Lindork’s List #97 – A week of “nothing time,” plus Beer and Pretzels, Art Exhibits and more!
Newsletter for Dec 29, 2021 – Jan 4, 2022
Note: this is the public version of my weekly email newsletter that gets sent to subscriber inboxes first each Wednesday. Get the full newsletter first by becoming a free subscriber.
Things to Do This Week
COVID-19 cases are rising. Consider staying home or choosing outdoor, physically distant activities to do. It’s also recommended you limit how many people you’re seeing over the holidays. If attending events, please check to see what their COVID-19 safety requirements or changes are. Get vaccinated (and boosted), mask up, stay home if sick, and be safe out there!
The theme is finding things to do that is warm indoors or distanced outdoors…
It’s the final week of the ROYGBIV exhibit at the Art Gallery of Alberta
The ROYGBIV colour exhibit at the Art Gallery of Alberta ends after Jan. 2 so if you’re looking for something fun and warm to do this week, consider checking out! It’s super interesting, examining colour’s ability to alter mood, change behaviour, or simply transform space, and is also very Instagrammable.
Check out Abandoned Alberta at the Royal Alberta Museum (9810 103A Ave.)
The Abandoned Alberta exhibit at the Royal Alberta Museum wraps up after Jan. 9. It’s a community exhibit featuring stunning images that offer a window into Alberta’s past. Your ticket also gets you access to other exhibits and galleries at the museum, and if you shop at the RAM Gift Shop you can get 10% using my code LINDORK10 by Dec. 31, 2021.
Hit the cross-country ski trails (various locations)
I picked up cross country skiing last year (found some great used skis after intense browsing on the Buy and Sell / Marketplace! lol) and am looking forward to hitting the groomed cross-country ski trails around town this season. Check out this ski trail list from Winter City Edmonton along with other cross country ski reminders and plan your outdoor adventure!
Take in an outdoor New Year’s Day skate and activities in west Edmonton
The Glastonbury Community League in west Edmonton is hosting New Year’s Day in the Park (1101 Grantham Dr.), inviting you to come check out their rink and ice trail, go sledding or cross country skiing. There will also be music, hot chocolate, fire pits and a fireworks display.
Do a self-guided Edmonton public art tour (various locations)
Public art is great for a lot of reasons but especially because they’re generally accessible no matter the time of year, weather, or pandemic situation. Go on a virtual or self-guided in person tour of Edmonton’s public art pieces! Use Edmonton Arts Council’s Public Art Collection tool to plan and complement your trip, or do this tour entirely online.
Got an Edmonton area event, virtual event, or something coming up you think my readers would be interested in knowing about? Let me know!
Food to Try This Week
Consider take-out to continue safely supporting local restaurants. If dining in, make sure you have proof of vaccination for Alberta’s Restrictions Exemption Program. Please review current pandemic restrictions, don’t go out if sick, and be safe!
Pick up some beer and pretzels from Arcadia (10712 120 St.)
It was nice to see Arcadia Brewing Co. purchase gift cards to help warm up the city’s most vulnerable at Boyle Street Community Services during this cold snap. , even as I hear they’ve been struggling. This week they’re also doing $6 pints as a Boxing Week special—and be sure to try their tasty pretzels!
Try some Japanese curry from Nara Chicken and Tonkatsu (8712 150 St.)
Nara Chicken & Tonkatsu has a new look for their old / most popular Japanese curry rice dish! Their curries (and other items) are delicious. Give them a try if you haven’t yet.
Get some take-out from Chartier (5012 50 St. Beaumont, AB)
Shout-out to French restaurant Chartier for being the first restaurant I saw temporarily shuttering indoor dining service amidst the current Omicron wave. Northern Chicken, Fleisch, and Uccellino have all made similar announcements. Please consider them—and your other local favourites—for take-out options this week!
Try Vietnamese bánh cuốn (6420 174 Ave.)
When my family is craving Vietnamese bánh cuốn, a popular pork steamed rice roll, we order from Banh Cuon YEG, a home-based north Edmonton banh cuon maker. It’s $8 per dozen and we also pair it with our own Vietnamese cha lua (pork sausage). It had been awhile since my last pick up and now there’s a bubble tea spot nearby too Boba Club—so I can knock off two stops while in the very north Edmonton area. I loved my passionfruit green tea with boba and lychee boba, but I’ve been told that their creme brûlée bubble tea is *the* must order off the menu.
Support a new food box addressing food insecurity and poverty in Edmonton
Consider signing up for Edmonton’s Multicultural Health Brokers Cooperative’s new Khair for All, culturally appropriate, affordable food box social enterprise. Their goal to increase access to fresh, nutritious and culturally honouring food to Edmontonians experiencing food insecurity and poverty. Boxes are 20-30% cheaper than what you’d find at grocery stores. Anyone can order, but if you are able to afford from mainstream retailers, but still want to support this social enterprise, they ask that you consider donating a box for someone in need too.
Ate something amazing recently? Want to show some love to a struggling restaurant? Have a take-out suggestion? Let me know to include in this newsletter.
Small Business Spotlight
Wee Book Inn, Edmonton’s premier used book shop, is celebrating 50 years in business! They ended up closing one of their locations this past year, but still have their Downtown and Old Strathcona book shops open for you to consider supporting. Until Jan. 2 they’re offering a ‘Fill A Bag Sale‘ where you can grab as many sale books you can fill a tote bag with for $50. See if you spot one of the book store cats!
Watch Episode 15 of Lindork Does Life
Episode 15 of my new YouTube video series #LindorkDoesLife is out!
In this episode, I take you inside Glow, an indoor holiday light experience:
Thanks to everyone for entering my $1,000 YouTube Christmas Giveaway!
I’ll be picking winners and announcing in my Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022 video. 10 people will win $50 gift cards and 5 people will win $100 gift cards to some of my fav local businesses!
From the Blog Vault
If you’re looking to scratch that travel itch locally, and do something outside and a distance from others, I have to remind everyone how fortunate we are to live in a province full of beautiful landscapes and close-to-home adventure. Check out my blog of some winter day trips Mike and I did around this time last year including Rocky Mountain cross-country skiing and visiting Gap Lake (a Bubble Lake!) near Canmore. You can of course also do these activities in town too—minus the bubbles lol.
Mike and I will be doing Hot Pot at Home for New Year’s Eve!
If you are still deciding on what to do or eat for your NYE, and maybe trying hot pot from home is of interest, check out my old blog post How to Hot Pot From Home!
Now Public: Q&A with Dr. Fiona Mattatall
Every other Sunday, I profile a new “interesting person” in a Q&A series just for paid newsletter subscribers. Then a month later, I release that Q&A publicly on my blog. My latest Q&A of the series is now live on my blog if you’d like to read it, featuring Alberta OB/GYN Dr. Fiona Mattatall.
If you’d like to become a paid subscriber to this newsletter to receive exclusive Q&As first in your inbox every other Sunday and support the work I do, upgrade below:
Discount Codes You May Want To Use
I regularly partner with amazing businesses to promote their products or services and love to pass on promos and discount codes for my followers. Here’s a few you might want to use this week:
Get 10% off at Royal Alberta Museum Shop using code LINDORK10 by Dec. 31.
Get up to 75% off your first Fresh Prep meal order using code INFLINDORK21
Get 15% off MYLZ Dog Treats using code LINDORK15
Get $5 off a car wash from Bubbles Car Wash using code BUBBLESLINDORK in December
See more discount codes from great local businesses!
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The full Lindork’s Lists includes:
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- Food to Try This Week
- Walls of the Week
- Interesting Thing on the Internet
- Social Media Did You Knows
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