Friday 29 July 2016

Gurly's Life | Be YOU!

Sarah Bryn definitely captured me as a person in this picture!
Hello Hello Dolls,

At 22 years old, I am still growing as an individual and discovering who I am as a person. I continue to find the things that truly make me happy. Unfortunately, I was not always myself as I was living by the expectations of others like my parents, peers, employers and mentors. Part of it was due to being an impressionable young girl that felt pressured to fit in with society. I was an extremely self-conscious timid girl who was super awkward and constantly worried about pleasing those around me. The goals I was pursuing in life were not necessarily my own, but those pushed upon me by others. 

Over the years, I finally got the courage to by ME!!! I have broken out of that timid shell and am letting my bubbly - slightly hyper crazy - personality shine. I love being a ball of uncontrollable energy that is contagious to those around me. But most importantly, I am not letting others dictate who I am as a person.

I have found this is the most happiest I have been in years as I am living my life the way I want to. I cannot express how proud I am to have found the courage to be myself. I was afraid that I would not be liked by others as much, but I was delightfully surprised that those around me actually love me for who I REALLY AM. The best part, I am no longer worried about pleasing those around me. 

What is being "yourself?" This is definitely a subjective topic, but for me, it is who we naturally are when we have our guard down and grandioseness

I encourage you to be like an innocent child. Live in the moment as they do and find the things that are aw-inspiring to you. Children have yet to succumb to social pressures of fitting in with society; therefore, children are definitely their true natures as they do not care what others think of them! 

Be silly, be loud, be yourself! I find it frustrating how many of us on a day to day basis suppress our true selves in fear of what those around us would think. When my friends point out that I am embarrassing them by being silly, I tell them that Vancouver is a busy city and no one has time to stop and judge me on the street. In fact, I may have just made the passerby's day by twirling in my dress down the sidewalk. 

The negative thoughts in our head definitely hinder our true selves from shining. This is definitely an outcome from worrying about how you are being perceived by others. Follow your intuition and find the positives in your day. You do not have an obligation in pleasing others. I always felt that my parents and friends happiness was more significant than my own. 

It does take some time to find who you are as a person. As I said earlier, I am still growing each and every day. I am always learning more about myself, but I would not have if I did not choose to be myself. It can be very challenging because we are so concerned about what others think about us. 

This was a tough post to write because we all are unique with diverse experiences. The first step I think in being yourself is choosing to be yourself :) the rest is following your own instincts and pursuing what makes you happy! 

BE YOU

BYES

Photograph by Sarah Bryn http://www.bryncreative.co  @BrynCreativeCo

Monday 25 July 2016

Iced Delights | Beta 5 S'mores Sundae

Beta 5 Ice Cream Social | S'mores | July 23, 2016
Hello Lovelies!

Another start to a long busy week, but the its excitement of Beta 5's Ice Cream Socials are what keep me going! This past Saturday, Beta 5 gave us a fabulous childhood inspired sundae, S'mores! 

No summer camping trip is ever complete without huddling around a crackling fire and roasting marshmallows to make gooey warm s'mores. In fact, I found s'mores to be the best part of camping! Haha and many times, we would make s'mores in our backyard fire pit because it is just that good!

I also need to give an applaud to Beta 5 for finally making me like chocolate ice cream. I know, gasp! I am not a big chocolate ice cream lover, yet I am absolutely obsessed with chocolates! 


Love Beta 5's S'mores ice cream, but hating those fingerprints on the chocolate shards :( 
The S'mores features a scoop of 66% dark chocolate ice cream, a scoop of ceylon cinnamon ice cream, graham cracker macarons, toasted marshmallows garnished with vanilla chantilly, chocolate sauce and dark chocolate shards. Perhaps the reason why I liked this chocolate ice cream was due to it being made from quality 66% dark chocolate. 

The graham cracker macarons were super yummy. The macaron cookie was crisp versus the usual texture of chewy. The toasted marshmallows were alright. I think Goodmallows definitely makes better mallows! 

