Easter - Holy Entertainment

Easter is a great time of year. The holiness of this time is beautiful but now with the modernization of everything, Easter is know for a great church service and then tons of food with family. Now this being an entertainment blog of sorts with a tendency to focus on wedding related twists here are some photos on how you could set up your Easter table this year.

This is the overview of the Easter table setting - breakfast in this case. Check out the FAB brightly coloured, felt place-mats in great EGG SHAPE!! Awesome find from Michael's but could be easily be made.

I love eggs! and wanted to showcase my fabulous idea for a centerpiece which is really easy to do.

- Keep the egg shells that you crack for baking or frying and rinse them out really well.
- Use the clean shells as a mini vase
- Select small flowers (mums or mini carnations) that can be cut really short and combined together for a dramatic impact.
- Place them in a covered dish meant to hold eggs
- a bunny shaped cookie cutter pulls the whole thing together
- double duty as a centerpiece and as an extra hard boil egg holder
- Be colourful and playful - you can't go wrong with this one - if you have kids or just like to paint eggs throw some of those in as well.

The next great little thing I wanted to show you were these new egg plates. They actually come with a silicone cover that goes over the egg - allowing you to crack the shell of a hard boiled egg with out burning your fingers. Is it practical - maybe not so much. BUT makes a very cute presentation!

I used plain white egg cups to hold brownies for dessert but you could also use them to hold chocolate wrapped eggs.

Cheers! Have fun & be inspired.

Passionate and dedicated

A few weeks back I was asked by Laverne Stewart to come into the Daily Gleaner to be interviewed for a piece she was working on. Of course I went.
I was a bit nervous as I new the piece was going to be of a more personal nature and I'm always leery with telling people everything about me. What if I forgot something? No one really knows how individuals can perceive you and well 'print' can be immortalized. I spent maybe over an hour there talking to Laverne that day, I cried, I laughed and I remembered. She was a pure delight. At the end of our time, she asked me for individuals with whom she could speak with. (???) Ok, so of course my husband (I've always wondered what he really thought about everything), a new and old friend (Jan & Samantha - I knew where they could be reached without hesitation). I'm sorry to say that she didn't have a chance to speak to my sister but over all I was quite pleased with the article. (Who am I kidding? - It was perfect!)
So today, one of the worst snow storms may be hitting us now and I ventured out to get the paper (of course after posting it multiple times on various social media outlets). I bought 5....lol
I was standing in line with them and noticed that I was actually looking at myself - ON THE FRONT PAGE! Here I was at the top of the front page in the banner - playing my guitar no less! Now I should state that I am only learning to play. The photo shocked me as it had been taken earlier in the summer when I was interviewed for Last Summer Parties which was printed around Labour Day. This is the original photo....


I personally liked that they clipped me out from my ugly purple chair....Someday it will get recovered...someday.....

One of the best things that has happened (so far today) from this article was that I received an email from an old employer who had just read the article (not sure how he got the email - google?). I almost fell over I was so shocked. I was surprised but really glad that he took the time to reach out.

I'm trying to determine what I'll send Mrs. Stewart on Monday for such an amazing article.... I know what I'm sending my sister - an autographed version of the paper! lol

Last minute gifts! with less stress

Well, if I haven't mentioned it enough I have been very fortunate to have been on the radio (News91.9) every week talking about the Holidays and ways to get ready for it. With Christmas right around the corner (OMG! 2 sleeps) it seems like a good time to talk about the last minute shopping that we know exists.

As a planner and organizer myself, most are shocked to learn that I love last minute shopping. I even leave some of my important gifts until then (so, if you haven't got your gift yet....it's cause i haven't bought it yet - silly!) The air of the mall this time of year with all the holiday shoppers can be daunting if you are not prepared so I've made a few lists that may help lessen the stress and even make it fun perhaps.

