I live in Whitby, so the Oshawa Centre has always been my hometown mall. I have been so excited for the expansion and redevelopment that’s been happening over the last few months! Expected to be completed in Fall 2016, there will be 60 new stores, a new 1000-seat food court and two new restaurants.
Last weekend I was able to get a sneak peak at Santa’s Snowy Valley, the new holiday experience at all the mall.
First up, valet parking! Valet parking is my jam. I love leaving my warm car to head straight into the mall, leaving my heavy jacket behind so I can shop. Why fight for a parking space when someone can park your car for you? This new service runs until December 24th, 2015 and I am going to enjoy every minute of it. You can drop your car off at the Town Shoes entrance, and you can’t miss the valet parking booth with the attendants in their branded outfits ready to make your day a whole lot easier. Did I mention valet parking was free as well? If you opt-in to the text messaging service then all you need to do is text “CAR”, and the valet will have your car ready when you are.
Also new to the Oshawa Centre is the OC Holiday Nook. If you read the blog on the regular (which obviously you do because you are known for making awesome decisions, right?) then you know I am a lover of all things exclusive. The OC Holiday Nook is reminiscent of a VIP lounge in the middle of the holiday madness. Customers can enjoy a comfy place to relax in between shopping, and it includes complimentary hot chocolate on select weekends and a custom marshmallow bar for those who choose to enter to win the weekly contests they have running. An iPad station is set up where you can enter to win one of the fabulous holiday contests running this season, and there will also be gift-wrapping available with proceeds benefitting the United Way. It’s a great spot to pick up an OC gift card as well if you don’t win my gift card giveaway below!
Santa’s Snowy Valley is an amazing new experience at the mall where your little one’s can meet one of the most impressive Santa’s I’ve seen. This Santa was the real deal – he was absolutely lovely to my son, and he really looked the part. Snowy Valley is a gorgeous display, and it was really pretty to walk through the setup. Every child who visit’s Santa (while quantities last) will receive a treat from Purdy’s and a free plush mini polar bear.
We stopped by on the day Santa arrived so there were some extra fun activities like cookie decorating!
The winter wonderland that has been created in centre court at the Oshawa Centre made our Santa visit a little more magical. It really was an impressive display.
The Toronto Zoo is also on-site beside the Santa set on November 22, November 27th, December 12th and December 19th with activities including Zoo Keeper talks, Adopt-An-Animal special polar bear package opportunities, and other educational interactive activities.
In partnership with Autism Durham, the Oshawa Centre will host 2 silent Santa mornings where children with Autism and special needs can meet Santa in a friendly atmosphere on November 29th and December 6th. You must RSVP directly to Autism Durham to participate, and families who have an appointment will receive a free 6 x 8 photo, and can purchase additional photo packages. You can reach Autism Durham at 905-432-5092.
Now that I have filled you in on all of the new holiday changes made to the Oshawa Centre, how about a gift card to spend for your own visit to the mall?
I am giving away a $100 gift card for the Oshawa Centre to one lucky reader. Entering is easy – just use the Rafflecopter widget below! The contest runs until Monday, November 30th, 2015 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected via the Rafflecopter App, and this contest is open to Canadian residents only.
Holiday shopping can be exhausting! It’s only November and already it seems like there are no parking spaces left at the mall, and it’s difficult to maneuver past shoppers carrying huge purchases.
Not only am I stressed out about the fact that I’ve hardly started my holiday shopping, but the idea of fighting the crowds at the mall can be daunting.
Last week I was lucky enough to attend the launch of the RBC Avion Holiday Boutique at Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and my visit was enough to calm my shopping nerves!
The RBC Avion Holiday Boutique is an exclusive private space in the mall just for RBC Avion cardholders available until December 31st.
My night as an Avioner began with complimentary valet parking. Oh, how I love valet parking! It was a rainy night so it was lovely to walk a couple dry steps from my car to the mall.
The RBC Avion Holiday Boutique is easy to spot, and upon entrance I was greeted warmly and provided a tour of the space. My first stop was the coat and parcel check. I loved that I could drop my coat off so I could relax while I shopped and hung out in the lounge. The parcel check is a great idea as well with the size of my shopping list this year!
Next I headed over to the bar and cafe for some festive snacks and drinks. They had everything from specialty coffee’s to champagne! The snacks weren’t too shabby either.
For all in-mall purchases at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre location, there is a free gift wrapping service in the lounge. There was a rather large area for gift wrapping so I doubt a person would need to wait at all to have their purchases wrapped. What an awesome service – I would love to leave the mall with my gifts already wrapped!
