When Juanita Koo saw on Twitter that I was going to Toronto, she decided to give me a sweet treat. She sent me 6 cupcakes that she decorated with the 2 logos of the KimVallee.com brand. It is fun to arrive after a day of meetings to your hotel room and see those waiting for you.

I tasted her chocolate sour cream and her strawberry vanilla cakes. Both were excellent. I was pleased that they taste as good as they look. The size are her cupcakes is just perfect; not too small, not too big. Plus, she does not put too much icing and her icing is not too sweet.

I like the tiny potholders and oven mitts she crafted for the Calphalon Culinary Center in Toronto.

If you are in the Toronto area, do not hesitate to contact Juanita of Sweet Things. She does cakes and cupcakes. I am glad that her business since to be doing fine.  For more inspirations, you can have a peek at her adorable baby cakes.

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As I was reading several articles on the NY Times about the gain of women in the workplace, it reminded me how far my career goals changed over the year. I believe that it is because I grow as a person. At university, I dreamt of being the chairman of a large corporation. I am still as ambitious today except that my priorities changed. I measure success differently.

After working for three awesome actuarial firms over a 7-year period, it was clear that I did not enjoy that type of work. It took me some time to have the guts to go after my true passion. But I am so happy that I did. I am proud of being my own boss, to call the shots and to make daily decisions that impact the success of my brand.

Running a small business is a lot of work. My parents being two successful business owners may explain why I prefer working hard to build my business instead of working for someone else. If I wanted to, I could get a job at a large corporation with a big pay check. But each time I get an offer, a glance at the job description reminds me that their managerial structure is not for me. A director passes most of their time planning and administrating things. I like to create.

It is a Question of Lifestyle

I am often asked why I run my blog instead of writing for a magazine. First, there is freedom. I choose what to put on own editorial. Then, there is the timing of the story. On a blog, you write about what it is happening right now. Plus, I enjoy the direct contact with the readers, the free exchange of information.

But really, the most important factor is that being the editor on my own women magazine enables me to get the lifestyle I want. I can travel where and whenever I want to and still be working as long as I get an Internet connection. I am building my own media. Any serious blogger is. Some blogs have become major media platforms, food bloggers published cookbooks while others opened their retail shops. Blogging provides us opportunities to make a living following our passions.

We are at a time where business models are challenged. New successful models will emerge as we continue to experiment and explore new ways to do business. Maybe it is time that we update success to be more than being at the top of the corporate ladder. I know that I changed my tune when I realized that happiness has to be part of the formula.

MORE:
+ The Mismeasure of Women written by Joanne Lipman in NY Times
+ When We’re Equal, We’ll be Happy written by Judith Warner – Domestic Disturbances column
+ photo was taken when visiting the USS Constitution in August 2009

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Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth was one of the sponsors of PodCamp Montreal 2009. After the Saturday sessions, a selected group were invited for a cocktail in the John Lennon and Yoko Ono Suite.

Fairmont put the bed as the place it was for the bed-in. One thing that you may not know is that the suite was rearranged for the bed-in. We all appreciated that Fairmont was kind enough to change the place of the bed for us.

The story goes that John and Yoko wanted the bed in front of the window with the best view. The lounge area became the bedroom. Everything has changed since then. Except for the pictures on the wall and the floor plan, nothing from that area is still in the room. Still, it was a great feeling.

Everyone had his or her picture taken in the bed. Michelle Sullivan did a live interview with me to talk about my top blogging tips and trends. It was a lot of fun. I included more pictures of the small suite to give you an idea of the space.

Here, Laurent Maisonnave set up his video camera to capture a live interview with Scarborough Dude, Bob Goyetche, Julien Smith and Laurent Lasalle. Observing is my husband, Jérôme Paradis.

Until December 31, 2009, you can book the Bed-In for Peace package at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel.

PHOTO CREDITS:
+ Bob Goyetche
+ Jerome Paradis

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Interview

Two weeks ago, I opened a new series on Pepper Design Blog by being the first interview Morgan did with a blogger. Follow her blog if you wish to spice up your home and your party. Last Friday, she interviewed Chris of Celebrations at Home. Chris gave wonderful tips to style your place to the party theme.

