacation Away Reinforces the Value of Home

This weekend my partner and I went on our annual pilgrimage to Halifax. It's a lovely city, great fun to play in and we've found a fantastic hotel that is like our home away from home. We had an incredible time - took lazy drives around the gorgeous Southern Shore area, ate and drank far too much, shopped a bit, etc. It was a great trip all around. (This is another bonus of living in Saint John - it's proximity to everywhere!)

Strangely enough, I noticed on this trip some of the small differences between Halifax and Saint John (they share a tonne of similarities) that made me value Saint John even more. A small thing that cropped up was how accommodating people were... not - at the restaraunts we visited.

I'm a Celiac (allergic to gluten for those of you not familiar with the term) which can make eating out an interesting challenge. I'm constantly having to ask about ingredients, what brand of product is used, kitchen practices, etc. It automatically makes me a difficult customer for the staff, which is awfully frustrating for me because I don't have any choice in the matter (and I really don't want anyone to misunderstand my fussiness and do something unkind to my meal!).

I find the level of knowledge about this allergy in Halifax is really really high - a huge plus for me. What's weird about it is, if I'm not able to eat a specific meal on the menu at the places we frequent in Saint John, it's an automatic that the chef will alter the meal (if possible) so that I can have it. I've actually had chefs make me my own special meal completely off the menu and they seemed genuinely happy to do it. This was not our experience in Halifax, and come to think about it it hasn't been my experience in most cities I've visited.

So to all of you food service people in Saint John - thank you! Thank you for making it easy for someone with a unique diet to have an active social life. Keep up the great work and I'll keep coming to see you, and encourage everyone else out there to do the same!


FYI - here are some great places to visit if you are a Celiac and want a great meal in Saint John:

• Opera Bistro (they always have an alternative bread available and rarely use flour as a thickner, so if you just want a sandwich or soup for lunch this is a great spot. also tonnes of choice on the dinner menu)
• Sebastian (choices on all sections of the menu and a chef who is willing to accommodate. Awesome martinis!)
• Churchill's/Church St. Pub (excellent greek salad, great mussels and generally lots of other choices on the menu)
• Irving Big Stop (huge omelette, excellent greasy breakfasts served late in the day and willing to accommodate you in the kitchen)
• Shucker's/Delta Hotel (somewhat limited choice on the menu but what they do have tastes great)
• Billy's Seafood (same comments as Shucker's)
• Saigon Noodle (Vietnemese food, #9 is the best cure for a head cold I've ever known! Lot's of choice because they use primarily rice noodles in the dishes)
• Thandi's (limited choice on the menu but they try really hard to accommodate)

I'm always interested in trying new spots so if anyone out there has a suggestion let me know!

Do you know a Saint John Success Story?

Are you an example of Life on Your Terms? Do you know someone who is?

Part of my role as Saint John Life on Your Terms Coordinator is to interview and feature people in our community who exemplify Life on Your Terms. Those are people who love living in Saint John because our incredible quality of life allows them to be active in our community in some way (they volunteer, they're entrepreneurs, they have an active social or recreational life, etc.).

If you or someone you know have a great Life on Your Terms story to tell, I want to know about it! You can contact me by commenting on this post, emailing me or through the Contact Us page on the Life on Your Terms portal: www.saintjohnlifeonyourterms.ca/contact.cfm

Just do your friends or family a favour - if you are recommending someone else for an interview make sure you give them a heads up first!

Living in History

This weekend I spent almost all of my free time working on home renovations. Doesn't sound too exciting at first, but a couple of things that are unique to living in Saint John actually made it really interesting.

My current challenge is my living room (or our "Ball Room" as I call it because with such high ceilings and our limited furniture the room echoes) which has original lath and plaster walls, wooden mouldings and original fireplaces. I grabbed a book from the Saint John library about rehabilitating old buildings to make sure the contemporary practices I was familiar with weren't going to ruin the historic nature of the property, or the original construction materials. From this book I learned a couple of things:
a) don't assume that you can apply current renovation practices to old properties - nine times out of ten you'll do yourself more harm than good!
b) researching history when you live in it is way more fun than my high school history class was - using the photos of mouldings, cornice work, fireplaces, etc. I was able to date the house more accurately than anything else we've found yet, and it was more like a personal treasure hunt than an assignment!
c) doing the work yourself can be rewarding as well as frustrating (not to mention cheaper) - had I hired a contractor I would never had found the scrap of newspaper in my wall dated 1892 (they used anything for insulation back then)!

Everyone talks about the historic nature of this community. I'm told we have the highest concentration of historic properties in Canada in our city. Since I'm living in a home that was built at the turn of the century, as were almost all of the homes on my block and my neighbourhood in general, I think that's probably true.

