FiredUp Network
Monday, July 1: The Blaze Canada Day
- Hi, friends, it's me, Courtney, the Renaissance Mama, but today I have the honor of hosting the Belays. So ladies, how is everyone doing? - Doing so well, so excited to be here on a nice Sunday, not Sunday, on a nice Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday mornings. You're like, I don't even care what day. It's actually Wednesday, but that's okay. All right. - Yeah. - But it's sunny and it's warm and it's lovely. So good to see you again. Ally, how are you doing? - Great, I'm so excited to be here celebrating Canada Day with you, ladies. - Right, I know, it's amazing. I don't know about for YouTube, but for me, Canada Day definitely signifies, like, boom, summer's here, let's go, like, let's have some fun. That first long weekend of the summer, but yeah, it usually means, like, good times, so. So I do want to know what you mean. Like I said, we're talking Canada Day and Ally, I have to say, I love the shirt. Very, very cute. I was looking for my red and I realized I don't have a lot of red, so I tried to wear pink. I don't know, I surely got the white, I like it. - Yeah, it's tight. - Yeah, right? I know, I hear I'm like, oh, of course, I have to have a red something, and I didn't. This is my favorite Canada Day shirt, and one of the reasons why I love it is because it doesn't have a year on it. So Greg, we got this great idea one year that we would all get Canada Day shirts, and we got them and they had the year on them, and Greg and I can, like, re-wear ours every year, and his has a year on it, and he's super annoyed. But you know where the secret is? Is dollar-rama has the best Canada Day stuff. And so you can deck out, like, for Canada Day from dollar-rama. So that is my recommendation. And if you, sometimes if you go the day after Canada Day, you can stock up for next year, make a little bit of your basement, and deck out all the Canada Day stuff. - I love it. I actually did say I saw the other day a Canada Day cowboy hat, and I was like, I don't know my plans yet, but, like, maybe somehow have to incorporate it to-- - Who could sport that? That would look so good on you. - Right? - I don't know. Well, we'll see, we'll see. - All right, ladies, I wanna know from both of you, what does Canada Day mean to you personally? And I sure am going to you first. - Yeah, for me, it's always been, like, a way to show appreciation for, like, living in Canada, the diverse cultures. It's, like, just a way to celebrate, like, the country I've lived in my whole life. So that's how I always looked at Canada, like, some time to set up part, to kind of celebrate and embrace, like, being a Canadian, and what that means to me, and just showing appreciation, really. - Oh, I love that. Allie, what about you? - So, you know, I always have a long-winded answer, and, like, when you ask me, like, what Canada means to me, literally, I have a one-wind answer, and it's cold. - That's cute, I like that too, yeah. I agree, I feel like Canada Day, to me, has changed over the years, right? Like, being a parent, and, like, I remember the Canada days hanging out with my ladies going to some bars, having some beverages, and then it sort of shifted. I remember when you were going to, like, my husband's from a small town outside of Ottawa, so celebrating there one year, and seeing that sort of, like, these small town vibes. And now, of course, it's changed again, when my kids were little, we did activities, and now it's changed again as they get bigger. So I feel like Canada Day is constantly, constantly changing for me. - Do you think, ladies, that, like, as Canadians, do we celebrate harder than the Americans, or do you think the Americans go, like, above and beyond, when it comes to Independence Day? - No one wants to answer. - Everyone wants to present Chinese, so when I was fine, I announced to my parents that I was going to marry an American, and I don't know why, we used to always drive and travel to the US, and I was like, when I'm grown up, I'm an American American. And I just thought that they were so patriotic, and I was gonna marry an American. Well, lo and behold, I found my husband who moved to Canada when he was four, but he's still an American. And so, when we first started dating, his mom passed away before our one-year wedding anniversary, but she was so patriotic that we would celebrate the Fourth of July here in Canada, and she would take, she had all this American jewelry, like, very bling-dow jewelry, and she would decorate the dining room table with her jewelry for the Fourth of July dinner, like, nothing like it. So, I will argue that we don't do it quite as well. I think most of the Americans take two days off, they, like, fully, like, I don't know, I think that we need to up our Canadian game. I'm just saying. - I mean, we could make it a whole week celebration. - Yeah, I know, I was gonna say, I feel like the same thing, but I also feel like this is unfair advantage with media coverage, and we get a lot more of media that we consume off the Fourth of July, and it looks like Americans go so hard, but I do think can't go hard, but I definitely agree that the Americans do it more, and we get more coverage of what they do for Fourth of July versus the coverage of Canadian celebrating Canada Day. - That is such a good point. You're right, because, yeah, there's not, like, big news stories about, like, Canada