Fabbrica

on
Thursday, March 31, 2011

Shawn and I went for a belated anniversary dinner this evening at Fabbrica, which is Mark McEwan's new Italian restaurant at Shops at Don Mills. I ordered the fettuccine with crab, guanciale, cream, and a soft poached egg. Can I just say that I am so glad this was what I decided to order on my first visit to Fabbrica? I read some bad reviews on many of the other pasta dishes at Fabbrica, but this one was possibly one of the best pasta dishes I have ever eaten, at least in North America. The fettuccine was cooked perfectly al dente, there was huge chunks of fresh crab, the guanciale added a really nice complex flavour, and the soft poached egg gave a lovely creaminess to the pasta. It was just a combination of textures and flavours that I'd never had before, and it was really, really good.

Shawn had the slow roasted pork shoulder, which was really tender and flavourful in an oregano pesto, but the rapini that we ordered as a side was just not worth the $8. It was sautéed in garlic and chili which helped with the severe bitterness of the vegetable, but I'd take Chinese broccoli over this any day, and it'd be a fraction of the cost and much tastier. Moreover, I thought that our waitress, who recommended the side, should have mentioned that it was not included in either of our entrées. That aside, however, the service was wonderful. Our waitress was welcoming and nice and attentive. It's the type of service where you would totally tip 25% if your bill didn't already come out to $95 and you're just not that rich.


For dessert, our waitress recommended the Tiramisu di Fabbrica, which was pure delight. It features two thin layers of crispy caramel (similar to what you would find on top of crème brûlée), white chocolate sponge, espresso mousse, and amaretto mousse. This was just phenomenal. It's a different take on tiramisu, but I just can't find anything about it to complain about. Each each bite is just worth savouring. It also comes with a small cup filled with frappuccino, which was okay, but nothing special. It really does taste like a Tim Hortons Iced Capp, topped with some milk froth. I'm sure there's a purpose of the frappuccino, maybe to help cleanse the intense flavours of the tiramisu, but I personally found it kind of redundant, since the tiramisu can easily stand on its own. But, I digress 'cause I ate it, anyway, and it was pretty refreshing. Overall, I had a really great experience at Fabbrica, and both Shawn and I ultimately thought it was worth going, and worth going again.

Banana Walnut Bread

on
Wednesday, March 30, 2011

In an effort to save some money, I've been trying to stay at home more on my days off. So my afternoon consisted of finishing up my It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season 3 DVDs, and baking a loaf of banana walnut bread with the leftover walnuts I had from last week. I added some lemon zest for a bit of a kick, and it turned out even better than the muffins I made.

Tim Hortons' Bacon Breakfast Sandwich

on

Shawn and I went to Tim Hortons this morning to get their Bacon Breakfast Sandwiches. They're good, but I still like the ones from McDonald's better (more calories + sodium = more delicious?). I guess it equals out, since I like the Tim Hortons coffee more. And at 9:00 in the morning, that's all that really matters.

Korean Curry Chicken

on
Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Got home after a long day of work and made dinner with some random stuff I found in the fridge and pantry. The end result was chicken drumsticks and vegetables in Korean curry sauce with steamed mantou buns. Yep, this is what happens when you don't do your own grocery shopping. That aside, though, it actually ended up being pretty good.

Sucker Punch

on
Monday, March 28, 2011

A bunch of us went to watch Sucker Punch tonight. Okay, let's get this out of the way first. Yes, the acting is bad. Yes, most of the plot doesn't follow and, at times, doesn't even make sense. It's full of convoluted ideas, and there's no depth to any of the characters. Hell, you don't even know what era this film is based in, 'cause it has a lot of '50s references (the cars, the outfits, the lobotomies, etc.), and then there's futuristic robots and force field bubbles. But you don't watch Sucker Punch for either the acting nor the plot. You watch it for the special effects, the action, and the hot girls. And all three were in abundance in this film. It's like the creators wondered, "What could we put in this movie that would appeal to all geeky teenage boys?" Add samurai swords, guns, dragons, aliens, and mini skirts, and you've got the answer.

