Steppin Out Saturday: Dog Days + Art Nights

Yesterday was an absolutely perfect Fall day here. It was nice & sunny and there were lots of people walking around downtown. I lazed around in the morning and then decided to drag my butt off the couch and take Abby outside. We ended up walking up and around Citadel hill. If you've never been to Halifax, atop of Citadel hill, looking out over the city & harbour, sits a large star-shaped fort built in 1856. Here's an areal view:

via

So up we went. We stopped on the waterfront lookout so Abby could enjoy the view.

We even got to hear the firing of the noon cannon.

right view

left view

clock view

After we got home, I headed back out  for a tea-date with a friend and then D and I headed out for one of Halifax's most anticipated yearly events, Nocturne! Nocturne is an event that is all about art + fun. It showcases art galleries, installations, performance art, craftsmanship, video and any other type of art you can imagine. Dozens of permanent & temporary art "stops" are positioned all around the city. The idea is to explore the city by foot, bike, ferry or bus to see your favorite exhibits/installations from 6pm to midnight, hence the name Nocturne. 

Last year I worked until midnight at NovaScotian Crystal (a Nocturne stop), so I was very excited to have the full Nocturne experience this year. We started the night down on the waterfront with an exciting performance by Atlantic Cirque and then headed over to Maples Gallery to view Holly Carr's interetingly beautiful silk painting & to say hi to the owner. (Hi, Arline!)

Our next stop was NovaScotian Crystal to say hi to my former co-workers and to see what was new in the showroom. (Hi, Katie!) To refuel, we headed to Baton Rouge to grab a slice of their amazing-melt-in-your-mouth-creamy-delicious Red Velvet cake. Seriously, this is the cake that dreams are made of. So much so, that we devoured the whole thing before I could think to take a photo. Oops!

We continued on, hoping to try out the Happy Wash. It was a set-up like a car wash that you walked through that would simulate each step: rinse, suds, rinse, wax, dry and you would come out clean & refreshed. Doesn't that sound fun? Well, the line looked about 200 people long (!!!) so instead we hit up Letter Press Gang to do our own hand-pressed Nocturne print. The shop was really lovely & they had a couple of guys playing some Spanish music to keep us entertained while we waited.

By then it was getting pretty late so we started the walk home stopping at Argyle Fine Art along the way. They had a fun owl-themed exhibit downstairs complete with crunchy leaves all over the floor, branches in the ceiling and a hooting soundtrack. We were hoping to see a dance art piece & do a photo in the photobooth on the way home, but the photobooth was nowhere to be found and we had already passed the dance site... We stopped to paint something on the Glow Home, a project set up by an architecture student at Dal. It was a shed frame covered in plastic with glow in the dark paint messages and drawings all over it. It looked pretty cool, but I forgot to snap a pic.

All in all, it was a great night. It's fun to do something a little different in the city and for FREE! Nocturne is such a great event that brings people out and about. The streets were packed. It was awesome! It's also so well organized with all the different guided tours and booklets and clearly-marked sites. Definitely a must-do event in Halifax, for art-lovers and non-art lovers alike.

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Linking up with Harper's Happenings today. Here's what I wore on our Nocturne adventure!

Abby either 1. wanted her picture taken too or 2. wanted to bite on my leopard-print scarf because she thought it was an animal.

robo-dog

Shoes: Le Chateau
Pants & Scarf: Dynamite
Tee & Bomber Jacket: Bluenotes
Hoodie: Joe Fresh

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog. I hope you enjoy the rest of your Sunday!