Oscar Party Tips

It's Oscar time and every year I like to host a special Oscar party with all my friends and family.

Here are some tips to make your Oscar party a memorable one!

1. Decorate- Set the mood by rolling out the red carpet, throw some movie posters up and take pictures of each person as they arrive.

There are lots of Oscar party decorations that are available at you local party store or you can make homemade signs and cut-out stars to decorate you home.

You can also add to the ambience by looping some famous movie scenes together on your TV screen or as background music you can play some of your favourite movie soundtracks.

2. Attire

You can either have everyone dress up in their finest attire and wear something they would wear if they were going to the Oscars. Or go for a more informal approach which is what I prefer and ask everyone to dress comfortably as it is a long night!

3. Food/Drink

As an Oscar party centers around the TV it is essential that you make a number of different types of finger foods that guests can munch on throughout the evening. As for drinks you can come up with your own signature cocktail or celebrate like they would in Hollywood with some sparkling champaign.

4. Games

Organize an Oscar Pool. Download a ballot from the Oscars website, let guests fill it out pre-party, have a buy-in and award the prize at the end of the night.

Oscar Trivia- Come up with a few trivia questions for your guests to answer on movies that have been nominated in previous years.

Play 20 Questions- As each guest arrives, put a sticker with the name of a Hollywood star written on it on the guest's back. They can ask other guests "yes" or "no" questions about the star's identity until they guess it.

Make up an Oscar Drinking Game: Make up a drinking game according to your own Oscar-specific rules. Every time someone tearfully thanks god, take a drink. Every time the host's joke bombs, take a drink. Every time someone talks over their allotted time drink.

5. Have Swag Bag- Make a swag bag for all your guests. It could be as simple as your favourite movie treats like microwave popcorn, candy and chocolates. Or you can go more elaborate based on your budget.

40 Family Day Fun Acitivities

Looking for ideas on how you should spend family day here are just a few:

1. Cook a yummy breakfast together like homemade pancakes, crepes or waffles.

(recipe to come)

2. Head to the CN Tower for a chance to meet some of your favourite Muppet's Elmo, Cookie Monster and Abby Cadabby

3. Go bowling

4. Have a Movie Day let everyone in the family pick out one of their favourite movies and have a movie marathon.

5. Have a pretend day at the Beach! Turn the heat up, put on your favourite summertime music, roll out the beach towels and make some ice cream sundaes. If you can't go to the beach why not bring the beach to you!

6. Have a family game day. Pull out some of your old board games such as pictionary, scrabble, monopoly, scattegories or boggle and challenge your family to a friendly game.

7. Bake! Get everyone involved by giving them a task in the recipe and make some of your favourite homemade treats.

8. Have a picnic! Prepare some finger foods put a blanket on the floor and have an indoor picnic.

9. Go to the Zoo. Many people believe the zoo is a summertime activity but the zoo is open all year round so visit any time to see your favourite animals.

10. Play dress-up with the kids and have a fashion show.

11. Go skating! There are skating rinks located in almost every park in city or visit some of the more popular spots such as Harbour Front, Nathan Phillips Square or the Evergreen Brick Works.

12. Play some laser tag.

13. Head to Mel Lastman Square for a dance party, crafts, games, indoor activities and a Chinese dragon dance show.

14. Have a fort building contest. You can either build a fort with snow if there is still snow outside or take a part your couch and build a fort with your pillows and cushions.

15. Check out TIFF Bell Lightbox with free kid-friendly programming, including film screenings, music and crafts. Entrance to the popular Tim Burton Exhibition and Retro spective is also free for Family Day.

16. Have a spa day. Give yourselves home pedicure, manicures and facials. Or go to a spa and relax while others pamper you.

17. Have a tea party! Get your friends together dress up and sip some tea. Place like David's Tea and the Tea Emporium showcase hundreds of teas from across the globe so make sure to pick up a few for this special event. You can even put on Alice and Wonderland in the background for fun.

18. Play a game of ice hockey or road hockey

19. Give each other make-overs. Take turns doing each other's hair and make-up but don't peek until your make-over is complete.

20. Organize a family portrait. Get dressed up or everyone wear jeans and a white shirt and take photos with your family. Hire a photographer or just get a friend to take some photos of your family indoors and outdoors.

21. Go to Casa Loma where you can meet Dora the Explorer, then from noon to 2pm there will be a special scavenger hunt taking place.