All cons aside, I absolutely loved the style of this film. I loved the juxtaposition of the "reality" scenes and the "fantasy" scenes. Visually, I thought Sucker Punch was stunning. And the soundtrack was just awesome. I love the covers of The Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?", The Smiths' "Asleep," and Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" by Emily Browning (who also plays the lead character), and the use of Björk's "Army of Me" (remixed with Skunk Anansie!) in the first fight scene was just perfect. And, hey, the make-up was really well-done. I know this movie got a lot of bad reviews but, at the end of the day, it's pure entertainment. There are a lot of films that have great acting and poignant storylines, but just can't hold my attention. But there wasn't a second of this movie that I thought was boring, and that's gotta count for something.

Rating: 3/5

Laura Secord Superkid Ice Cream

on
Sunday, March 27, 2011

There is only one thing I get from Laura Secord, and that is their Superkid ice cream. I don't get it often, but it's been one of my favourite flavours for the past two decades. It's strawberry, blueberry, and banana flavours swirled together in a creamy concoction of epic deliciousness. Yes, it looks like Play-Doh, but it's pure delight and will pretty much brighten anyone's day (literally and figuratively). Plus, it comes with a piece of their signature milk chocolate. Love!

All Star Wings

on
Saturday, March 26, 2011
While my car was getting serviced yesterday, Shawn and I walked over to All Star Wings (at Yonge and Elgin Mills) for lunch. I just have to point out that every time I go to the Yonge and Elgin Mills location, the service is always friendly, efficient, and informative. When I go to the Woodbine and 16th location, however, I find the waitresses to be slow, impatient, and uninformed. I think I will only be going to the former location from now on, even if it is a bit further from where I live.


When we asked about the wings flavours, our waitress just said, "We're not allowed to give out a list with all of our flavour descriptions in case someone tries to steal them, but I do know all of them and I can tell you which is which." Honest, and to the point. She didn't mind spending a good five minutes explaining the flavours we were asking about, either. She didn't rush us or roll her eyes. This is how service should be. Per our waitress' recommendation, we ordered the wings in My Ranch Is On Fire, which is ranch sauce, hot sauce, and ground black pepper. It was tasty with lots of flavour, and the ranch sauce and hot sauce went well together. It was spicy, but not overly so, and was quite enjoyable overall. I would order it again.


We also ordered the Chili Cheese Fries per her recommendation, and they were fantastic. There was chili and cheese spread throughout the entire basket of fries, not just sitting on top. The chili was really, really good; ground beef, black beans, and onions in a well-seasoned tomato base that wasn't too runny or too chunky. It came out steaming hot, too, so it melted the cheese into perfection around the fries. When I think of chili cheese fries, this is how I always picture them to look and to taste. This is a definite re-order. Hell, even if I'm not in the mood for wings, I'd totally go to All Star for the chili cheese fries.

Friday Five

on
Friday, March 25, 2011
This week's Friday Five:
  1. When did you last have occasion to march anywhere? I think the last time I "marched" anywhere was during my second year (2005) at Ryerson for the annual Picnic & Parade. It was at Centre Island, and Metric was performing for us that year (Matthew Good was the live act the year before). We walked from campus to Harbourfront to take the ferry there. Metric was previewing all of their new songs from Live It Out before it was released a couple weeks later. I remember that the weather was really nice. I remember that I had to see Metric from the "underage" side of the fence because I was still 18. I remember meeting Emily Haines for the first time. I remember her being really nice.
  2. What kind of hula-hooper are you? Uh... well, I haven't hula-hooped since gym was mandatory in high school (grade 9?). I guess, back then, I was an average one...? Is there a special kind of hula-hooping I don't know about? Regardless, I'm probably not very good at it now, since I haven't even seen a hula hoop in about a decade.
  3. What kind of madness is most likely to infect you this weekend? I'm not sure yet, but since I'll be working for most of it, it'll probably be a ridiculous customer that'll drive me mad (read: piss me the fuck off). There's always one.
  4. Under what circumstances this past week might you have had reason to shout, "SCORE!"? Hmm. Going to Korean BBQ, 'cause all-you-can-eat grilled meat is always awesome. And I got to preview all of the products from MAC's upcoming Quite Cute collection, which was pretty exciting for me.
  5. When did you last inadvertently dribble, drool, or otherwise let liquid escape your mouth while trying to keep it in? Haha, gross! But, dirtiness aside, I accidentally drool all the time. It's kind of embarrassing, actually.

