Denis Carriere, Author at Montreal Event Planner

Happy holidays to all, and to all a good night!

December 2016December 2022 in Blog

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Happy holidays to all, and to all a good night!

Ouffffaaa boy does time fly, and we’re into the last month of 2016.
Wow – what a year it has been, full of ups and downs (but I’m grateful for all of it!).

This month I went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for an annual destination weddings educational conference. It was a relatively quick trip there and back, but great!! Ask what the new destinations trends are and I will comply. Hint; Punta Mita.

I also threw a total of five corporate holiday parties this year. Yes, that busy we were. I was not required to be there except one; my team and I needed to be present for this one because it was quite different approach and quite large as well (guests totaled 1500pple). It was a whole day thing for the entire offices here in Montreal. Which included and it included teambuilding activities and creative workshops.

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Side Note: I was amazed by the artistic-ness that came out of this event.
It was awesome and really fun to see employees and executives in suits become kids again.

Once all that is done; I also starting to gear up for a new winter session at Lasalle College, which starts early January. LOVE IT – LOVE IT – LOVE IT !!

December is about families/friends reconnecting, shopping, get togethers, cooking, drinking, eating, shopping, sharing, being merry and more shopping … ‘cause we just like the craziness, right? (if you ask me this should be done all year round… I digress)

I squeezed in some time to catch up. With friends/colleagues before we all get immersed in our collective Holiday routines. Once all is done hubby and I are off Florida for a few days.
OMG I’ve got to go and start packing … Yay baby – I’m unplugging!!

Update: you are all asking how things are going with my health situation … thank you for being so kind and considerate. I had my first follow-up appointment with my Doctor (surgeon), and all was good.

That’s about it! Happy Holidays everyone – wishing you all the best.
Remember; let’s remaining positive about what lies ahead for 2017!

A month of “radio + activity” pun totally intended

November 2016December 2022 in Blog

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November, the calm before the December storm… it’s been a very busy month; however a good one, and I’m super grateful for that.

I started off the month with Splash and Dash (a not-for-profit organization), as I was asked by a former student to be involved. She chose me to be her Celebrity; which, quite honestly, I was honored and humbled (this is when I realize the power of influence a teacher can have on someone). It was an event for kids who suffer from all sorts of cancers, what a wonderful experience it was for me. I chose to do the splash part, and I was so honoured to be involved.

On the Lasalle College front, the semester is winding down for the year. And as per usual I take my students to several site visits in the downtown area

Scena Scena in the Old Port
La GRAND DAME Ritz-Carlton Montreal

I also invited a few speakers to class too help share and expand the students’ horizons.

Awesome time was had by all and THANK YOU to my collaborators.

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As per every year in November I attended the Elegant Wedding Show , which is always spectacular.

I also facilitated a WPIC certification course (in Ottawa), the students there were just gems… this speaks allots for the Ottawa area populous.

I did a mini familiarization tour of Vaudreuil-Soulanges area. It was awesome to explore that area of Montreal.

Invited to facilitate an educational conference on Osteoporosis at a local health fair.

Completed another client event at the Intercontinental Hotel , which was great (as per usual).

We did a site visit in Chambly ; visited the Chambly Old Fort (so much history there who knew) this is for potential mini-festival we are bidding on.

That same day we also visited an Art Studio for a private VIP meeting happening in the new year.

As you can see we are busy busy bees finalizing and working on new upcoming client projects, go ahead ask us how excited we are.

Lastly, we graciously were invited grand opening soiree at brand new venue located in a swanky up and coming area of town – Le Studio Griffintown

On one last note; I feel the need to share with you my progress in my journey since my diagnosis a few months ago. The month of November I did my radiation treatments as scheduled.

The 20 treatments went well. (it was 5 days a week for 4 weeks straight) And YES I’m DONE with it!!! I’m often asked; “how are you feeling”. I am feeling fine (of course I have my moments however I’m good) Physically I am however a little soar. The skin surface where the radiation was done to looks like a super bad sunburn. I’m told however, it will go back to normal eventually in a few months. Look, the way I decided to look at things is it’s worth it – I want those little buggars gone and KILLED!!

Also, I’d like to ‘help’ demystify radiation and cancer. Everybody is different, and now a days cancer isn’t always a death sentence. You fight it!!!