If you haven't experienced it I think it would be weird to read about how it was fun to spend a weekend crack-filling (covered in plaster dust), and reading about old mouldings. But when you're sitting in the middle of a room where materials were hand selected, cut and transported, and you read about how someone spent hours shaping a single ornamental piece by hand, how it was installed without the aid of aircompressor equipment or hydraulic lifts... let's just say I now have a lot more appreciation for that skill, and wish I'd paid more attention in history class!

Life on Your Terms Official Launch

Tomorrow (Thursday, January 17th) we're officially launching the Saint John Life on Your Terms webportal to the community, the media and the world! Anyone interested in attending the presentation and demonstration of the portal (and yes we'll have snacks!) can join us at the Yoga Outlet, 87 Germain St. at 10:00am.

If you miss the launch but want information on this True Growth initiative please contact me:

• by posting a comment on this blog
• by sending an inquiry through the Contact Us section of the Life on Your Terms portal (www.saintjohnlifeonyourterms.ca)
• by calling me @ 506-632-6169
• by emailing me @ sstashick@enterprisesj.com

Need a winter blahs pick-me-up? Volunteer!

It can be so hard to stay positive and energetic in the winter, especially if you work during the limited sunshine hours we have or, god forbid, you hate the snow! Over the last little bit I've also been feeling dragged down and grumpy, like many this time of year. But I've got the best cure for the winter blahs ever - giving back to my community.

Every Wednesday evening I answer the phones at the local country radio station for "Animal Rescue League Radio Bingo" (yes, you can play bingo by listening to the radio - technology huh?!). My part may not sound too glamorous but to our players out there in radio land it's a pretty exciting night, and that energy travels right through the phone. Not to mention the sense of satisfaction I get from knowing that I'm helping to fund the food, shelter and care of our community's homeless animals.

On Thursday I worked with the Urban Core Support Network's Policy Advisory Committee, working on our strategic plan for 2008. This committee is trying to affect positive change in social assistance policy in New Brunswick - right now we're trying to help people living on social assistance make a more satisfactory and permanent transition to the workforce through changes in legislation. I imagine that would sound awefully boring to many people, but when you start thinking about how that could make the lives of thousands of people better it quickly becomes more exciting than any movie I've seen lately. A much more fun and productive way to spend two hours if you ask me.

Over the course of the weekend I went to the animal shelter to start working with a dog who had been there for over six months. As you'd expect, he was starting to show some behavioural problems that might prevent him from ever being adopted. Now I've met some great people in my life but with all due respect to my human friends, not one of you can make me feel as elated as a troubled dog when he makes a breakthrough and gives me a goofy grin!

In between all of these little experiences of course life goes on. But I think when we spend any amount of time focusing on something other than, or bigger than, ourselves the day-to-day routine feels... well less routine. And the minor frustrations that can sometimes threaten your sanity slip back into that state of nothing more than minor.

So if you're feeling a bit down or bored, call your favourite charity and ask them how you can help. Or if you don't have a favourite, visit the Saint John Volunteer Centre and get matched up with one. Or do something nice for someone or something else. It sounds cliche but if you ask me it really is the best way to bring your smile back!

Can work be fun?

The first of October was full of changes for me - a new job means a new environment, new coworkers, new daily tasks, a massive learning curve - a lot to manage all at the same time. For the first time in my life, what's made it surprisingly easy for me is actually the work environment itself (this includes the coworkers). It's a relaxed, empowerment-oriented place that operates more often than not like an extended, yet close family.

Take our company Christmas party as a case in point. My work holiday party experiences from the past have either been a) massive affairs where you holed up with people you knew for the entire evening, only because there were so many people there that mingling was way too uncomfortable, or b) non-existent. So imagine my surprise when I found myself preparing for a full afternoon and evening of traditional Christmas activities that included the whole staff!

A group of us started out by traipsing over to the City Market for CBC’s annual live broadcast. And yes, this is a picture of us singing “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” to the entire Maritime listenership (my apologies to those of you who heard me).

Afterwards a couple of the guys ran up the street to King Square where they bought our 9’ Christmas tree – and manhandled it up the three flights of stairs to our office! Trimming the tree was a staff affair with almost everyone contributing – either by doing or directing. By the time the tree and the rest of the office were festively decorated we had enough food out to feed a small country, and enough “cheer” to wash it down.

During the afternoon staff family-members, other tenants in the building and some of our community partners started dropping in. It was so friendly and relaxed that everyone had a chance to mingle without obligation or anxiety. And meeting all of those new people really enhanced the fun for me!


We ended it all with a trip to Harbour Station for a Sea Dogs hockey game. A winter storm had been tormenting Saint John for most of the day so we were all very grateful for our heated pedway system (for readers not familiar with the city you can walk most of the Uptown core without ever setting foot outside – ideal for bad weather days)! It was an active game to say the least – battle for first place with Halifax, I counted six fights but I think I missed at least one. By my estimation everyone had a fantastic time and a few brave souls even kept going after the game.

So the long and the short of it is that I apparently work not only in a community where life is on my terms, but also with a group of people who live and work that message. What a way to start the holiday season – Happy Holidays everyone!