Hi lovelies! I just went on an amazing adventure with Lexus Canadaand spoiler alert, it involved avocado toast!! Luxury, Confidence. Craftsmanship, and Style are just a few adjectives that I would use to describe the Lexus RX. Like many you know, I always stand behind brands that are QUALITY. After attending the Lexus Masterclass, I feel so empowered knowing what Lexus Canada is all about! The Lexus RX is the best selling Lexus AND vehicle in its class…and now I know why! 😉

Cha Le Tea was our first stop of the day for some introduction and an overview of our agenda. The tea-addict in me rejoiced! We tried some amazing tea varieties and we were also treated to some DELICIOUS avocado toast. It was the perfect Natalie morning. The Lexus representatives then elaborated on the imaginative technology of the vehicles.

Up next on the agenda was a drive over to Granville Island to visit A Bread Affair. I love Granville Island, but with my crazy schedule, I don’t get to visit it as often as I’d like! First of all, I LOVE all the unique – and cute – names that A Bread Affair uses. A few of my favourites included: Skinny Dipper, Love Birds and French Kiss. How adorable! A Bread Affair is the first certified organic bakery in the province! They were also the first in the market to do compostable straws and lids. As many of you know, I’m all about sustainable business practices.

Our next stop with Lexus Canada was Benton Brothers Cheese. The Benton Brothers boast cheeses that are artisanally crafted. Mhmmm. I can’t stop dreaming about their savoury wedges. We paired their decadently creamy cheese with the loaf of the sourdough bread that we were sent away with from A Bread Affair. Benton Brothers Cheese consists of 30% Canadian products!

Okay, we had bread, we had cheese, so our next stop was……. Armando’s Finest Quality Meats! You can’t have bread and cheese without a little meat….. am I right?! You can also find Armando’s Meats in the Granville Island market. The chicken was unbelievably tasty and flavourful. Is it too late to start doing all of my grocery shopping on Granville Island?!

The artisan meat industry utilizes Kaizen, which is a long-term approach where one creates small, but incremental, changes in order to continuously improve efficacy and quality. Who else uses Kaizen in their production?! You guessed it, Lexus does too!

Our next stop was the Liberty Distillery, a company that prides themselves on Takumi (artisan) craftsmanship. Sorry for visiting without you Gary! The Liberty Distillery offers premium spirits. Each of their spirits are done in house. Their distillation process includes: mashing all types of their organic grains, carefully breakingdown the molecular structure to have a fermentable sugar, and then distilling the final product. It takes 5 hours to convert starches to fermentable sugars! Whiskey must spend 3 years in barrels to call it Whiskey – you can’t rush quality! The Liberty Distillery triple distills their whiskey for a pure and quality product. They sent us away with some goodies… I wonder who will like those…. 😉

We then went to lunch at Edible Canada – phew, all of that eating was making me hungry! LOL! After lunch, we rushed off to drive – in style – to the Skyhanger in Pitt Meadows. I do this drive quite often, so it was all-too relaxing to come out their for a scenic drive.

Once we arrived at the Skyhanger, we took off in a helicopter and headed up to Wigeon Lake but not before some delicious ice cream sandwiches. I almost needed to roll into the helicopter after all these treats!! We landed in the mountains and the views were absolutely breathtaking. I’m such an outdoorsy girl, I felt totally in my element.

We had a few moments to admire the view and smell the fresh mountain air. I felt so refreshed and grateful for such a remarkably special moment, as I found out that you can only get up here via helicopter. Upon returning to Vancouver, we landed at the Helijet Landing Pad. I must say…… that was one of the BEST experiences I’ve ever had. I was able to see Vancouver that I know and love from an entirely new – bird’s eye view – perspective.

We got in another Lexus and drove out to Point Grey road for dinner at a beautiful mansion with a VERY talented chef – how lucky were we?! Our chef was Mark Singson, Mark is on Top Chef Canada and is currently competing for the title. I was stuffed to say the least!

We finished our day by viewing the Lexus LC 500 Supercar….. talk about an aspirational vehicle! I know what I’m adding to my dream-board. Throughout my day with Lexus Canada, I was reminded of several important brand qualities. Sustainable Practices, Kaizen, and Artisanal Craftsmanship are methods that Lexus uses to create their superior products.

Each of the amazing locations that we visited during our Lexus Masterclass aligned themselves with the important Lexusvalues. My time with Lexus taught me that you can achieve the best through time-honouredpractices. I can’t wait to implement some of these practices into my own business!

If you get the chance to experience the Lexus RX…. say YES! Have any of you been to Granville Island recently? I’d love to know your must-see shops! Leave me a comment below and let me know where I should visit on my next trip there.

Xx, n