Looking for a New Book?

WELL DAMN GIRL, you are in luck. My blogging buddy - the talented and endlessly sweet Joey from Hodges Podges - has released her self-published e-book, Yeah, Maybe, and it is on HELLA SALE this week!

Yeah, Maybe, is normally $7.99 but you can buy it this week for $1.99... and y'ought'a. Here's the blurb for the book:

For quiet, reserved, and focused 15 year old Annie Mackey, school was a sanctuary.  But when her bubbly and beautiful neighborhood best friend joins her at Willow Point High for freshmen year, her world is turned upside down.
Everything Annie could count on for stability is shattered, and she's left feeling more alone than ever before.

Just when she's about to lose all hope, someone unexpected swoops in and gives her a much needed lesson in perspective.

The book is available on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1DiZ2nV (not an affiliate link)

If you are a lover of books and are looking for something new to read, why not spend just $2 to support a self-published writer with a heart of gold like Joey? DO IT.

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Afternoon Tea Service at The Urban Tea Merchant

A few weeks ago, fellow Vancouver blogger Whitney posted a recap of an afternoon she'd spent at The Urban Tea Merchant sampling some of their services. Her review made the entire idea of an afternoon tea service sound so g.d. delightful, that I immediately set to work planning a trip there myself with some other local bloggers (including Whitney!), which went down this weekend!

Part "tea salon," part cafe, and part tea retail boutique, UTM is located in downtown Vancouver at Georgia St. and Burrard St. You can go there just to grab a casual tea and some macarons, or to enjoy a full afternoon tea service, like we were doing that afternoon.

Joining me were Jayne, Britta and Whitney, and the four of us unanimously decided to order UTM's special summer service - the Pink Flamingo. Sounds amazing already right? It was:

The entire service began with an adorable little sample of one of their brand new teas - a jasmine something-or-other (I asked our waitress twice what this one was called, but then I promptly forgot what she said each time). It was SO good that I accidentally kept making audible "mmm" noises after each sip.

Next came our Pink Flamingo Cosmopolitan signature cocktails (which 3 out of the 4 of us ordered as alcohol-free mocktails instead). This was really lovely and tasted like a coconutty-sherbet, slightly-fizzy, holiday punch. It was even garnished with a small dried rose bud.

Partway through our drinks we were brought out our pots of tea. Each of our tea services came with an $8 credit towards a pot of any of their teas. There were SO many incredible-sounding teas to choose from. I debated between some minty or jasmine or fruity options before deciding on a whim to go with their Caramel black tea. SUCH A GOOD DECISION. It instantly made the air smell delicious when the pot of it was set before me on the table. I finished the entire pot, which lasted me throughout the rest of the 2-hour service.

Soon they brought out two large glass trays of gorgeous and colorful sweet and savory food and set it down in the center of our table. All four of us being bloggers, we all immediately took several pictures of the display before any of us dared to disturb the photo op by digging in.

Hanging out with other bloggers makes a mandatory food photoshoot seem completely normal, by the way. I like that.

.  check out britta's huge camera on the left  .
.  jayne is instagramming at the top of the pic and whitney is IGing from the right  .

Savory dishes on the menu for us included:

• miso-maple glazed sable fish in butter lettuce (this was my FAVORITE!)
• “Dignitary’s Tea” chicken cone (a sophisticated chicken salad in a sesame waffle cone)
• wasabi and smoked salmon with ponzu jelly (salmon folded onto a piece of brown bread with a jelly)
• “Tokyo-Singapore Tea” seared tuna tataki (like a mini-wrap of seared tuna and cabbage)

Sweet items on our menu:

• a TWG Tea “Bain de Roses” macaron (this was my first macaron ever, I'm pretty sure)
• “Pink Flamingo” panna cotta (topped with a raspberry and a blackberry)
• “Pink Flamingo” petit éclair - the daintiest little eclair I've ever seen

.  as seen on my own IG  .

As mentioned above, the sable fish in butter lettuce was my favorite. I love butter lettuce (Dave has referred to it as "the Cadillac of lettuces"), and the crispy strips that topped the fish added such a nice crunch. The rosey macaron was so unusual, in that it's sort of strange to eat something that tastes so floral, but ultimately I liked it!

On top of the drinks, tea, and food being so enjoyable, the company was fabulous as well. Whitney, Britta and Jayne are all very nice, interesting, and easy-to-talk-to ladies. (Ladies? Girls? Women? I never know what term to use to refer to a group of females in their 20s/30s. Help me.) I'm glad we got together over something so classy ;)

.  left to right:  jayne, whitney, me, britta  .
.  thanks britta for letting me steal this pic ;)  .

Oh and speaking of classy, I did don a dress for the occasion and had fun picking out some accessories to go with it:

.  blurry selfie!  .

.  lacy dress  .

.  banglez n frecklez  .

If you're in Vancouver and looking for something fancy to do with your girlfriends, you would be wise to go to The Urban Tea Merchant at some point or another. There are several different tea services you can choose from, plus a separate menu of more traditional food items you can order from.

