My Totally Bomb Farewell

As we all know I have temporarily moved to Australia. Before I left however, I had the most perfect farewell bash a girl could have asked for! I am so touched that so many people came out last Saturday evening for dinner and/ or drinks and dancing. Friends from as far away as London, Toronto, Brampton, Oshawa, Hamilton, and my sister who goes to school out in New Brunswick all gathered together to wish lil 'ol me goodbye. My newest friend who just moved here (I guess I should say Burlington as technically "here" is Sydney!) from Australia also had a friend from her hometown visiting and it was wonderful to meet her too. I feel so blessed to have such good friends to miss and I am going to miss all of them so much. 

As was to be expected I wasn't the first to arrive at the restaurant (although I had every intention of being early, an unexpected pre-restaurant gathering at my house, although very much welcome, derailed that idea) and when I arrived, I was delighted to see my friends mingling and socializing, a la an impromptu cocktail hour. I joined right in ordering my favourite drink, a pina colada! 

No party is complete without favours so I was thrilled to have had the time to make these for my friends.



A delectable chocolate chip cookie recipe from the always trustworthy Martha Stewart and some sand and shells from Whitehaven beach in Queensland Australia, that I'd saved from my trip there in 2005 made for the perfect favour for my party. 

The tropical contents even matched the decor of the restaurant!

As we all know I will use any opportunity I can for an excuse to play with stickers and I was thrilled to find the perfect ones to decorate the bags. Martha Stewart's Bon Voyage themed stickers along with some surfboard and flip flop stickers. So adorable!

The dinner party was great. Great company, great food and, other than almost knocking over a ceramic vase while catching the overloaded coat rack when it broke in half, there were no untoward incidents! This is a picture of one of the tables. My bad for not getting a picture of the other table! 

We had the same smooth sailing during the after dinner drinks and dancing at Joe Dogs. I have to hand it to my guy who piggy backed me almost the whole way to Joe Dogs cause my stilettos just weren't up to the task of walking in the snow. Many more of my friends from Oakville met us at Joe Dogs and it was fantastic to dance and party with so many friends in one place! Our group was definitely the life of the party as we lit up the dance floor song after awesome song! Great music was such a treat as I find it so hit and miss at dance clubs. Some highlights from the evening definitely include 

1) meeting my friend's new baby girl

2) delivering my very first ever speech-a nerve wracking challenge but I really wanted to do it. In the end it went fine and I was so touched and surprised by my friends' reactions- Jen laughed and cried at the same time!

3) this guy at the restaurant who had an UNBELIEVABLE mullet. Seriously, his hair looked like one of those Russian fur hats

4) finally and most importantly, getting to spend time with amazing friends, who, regardless of the time since we last saw each other, be it a year or just a day or two, are each so special to me in their own way. 

Thanks for coming out guys! I miss you already!