Lemon and Stripes

This morning I had a little more time to get ready. I didn't book a 9am client and had time to laze around the house and take a couple of pics. I bought this lemon yellow blouse at Mendochino a couple of weekends ago and love it! I have always sworn that I cannot wear yellow but this summer I have gotten quite tanned and can pull it off. Here I am wearing it under my stripped H&M blazer. I love this blazer and for some reason stuffed it in the back of my closet. You're probably thinking it's way to hot out to be wearing a blazer but my office is freezing! Last night I pulled it out along with my plain white blazer which I plan to get more wear out of.


Happy Tuesday!

That Dress!

image source

Not sure if you guys have seen this dress and if you'll like it but I think it's gorgeous. My mom and I saw it last week when browsing in Anthropologie and we both thought it was amazing. I love the outdoorsy/feminine feel of this dress and think it would be perfect for a garden wedding. I think it could also be dressed down with the right accessories. Maybe for a brunch or wedding shower? I am not sure how it would look on me because I haven't tried it on. Just as well because it's waaaaay out of my price range! You can get it at Anthropologie for $298 USD. Aaahhh! A girl can dream, can't she?

What do you think? 

six pics ...

been playing a lot of tennis ... and love it!

yogurt, peaches and honey = new fave breakfast/dessert

vibrant purple eggplant spread at Banu

the bf surprised me with Odysseo = best show ever

so obsessed with my new Sam Eldmans I had to have them in black and natural

switching up the old work makeup routine by adding some eye liner

Happy Friday!

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend. I will be camping with some friends and am looking forward to the water, trees, fresh air and of course S'MORES :) 

Something New ... and REALLY Old!

I really really love jewellery, maybe even more than I love clothing and other accessories. Even better is jewellery that has been passed down through generations. I have been fortunate to receive really, REALLY, old jewellery from both sides of my family. Lately, I have been enjoying two gold rings passed down from my mother. One of them has some writing engraved on it that I can't make out. I am really curious to find out what it says. I am also completely in love with stacked rings. I love all combinations but my fave is mixing gold and silver. I've had my eye on two silver rings at Pandora for a few months now and finally caved in today! I am enjoying mixing and matching them with my gold band and can see myself wearing them everyday. 

Monday am Za'atar

On Saturday night one of my friends stated that he would be indulging in a savoury za'atar croissant when he got home. I have a huge bottle of za'atar at home and had not yet made a zataar spread (by mixing it with olive oil) so I had to make myself some this morning. I loved my zataar croissant and am sure I will be indulging in this am treat more often!

Happy Monday

Art Class Update

Last week's art class was a lot of fun. We each picked a photo from a fashion magazine and drew what we saw. I like mine and think it turned out okay. I have difficulty drawing faces and fingers but am slowly learning. The next step is to paint the drawing which I will hopefully have completed sometime next week. 

Happy Friday!

Neon

I never thought I would love neon flowers but here they are sitting on my desk at work. They make me happy, make my office a little more fun and even better is that they last almost a month. I am loving my new spray painted crysthanamums!

Art I'm Loving: "Play Me, I'm Yours"

I am completely in love with the Play Me, I'm Yours art project that is scattered throughout Toronto. It's so wonderful to be walking around the city and hear the tune of the piano. I have seen all sorts of people playing and gathering around these pianos and it always looks like they are having a great time. Even more awesome is that each piano is painted by an artist from the 41 countries participating in the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games. I was enjoying lunch in Trinity Bellwoods Park with a friend this afternoon when I decided to finally sit at a piano and give it a try. Unfortunately I don't know how to play but that doesn't mean I can't make a jingle and share some laughs!! I love interactive (street) art and wish we had more stuff like this to stumble upon everyday :)

Feeling Creative ...

I am a creative person. As a child I was always doing crafts and using my imagination in any way possible. I am still that way but now my creativity manifests itself differently - usually in the kitchen and in the form of a D.I.Y. project. As much as I love doing creative things I feel like I don't get to do them enough! My dream would be to have a job where I would get to challenge myself creatively everyday. 

I have found the time to do something creative that I have been meaning to do for a while - TAKE AN ART CLASS! I would not say that I am artistic and am not sure if I really have much talent when it comes to painting and drawing but I figured I'd go out of my comfort zone and sign up for a class. My brother is quite a talented artist and I have always wondered what my capabilities are in this area. Unlike some of you, I never took art in high school and have no idea of what I am capable of. 

Despite feeling nervous I headed to my first class this past Saturday. The focus of the class was to learn how to draw faces - where to shade and proportions. I really learned a lot and am happy with what I drew (I still need to work on it). I don't think what I drew looks at all like the model in the magazine but it was a good effort! Prior to this class, I likely would have put the model's eyes way to close too her skull! 

I really enjoyed my class and am anxious to go back this week. I was so inspired to do something creative, I headed to The Paper Place to browse and buy some materials for a project I had in mind. 

I headed home and spent the rest of the afternoon on creative projects. Since I tend to have a racing mind and am always thinking of the million things I need to do/would like to get done I feel that having a creative outlet is vital to my well-being. It helps me relax and tune out. I love it!! 

What your favourite way to release your creativity?

Something Red

I spotted this bike when walking in Port Credit yesterday. I love its bold, bright, red colour and the cute basket of flowers. I can picture myself riding around town in this bike! I heard that the bikes are scattered around Mississauga as some sort of street art. If you know their meaning let me know. 

Btw, I have a Facebook page now! If you want to get post updates my your Facebook newsfeed just like/join my page!

http://www.facebook.com/thelilacdreams

six pics ...

Sandbanks beach ... perfection

Skinny Cow for a hot summer day

homemade guacamole for leftover tortilla chips from Friday's soiree

Sunday dinner flowers at my mom's = beautiful

heading back to the city 

homemade chocolate mousse ... yum!

