Blogging

I know I’ve been going on and on about the reFRESH Retreat, but it was a big part of my plan for 2019.  One of my goals for the retreat was to make sure the bloggers who attended felt like they were pampered and spoiled.  And, thanks to the sponsors who came on board with me, I think we achieved that.

Well, in fact I know the gals felt spoiled.  They were digging into their bags filled with goodies and they kept saying it felt like opening a stocking on Christmas.  Goal acheived!!

The bags that I packed up for each gal came from At Home! They are big and so very handy, I use mine everyday, in fact!  And thankfully we had bags that size, they held ALL the goodies perfectly!!  And since they are a nice heavy canvas, they aren’t just another gift bag to add to the stash or trash.

Colleen of Curtains are Open, one of the bloggers who hung out with us over the weekend, is also a graphic designer!   { You can check out her Esty account HERE } She made us these adorable prints that matched the cuffs I made for each gal.  I hung mine up in the kitchen right away!!  Be full of colour, be colourful – enjoy the colour!!

Our sponsors wanted to make sure we looked good so My Home Apparel sent us shirts!!!  I wish you all couldv’e been along for the taking of these selfies….it involved me climbing through a sun roof, scrambling back out with the 10 second timer set….thankfully there is the edit option on phones….

Another fabulous sponsor was Head Mermaid over at Sandy Toes, Crystal, and she sent us Professional Beach Bum trucker hats!!  Let me tell you, I was so happy the sun came out on Sunday afternoon and we were able to hit the road, find a quiet beach and have some fun capturing just how cute we all are in our hats!!

When you’ve got super creative friends, you want to do all you can to share their awesome-ness.  My Cape Breton friend, Shelley, started making earrings out of leather or walnut and now her works of art are my go-to earrings.  I was so happy she came on board to provide a pair of earrings for each of the gals.  Check out her Facebook page HERE and her newly opened Instagram account HERE.  And this picture that Colleen took of her earrings against some of Paula‘s beach treasure is pure perfection!

And what’s a pair of earrings without a pretty new necklace to go with it??  Beck and Boosh provided each gal with a pendant necklace.  It was fun to see each one and read about what each stone represented.  HERE is the Beck & Boosh website – they have so many great styles of accessories to pick from, I know you’ll have a hard time deciding!

Sylvie from Eclair Lips made sure our lips were well hydrated for the weekend.  And Strawberry Rhubarb flavour? Could you get a better flavour for a May long weekend in Cape Breton?  I think not!  After Blogjam last year, when I opened my first tube of Hippo Hugs, Eclair Lips has become my go-to lip balm.  And I’m a huge lover of lip-balms so I may have a collection of fun flavours from Eclair Lips.  You need to go check them out HERE and HERE.

One of my local friends, who I do life with, is a kick-butt Tupperware gal.  Like, big-time….I call her the Queen of Tupperware! Angela gave us all giant waterbottles to make sure we didn’t drink all the coffee and did actually hydrate with water every now and then. Plus – a bright pink orange peeler so it’s easy to find in the utensils drawer!! If you need anything Tupperware related, she’s your girl – check out her website HERE.

And what’s a swag bag without a tasty treat??  LURE Caramel Co. sent us packages of their salted caramels and I debated keeping them ALL for myself….I love them that much.  But sharing is caring so I did end up sharing them with the blogger friends who joined me at the retreat.  And I’m pretty sure they loved them as much as I did!  I’ve probably created more addicts now.  { Sidenote: when I stop for gas at the Earltown General Store, I always treat myself to 2 caramels! }

When you are on a writers retreat, you need a good notebook.  I was so excited when Angela of Angela’s Home Decor offered us the prettiest, most inspiring notebooks!  There were lots of pretty designs and each one was filled with pretty pictures and quotes interspersed.  There’s nothing like a new, fresh, crisp notebook!  I also added a pen that writes beautifully { I hate crappy pens, nothing drives me crazier than a pen that writes like crap!!! } a couple motivational pencils and washi tape to round out the writing theme.

Taylor from Country Roads Rustic Decor made us the perfect stemless glasses  – I love the saying on them – Bloggers gonna Blog – because we sure will!!!  The blogger gals were pretty stoked about these!!  I have no doubt they will be put to use 😉  Watch our fun little toast HERE!

A huge THANK YOU to all the sponsors who helped me with my goal to spoil the girls!!  I so enjoyed being able to gift so many products from amazing east coast businesses and help spread the world about just how awesome they are!

I promise I only have one more post to share about the retreat and it will be about all the tasty food we had over the course of the weekend.  But in case you are missing the little turquoise house by the sea, you can check out Colleen’s post HERE and Laura’s post HERE.  And mine is HERE.

Colourfully yours,

Lori

I’ve had something up my sleeve for a while now.  A retreat…..for bloggers!! Eeeeekkk!!! I’m so excited to see my quiet plans coming together to treat some fellow bloggers to a weekend away and spoil them.  Let me introduce you to reFRESH – a Blogger’s Writing Retreat!!!

My goal for this retreat is this – To create an atmosphere to step away from the everyday noise to allow full thoughts to gather, ideas to flow and deeper connections form in a safe, positive environment.

