Happy International Women’s Day:

I celebrated International Women’s Day one day early, with some wonderful ladies, by going to the Windsor Arms Tea Room  and then attending The Kit –   The Live Beautifully Conference – hosted by the one and only Jeanne Beker.

First we headed to the The Windsor Arms hotel in Yorkville, for high tea.  What a wonderful tea room, so cozy and inviting.  The menu was delicious and filling:

• Fresh Scones with House Made Preserves and Cream
• Cheese and Caramelized Shallot Quiche
• Prosciutto Roll with Fig, Arugula and Chevre
• Wild Mushroom Salad in Vol-Au-Vent
• Egg Salad Roll Mini Croissant with Smoked Salmon, Cucumber and Cream Cheese
• Pumpernickel Bruschetta with Mozzarella, Basil, Shallots and Olive Oil
• Lemon Chive Crème Fraiche & Caviar Blini
• Selection of Windsor Arms Petit Fours
• A choice of loose leaf teas , each our own pot

We added a glass of prosecco 🥂 🍾 for an additional cost.

the lobby of the windsor arms hotel, Toronto

my pot of tea

our food

the girls

When we finished we made our way to  The Kit – Live Beautifully Conference ,  tickets cost $40 per person to attend.  After checking our coats, we were greeted with a glass of wine, there was a candy bar by Sugarfina, juices by Elixr, and Estee Lauder had a booth, which I never got to visit as we had to take our seat for the event.

event venue

dresses hanging from the ceiling

One of the guest speakers was Dr. Vivien Brown.  Dr. Brown spoke about as women we need to take the time to take care of ourselves.  If we as women/moms don’t put ourselves first than we run the risk of not being there for our families in the long run.  We have to make ourselves a prioity.   Diet, excerise  & sleep are key to living a healthy lifestyle. So many diets are out there that it a can get confusing for everyone,  the 80/20 rule is recomended by many dieticians.  This means 80% of the time you make healthy choices, (fruit, vegetables, protein, legumes, limiting alcohol and sweets) and other 20% you can bend the rules.  One of the problems in North America is that everything is super sized.  Focus on eating poperly 80 % of the time & when you have a special occasion then eat what you want but don’t feel guilty about what you had.  We should be exercising 30-40 min most days, this doesn’t mean that you have to be in the gym all the time, you can go for a walk, take a dance class, go to the park with your kids or grandkids.  Strive to be  active most days, a fitness tracker can help with this as well.  You should strive for 10,000 steps a day, just remember not to exercise right before you go to bed as this can do the opposite and keep you awake much longer than you would like.  Sleep is very important, this is the time when your body regenerates and your brain has a chance to rest.  We have to allow ourselves to wind down so we get a restful sleep and we should be setting  a great bedtime routine.  Stress can also age us much more quickly, we should look at stress as a challenge not as a worry.  Stress affects us physically,  as women tend to take on too many tasks at the same time, and hopefully we can try to “finish” these tasks, well this adds stress.  What we need to learn to do is to say NO to things that don’t suit us, when we are saying No to one thing we are saying YES to something else, never say “I’ll try”…. Such great advice since I can never say No to anyone if they ask me to help out.

There was a fashion and beauty component to the conference.  There was a fashion show, with many great outfits for all ages.  The beauty panel spoke about various products both at counter level and in a dermatologists office that could keep our skin looking healthy and hydrated.   The  Estee Lauder education trainer spoke about their new line Perfectionist Pro, which is a rapid firming and lifting product, and advanced Night Repair serum.   I have not tried any of these particular products.  We did get some deluxe samples so we can try some of the products mentioned.  We were also reminded to wear sunscreen on our face everyday.

fashion show

beauty panel

panel of influential women

The evening went by very quickly, and wrapped up with Jeanne Beker and a panel of influential women sharing their experiences of getting older and what they have learned along the way.

Thank you to  The Kit for putting on a fantastic event full of information about what we can do to make our own lives better and healthier, very inspiring.

xoxo

M