Travel Tech :: Bird's Eye View

[trip style = any]

We interrupt our regular summer trip styling for the next incarnation of the teddy bear cam. Something to protect and monitor your home base while you're flying away. Think of it as a bird's eye view of your abode, aptly called the Canary Home Security Device {$200 usd}, landing May, 2014.

The minute I read about this I had to share it because I'm forever researching simple ways to monitor things {dog, stuff, etc..} back at 'the ranch' when I've 'gone fishing.' A few weeks ago this desire became even more acute when part of my building flooded. While my suite didn't get drenched---thank Goodness---my memories are still a tad damp from another flooding incident I encountered. In that situation, the Canary's ninja intuition would have been helpful.

Capable of sensing it all {and then some} it spies with an HD Camera including---how cool is this---night vision, listens with a microphone, monitors motion, and reads temperature, air quality and humidity. On top of this, there's an app for that: once plugged into your home network, download it to your iPhone or Android to dial into its six senses.

Use it for your home or office, or to monitor your dog {or as a skookum baby cam}. It's for anyone, anywhere with a wifi network and connected smartphone. Mount one, two or three.

[photos via canary home security]

Chic Camping 101

chic camping

[trip style = camping & glamping]

Trip styling, in every shape and form {read: from vacationing like Oprah to camping by the sea}, is my obsession. Even when I take to the mild wild. The only requirement: fashion has to rival function.

Recently my husband and I decided to go camping---'tis the summer season---and when I put my campsite = glampsite  blueprint in front of him, he turned a shade of winter. Once I told him I'd do the majority of the 10-minute set-up---oh yes, chic camping is that easy---he literally said "Ok, I'll play ball" as his cheeks rosied at the thought of sipping crisp rose out of a mason jar at our tenting scene-stealer.

There's camping, then there's trip-styled camping. Here are some tried and tested ways to turn your good ole' site into a fetching summer sight:

chic camping 2

Chic Camping 101 {I made the garland at home with twine and pieces of heavy canvas. The blanket is from Mexico, the pillows are from Ikea, and the throw in the basket is Pendleton. For the record, I fell asleep here one afternoon. PS - if you are camping at a site with a dirt floor, bring a tarp to put under your blanket---the concept still works.}

chic camping 3

{I turned these utilitarian camping chairs into something a little more sassy with faux-fur throws, $12 from Ikea. Bonus, if your thermarest looses air throughout the night, these do a bang-up job of cushioning your core.}

chic camping 4

{I elevated the eating surface, aka picnic table, to a woodsy table pour deux with this wipeable table cloth (I think it was $3.00 from the camping store), beach wood, beach rocks and a bunch of wildflowers. I brought the lantern from home.}

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{While sleeping bags are best for more extreme camping, I opted for a zebra-print throw as my duvet. Life is too short not to.}

chic camping 6

{Morning coffee.}

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{When we walked 20 steps to the deserted (yay!) beach, I re-purposed my Mexi blanket and pillows for the afternoon.}

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{Bird's eye view of the beach, a triple threat mingling driftwood, pebbles and sand.}

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{Where I sipped wine at sundown.}

Recap --- camping at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island is $26/night {in my humble opinion the best campsites are 11, 12 and 13} --- For Casey is 1.5 hours from Seattle and 2.5 hrs from Vancouver --- chic camping essentials: a heavy blanket to create a petite paradise (and a tarp), outdoor pillows, faux-fur pelts, a lantern and a garland if you're feeling extra crafty --- the menu: - breakfast: eggs in a nest - lunch: veggie salad wraps - appetizer: bocconcini s'mores {you roast cheese over the fire and place it on top of a cracker or slice of baguette with basil and sun-dried tomato tapanade} - dinner: roast chicken with veggie kabobs and salad

[photos by @tripstyler]

Fashion Friday :: Western Spirit

western spirit

[trip style = any]

This post is written by Trip Styler fashion and lifestyle blogger Heather.

Rodeo season is in full swing {check out our recent Calgary Stampede coverage} and whether or not you plan on catching a chuckwagon race this summer, or just embracing the {wild, wild} western spirit, we thought it was high {noon} time to wrangle our favorite country-inspired looks, plus a few rodeo style tips to boot.

Styling Tips -- Rodeo season is hot. To beat the heat and show a little leg, go with a western-inspired bootie instead of a traditional cowboy boot. -- The Canadian tuxedo is encouraged, but mix it up with light and dark washes. -- You're not going to a costume party, so instead of head-to-toe cowboy, add a couple western touches to your everyday style. -- "Top it, belt it, stomp it." Fashion advice from Brenna Hardy, Stampede Stylist at Calgary's CORE Shopping Centre. -- Always store your hat upright; otherwise, the brim will relax. Time to invest in a hat box! -- Add a little fun to your bum and place a bandana in your back jean pocket. -- Accessorize with turquoise, a southwestern staple, or weave a piece of leather into a fishtail braid.

If all of this western style has inspired you to take a rodeo getaway, check out the upcoming Cheyenne Frontier Days (WY), Pendleton Round-Up (OR) and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NV), or gallop to next summer's Calgary Stampede.