Have you been out to "high tea" anywhere in your town?

What's your favorite type of tea to drink?

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This post isn't sponsored. I just love food.

The Sunshine Blogger Award

I was nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award by Britt over at One & Twenty! Thanks Britt :)

This is just a fun way to give a "Get it, girl!" to other bloggers, and learn more about each other in the process.

Here are the rules:

• Share 11 random facts about myself
• Answer the 11 questions that Britt posed for her nominees
• Nominate 11 other bloggers
• Write 11 new questions for those bloggers

So basically, the Ponzi scheme of good vibes. I'M IN.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to come up with random facts about myself, having already completed a 50 Random Facts About Me blog, a 13 Questions blog, and an additional 30 Random Things About Me blog. But certainly I am interesting enough to have 11 more things to say about myself, so I'M NOT SCURRED. Here we go!

11 random facts about me: 

1. I'll be turning 30 in November of this year. EEK.

2. I used to love listening to my parents' CDs when I was younger. Whattup Prince, Pure Disco, Gloria Estefan, Rod Stewart and Garth Brooks?!

3. My BABY SISTER just graduated from college last weekend. Yeah, the baby sister who I still remember being brought home from the hospital as a newborn in 1992. Oy vey. (Congrats Markie!)

4. I was such a fan of funneling beer in college that a friend of mine actually made me a homemade beer funnel for my birthday one year. As a bonus, it was also filled with Hershey Kisses at the time of the gifting. (Thanks Matt!) Fun side fact: I only funneled beers because I HATED (and continue to hate) the taste of beer.

5. I absolutely love love love old Disney movies. I will almost always be down to watch one with you, if you're interested.

6. My CD collection is alphabetized. And yes, I still have a CD collection.

7. Vancouver is the best place I have ever lived, and if it wasn't so far away from my family and friends, I might want to live here forever.

8. I like to sing and rap along to whatever is playing in my headphones while I'm walking along the streets. Sorry I'm not sorry. It's for me, not for you.

9. There was a brief month or two while I was in college that I was SERIOUSLY considering getting one of my nipples pierced. My mother nervously (and wisely) told me that I should think about it for 30 more days and then if I still really wanted to get it done, then I should. Luckily for me, the phase passed. Turns out I was just depressed! Hahahasobsobsob.

10. At one point or another, I've shared a bedroom with each of my 3 siblings.

11. This is my 305th blog post on aka Bailey. What do I win?

Here are Britt's 11 questions answered:

1. Skinny jeans or Palazzo pants?
Well I don't know what palazzo pants are, so I'm going to have to go with skinny jeans!

2. One color that completely sums up your personality and why?
I would say blue, because as vibrant and cheery as it can be, it can also be melancholy at times.

3. Yoga/Pilates or Zumba?
Hmmm this one is tough because I don't actually do any of these types of exercises. There's something strong and sexy about yoga and Pilates, but dancing is so freaking fun. Surely there's a Zumbalates class out there just for me, somewhere? What I REALLY need/want to get into is a Hip Hop Dance exercise class. That would be right up my alley... unless they weren't playing good hip hop. Then I'd need to take over the DJ booth and focus more on fixing their music situation than on dancing and sweating. I've digressed.

4. Favorite author/book?
I don't have a favorite author, but I absolutely have a favorite book. It's called It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness by Sylvia Boorstein, and it was passed along to me by the mother of one of my ex-boyfriend's over 10 years ago. I've mentioned this book on my blog a couple times before, and it's always the first book I recommend when someone asks me for a book recommendation. If you're in need of a new perspective on life, or are stuck in a rut of any sort, this VERY easy-to-read book may be a game-changer. It helped me to change the way I think about things, which is a very difficult thing to change about a person. This book is also not as cheesy as books like The Secret (which I also own, not judging).

5. Early riser or night owl?
Definitely early riser. I work from home 7:00AM-3:00PM each day, so I've GOT to be alert at that hour. On the weekend mornings, I often spend 2 or 3 hours putzing around the dark and quiet apartment by myself before David (or seemingly the rest of my apartment building) gets up. I like it; it's quiet time. You can also catch me yawning by 10pm every night, and I'd always rather be snuggling on the couch than yelling over people at a bar on a weekend evening.

6. Favorite homemade meal?
Nothing stood out to me as the "right" answer to this question. Eggs and bacon maybe?

7. Control freak or controlled chaos?
Oh god, out of these two choices I'd definitely say control freak. I have a tendency to become very anxious when things are chaotic, making me more likely to spend the time being very alert to - and trying to avoid - potential disasters, big and small. I try to think a few steps ahead of everything that's going on, and try to anticipate issues before they arise. Super fun, right? Hang out with me.

8. Favorite bin on your board?
Ooh, I like this question! Excuse me while I go find out the answer......

.... Ok, HERE is the winner, which for some reason I can't figure out how to embed here in my blog. What happened to that easy "embed" function in Pinterest?? Help me.

