It’s almost Christmas, but since I’m always looking ahead, I’ve started to think about my New Year’s resolutions. I haven’t quite narrowed them down — there’s so much I want to accomplish next year! Most of the team at NKPR has been thinking about the New Year, too. Here’s what they’ll be shooting for in 2011:

Katy: “My resolution, inspired by the impromptu tap dance Marisa and I just did for the office, is to take dance classes this year! I used to dance for hours every week and now I can never find the time, and it’s such a wonderful, fun workout!”

Kristin: “To travel to Europe!”

Rebecca: “My resolutions are to put effort into decorating my apartment and to build my hat collection.”

Emily: “To practice yoga instead of making fun of it.”

Marissa: “Take more road trips and add beachy waves to my straight hair.”

Aimee: “Open my mind to social media. But I still won’t get Facebook.”

Emma: “Learn to speak French.”

Kaley: “To lose the potty mouth, it’s really not very ladylike.”

Lisa: “To spend more time relaxing.”

What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Tweet me!twitter.com/natashankpr

XO Natasha

Yesterday was our office holiday party and Secret Santa exchange. It was one of our best celebrations ever! Everyone was in the holiday spirit and we had so much fun giving gifts and relaxing over a delicious lunch. Here’s a peek:

Rebecca hiding her Secret Santa gift under the tree. Leopard print isn’t usually the best camouflage, but no one was the wiser.

Sarah, Lisa, Jenna and Andrea all watch as Kristin opens the first Secret Santa gift of the day! Love the Santa hats, ladies!

Our creative coordinator gets three moleskin journals!

André gets three moleskin journals, too! Victoria is smiling because she received a necklace and bracelet that Jenna handmade. How amazing is that? My team goes all out!

Bunmi and her pretty pink unicorn. It’s an inside joke — ask Bunmi about it sometime. 😉

A beautifully bowtied Aimee received skincare products from Kiehl’s.

After the presents were unwrapped, we all headed to lunch at Le Select Bistro…

And yes, I’m finally in a photo on my own blog! (That’s me on the bottom right.)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I have the BEST looking staff! 🙂

What are you doing for the holidays? Tweet me at twitter.com/natashankpr

XO Natasha

Yesterday was our office holiday party and Secret Santa exchange. It was one of our best celebrations ever! Everyone was in the holiday spirit and we had so much fun giving gifts and relaxing over a delicious lunch. Here’s a peek:

Rebecca hiding her Secret Santa gift under the tree. Leopard print isn’t usually the best camouflage, but no one was the wiser.

Sarah, Lisa, Jenna and Andrea all watch as Kristin opens the first Secret Santa gift of the day! Love the Santa hats, ladies!

Our creative coordinator gets three moleskin journals!

André gets three moleskin journals, too! Victoria is smiling because she received a necklace and bracelet that Jenna handmade. How amazing is that? My team goes all out!

Bunmi and her pretty pink unicorn. It’s an inside joke — ask Bunmi about it sometime. 😉

A beautifully bowtied Aimee received skincare products from Kiehl’s.

After the presents were unwrapped, we all headed to lunch at Le Select Bistro…

And yes, I’m finally in a photo on my own blog! (That’s me on the bottom right.)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I have the BEST looking staff! 🙂

What are you doing for the holidays? Tweet me at twitter.com/natashankpr

XO Natasha

The office has been very busy this post-Christmas week but we still all managed to make time for a potluck lunch yesterday. Cupcakes, sushi, nachos, fruit, salads, sparkling apple cider… We even had a roaring fire (well, sort of)! Aside from celebrating 2011, we all got together to say happy birthday to Bunmi and Kaley who — good sports that they are — even let us dress them up a bit. Can you spot Kaley wearing her pink masquerade mask as a headband? 🙂 What can I say? My staff loves costumes!

While 2010 has been an incredible year at NKPR, I am so excited about 2011! We have some really creative initiatives coming up, so keep checking in to the blog and follow me onTwitter for all the latest news!

Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve everyone!

XO Natasha

There was much ado about a break-up in the office today—and it wasn’t even a break-up involving my staff. The yelping, wild theorizing and celebrating was a reaction to the Ryan Reynolds/Scarlett Johansson divorce. Are you shocked? I am shocked! I don’t know why, but I usually think that these Hollywood marriages will last. Maybe it’s the hopeless romantic in me, or maybe I’ve just watched too many Meg Ryan movies…

Anyways, this break-up reminded me that even when these high-profile couples split, they usually move on to find happiness with someone else. Maybe it’s because they’re extremely good-looking, wealthy and can have their pick of partners, or maybe it’s because of something more than that. Maybe it’s because everyone deserves a second chance… at love, at happiness, at whatever.

