North Dundas Business Expo

The Saturday after my return from conference I participated in my first trade show. I have done a few vendor/craft events in the past that were not as successful.
This was the North Dundas Business Expo. The event was held at the local arena with large booths available on the arena floor and small booths and tables available upstairs in the community room. It was great participating in an event this size and getting to know some of the local business people in my area.
Lisa Williams of Main Street Clothing has been very supportive of my business and she helped join Dundas Women in Business as well as the North Dundas Chamber of Commerce. I am very thankful to belong to two great business groups.
I met many people looking to travel and people who filled out ballots to win a trip for two to the Grand Palladium White Sands Resort & Spa, Riviera Maya, Mexico. The contest closes November 27th 2018 and the draw takes place December 3rd 2018. If you live in Canada excluding the province of Quebec take a moment to enter for your chance to win the trip as well at my website www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca In the comment section be sure to put my full name Stephanie Lough as there are two Stephanie's.
Some of the great business that were at the expo on this day and who you may want to take a moment to check out yourself:

On the Bend Sugar Shack - He makes the most amazing maple butter
Biemonds - Their fresh cheese curd is too die for!! Especially the flavoured one's I understand they are done Fresh Thursday afternoons
Winchester District  Memorial Hospital Foundation - they help raise funds to so our hospital can keep up with the growing needs of our community
Habitat for Humanity - Getting ready to build a brand new home in Williamsburg for a local family
Seize the day - A new daycare option in Winchester check out their summer camps for this summer if you are looking for care for your children
BMR and country treasure - The owners have embraced our community and even lend out a cotton candy machine for local events (Swim teams, scouts etc..)

There are so many more I can name and stay tuned from more events as North Dundas like to keep ourselves in the spotlight. I hope to be included and feature more of their upcoming events here on my blog.

my booth at the expo

Where you can find me:

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 803

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Please keep in mind that while my head office is in Toronto I am a home based travel agent and I live in South Dundas and can service clients anywhere in Canada but I meet with clients in the SDG area

Freedom of the Seas - Civitavecchia (Rome)

Day Four of our cruise found us in the port of Civitavecchia which is an hour and half drive from Rome. Once again there were many excursions to chose from. The Presidents excursion was a visit to the Pope's private apartment & summer estate, Colosseum visit & lunch at the cost of $489 USD per person.
Here is a list of the other excursions that were available for this port. Also to keep in mind that the excursions can change depending on the time of year. The list this time is as follows: Exclusive, Best of Rome, Rome, The Eternal City, Pope's Summer Residence, Vatican Museum & St. Peter's Basilica, Imperial Rome & Colosseum Arena, Imperial Rome, Discover Renaissance Rome,  Roman sightseeing by Ape Calessino, Taste of Rome for families, A Taste of Rome, Rome City Sights, A Taste of Rome (small Group), Rome in a day, Passage to Rome, Navigate through Rome, Rome on your own, train transfer by Roma express, Italian Beach transfer, accessible panoramic Rome and last but not least Italian countryside and olive oil taste.
Once again because of my mom we chose the Rome city sites which was a guided bus tour with 45 minutes in St Peter's Square.It is an hour and half each way to Rome.

Views on the drive to Rome

A church

 Statue

 Vatican

 My mom at the Vatican

 Me at the Vatican

 Pigeons

Coliseum

We saw many of the bug sites however you can not see the Trevi Fountain from the bus because they are no longer allowed to go down where it is. We stopped at the Vatican where we could tour the grounds outside. Unfortunately a tour inside was out of the question in that amount of time. This is where VIP tours come in handy. With this tour we got back to he ship earlier which allowed us a bit of a break in the afternoon before dinner.