9. Best piece of advice you've ever received?
There are way more people in the world who like me than who don't like me, so I should focus on all the good ones and not give a shit about the others. This was a helpful thing to hear at age 17, when there was definitely WAY too much "giving a shit what people think about me" going on.

10. Favorite drink at the bar?
To avoid hangovers caused by sugary, calorie-heavy alcoholic beverages, I stick to plain vodka with soda water and a lime/lemon wedge. Also... Shirley Temples. Yes, virgin Shirley Temples. #NoShame.

11. Tupperware or mason jars?
I use both for food storage, but I suppose Tupperware is the most common go-to.

Here are the 11 bloggers I'm nominating for the Sunshine Award:

Jennie
Joey at HodgesPodges
Jenn at A Beautiful Zen
Emily at Osborne ...My Life In Words
Katie at Katie Did What
SWEATshirtDRESSshirt
Jordana at Just J
Liz at Fitness Blondie
Elena at DC In Style
Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy
Kilee at One Little Momma

And here are my 11 questions for you ladies!

1. Ice cream, frozen yogurt or gelato?
2. What's your favorite Disney movie, animated or otherwise?
3. Do you cheer for a sports team, and if so how did you pick that team?
4. What's your favorite album?
5. Are you good or bad at keeping plants alive?
6. If you had one, when did you get rid of your Christmas tree this past holiday season?
7. What are you most looking forward to doing this summer?
8. Who's your daddy?
9. What is the most-played song in your iTunes account right now?
10. What was your favorite Halloween costume that you've ever worn?
11.  Where is your ideal vacation, whether you've been there before or not?

Thanks again to Britt for nominating me for this fun Sunshine Blogger Award!

Do we have anything in common, from the 11 facts I shared above?

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A Few Good Things

Between my trip home to Massachusetts in January and the first half of my February, a stash of photos has accumulated that seemed share-worthy. Here are some highlights from the last month of my life:

This is my 3-year-old niece, Tierney. She's a sassy little peanut. 

And my Mom and Gram say that she looks a lot like 3-year-old me, which I can get down with.

This is my 5-year-old nephew Cohen. He's a little coconut sweetheart. 

He wasn't feeling very well on this particular day. 

If you must know, he threw up a few hours after this photo was taken. 

So... now you know. 

As a Christmas present, my sister Mallory and my brother-in-law Doug got the whole family passes to an indoor water park in Lake George, NY. We all went together one Saturday while I was in Mass and it was a really fun day.  Here's a look at the park:

.  so. much. fun.  .

My younger brother and sister made sure to come visit me in Pittsfield while I was home. My brother Rob works on the north shore of Massachusetts, and my sister Markie is in her senior year at Fitchburg State University. I was glad they made the trip - they are hysterical. Here are all four of the siblings together - we try to take a group picture whenever we can:

.  clockwise from top  .
.  mallory, me, markie, robbie  .

Sidebar, see that piece of artwork behind Mallory's head on the wall? I made that back in 2009! It's one of my favorite collage crafts, EVER. Here's a better look at it, 

before it went into its frame:

So once I left Massachusetts and flew cross-country into Seattle, I had to then take a bus from Seattle to Vancouver. About 20 minutes into the bus ride, as we were crossing a busy viaduct in Seattle, the bus... stopped working. It just stopped working, right there in the lane! There wasn't even a breakdown lane, so we were really just stopped ON the highway.  

Rather than relay the negatives of that whole saga, I will share with you the silver lining to being broken down on the highway for 90 minutes that day: It happened to be one of Seattle's very few sunny-ish days... and we had a beautiful view of both Bainbridge Island as well as this new Seattle ferris wheel:

Last Saturday I joined four other fabulous local bloggers for a brunch date in downtown Vancouver. Rose, Britta, Tina, Amy and I met up at Twisted Fork Bistro on Granville St. and thoroughly enjoyed our food and conversation. I love the twisted fork detail at the top of their menus...

After brunch Rose and I headed down to the Seawall and took a nice walk on the bike path in the sunshine. Until last week, Vancouver had been really dry for the last month or so, which is unusual for the winter here. It's always nice to take advantage of the sunshine when it's around... even if it means that the weather is acting quite strange and the earth is actually dying. #Oops.

So those are just a few good things that have been going on in my life this past month. I hope you're having a nice weekend!
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All of My 2013 Favorites!

Greetings from beautiful Massachusetts!!!!! I am back in Ye Olde Bay State for a visit with my family and friends, and I'm probably basking in the warmth of some of my favorite Boston buddies as you read this. I hope that's what I'm doing right now anyway... I wrote this last week ;)

So I know we're getting armpit-deep into January at this point, but FORGIVE ME because I haven't yet finished reflecting on 2013! One "bonus" aspect of keeping a blog is the ability to look back at and reflect upon what the past year has brought me. Here are some of the things I loooooved throughout 2013:

MUSIC

- Justin Timberlake. Y'all. JT came back with a vengeance in 2013! After not having released an album since 2006, he released not one but TWO albums last year. The 20/20 Experience, Parts 1 and 2, were both such fantastic additions to my 2013.  And to keep that theme rolling into 2014, I just got to see him in Vancouver on January 16! (If you're new to my blog, I highly recommend that you acquaint yourself with my long, storied history with Justin Timberlake here.)

