My Cornucopia begins with the Trade Tasting. I happily turn over my $10 donation to WAG and enter the conference centre for a chance to try as many wines as possible within the window of a few hours. This is Crush for the local hospitality staff, and a wine drinkers dream. Since my recent wine-tasting trip to the Okanagon, I feel like an old pro and grab a glass to start sipping. It's a pleasure to see my fav wine from Oliver BC, Cassini Cellars, present. Along with various stations of cheese and crackers, Rogers Chocolate was there and I tried a to-die-for caramel chocolate with sea salt. Delish! Guess what everyone's getting for Christmas?!
Later that night is Ric's Grill Casino Royale party. This event has grown every year, and each year it gets even better! The ladies of Whistler Exposed (including moi) were out in full force as showgirls, Goldmember girls, and good ol' calendar girls. In a new twist this year, my girl Bree and I were dressed as burlesque-candy girls. We had a blast selling candy for charity, thanks to those who donated!
This was an amazing gig as we were able to move through the crowd and see every corner of the party. People were have a ball gambling in the gaming tent and dancing to the rocking DJs and musicians in the lounge. The lobby was unrecognizable with sculptures, performers, and beautiful people everywhere! This was a party that had it all - even Dr. Evil even put in a special appearance. Casino Royale had an amazing vibe and it was great to see so many locals out in their best attire having such a good time.
After a quick recovery breakfast on Saturday with my Vancouver friends, I head over to the Loft Salon for the 'late' call time of 1pm to get my hair done. From there it's to the Listel Hotel to get body painted for Masquarave. Being in a room for many hours with 45 of Whistler's loveliest, little-clothed ladies is an opportunity that most guys would kill for. Trust me boys, that was a sight to see. I absolutely adored my paint job, but being a painted model is not an easy gig and certainly not for the faint of heart. Thank God a couple of my gal pals were in it too... we definitely had some laughs.
From our perches up on the podiums, the Bearfoot's Masquarave certainly looked like the party of the year. Who knew that an underground parking lot could be transformed into what looked like a hot Vegas nightclub? Andres Saint-Jacques, that's who! I'm sure that the people on the floor didn't know where to look next - from the acrobats, DJs, dancers, chefs passing out yummy food, trays of champagne, models... they had their choice. And I'm hoping that they chose not to look up my nose...
One day and many, many showers later, I've recovered from my Cornucopia experience. Rumour has it that Masquarave will be back next year, and they may lengthen the festival. Better start prepping your liver now! That should be easy to do, the mountain just opened so you have at least 150 days of apres to practice.