Vancouver Travel Diary - Two

This post is all about the delicious, yummy stuff I at while in Vancouver. If you missed the previous post about what I did/like to do in the city click here. As I mentioned in the previous post the bf and I discovered several places we love to eat when he lived there. We went back to each and every one of these and added a few new ones to our list.

I went to the famous Japadog after seeing it on Eat St. I had the Beef Terimayo (fried onions, teriyaki sauce and Japanese Mayo). It was yummy and worth a try but I didn't love it.

I ate this delicious banitza from Acacia Fillo Bar on Denman Street. It was AMAZE!! GO THERE!

And how could I go all the way to Vancouver and not visit the famous Cupcakes store! There are a few in the city stocked with yummy cupcakes. My faves are red velvet and anything with coconut icing YUM!! Have you ever seen their TV show on the W network?

We also went back to Mink where they have the most interesting and yummy chocolates. I highly recommend the "Greetings from Canada," not just because I'm Canadian lol!

Our fave Thai place is called Sala Thai. Lucky for us our friend Pairry is Thai and is friends with the owners so we got to bypass the long line ... sssshhhhh! She swears it's the most authentic in the city.

Enjoying this light, fluffy vanilla bean cake at Thierry. This place has the most awesome deserts and fancy coffees.

Me all excited and ready to have a feast :)

I saved the best for last!!! 

If you're in the mood for a really nice dinner check out Chambar. Chamber is a Belgian restaurant owned and operated by Chef Nico Schuermans. It is my favourite restaurant ... period! I have tried to find something comparable to it here in Toronto but so far no luck. The atmosphere is great - dimly lit with red walls and great music. The food is to die for! The Le Camping desert (pictured below) is probably the best desert I have ever had. 

A great spot for brunch is Cafe Medina. It has the same owners and chef as Chambar (go figure) and is located next door to Chambar. We went there for the first time on this trip and it was soooo good! I am such a brunch person and the Belgian brunch I had there was so different from anything I have ever had before. They have the most delicious Belgian waffles served with toppings like milk chocolate lavender and white chocolate pistachio rosewater. We had one with dark chocolate and a second with salted caramel and they were sooo good that they disappeared before I could get a photo. The lavender latte I had was also yummy. To say I was in heaven is an understatement. I really wish that Cafe Medina was located in Toronto :(

Cafe Medina Fricasse: fried eggs, braised short ribs, roasted potatoes, smoked applewood cheddar

Cafe Medina Tagine: poached eggs, spicy tomato stew, merguez sausage, sundried black olives, cilantro

Chambar Fletan et Petits Pois: roasted halibut, sweet peas, saffron curry veloute, jalepeno sauce verte

Chambar Le Camping: graham cracker ice cream (soo good), salted chocolate cremeux, toasted meringue.

So there you have it. That's what we ate, which was of course a really important part of our trip. If you go to Vancouver I hope you have a chance to visit one, or two, or three of these places. 

If you have any suggestions for other great Vancouver eats please let me know.

Bon Appetit!

Eggplant Parmesan

Check out this eggplant parmesan that I have devoured a couple of times over the past month. It's soo yummy, crispy and healthy. What makes it different and extra delicious is that crushed walnuts are mixed into the bread crumbs. Another plus is that it's a great meat substitute for any meal. My mom got the recipe from the Metro paper and introduced me to it. I loved it so much I served it for guests who also really enjoyed it!

Summer Nights

So it's almost 11pm on a Wednesday night and here I am doing a last minute post. Problem is ... I am not at all tired. I just spent the last 1.5 hours playing tennis with the bf and am now feeling invigorated AND WIDE AWAKE! I have not played tennis since high school and really enjoyed it. I would like to spend many more summer nights playing tennis. 

What's your favourite activity to do on a summer night (aside from the obvious of having some food or drinks on a patio with friends)? 

Sigh ... I know I said that I would post about all the yummy stuff I ate while in Vancouver but it's my blog and I felt like writing about this instead haha! Hope you are all getting through the week okay. Even though it's a short work week, I am ready for Friday.

 I promise to follow through on that next Vancouver post ... :) 

~B

Vancouver Travel Diary - One

Alright ... so I have been back from Vancouver for almost a week and I am still reminiscing about my trip! I had been waiting for the right opportunity to visit Vancouver for about three years now and was so happy when the bf got put on a project there. Here are some of my pics from the trip .... I hope you enjoy them :)  

Canada Place; cheaping out on breakfast; Gastown; view from our hotel

Views from a bike ride along the seawall. This is one of my favourite things to do in Vancouver. There are so many great views! I wish that Toronto was as bike friendly as Vancouver :(

staying active; getting some brunch; some funny statues near seawall (English Bay); a day of hiking with our two fave Vancouverites 

     hotel view; I enjoyed several walks along the seawall; posing in front on the Olympic flame; horses in Southlands 

We did a two hour kayak in Deep Cove. It was awesome to get out on the water. We both felt that it was so peaceful and relaxing. I have always wanted to kayak in Deep Cove. Now I can check that off my list! Maybe next time some paddle boarding?

So that's basically what we did and the type of things I love to do when in Vancouver. Vancouver is a great place to do some outdoor activities and get some relaxation. We didn't have the best weather. It was raining and pretty cold for most of my trip. I left Toronto in the middle of a heat wave to wear my jacket in Van. Regardless we had great fun together and I can't wait to go again. 

One really important part of our trip that I haven't talked about is what we ate. Yup ... we ate out a lot since we had to buy all our meals. When the bf lived in Van we discovered some great eating spots and made sure to visit all of them again. Since food is super important in my life it is deserving of another post. That's what's coming up next!

Happy Canada Day and 4th of July blogger peeps!

~B