- iTunes Genius. My homeboy iTunes Genius helped me further appreciate my music library this past year by pulling together playlists that make me say UHHHHHH. If you're not familz, Genius is a free feature in iTunes that acts like Pandora, except it uses your own iTunes library to build its playlists. So you choose a song in your library (preferably a good one) and Genius creates from your music a list of songs that are similar in style/sound to the song you've chosen. It's brilliant, really. Guess that's why they call it Genius.

FITNESS

- Forever21 sports bras. If you've got big boobs, this will not apply to you, sawry. But if you've got a less-substantial chest that doesn't require a ton of support, the selection of sports bras that Forever21 started releasing in 2013 are SO CUTE.  I've got a handful of these low-impact sports bras in all different colors - they're all super bright and cheerful, and they make me feel extra sassy when I wear them on a hike or to the gym. They're only about $10.80, to boot! So if your fitness routine needs a boost with some boob swag, try these sports bras.

- My Nike In-Season TR2 sneakers. Just like the fun-colored sports bras, buying these trainers in February 2013 just made me feel a little bit more put-together at the gym. They are more stream-lined in their design than the bulky Nike running sneakers I'd been wearing prior to these - not to mention they're better on my knees when I'm strength-training.

- These mountains! Fitness doesn't really get more fun or fulfilling than hiking up a mountain or through a beautiful forest... or doing both at the same time. I got to do it a TON in 2013! The mountains around BC/Vancouver offer endless possibilities for trails and adventures.

.  click for a larger view!  .

FOOD

- Chicken tacos from LOCAL. LOCAL is a neighborhood bar and grill - just a stone's throw from my Vancouver apartment. Its proximity makes it a go-to on nights that we are feeling lazy and don't want to cook. The chicken tacos at Local are BONKERS, guys. So good! They use crispy chicken tenders, shredded cabbage, a DELICIOUS pico de gallo, sour cream, and finish it off with a lime wedge. Just delish. I'm a little embarrassed at how often I'm at LOCAL for a pick-up order of chicken tacos...

- Ben & Jerry's Phish Food Ice Cream. Dave got me into this one. I've obviously always been obsessed with ice cream in a sort-of-problematic type of way, but Phish Food was never a go-to choice for me. That's all changed - we definitely pick up a pint of it once every few weeks now. Here's the description from the Ben & Jerry's site: "Chocolate Ice Cream with Gooey Marshmallow Swirls, Caramel Swirls & Fudge Fish." The fudge fish are the best part, if you ask me! #NOM!

NAIL CARE & POLISHES (I thought these deserved their own section!)

- Beware by Pure Ice. If you've been following my nail polish blogs for awhile, you might have noticed that I use Beware a lot. It's a wonderfully glittery silver polish that goes great with/over so many other polishes. You can use it as a silvery top coat, or make it really opaque in 3-4 coats for a totally blinged-out look. I'm actually running low on mine and need to find a place around here to buy Pure Ice polish - stat!

- Snow Me White by Sinful Colors. This is my go-to white nail polish. I love it because it's got no shimmer in it whatsoever - just straight up white, no bull. Sometimes I go through long periods of using white polka dots in my nail art (like here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), and sometimes I need a nice white to use as my base when I use neon polishes. Snow Me White is super helpful for all of these things, and I recommend that you keep a few bottles of it on-hand yourself.

- Revlon Cuticle Softener. I picked up this blue bottle back in the spring and am running out of it at this point. It helps to soften up my cuticles before I push them back, and it's just a nice start to my weekly manicure routine.

- Sally Hansen Cuticle Cream. I bought this waxy "cream" during the same shopping trip as the cuticle softener. It's been a nice enough product that there's been no need for me to try another brand yet, and I'm finally hitting pan on the bottom of this tiny pot as well. This particular cuticle cream was a great help for me in 2013, as I learned how to take better care of my cuticles. I consider it my "beginner" cuticle cream because it was so accessible and affordable. If you have a favorite cuticle cream, I'd be interested to hear about it below!

BEAUTY

- Davines Mellow Anti Breakage Lustrous Conditioner.  I first posted about this conditioner in October, but I actually tried it much earlier in the summer of 2013 after receiving a sample of it from my hairdresser. Guys... this stuff is my new secret weapon in hair care. It makes my hair smooth, soft, touchable, shiny, healthy and - MOST importantly - hydrated! Before buying this conditioner, my hair was really shitting the bed. Super dry, breaking, dull. NO MORE. This conditioner was definitely worth the $30 price tag - especially since I only use it once or twice a week, so it's nowhere near being done yet. Get some yourself. Right now.

