#DigitalDetox | Event Recap

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend an event called #DigitalDetox, hosted by Penguin Random House Canada. In case you missed it, during the month of January they encouraged everyone to get away from screens and electronics for an hour a day, in favour of doing something more productive - like reading!

Colouring some beautiful aquatic scenery from Lost Ocean

The office is so modern and airy, with huge sliding doors that form a wall that can be opened to create one big room for a gathering like this. The first thing I saw was a table full of colouring books and an area where we could actually colour in a long page! I was pretty drawn to that table (no pun intended), and spent some time colouring in a pretty fish.

Counter-clockwise from top: Olive and Rosemary Chickpea Flatbreads (p. 155), Millet-Sesame Croquettes with Tamari Dipping Sauce (p. 262), Salmon Balls with Crunchy White Sauce (p. 198); Mini Carrot Cakes (p. 175); Amelia Freer introducing her cookbook

There were some dishes to sample from Amelia Freer's new cookbook, Cook. Nourish. Glow. I particularly liked the Salmon Balls with Crunchy White Sauce!

Displays from Greenhouse Juice Co. (top left), Butter Me Body (top right), and The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up featuring floorplaysocks

There were lots of samples and demonstrations, including hand scrubs by Butter Me Body (I love the smell of their Pomegranate & Mango Shea Scrub, despite mango scents usually giving me headaches) and clothes-folding demos to help optimize drawer space.

How do you motivate yourself when you're in a rut?

We were also able to submit questions for Cheryl Strayed's #IndigoBookClub Twitter chat.

At the end of the night, everyone got a bag full of goodies, including books, snacks, and socks - it was a lovely night and I'm so grateful to have been able to go!

"Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials" #SurviveTheScorch Screening | Event Recap

Hi everyone! Today I come to you with a special, double-edition of Movie Monday. Read 'til the end for an exciting announcement!

Recently someone over at New Wave Entertainment reached out to me asking to use my tweet about Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials in a commercial! Imagine my excitement when that happened to me, a huge movie buff (have you seen my Movie Log?). The commercial aired on TV in the U.S., and you can watch it here (pause at 0:04 to read the two quotes from my tweet!):

Not long after the commercial aired, I received another email asking me to participate in a really cool campaign they were doing to celebrate the upcoming DVD release of Scorch Trials - a home screening and Twitter chat with the author, James Dashner, complete with a #SurviveTheScorch kit full of tasty zombie-themed treats!

The #SurviveTheScorch kit I received

It was great to be able to spend time with my family and friends watching a movie I love and live-tweeting the whole thing. I was able to learn about James Dashner's favourite scenes, shots (the shot of the group standing on the sand dune, anyone? That was gorgeous.), and quotes from the movie, as well as what he thought about the differences in the adaptation.

It's been a great experience and I'm so grateful to the people over at New Wave Entertainment for wanting to use my tweet, and to Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and Think Jam for asking me to participate in the campaign!

You can read my review and enter to win a Blu-ray of the film here!

Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials will be available on Blu-ray and DVD December 15.

Paula McLain & Elizabeth Hay Blogger Reception | Event Recap

Elizabeth Hay's His Whole Life and Paula McLain's Circling the Sun

Hi everyone! A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to meet two wonderful authors, Paula McLain and Elizabeth Hay.

Some wonderful bloggers and I attended the Blogger Reception at Oliver & Bonacini's, where we chatted over pizza and wine (which I was quite busy eating, and so forgot to take a picture, whoops!).

Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife, talked about how she loves to delve into the personal lives of different historical figures - in her upcoming book Circling the Sun (review coming soon!), she tells Beryl Markham's story.

Seating in Oliver & Bonacini's

Elizabeth Hay, author of A Student of Weather, discussed how she first began to think of His Whole Life (review also coming soon), a story about relationships, friendships, people and how these things sometimes fall apart - with the image of the boy, Jim, in the back seat of a car.

Both ladies were so kind and interesting to listen to. It was a fun night (we even ended up talking about lipstick at one point) and I'm so grateful I got to spend time talking to two wonderful authors, the awesome Random House ladies and other great bloggers.

You can read my review of Circling the Sun here!