Having said this, I don’t want people to be uncomfortable around me. And please please don’t feel sorry for me!! Should you want to ask me questions, please do so, ask away! I’ve been very open about my health situation since my diagnosis. My main purpose for this “openness” is TRULY to help demystify things … in the meanwhile, if I can help or encourage people, GREAT!!!

Once again, I want to THANK EVERYONE for your thoughts, messages, and prayers. I welcome it all … LOVE YOUSS!

Last but certainly NOT the LEAST a MASSIVE HEARTFELT shout out to the ENTIRE TEAM at the Glen Site Hospital’s Breast Cancer Clinique & Cedars Cancer Center what PROFESSIONALS with tons of HUMANITY in them WOWZER!!!

You guys are not only CLASS ACTS but also SUPER ROCK STARS!!!!

See you all next month!

In case you MISSED it … this HAPPENED

October 2016December 2022 in Blog

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Hope you had a great month with lots of tricks and treats? Allow me share with you some of my treats…

This month managed to I squeeze in some travel. I went to THE TRENDIEST and HOTTEST place to go right now: Reykjavik, Iceland . What an adventure it was. I will however emphasize, to go there you NEED to be the type of traveller that WANTS to embrace experiences. What I mean by this is you MUST MUST MUST be the outdoorsy / sporty / roughing it type, especially if you to pick a destination like this one. I say this simply because it’s not your typical vacation spot. I have adventurer type of clients and well for them it is a PERFECT destination. BEST way I can describe it is one truly feels like you landed on MARS, what a FANTASTICAL place. Another way I can describe Iceland to you is that fundamentally you are on an island that is purely 1000% volcanic. Other descriptive words that come to mind is SPECTACULAR – REMOTE – NATURAL – PURENESS – AUTHENTIC – LOVE of the OUTDOORS…. (you’re getting my drift correct?)

If interested and wanting to get more details on my trip and what to do there please read/follow the upcoming travel articles my online weekly Travel Trend Blog for the Suburban News.
Here is the link: http://www.thesuburban.com/blogs/travel_trends/

In other traveling news this month, I went for a quick trip to Las Vegas, Nevada . This is an annual congress for Incentive travel experts (like me). I religiously try to attend this show basically to be educated and to keep up to speed on the newest incentive travel trends in our industry … (my clientele depends on me for this). As they say, education is key and the power of knowledge is priceless.

Speaking of the business; although I’ve attained my sales goal this year (in August) yes it was a “KICK ASS” year for Montreal Event Planner, contracts and inquires are continuously coming in for the upcoming 2017 and 2018th; Annual Sales Meetings – AGMs – Congresses – Workshops – Product Launches … just to name a few. Needless to say it’s shaping up to be pretty awesome.

Locally, I attended this ACCRO FUTURISTIC industry conference all based on the future of technology in our meetings and events. It was held at TOHU, and it was pretty cool, can’t wait to implement/introduce this to my clients’ upcoming meetings.

Speaking of future and education, this month I kicked off the season with the annual WPIC Wedding Certification courses here in Montreal. As per usual I proudly educated and certified a new batch future wedding planners! LOVE doing this and enjoy passing my knowledge forward.

More Education: as per every session with the classes I give at College Lasalle I had a fantastic industry speaker Mr. Dan Vigderhous from Event-ure come and share his fantastical industry knowledge with my students. Later this month it was my turn, I had the honor to be invited by Champlain College’s Tourism Program Department , not only to speak and share my knowledge but also to partake at a “Shark Tank” kind of forum from the tourism class. Their presentations were AWESOME. Side Note: the future of this industry is looking bright!!

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To concluded and on a personal note, many of you have been kind enough to ask about my Breast Cancer prognosis and status. I was advised that I’ll be starting my radiation treatments in November. It will be 20 treatments – 5 days per week for 4 weeks… OUFF… and yes I’ll keep you all ‘abreast’ of this journey… (pun was totally indented). Thank you again for all the continued support!

November here I come!!!

Happy Birthday… to me!

September 2016December 2022 in Blog

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September is always a great month. After all, it’s my Birthday month!

