dîner en blanc: as beautiful & hoity toity as ever.

we were fortunate enough to be invited back to attend the third annual dîner en blanc in niagara on the lake this past monday evening (it's fun having friends with an "in" to cool shit). now that we have attended and are officially "members" of the event, we will automatically be invited back for first dibs each year. i know, so poo-poo.

600 of us (400 down from last year's 1000 attendees, which was noticeable and due to keeping the event 'intimate and elegant' left 1000 people shit-outta-luck on the wait-list) were organized into groups with a team leader, meet-up location and bus driver. we were instructed to meet at our designated stop, which was the shaw festival theatre on the main street, to meet our team captain, pack all our crap on the bus (the shittiest part about attending this event) and most importantly, pick up our pre-ordered bottles of vino to bring to dinner. bringing an entire dinner party with you to an event takes organization, energy and planning -- 2 baskets (which must be white or draped with white fabric or you better believe they will black list your ass from the party faster than you can pull your own head out of it) filled with my entire set of white"ish" place settings, cutlery, glassware, linens, florals, paper details, candles, as well as your food if you didn't order it, which i would say close to 80% of us did as it was a new option this year and unfortunately, not the best to be honest. ah well, you live and you learn -- we're making our own spread next year and we will be the envy of the entire party town.

note: the furrowed brow in the photo above is 100% directed at me for taking his picture while he's 

holding 45 pounds of glass & china, and not being able to put his hand up to block me from doing so. sucka.

once we boarded the buses it was off to our 'secret location' for dinner, which ended up being on the grounds of the mcfarland house along the niagara parkway. tables and chairs lined the paved space we were to set up and dine upon, and each group was responsible for organizing their area. this is where a little chaos ensued and by the time we sat down to eat we had been informed 40 attendees still had no where to sit. with some shuffling around and squeezing, the music began and dinner commenced with a ceremonial 'napkin wave'. the evening sun was warm and lovely above the vineyard across the road, and everyone and every thing glowed golden and beautiful. 

live entertainment, lots of laughter, cheers-ing, an impromptu singing of oh canada and a sweet little birthday celebration at the table next to us, and before we knew it, it was 10:15 and time to light the sparklers handed out to each guest. last year's sparkler performance was lacklustre compared to the timing and quality of this year, and in that moment, i decided it was my favourite 3 minutes of the entire evening -- there is nothing better than seeing the faces on people of all ages, when their sparkler bursts into light and suddenly they're a kid again.

i love the way this event pulls me out of my every day, and shows me a little glamour, a little flair and a lot of panache. the perfect excuse to celebrate making everything look and feel 'just right' is my kind of party, and i am already looking forward to celebrating again next year. 
the best part? hands down, the company.