There were plenty of comfy chairs to relax in, there were magazines, and even a Concierge to help ensure you had a great stay in the lounge. They had a flat screen TV to take a break with, and even children’s books on the shelves!
As I ventured around the space eating a rather tasty gingerbread man, I thought to myself, wow that guy really looks like Kardinal Offishall
Soon the music started, and suddenly Kardinal Offishall was performing a private concert just for this intimate crowd! He sang some holiday songs with Choir! Choir! Choir! and it was a pretty awesome surprise.
Next up at the launch we watched a gift wrapping competition between the holiday gift wrapping team from the lounge versus three Canadian Olympians. It was a really fun competition, and it topped off a great night.
I can’t tell you how much I loved the RBC Avion Holiday Boutique. It was such a great experience, and I cannot wait to go back. Being an Avioner has some serious perks! I love the idea of free valet parking to avoid fighting for a parking spot.
Coat check and parcel check are incredibly convenient! It’s so much easier to shop when you aren’t sweating in your jacket or lugging around heavy bags.
I can’t wait to head back to the lounge to relax for a bit and have a drink and a snack in between shopping! It all makes for a pretty refined shopping experience that I could totally get used to.
The RBC Avion Holiday Boutique will also be available in Burnaby, BC in Metropolis at Metrotown, and RBC Avion Experiences will be open in Halifax at the Halifax Shopping Centre and in Ottawa at the St. Laurent Centre. The RBC Avion Experiences include a gift wrapping voucher for an in-mall gift wrap centre, snacks and beverages, and a festive holiday gift.
Disclosure: I am part of the RBC® Avion Holiday Boutique Influencer Campaign and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
I think one of the things that wow people the most at holiday parties is a great cheese board paired with some great wine.
It’s fun to be super creative when putting a cheese board together, and to me it’s fun to surprise people with what they find on it. The key is to make sure you pair the cheeses properly with the wines you are serving, and to make it as full and colourful as possible!
This week I tried out two new wines from Enigma – made in California and newly launched at the LCBO.
Both Enigma’s Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are sold at the very affordable price of $13.95.
The Cabernet Sauvignon (or Cab Sav for me because I can pronounce Sauvignon!) had hints of black cherry and vanilla. I thought it almost had a coffee taste to it as well. It was very bold, which paired great with some of the aged cheeses I bought.
I am not a big red wine drinker, but my husband loved it with the cheeses on the board. I felt like I would love to drink it with a steak or a spicy Thai dinner.
The Chardonnay had a fruity flavour, and I could pick out pears, apple and lemon in each sip. It wasn’t as fruity and sweet as a Riesling, and was much dryer in comparison. It was sweet, but not so sweet that you would go into sugar shock. I really liked it!
A Chardonnay is best paired with brie which I included on my board, along with other soft, surface ripened cheeses. I chose goat cheese to pair with this wine as well, and it went perfectly.
As for the Cabernet Sauvignon, semi firm, aged hard cheeses pair best so I chose a smoked Gouda, and an aged cheddar.
I think cheese boards look best when they are overflowing. To compliment the cheeses I added grapes and sliced pairs to add some sweetness. I bought a few different kinds of firm crackers (don’t use anything flimsy like saltines), and I made my own grilled crostini’s as well.
I brushed each slice of Italian bread with olive oil, then grilled it for a few minutes and rubbed it with garlic. So yummy!
To go with the crostini’s I made a tomato and balsamic mix. I cut up cherry tomatoes, and fried them in a pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper for a few minutes. I topped it off with balsamic vinegar and voila!
I added ricotta cheese to my cheese board, and it tasted amazing when I spread it on a crostini, then added a pesto or roasted red pepper spread, and topped it all with the tomato mix. So good! I purchased the pesto and roasted red pepper spread, but I have made both before and they are actually not that hard to make. It all depends on how much time you have.
The arugula was also an option to add to the ricotta, plus it looked pretty with my cheese board. It sounds silly, but making your board colourful is an important part of making it look tasty.
I added calabrese, soppressata, and a salami to the board for the carnivores. I filled in the spaces with rosemary because it smells amazing, and because it’s a pretty herb.
That’s it! Paired with some great wine and fresh flowers, it’s the perfect cheese board for a holiday party!
For more information on Enigma wines, please visit their website here.
This product was provided to me for review, but all opinions are fabulously my own.