22. Have a dance party. Invite some friends over, make an upbeat playlist and clear some room for dancing.

23. Check out the AGO. On Family Day they are open from 10am-4pm with kids activities, self guided tours and family friendly exhibits.

24. Go to the movies.

25. Organize a craft day.

26. Head to Downsview Park where there is a huge indoor amusement park featuring rides geared to kids 2-12 years old. Jumping castles, obstacle courses, arcade games, carnival games and interactive entertainment.

27. Take a family walk in one of the many beautiful parks we have in this city. Explore a new park that you haven't been to before.

28. Go shopping! Take a family shopping trip where each person is allowed to purchase at least one special item.

29. Check out the Hockey Hall of fame, admission is free for kids on Family Day.

30. Organize a family talent show

31. Have a go-karting race at Mini Indy Toronto's fastest go-karts.

32. Head to the Science Centre! With so many exhibits there is lots to see and do at the science centre.

33. Check out Marvellous Munsch at the Solar Stage theatre. Where famous Robert Munsch stories are brought to life in this comedy show for children.

34. Go tobogganing

35. Challenge your family to an indoor mini putt game.

36. Get together and start planning a family trip. Come up with some ideas of what you want to do and where you want to go together.

37. Have a WII or Kinect game day. Stick to games that the whole family can play and get involved in.

38. Go to the ROM

39. Get involved with a charity. There are numerous charities out there pick one and figure out how you and your family can get involved and help out.

40. Take the family out for a nice dinner!

Winterlicious

Winterlicious

January 28- February 10

Winterlicious is an extraordinary event where over 100 of Toronto's top restaurants create a special 3 course prix fixe menu for a fraction of their regular price.

This year they have also added culinary events with special cooking classes and wine tastings at a few selected restaurants.

I highly recommend taking advantage of this event. I go to at least one or two restaurants each year as it is such a great deal. Tonight I am going to Pure Spirits with my husband who hasn't been their before. I have been a few times and love it so I am looking forward to tonight's meal.

For more information on participating restaurants please check out http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/winterlicious/2011/index.htm

5 Ways to Beat the Winter Blues

1. Embrace the Season

Make the most of this cold and snowy weather and go outside and try a winter activity you haven't tried before. There are copious amounts of things you can do outside in the wintertime. You can take up a winter sport like ice skating, hockey, snowboarding or skiing. Or try a winter activity such as tobogganing, ice fishing, snowmobiling or dog sledding. Or why not feel young again and build a snowman or a snow fort, make a snow angel or organize a snowball fight! All of these things are guaranteed to lift your spirits during this depressing time of year.

2. Exercise

Exercise is a great way to relieve the daily stress in your life. It is also a great way to get into shape and get warmed up! Now when it's extra cold outside why not try a hot yoga class. Hot yoga is a great for the mind, body and soul. Plus you are sure to warm up fast in that class.

3. Treat Yourself

A great way to treat yourself this winter is to head to a spa. This past weekend I went to Body Blitz in Toronto a great place to rejuvenate yourself. The therapeutic waters will not only do wonders for your skin but you come out feeling so relaxed you just want to go home and go to bed. I think going to any spa and being pampered is key ingredient to making you feel good during the wintertime.

4. Get together with Friends and Family Members

Wintertime is usually a time when your social calendar is a little slower so it is a great time to plan fun events with family and friends. This winter I have some fun little events I am looking forward to like a Superbowl party, winterlicious, martini night and a weekend away at my cottage. The winter blues can be tough so it is always good to have something to look forward to on the calendar.

5. Relax

Sometimes a great way to beat the winter blues is to do nothing at all. I went to the cottage last weekend and just lounged around and it felt amazing. Read a book or a magazine, go to sleep early or sleep in. Try meditation it seems to be doing wonders for a few of my friends. Or have a movie day when you can just veg out in front of the TV all day.

2011 Golden Globes Best and Worst Dressed

Top 10 Best Dressed

Top 10 Worst Dressed

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This year's Golden Globes were very entertaining. There were lots of hits and misses on the red carpet but for the most part everyone looked stunning. Ricky Gervais was hilarious as always and opened up with an excellent monologue poking fun at many of Hollywoods most famous actors and actresses. Although I am sure there will be some backlash today for some of his comments I think he just said what everyone else has been thinking.

