Fastest editing I’ve ever done! I’ve wanted to get some pictures up from the Jack and Jill before too much time passes and with so much work tonight, I had to speed-edit these. Hope they look alright. :) Gotta document in a timely manner while the event is still somewhat relevant.

Anyway, that’s it from me. I love my amazing family and soon-to-be husband.

My 7D never made it in. Detachable lens cameras were not allowed, so it got confiscated by the guards. My heart ached for the first hour of the show as I came to accept that I had to capture the concert with a crappy iPhone camera. (I eventually got over it). Here are my poor, grainy Instagram-ed shots. Why does anyone even take pictures with their phones and actually think that it’s sufficient? It’s shocking that it was nearly impossible to find anyone with a proper point-and-shoot camera at the concert. The majority used their smartphones. It’s just far from good enough. You’ll never be able to print any of the photos you take with your smartphone because the quality doesn’t cut it. Not even a little bit. Sure, in ten years, maybe. But all those phone photos you’ve been taking up until this point, and probably for the next two years at least, will live digitally forever. Forget photo albums and beautiful wall photo decor. And note that the only place that phone photos really look acceptable is on your phone. Quality degrades on your computer monitor and degrades further on a projector screen, etc. But I suppose if that works for you, then it does. Just sayin’.

Now back to the concert. NKOTB obviously stole the show – they are absolutely amazing live entertainers. They certainly got a tad bit risqué with some of their moves. So much so that a crazy fan in the front row yanked one of them off the stage and full on made out with him. It was all on camera. People do crazy things that make me shake my head. Anyway, NKOTB is notably getting more and more handsome with age. They’re a bunch of beauties to say the least. Boyz II Men are always good. 98 Degrees were a little bit weak but I kind of expected that.

I took a ton of photos and still need to go through them all. If anything else can pass as post-worthy, I’ll put them up. Otherwise, it’s safe to say that these are some of the worst concert photos I’ve ever taken. You can’t even imagine how much it breaks my heart. :(

This is a birthday post dedicated to my amazing girl, Laisie. Happy birthday, love. I hope you had a wonderful day with friends and loved ones and I wish you an unbelievable year #26!!!

Guess what’s up for tomorrow night? The Package Tour. New Kids On The Block, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men, here we come to re-live the 90s with you. I can’t wait. The DSLR is coming with me – somehow I’ll sneak it in. Nsync, Backstreet Boys, and Spice Girls should also do a package tour. That would be heaven on Earth.

Ever since I fondled with the L-Series lenses, I can’t seem to be satisfied with my regular lenses again. It’s a crappy thing because I can’t afford an L-Series lens (right now).

Despite a standing concert that made it very, very, very hard for me to see anything other than people’s shoulders, the music trumped it all. I’m also so fortunate to have Chris to lift me above the crowd every few minutes. No one else had THAT view. :) AND, halfway through the concert, a stage was set up in the middle of the floor among the fans and that’s when I caught another break because the stage happened to be set up right in front of me and suddenly, I could see clearly!

Amazing, amazing concert. BEAUTIFUL music. I love them so much. It blows my mind when bands can sound even better live than they do in their records. Enjoy the photos with call-outs to a few of my favourites from their album. I have to study otherwise I would’ve posted a video, too. Maybe tomorrow. The PowerShot SX500 IS did us proud (it’s wild how I literally don’t know how to work a simple point-and-shoot camera because of being accustomed to a DSLR.)

Chris held a team event last night at the Ballroom to celebrate their awesome quarter. It wasn’t the best place for picture taking but still had a little fun with the camera. I’m not much of a bowler either, so I needed something else to do other than throw gutter balls.

I’ve come down with a cold. Soldier down and Buckley’s to the rescue.

My Canon girls and I at Prom at the ROM last night, working the Canon station. The Royal Ontario Museum threw a party inspired by past civilizations themed ‘Ancient Prom’ intended for the 30 and 40-somethings to re-live their high school prom night, Roman-ish style. The beautiful people of Toronto showed up in their dashing, absolutely stunning ancient-meets-contemporary couture costumes that were super sexy to say the least. The visual aesthetics were brilliant – the entire setup complete with the perfectly costumed crowd made it all too mesmerizing. It was quite the party and once again, I love Toronto.

