Canada's Walk of Fame 2013

Two years ago, I landed my first gig as a seat filler at the Canada's Walk of Fame Awards Show in Toronto. Since then, it's always an event I look forward to. Not only does it celebrate the achievements of awesome Canadians and recognize their impact they've had on our country, it also is so inspirational for me as an audience member. I always walk out of the theatre so proud and motivated to do something great. I'll admit, the thought "how can I get inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame someday?!" always crosses my mind. (Check out my 2011 & 2012 experiences)

My first year was definitely the most exciting...I mean, I sat between Sandra Oh's dad and Drake's mom and was mentioned as the Asian in Russell Peters' acceptance speech, doesn't get much better than that haha. Definitely a life highlight for sure. Just for kicks, check out my claim to fame below (start at 6:50) -

Anyways, this year's show was cool too, hosted by Martin Short and the inductees including Bob Ezrin, Terry Fox, Craig & Marc Kielburger and Christine Sinclair (woot woot, reppin BC!). And this year's Allen Slaight Award went to Carly Rae Jepsen. I love how it celebrates people from all fields, whether it may be film, music or sports.

I won't reveal too much, since it hasn't aired yet...so be sure to watch the 2013 Canada's Walk of Fame broadcast on Global on Sunday, October 27th at 8pm!

PS, for anyone wondering what a seat filler is, we basically replace the celebrities when they go up to accept their awards, etc. Since TV loves having full audiences, it's always necessary to make sure all the seats are filled and there are no awkward gaps. That's where seat fillers come in. For this event in particular, sometimes you move around a lot, but sometimes there are empty seats throughout the theatre and you may just get to sit there and enjoy the entire show!

 - Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

We Day 2013

Photo via Facebook

It's been a hectic couple weeks, so I'm a little behind on blogging, but I'm on it! Last Friday, I got to cover We Day again for Faze Magazine and I had a great time. It's always so nice to see so many young people who are so passionate about changing the world. I got to chat with some of the performers, plus the show's host and Glee star, Darren Criss. This year's list of performers included the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Serena Ryder, Imagine Dragons and Austin Mahone. There were also tons of awesome guest speakers, from Martin Luther King III and Spencer West to 11-year old Hannah Alper. And of course, Free The Children's Craig and Marc Kielburger.

I had to be at the ACC pretty early in the morning so I headed over rocking my Me To We Style 'Be The Change' T-shirt. Once I got there, I got to watch the beginning of the show for a bit and then had to set up at the red carpet for interviews.

The Faze team got to chat with Austin Mahone, Darren Criss, Jacob Artist, and Demi Lovato

Darren Criss: "It’s cool when you see this very concrete example of youth empowerment and people doing things that you hear about, but you see it in real life and you can’t help but be invigorated by this idea that we really can make a difference."

Demi Lovato: "When I went to Kenya with Free The Children, I did a lot of work with them and it changed my entire perspective on life and what I want out of it. I’m here today not only to thank Free The Children for everything that they’ve done, but also, We Day in particular is such an incredible event because everyone in the audience has done good for their community and that’s inspiring."

Later, I watched the show in the stadium and the positive and motivational energy was just so contagious. Check out some of my pics:

Keep an eye out for the article on faze.ca - for more info on We Day, check out www.weday.com

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

Free The Children | We Create Change

Hey everyone!
 
Although the penny may have just been the bit of change at the bottom of your wallet or a bit of good luck here and there, for others, the little copper coin could mean so much more. As Canadians are saying farewell to the beloved penny, charity organization Free The Children isn't letting them go away unnoticed.

I attended a media event at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School on February 4th, which was also the day that Canadian mints officially stopped producing the penny. This event in particular was to announce the amount of pennies that have been collected so far in the We Create Change campaign. The running total? 70 million pennies! Stacked up, that's the height of 170 CN Towers and the weight of 32 elephants....pretty crazy.

Read my full article here: http://www.faze.ca/categories/change/2013/ftc_penny.html

Here are a few of my photos from the event:

Mike "Pinball" Clemons

Spencer West

Craig Kielburger

It's amazing to see young people doing so much to help others out in the world in need.

To find out more info on how you can get involved, visit www.freethechildren.com/wecreatechange

- Christina
Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

We Day Toronto 2012 - Part 1

Back in my high school days, I had always wanted to attend We Day but something always got in the way, never allowing me to experience the atmosphere and awesomeness of the event that I've heard all about. So up until last week, I had wondered what I was missing out on and was excited to finally get the chance to check it out - as media though. So, despite the fact that I was no longer a tween on my journey to saving the world, I was still a member of the audience, as a 20-year-old who just wanted to be in the presence of so many amazing speakers and performers.

If you don't already know about We Day, check out this video for some background info:

This year, We Day was expanded to more cities across the country - from Halifax to Montreal and Saskatchewan to Vancouver. And the Toronto event was a great kick-off. Check out some of my photos from the show!

Jesse Giddings

Tyler Shaw, MuchMusic's Coca Cola Covers contest winner

  The Tenors & Divine Brown

Shawn Desman

Marc & Craig Kielburger

Hedley

Justin Trudeau

Martin Sheen

  K'Naan & Nelly Furtado

Romeo Dallaire

K'Naan

Jake Zeldin

Jennifer Hudson

Stay tuned for part 2 with photos from a press conference at We Day ft. Craig Kielburger, Nelly Furtado and Jacob Hoggard

Find out more about We Day HERE.

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28

Me To We Style - MADE IN CANADA

Hey everyone!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but I've also been interning at Me To We Style for the past few months; contributing to their blog The Shameless Idealist, helping out around the office, and being a photographer at some of their events. Me to We Style is a partner of the charity organization Free The Children, created by the inspirational Craig and Marc Kielburger. You can find out more about FTC here: http://www.freethechildren.com/

Me To We Style just recently launched their newest MADE IN CANADA tees, so I thought I'd share! They've got that great summer vibe and would be great to sport for this upcoming Canada Day!

         

Also, Me To We Style just held a CSR Networking event, for people to learn about innovative and eco-friendly ideas for their businesses, featuring speakers from Steam Whistle Brewery, Bullfrog Power, and Pure + Simple. Here are a few photos from the event, and be sure to check out the blog post & Facebook page!

- Christina

Follow my adventures on Twitter: @christinaaa28