- Maybelline's The Rocket Volum' Express Mascara. The Rocket became my everyday mascara in the latter half of 2013. While it is a bit hard to remove, the chunky shape of the brush makes it a decently clump-free mascara. This product made it onto a LOT of people's favorites lists in 2013... I'm definitely not the only one singing its praises!

- Revlon ColorBurst lip gloss in Sunbaked. This gloss was in my swag bag at #blogvancity in September, and it's a standout product from that huge bag of goodies. (I wrote more about it here). It's a flattering, natural-but-better color on me and makes my entire face look more "put together" when I wear it. The formula is creamy and nicely pigmented, and I'm also a fan of the doe-foot applicator.

- St. Ives Green Tea Scrub. There might be mixed reactions to this because some people swear that any type of St. Ives exfoliating scrub is going to rip up your delicate skin with its harsh/sharp exfoliating grains. However, I've found this particular scrub to contain much smaller/finer exfoliating grains than the other St. Ives scrubs, so it's become the go-to exfoliating scrub for my fragile little face. As a bonus, this green tea scrub also contains salicylic acid for blemish control.

TECHNOLOGY 

- Sony CyberShot DSC-WX50 16.2 MP Digital Camera. Technically I got this in late 2012 (a birthday present from David!), but I used the bejesus out of it in 2013. My little digital camera comes with me just about every time I leave the house nowadays, and it's a great tool for helping me improve my photo composition skills. It's got lots of different settings to help you take juuuust the right kind of photo - whether it's landscape, food, water, snow, black & white, hand-held, low-lighting, moving/action... If you're like me and aren't savvy enough to have a DSLR, this CyberShot camera is a nice way to get a grip on your photography game.

- FaceTime. Living across the country from my family and best friends, I'm ultra super thankful for FaceTime. It's infinitely more reliable and user-friendly than Skype, and it's allowed me to chat with my young nephew and niece in Massachusetts much more frequently. My sister Mallory probably gets irritated at the amount of times she sees an incoming FaceTime request from me, but being able to see and hear the kids has really made it a bit easier for me to be so far away from them.

- Hola app for Internet browsers. My coworker told me about this and it's been a serious game-changer the last month or two. Yeah that's right - I learned about it at the tail-end of 2013, and it STILL made a 2013 Favorites list. That's how amazing this is. Hola is a browser add-on that allows you to change your browser's "country," so to speak. For example, here in Canada there are a ton of websites that don't allow us to stream certain content. You know the old "The uploader has not made this available in your location" type of problem. Hola allows you (in most cases) to bypass that block - essentially allowing you fuller access to the Internet. It's opened up all sorts of options for us, including way more streaming Netflix options!

BLOGS

There are a ton of blogs that I enjoy thoroughly and read multiple times a week, but I've noticed that my very favorite blogs are the ones that stimulate my creativity - the ones that inspire me to think outside of the box, to notice the beautiful things around me, to create something myself. The ones that make me wish I owned a house and a bottomless bank account to make all of my creative dreams come to life. The ones that inspire me to purchase Photoshop or cover a canvas with thick, dimensional acrylic paint. The ones that make me want to compose better photographs... and maybe even be in front of the camera more myself.

- A Beautiful Mess. This blog (and the next one) are not "news" to anyone, really. They're staples in the "amazing, successful blogs" category these days. Emma and Elsie (and their expanding team of contributors) do not live the same life that I live - they don't do the same things or drink the same drinks or eat the same food that I do. They're two of the most adorable hipster sisters you'll probably ever find, and (most importantly) they've got quirky handwriting. Everyday is a new creative adventure for these two, and I'm happy to tune in to anything they pull out of their Internet hats... even if there's no chance in hell of me being able to ever bake/cook/host a party like they do.

- Young House Love. You don't need to own a house in order to find this family lovable and inspiring. Injecting some life and love into each house they live in, John and Sherry Petersnik have vision, people. They can somehow look at a space that's covered in old rugs and retro blue trim (SO MUCH BLUE TRIM)... and see all of its potential for beauty. You've GOT to see how they've been renovating/re-envisioning the house that they moved into mid-2013. I'm perpetually astounded at the improvements that they can make to their home with some white paint and some careful saving. Please, please, please - for the love of god - go look at what they're doing. Spend a few months with these guys and you'll NEVER be able to walk into an old house and look at it the same way again.

- D E S I G N L O V E F E S T. I found this blog quite late in 2013, but it's quickly become one of my favorite visual stimuli. It's like color juxtaposition pornography. Every single thing that gets posted on this blog is just... beautiful and creative and so inspiring. It makes me want to study design more seriously... and be friends with everyone who is involved in this website.

- The Nail Files. This is actually a linkup party, not a blog. I participated in this Friday nail polish linkup for most of 2013 and intend to continue participating until someone pulls the plug on the thing entirely. It's helped me to meet some really lovely women across the Internetz - like Jennie (the hostess!) and Joey - and kept me on track with posting a nail polish blog every single Friday - come hell or high water.

PHEW. Well we got through it, guys! Those are all of my favorites from 2013... or at least all the ones I could think of.

Did any of your favorites make the list?

