I’m still here!!!
I’ve been crazy busy getting ready for my trip. Trying to squeeze every Toronto moment I can while I’m still here. But my clothes awaits me!
To come:
-Ride To Conquer Cancer
-Soprano & BERTOTTI Photoshoot
-Snakes and Lattes with Ve
Till then!
Pastels are popping up in all the stores and the runways this season! And I love it! Pastels always remind me of summer, beaches, and all the fun stuff that summer entitles. (I hate the winter) I got bored last night and my nails needed some change. I decided to take the pastel trend to my nails. They turned out pretty cool.
Image via A Fendi Bag and A Bad Attitude
The thing about me and my nails…I don’t like to go get my nails done and they are rarely one solid colour. I love nail art, but I don’t want gel nails or spend my money on nail stickers. Gel nails look awesome (my mom has them) but they are too much of a hassle and I’ve yet to justify spending the money on nail sticker. If I go and get my nails done, I can only pick one colour and I can never choose. That’s why I do my own nails (I’m no professional though, you’ll see how messy they look).
I can’t remember where I saw this (probably Pinterest), but I saw a picture of someone’s nails in a french manicure style, but with turquoise tips. I’ve done multi-coloured tips before, but I really liked the turquoise so I thought to myself that was what I wanted to try next. But something in my decided to flip it and do a reverse french manicure.
Image via H.A.U.T.E
I didn’t have the hole punch reinforcement stickers, so mine turned out straight. So here’s the how-to!
What you need:
Scotch Tape, Top/Base coat, and 2 colours
I used Gosh’s Base and Top Coat, Julep’s Kelly, and one from Urban Outfitter’s Smush or Flipflop (I can’t tell and it doesn’t say on the bottle)
[One]
Base coat to protect your nails
[Two]
Once it’s dried, take a piece of scotch tape and place it where your nails begins to curve. Put a layer of your first colour (I used UO’s light turquoise). You might need a few coats.
[Three]
Take the tape off and carefully paint the second colour onto the top half of your nails. Tip: take the tip of your brush and carefully start at the edge of the first colour.
[Four]
Top coat to protect the design! And you’re done!
The MTV Movie Awards went down last night. The star studded event was hosted by Russell Brand. Fun and Janelle Monae opened the show with Fun’s hit, “We Are Young.” The boys of Fun looked spiffy in their classy white tuxes, which contrasted Janelle’s black pant suit. Russell’s monologue was true to his style. Some stars fell victim to his jokes were Justin Bieber, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Charlie Sheen, and Michale Fassbender. By the end of the night, it was Hunger Games, Twilight, and Harry Potter that took home the awards. What movies did you enjoy this year? You can watch the full show on mtv.com or mtv.ca if you are in Canada.
Well of course the stars came out looking fabulous. Here are my picks for best dressed. The guys are up first!
Image via MTV
Andrew Garfield’s tie adds a sense of class, but the short sleeve keeps his look casual
Image via MTV
This ‘Snow White and The Huntsman’ star looks oh so handsome in his suit. He is a Hemsworth after all, what more do I have to say?
Image via MTV
Channing Tatum looks good in anything (or nothing ;D can’t wait for Magic Mike). Unfortunately, he layered and kept it casual for this red carpet.
The girls were so hard to pick from! There were so many well dressed ladies. But I’ve picked three that have topped my list. Honourable mentions goes to Emma Stone and Elizabeth Banks though!
Image via MTV
Julianne Hough shows off her midriff in this black lace dress. I love her and I think she looks great in anything.
Image via MTV
Could this be a preview to THE white dress that the Future Mrs. Timberlake might be wearing? Probably not, but Jessica Biel still looks stunning in this textured white dress.
Image via MTV
Probably the most beautiful couple ever! Like Channing, Jenna Dewan-Tatum looks gorgeous in everything she wears. I love the mint green colour on her. And I’m sure that neckline turned some heads.
And another internship added to the resume!
For the past three months, I’ve been a social media intern at Homesav.com. My time at Homesav has come and gone really quickly. I worked under their Social Media Manager, Amanda. She was amazing and I’m so glad I got the chance to meet her. I began the internship being in charge of Pinterest with another intern, Starleana. We called ourselves the Pinterns. I’ve had lists of blogs built over the years, but had a difficult time keeping up with them. This internship made me visit those blogs daily and I was finding cool things. Other than pinning, there were some really cool things happening to Homesav.
Image via Timesunion.com
The first major event was being on Dragons’ Den. The founders, Alex, Aliza, and Allan, made a pitch to the Dragons and received an offer! The whole team went to the pub across the street to celebrate our Dragons’ Den episode. It was a night filled with tons of food, good company, and laughter. It was a fun night.
Image via Homesav
The second major event was the National Post Launch Party. Homesav has partnered with National Post for weekly pop up stores and features in the National Post. Located at Fibre Living, the party was a fun event. Bloggers, designers, and artists around Toronto showed up to see what Homesav was all about. The event consisted of Jessica Gorlicky did a live painting performance, Glen Peloso (enough said), Peter Fallico (enough said), fun music, a chip table, and other cool things.
Image via Homesav
The third big thing was our big Capture the Colours Contest. Homesav partnered with Posterjack.ca to do a Pinterest/Photo contest. The winners will actually be announced soon. So check out the top 20 and help convince the judges on who should win. The grand prize winner will win a sale with Homesav with their print.
It’s been fun working there. I’ve always been really into social media, but it was on a personal level. Homesav really taught me how to apply social media to a business. Everyone at Homesav are great and I’m sure going to miss them!