Tobogganing in Toronto

This past weekend my group of friends and I decided we would take advantage of all the beautiful snow in Toronto and go tobogganing. Tobogganing is a winter sport that is cheap and a lot of fun no matter how old you are. We being a little older then most people you would see at the park decided to head out in the late evening when most of the kiddies would have gone to bed. We decided to head to my favourite hill and what I would consider to be one of the best hills in the city for this sport Riverdale Hill.

Riverdale Park has one of the steepest hills in the city and has one of the best views of the Toronto skyline another reason for making it the number one spot. To our discovery the hill was packed with people all similar in age, who all thought of the same idea. We even saw some very interesting sled ideas. There was this one group of boys who decided to take an old couch and put skis on it. As they rode down the hill they popped open an umbrella to help them stop it was a very clever idea and a pretty neat sled. Another group of people tried using an old mattress to slide down the hill, one of my sisters decided to embark on this form of transportation down the hill and said it was the most luxurious ride she's ever taken. My friends and I came prepared with some krazy karpets, the old classic wooden toboggan and some other black plastic toboggans that went exceptionally fast. All and all it was a lot of fun, I have never laughed and smiled so much! It was wonderful to feel like a kid again and I would highly recommend it to anyone at any age.

Riverdale Hill is what I consider to be one of the best for tobogganing but there are a few more that may be closer to you that you may want to try. Some other suggestions are:

Christie Pits Park

Withrow Park

High Park

Lithuania Park

Trinity Bellwoods Park

So as we prepare for another snowy day try and take advantage of it and embrace it by trying something like tobogganing. I can ensure you, you will not regret your decision.

Reaching Out To Renters

Written by Cindy Freiman

Now is the perfect time to reach out to first-time homebuyers by pointing out the benefits of buying now as opposed to waiting another year or two.

With interest rates still sitting at “emergency” levels with nowhere to go but up, now is an ideal time for you to market to renters/potential first-time homebuyers with solid examples of how much they could save in interest if they bought in the current low interest rate environment versus predicted rates over the next couple of years.

But if historically-low interest rates still don’t tip the scales with potential first-time buyers who are sitting on the fence, it’s important to have prepared answers to their most common objections to help convince them why now is an optimal time to buy.

Down payment
The main reason many renters feel they can’t afford to purchase a home has to do with saving for a down payment. The key is to explain to first-time buyers that there are many solutions available today that can help them with their down payments.

Talk about how many lenders will allow for a gifted or borrowed down payment. And of those lenders that will not provide this alternative, explain how many offer cash-back options that can be used as a down payment.

Better yet, introduce potential first-time buyers to available programs from some financial institutions where they will offer a “free down payment” or a “flex down”. Of course, the client will end up paying about 1% more in their interest rate, but the program will help them get in the homeownership door and start accumulating equity earlier. The client must, however, stay with the original lender for the full initial five-year term or else they’ll have to pay the down payment back.

First-time homebuyer incentive
As you’re probably well aware, last year a $5,000 increase was made to the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan, meaning first-time homebuyers can now withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs for a down payment – tax- and interest-free. The problem is that many potential homebuyers still don’t know this fact.

And if there’s a couple making a home purchase together, they can each withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSPs.

Educating and coaching
There’s an endless amount of information available to prospective homeowners – through the Internet, friends, family members and anyone willing to voice their opinion on a given subject. What they need, therefore, is education and coaching as opposed to being bombarded with more information.

You may even want to suggest that they speak to a trusted real estate agent contact of yours once you’ve gotten them pre-approved and before they head out home shopping. This will help set their minds at ease, because many first-time buyers are overwhelmed by the financing and buying processes, and often don’t know what it truly costs to purchase a home. Providing real examples can go a long way in showing them what it costs to buy a home in their area versus what they’re currently paying in rent.

If a renter is currently paying $800 per month, for example, with that same payment (including taxes) they could afford to buy a $120,000 home. And assuming real estate values increase 2% per year over the next five years, the new homeowner would have accumulated $27,000 in equity in their home. If they continue renting, however, this $27,000 has generated equity in someone else’s home.

It may even be worth your while to set up a joint meeting with your undecided client and a trusted real estate agent to further clarify the situation. Your client will have two professionals in one place available to answer all of their questions about the home financing and purchasing processes.

And if you don’t think it would be worth your while to take a team approach with a real estate agent for just one client, consider holding a free first-time homebuyers seminar where you and other professionals can dispel the myths and educate any clients you have that are undecided about homeownership. This is an excellent way to pool your resources to not only help your clients make a decision, but also tap into the clients of the other professionals holding the seminar with you.