Pink Lemonade and Tutus

 This past weekend we had a bit of fun setting up a sweets table for a special little girl's birthday party.  It was a labour of love.  Most of what we used where vintage items we had available, including the old sheets we startched up to use as table clothes and back drops.

We also had a alot fun playing up Cake-ology's cupcakes by putting them in mini mason jars and adding tiny flags.  It was an all around success! When the little one says it was her best day ever! You know you did well!

Our favourite part of the display was the balance of the frugal budget and pink sweetness of a young girl's birthday.  Not all decor has to be over the top and cost a fortune.  Sometimes using sentimental items in display make it more of a live snap shot in life vs. something from a magazine ad.  Simple, pure, sweetness.  This made the little ballerina birthday girl one happy young lady.

Enjoy!

Kids Parties - Have some fun!

Written By: Jaime Valdes-Riench, owner of Travel & Events with Style

We don't as often have the chance to do up kids parties, but I wanted to show some fun pics that I hope will inspire you a bit and give a deferent flavour to our blog. While everyone is buzzing about the royal wedding, I thought why not bring us back to the parties we all participate in EVERYDAY. Our kids, relatives and friends birthday parties. And how do we make them fun, look great and stay on a reasonable budget. (honestly, not all of us are all that crafty). I know most of us do not have the budget to make huge over the top kids parties, but a little spurge here and there and make for a fun success.

Here are a few tips to make the look on a tighter budget:

1. Create a theme and colour palette and continue the look a consistently as possible. When you keep the colour consistent everywhere it give the appearance you put more time into the party than you may have actually done. This also means that those of us who are not as crafty or simply do not have a lot of time can give the illusion that a lot of time went into the party.
(Secret: helium balloons are always keep the theme, they fill a lot of space, have minimal take down. Best of all, if you give a few to every child who attends you do not have anything to take down or store later!)

2. Create games and crafts around that theme and palette. We recently had our son’s birthday at Art Land Inc. It was a great place for all the kids to do a themed craft and have a ton of fun for 3 hours. The staff asked us our child’s like and what the theme was so every child did fun soccer themed craft and brought them home.

3. Make one focal point and focus a lot of the decorations in that one area. This is the biggest secret I can share if you want to make an impacting party on budget. Everyone always gravitate around the food, so why not bring the candy buffet and theme and focus around the table? We simply adore Cake-ology’s cakes and all the creations they make for us when we give them an idea. They always are my centerpiece for our kids parties and I just build and build around it! Keep the same colour palette again (monochromatic) and fill the area with balloons. We always get the wow, and it is completely enjoyed because it is based around the best part of party.. the food!

Well, I hope you enjoy the pics below. This was simply a labour of love. These types of parties are definitely the most fun to plan, but most importantly the most fun to attend!

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Screw caps no longer for just cheep wines
Written By: Jaime Valdes-Riench, owner of Travel & Events with Style
Image credit to: With Style Designs, Locations: Gray Monk and Quail's Gate Estate Winery

We recently had the pleasure of enjoying various estate wineries in the Okanagan region. We made our way threw the area, and the two that stand out in my mind the most where Gray Monk (http://www.graymonk.com) and Quails Gate (http://www.quailsgate.com). Both are grand estates and both offer amazing wines. You can definitely taste the elegance and fine artwork. Both have lovely restaurants that I encourage people to take the time to enjoy, especially if you have taken the time to take their tours and participated in their wine tastings.

During the tour at both estates, I was very interested to hear the both estates will be moving into Stelvin® screw top bottle closers for most of their wines after this harvest season. Now their wines are far from being considered “cheep wines”. Both estates have won many medals. Gray Monk’s 2008 Gewurztraminer won Double Gold at All Canadian Wine Championships, their 2008 Latitude 50 White also won Gold, and their 2007 Odyssey White Brut won Silver. So there is something to be said when estates such as these make such a change.

From my understanding, most wineries are concerned about the damage that has occurred to the world’s cork trees and this is one of the many reasons to make this change over. As the world becomes more and more aware of our impact we have on it, this becomes just another example of making a positive change. Most wineries will continue to use the “cork” corks for the longer aged wine as they allow for the appropriate oxidation which is imperative for these wines to ferment and “age” to their full potential.

Some other wineries have experimented with synthetic corks, but what they have found is that these corks may have an inability to oxidize the wine correctly, thus have significantly shortened the wine’s life. There is also a concern of certain toxins slowly seeping into the wines since there is a significant amount of time they are in the bottles. The overall outcome has been less than desirable.

The most recent change over will be to use the Stelvin® screw caps on a regular basis (http://www.stelvin.com ). It has taken some time for the research to take place to really analyze the effects on the wines, but considering the alternatives it appears a lot of estates are ready for this change.

So please, when you are considering your next wine choice, please do not be under the assumption that the wines on the shelves are not up par just because of their choice of closure. These artisans have truly taken years and generations to accomplish their medium of art. So when in doubt, ask the store clerk or estate shop representative for guidance. It is would be such a same to miss out on something that could be truly enjoyed.

Salud!

Special thanks to all the lovely service providers at Gray Monk Estate Winery & Quail's Gate Estate Winery!