Newfound Love

You know when you imagine what you'd like to be when you grow up? Well folks, I think I'm almost there. I am currently, patiently, awaiting my connecting flight to St. John's Newfoundland to attend the annual Canadian Home Builders Association conference and Awards Gala that will acknowledge and celebrate great design in Canada. And I'm traveling with my partner in crime, my best friend and other half of my brain…my husband Dan Lavigne who is the other half of the brain child design centre that is a finalist for Best Design Centre/Showroom in CANADA!! Never in my wildest dreams did I think that our two and a half year project with OakWood Renovation Experts lead us to this point. Now, some of you may know that I am an award winning kitchen and bathroom designer and I am very proud of that, but this, this is just awesome. Even to be nominated is huge in my eyes. Dan and I had hoped that one day The Design Centre would be entered to win in our local Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association Chapter, and very cool if it was recognized provincially, but Nationally…We never thought.

So, what to do in St. John's for three days between conference events, cocktail hours and THE gala? Well, I have been looking into many activities close by, and top of my list is iceberg siting! I found out that there is an online iceberg tracker to tell you if there are icebergs close by, to exact location, size, etc. This is a bucket list item for me and I've never been to Newfoundland, so I'm pretty stoked! Oh, did I mention that we are without our two kids for three days?!?! Bonus! Even if we don't win this award, we get to have a three day date, eat great food, go somewhere new and dress up! Pictures of the outfit and OF COURSE the Stella & Dot accessories will be taken!!

It's now two days since I wrote the last two paragraphs of this post, and I can happily report that we had a fantastic time here in St. John’s, Newfoundland! The people are really friendly, the views are breathtaking and the food was fabulous…that’s all that really matters to me when I travel. I tried to fit seafood into every meal and I finished off my trip by eating a lobster and chipotle hollandaise Eggs Benedict! Sing it with me now..."Amaaaaaayziiiiing!!"

This was at the St. John's Fish Exchange where we had great service, a nice view and a fabulous breakfast send off. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Newfoundland in the future.

Oh! Enough about the food? You want to know about the results of the CHBA Awards gala? Right. Well, you'll have to read the next blog to find out what happened.

xo