Hi, my name is Angela Switzer and this is #MyCanada
I am originally from Southern Ontario: born in Orillia, but we moved around a bit before relocating to the United States. I was in Georgia for 21 years before recently moving to Florida, like all good Canadians. I love to read, travel, cook, spend time with my family and friends, and my dog and my cat. Like many Canadians, I'm incredibly passionate about hockey in general and the Maple Leafs in particular. For the last 3 years, my friends and I have done a fantasy hockey league. I have adopted the Tampa Bay Lightning as my secondary team and I am thrilled to be living in a city with an NHL franchise. I went to my first Leafs game in March since Atlanta lost the Thrashers and immediately felt at peace with all of my fellow Canadians in the stands. I also like to do yoga, when I can find the motivation. I was actually introduced to The Peace Collective through Lululemon. I saw your partnership with them on their Instagram page. I saw the "Home is Here" tanktop on their Instagram and decided that I must have it. As an expatriate, that wasn't exactly the easiest task to accomplish. I ended up calling the location at Yorkdale, buying the shirt over the phone, having them ship it to my aunt in Aurora, who was coming to Florida to visit my father. My father mailed the shirt to me in Georgia, along with some boxes of Smarties. I love the tank top and what it represents: Canadian pride, even though I don't get to go home as often as I like, and the mission of providing meals for children who are food-insecure. I get so many comments on it when I wear the shirt and I love telling the story of how I got it and about the Peace Collective's mission. I could probably do another 500 words on the snack, fast, and junk foods that I miss. I make everyone bring me Jos Louis under threat of physical pain because they are my favourite thing in the world to eat. My mother smuggles Miss Vickie's Malt Vinegar chips across the border for me every time she has a trip across the border. Any time I actually go back myself, I threaten a mutiny if we don't immediately stop at a Harvey's so I can get a cheeseburger. Pretty much anything President's Choice haunts my dreams.
So that's my rambling explanation of what #mycanada means to me. It's everything that I love and miss about my life there and what keeps me feeling connected when I'm away for so long. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!