On October 31st we left on a Disney Cruise Line adventure on the Disney Fantasy – Disney’s newest and largest ship in it’s fleet. Because we left on Halloween, our cruise was part of the month long Halloween on the High Seas series of themed Disney Cruises. The whole cruise was centered around Halloween from the décor, to all kinds of Halloween-themed activities throughout the trip. I LOVE Halloween so this was pretty exciting for me! Oh, and also for my toddler!
What to Bring
There were a few key things we needed for our cruise. One of them was a pirate costume for the pirate party on the ship. We all brought costumes for the pirate party, but once on board if you forgot your costume it was fine because free Mickey Mouse pirate bandana’s were provided in your room the night before the party. The on-board shops also had pirate costumes for kids and t-shirts for children and adults. EVERYONE dresses up like a pirate – there was no getting around this, so be prepared!
Of course a Halloween costume was required as well. There were actually two nights our son dressed up – on Halloween, and the next night when the actual Halloween celebrations took place. Because we all boarded on Halloween the actual party took place the next day since people may have been tired on the first night.
Getting on Board
From the initial planning stages, everything was beyond easy. Once our trip was booked a bound book full of our trip details arrived before we embarked, and everything we needed to know was in the book. Barcodes were printed inside the book which were scanned as we boarded the ship, waivers could have been printed and signed from the website, but they were also made available in the booklet which was great. Our excursions for the trip were also detailed in the book as well.
I called the Disney Cruise Line customer service line ten or more times just to ask details about our trip. Their customer service reps were amazing and had all seemed to have cruised themselves with Disney before so they had great advice.
Prior to your trip you can arrange a free call from a Disney character for your child to get them excited for their trip.
We decided to leave for our trip one day early so we were well-rested and ready to board the ship without being too fatigued. Disney Cruise Line prefers that if you use their bus transfers to the boat that you stay either at Disney World in Orlando, or at the Hyatt Orlando Airport hotel. We stayed in the Hyatt, and it was beyond convenient. It was actually located in the airport so we collected our bags, and went straight into our hotel! The airport shops just below our hotel were Disney themed, and there was a Starbucks for bonus points. We received a letter that evening detailing that we could hop on any Disney transfer we wished until 1pm the next day, and when we were ready we went down two levels to where the buses disembarked.
The buses were pretty amazing – they played a video which gave us all kinds of details about the ship, and then they played cartoons for the kids. The trip was about 45 minutes to the ship. Check in was easy because Disney has it’s own terminal at Port Canaveral, and we were on the ship in no time.
Staterooms
We lucked out. Our stateroom was at the top of the ship, and the last room at the back of the ship. We had an incredibly huge balcony! It was amazing to have a room at the very back of the ship, and at the top as well. We had an incredible view, and our oversized balcony was the coolest thing ever.
It was also a great spot to watch the fireworks after the pirate party. Yes, there were fireworks. Amazing, right?
Our room included a large bed, then a couch with a pull-out bed, and a bunk bed that came out of the wall with a starry ceiling. Our son slept in the wall bunk so we had lot’s of space to move around in the room. He loved his bunk! A curtain kept his room a bit separate from ours, and we could move the TV on the wall to our side of the room and were able to stay up late watching movies.
The bathroom set up was really cool! One room housed the toilet and sink, and the other room housed the bathtub/shower and another sink. It was great for getting ready in the morning.
There was also lot’s of hanging space and drawers for clothing – with all of the clothes I brought we still had lots of hangers and space leftover. The bed was also raised high enough to store our suitcases out of the way.
The Food
Once on board you received a ticket which provided details on where your would be dining each night. There was rotational dining schedule so you would have the opportunity to eat at all of the restaurants on the ship. We chose the later dinner time of 8:15pm, but even if you had the earlier seating all of the movies and activities on the ship were timed so you could enjoy them either before or after dinner – you would never miss out on anything.
Dinner’s were all four courses, and if you wanted more than one soup, salad, appetizer, entrée or dessert then you could indulge! I had two lobsters on lobster night – it was a little ridiculous on my part, but I loved it. Even the breads at the table were different each night. Children had their own three-course dinner options, and when they requested ketchup it was made into the shape of Mickey Mouse by the server. Our favourite restaurant was the Animator’s Palate. The characters on the screen at each table were interactive and spoke to us by name, and commented on our appearance! It was a great show to watch during dinner, and kept the kids busy.