Day this and that, where it's, like, a good, great, when it's Independence Day, like, the world stops, and we all have to be like, "What are the Americans doing?" (laughs) - Well, that, like, oh, yeah. - I also think, sorry, but I also think that we have become more patriotic. Like, if I look at it, like, from my childhood to now, I think Canadians are more patriotic than they used to be. I think we have our game. So I do, I agree with your point, that we probably just don't show it, like, on media, as much as the US do. - Yeah, okay. Well, I wanna know then, how do you both typically celebrate Canada Day? - For me, I used to live in Windsor, Ontario, which is a border city to Detroit, Michigan, and it wasn't exactly on Fourth of July, but, like, a couple of days before, we would have the Ford Fireworks Show, which is, like, a fireworks show and a carnival beside the river. So every year growing up, that was our way of celebrating Canada Day, 'cause we knew we had these big fireworks, and then around the corner would be Canada Day and a carnival, and as a kid, it was so fun, and that's pretty much how everyone that I know friends and family would celebrate Canada Day. - That's cute, I love it, Ali, what about you? - Like, it's always, like, until recently for us, it's always been centered around a parade, right? There's always the Canada Day parade. I grew up with a dad who was a shriner, so he was always in the parade, and we would always go to the parade, and then I feel like, when we've, I think even before we had kids, and when we had kids, we would go to our local parade here, and now we have a trailer, and so we go up to our trailer every long weekend. It's like the big kickoff to summer, and they do a really cute thing at our trailer park where everyone decks their trailers out for Canada Day stuff, and so then they always pick a winner, and then we go to the lake, like, not the lake that's out our trailer, but like the big lake in King Carden, and they do fireworks on the water, which I'd net, like, they are fabulous, and so that's a special thing that we do. We get to sit on the beach, and it's just super fun. - And I love that. You know what's funny? I was thinking in my head to me, I actually don't associate Canada Day with a parade. I don't know if I've ever seen a Canada Day parade, so that's so cool that that's your thing, and that's how you associate, yeah, you know what to me, it's definitely, I feel like throughout, like I said, throughout the years, it's changed obviously with kids, and them getting bigger, but for me, I just remember multiple years going to like our similar guest show with like sort of like a little bit of a fair kind of vibe, doing some rides, a petting zoo, and of course the fireworks show, which is always, always amazing, and I just remember my kids being like little, and like falling asleep in my hands while the fireworks are going, and even to this day, same thing, we also have a trailer, so our trailer park does fireworks on the lake, which is beautiful. My dog does not love them so much, but it's okay, he's, he has to suck it up for one night, so, so I had a funny question for you ladies though, what do you think are some like unique or maybe lesser known traditions associated with Canada Day? Could you think of any or? - Yeah, I just thought of something, an experience of mine is being from Canada Day, you always think of like the big parades in the major cities, but actually one time I got to work for maybe one of the smaller towns, and what I found is some of the smaller towns in Canada that, you know, people don't hear up often, actually go all out on Canada Day, and they have concerts, they have parades, they have, you know, festivals, food, vendors, everything, and it's a great, it kind of feels like a small Nick community, and it's a great way to meet and connect with people that you would have never met, so something I don't think Canadians maybe think of is going to those smaller towns and see what they're doing for Canada Day, it's a great way to connect with people, and it's very intimate, so that's something I feel like lesser known, and I experienced for the first time and had no idea until I experienced it. - Yes, and see, that's where I feel like I, that's what I experienced, so that's once again, so cool, all the different views. - Yeah, I think what about you, anything less or no, and you could think of, or a unique tradition. - I feel like it would be fun, like I think if we didn't have a trailer, I think it would be fun to like City Hop, or like Town Hopper, whatever, and like experience it in different towns and see like how they do it. They should almost like make like a TV series and like show how would they do it on all the places or something, because I think it would be fun to see how like, you know, like I've never experienced Canada in Ottawa, like I bet Canada Day in Ottawa is so different than it is, you know, in Toronto or somewhere else, like I just think it would be super cool to like venture and see all the different ways that it gets celebrated all over. - I've definitely done it in Ottawa before, and it is very busy, but lots of fun, lots of different activities, and same thing like you said, closing down streets, like just a really, really cool vibe and everybody just like celebrating, right? And being appreciative to be Canadian. All right, so now I wanna hear, I know we've shared a little