#30daysofmo

[moustachionista]

Easily the best way to get your coworker's attention during #Movember #30daysofmo #MOSISTA

[30-days-of-mo]

Day 15: Finally meeting The Coffice in real life!

On #Movember Day 15, I finally got to meet Sam Title - aka The Coffice - in real life after being Twitter and Facebook friends for the last year. We met up at my favourite coffee shop, Tearo Coffee (@tearocoffee), in Leslieville.

His wife contacted me the night before to suggest I wear a matching moustache, so I broke out my 'Hulk Hogan' 'stache just for the occasion. Look at Sam and I with matching handlebar moustaches!! Sam is also participating in Movember.

Sam is the founder of The Coffice - an online community for people who work out of coffee shops. You can follow The Coffice on Twitter (@theCoffice) and on FB. Check out these awesome cards from Sam.

You can sign up for early access http://new.thecoffice.biz/ to this freshly brewed community before the official launch, and reserve your own free Coffice page and personalized URL! 

Thank you Sam for your amazing Movember support!

[30daysofmoself]

#Movember Day 1: "Before" the Mo - my last pic w/o a moustache #30daysofmo #mosista

[moustachionista]

Eating during #Movember can be really hard... #30daysofmo #MOSISTA

[moustachionista]

Today's daily 'stache pic gets a little prickly... #Movember #30daysofmo #mosista

[moustachionista]

Trying to clean the Conf. 2 whiteboard, sans success... #Movember #30daysofmo #moustache #latergram

[moustachionista]

Gandalf the grey... #Movember #30daysofmo #latergram

[moustachionista]

Catching up! Last Friday's Daily 'stache with @w_illi_am 's #Mobiz award :{) #Movember #30daysofmo

[moustachionista]

[VIDEO] 5 Movember Tips for Hardcore Mo Sistas  

This weekend I was lucky enough to spend a hilarious afternoon with Aimee Davison of One Hundred Jobs & LOLpervs infamy. We shot a few tips for the series o'tubes to help other Mo Sistas who want to man up and mo at it by wearing moustaches every day during Movember! 

This is my third and final year sporting a different daily 'stache for the month to raise money and awareness for this great cause, and it's been inspiring to see a few stalwart women around the world take up the challenge! So I have no doubt the hairy baton will be passed on to future ballsy Mo Sistas.

These tips are for them, and for their stiff upper lips :{)

~Liesl

PS: Support my campaign and maybe, just maybe, we'll make MORE VIDEOS - http://mosista.co/liesl

PPS: Thanks Aimee, you rock!

PPPS: Seriously, straws are the best thing since sliced Internetz...

[moustachionista]

With Aimee of @onehundredjobs shooting a #Movember video: STAY TUNED!!! #30daysofmo #MOSISTA

[moustachionista]

#Movember Strategerizin' in the 1500 on a #Google #Fatboy at @w_illi_am #30daysofmo #MOSISTA

[moustachionista]

Intrepid... #MOVEMBER #MOSISTA #30daysofmo

[moustachionista]

Faffing about at W/ reception in a #RonSwanson #Movember 'stache #30daysofmo #MOSISTA #latergram (at w.illi.am/)

[30-days-of-mo]

Day 12: My moustache and I learn more about WordPress

The 'stache of the day was sponsored by web designer and technology skills instructor Avery Swartz and her business Camp Tech. 

Avery is a Leslieville neighbour and my personal WordPress coach, so I picked out an extra special 'stache for her to say thank you for supporting my '30 Days of Mo' Movember campaign.

Avery is a very talented web designer, who recently launched Camp Tech (@camptechco; camptech.ca) offering practical, professional tech skills training in a fun and friendly environment.

Her relaxed, informative, hands-on classes are perfect for anyone who wants to learn more about technology - including WordPress and Photoshop. Her one-day courses are taught on weekends at the Centres for Social Innovation in Toronto.

Speaking of fun and friendly...that's exactly what Avery is. I had the chance to get to know her because of our mutual friend, Ara Mamourian. Ara paid for me to have six hours of private WordPress tutoring with Avery to thank me for referring a real estate client to him.

For our visit, she invited me to her home, where I got to meet her husband. He was getting ready to head out to a dentist appointment, and she was reminding him to take the required forms, how to pay, etc. A perfect example of the important role women play in supporting (and nagging) the men in our lives to take care of their health.