On our second night for dinner at the Animators Palate we were asked to draw on our placemat, and after handing them in the drawings came to life in a movie on the screens. It was amazing!
Breakfast and lunch on the boat could be found at one of the cafe’s on board near the pools, and at some of the dinner restaurants as well (hours were always printed on our daily newsletter).
Room service was perfect for excursion days. We would order breakfast straight to our room for early mornings. We had a late diner seating, so we often ordered cheese trays and sandwiches in the late afternoon to our room as well.
The Oceaneer’s Club
The Oceaneer’s Club was the spot children could take a break from their parents, and I had never seen a place like it! As we checked into the cruise our son was outfitted with a bracelet that also served as a GPS tracker for the Oceaneer’s Club. The first day on the ship we went to the parents open house to check this place out, and we were beyond impressed. First of all, it was massive! No wonder the kids needed a GPS. A separate space was available for children under 3, but this area was split into two – one area for children aged 3-12, and the second for ages 13-17. Both areas were connected and our son could travel to both, but the areas were tailored to each age group.
As you walked in hand washing was mandatory. You placed your hands into two slots, and both soap and water would wash your hands for you. It was super cool!
Once inside kids could watch Disney movies, play with the light up floor, hang out in Andy’s Room from Toy Story, hand out in the Monsters University room, play games in the submarine, take a cooking class, do a craft, or take part in one of the million other activities each day. There were science experiments, Halloween activities, dance parties – what they offered was truly endless.
Our shy son spent one morning taking a cooking class, having his face painted like a pirate, doing Halloween crafts, and watching movies. While on board you are provided phones to take with you so if you need to be contacted the staff can call or message you.
We did an on-shore excursion where we could not be contacted, and although we were nervous, it was our son’s most fun day on the ship. The childcare staff were amazing and knew him by name, and knowing we would be off the ship meant he got some extra TLC. They made sure he ate lunch, and had a great time.
One parent was allowed to pick up their child at a time, and staff had us use a secret word to sign him out. Staff also stood by the multiple children’s washrooms (everything was a child’s height) to monitor who was going in and out.
Excursions
The thing that really wowed me about the ship was how we were greeted when we came back ON the ship. Each time we returned to the ship there would be stations outside the entrance with water (fresh cold water with basil and melon, lemon, ect.), we would receive a sanitary wipe to clean our hands, take a drop of hand sanitizer, then a cool towel on our way back onto the ship. Loved this part! It was a nice way to come back to our temporary home!
We chose an excursion in Cozumel where we took a two-person speedboat to a private island, and then spent some time at a resort pool and had lunch. This was the day our son spent on the ship, and we had an amazing time! I would do this excursion again no problem!
In Jamaica we went to a resort where we spent the day at the water park, and on the beach with lunch included. This one was so much fun – the water park was very new, and super fun! We practically had the place to ourselves. The beach was amazing as well, and my husband went sailing there on a small catamaran.
We spent our time in Grand Caymen on 7 Mile Beach enjoying the ocean, and having lunch Oceanside. Each excusrision still gave us a bit of time to do some local shopping as well which was nice.
We also visited Disney’s private island Castaway Cay.
Castaway Cay
This island was absolutely amazing! Situated in the middle of the Bahamas, this private Disney island was beautiful. Only one Disney Cruise ship docks here at a time, and we could walk right off the boat to enjoy the island. It felt so safe! There was a private adult beach and dining area, and the rest of the island had everything from food, beach activities, snorkeling, boat adventures, bike rentals, and other fun activities to enjoy. The island was immaculate – there wasn’t a spec of garbage in site. There were more than enough beach chairs and umbrellas, servers walked around offering drinks, and food was available all over the island. We were told there would be a beach BBQ, but what it really was included much more. Fresh fruit stations, ice cream stations, and huge buffets filled with amazing food were on the island.
They even had the Oceaneer’s Club outside so your children could play in their own area while you were on the island!
On Board Activities
There was so much to do on this ship, there was no way we could take it all in.
We loved the movie theatre. We watched Big Hero 6, saw an extended preview of The Good Dinosaur, and movies like Inside Out, Avengers Age of Ultron, and Bridge of Spies (still in theatres) were playing every day. There was another theatre for live shows as well, and each day had a different show.
Morning’s included Disney Junior breakfasts where you could watch Disney Junior cartoons while eating breakfast, there was pumpkin carving, trivia games, live music in different locations, and character meet and greets. There always seemed to be an opportunity to run into one of the Disney characters throughout the ship.