It goes without say that work needs to get done, so after much preparations this month I got to finally execute a few of my corporate and association clients’ programs (a.k.a. events).
One was in the beautiful city of Ottawa; it was a oone-day educational forum for a Technology client (basically an in-and-out thingy) however, being a business woman, and always looking out for the next contract I took advantage of the trip and did some sales calls and hotels/venues site visits the day after. Ottawa region is really building up for me.

I came back to Montreal stayed overnight and left to execute a 3 day Annual Conference (AGM) program in Toronto for an Association client. This went pretty smoothly thanks to the help of the great team at the Chelsea Hotel .

I’m also working on a few upcoming weddings for 2017, and was awarded a fairly large Corporate (1 weeklong conference) contract that I will start work on soon even though it’s due summer 2017. It’s exciting because there’s a lot of organic business happening for me in Ontario. My hard work is truly paying off. (thanks universe)

Found some time with Annie (my trusted freelance partner in crime) to spend a day for a road trip visiting the South Shore and some of its surroundings. We were on the hunt for spaces and activities for upcoming client programs. Ended up in La Roue du Roi found in Hemingford, Quebec; where we did a trap-shooting team-building like activity. This is AWESOME activity for 2 of my clients. They will LOVE it and it was very cool for us to experience it!!

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Since its September everything kind of “restarts” after the summer holiday break:
which means participating in a few industry events like; networking / galas / educational forums etc… all held during this time in different venues. And of course the usual back to school process. Basically it’s a back to everything month.

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Can you believe it?! I actually was able to enjoy some time for myself. I mean solid weekend to myself!! Of course, I took advantage and got back to the basics; I really enjoying the harvest season. What I mean by this is the ‘harvest cooking and jarring’. You have no idea how much I LOVE this and I’ve missed it.

Finally, a quick update on my Breast Cancer diagnosis: Doctors got the results back from my operation and it was decided I’m going to get radiation treatment … it is estimated that the duration will be the entire month of November. And then we’ll go from there.

Once again I wanted to send out a heartfelt humble THANK YOU to you everyone who reached out since I mentioned it last month. I’m keeping a super positive attitude and planning to be a WARRIOR.. (quote from my good friend Ilana)

Ok it’s time to celebrate me … MY BIRTHDAY !!!
“ Garçon Garçon apporter une bouteille de votre meilleur champagne s’il vous plait!!! “

See you in October!

Rest – Relaxation & Reflective – Rousing

August 2016December 2022 in Blog

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Every so often you need to take a little time for you. I have especially learned that this month… which is why I jet-setted to Florida for two whole glorious weeks. It was part-vacation and I also celebrated our 30^th wedding anniversary. It was the first time in 10 years that I ACTUALLY unplugged – I wasn’t preparing for an event nor tying up any loose ends, ahhhhh what luxury this was for me.

So, once there we made it our mission to go to different beaches everyday and re-discovered Fort Lauderdale, Florida and its surrounding area. I will go into it more on the weekly online travel blog I write for the Suburban Newspaper. With the help of an industry friend, that lives there. We picked a day and spent it on various excursion; starting with the Everglades, which was awesome. Then went on to the Hop-on Hop-off Miami Tour Bus and of course took a VIP Miami Yacht Boat Tour of all the surrounding islands were the uber rich celebs and who’s who in the “billionaire world” live. It goes without say that all of these houses are super ginormous properties;

Star Island &      Venetian Causeway
South Beach     &      Hibiscus Island
Palm Island      &      Sunset Island
Biscayne Bay   &      Belle Island

On another day we decided to re explore the Florida Keys; yes we went allll the way down to the furthest point of the continent Key West. Confession; I’ve taken Florida for granted over the years .. I must say it was GREAT to rediscover it. JUST WOW ….

Got back to YUL and within 24hours I left for Toronto on sales calls and an annual Educational conference regarding the Incentive Market. Speaking of Incentives, I am happy to share I closed a few more (lucrative) Incentive Client Programs. Yuppie 2017 – 2018 is looking mighty fine thank you universe!!!

Then this Happened…

Once, I got back to Montreal I needed to prepare to be operated on after a breast cancer diagnosis (which I’ve kept on the down-low…).  All went well. Step #1 is done on to the next step!! (will keep you posted on the progression)
No worries – it was caught early and “my medical team” at the Glen’s Breast Cancer Centre  have been not only on top of things they are SUPER TOP NOTCH. They’re just amazing and I feel I’m in good hands!!
HEARTFELT THANK YOU – GRAZIE to my Family – Friends – Colleagues
Love that you are all constantly keep tabs on my progress and for being there for me …
LOVE YOU ALL to INFINITY !!

