Fashionable Success

What a night! Fashionable Encounters was held last night (Sunday Nov 14th) at the Green Street Mansion in Whitby. It was a definite success. I don't know how much money was raised in support of Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health, but I do know that a lot of people had a lot of fun. New friendships were founded, networking was abuzz, and our partners made a great impression on our guests.

First of all, thank you to Xpressions who started the day off by opening up their doors to the Hearts girls. Hair and makeup for all nine of us. My hair looked beautiful plus I scored 30 bobby pins! The Xpressions team then did hair and makeup for all of the models as well. Everyone looked fantastic.

Setting up the Green Street Mansion was next. Tables were set with programs and special "gown shaped" cookies created by Frostings by Judy. Judy's work is always so creative. Next came the swag. Everyone went home with a great goodie bag valued around $50. My particular favorites were the hangers provided by Rick and Nic of Sutton Realty, the candy bracelet from Rebecca of Stella & Dot, and the $20 gift card from Xpressions.

Once we had all of the swag ready, Rebecca brought in her Stella & Dot jewellery pieces to deck out all of the Hearts girls. The jewellery that she brought with her was stunning and every piece added so much to each person's ensemble. I snagged a catalogue and have perused it a number of times today. So many sparkly, pretty things that I want. Rebecca also brought her children's line of jewellery and we were all charmed by the four little darlings who modelled in the first leg of the fashion show.

While we enjoyed a three course meal prepared and served by the GSM staff, the fashion show continued on. I must apologize right now because I found the variety and number of fashionable pieces modelled to be overwhelming. Great job by Christian Pritchard as our celebrity MC for the evening.

Dezire showed off a number of lovely jackets and handbags. Fur is definitely in. Some very tall models modelled beautiful clothes including jeans and casual tops. Our own Kelli was also wearing a lovely top from Dezire for the evening. The shoes from Hanley's store were impressive. There was something for everyone.

Churchill's Crossings had the celebrity models who really hammed it up. The models included two of the Hearts hubbys along with Rocky Varcoe, Tito-Dante Marimpietri, Glen Healy and the rugged looking Glen Uens whom I recognized from his numerous photos in November SNAP. I really enjoyed watching the guys and the clothes were amazing. Jackets, jeans, great Hugo Boss items, very stylish button-down shirts too. Rick Menary you need to do some shopping at Churchill's Crossings. Ken Dunn looked like his normal styling self, but that's because most of the clothes he owns comes from Churchill's. I was hoping to win the gift certificate for Churchill's in the raffle. I could style up my hubby!! Guess I will have to settle for the 10% off in my swag.

Finally, there was Envy with owner Deb and our own Sian modelling. Lovely dresses and jackets, purses and jewellery. The fur on the legs was a hit! The talk around the show was great. Lots of guests wanting to visit Envy to get a better look at what else they have in their store. Envy dropped a discount flyer in everyone's take home swag so have a look in there before you shop.

The staff at GSM were efficient and friendly. Shout out to Jen at the bar! The food was delish. I personally loved the cheesecake. GSM created an apple-tini just for the night and donated part of the sales of this drink back to Ontario Shores. I don't know how sales went but the drink was yummy and the two I had did not last long!

Overall, the venue was stunning, the models were stunning, people were happy and generous and above all, a great cause was supported.

Special thanks to the following:

Tristan and the GSM staff

Christian Pritchard

Raphael and the staff at Xpressions

Rebecca O'Connor, stylist for Stella & Dot

Envy

Dezire

Hanley's

Churchill's Crossing

Frostings by Judy

Ken Dunn, evolvlifeteam

Rick and Nic Menary, Sutton Realty

Amira Messih, photographer

Shane Vieira, videographer

Steve from SNAP Whitby

and everyone who attended the 2nd Fashionable Encounters to support Hearts of Durham and their charity of choice, Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health.

Cheers!

Fashionable Encounters

The Hearts Girls are so excited about the upcoming Fashionable Encounters event on November 14th, 6pm.