bit of a whole bunch of different ones, but do you have like one memory in particular that you'd like to share about a Canada Day experience? - Yeah, so this one time I was working in a small town and they were, you know, setting up the festival or Canada Day thing that I discussed previously. And the something I did was I took a whole wagon of Canada, Canadian flags and knocked on every door and like wish them a happy Canada Day and gave me a flag. So it just felt very like intimate and personal, like I made their day by like, you know, giving them a Canada flag and it was so many different houses. And it was funny because I feel to realize how many people speak French in Canada and how I don't speak French. So some of them would start talking to me in French and like that was something new and just making people's day. So that was a Canada that I think I'll like never forget 'cause I've never done something like that before. So that was something that stood out for me as a memory. - So cool. Ali, what about you? - I think the biggest thing for me is growing up with a dad that was a shriner, like he was always in the parade. And so he was part of a shrine group that had the little go-karts. And so for Canada Day, they would always deck out their go-karts with Canada flags. And they would like always like do their figure eights and not on the street and like their Canada flags would be waving. And I just like, that's just like, you know, just such a big memory for me of like, you know, we were a parades every weekend and all the time. And the only time they would deck them out with the Canada flags were on Canada Day and it was always the best parade. - That is so amazing. I have to share which it's funny 'cause I'm thinking I was trying to think of all my memories. And like I said, I have so many good ones of the kids and all these cool places, but I'm gonna have to go way back when I was in like university. I, well, I mean, you guys know I sing and I dance and do musical theater. There was a time where I was a Liza Manelli impersonator and I got booked to do a Canada Day event in Toronto and I was Liza all day long singing about Canada. - And then my favorite part about it actually was probably, I think he's passed away now, but it was the NDP leader at the time. Jack Layton was like, I'm so excited to meet me as Liza and just was so lovely. And we had such a good day of like celebrating Canada. And it was just so funny 'cause I was like, why am I Liza at Canada? Like it was just so random, but that was kind of my life as a young performer, just random, random, random. But yeah, definitely a funny, funny Canada Day experience. - No, that sounds so fun. - Right? - Because I'm getting that, you know, nice Canadian Day experience. - Yeah, no, it was wild. I guess that it was hilarious. And I'm like, what am I doing here? But it was a riot and everyone had a good time. - So I know I shared a little bit of a sort of... - I have to say, Courtney, I get so excited when you throw in one of your voices because to me, you're like the hockey mom who has three boys and like, you know, like you're yelling in the hockey stands and then all of a sudden you throw in these voices or you're singing and I'm like, all right, that's like the other side of you. - Right? - Yes, I know, oh yes, many, many... Ali, her name, the Renaissance Mama. There's so many hats and so many sides to me. All right, I know I shared how my perspective of Canada Day has changed kind of over the years, but I would love to hear if you ladies share different perspectives that you feel like has changed. - I can start. So I think growing up, it was just celebrating through, you know, fireworks, you know, parade festivals, but I think as I've grown, I've realized the importance of acknowledging the history and the, you know, the indigenous communities. So that's something that I feel like has definitely changed over the years. My perspective and just acknowledging different communities and their experiences. So that's been one change for me. - She'll always has the most like beautiful things, just like I always joke that she was like, so wise, but beyond her years, she'll say something. I'm like, "Oh my gosh, good boy." (laughing) - Ali, what do we do? - Free because when we are kids, we're really like, oh, it's fireworks day, right? And that's really all it is to us. You know, I think it's really important that we, you know, think about all the Canada is and that we really embrace that with our kids and help them to understand that it's not just about fireworks and that it's about Canada and being free and, you know, I feel like the schools are doing a really good job and having special days and helping them to learn things and do videos. And I believe that the school that my kids go to was actually doing some of that tomorrow on their last day of school. They're celebrating Canada Day on Thursday, you know, too, so that they get that learning because, you know, not everyone is going to provide that learning to their kids. So I like that our school is doing that and they're gonna dress up as Canada Day, like we're Canada's shirts and stuff like that. And so, I mean, in the last day of school, they're really just doing fun things anyway. So incorporating Canada Day into that, I think it's really awesome. - No, oh, beautiful. Yeah, that is such a wonderful point to think about. Like, I don't know if I really ever