Look at Angelina and Brad! The same problems that plague other Hollywood marriages (ego, time apart, admirers, ego, love scenes, did I mention ego?…) plague these two, even more so than usual. But they’ve been together for years and years, not married, sure, but with six kids, they might as well be. And how about Jada and Will Smith, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (okay, we’ll see how that one goes)? These couples have made it after other relationships have gone wrong. So don’t lose faith in Hollywood love stories, everyone! When one ends, another’s just around the corner. 😉

XO Natasha

Yesterday, Kiehl’s Since 1851 honoured world-renowned artist Jeff Koons with a special holiday celebration and presented $225,000 to The Koons Family Institute—an initiative of The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children. Kiehl’s raised the funds through the sales of its Jeff Koons-designed Limited Edition Creme de Corps collection. The event was held at Kiehl’s flagship store at 109 Third Avenue at 13th Street in New York City. Dozens of celebrities came out to show their support for the cause, including REM’s Michael Stipe, actor Kyle MacLachlan, model Kim Stolz, ELLE’s creative director Joe Zee, Dexter‘s Michael C. Hall and The Sartorialist blogger Scott Schuman.

It’s so inspiring to see companies like Kiehl’s giving back, don’t you think? Tweet me your thoughts!

XO Natasha

I’ve been working in Miami this week and I’m afraid to come back to the cold in Toronto—and it’s not even that cold yet! Needless to say, the Miami vs. Toronto weather got me dreaming about my favourite places to hibernate when winter in the city gets really ugly. I asked around the office and it seems that I’m not the only one with winter getaway dreams. Here is where the NKPR team wants to escape to this year:

• Kristin: “Maui. Because it’s hot and there are lots of pineapples.”
• Marissa: “Aspen. It’s one of my favourite places in the world. The mountains, the skiing, the hot tubs, the restaurants, the Dumb and Dumber references.”
• Katy: “Snowboarding on a big snowy hill like Squaw Valley at Lake Tahoe, California. I love to be active and while I don’t love to be cold, nothing compares to cuddling by the fire after a long day on the hills.”
• Emily: “Ubud, Indonesia. Because of the sun, the monkeys and because I’m a show-off.”
• Sarah: “A ski trip… anywhere! This year, I could go for Whistler or the Swiss Alps. I wait all year to ski! (And après-ski.)”
• Rebecca: “My dream winter getaway destination is the Maldives, even though I don’t know how to pronounce it. I picked it because it follows my three rules of beach: white sand, turquoise water, and sun.”
• Cat: “Therme Vals in Switzerland. It’s amazing. Mountains, warm baths, cold baths, hot baths outdoors, quartzite and snow…”
• Bunmi: “London. Where I am most myself.”
• Nicole: “Panama. I’m having a Van Halen moment.”
• Jenna: “Nainital, India. This seems like the ideal place to be one with nature and take some breathtaking photos.”
• Lisa: “Paris. I can never get enough of Paris no matter what time of year!”
• Jordan: “Switzerland for the great skiing!!!”
• André: “Monaco. I’ve heard good things about it.”
• Jeannette: “My dream getaway would be Golden Eye, Jake’s or Geejan, three of the Island Outpost resorts, located in Jamaica. All have secluded lagoon or beach cottages in walled-in, bohemian environments. Originally, Golden Eye was the home of Ian Fleming. He wrote many of his 007 books there.”

What is your favourite winter getaway? Tweet me!

XO Natasha

A little while ago I told you about my staff’s obsession withpistachios—well, it’s not showing any sign of slowing down! Actually, I think it’s only going to grow because Wonderful® Pistachios is giving away a holiday supply of their Salt & Pepper and Salted nuts.

To enter, all you have to do is follow Wonderful Pistachios on Twitter (Twitter.com/GetSnackin) and tweet this message: @GetSnackin – Lets #GetSnackin this holiday season! http://on.fb.me/eOcg1a #Giveaway

The contest closes this Friday so get tweeting!

XO Natasha

The talk around the office today was Christmas, Hanukkah and what we all want! Here’s a short version of what is really a very long and wonderfully greedy list:

• Dzeneta – a puppy
• Aimee – an iPad
• Andrea – a man
• Emma – bartender kit and martini glasses
• Emily – a Macbook Air
• Jenna – Ryan Reynolds… and she’s serious
• Sarah – a ski trip to Switzerland
• Marissa – Stila MP3 Makeup Player
• Rebecca – the 3 cm-thick TV in the window at Bay/Bloor Radio
• Jeannette – a salon quality blow-dryer
• Bunmi – a day at the spa (hahaha!); 12-15 hours of uninterrupted sleep; a couple of days in bed watching BBC period drama Austen-esque miniseries

As for me… I want peace on earth. And maybe a dark navy blue Birkin. 🙂

I hope this inspires your own list!

XO Natasha

The talk around the office today was Christmas, Hanukkah and what we all want! Here’s a short version of what is really a very long and wonderfully greedy list:

• Dzeneta – a puppy
• Aimee – an iPad
• Andrea – a man
• Emma – bartender kit and martini glasses
• Emily – a Macbook Air
• Jenna – Ryan Reynolds… and she’s serious
• Sarah – a ski trip to Switzerland
• Marissa – Stila MP3 Makeup Player
• Rebecca – the 3 cm-thick TV in the window at Bay/Bloor Radio
• Jeannette – a salon quality blow-dryer
• Bunmi – a day at the spa (hahaha!); 12-15 hours of uninterrupted sleep; a couple of days in bed watching BBC period drama Austen-esque miniseries

As for me… I want peace on earth. And maybe a dark navy blue Birkin. 🙂

I hope this inspires your own list!

XO Natasha