Goes without saying that the rest of the month was spent recovering and preparing for my upcoming client programs (corporate/social) and welcoming a new batch of future event planner students at Lasalle College , which starts back up in September.

I’ve been in Business Development mode; which basically means sales calls and working on a fairly large new event challenges from new clients.

TRUE, it’s been a trying yet relaxing month, however, my focus is on what lies ahead.
Can’t wait to see you all in September!

Internationally speaking and School’s out…

July 2016December 2022 in Blog

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I cannot believe that August is right around the corner – this summer is flying by too quickly!

July was certainly no exception. I had a terrific month! I didn’t execute client programs/events, however I have been working on a lot of upcoming great ones. Been meeting with International suppliers for my up coming clients’ International Incentive Programs. Ohhhh, I’m excited to say that I have a lot of good projects that are developing in the next few months right into next year. OUFFFA everything is moving fast and the business is expanding internationally.. Ask me how nervous and excited!?!?

This month it’s a wrap in regards to the summer session at Lasalle College and iLasalle Campus – as the expression goes; “school’s out for summer” … until we start back again in September lol.

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This is not to say I went without a few new discoveries and some “local” travel;

Spent a weekend get away in Saint-Saveur, via a VIP invite from the gracious staff of Le Manoir St. Saveur and yes, it’s true I am already quite familiar with the property. This said, it did not stop them to graciously invite me to spend the weekend, due to some recent corporate groups I’ve brought there. I guess it’s their way of saying thank you and to also show their finished renovations; I really was able to enjoy it from the guest’s perspective and it truly has that resort feel. STRONGLY suggest you go (re)visit!!

Was invited to the grand opening of the Annual Fireworks competition which our beloved city holds ever year. On any said nights different countries compete with their spectacular fireworks displays. Ouff great shows. I will add, the viewing from the yacht on the Saint Lawrence River was a SUBLIME experience.

I also went to Ottawa for an educational boot-camp weekend. This is to continue/refresh my industry knowledge and for me it is a step closer to getting my CMP certification (finally). It was an exhilarating challenging experience. To boot I met awesome colleagues, all in the name of adding a few more letter to my signature.

Wrapped up the month with a quickie FAM to Regina, Saskatchewan . It was awesome and this time I got to see more of this glorious province. What is there to see you ask? Well tons, I finally saw the prairies and all its wonderful glory!! Let me explain: a few years ago when I went to Regina, it was for a three day annual Client Sales Conference and it was a quick in and out, no time for anything. This time I had the chance to learned/see/taste and discover it properly. Did you know everyone that wants to be an RCMP officer MUST go to through HQ to get trained? And the ONLY place is located at the headquarters in Regina, Saskatchewan!! This is pretty cool!!! You see there is a lot of history there.

Quick mention; there is a NEW HOTEL in town called William Grey located in Old Montreal. OMG super sexy trendy awesome addition to the multifaceted Antronoplolus Group.

To top it off, I’m going to Florida for a REAL two weeks vacation. I mean vacation – no work at all. I’m going to need it with the upcoming events happening in my personal life. Promise to explain everything next month … although everything is WONDERFUL on the business end.. there are some personal developments I need to deal with in order to gear up before my upcoming busy months and year. PROMISE I’ll explain it all. Until then … CIAO CIAO .. MIC DROP!! J

WOW mid way through the year already…

June 2016December 2022 in Blog

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Wow, halfway through 2016! I can’t believe it (already!). Believe it or not, it has been a stellar year for me business wise. I’ve already reach my year’s sales target and we are only half way there … it’s just STELLAR!! The credit mostly goes to the Incentive division of my business.

I do, however, need to acknowledge the other divisions; Corporate / Congresses / Fundraisers to name a few. It goes without say I’m surrounded by passionate industry ROCK STARS (the team). Too bad that sometimes I cannot divulge all the things that we do due to confidentiality agreements. However, I can share I closed another four Client Incentive Programs for 2017 and yes all are in exotic spots .. trust me folks this is awesome… (someone please pinch me …)

Summer classes are is still going on at Lasalle College . This session, I’m teaching a great group of future event planners. As per usual I have scheduled, for them, to experience/meet a few properties that need a shout out;

THANK YOU:

W Hotel Montreal
Hotel Nelligan Montreal
Sheraton Centre Montreal
The Ritz Carlton Montreal
Also organized for them a scavenger hunt, with Guide-a-Tour?
What an experience it was for them, all in the name of education .. which they loved.