Kraft Dinner Deluxe

on
Thursday, March 24, 2011

I wanted something fast and simple for dinner after work this evening, so I busted out a box of Kraft Dinner. I actually don't like Kraft Dinner the way it was meant to be; I like to add extra things to it to add different flavours and textures and, you know, nutrition. So I cut up some Italian meatballs, added a cup of peas and about half a pound of cheddar cheese, a tiny bit of cream, plus some salt, pepper, and oregano. And it was delightfully good! So I like to call this Kraft Dinner Deluxe.

Zoya Nail Lacquer in Edyta

on
Wednesday, March 23, 2011

All I did today was watch The Big Bang Theory and paint my nails. My colour of choice for today is Zoya's Edyta from their Wicked collection. I've been having a small obsession with Zoya's shimmer nail polishes recently, because they just execute so beautifully (very smooth and pigmented, and they're only about $10 a pop!). Edyta is actually a blackened green with gold and green shimmer, but depending on the lighting, it can look like a smoky dark grey or blue-green. It's just a really, really awesome shade. And since the weather has gone to shit, I don't have to go into Spring nail mode just yet.

Banana Walnut Muffins

on

Today's my day off and since I'm boycotting the snow (yes, snow – the weather gods are sadists) and was feeling rather domestic, I baked some banana walnut muffins with some overly-ripe bananas we had sitting in the fruit bowl. In fact, the bananas alone were so sweet that I didn't have to add any sugar. And they taste pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Camera+

on

And we thought winter was over.

Taken with the Camera+ app for iPhone.

Tokidoki Bellina Blush

on
Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Tokidoki's Bellina Blushes are new powder blush duos from their Sodashop collection. There are two duos available, called Siberia and Skate Girl. They retail for $26 each, and are available exclusively through Sephora. Both blush duos go on smoothly and blend out beautifully. They contain Japanese rice lipids to help hydrate the skin, and result in a more radiant finish. There is a fair bit of shimmer, though, so these duos aren't for those who like more matte blushes. And, of course, as they're made by Tokidoki, the powders are packaged in sturdy plastic containers with ridiculously cute character graphics all over them (the Siberia character is, obviously, on the Siberia duo, and the Skate Girl character is on its respective blush duo).


Siberia includes a light bubblegum pink with micro-shimmer on the left, and a mid-tone peachy bronze with micro-shimmer on the right. The pink shade goes on fairly sheer, so you have to layer it on to get significant colour, but it does get there and I can see this working beautifully as a blush on paler skintones or cooler undertones. It does go on slightly powdery, though, so I prefer blending it out to use as a highlight colour instead or to diffuse darker pink blushes. The peachy bronze shade goes on much more pigmented so you don't need a lot of it to get good colour. I can see this working very well on pale skintones as a bronzer, light-medium to medium skintones as a blush, and on dark skintones as a highlighter. It adds a gorgeous glow to any complexion, though. I did find it a little odd that they'd pair a cooler shade with a much warmer shade in the same duo, but I can see some people swirling them together to get a more neutral shade.


Skate Girl features a light peach with micro-shimmer on the left, and a mid-tone pink-coral with micro-shimmer on the right. The lighter shade, like Siberia, goes on much more sheer and can be built up in colour as a blush for paler skintones or blended out as a highlighter for light to medium skintones. It can also be used to diffuse more intense peach or coral blushes. The darker shade in this duo, like Siberia, goes on much more pigmented and adds a beautiful pop of colour to light-medium to medium skintones. It kind of reminds me of Nars' Orgasm blush, or a cross between Benefit's Coralista and Bella Bamba powder blushes. I see this duo working better on warmer skintones, but cooler undertones shouldn't have a problem using these, either. I feel that Skate Girl as a whole is more universally flattering than Siberia, though.

