I’ve changed my web address

If you’re looking for my latest posts, particularly new info about the wedding, please go to http://blog.twoworldwalker.com
Why? My new web address is more direct, and easier to remember. Best of all, I can run better features and applications. To prove my point, visit the new site now and see what I’ve added - it’s so cool!
This site will continue to exist, but no new information will be added. Thanks for being my faithful followers; it’s great to be generating a web audience!

Taxi Services in Vegas

Given that a wedding is all about celebrating, you’re probably planning on taking a taxi from your hotel to the wedding.

The taxi ride from “the strip” to my godmother’s house is about 25min. and runs about USD 45.00. The good news is that the ceremony and reception sites are within walking distance of each other (no more than 5 min.) I’ve also found a site that lists all the cab companies, and includes a general listing of prices from the airport to various parts of the strip.

Don’t forget, you can use our custom wedding map to download and print detailed directions from your hotel to any destination in Vegas.

Tell us where to go!

I am in the midst of attending an Education Technology conference in Boston, called Building Learning Communities, or BLC08. I’ve just spent the day at MIT learning how to use some fantastic software for kids, called Scratch.

As a sample activity, I’ve created an interactive map for you to show Peter and I some European destinations that you don’t want us to miss while we’re on our honeymoon. We’re starting in Paris, but we don’t know where we’ll go from there. Check it out by clicking here, and try it out. Then add a comment to this post to tell us more about your recommendation and about what you thought of my Scratch animation.

Wedding Gift Registry

A few of you have inquired about whether Peter and I have made a wedding registry and the short answer is no. All the wedding guides highly recommend it, but since Peter and I have already established our home together, we just couldn’t think of any place to register with.

In its place, Mum has helped us come up with a travel friendly alternative: a wishing well. This is an Italian tradition, per se, but is also known to traditional Nisga’a weddings as a common bowl. We will have a bowl set up at the reception for guests to leave gift cards. Monetary gifts can be included if desired. It’s easier to pack in your luggage, and to get through customs, too!

If you do have a gift in mind, send us a comment, or contact us by any means, and we can make arrangements for it to be shipped directly home to save the border crossing hassles.

But most of all - we’re looking forward to seeing you there, helping us to celebrate our union!

Neutralizing our wedding’s enviro footprint…

A couple weeks ago, I was honoured with two surprise bridal showers in one night! We all had a great time, and I was overwhelmed by the love adulation extended to me.

Each of the guests and the gifts they offered me touched my heart, but one in particular inspired me to reach out in turn: Kimi Hitsinaga made a donation to an environmental cause to offset the air travel Peter and I will use to get to the wedding. This inspired me to go online and make an additional donation to offset our carbon emissions for our return flight for our Paris honeymoon (Way to “Pay it Forward”, Kimi!).

I found many sights to help me assess the impact of both my consumption and conservation practices, but ended up donating through Conservation International. It really opened up my eyes to the “hidden” costs of our wedding celebration. Click here to visit their sight and consider doing the same.

New Wedding Map

We’re just in the process of sending out the invitations which include the web address for this site, because we want you to link to our new wedding map. This is an updated version. We thought it would be better for you to visit it online, because you can get custom directions from the airport to your hotel, and from your hotel to the ceremony site or anywhere else you want to go!

Vegas is a big place and it’s easy to lose your way because it is constantly under construction. We thought this wedding map would help you get along stress-free!

Where to stay for the wedding

At last, here are some suggestions for where you might want to stay for the wedding this summer.

Peter and I checked out a few places. The strip is about a 30 min. drive away from the ceremony and reception site, so you’ll want to decide which you’d rather be closer to. You might want to consider that driving in Vegas is not very straightforward, even for locals because there is so much new construction changing things, and not much road signage to guide you.

Our favourite hotel is the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa because it has everything including its own luxury lagoon. There are multiple restaurants, bars, their own Starbucks coffee shop, and of course, lots of room to gamble! This place is only 5 min. from the ceremony and reception site, and they have a shuttle service to the strip if you want to explore it on another day. If you book now, a room with two double beds should run you between $170 and $200 a night for August 8 & 9, 2008.

Also close to the wedding events, is La Quinta Inn & Suites - Ft. Apache location (9570 W. Sahara). This place reminds me of a Best Western style hotel, more quiet and meek than the glitzy Vegas resorts. It is a bit cheaper than the Red Rock.

The Marriott and Suncoast hotels are also relatively near to the wedding events. You’re looking for locations near W. Sahara and the Red Rock area of town.

Check out this map I made to give you a few bearings to guide you by.

Attractive, versatile, and sustainable gift wrapping

I’ve done a little research to learn more about the Japanese tradition of using furoshiki to wrap purchases, use as a bag, or for gift wrapping. These cloths can be folded in a multitude of ways to carry anything. The Japanese Minister for the Environment is now calling for a return to this Japanese tradition to reduce the amount of plastic bags being consumed. I saw one site that quoted Japan uses 30 billion plastic bags annually. Just think of how many we must use here in Canada.

I like furoshiki better than the current Canadian craze for post-consumer pop-bottle fabric bags because they are more compact to bring along on errand day and much more versatile. Check out furoshiki.com for more details. Plus, here’s a very informative video showing three different folding options for everyday use.

Wedding Plans Update

Click on the “Our Wedding” tab above to read about the latest wedding news.

Good food, Good wines, the Canadian Shield, and White Pines

I’ve just spent two weeks in Ottawa and Kingston and have had a wonderful time soaking up the things I miss so much about home. This includes friends and family (of course), excellent cuisine accessible at even the most unlikely of places; Thunderstorms; White Pine Trees - soooo majestic; the soft and pink granite curves of the Canadian Shield; the smell of clover in the air; fresh corn on the cob; fresh tomatoes; Lakes, Lakes, Lakes, and more Lakes, canals, and rivers… But I never would have appreciated these things as much if I hadn’t become a BC resident.

I’ve posted the rest of my photos on my flickr account, so if you want to see more, you’ll have to register as one of my “friends”. You can write me to find out more about how to do that.