Do you ever look back at your old blogs to remember and reflect on all of the things you were up to a year ago?

If any of the above items tickled your fancy or piqued your curiosity, you can browse through them here:

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{Linking up with Beauty Buzz and What I Learned Wednesday}

This is not a sponsored post, but it does include some affiliate links. See my disclosure statement here.

I Keep Winning Stuff! Celebrity Pink Jeans, Movie Tickets, Disney

Ok guys - there's something in the water. I swear that I went 27 years without ever winning anything, ever. Contests that I "couldn't possibly" lose, raffles, lottery tickets... you name it, I've been busy not winning at it for 99% of my life.

Then, sometime around the holiday season in 2011, I randomly decided to enter a raffle as I was entering a Wal-Mart, where there was a table set up by a few high school girls who were raising money for their cross-country skiing team. Considering it more of a donation than a chance to win something, I bought two raffle tickets from the girls - and then completely forgot about it. A couple of weeks later I received a phone call out of the blue, letting me know I'd won! Whaaaat?!?! It wasn't even the prize that was the most exciting part - although the woven basket containing gourmet nuts, chocolates, and an amazingly soft fleece blanket was quite lovely. The best part about it was finally feeling the excitement and the "Me???" feeling that accompanied being the lucky one chosen as the winner of something.

Since then, there was another sizable lull in my winning of things, but I'd been instilled with a little bit more hope about the prospect of it happening again in the future. Bitten by the "I could actually win" bug, if you will.

Then at my friend Jenna's early August wedding, I caught the bouquet. It practically came soaring right at me! Hoozah!! #AnotherWin.

Here's where the real winning spree starts:

Just a few weeks later, after entering a giveaway on a blog that I (again) completely forgot about afterwards, I was contacted via email by Jessica and told that I'd won some Celebrity Pink Jeans. Jeans!!!! I love jeans! And the best part is that I thought the prize was one pair of jeans, but apparently it was three pairs! The "extra" two pairs seriously made my day! I won these on August 26th and received them on October 7th:

Here I am rocking the blue pair:

Next on September 29, I was alerted by Nina (from the blog Nina on the Moon) that through a giveaway on her blog I'd won two tickets to an advanced screening of the new Romeo and Juliet movie! Whaaat! So the next day, I bribed David with theater chocolates and got him to join me for a date at the ScotiaBank Theater in Vancouver for a night of modern day Shakespeare. Thanks Nina!

The day after Nina alerted me to my winning her movie tickets, what the heck do you know it - I got another email from another blogger telling me I'd won another giveaway!! YOU KIDDIN ME?! AM I GETTING "WIN" PUNK'D?

This time it was the diamond edition of Disney's The Little Mermaid from Sabrina over at the blog The Eclectic Grab Bag. Now, if you know me then you know I'm obsessed with Disney movies (the older ones - new ones do nothing for me). It was already on my radar that The Little Mermaid was the movie that Disney was releasing from their elusive "vault" this year. Suddenly being handed this gem on a silver diamond platter nearly made me pee my pants. Thanks for making me nearly pee my pants, Sabz!

.  wouldn't you think my DVD collection's complete?  .

So I don't know why Lady Luck is suddenly on my side, that feisty little sass-pot. But I now know this with certainty:  If winning random stuff online is wrong, I don't wanna be right. Now excuse me while I go sing "Part of Your World" in the shower for the next month.

Have you won anything cool in a blog giveaway? Brag to me about it below!!

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Sweat Round Up of the Week + Other Recent Things

Happy lazy, football Sunday! Are you guys watching any games today? I'll be cheering on the Patriots this morning/afternoon while I do some blogging and photo-editing. Also, "Go find Kanye West" is (literally) on my list of things to do this weekend, because he's performing in Vancouver tonight. I didn't get tickets to the show, but perhaps it's not too late to scoop some? That might end up on my Sunday to-do's as well.

I wanted to do another Sweat Round Up, because it's been a few weeks. After another lapse in exercise, due at least in part to me coming down with a 3-day mystery illness the week before last, I stepped things up a little bit again this week. Here's what I've been up to in the gym - and you can click on any of the exercises for a video demo of each one, if you're curious:

10/13 (lower body and core)

5 mins elliptical (1/2 mile)

2x:

  12 deadlifts, 12.5 lbs each hand

  15 lying overhead raise + double crunch, holding 5 lbs

  20 calf raises, 12.5 lbs each hand

  30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 12.5 lbs

  12 squats, holding 25 lbs

  50 plank knee to elbow

10/16 (upper body and core)

10 mins biking, 2.16 miles

12 bent over rows, 12.5 lbs each hand

30 weighted v-sit twist, holding 12.5 lbs

12 overhead press, 12.5 lbs each hand

30 Russian get ups, holding 5 lbs

15 deltoid flys, 5 lbs

15 deltoid raises, 5 lbs

30 weighted crunches on exercise ball, holding 12.5 

12 tricep kickbacks, 5 lbs each hand

30 cobras

12 lat pulldowns, 30 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 40 lbs

12 lat pulldowns, 50 lbs

10/17 (lower body and core)

10 mins elliptical, 1 mile

- 40 bridges

- 10 single leg hip lifts on each leg

5 Russian get ups, 5 lbs each hand

20 deadlifts, 15 lbs each hand

1:00 plank

15 goblet squats

1:00 plank

30 side lunges + plyometric pushoff (each side)

1:00 plank

30 jump squats, alternating wide and close stance

1:00 plank

I've also been doing a lot of walking around Vancouver lately, admiring the changing fall colors around my neighborhood and the city, as well as ticking things off my Fall To-Do List.