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A few health glitches held me back from doing a lot of travel this month, but I still went to Trois Rivieres for the day for a mini meeting and it was super. Yes it’s a small town however the history it has is stupendously surprising ….

I’m currently working on three Weddings that are slated to take place in 2017, however we are sourcing a few venue possibilities. I’m also coordinating/organizing a number of BBQ/Garden parties that will be held this August – October.

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OMG I almost forgot to share the amazing festivities that went on this month surrounding the Montreal Grand Prix. As I do every year I coordinate a couple of my clients’ private F1 soirees and by the graciousness of my friend and colleague (at the Ritz) I attended the Ritz Carlton F1 party (which was nice).

Lastly, my team and I organized the annual Festa de la Republica. It’s an annual celebration for Montreal’s Italian community, this year it was held at the Le Mont Royal Chalet, and there were over 600 – 700 people in attendance. It went so smooth, ask me if I’m PROUD of the team, all I can say is WOW humbly GRAZIE to the team. They are the ones that made it happen.

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The summer hasn’t slowed down, and neither will I!

Can’t wait to tell you about my month of July. See you in a few weeks!

A May to remember

May 2016December 2022 in Blog

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OK, so we’re off to a bit of a rocky start to spring (boy, did the temperature bounce around a lot this month!), but things in my busy event-planning life have been fantastic! It was a great month. Can’t believe June is right around the corner.

I’ve been working on a few really big upcoming projects, and a lot of last-minute stuff. I went to Toronto for a few days at the beginning of May – one to reconnect with colleagues of the destination weddings industry and another to attend an educational conference. It was basically to see what’s up and coming in World Romance Travel. This is an invitation-only event, and learned TONS so stay tuned….

On the teaching front, last semester was pretty quiet. However, this summer session at College LaSalle has started full force!! I’m teaching two classes on-site and three online. Speaking of Lasalle, I have to mention that I went to the annual Signature Fashion Show that LaSalle Fashion Design students hold every year. As per usual it did not disappoint! It was FANTABULOUS! It absolutely amazes me how talented these students are… WOWZERS!! It’s like the MET Gala… it’s just amazing (KUDOS to the Fashion Marketing/Design teachers).

With my dream team, we executed a couple of corporate events for the same client two days in a row:

Held at the W Hotel Montreal. It was a morning educational breakfast meeting for my client’s clients… LOVE LOVE the staff at the W. They just ROCKED it (as usual)!!
The other was at the Commerce Restaurant (sexy spot) – it was 5@7-style client appreciation evening with tons of tapas and drinks. Everything was spot on and SUBLIMLY DELISH (if haven’t tried this spot yet, it’s another must-try)!

You’re probably saying, “What, no travel this month Daniela?!”

