I love my city! Don’t get me wrong, I love to travel as well, but home is where the heart is. And my heart has been and always will be in Toronto where I was born and grew up. There’s always something going on in Toronto, never a dull moment. This Friday I focus on Toronto’s newest start-up for your reading pleasure.
Fave Toronto Delivery Service:
There’s a new delivery service in our city and I’m certain it’ll be all over the world in no time! Favour is bringing bespoke services to a whole new level. Favours’ delivery staff also known as runners, will deliver pretty much anything to you. Food from any restaurant, your shopping needs, groceries and so much more. Imagine, all those holidays that are coming up, you’re running late at work and you can’t get out to buy your love a Valentines Day, Christmas, birthday present. Just Favour it!
[Tweet “There’s a new delivery service in #Toronto: @Favour_Toronto is bringing bespoke services to a whole new level. “]
Our city is full of people who love riding bikes and has already paved the way for such a delivery service to be successful. We have so many bike lanes all around the GTA. Delivery time will definitely be on point! And job opportunities through the roof.
So how do you get started? Download the app, set up your credit card information and put in your request. Easy peezy! Hours of operation are from 11 am-9 pm everyday and initially only within the area on the map below:
BONUS: Get your first delivery fee free with code: FAVOUR1T
Where do you get inspiration for your next make-up look, hairstyle or even fashion? For make-up looks most of my inspiration comes from instagram. This Kim Khardashian look was found via my IG news feed. It’s pictures like this that strike a memory of what I have in my make-up inventory and gets me inspired when I’m stuck in a routine of wearing the same old colours day after day.
It’s funny how exactly 10 years ago I was rocking bright purple and turquoise on my peepers and now here I am lusting for bright colours again. I think a huge reason why I ever stopped was getting into the corporate world. I’ve never seen anyone at our office and many other corporate offices rock bright colour shadows or liners. Maybe bold lips, but that too can be risky sometimes. Enough jibber jabbering..
Products I used for this
Kim Kardashian Look:
Benefit High Beam
Smashbox Softlights Shimmer
Urban Decay Naked 2
NYC Palette Union Square
Tarte Clay Pot Eyeliner
Benefit Brow Zings
Clarins Turquoise Eyeliner
Marcelle lipliner in Nude
NYC lipstick in mousse
Benefit Roller Lash
Every year when my husbands birthday comes around I start to brainstorm ideas for his birthday present. I try to think back to anything he said he wanted or wanted to do. Which is rare most of the time because just like me, if there’s something we really want to do or want, we work towards getting/doing it right away.
He’s a football fan and his favourite team, you guessed it… are the Dallas cowboys. He hadn’t been to a cowboys game in Dallas before so this was it! The big surprise! After speaking to people after the trip, I realized how lucky I was to find flight tickets after first purchasing the game tickets. I really wanted us to fly into the Dallas airport but Austin worked out as well. Upon arriving to the Austin airport we picked up our car rental from Hertz that we booked prior to arriving in Austin via Hotwire. If we were coming to Texas, we were going to see as much of Texas as possible! Road Trriiiippp!
For the first night we stayed at SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Austin. The staff here were incredible and accommodated us even though we came in really late. We’re big time late night snackers so it was even better that they had a little convenience store open. Not that many options, but better than nothing!
TIP: We parked outside the hotel under a tree, it was late at night so we didn’t think much of it.. but HUGE mistake. I wish I took a picture but come morning when we went to our car. It was full of bird poop. EVERYWHERE. Almost as if a thousand birds decided to sit on that tree overnight or early in the morning and all had explosive diarrhea all over the car. Had to open the car with kleenex and of course had to go for a car wash. Lesson here is, don’t park your car under a tree anywhere. You just never know. Best place to have breakfast in Austin is hands down The Omelettry. So many options and the service gets 5 stars. Drool over this:
We drove to San Antonio to check out the Riverwalk. If you get the chance to experience San Antonio then this is the place to be! I recommend going close to sunset so you can see everything in the day and then see the magic enfold at night. So many people, restaurants and the boat tour is a must do! We had dinner at the hard rock cafe. Which we were both not so thrilled about. It was.. ok. Food was cold and service was really slow. It made it worse that it wasn’t busy either and that was the sole reason we chose hard rock over all of the other restaurants.