Like any good planner, I needed to come up with a name.  I had hummmed and hahhed and kinda wrote down a name that I was considering and really, it was the only one I came up with.  Then when I started to hash details out with Colleen, we both landed on the exact same name without the other knowing!  And then Christine did up my adorable logo – I love it so much!  That wheelbarrow!!  { Thanks Christine!!  Everyone go book her sessions for Mother’s Day HERE!!! }

And guys, I have connected with the perfect Airbnb hostess who happens to have the most colourful, most amazing home perched on the water!  If you have followed me for any length of time, you know my love for red and turquoise!! Guys, check this place out!! It couldn’t be more perfect, right?!?!?

I’m working on gathering up all sorts of goodies to spoil these bloggers.  And it’s working – I’ve had so many local businesses come on board with me for this part of the weekend!  I’m not going to share here just yet because I want it to be a surprise for the bloggers who will be joining me!

I’m menu planning, stocking piling and making notes.  I can’t wait to escape to this seaside home and do things like eat lobster fresh from the wharf, have a taco bar, chat, write, maybe hike and no doubt laugh.  I want the connections between these bloggers to deepen.  I want to leave with a renewed sense of the direction Farm Fresh is heading. I want to eat good food in the company of good people. Doesn’t that sound like what everybody needs every now and then?

It was hard work, chasing sponsors and lining up bloggers to attend!! Apparently the long weekend in May is a busy one!  But all the work will be worth it and I can’t wait to report back and show you all the pictures of the fun we had over the course of the weekend.

Colourfully yours,

Lori

Recently I was invited to attend an event at Kitchen Door Catering Co. event in their beautiful new Dartmouth location earlier the same day I was planning on visiting some friends in the city, anyway.  It was a no-brainer that I was going to make that happen!  

I’ve watched some of the live events that Kitchen Door does on Facebook, so I knew we’d be in for a good time.  Laughter and tasty food seem to be the trend, and I wasn’t disappointed!  From the moment we walked in, until the last of us actually left, we were spoiled and shown incredible hospitality!  Patty was a wonderful hostess, showing us all the wonderful things they have to offer.

I want to talk about the main area.  I was so impressed by the character and warmth they brought into what could be a cold expansive space.  Chippy cabinets, a gorgeous plate wall, inviting couches and chairs and spool tables with loads of personality – you know they are speaking my language!  I can just see this space bustling with customers grabbing lunch and some frozen goodies for supper, too.  Or a catered event happening in the evening, as people mingle and chat, while eating the most delicious finger foods.

They gave us a tour of the entire space.  From the bathrooms with the witty signs, to the huge walk-in freezers and fridges. From the magic coffee maker to the cooking classroom, all the way to the beautiful dining area over looking Dartmouth. You could tell that every detail was well planned, with thought for down the road, too, leaving options for expansion later.

After our tour, we all settled around the long dining tables.  We were served wine, infused water, delicious sandwiches and salads, with Chef Andrew telling us about each dish.  When a room full of bloggers sit down to a lunch that is as beautiful as it is tasty, you know full well that we’re going to be snapping pictures and arranging vignettes to share with our audience.  And this was no exception! I think we all took a bunch of pictures before we settled into the tasty meal in front of us.  There is always chatter and laughter when we all get together.  We may not see each other in person as often as we like, but we do connect online regularly.  So when we do get together, we really just pick up where we left off.

After we cleaned up the sandwiches and salad, they brought out dessert.  Now, lunch was delicious and beautiful, but dessert was a show stopper.  Meringue topped with fresh fruit, lemon cookies that were the freshest cookie I had ever eaten and mini egg brownies!  Yum! Not only was it a treat for the taste buds, it was so pleasing to the eye, too.  Almost too pretty to eat….almost 😉  I’ve admitted my sweet tooth before…

We lingered over the meal, catching up and chatting about life.  Some people had to go to get kids off the bus or head off to meetings.  But the rest of us didn’t want to leave.  Even though the Kitchen Door crew had a bag filled with goodies for us when we left, it wasn’t enough to actual make us leave!  Photo shoots happened, more laughter, selfies – the typical blogger-style lingering.

Colleen is always game for the ridiculous suggestions I make…

Even though I am not in the city and can’t tap into all that Kitchen Door has to offer regularly, I look forward to popping by when I am in the city.  And I encourage all my local peeps to do the same!  If you’re down there running errands for the day, be sure to grab lunch and pick something up for supper so you can still provide your family with a flavourful supper without the hassle of making it yourself.  Or, grab a bunch of girlfriends, register for a cooking class and make getaway out of it!  I can’t wait to go to a cooking class there – cooking isn’t something I’d say I’m great at, I can throw a meal together but there is tons of room for improvement!

I highly recommend you give Kitchen Door a follow/like over on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and join the fun.  Here’s an example of what you’ll be in store for:

Events like this are always so much fun.  You can check out a few other such events I attended HERE, HERE and HERE.  Patty and the Kitchen Door crew made us feel welcomed and spoiled us, so huge thank you to all of them for the 5-star treatment!  And the goodie bag? Well, I ate well the next day – chicken pot pie, wonton chips, tasty chocolate squares and carmel corn – which I did even share, if you can imagine!!

Colourfully yours,

Lori

PS I was provided this experience by Kitchen Door Catering Co. but my take on it was just that 😉