Well, let me tell you: YES there was; a surprise getaway to SPAIN happened and MIO DIOS MIO DIOS que MERAVIGLIA!!! Started rough – the original flight left YUL and arrived in Brussels so we could take the connection to Sevilla, Spain, where our journey was to begin. Well, the plane was delayed for five hours due to engine issues, which meant our connection in Brussels was a complete write-off. Once we finally got to the plane and landed in Brussels we were given a “new” connection route to Madrid and then Madrid to Sevilla. Believe me: Between the jetlag exhaustion and tight connections between this new routed flight, it’s a miracle we where able to get on those flights… OUFF talk about STRESSED OUT… Exactly 24 hours later we get to Sevilla EXHAUSTED but safe and sound. So due to all the delays I HAD to stay up a few more hours because I was scheduled to give an online class for ilasalle (YES YES I know it’s uber crazy – but it had to be done). Anyhow, needless to say, I went straight to bed and woke up refreshed (still a little jetlagged) to discover SEVILLA, Espagna . As they say in Sevilla, estas muy muy bonita. We only stayed there for approximately 24 hours. I will let the photos speak for themselves and add, what a quaint walkable city and super clean, not to mention the locals are accommodatingly friendly and the food is SUBLIME (hear that, all you foodies out there?!).
Shortly after our quick stint in Sevilla we packed up and took the Fenfe AVE speed train to Madrid. We thoroughly LOVED the train experience going at an average of 270km you didn’t even feel the speed that is how smooth of a train ride it was (like WOW)!!
Approximately 2½ hours later we arrived in the GORGEOUS COMMANDING city of MADRID !! Another WOW, we only stayed a few days and had the time of our lives. We soon discovered how easy it was to get around Madrid. We walked, took the metro and also did the hop on hop off tourist bus.
Side note: Their subway system is SO SO IMPRESSIVE OMG – it goes four levels below ground level and it’s quite simple to use. OMG WOW OMG… Once we got familiar with the city (via the hop on hop off bus), we walked all over in the nooks and crannies, whether it was the large piazzas or in the new and/or old sections. So many people and so much to choose from regardless of your needs or wants: souvenirs, museums, castles, churches, and, of course, the assortments of their infamous tapas. As hard as it was, the time came to say goodbye to Madrid and head to our third and last destination (yes by speed train again) to BARCELONA .
WE just fell in love with this master piece of a city … this city OOZES art from EVERYWHERE. What do I mean by this? Well from the moment you step out to explore Barcelona, your five senses start see it, feel it, hear it, taste it… regardless weather you are looking for it or not … it HITS you. We did the typical touristy stuff; saw all things GAUDI, the infamous historical neighbourhoods and gothic churches, walked along the port, in a short period we discovered all what Barcelona had to offer. We also managed to steal a few moments on the beach.
Definitely NEED to go back and explore deeper… (it’s back on my never ending bucket list)

Switching gears (reminding you that I do actually work for a living) My team and I have been working overtime and getting ready for several major outdoor special events for next month, including the annual F1 (Formula1) private parties I do for my VIP clientele that come to Montreal every year for this specifically. However, I will share those details next month….

It’s shaping up to be a great summer. See you in June!

Cold Sores, Sinus Infection and non stop Eczema Flare-Ups; this is my “Glamorous” life

April 2016December 2022 in Blog

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I started off the month with a BANG!!
The team and I did nine fairly large client events in four days (yes you are reading correctly nine in four).

OMG, although we are no strangers to back to back to back events, this I guess, was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. What do I mean? Well it resulted that my body was ‘telling’ me to JUST STOP … hence the title of my blog this month. I guess my adrenaline was masking the fact that I had been accumulating exhaustion, little by little to the point where all hell broke loose. Basically, my body desperately needed me to pay attention to what was going on and decided enough is enough!! Picture this, it’s Friday the morning after the mental week of successfully executed client events. Things where calm and serene, I was pretty content (but tired) with everything and then BOOM, my system started breaking down; BOOM the start of eight cold sores on my upper lip with an additional two on my bottom lip. BOOM, one wicked sinus infection started, BOOM, the eczema (that I’ve battling since September) just exploded into a heck of an outbreak all over my face, neck and hands (you can imagine how ‘sexy’ I looked). To boot, as the weekend progressed and my ailments where getting worse and worse. The following Monday, I was scheduled to leave for few days (with clients) on a site visit tour to the Dominican Republic. Yup, I showed up at Toronto’s Airport meeting the clients a total mess… (you can imagine how embarrassed I was) .. OUFFA .. (my timing sometimes is so spot on – NOT). Regardless of my ‘situation’, the site went extremely well so much so, that I closed the deal (YES!!). I need to thank the FANTABULOUS staff at the Barceló property in Punta Cana, with their help and top-notch hospitality. You can read all about their service and our experience on my weekly Travel Blog. I write a column for the Suburban’s online edition, yes I do that too, here is the link.