Seoul BBQ

on
Monday, March 21, 2011
Edward, Wynnie, and I went to Seoul BBQ for dinner tonight.

Raw meat a grillin'.

Beef ribs, for the win.

Nom, nom, nom.

I think it actually may be my new favourite place for all-you-can-eat Korean barbeque. There's way more variety in terms of meat and appetizers than Korean Grill House, and it's significantly cheaper than Chako. It came out to about $20 per person after tax and tip, and that's including drinks. It's instances like these wherein I'm so glad I'm not vegetarian.

YSL Rouge Volupté Lipstick: #29 Rose Opéra

on
Sunday, March 20, 2011

On a trip to Murale with Mary, I picked up a new tube of Yves Saint Laurent's Rouge Volupté Lipstick in #29 Rose Opéra. For those who have never had the pleasure of trying YSL's Rouge Volupté lipsticks, they are the epitome of luxury make-up. The packaging is ultra-chic and elegant in weighty gold metal casing, with the YSL logo surrounding the centre of the tube, and a small mirror at the top of the cap for easy touching up on-the-go. The formula is ultra-creamy, almost buttery, but it's very pigmented with incredible colour pay-off and a lovely sheen. They go on very smoothly, evenly, and opaquely, and wear very well. They also have a subtle tropical fruit scent but no taste. At the end of it all, they just feel amazing on the lips.


#29 Rose Opéra is a gorgeous medium flamingo pink that leans slightly coral. It gives a beautiful pop of colour without being too bright – perfect for Spring. This shade originally came out with YSL's Spring 2010 Collection, but they have since made it permanent. The closest dupe I can think of is MAC's Ultra Darling, but slightly more pink and much more opaque. (Sort of like if Ultra Darling and Chatterbox had a baby.) At $38 a pop, it's not exactly the most affordable lipstick, but if you find a shade that you really like, it's absolutely worth it. Honestly, this is probably my favourite lipstick formula of all time.

Fresh Sugar Lip Polish

on
Saturday, March 19, 2011

Do you have dry, flaky lips? Are they doubly emphasized when you put lipstick or gloss on? Have no fear, because Fresh Sugar Lip Polish is here! I have this huge problem where my lips are insanely dry (probably from licking them too much), and my skin peels off in huge pieces. It's gross, people. So I picked up this lip scrub in the hopes that it'll do the trick, since up until now, I had just been picking off the skin with my fingers and slathering on lip balm in the hopes that they won't bleed. Fresh Sugar Lip Polish is made with real brown sugar crystals, which buffs off dry flakes, while jojoba, meadowfoam seed, and grapeseed oils nourish the lips, and shea butter moisturizes them. (It looks, smells, and tastes like brown sugar, but I try to avoid eating it.) You just put a dab of the scrub on the lips, massage it around (I also mush my lips together), and then wipe it off with a damp cloth. I like to leave it on my lips for a couple minutes to let the oils and shea butter absorb. And voilà! Perfect, smooth, super-soft lips. Much more glamourous than using a toothbrush.

Linda

on
Friday, March 18, 2011

I met up with Mary for dinner tonight at Linda. For those who don't know, Linda is the upscale sister restaurant to Salad King, which was a staple restaurant of mine when I went to Ryerson. When I went to Salad King, my go-to dish was the Chicken Panang, so naturally, that's what I ordered at Linda. Chicken Panang consists of chicken breast slices, bell peppers, peanuts, sweet Asian basil, lime leaf, coconut milk, and Thai Panang curry, with a bowl of rice. (If you don't like chicken, you can also get it with beef or shrimp.) It's available in mild or spicy, but I personally like it mild so you can really taste the coconut milk and the peanuts mixed in with the curry. And, what can I say? It's a favourite of mine for a reason: it never disappoints. For those who love Thai food and are bored of Pad Thai, try the Panang. It's ridiculously good.


