Privilege Clothing Holiday Soirèe

What I wore to the Privilege Clothing Holiday Soirèe event.It was a delightful evening of hot chocolate, cake pops, shopping and mingling with fellow style enthusiasts.

A big thanks to Privilege Clothing for the beautifully wrapped party favours and gift card!

My Sweater's Wearing a Sweater

Sweaterception.

DD Mau

If I had to commit myself to one sandwich for the rest of my life, it would hands down be the Vietnamese bánh mì. It just has such a perfect blend of flavors and textures- sweet, sour, salty and spicy and all layered into one demi-baguette of deliciousness.



DD Mau is a small Yaletown based sandwich shop that’s taken a modern spin on the classic tradition soaked bánh mì. Think Ba Le meets Gastown’s Meat & Bread. I wanted to try out their fusion styled subs to see how they compare to their conventional counterpart.

DIY Floral Crown Tutorial

Channeling my inner Lana Del Rey for my first ever tutorial on the blog.

I've been meaning to try creating this for the longest time, and have finally gotten around to really doing it!

Sifting through the countless tutorials online, I found that most can actually be quite complex and time consuming. But through my own performance, I've come to discover a really quick and simple way to efficiently create a pretty floral crown.

Continue reading to see how!

Breka Bakery & Cafe

One thing I love about Vancouver in comparison to Edmonton is the availability of 24 hours cafes and restaurants. You'd be hard pressed to find a good place for a late night snack or coffee around where I grew up. I myself am a self confessed night owl, so I was delighted to find that Vancouver has quite a few offerings for round-the-clock joints.

One that I recently discovered is the Breka Bakery & Cafe just off Robson and Thurlow.

Stripes & Leather

I wore this black and taupe striped top backwards, and tucked in and around my skirt to create a crop top look. The shirt was a little sheer, so I paired it with a simple black bandeau.

Mix n' Match Mondays

We don't always have the amount of time and money to allot to our wardrobe as we'd like, so it's really helpful to be able to multi-purpose a piece whenever possible.

I love trying to find new and creative ways to wear things you've worn before to create a fresh look. The top is from my Sheer Color Blocking post, and the scalloped white shorts are from Summer Heat.

Windblown High Low

A silky high low skirt looks so much prettier when it's fluttering in a slight breeze.

Modern Ballerina

Wearing this tutu-esque top with  a classic top bun (supplemented with a rolled sock) makes me feel like an embellished ballerina.

Cupcake Tip

Flavored Frosting



If you've ever browsed the baking aisle of your neighborhood grocery store, you'll know that the frosting selection is often quite limited.  It's rare to see more than the standard offerings of vanilla and chocolate unless you visit a specialty shop.

One way to combat this, is to create your own frosting from scratch. The options are limitless when you can add whatever flavor or use whatever method you choose.

Sadly, not all of us have the time and skill to conceive well-rounded flavors from just raw ingredients.

I wanted to share a really great and simple effective way to work around this: bubble tea powder mix.

I've found that adding a few tbs of bubble tea mix powder to your generic vanilla icing will really give it that unique flavor.

And bonus: it adds color as well, so no need for food coloring!

White on White

As the summer continues, I find myself with an ever-growing collection of  clothing in white.

I think something about the shade just proclaims fresh.

Avocado Smoothie Recipe

One of my favorite summer treats is freshly blended avocado smoothies. They're a great alternative to ice cream on those hot days, and pretty low-cal considering how rich and creamy it is.

It's super simple and easy to make. See more below for my recipe!



Ingredients:

-1 ripe avocado (halved and pitted)

-1 1/2 cups ice cubes

-2 cups skim milk

-2 packets Splenda + 2 packets sweet n' low* (or substitute 3 tbs honey if you don't want to use artificial sweeteners)

*I like to combine two different types of artificial sweeteners to create a real sugar taste. I find that if I just use one brand, things tend to taste "fake" or somehow off. This way, you get all the taste with a fraction of the calories!*

Blend all ingredients together on high. Serves 2.

Calories per serving: 224

Enjoy!

Summer Heat

Gorgeous days like these make me love Vancouver.