Tip: If you have more than 5 days in Texas, definitely do a road trip to the big bend.
When in Texas you MUST have good BBQ.
So where can one find the best BBQ in Texas? Salt Lick my friend. I can confidently say this was the best BBQ I have ever had in my life. We went for lunch and sat at a picnic bench inside and got the most amazing service and food. If I ever go back to Texas, I’ll have Salt Lick for lunch and dinner every night I’m there. Please come to Toronto.
Our next stop was Dallas and we checked out the famous ranch where Dallas episodes were filmed called the South Fork Ranch. One of my husbands favourite shows growing up.
The Dallas skyline
In Dallas we stayed at the Omni Dalls Park West Hotel. The lobby is grand, the staff are friendly and our room was perfect! This was a great place to stay since nearby we had the football game to attend the next day.
Omni Hotel Lobby
To end our trip off, the big surprise! Awesome seats to the opening game for the Dallas Cowboys!
We thought we were early enough. Since we arrived three hours before the game started. Yet we found parking close to the end of the lot. Which was a 20 minute walk under the hot sun, no shade to the stadium. We were sweating buckets by the time we got there.
Hulk Hogan was there! Really close to where we were seated. My fave wrestler when I was a kid. Surprised? Yes, I watched wrestling.
Have you been to Texas? What are some of your favourite spots?
Sometimes all it takes to look extraordinary is a simple outfit with the right amount of accessories. When accessorizing, think of trends that represent your style. I chose fringe for this outfit. To feel comfortable in your outfit, pick brands or type of clothes that have never let you down. My go to tanks and Zara jeans.
I think some other bloggers can relate to this, but the other day someone asked me if I wanted to be a model. I asked, why? “I saw your instagram account and you have a lot of fashion/style posts of yourself…”Oh yes. Yes I do have those posts on instagram. Like most girls, I love putting together my outfits, spending time doing my make-up and doing my hair..occasionally. Oh and I failed to mention I post other stuff too. C’mon! BUT.. that doesn’t mean I’m looking to be a model. Should I be flattered? I wasn’t. I think I’ve blasted it enough online that my career is in Marketing. Has anyone said that to you before? I thought it was pretty clear that instagram is a platform for all kinds of photography. End of rant.
Back to talking about this outfit, if you haven’t heard of Tanked yet, then you need to check them out! I love simple and soft tanks. They have many cool designs to choose from as well. Supporting unique non mainstream brands makes me happy. You can find them online or you can stay tuned to my next blog post to find out where they have shops!
Speaking of supporting unique brands, BRAVE is another one of my faves. It’s a Canadian brand that I have loved for years. I’ve seen their products on people or in magazines and without being told or reading, I just always know it’s BRAVE. I’m wearing a leather bracelet by them for this ootd. Their products are quality products. I’ve had this bracelet for years and it still looks and feels brand new.
Purse: H&M // Leather Bracelet: BRAVE leather // Tank top: Tanked // Jeans: Zara //
Sunnies: Forever21 // Lip: Giorgio Armani
A little late but I just had to share my experience. After all, it’s the first time Bestival came to Toronto. In case you didn’t know, Bestival is an award-winning festival in the UK.
I actually had no idea about Bestival until I received an email notifying me that my pictures on instagram were chosen by Fido for the first ever mobile music video for one of the bands performing at Bestival, Keys N Krates.
P.S You can only view the music video via your mobile phone: http://mobilemusicvideo.ca/
The great thing about music festivals (at least Bestival) is that it’s a no judgement zone. Full of love, peace and happiness spreading people. Hippy vibes basically. We hung out at the fido booth where hammocks hung from trees along with streamers and other whimsical decorations. I heard they gave out rain ponchos on the Friday of the festival when it rained. I went on Saturday and they gave out ear plugs. Music was so loud at the festival, I imagine many people used them. Three different stages with different performances/music made it hard to choose where to hang out. I wish there had been a fixed schedule to start with. It would’ve made planning a lot easier. There was a DJ on the island beach side, surrounded by tents/cabanas. We hung out there close to sunset right before the NAS performance. The views were just so beautiful of the Toronto skyline with a pink, purple sky.