The main deck had two separate pools where you could watch movies played on the big screen like Frozen or Finding Nemo, and there was also two separate spash areas for different age groups. There was also an adult-only pool at the front of the ship along with a few bars just for adults as well. The deck also had the Aquaduct – a super fun waterslide that went around the ship, and even pushed you along upwards! It was really fun.
There was a special pre-teen section as well where they could hang out with friends and eat food, and an arcade was on the ship as well.
We took our son to the Bippity Boppity Boutique to become a knight while we were on our cruise, and I would highly recommend this! He was outfitted with a knight shirt and cape, he had his hair done with Mickey Mouse glitter stuck in his hair, and he was given a sword and shield. It was really fun!
With Halloween being on the cruise we had a night where the kids dressed up and went trick or treating, and the Halloween tree changed each day with a little more décor.
Final Disembarkment
When it was finally time to leave the ship, things were very well organized. Our Customs form was in our room the day before we left the ship, and instructions on how our final day would play out were made available. We were to have all of our luggage out side of our room at 10:30pm the night before we left the ship so they could be brought to a safe spot in the terminal. We were provided new luggage tags so we could easily find our bags, and we still had the option of carrying anything we wanted off the ship the next day. We were assigned to eat breakfast the next morning in the restaurant we had dinner at that night to make things easy, and that was it – we were free to leave the ship anytime before 9:30am.
Would we do it again? In a heartbeat? It was hard to find fault with any part of this trip. We truly had an amazing time.
The stateroom cleaning staff knew our whole family by name on day one, and each day checked in to make sure we had everything we needed. Our dinner staff catered to us completely and made sure we had everything and anything we wanted. The service was incredible.
One night my heel broke, and I called down to the customer service desk, desperately hopeing someone on board could fix my shoe. The next day my heels were back in my room with the heel fixed. Anything we needed was available to us. Softdrink bars were open at all hours, there was 24 hour roomservice, and an icecream station available at all times. There was even a café on board that made Frappuccino’s and other specialty cofee drinks.
Shopping on board was pretty impressive with everything from souveniers to snacks. They even had jewelry, luggage, and sunglasses from brands like Michael Kors and Ray Ban.
Our trip was incredible, and we can’t wait to go on another Disney Cruise Line adventure!
Last week I wrote about what I wore on my cruise – you can see the post here!
Stay tuned next week for details on our trip to the Kennedy Space Center!
This past weekend, Amex Canada treated my son and I to a night out together where we saw Sesame Street Live: Make a New Friend at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.
Being an Amex cardholder Cardmember has many perks including Front Of The Line pre-sales which means you don’t have to wait for tickets to go on sale – you have access to tickets for some of your favourite events before anyone else. You can learn all about the upcoming events on www.AmexInvites.ca!
My son is a HUGE Elmo fan, so this night out was a pretty big deal for him. He prepared for the day by gathering all of his Sesame Street characters, wanting to bring them all to the show with him to have a good time.
Once I convinced my son to only choose one Elmo, we headed off to the show, ready to enjoy #ThisMoment.
Amex arranged for us to meet and greet characters before the show, and my son was so excited for this opportunity! We breezed right into a private area set up with colouring pages, crayons, balloons, and the Cookie Monster and Elmo were there to greet us!
We took some photos with both characters (my son got a little shy!) and then we were able to hang out with the other VIP kids for a bit before the characters came back to play with the children. This was great because we not only got to have our photos taken with the characters, but they joined us for play time which made each child’s day. For my shy son this was great because he had the chance to warm up to the characters he desperately wanted to see and he had some one-on-one time with Elmo when he got comfortable. We would have never had this chance without the help from Amex setting us up with the Meet and Greet!
We loaded up on snacks and souvenirs (I was convinced by my toddler to buy a t-shirt and a balloon) and we headed to our amazing seats at the front of the theatre.
My son was up dancing the whole show! He loved all of the songs in the show, and was glued to the story.
When the lights finally came on at the end of the show, my son had a huge grin on his face. Then he told me we should go for dinner because he was hungry from doing so much dancing. So cute!
Thanks to Amex we enjoyed #ThisMoment and made some pretty great memories. Amex will help over 400k fans rock out to their favourite band (or sing along with their favourite furry characters) in 2015. American Express offers its Cardmembers Front Of The Line Advance Access, Reserved Tickets, Delights Special Offers and Experiences.
To learn more about some of the hottest upcoming events, and to be Front Of The Line, visit www.AmexInvites.ca.