Check them out! Follow them on Twitter. Like them on Facebook. Follow them on Pinterest. Add them to your circle on Google+. Follow them on Instagram (Username: Homesav). Read their blog. (Yes, Homesav is everywhere!)
Next on the internship journey is Aedas. I will be interning at their Hong Kong firm. Despite the heat and not seeing Kevin all summer, I’m really excited to be spending my summer in Hong Kong again.
La la la!
Recently, I discovered Stageit.com and I’ve watched a few shows since. Stageit is “where performers can broadcast live and interactive experiences directly from a laptop, while offering unique fan experiences that are never archived.” Now don’t get me wrong, I love my big stars (Justin Bieber), but I love Youtube singers way more. Some of my favourites are Alex Goot, AJ Rafael, JRA, and so many more. A few have gone on tour and have come to Toronto, but there are still a bunch that don’t tour often and if they do, they don’t come to Toronto. Stageit allows me to watch them perform “live”. Although they’re not live live, it’s still kind of cool. I’ve seen shows by Alyssa Bernal, Alex Goot, and Christian Kane & Steve Carlson.
The most recent one I’ve watched was a show by AJ Rafael. I’ve been dying to see AJ Rafel live and not on Youtube. He really needs to go on tour and come to Toronto. He had a show to raise money for his organization ‘Music Speaks’ and for his friend who is doing a service trip in Kenya. Great music + 2 good causes? It’s a win win situation! Stageit allows you to ‘tip’ an artist during the performance. It kind of works like a tip jar. According to AJ, over $200 was raised from the tips alone. AJ’s 30 minute show included original songs and covers, as well as taking some requests along the way. He began his show with an original (I forgot to write the name down..oops), which led to ‘We Could Happen’ (a personal fave). In the middle of his set, TJ Brown joined AJ for a couple of songs. After his 30 minutes was up, he added an encore portion to his performance. He began his encore by playing an original, ‘Emma Watson’ and then showed a preview of the ‘Emma Watson’ music video- the fan cut edition. His show ended with a few surprise guests, which included Cathy Nguyen (a.k.a. lilcdawg) and Randolph Permejo.
It was cool to see AJ live and I can’t wait for the day to see him live live. It was a great way to end a sick day.
Here was his ‘set list’:
We Could Happen (Original) // You and Me (Lifehouse cover) // Payphone (Maroon 5 cover- request) // Go The Distance, Part of the World, I’ll Make A Man Out Of You (Disney Medley- request) // She Was Mine (Original- with TJ Brown) // Talking to the Moon (Bruno Mars cover- with TJ Brown)
Encore: Emma Watson (Original) // Heaven (Bryan Adams cover) // Juicebox (Original) // I Just Want You (Original- when Cathy and Randolph surprised joined AJ) // I’m Yours (Jason Mraz cover)
Check out AJ’s music on his Youtube and follow him on Twitter.
Today it’s all about food!
Dessert first!
Like I mentioned in the previous blog post, Veronica and I attempted our hands on baking some Nutella cupcakes. I would say it was quite the success. The recipe I used is from Bakers Royale. The cake part of the cupcake is essential chocolate cake with a little bit of coffee. The Nutella part was in the buttercream. Everyone at the Homesav brunch loved them. If you’re having a party, you should check out the recipe and try it out! I didn’t add the extra toppings on top because I didn’t want to make the cupcakes too sweet. The one thing to be aware of is the amount of buttercream you are making. The recipe says it makes 12 cupcakes (I was able to make approximately 16), but there was definitely an excessive amount of leftover buttercream. I was able to make 24 more cupcakes and I still had a ton of buttercream left over!!! Buttercream is pretty easy to make, so I would start with half the recipe. Don’t waste your butter and more importantly, your Nutella!
I love to bake, so these were fun to make. I’m still working on my piping skills though! Now to figure out what to make next.
Time to talk about real food.
Recently, my boyfriend and I went to Don Don Izakaya on Dundas Street. We’ve never been before, but it’s been a restaurant we’ve been meaning to try for a while. An Izakaya is a Japanese pub/snack house. Located on 130 Dundas Street (between Bay and University), you really get to experience a cool Asian environment. Once you’ve conquered the stairs and arrive on the second floor, the hostess announces your arrival by drumming on the taiko, which cues the rest of the staff to greet you (in Japanese).
We decided to try something from each of the categories. We started with the Soy Milk Tofu. This was an interesting dish. It came in a little bowl and a side of soy sauce. You could definitely taste the soy, so it’s not your typical tofu. I’m still on the fence with this dish.
The next dish we tried was the Atlantic Salmon Egg Salad. This reminded Kevin of deviled eggs. I liked this one minus the bacon. Maybe I’m just used to breakfast bacon. But the egg part was yummy.
From the fried part of the menu, we ordered the Ginger Fried Chicken. This tasted like your typical fried chicken. It came with two types of mayo on the side, a normal one and one that is more sour.
Our next dish was the Grilled Salmon. Whenever you order something from the grill menu, the staff pumps up the energy of the restaurant and makes a spectacle. There is a grill that is a part of the bar. When they grill your food, one staff member begins drumming their taiko and another grills with flames coming out of the grill.
The last thing we ordered was the Chicken and Corn Udon with Cream Sauce. This was a good one. I definitely recommend it. Although I did notice that these udon were stickier than other udon dishes I’ve had. But next time we’ll have to try the Seafood Udon.
The staff was really friendly and the food came really quickly. Every time someone brought our food, they thanked us for waiting. Generally, it was a very good restaurant and I will definitely be going back. I want to try their Tokyo Style Hot Dog and some other things on the menu. Should be yummy! If you’re in the area, try it out!
Till next time!