Food truck options were exhausting but our friends directed us to the best pizza I’ve ever had from a truck. We had just come back from Italy, so trust me…it was that good. They’re called pizza700 and they do private events as well.
After the most epic NAS performance, everyone made their way to the ferry docks. The exit strategy for this festival was not organized at all. It seemed like all of Toronto was stuck on that island and we were all herded together like cattle, taking small baby steps to our common destination, home. Would I go again next year? Maybe. But seriously, they need to think of another exit strategy or at least let people know of the 2 hour wait to get off the island to the city. Also, posting the performance schedules ahead of time would be nice. By ahead I mean weeks in advance, not a few days or the day before.
You could wear the most simplest outfit anywhere and add pizzazz with anything metallic. It can be in your shoes, accessories or a top. I’m not too keen on metallic pants though :”/ For a friends birthday dinner I wore minimal accessories and went super chunky with my clothes. Loose and flowy for a warm windy evening.
What I Wore: A Metallic Statment
I love boyfriend jeans, jackets and here I am wearing a boyfriend blazer! My favourite thing about this blazer is the high slit down the sides. Makes for a perfect peekaboo to a printed top or dress.
Throughout the week while surfing the internet I came across some pretty cool stories. Here’s a round up of three stories that stuck with me and I thought you should check out as well! Stories of cool innovations.
Hitchbot
A sweet loving robot from Port Credit, Ontario. With a name like hitchBOT you’ve probably already gotten an idea of what this robot does. hitchBOT has hitchhiked across Canada, meeting so many new people and taking pictures during his travels. The pictures include his location and are tweeted right away to hitchBOT’s twitter account. Pretty cool huh? You can follow hitchBOTs twitter account to see the exact location the bot left or is at. Unfortunately, hitchBOT’s experience in the US wasn’t as great as it was in Canada. Someone vandalized hitchBOT and the trip had to end early. (Check out this video about venge-BOT. A little gory but kind of funny)
So the real question here is would you pick up hitchBOT? I would in a heart beat!
VarageSale
Tami from Toronto, while on maternity leave came up with this app VarageSale. It’s a virtual garage sale that is making selling products via mobile easy! Here’s her story.
Creating an account and getting started is quick and easy. If you ask me, I’ve already made a list of what to sell and I’m excited about all the new free space I’ll have in our storage area!
RingCam
Inventors from Michigan put a tiny camera inside a ring box to capture their fiancee’s reaction. What a great idea! Would save people a lot of money on stealth mode photographers, who have to hide behind bushes to get the perfect reaction shot. Well done.
For a casual summer day out, I chose to wear something comfortable yet stylish. Comfort doesn’t always mean sweatpants and flip flops. And trust me, there’s nothing wrong with that combo, it’s my outfit every morning to the mailbox. Ha!
This summers go to outfit for casual everyday has been Maxi & Jean
Let me set the scene for you. It’s a beautiful sunny, windy day. 30 degrees with some points of scattered clouds. A walk around my mama’s neighborhood is to the starbucks down the street, lake views and semi clean sand between your toes at a micro man made beach.
Let me explain what’s going on with my hair here. It’s summer time and if I’m out under the sun for hours then I need to have it off my shoulders and out of my face. It’s all a part of the whole comfort thing. A simple pompadour front, achieved with a few bobby pins always does the trick. The rest of my hair usually goes up in a bun, ponytail, or as seen here in a low bun at the nape of my neck.
I bought this topshop clutch purse a long while back and it’s one my favourites. Big enough to keep my essentials like keys, phone, lip balm and a small coin purse/wallet. Also, small enough to not feel it on me at all and works as a perfect splash of colour for any outfit.
The maxi dress never gets old or out of fashion. At least it hasn’t for years now. So recycling your maxi dresses from previous years is totally do-able. Yes, that is exactly what I did here. This dress is from Guess and I don’t even know when.