Later in the month, I attended another gala. This time it was the Ottawa Wedding Awards Show. Again, I was a judge for that and it was a fabulous affair! People were dressed to the nines, there were 400 guests, WOW, good on you Ottawa’s Wedding Industry not only are you celebrating and recognizing your own, but, you guys know how to P A R T Y.
Side Note: Montreal Wedding peeps when do we or will we do the same?!?! I digress… Due to the timing, of this awards show, it so happened to be the weekend that I was scheduled to be in Ottawa to certified future wedding planners with WPIC , because of this I decided to turn it into an extra long weekend with hubby. (even though I worked most of it) #lifeofaplanner

Speaking of the Montreal’s Wedding Industry; spontaneously an outing was created and to everyone’s shock most of us where able to attend the Monday evening bowling party. YES we BOWLED and it was AWESOME!!! Think about it … this was a feat in itself, the fact that everyone and I mean approx. 200 people (that is 90% of the industry) were able to convene under one roof on the same night is UNHEARD of and a FIRST. We were all collectively joking that all of our clients were being neglected that night because we were all to busy BOWLING.. No events going in Montreal that day!! You know it still baffles me. There were planners, suppliers, photographers, caterers, florists, DJs, Venues, etc… – basically la crème de la crème de la crème were gathered together and had a BLAST. We work hard, so when we party, we definitely party harder … Hope this is going to be yearly thing. (you reading this Adam & Lindsay?!?)

By now one would think reading this month’s blog that this is it … right?? … Well no, I have more to share …. I’m telling you it has NOT STOPPED.. so please bare with me a little longer.

Wanted to give a special mention to some discoveries I’ve made; invited to partake in the “VIP Experience” for the new Cirque du Soleil show LUZIA . OMG OMG what a show … there is a contortionist in the show that is so riveting O M G!

As I’ve mentioned in past blogs, I am working on a few contracts (yes I have time for that too), one of them ‘required’ me to travel to Charlevoix, Quebec (let’s call it a ‘working’ long weekend). Well, pleasantly, I rediscovered Charlevoix. WOW it has evolved. Just FABULOUS; stayed one sublime night at Le Gremain Hotel (la Ferme) seriously you MUST GO and the second night at the Fairmount Manoir Richelieu , so REGALLY FABULOUS. I tell you, these are two completely different types of properties with the same high standards …. OMG ask me how much I love my work!! I will let the pictures tell the story….

As you can see/read, it was quite a busy month and EXTREMELY successful. Surpassing a bunch of GOALS and BROKE tons of records, in my Company’s history for the past 10 years … needless to say I’m very please and humbled with it all. WOW!!

Alright, so now we focus on May, BTW did anyone see where Spring went?!?!

March – Springing into travel

March 2016December 2022 in Blog

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Hello spring (although it doesn’t quite feel like it just yet)! I visited some incredible places this month, as well as signed a few more contracts, so I have no complaints about March!

I started off the month with an awesome trip to Anchorage, Alaska and it was fantastic. It’s such a great place, especially for those who love the outdoors. It’s vast and there aren’t that many people but it’s amazing, with pristine landscapes. I met great people, and for some reason the whole time I was there, I kept thinking I was in Canada.

I also attended a fantastic meal at Scena in the Old Port where they have set up a cabane a sucre called Un Chef à l’érable . They have what is called a “traditional chic” menu that was very good and the atmosphere is sublime. Everyone should check it out. It ends in April.

Once again this year I traveled to Istanbul,Turkey which was such a fabulous city! It was my second time there but this time, I got to see a lot more of what this city has to offer this time around. It was really great.

This week I’ve been doing a lot of final prepwork for three upcoming events in April – and YES they’ll basically take place back to back to back, story of our lives #lifeofaplanner … And with the graciousness of the universe. I’ve signed a few more incentive clients this month too. (YEAH BABY)

Lastly, as I’ve mentioned last month, I had the honor of participating as one of the distinguished judges for infamously (CSE) The Canadian Special Events Show . Like WOW that was AWESOME (and what a humbling experience). Ok, in case you don’t understand the grandeur of this, let me put it in perspective for you; a company like mine (from Montreal to boot) to be seeked out and then to be asked to join Prestigious Panel of Judges ( amongst all peers across this country) is quite a flattering. I’m still reeling in it ….

See you soon!

Montréal, Québec

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Happy holidays to all, and to all a good night!

A month of “radio + activity” pun totally intended

In case you MISSED it … this HAPPENED

Happy Birthday… to me!

Rest – Relaxation & Reflective – Rousing

Internationally speaking and School’s out…

WOW mid way through the year already…

A May to remember

Cold Sores, Sinus Infection and non stop Eczema Flare-Ups; this is my “Glamorous” life

March – Springing into travel