Life continues to bloom after "what happened" in VanCity

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Pasta, Passion & Pistols - my Murder Mystery Dinner Party

It was a Friday night in my apartment on March 11, 2011. The gingham-red table cloth was pulled out and candle sticks were lit while classic Italian music played in the background as my dinner guests arrived. While aromas of pesto pasta & fresh garlic bread alongside a caesar salad wafted throughout my apartment, this was not your typical Friday night dinner party. Tonight was my much anticipated murder mystery dinner party for 10, and I, French Winemaker Bo Jolais, welcomed my guests; Momma Rossa, Rocco Scarfazzi, Tara Misu, Claire Voyant, Father Al Fredo, Angel Roni, & Marco Roni. The key to the success of the evening was inviting friends who would arrive in costume and embrace their characters’ descriptions, and my guests did just that. I was in tears laughing at their attire as well as their attempts to maintain Italian accents throughout the evening, which quickly declined as the chianti flowed. I cannot express how much fun it is to host one of these events. I received the "Passion, Pasta & Pistols" gift box for Christmas from my family, which you can order from a variety of web sites and stores such as amazon.com. Inside of the package are professional invitations to mail out to your guests which list off all of the characters, their descriptions and costume ideas. You also receive booklets for each guest to be opened on the night of the event which has all the dialogue and questions for each character to ask and details to reveal if asked. Some even come with DVDs with video clips to enhance the story telling and set the tone for the evening's crime to be resolved. While I had read the rules and instructions ahead of time, I did find it to be a bit challenging and confusing to be both host and a character, and we found that having one guest as the dedicated host for the evening allowed for the game to flow much better. We also found the books being written in 3rd person to be a bit of a word jumble as we attempted to translate the dialogue into 1st person, but again, the chianti probably didn't help too much either. By the end of the game everyone was completely involved in the game, including the few guests who attended but did not necessarily have a roll to play, and only one of the 10 participants actually accused the correct guilty person. I have personally attended three of these murder mystery dinner parties and every single one of them has been an evening of tremendous fun, laughter, and a great way for your friends to have a shared unique exerience that you know they'll be talking about on Monday at work. I have to be honest, I am usually against the 1970s concept of "game-night", however I have to say these murder mystery games bring a whole new dynamite and definition to game nights -- I can't wait to host another one!!

I'm Still Alive

So this is rather embarrassing but I recently realized that I haven't updated my blog in a good 5 months... pretty effective, eh? Well I do hope you will continue to follow my joys and woes of the event world through the eyes of cBoEvents. We have a lot of events coming up in the next few months and I am going to make every effort on my end to keep you all up to date on what's going on. If there's anything you want to know more about, let me know!

So Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, (happy birthday to me), Happy Valentines Day.... there... we're all caught up :)

Save Second Base - the Fight Against Breast Cancer

Today marked my second year participating in the fight to end breast cancer at the annual CIBC Run for the Cure. A good friend of mine was diagnosed with this horrendous disease when she was 21, and today we celebrate the reality that she is cancer free! But not everyone is as blessed as our friend, and it got me thinking. In one sense, our friends have fun writing inappropriate signs on our backs saying "I'm walking for... (insert odd pet name here)"... and yet we're walking amongst families, children, colleagues and friends who have lost those who are near for them. I almost hugged this one lady who wore a sign saying "I'm walking for myself... I was diagnosed 3 weeks ago". And I'll never forget the scene of walking behind a grandfather, son-in-law and grandson walking in honour of their passed daughter/wife/mother. Or the copious numbers of children walking for "Mommy" or the men walking for "My Wife".

My friends and I are blessed. Kristin survived. But the fight continues, and as we walk in celebration of her achievements, we remember that this isn't the end of the battle.

Having said all that, we decked our selves in pink, wore our "Save Second Base" team shirts, and rallied together as friends to support our friend, and a good cause. It's a fun event, and I'm definitely looking forward to next year's!

The Search Continues

Life is rather random and interesting at times, isn't it? We all speak of societal ideals of meeting the perfect woman and knowing right away that it is love at first sight... then one day you decide to ask out the girl you've been chatting with online for a week to discover that 57mins and $20 in two drinks later, you're back where you started. but i guess that's what the 'fun' of online dating is... meeting random people and seeing if the online compatibility test proves truthful in real life circumstances.

All that to say, I had a great time meeting a wonderful woman today, and that's an experience that doesn't come along a lot for cBo. and so, I look to the horizon, and move on, seeking love and happiness in whatever form that entails.

Events come in all shapes and sizes... today's event, cBo returned to the long-overdue dating world, and is feeling a bit better about himself. Tomorrow's another day, another encounter, another event.

it's time to embrace... the 90s

Well, it's happened. I got bored and started thinking about my next event. Ladies and Gents, I present the latest cBo Event to come.... "the 90s"... it's been a decade... and the dress-up possibilities are endless! Tear away pants, Doc Martins, grunge, frosted tipped hair, puka shell necklaces... so much happened in the once thought 'undefined decade'... this next event is one that will certainly bring lots of laughter and pleasure... mainly because most of us grew up in the 90s in highschool and cared so much... are my jeans baggy enough? is my adidas 3-striper suit cool enough? can she see my boxers? does he like my school girl uniform mini skirt? so here's to the 90s! details to come... this will be an event you won't want to miss.

W5 - a 'retro' event

5th time's a charm! Last weekend I hosted the fifth instalment of the white party... now known as the W5... five white parties over six years... this one was truly memorable in its own way. Last year, aka W4 was probably my most favourite as it was 65 people all adorned in white at my parents residence for a night of fantastical mayhem. However, this year's W5 was subtitled as the "apartment edition"... a smaller, more initmate group of key friends who all demanded a night to dress up in white, regardless of the setup or traditional scale of the event. I had been hesitant to tackle another white party as I had visions of the event growing larger than I was capable of producing; however, the concept of having a retro "back to basics" style event was enticing; invite close friends to a small gathering at one's place and provide them with a dress code. Forget the one month notice. Forget the pre-invitation propaganda flyers individually mailed out to past attendees. Forget the massive rental orders and door covers tickets. Bring it back to the basics...WHITE.

It was a stupendous success as 25+ people filled the 650 sq ft + space of my apartment last weekend, which was semi transformed into a clean pallet of white. I was ever so thankful that it was traditionally warm out, therefore leading to people drinking light beverages, the darkest being a rose, protecting my furniture from a possible disasterous stain.

The legacy cBo Events has created for its White Parties was fulfilled with great music, laughter, a hooka segment, and most importantly, close dear friends dressed head to (almost) toe in white, gathered together for a night of thematic fun.

Who knows what next year shall bring... but for now, cBo Events enjoyed the pleasure of a low key, back to basics night of fun and pure white.

Pictures of the event are accessible at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031767&id=129500673