Environmentally & Socially Responsible Event Planning * Consulting * Staffing * Catering

What our clients say about us...

  • “You have extraordinary attention to detail. You took care of the little things (like the place setting utensil twine and the food platter you sent up to the girls’ room) that we didn’t even think about. We’d be able to tell future clients to feel confident that everything will be taken of with style, even the things they may not have thought of beforehand.” – John, on his wedding

Thursday, July 29, 2010

*Gasp* Rolo finally is back into the cellular world!

Hey all,

Yes I finally caved in and managed to get a new cellphone.  Special thanks to my love J for getting me a wonderful new gadget powered by Google.  Introducing the HTC Dream!

Word to the un-cell-ucated folks.  It always pay to do your cell research because in my journey to cell-dom I've had a rough time indeed.  Not only do different service providers provide you different things, (even among different vendors of the same provider!) but everyone has a nasty habit of "If you don't ask, we won't bother tell you."  Even if that info is rather important.  On top of that there is a whole new undiscovered world of unlocked and "rooted" phones, I'm excited to find out about. 

After our collective experience with contracts, hidden fee's and virtually no support for cell replacements with a service provider that shall remain nameless  (Rhymes with Smell-Us).  We got this wonderful gift.  Sadly another services provider (Rhymes with Robbers) decided to cripple this particular model of phone, locking you to them and their subsidiary.

On the good note, Google has one again come through with their Android powered phones.

Anyhow.  I salute Google and their platform OS Android.  I'm loving using this HTC Dream even though its crippled and I'm stuck with a provider I don't really want.  I hope to fix that some time soon!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

For Queen and Country

So I have absolutely NO excuse not to post our recent event,  since completed it in March and it was such an awesome opportunity.  Thus here it is now!  (In hindsight I realized I finally have the inspiration to write about it now that its done and gone and under our belt.  With a clear head I can reminisce about it and tell you all about it. 

It was with great honour that we had the opportunity to serve the young men and women of the 7th Toronto Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery  (Link).  In particular, our client was the Junior Mess who asked us to cater and staff their formal dinner.   What made this event all the more important for me was the note that several of our guests would be going overseas on active duty.  International Politics aside, it really meant a lot to me to be able to do what we love and do best for several young men and women who are Serving and risking their lives for us and our Country.  For that, I am always eternally grateful that I and Simplicity had a great opportunity to work closely with them.  As well I had a rare chance to briefly peek into military life and be behind the scenes for a formal military dinner.  


 (Above) Here J, Liz and one of our volunteers Tracey, double check the placenames for each soldier



(Right)  Here is a goofy pose of the staff mid setup.  I tried ducking out of the shot to get all of them in the photo.  Weird pose!
 As Bridget looks on, Andy does his best "Blue Steel" supermodel look

One of the great aspects of this event is that we were able to coordinate with the client to provide a volunteer opportunity for highschool students.   In addition to this, though the soldiers had a fantastic appetite we were yet again able to work with Second Harvest and make a donation on behalf of our client.  
We had a great opportunity to work with another environmentally responsible catering company as well.  For this event we worked closely with Evelyn of Hearty Catering to provide the catering for this event.   It was a great pleasure to connect with another catering company that is both environmentally and socially responsible in the choice of local produce and healthy, hearty food!

Special thanks goes out to Pvt. Best EW, (aka. Bunkerbomber) for assisting us with initial consulting work on proper military ettiquette.  Though as a note to everyone.  Artillerymen and Infantry are COMPLETELY different birds with very particular forms of etiquette.  Suffice to say it was a real great opportunity to learn of another form of service to add to our guest service repertoire.  We even had the opportunity to be a part of the event as formal military ettiquette required the staff to line up to receive a toast from the soldiers we served.




Finally, our very special and sincerest thanks goes out to Bdr. Ross VPMC and Bdr. Laplante Treasurer/VPMC of the 7th Toronto Junior Ranks Mess.  It was truly an honour and a privilege to serve you!   

o7


Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Yay even more ways to stay connected!

Thanks to the miracle that is the Interweb.  You can now follow the adventures of Simplicity through our blog through our handy RSS feed links!  Enjoy!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Quote of the day

I picked up my well worn copy of "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield, and this quote pretty much encapsulates me lately. 

"... its better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot."  

Amen to that.  Hoof prints and all.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Fest2 - Harmony B Co-op Arts Festival

Ooo. Multimedia is fun! Here is the video of the event we volunteered to provide catering for.

Community, Sheep, Great food. Simply a great idea.

Here are a few pictures of the event.  Courtesy of one of our newest volunteer's, Lance.

This was a triple opportunity for Simplicity.  Not only did we get the chance to branch out and do something for a community outside of Alpha II, we also had the chance to get more exposure AND uphold our philosophy of social responsibility  by providing workplace exposure and volunteering opportunities for youth.  It was a real pleasure to work with Lance, learn more myself and provide him with a snippet in exposure to the industry.

In keeping with his love of Photography he was also able to capture a few of these snapshots. Thank you Lance!


It was a long and hot day but we got the food out and done for the afternoon and evening event. We put together a good spread of fresh fruit, veggies as well as a few other community dishes we did for the Alpha II community events in past years.
There was a really awesome performance by the CORPUS arts group entitled "Les Moutons".


This was a great event and I would like to personally thank Isorine of Its Chez Nous, and Ray and Michaela of the Harmony B Co-op for this opportunity. Food is a great connector of people in a community and it was a honour to be a part of this event!
Me at the end of the day.  Trying to duck behind my Balzac's coffee

Friday, July 2, 2010

Getting in harmony with Harmony

So its been a crazy birthday month for me! Yes I nearly and neatly avoided catching Eventitis myself with a last minute plan to go to a fantastic spot for Dinner. Special thanks to Jasna for reminding me to take some time to celebrate myself!

As well this month I also celebrate my 19th anniversary of my victory over Hodgkins. Its not as special as my 20th but hey its still a fantastic thing to remember. I also have to really thank Danielle for reminding me about it. Special thanks to her because I spent it in good company, dog drool, a fine glass of red wine and take out Swiss Chalet!

Tomorrow Simplicity is embarking on a join venture to help Its Chez Nous with their Harmony B Co-op Arts Festival. Simplicity will be taking what it does for the Alpha II community and volunteering our time to provide catering to the guests, community, and artists of the Harmony B Co-op. This is also a great opportunity for us to assist in creating volunteer opportunties for youth. I'm really looking forward to this event, and as well as an upcoming wedding for a fantastic new client. More news and photos soon!