The light jean material shirt over a maxi is perfect for going in and out of freezing cold air conditioned places. Also I’m not a fan of tube dress maxis so this covering the top allows me to wear them with comfort. Do you pair your maxi dresses with a top? A cardigan or perhaps a blazer? Tweet at me and let me know 😉
Have you gone make up brush shopping? The amount of types, sizes and brands of brushes can cause confusion to those who aren’t make up artists. During my beauty advisor days the most commonly asked questions about brushes was, “What brushes do I need for everyday make up?” and people who did their research would either ask for a specific kind/brand of brush or “is this a synthetic brush or is it made with real badger/goat/horse hair?”
To start off invest in these five essential make up brushes to create your everyday looks:
Powder brush
Your powder brush is your go to superwoman/man brush. This is the brush you take when you can ONLY take 1 brush with you. You can use it for powder (obvi), blush and bronzer. Only downfall to it’s multi-purpose function is that you need to clean this brush a lot more if you’re using colour on it. You also might be replacing this brush more often. Why? Well, to use it for blush or contouring, you’ll be pinching it (see video) and for bronzer, you’ll be fanning it out. All of this shape changing will cause the brush hairs to fall out or lose its natural shape. The best powder brush is usually fluffy and has soft bristles.
My favourite: Smashbox
Blush brush
If you’re not going to use your powder brush as a blush brush (I recommend not too, unless it’s an emergency) then this is a must have! Get one that is angled so you can apply your blush evenly above the crease of your cheekbone. Your blush brush can also be used as your contour brush if you’re on a budget and only if you’re using powder for contouring. Tip: Never attempt to use a hair make up brush for any kind of cream/liquid make up. You can kiss that brush goodbye if you do.
My favourite: Benefit Slant Powder Brush (It was meant for powder but it works perfectly for my powder blushes, especially because it’s slanted.)
Shadow brush
As long as you have a really good shadow brush you won’t need a slanted eyeshadow brush. To get that precise straight edge at the end of your lids, use tape or an eyeshadow shield to make sure you get that perfect line.
Crease brush
Your crease brush is your beauty blender for your eyeshadow. It will soften any harsh eye shadow lines made and of course do its job as creating a crease.
Concealer brush
Make sure you get a synthetic concealer brush,especially if you usually break out into pimples. Synthetic brushes also hold more concealer for quicker applications. A small pointy one will get into all the nooks and crannies near your nose, eyes and above your lip.
My favourite: Bare escentuals
So you must be wondering why I didn’t add a foundation brush to the list. Well it isn’t an essential brush you absolutely need. You CAN live without one. As long as you wash your hands and apply your foundation gently with your fingertips you’re good to go! However, I recommend the beauty blender as well. It’s so perfect for blending in your foundation without getting your fingers messy and also the sponge effect is a lot nicer than the brush. Goodbye foundation streaks/strokes.
Thermal Spring Water sprays have been around for a long time and can be used for many reasons. Walk into your local drug store and you may recognize at least four brands that carry it. Yay for selections, but which one is for you?
One thing all of these waters have in common are that they’re all connected to France.
Evian Facial Spray
Not sure why, but this brand of water spray always seemed to me as if they just wanted to bottle/market their product differently to make more money. It felt that way because they started off doing water bottles for consumption before entering the cosmetic industry.They launched a skincare line in Canada in the 90’s, but it didn’t sell and was then discontinued. I remember trying the oxgenating moisturizer. A very light refreshing gel-lotion. However, didn’t hydrate my skin for longer than a few hours.
This water spray like the others is good for touching up your make up or handy for travelling to hot places.
Tip: Spray from half of your arms distance onto your face after you’re done applying make-up, this will set your make-up for a dewy look.
Evian water starts as rain/snow at the top of the French Alps. Taking approx. 15 years for it to filter through. This may be the youngest filtered thermal water out of the four I’m reviewing in this post.