have good conversations with my boys about like how, you know, how amazing Canada is. There's been multiple times that my husband's been offered opportunities to move to the States. He works a lot there and I was like, hard, no, no, no, which is funny 'cause as a kid, I think I did have visions while I was gonna go to New York City at one point. I got into a school in New York and like literally had my bags packed, ready to go. And it was a music teacher of mine was like, let's sit down and talk this through. And then I ended up going a totally different path. So it is just really funny, but yeah, I definitely am so grateful to live in this country. So I think maybe I need to need to educate my boys a little bit more on, you know, how really special this place is, but yeah. - Yeah, it always feels like the most safe. I always feel the safest in Canada. Like I can't even, maybe it's just, I don't know if it's a bias, but no matter where I go, I always feel like Canada is safe. - I 100% agree we were in Florida this year at like a Walmart shopping around and my middle son sometimes doesn't have much of a filter. And he was yapping his mouth away. And I was like, you can't say that here. I'm like, just be quiet. Like I think, yeah, we take advantage of in Canada that we do feel kind of safe and free. And, you know, we can kind of do what we want, but yeah, it was just a funny. And once again, you're right. It might be totally biased. It might be what I see on media as this moment of like, Oh my gosh, don't, don't say that. Don't act like that. Be good. Just keep going. - Yeah, no, that's changing up a little, but when you are doing different. - Yeah. - So how do you think we as Canadians can kind of ensure that like, Canada Day is inclusive for everybody in the country? As we know, we are a very diverse country. So how do you feel like, how do you think everyone can feel included? - Yeah, I think celebrating the different cultures, like including them in some of the local, like whatever, I think each community is doing for Canada Day or any organization, maybe including the different communities that make up Canada's diverse culture. If it's even them bringing their own traditional meals or dressing in their own, instead of them wearing Canada Day gear to the Canada celebration, maybe wear their own unique culture. - Oh yeah, cool, yeah. - So just the way to like make them feel included, 'cause it's not just being Canadian isn't about, you know, being born here, it's about like all of us that come together to make Canada what it is. So I think that would be a great way to make people who are newcomers and people who've been here feel also included. - I like that, Ali, what do you think? - Really, Canada is so diverse and multicultural that I feel like we all, like as a Canadian, I embrace everyone and I want everyone else to embrace everyone. And so I feel like Canada Day is a great day to really all come together and just celebrate the wholeness that we are because we are so different. We are from so many different cultures and backgrounds and, you know, and we're always inviting people in and growing. And so I feel like it's the perfect day to be like, we're all so proud to be here. - Yeah, I kinda like that 'cause you both had very different answers, but I agree with both of them. And I think that's what Canada is, right? The fact that like, yeah, that's, I love the beautiful idea of everyone doing their own thing, but I also love the like, that we're all put in on our red and we're all putting on our, you know, dollar store, t-shirts and cowboy hats and whatever else we wanna do. Like, I think that's such a, such a fun concept. All right, so now I need to know though, what are some of your favorite, we'll say Canadian foods to enjoy. Maybe you don't actually get to enjoy them on Canada Day, but I wanna know like, what are your favorite sort of Canadian foods? Ally, I'm going to you first 'cause you're a food girl. - I feel like food all comes from somewhere else. Like I feel like one of my favorite things about being a health coach is that when I coach clients who have that multicultural diversity, I'm like, tell me how you cook this. Like I want to know, I wanna know all the secrets. And so like, like I feel like I would like say that like when I go to Montreal, like I wanna have some poutine, but I don't think poutine actually originated in Montreal. I think it originated somewhere else. I think it's like, like Belgium or somewhere, right? I feel like, do we actually have like maple syrup maybe? Like, I feel like we, you know, I feel like we have, I think I love the fact that we incorporate some of everything, right? Like we're so like, yeah, I so, so I don't, I have a sucky answer. So maybe I'll say maple syrup because I only know that to be the authentic Canadian thing. - Yeah, that's fair. Show what about you? - Yeah, I know I definitely agree with Ali. We do have a variety of different cultural foods, but when I think of Canadian food, like besides poutine, I think of butter tarts, that was introduced to me like a long time ago. And I think I had one too many and that would probably be my favorite type of tarts. So for me, I'll go with butter tarts. I won't be general and say poutine and beibertales. I'm just gonna say I like butter tarts. - Oh my gosh. - Well, now I'm like super hungry now. I want maple syrup buttered tarts. (laughs) Those are all things I