Big Day Downtown – Lauren Oostveen

When I’d heard that the Downtown Halifax Business Commission had a “twist” on their Big Day Downtown event this year (an event where 30 bloggers are each given a $100 Visa card to head Downtown and report back about our adventures)… I was a little unsure if I wanted to continue.

You see… I’m super busy. So, when they told me that I was paired with another blogger for my blogging adventure, the only thing I could think of was “how am I going to coordinate that?” I’m a “spur of the moment” blogger… fitting writing in between school and kids… so making a plan was a little bit daunting.

But I’m glad for the twist.

I’ve not met many bloggers in Halifax, and Lauren Oostveen was an absolute treat! I picked her up from work at the Museum of Natural History and as she stepped into the car she said, “I recognize you from Mount Saint Vincent, I think you taught me.” Whoops! And sorry! I loved teaching, I really did, but one face faded into the next from semester to semester and I have a horrible memory which is weird… as I really should have remembered Lauren.

She’s pretty special!

I’m a follower of Lauren’s tweets and she often has me captivated by twitter projects she’s working on. Last year, I followed the “Live Halifax Explosion” tweets through the Nova Scotia Archives that Lauren was part of. I followed in awe… as if it were really happening… screaming at the Imo and Mont Blanc to turn in opposite directions… it felt real… and was an amazing way to re-learn a part of history that changed the people of Halifax.

Along with her work at the museum and planning a wedding next summer, Lauren is a writer for The Chronicle Herald and fills her column SMASH CUT with everything you need to know about TV and Film and… ummmm… Zombies.  As well, Lauren makes hilarious You Tube videos which often include anecdotes on the history of Halifax. She made this one about about our Big Day Downtown adventure… which awesomely features my sneakers!

Besides all the other amazing things that Lauren does for this city, she let me take a picture of her in a pig mask!!

Which is really quite fantastic!

Thanks DHBC for this year’s Big Day Downtown twist! I had a fabulous time with Lauren and the next few posts will cover our adventure downtown.

Follow Lauren on Twitter @laurenoostveen. She’s honestly someone I will never forget… well, never forget again!