Delicious Food and Adorable Nephews

I've been a terrible blogger. I have all these blog post ideas but when it comes down to it, I've been too lazy to write. To make up for the lack of updates, here's some pictures of food and babies. Everyone loves food and babies!

Braised Beef Cheek Banh Mi

Nicole and I went downtown to check out Banh Mi Boys and I have to say, it's worth all the hype. We lined up for a quite a while (one line up to pay, another one to get food) but the wait was worth it. The two of us shared the Braised Beef Cheek Banh Mi ($5.99), the Pulled Pork Banh Mi ($5.49), and a Fried Chicken Steamed Bao ($3.49). We were stuffed but it tasted too good to stop eating. My favourite was the braised beef cheek, followed closely by the fried chicken. In a surprise shock, the pulled pork was my least favourite! Still pretty tasty though.

Danette and I celebrated our 23rd birthday with dinner at Mercatto. The York girls bought one of my favourite cakes: Dufflet's Lemon Raspberry Cakelet. I don't think I've ever been dissatisfied with a Dufflet cake. The girls also bought me new Toms for my birthday. Yay! My big toe was starting to peek out from my old ones.

Last Tuesday, I celebrated my birthday with my closest high school buddies at Joey Don Mills. Love those girls! Finally got around to trying the lobster grilled cheese and it was just as good as I was hoping. I also thought it was a nice touch that they offer complimentary wine and appetizers while you're waiting for a table.

Now on to what everyone is waiting for: pictures of my adorable nephew, Nathan! I think I may have visited my sister almost every day last week. Nathan's too cute to resist! He's just over 3 months now and getting so big. His smiles are the best :)

A Girl Can Dream

With no boyfriend, I don't see a wedding in my foreseeable near future but it's still fun to look at dresses. A new TLC show, I Found The Gown, premiered last week and it was crazy to see so many gorgeous dresses at discounted prices. I may have wasted a few hours browsing their website, bridepower.com....

Source: JLM Couture

Lazaro - Style 3108 - Retail price: $4000 (Discounted price: $1950)
I wouldn't say I'm a girly girl but I've always loved this style with the pleated sweetheart neckline, a soft tulle ball gown, and a gorgeous jeweled belt. It looks so pretty and romantic! You can't help but feel like a princess in a dress like this. And it would hide my thunder thighs.

Source: Christos

Christos - Brisa - Retail Price: $4000 (Discounted Price: $1800)
It's similar to the one above but with an A-line cut instead of the giant poof and added silk flowers on the straps. I think this would look so pretty for an outdoor garden or vineyard wedding paired with a headpiece like this crystal one or even a floral headpiece. Hippy chic!

Source: Allure Bridals

Allure Bridals - Style 8965
This is so different from the usual style I like. It's not strapless and it's tight fitting, but when I first saw this dress, I fell in love. The lace detail is so pretty and the back, oh my gosh the back! It's SO gorgeous. I love the keyhole back and the buttons. It's kind of got this French Parisian feel that I'm digging. The only sucky part is that the website didn't have a price listed.

Source: JLM Couture

Tara Keely - Style 2210
I don't love this dress (I think it's the cheap looking bow that's throwing me off) but I thought it was so cool that the gown detaches. It's definitely a lot easier to reuse a white mini dress than a full ball gown.

My iTunes Replacement

Source: alancross.ca

I have found my new favourite music website: Songza!

It started off with procrastination from writing my advertising/digital marketing report (only 1 more day of school, woohoo!). I was lying in bed looking for new apps to download on my iPhone and I came across Songza. I didn't think much of it when I pressed the download button but when I opened it, I thought wow, this is too good to be true. FREE MUSIC! No annoying pop-up ads, no commercials in-between songs, just straight music.

The coolest thing about Songza is the process of picking a playlist. It's called the Music Concierge and it's got a playlist for any mood you're in. Waking up, working out, studying; it's got it all. I've been listening to a lot of new music and it's been great finding songs to add to my iTunes list. It's also been fun listening to old music I forgot all about.

After a few hours of dilly-dallying, I ended up picking the Epic Film Scores playlist under "work/study (no lyrics)" and got to work writing my report. I  felt like I could conquer the world! Or y'know, at least conquer a school project. Same thing. So really, what started off as procrastination ended up motivating me to finish. Win!

Some of the playlists I've enjoyed so far:
- Songs to Raise Your Kids To
- Indie Sellouts 
- 00's Pop Divas
- The World of One Direction (just kidding...or am I?? hehe)

Music Monday: Lennon and Maisy Stella

Whenever I'm in a dance mood, I put on some Robyn. It's impossible not to move when her songs are on! One of my favourites is "Call Your Girlfriend". If you're looking to procrastinate from work or have absolutely nothing to do, check out SNL's Taran Killam re-creating the music video.