Avery told me how she had a preventative double mastectomy before the birth of her now two-year-old daughter. She recently had her story published on the front page of the Life section of the Toronto Star.  

She made the brave choice to have her breasts removed and new ones created using tissue from her abdomen because she has a cancer gene that makes her predisposed to suffering from breast and ovarian cancer. 

She now shares her story with other women to help them through the difficult decision-making process of whether to remove their breasts and the type of replacements to get.

According to Avery, it's important to 'take care of your shit.' Before our meet up, I could tell this was her approach to business because she's a talented, successful entrepreneur. But it was amazing to find out, this is her approach to her (and her family's) health as well. 

Avery has generously offered a free WordPress for Beginners class on Nov. 24 to one of my '30 Days of Mo' followers. Here is the event link and description:

http://nov24wordpressforbeginners.eventbrite.ca/

WordPress for Beginners Saturday, November 24, 10am – 4pm  Centre for Social Innovation, Toronto

Learn how to build a website using WordPress – the popular blog and website publishing software. Whether you’re trying to set up a simple website for your small business, a personal blog, or perhaps you use WordPress at work and would like to learn more, this workshop is for you. From pages to posts, widgets to plugins, you’ll learn all about how to customize and maintain WordPress on your own website.

Here’s how to enter the draw:

1. make sure you’re following @CaronSue and @CampTechCo on Twitter

2. Tweet the following message: I want to learn more about WordPress with @camptechco @caronsue. #CampMoTech http://nov24wordpressforbeginners.eventbrite.ca/

Entries will be accepted until Wednesday, Nov. 21 at 12:00 noon. The randomly selected winner will be notified by Twitter DM.

The WordPress for Beginners class takes place IN PERSON in downtown Toronto, on Saturday, November 24, from 10 am - 4 pm. Contest winner must attend in person. Ticket is not transferable to another person, nor is it transferable to another Camp Tech class. If you cannot attend, another name will be drawn.

[30-days-of-mo]

Day 8: My moustache and I learn how to make ice cream

My day 8 'stache of the day was sponsored by my favourite ice cream shop, Ed's the Real Scoop in Leslieville (@Eds_Real_Scoop).

I've been a fan of Ed's for almost 15 years. My mom and I would drive all the way from our family home in North York to the Beaches (the original location) just to get Ed's delicious homemade ice cream.

When I was pregnant with my son in 2009, I rode by the Leslieville location when it was under construction. I spotted the Ed's sign in the window and I couldn't believe it. I called the Beaches location to find out if they were expanding. When they said yes, I thought it was a sign. To be pregnant in the summer...and have my favourite ice cream shop open within walking distance from my house was just too good to be true.

Since Ed's opened in Leslieville in 2009, I've had a chance to get to know its owner, Steve. My son and I are frequent visitors. When I stopped by to ask if he'd sponsor a day of Mo, Steve was quick to say yes. He already had a Movember donation jar on the front counter.

Steve and I (and my Mo) decided we should spend my visit learning how to make Ed's delicious ice cream (a dream come true for me!). Steve gave me my very own Ed's hat and apron. Woot! Woot!

Steve had a few ice cream flavours on his to-do list, and we started with one of his most popular season flavours Pumpkin.

Steve uses E.D. Smith canned pumpkin to start. By using canned pumpkin, instead of fresh, he guarantees the consistency of flavour from batch to batch.

Next, Steve added some brown sugar, nutmeg, and other pumpkin pie-type spices.

He then added 2% milk before the 17% cream. The 2% milk is used to cut down on the fat content. I have to tell you though...it's the 17% cream that sets Ed's ice cream apart from its competitors. It's so creamy. It's also so fresh and never tastes freezer burned like some of the chain ice cream shops.

Next, the fresh ingredients go into the batch freezer for 8 minutes. Seems fast, right? But the faster ice cream freezes, the smoother and creamier it is. 

It comes out looking like this...

The ice cream is then put into a deep freezer overnight to harden and settle...then another freezer to soften it up again to make it scoopable. Phew...that is a lot of work...but so worth it!

My favourite Ed's flavours are Banana Blitz and Chocolate Banana. Fortunately, they had both available!

Ed's also sells ice cream cake, ice cream pies and hand-dipped Belgian chocolate goodies. They also make their waffle cones on site!

Thank you to Ed's the Real Scoop for teaching my moustache and I how to make our favourite ice cream, and for supporting Movember and my '30 Days of Mo' campaign!