And, of course, dinner wouldn't be complete without dessert. So I ordered the deep-fried mango roll with mango ice cream. The mango roll is essentially small chunks of mango wrapped in what seems like a wonton wrap and then deep-fried. It was really tasty, but I wish the actual mango part of the roll was bigger, because it seemed like it only contained a tablespoon or two of mango. I chose mango ice cream, which I found complimented the roll quite well, but you can choose between several different flavours (coconut, pineapple, etc.). I think I'll go with the deep-fried coconut ice cream next time, though. 'Cause you can't go wrong with deep-fried ice cream. Overall, though, our experience at Linda was a great one, and I'd definitely go back there, especially since Salad King is sadly too far for me to visit regularly now.

Friday Five

on
This week's Friday Five:
  1. What's something you have an unreasonable fear of? Clowns and dolls. Even when I was a kid, I was like, "Oh, hell no, Barbie." Also, wigs. There's something about synthetic hair that creeps me right out. That might tie in to my fear of clowns and dolls, both of which have synthetic hair.
  2. What's something you have an unreasonable fondness for? Make-up and cosmetics in general. It's actually ridiculous. Like, I know I don't need 100+ tubes of lipstick, and yet I cannot resist buying more.
  3. What's something you have an unreasonable disliking for? Acrylic nails.
  4. Who's most likely to bring out the unreasonable in you? I don't really have a specific person in mind, but if I'm really annoyed, I can get pretty unreasonable. But I don't think that I'm an unreasonable person in general.
  5. Who's the least unreasonable person you know? My boyfriend.

Dufflet Pastries

on
Thursday, March 17, 2011

Bought myself a Dufflet Devil's Mint Cupcake while on break at work. As the name implies, it's a Devil's food cupcake with mint frosting. It was pretty good and the cake was flavourful and moist, but I found that the mint frosting didn't taste very minty at all (nor did it look minty, which I expect to be green!). At best, there was maybe a hint of it, but I personally found it to taste more just like vanilla. Which is fine by me, 'cause it's still a delightful cupcake, but I just expected it to be, you know, mint chocolate. Ah, well. I think I will try the Double Vanilla or Pink Velvet next time.

Zoya Nail Lacquer in Ivanka

on

In honour of this Irish holiday, I decided to paint my nails in Zoya's Ivanka. It was a toss-up between this, China Glaze's Four Leaf Clover, and Essie's Pretty Edgy, but ultimately, the glitter won out. Hope you all have a lovely St. Patrick's Day!

The Pickle Barrel

on
Wednesday, March 16, 2011

I met up with my mom at The Pickle Barrel for dinner after work. I didn't really feel like eating a lot of starch tonight, so I decided to order the Steak Frites Caesar Salad. It's a striploin steak with sautéed mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions on a bed of Caesar salad, topped with deep-fried potato shreds and a thin piece of garlic toast. What I hate about The Pickle Barrel's steaks in general is that they don't taste restaurant-worthy. It's like something I could make at home, and I'm not exactly a great cook. But I finally found a steak dish that I actually really enjoy from there, because the steak on this salad was perfectly cooked; just tender and juicy and well-seasoned. The combination with the other ingredients made for the perfect mix of flavours and textures, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Best of all, I didn't feel bloated at all afterward! Definite re-order.

Pusateri's

on
Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I was waiting for Shawn to finish work, and stopped by Pusateri's at Bayview Village to pass the time. Since I had my first taste of French macarons a couple of weeks ago, I've been craving for more. So when I passed by the bakery section at Pusateri's and saw that they had macarons, I picked some up. They had six flavours available when I was there: chocolate, caramel, coconut, strawberry, passion fruit, and black currant. I'd have to say my favourite was the caramel, though the coconut one was pretty awesome, too. The chocolate one was also very good, but it tasted exactly like a brownie, and then it was like, "Why the hell didn't I get a brownie instead?"


