I started this week in a soothing way. I received an email last month from Alissa Anzarut, who is manager of the travel rewards at Aeroplan. Alissa contacted me to inquire if I would be interested to experience a spa treatment at one of Aeroplan’s partner hotels here in Montreal. After a stressful January, I decided that it would be good for me. Plus, I like the W hotel. We met last Monday morning at the Away Spa of the W Montreal.

I am happy I did. I discovered a new spa treatment: a body wrap that does not involve mud. I usually have a massage, relax in saunas and other bathing rituals at spas. I had many body treatments at Clarins skin spas but never with a body wrap. I know the technique is not new, but it was for me.

You feel right at home when you enter the Away Spa. The decor is what you expect from the W hotels. The small spa feels cozy and relaxing. The dimmed light, the gray walls and the aromatic smell of the place all contribute to the soothing effect. Although they have no saunas and hot springs, I left happy and relaxed.

About my treatment

I opted for one of their signature treatments, the D-Age Body Firming. The 1-hour-and-a-half body treatment starts with a fruity peel that contains pineapple and papaya enzymes. It smelt good. In fact, I enjoyed the scent of everything they put on me. You go for a quick rinse in a nice private bathroom (top right picture).

Then, the best part begins. I felt warm for the entire session. To get you into the mood, a quick breathing session surrounded by a delightful aromatic fluid (red thyme, tangerine, lemon and orange). It is followed by applying a serum on eight articulation spots to extract the toxins. Then, your body gets a boost of Kamani oil, shea butter and jojoba oil. This is the D-age firming cream. They form an enveloping cocoon over you by neatly wrapping the plastic sheet over your body. Plus, they wrap some sort of heated blanket on top. While you are in your warn cocoon, you get a light, relaxing facial and hair massage. This part lasts 15 to 20 minutes. The treatment ends with a little massage as the spa massage therapist applies a wonderful citrus draining oil. Like I said, it was an enjoyable experience.

I do not know if it was the idea to be at the spa of a trendy hotel but their music, which was the typical style for a spa, seems more cool. If you want to know, I was served by Melanie Doiron, who is a massage therapist and an esthetician. Thank you, Melanie and Alissa for a great way to start my day.

+ Away Spa at W Montreal
+ D-Age Body Firming $195 CAD

Disclaimer: I did not pay for my spa treatment; Aeroplan did. According to our editorial policy on samples, I went there without any guarantee of coverage (if, what or when). I decided to talk about it because I tried a spa treatment that was new to me and wanted to share the experience.

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This recipe should be a hit with kids and adults. And the strawberry in those candy coated strawberries will make us less guilty to eat caramel. If you wish to make your own, Steamy Kitchen shared her 15-minute recipe. She saves time by melting Kraft caramels with sea salt. If you host a kid party or a huge casual party (i.e. lots of guests), go for the generic brand.

Save Time and Achieve a Finer Taste

The ultimate taste would be achieved if you order a jar of caramel from a caterer/candy maker like the delightful creamy salty butter caramel at Kreavie. Then, cover the caramel with the almond & hazelnut croquant, also from Kreavie. The recipe will still take about 15 minutes to make.

Jaden of Steamy Kitchen recommends to soak the strawberries briefly in ice water to perk up the green stem and improves the succulent texture of the strawberries. I will definitely try it!

+ recipe: Salted Caramel Covered Strawberries by Steamy Kitchen

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Since last month, I am the host of a home deco segment on a French-speaking Web TV show called On Est Ensemble that is hosted by Philippe Régnoux. It is a fun experience and the team I am working with is awesome. It is a talk show co-produced by the Communauté Sépharade Unifiée du Québec and KAYAK Media.

On Est Ensemble is produced every month. The March episode is now online. My segment starts at 21:31 minutes. Elie shares a recipe after my segment. If you understand French, you will not want to miss his recipe. It is absolutely delicious. I will translate soon his latest recipe.

Women’s Fashion Shop

I also wish to thank Billie Boutique for lending me the beautiful clothes I am wearing. I selected a Tara Jarmon skirt to go with an adorable green top (maybe by Marlene Birger). The dressing rooms at Billie Boutique are stylishly girlie.

+ On Est Ensemble

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At this time of the year, Montreal hosts one big cultural night all across the city. Yesterday night event was as popular as ever. The event closed between 2 and 3 am. Last year, I walked for hours the underground exhibit with a few friends.

This year, we had other plans during the evening. Since it finished late, we stopped at the art gallery of our friend Bettina Forget to see her Change vs. Forever exhibit. Then, we walked to the Place des Festivals. The place was transformed so that people can dance, create, imagine and immerse themselves in a visual and auditory experience.

My husband and I had fun playing with the exhibits. My husband did his version of scenes from the Prisoner TV series. The sphere garden was gorgeous. It changed colors.

There were a series of interactive exhibits that we did not try. On one installation, you change the image by moving your hands. There was also a drawing screen on a building facade. People had fun doing it.

Finally, lights were displayed all over the surrounding buildings.

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If you visited Montreal lately, you probably noticed those cute knitted hat on top of billboards across the city. They really convey the message that milk is comforting. I like the concept. It is part of a campaign for Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec (Quebec Milk producers association)  built around knitting and storytelling.

Two night events, one in Montreal and the other in Quebec City, promise us fun activities for all the family. It will include music and storytelling in a splendid scenery.

+ photos: Kim Vallee, Le Lait Contes Reconfortants

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Last Wednesday, I went to a fun event organized by Les Zurbaines in collaboration with Vic Park (also called spa Victoria Park), a zen-like, upscale gym and spa located in Westmount, Quebec. I got the pleasures to chat with my fellow bloggers and journalists in the lifestyle and fashion market.