.  dem colors doe  . 

This past Friday night I went into Vancouver's Yaletown neighborhood for dinner at the Cactus Club Cafe with two of my new blogging buddies, Rose and Lauren. [Technically, Lauren is a YouTuber, but it sounded weird for me to refer to them as my "new internet friends" (right?) (#catfish), so "blogging buddies" has both alliteration and non-weirdness in its favor.] It was a nice opportunity to dress up in some heels, have some girly drinks (I had the Cohiba - vodka and soda mixed with muddled blackberries, lemon, and spearmint), and get to know each other some more.

Before dinner, Rose and I had fun snapping some pictures in an alley across the street from the restaurant. Rose keeps a style blog with lots of outfit pics, so I played photographer and took a bunch of pictures of the adorably classy dress she was wearing. She had some fun directing me in a few pictures too:

.  my dad would definitely have a sassy comment to make about the big rips in these jeans  .
.  come to think of it, so would my boyfriend  .

.  love these bewties  .

What have you guys been up to this weekend? Get in any workouts or spontaneous alley-way photo shoots? TELL ME EVERYTHING!

And on a final (awesome) note, today is my sister Mallory's 30th birthday!!! It hurts my heart a bit that I can't be in Massachusetts celebrating with her for this big birthday, but I sent her something special that hopefully will help bridge the distance - if only in spirit. Happy birthday Schmal, I love yoooou!!!!

{Linking up with Some Things I'm Loving} 

My First Blogger Event: Blog and the (Van)City

I started blogging almost a year ago and have felt for a long time like I wanted to be part of a blogging community here in Vancouver. I knew there were other Vancouver bloggers around - this is a pretty big and happening city, after all - but I couldn't fiiiind them. Where the heck was everybody?? #OllyOllyOxenFree!!

So when a month ago I caught wind of the #blogvancity hashtag that was popping up on Twitter (thanks to the retweet account @Vancouver_rt), I was excited and curious. What the heck was #blogvancity? How could I be a part of it? Well I had no idea, but the September 14th event went straight onto my calendar anyway.

After a few weeks and plenty of tweets exchanged with two of the event organizers, Sheila and Jordana, I received my invite for the event, formally called Blog and the (Van)City. Here's a bit of the event description:

"Blog and the (Van)City is a mini-conference designed to build a community of fashion and beauty bloggers that will support and learn from each other."

Yup, sounded like exactly what I had been looking for!

Before continuing, I should point out that I don't really classify myself as a "beauty blogger." In fact, it's quite hard for me to classify myself as anything, given that I blog about nail polish, food, hiking, mountains, restaurants, thrift shopping, workouts, music, Vancouver, my travels, and just about any other random thing I feel like posting. But I do post a nail polish blog every Friday, which technically makes about 1/4 of my content "beauty" content. Thus, here I was on the guest list for a beauty and fashion blogger event. ;)

So last Friday afternoon (Friday the 13th... ooooh spooky) I had the idea to make my own business cards for the event - and that's how I spent my Friday night and Saturday morning:

.  biznasssss cards  .

On Saturday early afternoon, I headed to Burnaby to Metropolis at Metrotown, where Blog and the (Van)City was being held in the Sears Community Room.

And here is what I very hastily applied to my nails on my way out the door to the event - China Glaze's Recycle, with a couple coats of Love & Beauty's Crystal Silver on my ring finger for some extra sass:

.  literally took this pic in the car on the way to metrotown  .

I arrived to a room full of fabulous looking ladies milling around, as well as a spread of sushi, fruit, veggies, lemon squares, sparkling apple cider and soda:

.  fewd and treats  .

There was also a Lush demo table set up, with both Ocean Salt and their Rose Jam shower gel being demo'd by some friendly Lush employees. (Sidebar - is anyone else certain that there is no nicer person on the planet than a Lush employee?? They're consistently amazing humans.) There was also a variety of Lush products available for sale there - like bath bombs, soaps, massage bars, and lotions.

.  lush brings all the boys to the yard  .

I met about 20-25 other bloggers before hearing from the panel of experts who answered all of our questions about how to work with brands or companies, how to maintain a blogging schedule, and what to do when we run out of ideas!