Now What To Wear? Women (clockwise from top left)Madewell perfect chambray ex-boyfriend shirt, Free People serra do mar tunic, Frye carson tab mid boot, Velvet farley dress, Vanessa Mooney open road ring, Madewell barnwood boot, Ralph Lauren hand-tooled leather belt, Imogene + Willie elizabeth stretch jean

Men (clockwise from top right) RRL buffalo twill western shirt, To Boot New York hawthorne boot, Imogene + Willie natural plus bandana, Imogene + Willie barton rigid jean

More Fashion FridayThe Summer StapleWhite ChucksCycle Chic

[graphic assembled by @heatherlovesit]

Calgary Stampede, Après Le Storm

[trip style = urban + weekend getaway]

Fourteen days before the start of "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth," Alberta flooded. Yet a tidal wave of water wasn't going to rock landlocked Calgary's virtual boat. Within a few days of the flood, the Calgary Stampede's Chairman proclaimed "come hell or high water, the show will go on." And it is, right now {July 5 - 14, 2013}.

I just spent last weekend at the 10-day show's get-go. To a non-local, you'd never know rain had ravaged the city only two weeks prior. Aside from the planned Saddledome concerts---Dixie Chicks, Kiss, Tim McGraw, Carly Rae Jepsen---which could not go on due to flooding cresting the 8th row, and the still-wet food court area in the basement of the Big Four venue, the grounds don't even look damp.

This is due to 24-hour crews of workers called upon from all over North America to repair and rebuild the rodeo without taking resources away from Calgary's clean-up effort. Over 220 dump trucks hauled away 88 million pounds of spoiled soil on the Stampede's just-finished infield and repaired it in a week---a job that took three weeks to complete in the Spring. A sea of water was sucked out of every space, and flash-dried with the gale force of a 1000+ industrial dryers.

2013 marked my first Stampede {as did a shooter of pickle juice, one of this year's fair foods!}. It will not be my last. Just call me a converted cowgirl. To put it lightly, I had a buckin' blast.

Photos To start off, here's a two-minute video the Stampede put together showing the park's near-miracle transformation over 14 days.

The rodeo's start.

Wrangler.

Bare bronc. (I was happy to learn both the athletes and the animals have free access to a full range of medical practitioners at this invite-only competition.)

Ladies barrel racing.

Behind the chutes.

Bull riding sequence.

In Canada we say yahoo, not yeehaw, apparently.

Start of the chuckwagon races.

Chuckwagon race to the finish.

Fair food, 101. line one: free roadside flapjack*, deep-fried bubble gum, deep-fried Pop-Tart line two: deep-fried Oreos, the center of deep-fried Oreos, pickle juice shooter line three: deep-fried butter, choco-dipped bacon-on-a-stick, deep-fried Doritos *over one million free pancakes are handed out all over the city during Stampede

[photos by @tripstyler, snapped while a guest of stampede]

A Tale of Two Tea Houses

[trip style = active + adventure]

{Editor's Note :: I just got home from Alberta where I hiked high into the Canadian Rockies, and then descended into the Province's flatlands for the Greatest Show on Earth, the Calgary Stampede. Drop by Trip Styler on Thursday for FULL ON Stampede coverage---including bull riding and deep-fried butter! I'm also going to be chatting with Jill Krop about "Stampede after the storm" on this Thursday's edition of AM/BC between 9-10 am on Shaw-subscriber channel 21 (216 for HD)}.

I can't walk, bike or drive into Banff National Park without tearing up. Nature; it's everywhere in high def, except the 'reel'---ok, real---version is accompanied by gusts of glacial air, mist from mountain streams, and marmot whistles as you walk into their territory.

Last week's trip took me into Lake Louise {above}, Canada's most photographed body of water. Sporting a shade of aqua-blue---bluer than the Caribbean Sea---Lake Louise is wilderness perfection, reflecting Victoria Glacier in a glamorous mirror-effect.

As gorgeous as Lake Louise is, she's only the beginning of Banff National Park's beauty. If you go---and I implore you to do so---carve out some time for a wallop of Canadian wow-factor on a trip style = luxury hiking adventure. Starting at the base of Lake Louise, venture sky-high for a spot of tea to one or both of Banff's alpine tea houses: vintage, wooden cabins serving tea and biscuits---sans electricity!---to hungry hikers during summer.

Here are the details: The hiking path to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House. A 5.5 km climb that took us about an hour from the base of Lake Louise.

Views hiking to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House.

The Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House, built in 1927 by two Swiss guides for the Canadian Pacific Railway. There is no electricity or running water. Food is made daily on propane stoves. Supplies are brought up once a season by helicopter, and replenished regularly on horseback, or by staff who walk up with loads on foot. Cash only. Open during summer.

About to have a spot of HIGH---2100 meters high---tea.

Suggested: vanilla rooibos Tea.

Tibetan prayer flags strung from the second floor balcony.

Oh, "high."

Strolling toward tea No. 2 at Lake Agnes Tea House, a 5 km hike from the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House.

Lake Agnes Tea House. A wide, well-trodden trail gradually climbs 3.5 kms from Lake Louise to Lake Agnes. You can also reach it via the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House, and vice versa. Open 9:00 am - 6:00 pm June -September/9:30 am - 5:30 pm September-early October. Cash only. At the top, try the gooey-good mountain bar, a mix of chocolate, coconut, seeds, marshmallow and craisins atop a graham cracker crust.

View from the Lake Agnes Tea House.

[photos by Trip Styler, taken as a guest of Tourism Alberta. AS ALWAYS, I only write about stuff that sends me head over heals.]