This year's fashion show will take place at the new Green Street Mansion. The chef has put together an incredible three course meal for us including Caramel Chicken as the main course. A vegetarian option will be available too.

The bar staff have created a Caramel Apple-tini for sale at the show. For every Caramel Apple-tini sold, GSM will donate $3 to Ontario Shores Foundation.

Of course, there will be the fashion show part as well. Envy and Dezire will be displaying their clothing lines. And, we are looking forward to have men's clothing this year. Churchills-Crossings will be taking part as well. Look for some local male celebrities!

Tickets are $75 and are available from any Hearts of Durham member or by emailing tickets@heartsofdurham.com or info@heartsofdurham.com.

Hope to see you there!

About Ontario Shores

Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health is the Hearts of Durham charity of choice for 2010/2011.

Here is some information about OSF and why we choice them as our charity for this year's events.

1. Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health raises funds in support of Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences and its partners who provide services and support to its clients. High priorities for funding are mental illness awareness and stigma reduction programs, innovative care initiatives, education, research and capital needs.

2. The goal of Ontario Shores Foundation for Mental Health is to provide the financial resources that will bring important programs to everyone who needs them.

3. Awareness of the devastation that mental illness and addiction causes individuals, their families and society is growing across Canada. But there is still much to be done to:

- reduce the stigma of mental illness and addiction

- open up the way for earlier diagnosis, easier access to treatment and better support for the journey of recovery

The statistics around mental illness and the impact on our community in Durham is surprising. The goal of Hearts of Durham is to support one community initiative each year based on outlining needs within the region. We feel that OSF fits within our goal for this year. It is the vision of Hearts of Durham that by working with and supporting local resources, all of our families will benefit by living, working and playing in a stronger community.

CatchUp

First Hearts meeting of the fall last night. The girls had met a few times over the summer, but with everyone's busy schedules we were never able to have all of us attend. We had a lot of catching up to do and a full agenda. Thanks to Kira for keeping us on task.

So this is how the year is shaping up. We are definitely in for another Big Hearts Raffle or draw as we are calling it this year. Nic has already started the process of getting the license for this. Fashionable Encounters is back this year and better than ever. And of course, preliminary plans for the gala event in April have begun.

We are always looking for new sponsors, new partners and opportunities to build good community relationships. Sian and Kelli are on the job!

Making A Difference

Susan Hay did a wonderful segment on Hearts of Durham. It aired on Wednesday. It was shot at the Feed the Need warehouse in Oshawa. The segment really gives you a good idea of where our money goes and the good that comes out of such generosity and hard work.

Check it out.

http://www.globaltoronto.com/story.html?id=1817381

Making A Difference

Last week Hearts of Durham was part of a taping of Making a Difference with Susan Hay on Global. Although I was unable to be at the taping, it is a very exciting and milestone event for Hearts. I am still waiting to find out when it airs and will link the video to our website if possible.

It is very gratifying to be recognized by a big TV personality. Almost as gratifying as seeing your hard work in action. Anyway, I am familiar with Susan Hay and the fact that she is a News celebrity but I thought I might have a closer look at who she is. This is what the Global website has posted on her bio. She is big hearted and generous and not only understands the philosophy of giving back to the community but she lives by it as well.

Susan works with a variety of charities including Ronald McDonald House, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Reach for the Rainbow and The Heart & Stroke Foundation. She works with World Vision and has visited orphans in Africa and helped to build a school there. She has been the receipient of numerous humanitarian and media awards. She also runs marathons and hosts the Toronto Santa Claus parade, of course.

She is definitely someone to have on your side! Thank you Susan Hay.

VIP

June 9th is the date we have set aside for our VIP event. Mike at Bella Notte has once again generously offered up his restaurant to host this event. Invitations will be going out this week by email.

This event is a quick thank you to our community sponsors and in kind donors. We will also have a chance to introduce next year's charity, Ontario Shores Foundation. Hopefully the yummy foods at Bella Notte will inspire some networking and give everyone a chance to meet others who are interested in making our community a better place.