Pink Top: Forever 21  |  Cream Scalloped Shorts: Topshop  |  Gold Rose Cuff: Gift  |  Yellow Point Flats: Asia Market  |  Cream Envelope Clutch: Tory Burch

Sheer Color Blocking

An outfit I wore for the EAT! Vancouver Food + Cooking festival.





I didn't take too many pictures inside, but managed to snap a few of the food.



If you've never been, the festival is definitely worth checking out. Tons of different vendors, and a huge selection of food to sample. There are free ones available, but most of the more substantial offerings cost tickets.

You can buy packs of 20 tickets for $10, so it comes out to be 50 cents a ticket. Most items are anywhere from 2 - 8 tickets (or $1 - $4).

Color Block Shirt: Topshop  |  White Denim: Forever 21  |  Black Stam Bag: Marc Jacob

My Fair Lady

Whenever I put this hat on, I instantly feel more elegant and lady-like.

I have always admired the spectacular hat game they have going on at the formal social gatherings in Europe.

Beautifully structured couture hats that are more like pieces of art than head gear... Kate Middleton must have the world's most gorgeous accessories closet.

Sadly mine is just the basic black felt hat, but I do think it still adds that touch of lady.

Green Textured Dress: Urban Outfitters  |  Brown Leather Boots: Tory Burch  |  Black Felt Hat: H&M  |  Black Stam Bag: Marc Jacob

Layered Silks

An outfit for strolling through downtown.

I wore my navy silk dress layered with a deep plum silk blazer. It's hard to see in the photo, but there is actually a lovely bird texture imprinted on the fabric.





Great day for walking along the water to Gastown, where I finally grabbed my new business cards! I love it when online businesses offer local pick up as an alternative to shipping, it's faster and saves on cost too.

Navy Silk Dress: Zara  |  Plum Textured Silk Blazer: Topshop  |  Pointe Shoes: Forever 21

Waffle & Berries

I have a really bad habit of buying online coupons (ie: Groupon, Social Shopper, Deal Find, etc. etc.) and then forgetting to actually use them.

I can't remember how many times I've bought deals from some absurdly obscure business in an effort to "try something new" and then just have it sit unnoticed until the expiration date is long gone.

This includes paintball tickets, scuba diving lessons, pole dancing fitness classes, circus training... ugh I mean I want to go do these things. Really, I do. It's just that I never seem to get around to actually doing it.

I mean, when am I ever going to wake up and go, "huh, I really feel like going for a scuba dive today. Yes. Today is the day.  Oh my god, didn't I get a coupon for this? Wow, yes that saves me some money. I am so clever."

No.

So I've finally come to accept that there's a great disparity between what I think I will want to do, and what I am actually going to do. Especially when it involves physical activity.

To combat this, I've decided to only buy online coupons for things I know that I will get around to using- so anything food.

I bought this coupon for Waffle and Berries, and was really excited to try it out.

It was $13 and included:

-2 Belgian Liege Waffles + up to six toppings

-2 Choice of Hot Beverages



For my waffle, I added blueberries, blackberries and a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. The waffle was nice and dense, with just the right hit of sweetness.

I don't usually like chocolate chips, but I found these ones really complimented the texture, adding that extra crunch. I think they were frozen beforehand maybe.

Whenever I get anything that has a myriad of ingredients kind of toppled together like this, I have to have a bit of everything in each bite. Like, I'll dissect the berries with the waffle and scoop on some ice cream with chocolate chips just so that I can taste everything together because that's how it was meant to be eaten, and I'll feel like I'm missing the experience if I don't. Does anyone else do this??



My boyfriend got his waffle with dark chocolate, whipped cream and also a scoop of ice cream. When given the option, he always like to make things as unhealthy as possible.

The whipped cream was actually really yummy, it was made fresh with a hint of strawberry.



I chose a caramel macchiato for my beverage. I liked this better than the Starbucks version as I find those too sweet.I wore my new straw hat with a fishtail braid and my dark wash denim romper.I really liked the decor and atmosphere inside. Modern but with little glimmers of charm scattered throughout.I love the little glass case with Tin Tin inside reading with Snowy. Adorable.

This was a great deal because of the coupon, but I would return in the future even at full price to sample some of the other waffle combinations.



Beautiful afternoon well spent.