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For an upcoming event (I will tell you soon), I needed a professionally done portrait. I asked Elizabeth Delage to do my portrait. She is a friend who is a talented young professional photographer in Montreal. It has been a while since I went for a photo session. I had an amazing time!

Elizabeth has a wonderful photo studio. She decided to use natural light to take my pictures. I went there on a sunny afternoon. First, I visited my regular hairdresser Allen at Funky Toque. I told Allen that I was looking for my everyday look, done at its best. Then, I headed to the photo studio where a makeup artist was waiting for me. I brought several outfits. We reviewed the outfits I brought. My green shirt won. We all agreed that a natural makeup would be more appropriate. We also took a few pictures with a grey jacket for when I need a business look.

She put Michael Bublé and other easy listening songs on her sound system. It is important that the songs set the proper mood. I felt relaxed in this warm environment. It is important to feel good for the pictures to look great. I sat on a stool. Then, I smiled a little, a lot, turned my head up, down, on the side. She took hundreds of pictures in a little more than one hour. It was fun! I am thrilled about the results. I recommend Elizabeth if you need portraits, fashion or a lifestyle photos.

A Few Simple Rules

Elizabeth gave me clothing advice before the session. First, it is best to be photographed wearing soft color if you do a portrait. You do not want that what you are wearing, including your jewelry, attracts too much attention. The focus point should be your face.

A professional makeup artist makes all the differences. Believe me, it is money well spent. Dominique T. Hasbani adapted my makeup to the specific conditions of my photo shoot. She took into account how the camera would capture me under natural lights. Ask the photographer to set up the makeup session for you. They will select a makeup artist that suits their photo style. I also told my hairdresser that I want to be pretty for a photo. As you can see, making a good picture is a team effort.

About My Selection

The left photo is the one that I will use for that upcoming event. I prefer a more relaxed photo for my social media avatar and my blog signature. I include a nice photo of Elizabeth working on an outdoor shooting.

PHOTO CREDITS:
+ Elizabeth Delage

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Today, my husband and I went to the farmers’ market to get our flowers and cooking herbs. For me, my terrace is not ready for summer until I put plants on my garden pots. I opted for low maintenance flowers: marine blue Riviera, white Diamond Frost Eurorbia. I did not keep the tag for the yellow flowers. On each side of the step between decks, I simply put a purple fountain grass.

Cooking herbs are acclimated to the arid sunny Mediterranean climate. This means that do not require a daily watering. In fact, you are best to wait until the soil is pretty dried before watering them. Use a soil that drains well.

What are my Must-Have Cooking Herbs?

Wait until the last minute to cut the herbs. I promise you that will taste the difference especially if you are preparing a salad.

Thyme: The most exquisite is the lemon thyme. It smells like lemon. Most leaves are yellow but you will get green ones once in a while. For times where the citrus flavor will not be desirable, I bought a big bunch of winter thyme.

Parsley: I always both kinds: the curly leaf parsley and the flat parsley.

Rosemary: I love this herb. You can use rosemary sprigs as a skewer for cooking on the barbecue.

Chives: Super easy to grow. The plant can withstand several winters in a pot. For that reason, do not remove it from your pot this fall.

Sage: I buy the green one.

Moroccan Mint: Perfect to prepare mojitos this summer.

My other favorite herbs are basil, origano and summer savory when I can find it. Otherwise, I will buy winter savory.

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I have been so busy lately that I just realized that At Home with Kim Vallee is a nominee for the BlogLuxe Awards organized by SocialLuxe Lounge in the Most Inspiring Blog Category. You can vote once a day until July for the first round. The five finalists will be announced July 6th, 2009. The two winners will be announced July 23rd, 2009 at the Swiffer SocialLuxe Lounge.

Nominations will close on June 23. Voting will remain open until July 6. You may vote once per day, per person, for your favorite blog in each category. The 5 blogs that obtain the most votes will become a finalist.

These awards are organized for BlogHer 2009. The winners will be publicly announced at the pampering party to kick-off BlogHer ‘09. The hostesses for the SocialLuxe Lounge are Allison Czarnecki of Petit Elefant, Jennifer Sbranti of Hostess With The Mostess, Jane Maynard of This Week For Dinner, Marie LeBaron of Make and Takes, Ciaran Blumenfeld of Momfluential, and Beth Feldman of Role Mommy.