As for the fruit ones, I did enjoy the passion fruit one quite a lot, but I didn't really like the strawberry or the black currant because they just tasted too artificial, whereas the passion fruit macaron tasted exactly like a passion fruit. I'm hardly a macaron expert, but I will note that these macarons in general had a nice crisp outer layer with a slight chew, and the filling was creamy but still light. I will need to go back again to investigate their other flavours.

Star King

on
Monday, March 14, 2011

Shawn, Vito, and I went for dinner at Star King, which serves Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. For whatever reason, we'd never been there until tonight, even though we go for Viet food all the time just down the street at Pho 88. I just wanted to try a different restaurant, since I'd only been to Pho 88 a couple of days ago. While Shawn and Vito opted for pho, I decided to get the vermicelli noodles with BBQ pork, minced shrimp on sugar cane, and spring rolls. (It's rare that I don't want noodle soup, but it happens.) It wasn't anything special or better than any of the other Vietnamese restaurants I've been to, but it was cheap and satisfying with decent portions, so I really can't complain. I wouldn't say I like it more than Pho 88, but I'll just put Star King on the list of places to get Viet food when I'm in that area. You know, for a change of scenery.

Tokidoki Sodashop Palette

on
Sunday, March 13, 2011

Tokidoki's Sodashop Palette ($64 CAD) is a new and limited edition make-up palette that includes twelve Cromatico Eyeshadows, a Perfetto Eyeliner in Carina, a SANDy Nail File, and a sheet of super-cute magnets that conveniently sticks on to the huge metal keepsake tin that the palette comes in (as well as, you know, any other metal objects). The tin also comes with a (slightly distorting) mirror on the inside. This set is valued at $293.


The Carina Perfetto Eyeliner is a deep eggplant purple liquid eyeliner. It's a marker-style eyeliner with a hard chiseled tip to create different line styles, from thin to thick. I personally like my liquid eyeliners with a more pointed tip, like Lancôme's Artliner, MAC's Boot Black Liquid Eyeliner, or MAC's Penultimate Eye Liner. The Perfetto Eyeliner does have a long-wear time (from morning until night), but I feel like it's not as precise as the aforementioned eyeliners. The ink is also rather sheer as far as liquid eyeliners go, so you do have to layer on the eyeliner for perfectly opaque colour, but the ink never "runs out" as you're applying (like some other marker-type liners). The liner isn't waterproof or water-resistant, but it doesn't smudge or budge at all on me, either. It's not an exceptional eyeliner, but it's decent. Ultimately, though, there'd be no point for me to buy this eyeliner over any of the other ones except for a particularly unique colour.

From left to right: Skull Donut, Patatino, Riposino, Ciccio, Mummetto, and Mozzarella

From left to right: Tulipano, Nancy Rocks, Romeo, Ciotolina, Arrosto, and Furbina

The Sodashop Palette includes twelve shades of Cromatico Eyeshadows:
  • Skull Donut: a metallic pale vanilla white with micro-shimmer
  • Patatino: a pale peachy-gold with gold micro-shimmer
  • Riposino: a metallic taupe-brown with micro-shimmer
  • Ciccio: a metallic gold bronze with micro-shimmer
  • Mummetto: a matte deep chocolate brown
  • Mozzarella: a metallic deep plum-brown with micro-shimmer
  • Tulipano: a matte pale lilac purple
  • Nancy Rocks: a frosty cool-toned purple with micro-shimmer
  • Romeo: a metallic reddened plum with micro-shimmer
  • Ciotolina: a metallic moss green with gold micro-shimmer
  • Arrosto: a satin black with green-gold micro-shimmer
  • Furbina: a satin blackened plum with purple micro-shimmer