Some tours were longer as this was a longer stay in port

Where you can find me:

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 803

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Rainbow Girls

The first weekend in May as an advisory board member for the Ottawa Assembly of the International order of Rainbow for girls I got to attend something I had never seen before. The city of Barrie managed to set up their very own Rainbow Assembly. I got to travel to Barrie with my oldest daughter and one of the other girls from our Assembly to see and help this take place. Girls and advisers from all Canadian Assemblies came to lend a hand.
So you are probably wondering what exactly is Rainbow. The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls prepares girls for responsible and purposeful adulthood through character and leadership development, encouraging unselfish service and higher ideals in life, and promoting teamwork and effective interpersonal communications. My oldest daughter Victoria has thrived with this organization. She has no problems with public speaking. She can stand up and read at church, lead a Rainbow meeting or speak her mind at scouts and present at school with confidence. I wish I had learned these skills at an early age and been comfortable with these things. I am still not comfortable addressing large crowds and I am 44 years old. I am so proud of what this organization has taught her about being charitable as well. It helps me to know she will walk the right path in life.
Rainbow has produced some phenomenal woman.
Our very own Chairperson and Supreme Chaplain Luanne Walton works with the Canadian Department of Justice as a Senior Consultant in Constitutional Law. My daughter would also like to be a lawyer one day and she has great footsteps to follow in.

 All the girls that came to help Indigo out

The new Barrie Assembly know as Indigo Central Assembly

I am really looking forward to this summers adventure when Victoria and I had to Virginia for our very first Supreme Assembly which includes Rainbow from all around the World as this is an International organization!!

Want to learn more ask me stephanielough@gmail.com or check out our website http://www.canadaiorg.org/

Airports and Air Transat

So of course most vacations can not start without a visit to an airport. We were flying out of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport in Montreal, Quebec. It is a little over an hour away from my home. I am a little closer to the Ottawa airport but there are far more direct flights available out of Montreal, so it is worthwhile to head there. We were flying Air Transat. They have 3 level of seats: economy, plus and club class. When my mother and I flew to Barcelona we upgraded to plus. It let us check into the airport in minutes while economy were in line for an hour or more. We were allowed 2 checked bags each although we still only did one each. We were given a comfort pack which included a blanket and earphones.
For this trip I decided to treat myself to club seats and I will tell you I do not think I will ever go back to economy. The seats are twice as big which is awesome with my size. The legroom is great as well. There are 12 seats and for that they have a dedicated flight attendant.
Our seats had blankets and eye masks. We were offered earphones, socks and other items. I had a Chef Vezina beef dinner on the way to Punta Cana and a turkey dinner on the way home. Also in club you get served on real china with real glasses. Normally club seats would also get off the plane first but not in  this case at they loaded and unloaded at both airports in the middle.

 my blanket bag and personal screen

 relaxing in my seat

my after lunch drink

The Montreal airport has lots of shops as well they have a great play area for the kids to burn off some steam before being trapped on a plan. Especially when having to get to an airport 3 hours before a flight. They also had a gorgeous piano which Mandy tested out.

Kids area is sponsored by Air Transat

 had to test out the slide

small structure but lots of fun

Coming home we were in the new part of the Punta Cana airport which has air conditioning. They did have a few shops and restaurants and of course duty free. They also had a pretty great play area for the kids also.

 Rules for the play area

 cute little structure

 the playhouse was a big hit with the kids

loading from the middle of the plane

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 803

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Beach and Pools

The Majestic Resort has many pools. Smaller pools with room access for some with Bali beds and loungers on the other side. Some of the terrace rooms even have soaker tubs on them as well. Lots of adults only pools with the pool bars.
The beach was awesome. Lots of huts with shade. We did not make it out early and still managed to secure a lounger under a hut on both days. This was something I could never do in Mexico. They also had bali beds on the beach however they were mostly empty as they were further back.
I had a day and half to enjoy the beach and yes I sat around and read good book. I tend to burn easily so I do not like to chance it. I did manage to dip my toes in the ocean.