5 Tips for making last-minute holiday shopping less stressful
1. Set a budget for each person prior to going out
2. Make a list of gifts needed or people you need to buy for
3. Know where to look for the gifts: do your recon-work (this can also be worked into 'ways to make last minute shopping fun')
4. Be prepared to not get your top gift pick (let's face it others have already been there and you aren't the only one who thought it would make a great gift for so-and-so)
5. Don't despair! If you really can't find that great gift for "x" make them a really great IOU with the promise of something spectacular. Be careful with this one though - you don't want to be remembered for giving a 'gift' and failing to deliver on it.

Ways to make last minute shopping fun:
1. Make an evening of it - be prepared for long lines and short tempers
2. Split the gift list (make a race of it)
3. Reward yourself with that "venti mocha peppermint late" if you get everything on your list done.

Top 8 Easy Gifts that Don’t Suck (in my opinion):
1. Liquor Store Gift Cards: alcohol purchases can become pretty significant with Christmas and New Years so close together.
2. Spa Services: great gift for moms (new and old) as they typically wouldn’t splurge now on this. Receiving it for free on the other hand is a luxury not many would turn down
3. Gift Cards: previously looked upon as a ‘cop-out’. However, now everyone from the drugstore to the electronics store to the coffee shop offers them and hey – you did at least figure out what store to get the gift at – right?
4. Tickets: concert/show/sporting event, remember to get 2.
5. Getaway: evening or weekend. Great gift for the ‘hard to buy for’ person or the person ‘who has everything’. Everyone loves to relax.
6. Subscriptions: magazines/paper. If you know someone who loves cooking get them “Cook’s Illustrated”. You can buy the current issue and wrap it up with the promise of 12, 6, or 4 more coming.
7. Charity: (remember it’s my opinion here) a donation in the name of someone to their favourite charity is nice. Makes a great gift for those ‘who have everything’. Environmentally friendly? Save a piece of the rain forest for them.
8. Give the Gift of Yourself: (hehehe) very budget friendly. Make up coupons for services you can provide in the weeks to come. A 4 course meal, babysitting services, pet-care services, website building, car repairs, and painting – the list is endless. Word of Caution: Don’t over promise or you will be remembered as giving a gift but ‘failing’ to deliver on it.

When all else fails by chocolate!

Holiday decorating tips

So, I'm a bit behind in the blogging....

I have had the great opportunity to be on the radio each week this month (News91.9) and I've had a lot of fun. This past week (16th) we talked about holiday decorating:

5 great budget extenders for holiday decorating:
1. hold a 'last year's' decoration swap with neighbours or friends to change it up. This can be really fun provided you have people who's taste you like :)
2. throw a party organized around decorating to minimize the work. (This would also work for baking) This is great event for bringing together extended families who live close together and including those friends who may not have family close to be involved in something festive.
3. Organize family craft night for making decorations. This could range from cut-out decorations to candy dish centrepieces.
4. Use the outdoors as inspiration - add twigs and evergreens. This will also be very 'green' and minimal effort provided you have some in the back yard. You may need to be willing to go for a chilly walk.
5. When you have a dinner party it would be easy to take a simple Christmas bulb and tie a ribbon on it with a name tag to use as place cards. Each guest could then take them home. This could also be swapped with individual goodie bags at each place setting.




We also touched upon some tips for holiday decorating in general:

1. Edit the room first by removing all those items that aren't necessary.
Why? if you don't edit, after you remove the christmas decorations the room will look empty if you don't have things to move back in.
2. Seperate your "Christmas" and "winter" decorations.

3. Decide on which decorations you will use (this year) Use a colour scheme and let it flow thorough the entire house.

4. Extend decorations into non-traditional rooms such as the bathroom. This will help to tie the entire house together. It also adds a great mood lift as guest see decorations all around.



As some of you know I was also on Live at 5. It was a great experience and some got to glimpse my tree (which is never decorated the same).

Update: So as promised - here is a photo of my tree. I'm not computer savy so I don't know how to add a poll yet but during our radio show when Dan announced that I would be on Live at 5 we opened it up for people to judge my tree. Like or Dislike.
Lets have at it!