Most of the shades were quite pigmented, blendable, and easy to work with. The exceptions would be Patatino, Tulipano, and Nancy Rocks, which required a lot more layering to get the colour to show up. Skull Donut, Riposino, Mozzarella, and Romeo were especially smooth and buttery with amazing colour pay-off, and reminded me of MAC's Veluxe Pearl finish eyeshadows or, more recently, the Mega Metal Eyeshadows from their Peacocky collection. Even the non-metallic eyeshadows (Mummetto, Arrosto, and Furbina) had surprisingly good colour pay-off. Each eyeshadow is 1.8 grams (or 0.06 oz.), which makes them bigger than the average eyeshadow (for reference, MAC's single eyeshadows are 1.5 grams or 0.05 oz.). Overall, I think Tokidoki's Sodashop Palette is absolutely worth the $64 price tag, just for the eyeshadows alone, which is definitely the star feature of the palette as a whole. And the cute packaging is a nice bonus, too.

Pizza Pizza Half Moon Cheesy Bread

on
Saturday, March 12, 2011

Shawn and I decided to have a Studio Ghibli movie marathon (Grave of the Fireflies, My Neighbor Totoro, and Ponyo). Then we got hungry and decided to go to Pizza Pizza, since that's the closest eatery to Shawn's house. I didn't really want pizza, so I decided to order the new Half Moon Cheesy Bread (named so because of the supposed half-circle shape). It's essentially garlic bread sticks laid out side-by-side and topped with cheese, so of course it was good, but I actually prefer their regular garlic toast with cheese. There was almost too much garlic (can you just imagine the dragon breath afterward?), and I prefer a much higher cheese-to-garlic ratio. In the toast version, the garlic is used in a garlic butter and spread out onto the toast so that it's evenly melted and infused within the bread. In the Half Moon variety, the garlic is just clumped all on top, so you get actual bites of minced garlic (that isn't evenly distributed so, hello, garlic overload). I think I will just stick to my garlic toast next time. Why mess with a classic, you know? (I really, honestly, had not put this much thought into garlic bread until this post.)

Friday Five

on
Friday, March 11, 2011
This week's Friday Five:
  1. What's your favorite thing to put chocolate syrup on? An ice cream sundae, definitely. Or on a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. Or on those molten chocolate lava cakes with vanilla ice cream. Pretty much anything that comes with vanilla ice cream, actually. I never actually put chocolate syrup on anything at home, though. It just always comes with the desserts I order when I'm dining out. Either way, it's pretty awesome.
  2. What's the best thing to sprinkle cinnamon on? French toast, apple pie, and lattes.
  3. What's something that is made superb by a few drops of hot sauce? Pho noodle soup! And pretty much anything from Taco Bell, from their burritos to their fries. Oh, man, so good.
  4. What's something you do with honey? I love honey on toast with butter. It's so simple and so good. And I also love hot lemon and honey tea when I have a cold. It's the best when you have a sore throat.
  5. Besides a sandwich, what's something you put peanut butter on? Oreo cookies. Judge me all you want, but don't knock it 'till you try it! And, when I'm in the mood to be healthier, I like peanut butter on apple slices.

Estée Lauder Warehouse Sale (Spring 2011)

on
I went with Sydney to the Estée Lauder warehouse sale this afternoon. The selection this time around didn't impress me too much; there were a lot of repeat products from the last couple of sales, featuring collections that date back to 2008. I was hoping they'd have some of the stuff from last summer or fall, but no such luck (perhaps during this summer's warehouse sale). I actually ended up getting way more skincare than make-up as well, mostly because I have way too much of it (like, did I really need another pale gold eyeshadow?). So, my final haul included:

MAC Cleanse Off Oil, Fix+ Lavender, and Green Gel Cleanser ($12 each)

MAC Lightful Active Softening Cleanser ($20) and Charged Essence Serum ($25)

MAC Lipstick in Made With Love, Shy Girl, Lavender Whip, and Speak Louder ($10 each)

MAC Charity Grab Bag ($5): Mineralize SPF 15 Foundation Loose in Medium Deep, Cremesheen Glass in Boy Bait, Lipmix in Burgundy, and #41 Lashes (not pictured)

The $5 MAC grab bags usually have four products in each bag, and it's always a hit-or-miss. They only had one variety this time around as well, whereas they usually have two or three different kinds of bag selections. This one ended up being worth it for me for that tube of Cremesheen Glass alone (which retails for $22), but I can't see myself using the other products (the foundation and Lipmix are too dark, and I gave the false lashes to Sydney because I don't wear them). It's a win-win situation either way, though, because the $5 is donated to breast cancer research.