I recently found a cover version of "Call Your Girlfriend" by 12-year-old Lennon Stella and 8-year-old Maisy Stella and fell even more in love with the song. Their voice sounds so beautiful and the harmonies are gorgeous. I wish I could sing like that! It doesn't hurt that they're adorable too. And now I'm jealous of girls half my age...haha.

Olympic Eye Candy

I always forget how much I love the Olympics and yet every 2 years, I'm glued to the TV watching as much of the Olympics I can get my hands on. Suddenly I'm interested in sports I don't even know all the rules to but it doesn't matter. I get swept up in the competition so easily and when the "I Believe" song is playing and they're showing our Canadian Olympians winning medals, I always get teary-eyed. What can I say? I'm full of Canadian pride.

Besides witnessing the incredible talents of the Olympians, it helps that some of them are easy on the eyes too. Here's my Top 5 list of the 2012 London Summer Olympics.

5. Nathan Adrian - USA - Swimming
He's 6'6" and mixed (his mom is from Hong Kong). He's got a really infectious smile and a pretty hot bod. Clearly this boy is my type. Oh yeah, and he's not too shabby at swimming either.

 

4. John Herdman - Canada - Coach for Women's Soccer
Pictures don't do this man justice. He's got an irresistable English accent and it's obvious how much he loves and supports his players and how much they love him back. A bronze medal has never felt more like gold. After watching the Canadian women play and seeing him coach, I had the urge to watch Bend It Like Beckham. I still love that movie so much.

 

 

3. Adam van Koeverden - Canada - Kayaking & Mark Oldershaw - Canada - Canoeing

It's a twofer! I love that they're friends, they train together in Oakville, and they both won a medal on the same day. Adam van Koeverden gets hotter with age. And Mark looked so adorable the moment he found out he won bronze; the first in his family of Olympians! I'm thinking I need to spend some time out in Oakville at the Burloak Canoe Club...

 

2. Ryan Lochte - USA - Swimming
I know he's an idiot and I know he's douchey but I cannot resist Ryan Lochte. His dumbness is part of the charm! He's like an adorable, guillable dummy trapped in a crazy muscular body. And I'm so happy that the curly mop is off his head and the beauty of his face can shine through :P

1. Marcel Nguyen - Germany - Artistic Gymnastics
Have you ever seen a prettier face? Seriously. SO pretty! It's the magic of hapas - half Vietnamese, half German. He's also got some magical gel that keeps his hair perfectly coiffed even when he's doing crazy flips. So happy that he won silver on parallel bars and men's all around!

Special Mention: Oscar Pistorius - South Africa - Running
He got edged out of my Top 5 list but this man is such an inspiration qualifying and running in the Olympic Games. I love his name - it sounds like a legendary name for the movies. And what a cutie too :)

Future Mumford & Sons Fan

While my sister took a nap, I had some bonding time with Nathan. We listened to Mumford & Sons - I sang along while Nathan waved his arms to the music. So much for trying to get him to sleep. We did get a few yawns and droopy eyes to "Awake My Soul" and "After The Storm". Mostly though, Nathan just laid there looking adorable (and occasionally farting, haha).

Striking a pose for Yee Yee

Pretty Posters and Ugly Bugs on the TTC

The posters for Savages are totally working for me. I'm not entirely sure what the movie is about (something about drugs and two guys dating the same girl who gets kidnapped?) but I really want to see it. The posters always catch my eye on the TTC and it's nice to have Taylor Kitsch's pretty face to look at during my commute. I think part of the reason I like the posters so much is the fact that it looks like something I would see on my Tumblr dashboard. Like! I actually spent a good 5 minutes staring at it on the subway, trying to figure out the easiest way to take it out of the frame and steal it. And then the rational side of me kicked in - I can't steal a bus ad!


My Other TTC Story of the Day: 
I was sitting on the subway doing the Metro crossword and out of nowhere, this black bug fell from above me INTO MY TOP. I was wearing a maxi dress that has a low cut top and I could see the ugly little bugger between the dress and my bra. I tried to discreetly get the stupid thing out with my hand down my shirt but it moved so fast I lost sight of it. I don't know how I managed to stay calm and quiet. I was convinced it was going to somehow crawl into my underwear. I couldn't feel it moving but I started to plan a strategy of going to the washroom at Finch Station (I was only at Eglinton...) to shake that thing off my body. Then 10 minutes later with my stealth eyes, I saw the same bug on the outside of my dress down by my leg. It somehow escaped, thank God! As I was waiting for the Steeles bus at the Finch platform, I saw the same type of bug on the ground. I swear it was taunting me! The second I got home I stripped down to my undies and did a full body scan. No bugs, whew! On the positive side, at least it wasn't a bed bug. That would have been much more major and I wouldn't be sitting on any TTC seats anymore.