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.

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.

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.

Neon Splash

A late post of an outfit featuring my camo jacket and a hot hit of neon.









I love the funky yellow-green of this shift dress!

Rooftop Escapades

Fun Fact: I love high places.

Mountain tops, high-rise condos, amusement park rides.. love them all. I have plenty of fears and phobias, but just happen to find soaring above land and city-scapes to be captivating.

Mesh Cut-Out Crop Top: Topshop  |  Black Felt Hat w/ Gold Leaf Detail: H&M  |  Dark Navy A-line Skirt: Topshop  |  Black Tights: American Apparel  |  Mighty Boot: Topshop

Lucyloohoo on Sereine Magazine

I feel honored to announce that I've been featured on Sereine Magazine!



Sereine is a fashion magazine with the aim to be the voice and the media platform  for everything that is fashion, trendy, chic, elegant and savvy for emerging new designers.



Every Monday they feature a woman in fashion or music, and I was contacted to be in this week's segment! You can check it out here.

Vibrant Tones, Clean Lines

A simple outfit, with fresh colors and a clean silhouette for spring.



Stepped into Starbucks for my daily fix to discover that it was their 20th birthday! I believe this was only specific to the location though (not brand-wide).

To celebrate, they gave away little take home bags of their tribute blend coffee.





If you follow by blog, you'll know it's not often that I'll don a pant but I just couldn't resist this rich color and the exquisite fit.

White Textured Top - Joe Fresh | Coral-Red Tailored Pant - Joe Fresh | Nude Point Kitten Heel - Aldo | Cat-Eye Sunglasses - Ebay

 

Vancouver Coal Harbor

It's pretty rare to catch a sunny day in Vancouver these days, so I felt the urgent need to take advantage when the clouds finally relented, letting us have a peek of summer weather.

I hopped over to Coal Harbor for a quick visit and a brain break- over the past little while I've been immensely busy with an animated commercial that I'm working on. Despite my best efforts however, the project is a little behind with a copious amount of work left.

Why is it that production schedules never go according to plan??



I also can't wait until all the gloom passes and summer finally hits. I am definitely a summer girl. It's been my favourite season ever since I could remember.

There's something in the air that just buzzes and hums, it gives me an extra surge of energy to do... stuff. To go out, meet with friends, get a drink, whatever. Winter just makes me want to stockpile food and hibernate forever alone.

But honestly, I'm really excited for the first few days we make it past 20 degrees. And patio dining. And ice-cream on those sweltering days. And hitting the beach. And summer blockbusters! And finding the perfect summer anthem on the radio :)

Ugh, cannot wait!

YL's Birthday at Minami

This is a late post for my friend's birthday dinner at Minami. She's one of my good friends from Edmonton, and happened to be visiting Vancouver during her birthday week.

I've been trying to get around to trying Minami for a while. It's a relatively new restaurant, opening it's doors last June. Since then, it's gotten rave reviews from critics and foodies alike so I've been dying to see what the fuss is about.

Fun fact: Minami is named after Aburi Restaurants CEO Seigo Nakamura's youngest daughter. His other Vancouver location is named after his eldest daughter; Miku.





Unfortunately I was running late, and missed the start of the meal (which I heard was delicious) but I did manage to catch a few dishes, which are shown below.

The lighting was quite dim, so it may be difficult to make out what was served.



This is the Miku Roll, which had salmon, uni, crab, cucumber and rolled in flying fish roe with MIKU sauce.

I love all the components of this roll isolated, so it makes sense that together they make an amazing combination in my books.



We also tried the Wagyu Beef Soba: wagyu beef bolognaise, tempura oyster mushroom, shitake mushroom with dashi. I didn't try this, but the consensus from others was that it wasn't great, and a regretful menu choice.

And the Ebi Fritters: black tiger prawns, spiced couscous, sweet chili aioli and soy balsamic. There's a version of this dish at every Japanese tapa restaurant, and I always enjoy it so I wanted to see how Minami's rendition stacked up.

The verdict? It wasn't bad, but I still think I like Hapa's better.



This was my favourite part- dessert! :)

We ordered 3 different ones, which they plated beautifully with a candle and handwritten chocolate drizzle.



Earl Grey Berry Cake: earl grey cream, walnut sponge, earl grey cookie crust, blueberry & blackberry compote, japanese puffed rice, hazelnuts, chantilly cream served with cassis vanilla ice cream.

Lemon Cheesecake: light unbaked cheesecake, graham cookie crust, orange-lemon compote, rhubarb sauce served with rhubarb-raspberry sorbet.

Green Tea Opera: Green tea sponge infused with espresso and Frangelico liqueur, green tea butter cream, dark chocolate ganache, azuki bean cream served with green tea ice cream and green tea sauce.

They were all very yummy, but my favorite was the Earl Grey. I've never had anything like it before and the flavors really complimented each other well.

The cheesecake was pretty good too, but I enjoy baked cheesecake more than it's chilled counterpart. I'm also not a huge fan of sponge cake so the green tea was just alright for me.





We all had a great time and a lovely meal. Most of our dishes were great if not mediocre. Although it is quite pricy, you pay for the quality ingredients and the luxe atmosphere.

The service was there, but our server seemed very rushed and forgot things here and there.

Overall, I liked it but probably wouldn't go back unless it was on someone else's whim.

Chambray with Me

The ever present denim shirt trend keeps going, and I wanted to do a little twist on it for my own version. I knotted the bottom ends and folded in my collar to pair up with my leather A-line skirt.



I also did something I very rarely ever do... wear lipstick!









Went with a classic red lip and finished off the look with my new watch that just came in!