 The huts that gave awesome shade

 the beach goes on forever

 under the hut

 enjoying a good book

 dipping the feet into the ocean

dirty feet to prove it 

I did not manage to get into the pool. They did have a foam party Wednesday afternoon but I was feeling under the weather and went back to my room for a soak in my Jacuzzi tub and a nap. We were up early every morning to have breakfast before we started at 8:40 am. We would end at 5:00 pm for the day with less than an hour to get ready for cocktail parties and supper. I will admit that I hit my bed later than Midnight most nights and the lack of sleep took its tool. I really did miss out on the pool.

They did have drink service at the beach but it was not the best. I have experienced better. They did have vendors walking the beach selling bracelets, hats, pictures with Iguanas, cigars etc.. I did not find them overly aggressive. I ignored them with my nose in my book and none of them interrupted. They did make bird like noises to try and get you to look at them. Again, I figured it out quickly and ignored. I did see a few guests buy.

one of the vendors carrying his stuff

Where you can find me

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.com

TICO 50021282
55 York Street, Suite 803

Toronto, ON
M5J 1R7

Italian Night

Our last night a group of us who had not yet left had dinner together at the Italian restaurant at the Majestic Mirage. Being the last agents to show up we were going to be the last to leave on Saturday. The group we ate with were leaving first thing in the morning. We decided to share some of the appetizers as there were so many to chose from. I had some sort of fried cheese ball that was so big and yummy and gooey. There were soups and salads and bruschetta that were shared around also.

 cheese ball. The picture does not do it justice

 Bruschetta

Usually the wine offered at dinner are white or red. They had Rose which I tend to enjoy the most. I can not drink red at all it makes me ill, but I was very disappointed in it was very strong. The main course was a bit underwhelming. It was red sauce and what looked like one scampi in the middle. But underneath the red sauce was a huge stuffed noddle similar to a ravioli. It ended up being quite tasty.

My main dish

Not everyone had desert and a few shared. I skipped but my table neighbour has a lovely tiramisu.

After dinner we went to visit a fellow agent who was adding on to her stay and had moved to a room that was at the Majestic Mirage. It was a lovely room and we all decided to take a few pictures especially as so many of our group had flown out that day. On our way back to our resort we stopped and caught the last 20 minutes of the show at the Mirage theater. Once back at the Majestic Colonial a few ladies headed to the casino to try there luck. I stopped at the Colonial theater and caught the end of their show which was a musical tribute. The I headed back to my room so I could pack, so I would have more time ti enjoy my last day before I had to head to the airport.

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 803

Toronto, On M5J 1R7

Gala Night

The last night that the whole group was together was the gala night. The red carpet was laid out at the cocktail party. Shortly after the cocktail party started so did the rain. Once again we had to move inside.
Everyone was dressed in their finest and were busy getting pictures and having memorable moments.

 living statue (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

 second living statues (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

 Myself (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

 Debbie and I (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

 Head staff from Majestic (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

 The entrance (photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

(photo courtesy of Dan Galbraith)

The room was divided into two and screens were put up so those in the back could see everything that was happening. I was lucky and had a table in the front half of the room. We had cards at our spots that laid out what we were having for supper. Appetizers, salad, main course and dessert. The dinner was long and the room was so hot as the rain really did bring out the humidity. During the different courses they gave out awards for top sales, top commission, top insurance in different categories which included agencies, primary and associate agents.

 Dinner spelled out

 surf and turf

dessert

The Travel Agent Next Door made history by handing out their first profit sharing cheque of $25,000 to be divided among agents. They are the first host agency to do something like this. This is part of what makes them so great to work for. They are innovators. The support they provide is amazing. If you are looking for a host agency let me know and I can put you in contact with the right people. It does not matter if you are home based or a brick and mortar agency, the Travel Agent Next Door can be the right fit

Flemming and Penny

Where you can find me:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephaniethetravelagentnextdoor

Website: http://www.exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

Email: slough@exclusivetoyoutravel.ca

TICO 500212282

55 York Street, Suite 803

Toronto, On M5J 1R7