A year after having a conversation over lunch with Nancy, Karla and Victoria, our dream of having a blogger soiree during the IDS West show became a reality! It all came together beautifully, with Ikea Canada jumping on board and paying for the whole thing - yes - food, drinks, the venue, swag bag goodies AND offered up a $1000 gift card too!
The ladies at Ikea Canada as absolutely fabulous, not only are they incredibly talented and passionate but so kind. I am thrilled to be able to work with them again in the future.
Another fabulous sponsor was Delta Faucets, they helped with our incidental costs and donating fabulous door prizes too; decor books and faucets.
My weekend started with the IDS West Opening Night party, where we were given a sneak peek of the whole show, yummy canapes and wine. I received a VIP invite to the Jenn-Air booth as well, their appliances are so impressive!
On Saturday evening, after all our hard work, our blogger soiree we called Blend 2011 came to life! We held it at The Loden Hotel, a fabulous boutique hotel downtown Vancouver. The food was amazing and the company equally superb!
The Designer Guild pillow from The Cross came home with me!
Carol, The Design Pages and Michelle, I Dream of Chairs
Not only did Ikea Canada sponsor the whole event but they brought famous guests with them as well. Suzanne Dimma, editor-in-chief for Canadian House and Home, Mark Challen, VP of Communications {also a fabulous designer} and Kelly Deck from Kelly Deck Designs, our local HGTV star and the next "Sarah Richardson" of design!
I was star struck, wanted to pick their brains but with all that was going on, I managed to just thank them for coming and get my photos taken!
I was star struck, wanted to pick their brains but with all that was going on, I managed to just thank them for coming and get my photos taken!
Mark Challen
The Prizes
That evening, the party continued up in our suite! Yes, we had a suite at the hotel, we grabbed platters and my favourite girls from Birch & Bird went and got more wine! We stayed up until 2:30 AM chatting non-stop.
In the morning, a few of us met for brunch at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, yum!
I so enjoyed meeting bloggers face to face and rubbing shoulders with Canadian designers!
We are looking forward to planning out next event, which we hope will be bigger and better!
If you are a design or lifestyle blogger from Canada's West, why don't you join us?
Send me an email and I can connect you to our network or you can follow our blog!
XO Barbara
Photos:
1, 2, 18 : Sheila Zeller
4, 6-11: Sari McNamee
3, 5, 15-17: Darryl Bueckert
If you are a design or lifestyle blogger from Canada's West, why don't you join us?
Send me an email and I can connect you to our network or you can follow our blog!
XO Barbara
Photos:
1, 2, 18 : Sheila Zeller
4, 6-11: Sari McNamee
3, 5, 15-17: Darryl Bueckert
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