They set up sessions for us to try the spa and salon services. They went for a make-up and a manicure. I love both. As you can see from my picture, the make up was a success. And I learned a few makeup tricks to enhance the features of my face. It was the first time I dare to go for a dark grey nail polish. I know that it has been the crave for a while but I never seem to find the time to get a manicure.

They served two signature martinis, smoothies and wine. No girl event would be completed without a Cosmopolitan. I did not taste it but I heard that the green tea martini was delicious according to my friend Line Atallah. It contains green tea, ginger, vodka, gin, green olives.

Our goodies bag include products and a 10-day trial at the gym for two. The gym is beautiful. I like the vibes of the place. I will tell you more about the gym once I experienced it.

I had so much fun mingling and participating in the activities that I forgot to take my own pictures, except for a few of the gym. This is what happen when you take the habit of bringing your own photographer at events. I selected pictures from Line Attalah and from Carrie MacPherson of Zurbaines.com to give you a peak at the night.

CREDITS:
+ photo: green tea martini by Line Atallah
+ other photos: Zurbaines

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I attended last December this wonderful event at Boutique Point G, a must-go place for french macarons in Montreal. They invited the cream of social media crowd for a tasting cocktail at their store. Although I was sick, I could not miss that.

What about Darth Vader?

It was the costume of a molecular chef hired for the event. It was appropriate since Darth Vader served us macarons dipped in liquid azote. That was awesome! Have a peak at the night by watching this video. You can see my husband (a cute long hair guy with a black shirt) and if you really pay attention, you can spot me.

If you visit Montreal, make sure to stop by this little shop located at 1266 Mont-Royal Street.

+ Boutique Point G

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I wish to share with you something great that happened to me. I now host a design segment on a french-speaking monthly Web TV show called On Est Ensemble (we are together). The group of people I work with is awesome. Since Monday night, the show is available online. If you wish to have a glance at my performance, it starts at 18:43 minutes.

Just after me, it is the recipe segment. The salad that Elie Benchetrit did was so delicious. I will translate it soon and share it with you.

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Last weekend was the seventh edition of Souk @ SAT. Every year, it is a chance to discover fantastic designers and artists. The smart thing about the Souk is that they rotate the exhibitors. Therefore, you do not see the same things year after year. The kiosks are simply made with one or two low white tables on which each exhibitor nicely displays their products.

Beautiful and practical cups

I was looking for a porcelain or ceramic cup with a knitted cozy to drink my tea, a cappuccino and a small hot chocolate for a while now. There was always something that I did not like until I saw those.

The Bone and Cozy cups from PMO are well designed. The cozy is knitted with acrylic, which means that it goes in the washer and dryer. The form of the cup rim minimizes the cleaning. The cozy stays well in place. The exterior over the section covered by the cozy is a little bit abrasive. The bone cup goes to the dishwasher and is microwave oven safe. I used it for two days now. It is very comfortable in your hand. It is everything I ask you. A large version of Bone & Cozy is also available.

If you do not wish for a cozy, although I do not know why you will want to miss on this awesome feature, the Bone cup is available by itself. In that case, the exterior is all glazed.

Creamy Oga

Beside cups, PMO produces fun salt and pepper shakers. each set is made of a tall salt shaker with a short pepper shaker. But sizes and forms vary. Therefore, each pair is unique.

SOURCING:
+ Bone and Cozy cup small $20 CAD, 3 for $55 (price at the Souk)
+ Bone small cup $12.50 CAD
+ Creamy Oga $20 CAD for the set

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Next week-end, from December 11 to December 13, see you at the SAT for the annual craft fair the souk @ sat. This annual event offers Montreal artists, creators and designers a marketplace to showcase their recent work to the public. The place is organized in sections: living-room, kitchen, bedroom, walk-in, bathroom, etc. For the exhibitor line up, it seems that there is less things for the home but I will probably stop by.

photo: souk @ sat

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Until November 2010, you could learn about the traditional food of Quebec from the first colonists to today in an exhibit that just started at Chateau Ramezay Museum.

Quebec traditional food was influenced by three cultures: the first nations, France and Britain. But what is the heritage of each? Quebec traditional shepherd’s pie main ingredients blended the 3 cultures. Plus, it will be fun to learn how traditions were born. For example, I would have never guess that  the famous sugar shack meal comes straight out of British kitchens. Beside recipes, Let’s Eat explores all facets of cooking and eating. You will see how we preserve food over the years, how we prepared food and served the meals, and how dining etiquette and customs changed over time.

The associate researcher for the exhibit is Yvon Deslogues, an historian who juts published a book about food habits in Quebec before restaurants. You can find A table en Nouvelle-France on Amazon.ca ($25.74 CAD) and in most bookstores across Quebec.

MORE:
+ Let’s Eat exhibit at Chateau Ramezay Museum
+ via Katerine Rollet’s Epicurean Life

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At last, Montreal will have its first CupcakeCamp. Montreal bakers here is your chance to show off your baking talents. CupcakeCamp Montreal has 3 contest categories: professional bakers, amateur bakers and kids (less than 16 years old). Even the bad cupcake makers can participate. A fourth category is the Failcake contest designed for slackers and evil creative geniuses with horrible, horrible taste.

The event will raise money for Kids Help Phone. A donation of $10 at the door will get your choice of 3 cupcakes and a coffee. You are free to give more. Spread the word by letting everyone knows that you are attending CupcakeCamp Montreal on Facebook and Twitter (via@twtvite). If you wish to sponsor the event, it is not too late.

The event will take place at Bitoque Restaurant from 2 to 5 pm on November 22, 2009. Since it is on a Sunday afternoon, it is easy to come with your family and friends. I hope to see you at the first CupcakeCamp Montreal. And do not be shy to come to say hello. I will be there with my husband.

+ CupcakeCamp Montreal

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