Before I rave about this event, I have to point out that these photos were taken with an iPhone 5. I do marketing for Canon cameras and absolutely hate being that person taking photos with a smartphone rather than a proper point and shoot or DSLR camera. That’s a big faux pas. But sometimes, you just have to. For spontaneous documentation and memory keeping’s sake. Today, I am guilty as charged. Consequently, the photos went through hefty treatment and polishing before reaching a photo blog-worthy state and that is the sole reason why smartphones are just not good enough. My iPhone battery actually died halfway through the event before I had a chance to snap a few photos, so I asked around for an iPhone charger, because surely, I thought, someone must have one somewhere. But no such luck, so I resorted to borrowing someone else’s iPhone to take these photos and then emailed them to myself. That, my friends, is for the love of photography.

I attended Experience Schulich 2013 today to get a taste of the Schulich School of Business. Let’s just say that I had a hair appointment at 2:30pm this afternoon (scheduled from a while back before registering for this event) and ended up cancelling as soon as I arrived at the event when I quickly realized that there was no way I was going to miss any part of it. Needless to say, York put together a fantastic and extremely alluring event, so big kudos to the team. York, by far, has the warmest, most welcoming and helpful faculty members who leave you feeling quite good and connected to the institution. The entire team does a phenomenal job representing the school – top tier style. People and culture make all the difference and they’ll have you at hello. The 6-hour event was jam packed with information and consisted of networking opportunities, mini lectures delivered by stellar professors, campus tours, Q&A sessions, one-on-ones with faculty members, and a snazzy jazz reception at the end.

Three golden nuggets, among many, that struck a chord with me today:

Dean Dezsö J. Horváth on PEOPLE:
“…Hire people who are better than you, not those who are inferior to you.”

Professor Markus Giesler on INNOVATION:
“…Innovation is not made in the lab. They are created in society and are sustained through the stories we share. Innovation is about creating a society where people see your product the same way you do and the way you want them to.”

Professor Ingo Holzinger on LEADERSHIP / TURBULENCE:
“…Turbulence or ‘Black Swan’ events should be seen by organizations as an opportunity for difference.”

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Learning is so exciting; being surrounded by bright and aspiring people is inspiring; new information is stimulating. An active mind is key, so never stop learning. I can’t wait to begin this chapter. Excellent event. I am forever an advocate of education.

I received my first canvas order and so I printed my first canvas photograph and it is really quite grand. It has brought the artwork to life in a whole new way. I’ve added canvas listings to my shop, currently available for 8x10s, 8x12s, 16x20s, and 16x24s. They are shipped ready to hang, gallery wrapped, and beautiful. :) I am hooked myself and have an urge to send in a whole bunch of photographs to be printed on canvas just for the heck of it.

I’ve been watching a lot of Shark’s Tank lately – the show fascinates me to no end. I love the business intelligence / acumen of both the sharks and the entrepreneurs, and I just love the creativity in the new product ideas and have a genuine appreciation for it. I’ve always had admiration for entrepreneurs. I can even prove it to you with an old post here, where I raved about Ryerson University-bred entrepreneurs. And here I am, raving about entrepreneurs yet again. I admire them because they are not only able to think of a great idea but they make it come to life, too. All too often we sit on ideas that never reach the point of execution. Having said that, I think I’ve executed quite a bit since my post here about how I am going to start selling prints on Etsy. There is an infinite amount of ways to expand and though I’m moving slowly due to ample of other life commitments, I will expand in baby steps. Prints – check, post cards – check, canvas – check, product photography services – check. Next – tradeshows? Or maybe calendars. Whatever it is, do the work. Don’t be lazy.

My love and I also have a brilliant new product idea in mind (we think it’s brilliant anyway) and I’m determined to make it happen, starting with a business case to present in a patent application. I want to be writing on this very same blog five years from now and be able to point back to this post and say, “I’ve executed.”

This is the continuation of this Movember post.
Here’s a mid-month photo of my “Mo Boys”. Most of them are struggling, except one. But E for Effort.

My amazing male colleagues, whom I love to pieces, doing MOVEMBER. Here are their freshly shaven before-photos.