The Boys & Bloggers

Yesterday was the day - I spent it hanging out in downtown Toronto with Steven & Chris and a bunch of fantastic Canadian (mostly Toronto / GTA) Bloggers. It was INCREDIBLE! Let's start from the beginning, shall we?


I was up (not so bright) and early to head downtown and meet a few lovely ladies (and my Mom!) for breakfast...

I enjoyed the company of Sharon, Shannon, Brittany and Jen over breakfast! It was a great opportunity for all of us to chat more before heading off to the taping. It was good because it all seemed to go so quickly once we arrived!

From the beginning everything went well. Once we arrived at the CBC studios, we didn't have to wait long in line before they started getting us ready to head into the studio. Once we were upstairs and waiting to walk into the studio (in a beautiful room FULL of the boys own furniture!), there were members of the Steven & Chris team walking around, taking photos of us bloggers & tweeting them! Awesome!

We really didn't have to wait long, but long enough that some of us got to chat and get some more photos. From there, they moved us quickly into the studio where they had great music playing to get us all pumped up. They didn't spend a lot of time reading off rules and make us do silly head nods and the rest, just some clapping and cheering, which really just got us excited!

Cameras and phones were all welcome in between shooting, so we had them all out right away. We were also sitting pretty... surrounded by so many lovely ladies...

Shannon & Jen were in front of us...

MY NYC trip pals Vanessa & Christine (& Sarah... sadly not pictured) were right behind us

...and I had the pleasure of sitting next to the lovely Janice! Was like being at the show with an old friend!

The boys jumped right into the show when they came out, announcing that they had an audience full of lifestyle bloggers. It was apparent that the audience appreciated this announcement. 

Overall, I was really happy with the segments they covered. Starting with some viewer questions (design related), and then onto some of Steven's DIY projects... which was where they announced we were each taking home a gallon of Para Paint (and one lucky audience member would take home TEN gallons... oh yea!... not me though). 

Guest chef was Rodney Bowers (who you'd know from the last season of Marriage Under Construction). He made a fantastic Pulled Pork... which we enjoyed afterwards in the lobby! A seriously INCREDIBLE lunch, you'll want to watch for this recipe! He's so funny, and who doesn't love a local chef doing his thing? 

Celebrity guest was Jenny McCarthy talking about her new book... and some odd personal tidbits. You'll have to watch (this Friday the 22nd) to hear more about those. They rounded out the show nicely with a quick pina colada recipe. I think that they really covered all bases for their audience of lifestyle bloggers & the general consensus was people were really happy!

What I loved most? How personable the boys were with all of us. Talking to us constantly and inviting us to talk out if they asked questions to the audience. In between shooting segments, they had no problem stepping forward for pictures and to thank us all for coming out to the show...

A little blurry, but I think everyone will agree that this perfectly captures the boys and their personalities! They are so charming and warm and friendly - they actually make you feel so welcome and not just like a bunch of people sitting in a TV studio. Plus, they are hilarious. There were numerous times we all busted up during the show with genuine laughter (grey vinyl & dry erase markers anyone?).


They also had no problem mingling and hanging around with all of us after the taping. As we all enjoyed the pulled pork, the boys, along with Rodney (AND George Stroumboulopoulos) all hung around mingling, chatting and taking pictures with us... but that still wasn't the end. Once we all finished up, we headed back into the studio where we had the chance to meet the boys individually and get photos taken...

I also snuck a little hug from Chris - haha - they were SO SWEET!

The Q&A that happened afterwards was great. The boys answered questions about their career, their brand, inspiration, blogs, beauty products, fashion, and even a few question about their personal lives. They really were so open to the questions and answered so truthfully. 

Afterwards we took the time to pick up some great items to giveaway to our wonderful blog readers (to come later this week!), and more chances for photos!

Liz, Shannon, Tara, me, Jennifer

To sum it up... I must say that I really enjoyed it. The boys and their production team did a fantastic job hosting us, and I would gladly go back to their show again. I think it helped that there is a serious sense of friendship amongst the Toronto bloggers, so it was like a reunion (a room full of strangers... that I already know.. right ladies?).

After such a great day, I can say I am even more sad that I won't be able to make the blogger meet-up on November 20th... but I am looking forward to having the chance to meet up with my blog friends again in the future!

*Edit: In my haste I managed to forget to post about how wonderful it was to meet Tania, Staci and Lindsay as well! (You can spy Lindsay and her lovely Mom in the background of my last photo checking out the set... which she posted about here!) I so hope I didn't miss anyone else... but if I did, it's not that I didn't absolutely love meeting you... it's just that I'm so overwhelmed with all of the wonderful people and things we saw yesterday!