White Cabana year in review

As has been my tradition for the last few years, I’m ending this year with a post featuring the brands I’ve been fortunate to work with in 2017. Each year, I am grateful for meeting amazing, intelligent, and interesting brand reps, company owners, and press team members who teach me more about the blogger-brand partnership and who are keen on working on creative projects. I have worked with some of these brands for years now, and I’m certainly happy about our relationships.

full post to come in January

I look forward to partnering with old and new brands in 2018 to continue to share with you interesting products and helpful services in the marketplace as well as travel itineraries that encourage you to explore the world. I’m always eager to learn something new, to experience something new, and to return to ol’ favourites.

Thanks, dear sponsors, for supporting my work here at White Cabana, and thanks, dear readers, for making time in your day to visit White Cabana.

Sponsors listed in alphabetical order. All photos are my own (except the LLBean photo). See Sponsor Love 2016, Sponsor Love 2015, and Sponsor Love 2014.

Yesterday, I gave a massive shout-out to all the brands I have been fortunate to work with in 2016. Several collaborations were the result of years-long relationships, and others were brand new experiences for which I am very grateful.

Today, I wanted to share some highlights from the year.

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation: Because of generous donations from family and friends, as well as an October fundraising effort on my blog and social media (#WhiteCabanaWearsPink), I was able to donate over $1200 to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Amazing! In addition to the monetary donation, I ran 5K (my first in a long while) for the CIBC Run for the Cure here in Kitchener-Waterloo, and it felt great to be running alongside survivors and supporters.

WhiteCabanaxStephenHawes: What started out as an informal “have you ever considered…” conversation with one of my MBA colleagues turned into an amazing collaboration with Waterloo potter Stephen Hawes. The first WhiteCabanaxStephenHawes collection was on sale for one week at the Robert Langen Art Gallery at Wilfrid Laurier University. The collection sold out! Happy! Happy!

Expedia.ca: Thanks to an amazing collaboration with Expedia.ca, I was able to tour Italy for 2 weeks with my Dad. Among many cool adventures, I attended a reunion lunch in Rimini with his highschool friends, and spent some time in Florence with one of his best highschool friends, and my cousin came along, too.

Langdon Hall: I have such admiration for Langdon Hall. The place is warm, the people are friendly, and the food is divine. Just last month, I was invited to an incredible dinner with Chefs Jason Bangerter (of Langdon Hall) and Jackie Lin (of Toronto’s Shousin). This was an evening that I’ll remember (and talk about) for a long while!

Blogger meet-ups: The online blogging community has paved the way for real-life friendships. Our meet-ups have extended beyond brand media events, and I’m so thankful to have such warm and kind people in my life.

Triathlon relay: This was a last-minute decision, but I’m so glad my friends and I braved the rain to complete our first triathlon relay. My friend Chris was a great swim coach, and TYR generously sponsored our wetsuits for the event. While the swim didn’t go as smoothly as I had expected (ew-dark lake water), it was a positive experience, and I’m even considering doing it again next summer.

How about you? What were your White Cabana highlights? What posts were memorable? What did you enjoy reading?

Thanks to you, dear readers, for joining me on this journey in white!

via Minted

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