My favourite part of this sundae was actually the ceylon cinnamon ice cream. Ceylon is a type of cinnamon that is native to Sri Lanka and is far more expensive than other cinnamon varieties. I actually thought ceylon was a type of tea until I googled it for this post! The flavour of this ice cream was fragrant and really complimented the robust 66% dark chocolate. 

This is totally random, but it was really annoying that the chocolate shards had fingerprints on them. It is frustrating when I am photographing the sundae because the fingerprints definitely detract from the sundae itself. I realize that the Beta 5 team is assembling the sundaes quickly to keep up with the incoming orders. Maybe they can pick up the chocolate shards by the edges? Super random and I am not a germaphobe. It just bothered me when I was trying to take pictures of the sundae!

Though Beta 5 has gotten me to like chocolate ice cream, I definitely still prefer fruit ice creams and sorbets! I hope Beta 5 does a mango sorbet sundae this summer as mango is my favourite fruit! I did get a chance to speak with Adam Chandler, the fabulous pastry chef behind Beta 5's creations and expressed my love of mango! Fingers crossed!

BYES

Wednesday 20 July 2016

Latte Moment | The "Rainbow" food trend



Hiya Dolls!

I just need to talk about this new emerging food trend - Rainbow. For some reason, rainbow coloured foods have been popping up all over my Instagram feed and I personally find it a bit weird. 

You are probably aware of Scot Rossilo's Rainbow Bagels from the Bagel Store, in Brooklyn New York. I want to say it Bagel Store was the first shop to do rainbow coloured savoury food. Their rainbow bagels are served toasted with birthday cake funfetti cream cheese spread. Not only can you find these bagels a swirl of all the colours of the rainbow, but you can also place special orders for specific colour palettes. 

The Rainbow Bagels were just the beginning because you can now get a rainbow grilled cheese from Kala Toast in Hong Kong. They use multi coloured slices of cheese to create their multi-coloured ooey gooey childhood treat. 

If you are heading down to Las Vegas, Nevada, you may come across the Rainbow Latte. Barista, Mason Salisbury, uses food dyes in steamed milk to create his complex rainbow latte art at the Sambalatte Coffee Shop. Though he began using food colouring as a visual training tool when teaching new barista's how to create steamed milk art on lattes, his pictures of the finished product were widely loved on Instagram, garnering him 17,000 followers. With the profound public interest in his work, Sambalatte Coffee shop has now made rainbow lattes part of their permanent menu. 

I am in love with Rosemary Rocksalt's Motto! 
I am not going to lie, the Rainbow bagels, grilled cheese and lattes are instagram worthy; however, I personally would not consume any of these treats. We have become accustomed to sweet treats being various colours of the rainbow generally achieved by the addition of artificial food colours (AFC). Synthetically derived AFC's are required to be batch tested and regulated by both the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO). The majority of synthetic AFC's are developed from petroleum and coal. Unlike synthetically derived AFC's, naturally food colours do not require batch testing for safety. 

Lately, I have been trying to make a more conscious decision in what I put in my body and to eat less processed food. True, The Bagel Store makes their bagels from scratch with quality ingredients in-house at their Brooklyn location, but why add in all that food colouring?! Many are allergic to certain colours as well, it has been argued that food colouring could allegedly lead to chronic diseases. As well, if you think these are natural colours, I am sorry to say these are not. Only synthetic food dyes food are capable of creating such intense vibrant colours that remain bright after cooking. 

I feel we are so sensitive about preservatives and the use of pesticides, hence the increase in "organic" produce and food in our super markets. However, we seem to not consider AFC an additive. I feel this way because sweet foods tend to always have AFC's in their frosting, or batter or custard or sugar or chocolate. AFC's are commonly used in the pastry industry to make the pastries more aesthetically pleasing. I think the best example would be macarons. Vancouver is obsessed with macarons and with the opening of Laduree this spring, I have been seeing more and more macarons on my instagram feed. Even though Laduree may use quality ingredients, they add AFC's, so consumers can visually associate the flavour of the macaron. For example, the raspberry macarons are coloured pink, but it can be argued that pink can be achieved from the bright berry itself. However, the bright blue Marie Antoinette tea-flavoured macaron colour is most definitely from the addition of synthetic food dye. 