Pixel 8

on
Thursday, March 10, 2011

I met up with Katherine for dinner tonight, and she really wanted to go to Pixel 8, so I went there for the second time in less than 24 hours. They have a new menu featuring a "curry lovers" special, in which there are three columns that you can pick from (type of curry, type of meat, type of side). So I chose the Japanese curry with beef brisket and rice. Oh, man, it was so, so delicious. The meat was great (soft and tender, not chewy, and not just chunks of fat), the curry had just the right amount of spice, and you get a great portion so that you feel full but not overly so. Moreover, you also get a big glass of their homemade iced tea (I paid an extra $1 for their awesome sweetened honey green tea) and a scoop of mocha ice cream for dessert, all for $8.99! So good. I will be back very, very soon. Like, maybe this weekend. Or, you know, tomorrow.

Nars All Night Long Lip Gloss

on

Sephora is currently offering Nars Lip Gloss in All Night Long for $13 CAD (originally $28!), so naturally, I had to scoop one up. It's a beautiful dusty raspberry red with a hint of mauve, and was originally released with Nars' 2008 Holiday collection as a limited edition shade. What I love about Nars lip glosses is that they're richly pigmented without any stickiness, and they go on super soft and smooth. All Night Long is no exception to this, and applies beautifully. Nars lip glosses also don't really have a taste or a smell, which I neither like nor dislike. However, this lip gloss? Smells very strongly of plastic, to the point where I would not want to open up the tube again, let alone wear it on my lips. It's so upsetting, too, because it's such a beautiful berry shade. I'm wondering now if maybe Sephora has had it in their warehouse since the 2008 holiday season, and had such an overstock of it that they wanted to get rid of it all at half-price. So disappointing!

Pixel 8

on
Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Shawn's class ended early tonight and wanted to grab dinner, except I had already ate by the time he called, so I agreed to get some dessert while he ate dinner. Thusly, we went to Pixel 8, where I decided to order the deep-fried mocha ice cream. Yes, fried ice cream. And, let me tell you, it was every bit as good as it sounds.

Tokidoki Adieu Cromatico Palette

on

Tokidoki's Adieu Cromatico Palette is a limited edition eyeshadow palette that includes four shades. Carina is a frosty silver-white with silver, green, and purple shimmer; Ciao Ciao is a metallic magenta pinky-purple with a lavender-blue sheen; Adieu is a metallic amethyst purple with micro-shimmer; and Al Dente is a blackened plum with magenta and purple micro-shimmer. The four shades in this palette do work really well together, and they're wearable in any combination with each other.


Generally, the pigmentation was decent, except for Ciao Ciao, which I found I really had to layer on to really get much colour pay-off. It can get there, but it takes a lot of packing on. It reminds me of MAC's Stars 'n Rockets eyeshadow, but much less pigmented. Aside from Ciao Ciao, the shadows go on very smoothly. Adieu was especially buttery. They blend fairly well, but I do recommend using an eye primer underneath to extend the wear time and prevent fading, especially since Carina has some fall-out. Each eyeshadow is 1.5 grams (or 0.05 oz), which is the same as MAC's single eyeshadows, so the palette is a great value at $33, since it equals to $8.25 for each shadow.


Underneath the eyeshadow is another compartment, where they've included a super-cute complementary zipper pull/key chain (featuring the character, "Adieu," who is also on the front of the palette). My only problem with this is that once you've taken out the zipper pull, you're just left with this big empty compartment and a needlessly bulky container. I feel that Tokidoki could have designed the container better, with a thinner palette holding just the eyeshadows and a space in the outer box to hold the zipper pull. That aside, I found this Cromatico Palette to be worth the value, but if you don't like the shades in this quad, you might find one of the other ones worth checking out.