enjoy. Also, I love the poutine and the beibertales. My son recently had his first beibertale and literally was like, what is this magical thing? - Yes, only once in a while, but yes, we, you can enjoy those beibertales. - All right, so now we're talking about some famous Canadians. Who are some of your favorite famous Canadians that have inspired you? - I'm gonna go first then if you ladies are all quiet but it's not an inspiration. It is a bit of a brush. Mr. Ryan Reynolds is one of my favorite performers. I think he is adorable. My husband knows, don't worry, he's my hall pass but he is one of my favorite performers and the fact that he's Canadian just makes them all the better. - Love it, love it. So I'm gonna shout out to Celine Dion because she's Celine Dion and I'm so excited to, I think her biography on Netflix came out yesterday. So excited to watch it. I haven't heard anything about it yet. So maybe some point this week I'll be able to catch that. - I know, I saw a brief clip and I was like, what? Oh my goodness. - Yeah, definitely say for me, Shea Mitchell, her story from graduating from TMU, doing pretty little thing and then venturing to entrepreneurship, she mentioned manifestation. So I think like for her, she definitely comes to mind. - So so good. All right. And then if we're talking about famous people, we gotta think about favorite Canadian song or maybe a Canadian artist. And maybe I'll start again. My husband is a huge, huge fan of the Tragically Hip. He's seen literally 20 concerts in his life and I think 19 of them were the Tragically Hip. And then on his, oh, I don't know, like 40th something birthday was their last concert and we scored tickets. We won them and got to go to that last concert in Ottawa and Kingston there and it was amazing. Like I didn't know I knew as many songs as I did. Like every song came on, I'm like, oh my God, oh my God. And obviously Gourd Downey was just such an incredible showman. But I think to me, the coolest part was like looking around the stadium that wasn't a big stadium. It was actually pretty small. And just seeing everybody like having the time of their life. Like everyone was singing. They remember one guy looking down and he was just like the greatest day of his life. My husband, in fact, even said I went to go get a beverage and I was like, oh, do you want one? And he's like, oh no, I want to remember this day for the rest of my life. And I was like, oh, you didn't say that on our wedding. So side note, but it was an absolute incredible concert to see Gourd Downey do what he does and this whole stadium. And you can even tell he wasn't 100% well. And he still like rocked it. So it was very, very cool. - Nice. - Anyone else favorite Canadian song or artist? - I would say, keep it popular, I'll say Justin Bieber. I think his story of putting Stratford Ontario in their theater, putting that on them up. It's such a beautiful, small, I guess town in Canada that does great plays and it's a nice community. And I feel like he's given that a lot more to our subtraction. - Definitely, I'm sure there's like Bieber tours you can go on and just like walk around looking for the beeps. I've actually had family that like were there in a mall and like bumped into him. - Yeah, so I definitely think you put Canada more popularity in a smaller town. - Yeah, Ally. - So I'm going to shout out to a local small artist because she's a former client of mine and I am her biggest fan. And you should check her out on Instagram. Her name is Nancy Hope. - I think you've shared me his performance. She had that beautiful song, "When in a Million" or something like that. - That is, that is my favorite of hers. We've actually had her come in and sing some events for us. And seeing her live is incredible. So I encourage anyone who's in the local area to check out her website, Nancy Hope, I think it's .ca. And it shows, she plays at some wineries in the Niagara region. She plays in Hamilton and Toronto. So yeah, she has the most beautiful voice. - So beautiful and I love that. I love supporting in local talent, right? Like why not? That's what's so cool about it that yeah, it's amazing. Ladies, I hate to tell you, but it's about time to go. So before we head on out, please share with everybody where they can find you. And Allie, I'm going to you first. - Thanks so much for having us. The blade always goes by so fast. - It really does. - I'm Allison Wills with wellness with wisdom. You can catch me on Instagram @AllisonWillsWisdom. My website is wellnesswithwisdom.com. And you can catch me here on the fam with sweet insights with Allie and Amy. - Awesome, Michelle, what about you? - Hi, yes. You can find me on LinkedIn. My first name is A-C-H-O-L and my last name is B-A-B. And you can also find my Instagram handle on my LinkedIn page as well. And thank you so much for having us today. It's really great. - Of course. And then as always, you can find me on therenasancemama.com or on my show, the Renaissance Mama on the fam network. And if you want to watch more shows like this, well, then download the True TV Plus app on your TV or your phone or anywhere where you want to watch your shows and you can enjoy some quality. These lady shows and more programming. All right, thank you so much ladies and have a fantastic Canada Day. I feel like we almost should like sing O Canada as we go on out, but we won't. (laughing) Bye. - Bye. - Bye. [BLANK_AUDIO]