Saturday, September 17, 2016

Park[ing] Day

So, I'm curious: do you live in a city that does Park[ing] Day? I'll be honest: I didn't know this was a thing until I drove past one of the instalments on 11th ave yesterday. It looked like something fun was happening, so I got out my phone (don't worry, kind and caring Internet Strangers, I parked first) and typed everything I was seeing into Google. There it was: Park[ing] Day. #parking day. Parking Day. Depending on the source.


Basically, from what I've gathered, businesses turned the parking spots in front of their buildings into fun hang out spaces for the day. One business made a little beach, complete with sand, water, free popsicles, and lawn chairs. The library made a forest out of house plants and had a little area for people to sit and make friendship bracelets. Another space had giant games of Jenga and Connect 4 and chess, while a coffee shop made a living room, right on the street. Free coffee and brownies, too.


This is the kind of thing I love: something different, interactive, quirky, and fun. Next year, I have high hopes that more local businesses will get in on this, and more people will be in there checking it out. It was so sweet. 


PLUS PLUS PLUS, my friend Becky was in town. We used to share a neighbourhood, but she moved away this summer and I've been missing her a lot - she was always so wonderful at exploring the city and finding funny little things like this to do. So we were able to hit up Park[ing] Day together, and it was just like old times. (And then we went back to my place and she showed me her wedding pictures - which were, by the way and way off-topic, ridiculously beautiful. She eloped on a rainy day in a Saskatchewan forest. Liiiiiiiike...)


So that was yesterday. Today, there's other stuff happening downtown, just in case you're a local and want something to do and feel like meeting new people who are also into quirky, fun, free things. This Pop Up Downtown Walking Art Tour, for example (it's free, starts at 7pm), and this Instameet at the museum at 3. I mean, what's the point of living in a city if you're not going to interact with the other people who also live in the city? 

(I say this as someone who showed up and then completely ghosted on the last Instameet because I got a sudden and debilitating case of Oh Heck No I Absolutely Do Not Want To Say Hi to Strangers. What can I say? I'm into it sometimes, and sometimes I'm not. It's my prerogative.)

6 comments:

Leasa said...

Thank you for stopping by and checking out Park(ing) Day! Hope you enjoy the Instameet and Popup Downtown!

elle said...

I love everything about this whole day so much, especially the purple chairs. Possibly I love those purple chairs more than I've ever loved anything. The whole living room setup reminds me of that Will Ferrell tag sale movie, only instead of being depressing it's really fun and adorable and I'm pretty sure the difference is free brownies. Free brownies are probably the difference for most things. Also your ghosting reminds me of the two (2) 5Ks I've signed up for, arrived at, and then immediately left because even jogging next to people seems like too much interaction sometimes. Also what's the rent like in your area because it kind of seems like a storybook and I'd like to move there? I am open to parking spaces.

Suzy Krause said...

It was so much fun! I really hope it sticks and grows in Regina. :) Were you one of the organizers?

Also, the Instameet was so fun! I didn't end up making it to Popup Downtown...Wah wah wahhhhh. But I'm going to do the self-guided version ASAP. :)

Suzy Krause said...

I really love ghosting stories. Not, like, GHOST stories, but stories of people ghosting. Thanks for that.
And rent...I feel like it's kind of wretched, but I don't know what it is compared to where you live. Where do you live again? It's liiiiike...hmm...I'm thinking $1000 a month for a decent neighbourhood? I haven't rented in a looooong time though, so I could be way off. Move here anyway, let's be friends.

Cheryl said...

I stand by my earlier comment that your city seems like a really cool place to live!

Suzy Krause said...

Come visit!!!