Okay true story, years ago my best friend had come over to my place and slept over for the first time since I got a kitten. The next morning when I looked at her, she was completely swollen. At the time I was a beauty advisor and knew she had reacted to something. It was definitely an allergic reaction. She had never reacted like this before and knew immediately she was allergic to cats. It was a surprise to her as well since this was her first time being around a cat overnight. So my instinct was to grab avene water and some cotton pads and start spraying her entire face that was swollen and patting it down with the cotton pad in a massage-tap like motion. To this day we laugh about the story and admire how quickly Avene water worked to soothing her puffy itchy face. I had already known how amazing this product was, but after that day I was even more in love. P.S I’m not being sponsored to say that, nor was I sent a free Avene water haha. I legit have an Avene thermal spray at home all the time and take it with me when I’m travelling. You just never know when you’ll need it.
Present day story, my 5 month old son has some baby eczema and I’ve used the spray when he has flare ups. Can I tell you, as soon as the water touches his body he goes from crying to an immediate stop. It’s like magic. And no he doesn’t react the same way if I put tap water on him. So not only is this spray great for setting your make-up, keeping you cool on hot days but also great for super sensitive, allergic and complicated skin (hypersensitive or irritated skin.) They even have a cute mini bottle for your purse or first aid kit ($7 cdn) 😉
What you can use it for:
After surgical procedures
Facial redness
Skin irritation
Sunburn
Diaper rash
After make-up removal
After shaving like a toner
After exercise
After hair removal
While travelling as a refreshing spray
What makes it different and what’s in it?
Soothing and softening
Ingredients WATER/EAU (AQUA). NITROGEN
Discovered in 1736.
This product mentions it’s suitable for babies.
Spraying nozzle sprays soft and gentle.
Tip: Puffy eyes? Soak cotton pads with the water and lay them on your closed lids for a total of 10 mins. At 5 mins spray each pad again while still on your eyelids.
This eau thermale aka thermal water spray is from the town of Vichy. Famous people who used this water: Marquise de Sévigné (who testified to the merits of Vichy water in his letters), Napoleon III, the Duchess of Anoguleme (niece of Louis the XVIII) and even Coco Chanel who, in her youth, carried water at Vichy.*
[Tweet “#DidYouKnow The Romans assigned vichy water to Venus, the goddess of beauty because..”]
because of its soothing and anti-redness properties.
I purchased this product once to be used on a trip for cooling down and make-up setting purposes. I never tried using it for soothing or anti-redness. The only memory I have of this water is spraying it on my face and getting some in my mouth. It tasted a bit metal-ly and even a bit salty. (P.S avene water doesn’t have a taste) However, that was years ago, so who knows… they may have changed the formulation or sterilized the water even more.
Contains:
Calcium
Protects skin tissues
Potassium
Contributes to the hydration of skin cells
Silicium
Densifying and regenerating
Magnesium
Stimulates the regeneration of the skin
Iron
Contributes to cellular oxidation
Manganese
Combats oxidation and stimulates healing of the skin
Copper
Presents an anti-inflammatory action
Zinc
Necessary for growth of skin cells and their healing.
Bromine, fluorine, lithium, strontium
Contribute to the reinforcement of all the particular virtues previously mentioned.
100% pure, 100% natural
Preservative free, Fragrance free
Declared a source of public interest in 1846
Hypoallergenic – Recommended for sensitive skin
La Roche Posay
The name is actually from a little village located in the center of the French region of La Vienne. Not only does this water have minerals for soothing and softening the skin but also Selenium that gives La Roche-Posay thermal spring water its antioxidant properties. Just like the Vichy spray, I purchased this once and didn’t feel like it did anything for me. I actually didn’t repurchase it because of the spraying nozzle being too strong.
What makes it different and what’s in it?
Selenium (anti-oxidant)
This product mentions it’s suitable for babies.
This spray also has a stronger jet like spraying nozzle compared to the others.
Discovered since 1617.
History: Legend has it that Bertrand Du Guesclin, high constable under the reign of Charles V, discovered the La Roche-Posay springs on his way home from Spanish campaigns at the end of the 14th century. He stopped at the spring to quench his thirst. His horse, which suffered from eczema, plunged into the water and came out cured. This is the start of the beautiful story of a water unlike any other…*
The Dallas skyline
Hulk Hogan was there! Really close to where we were seated. My fave wrestler when I was a kid. Surprised? Yes, I watched wrestling.
I think some other bloggers can relate to this, but the other day someone asked me if I wanted to be a model. I asked, 