The panel members included:

• Cynnamon Schreinert - Associate at Hartley PR, who was there on behalf of Hartley PR's client, London Drugs
• Brandi Halls - Director, Brand Communications, Lush North America
• Sarah Murray - Style Director, Fashion Capsule Communications (a PR agency for local fashion boutiques)
• Alison Leong - local blogger at Alison-Elle.com
• Jordana - local blogger at JustJ.ca

It was a really valuable Q&A session - everyone had fascinating questions and ideas, and it was good to hear advice about keeping a blogging schedule or the best way to approach a brand about sponsoring posts. I also learned some new tricks about how to alert a brand that you've written about them. I've already begun to put some of this new knowledge to use, so the event was definitely beneficial for me.

On top of learning a lot about "professional" blogging, meeting a ton of other Vancouver bloggers was seriously just what I needed. I already feel more like a part of a community - several of us have been tweeting with each other this past week and getting familiar with each other's blogs. At the end of this blog, I'll include a list of all the bloggers (and vloggers!) that were in attendance at the event, so YOU can check them out too!

Before we all left for the afternoon, we were completely showered with swag. This was my first blogging event, so swag is definitely new to me. I... didn't mind it. Here's the rundown on the gewdies:

Nail polish duos from China Glaze's Fall 2013 Autumn Nights Collection, c/o Nail Polish Canada: 

.  yesssss  .

And a whole buttload of Revlon, Almay, Marcelle, and Annabelle products:

My swag bag contents:

.  ALL MINE  .

Products included:

• Pink-A-Boo Eyeshadow Quad from Annabelle
• Revlon Crazy Shine Nail Buffer
• 3 pots of Almay Eye Makeup Remover
• China Glaze - Kiss My Glass
• China Glaze - Goldie But Goodie
• Marcelle DD Cream (really excited to try this!)
• Revlon Colorstay Smoky Shadow Stick (w/ bonus Liquid Eye Pen)
• Revlon by Marchesa Nail Art 3D Jewel Appliques
• Revlon ColorBurst lip gloss in Sunbaked
• Double Precision Liquid Eyeliner Pen from Marcelle (double-ended with a thinner eyeliner tip on one end and a thicker tip on the other end)
• 2 Anabelle Retractable Eyeliners - One in Jet Black and one in Twilight (greyish purple)
• Marcelle Waterproofing Mascara Top Coat (never even heard of such a thing!)
• Revlon ColorStay Ultimate Suede lipstick in the shade Runway
• Revlon File 'n Peel 6-in-1 Nail File (you peel away old layers to reveal new ones as needed)
• Alchemy eyeshadow trio from Annabelle
• Revlon Chalkboard Nail Art
• Almay Longwear & Waterproof Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
• 15% off coupon for Jukeboxprint.com (where I can print real business cards)
• There's also a little square blush quad but it doesn't have any brand name on it at all, so I don't know what it's called or who it was made by!

In upcoming posts, I'll write more about individual products that I'm using/enjoying out of all this swag. The nail products are the most exciting for me, as you can imagine. But I've also been trying out the makeup removers and the lip products, and am totally intrigued by the whole idea of a DD cream...

One of the cooler parts of this entire experience was seeing my blog name in writing:

Hopefully there will be another blogger event with this group of ladies in the not-so-distant future. Even if there isn't an organized event soon, I hope to be able to meet up in Vancouver with some of the ladies I met and do some shopping or spend some blogging time together in a coffee shop.

Sidebar - I just added Google Friend Connect to the right column of my blog (um, weren't they supposed to be doing away with GFC back in July?), so if you aren't following me there yet please do connect and add me to your reader reel :) You can also follow me on Bloglovin by clicking the button at the bottom of this post.

Oh and thank you to Raine over at Spuddy Buddies for the kind words and shoutout in your Blogs I'm Loving post on Friday. It was a very nice thing for me to read, and I really appreciate your taking the time to read my blogs... That last bit goes for all of you who have made it to this line. ;)

Find me on Facebook! ~ Holla @ me on Twitter ~

{Linking up with Miscellany Mondays and Tell Us Tuesday}

The other #blogvancity bloggers/vloggers:

Alison -http://www.alison-elle.com

Amy -http://eyeshadowaddict.squarespace.com

Angela - http://dowantmakeup.ca

Ania - http://www.youtube.com/user/annabellesmakeup

Ashley- http://makeupkismet.blogspot.ca/

Carolyn -https://www.youtube.com/makeitupcanada

Denise - http://www.denisechavez.com/

Jayne - http://www.cosmeticproof.com/

Jenelle - http://www.kittenonthecatwalk.com

Jordana - http://justj.ca

Lauren - http://www.youtube.com/makinguplauren

Li Lian - http://shortwidenails.blogspot.ca/

Lydia - http://www.perfectlyimperfectbeauty.com/

Mikayla - http://www.youtube.com/user/MissMikaylaG

Nina - http://www.ninaonthemoon.com/

Rosie - http://style-love.blogspot.ca/

Sarah - http://cooperscloset11.blogspot.ca

Sellina - http://www.thelookoutblog.com

Sheila - http://maddyloves.com

Viv - http://lifeinthecity.pixnet.net/blog

Whitney - http://macaronsandmischief.com