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You may have noticed a change to the main navigation bar of At Home with Kim Vallee. There is now a Live section where you will find my tweets and live blogging posts.

What will be these live blogging posts?

It will be made of several things. But mainly, there will be quick links. For a while now, I have been searching at a way to add to the curated experience I am trying to provide you. I wish for great pictures on all my posts here. What do I do when I only wish to provide you a quick info? Until now, I relied on Twitter. But 140 characters is not always enough to deliver the message.  I will use Kim Vallee Live to bring this type of information.

Another usage of Kim Vallee’s Live is when I will attend a conference. You will not have long to wait since I will be at the Social Gaming Summit 2009 that will occur June 23rd, 2009. All day, I will rely what is going on at the session through Kim Vallee Live.

Integrating  Layout

I also wish to point out that my second blog, On the Web with Kim Vallee now shares the theme structure than At Home. Like I said in Live, I am integrating my brand. Each component has its own personality.

Blog Out Loud event  in Los Angeles

One last thing. If you are in the Los Angeles this week, register for the first Blog Out Loud event. It should be a great event for bloggers and aspiring bloggers in the creative sphere. Check out what I have to say about the Blog Out Loud event on On the Web.

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A quick note to tell you that I was interviewed last week by Susan Semenak for an article she did for the main English speaking daily newspaper in Montreal, The Gazette. I shared my knowledge about moms who blog. If you are into it, read the different points of views of a group of moms who likes to blog. They did this article for Mother’s Day.

+ The mommy diaries by Susan Semenak on The Gazette

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It became a tradition. Every year, the weekend before my birthday, my husband invites me to a night of delight at Cirque du Soleil. We had fabulous tickets to OVO, seats 1 and 2 on the first row right in the center of the scene. Being that close enables us to see every details of the making and costumes which are a huge part of Cirque du Soleil’s magic. We are also able to see how hard the artists work to deliver their performance.

The nearest seat to the scene are part of a package that is called Tapis Rouge. The event starts one hour before the show. You are welcome with a glass of sparkling wine (red and white wine is also available). This is an almost one-hour cocktail with food served by a top-notch caterer.

The lamb mini-burgers, mini grilled cheese or mussels with the sauce served in shooter are simple ideas that you can incorporate in your repertoire. Think of designing vignette to add a theatrical vibe to your party. Here a mushroom garden vignette served as a service station.

The food presentation is always original. I always bring back ideas. The beautiful flower-shaped appetizers are hard to do.  They were delightful for the eyes and to the mouth. Several food were used to fashion delicate flower; delicate to see and to the taste. The center was a foie gras or another type of mousse; I cannot recall which one.

Food in a Tree

Trees were used to serve food. A green apple becomes the bowl of half-cooked duck confit mixed with vegetables. The carrot has a hint of ginger crossing in the middle with a nori ribbon. It is simple and really delicious.

For dessert, they hung on the tree pineapple pieces dipped on a praline at one side. This awesome dessert is easily to reproduce at home for your next BBQ. Cut the pineapple in a small rectangle (3 inches long and 1/4 to 3/8 inch wide), insert on a wooden stick and dipped with praline.

OVO is a superb show. I recommend it. I had a great night. Thank you my Love for this night of pleasures. On that note, I wish every mom the best for this Happy Mother’s Day!

+ OVO by Cirque du Soleil

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I wish I could do that! I had plenty of meetings yesterday and today. I leave you with my picture after leaving the hair salon.  Copper was in the air.

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Over the next weeks, I will explain why and how I migrated to Wordpress and why I felt I needed a new layout. This series will be published on my second blog, On the Web with Kim Vallee, which will also get this look shortly (in a week or two).

Update Your Blogroll

I published my Daily Fab Reads at the bottom of the page. It shows 7 favorite links. I will alternate them from time to time. I will also update my blogroll to reflect what I am reading right now. It has been a while since I did it. My blogroll catalogs what I read; for me, it is not about link exchanges. As a curator, I want my blogroll to be a representation og my tastes and sources of inspirations.

Please note that I changed the URL of my blog. If I have the honor to be on your blogroll, I would appreciate if you update my link to http://athome.kimvallee.com/

Places is now fully integrated with my blog. It will enable me to take advantage of the best bells and whistles of the Praized platform. Places also migrated to a new URL.

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