The trend of now using AFC's to create "rainbow" inspired savoury food is only gaining enthusiasm across the globe. Recently, Rosemary Rocksalt Bagel Shop has begun serving up their own rainbow-hued bagels. This bagelry has been serving up Montreal style doughnuts in North Vancouver for 4 years and opened up a second location on Main St in Vancouver just last year. These bagels are boiled in honey water prior to being baked in a  stone-hearth style oven to achieve the perfect chewy texture.   

For research purposes, I picked up the infamous rainbow bagel from Rosemary Rocksalt, but could not get past the crazy colours. How is a neon coloured bagel normal?! Haha I actually ended up passing it over to my friend who happily obliged to being the official taste tester. The Rainbow Bagel is simply the plain bagel with lots and lots of bright food colouring! Haha just was really weird! 

This blogpost was solely my own opinion. I thought I would talk about this interesting new rainbow coloured savoury foods trend. Personally, I prefer no added colouring in my food because it is not necessary! One of the reasons why Bella Gelateria is my favourite cold confectionary is because James Coleridge does not use any food colouring in any of his gelatos. So if you ever stop by, take a look at their mint chocolate gelato and you will be surprised to see a creamy white gelato and not the green-hued confection we have come to recognize. I appreciate this because generally ice creams, gelatos and sorbets are full of AFC's! Also, Trafiq bakery on Main st does not use AFC's in any of their frostings for their pastries and cakes. I personally find a naturally coloured chantilly cream looks far more appetizing versus a bright pink whipped cream. 

I would love to hear your opinions on the use of AFC's in savoury as well as sweet foods. Are you a fan of the increasing use of food dyes? 

BYES

Reference: Artificial Food Colours and Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Symptoms: Conclusions to Dye forhttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13311-012-0133-x 

Saturday 16 July 2016

Chic Finds | Drybar Obsession!




Hey Dolls!

haha I think it is safe to say that I have a serious Drybar obsession, but my hair loves it! I already have their Buttercup hairdryer - which is amazing - as well as their lemon drop paddle brush and the half pint round brush. 

After using up my shampoo, thought I would give Drybar's shampoos a try and picked up the Texas Tea for myself and the Sake Bomb for my mum. The Texas Tea is their volumizing shampoo while the Sake Bomb is a formula that nourishes your hair. I decided to go with the Texas Tea since I find my hair loses volume really quickly when I flat iron it. 

Another reason why I decided to switch from my all time favourite Bumble and Bumble Gentle Shampoo to DryBar's Texas Tea was because my hair had gotten accustomed to the Bumble and Bumble shampoo. There was a huge amount of sticky product residue built up on my hair that no matter the number of times I shampooed my hair with Bumble and Bumble shampoo, my hair remained dirty. 

I am happy to say that DryBar's Texas Tea has gotten all the gross built up gunk off of my hair and has made my hair shiny and soft to the touch!!!! Success! Not only are DryBar's shampoos cruelty free, they are also paraben, sulphate and phthalate free! Only when I started looking into trying a new shampoo did I realize that the Bumble and Bumble Gentle shampoo that I swore by for years contained all of those chemicals and unfortunately is also not cruelty free. 

Since Drybar shampoos are sulphate free, it takes longer to get your hair into a nice lather with lots of suds. That is probably the only the only thing I miss about Bumble and Bumble shampoos as they would lather up super quick with lots of bubbles and suds. 

Needless to say, I am so glad that I have switched over to Drybar's line of hair cleansers. The pricing is comparable to Bumble and Bumble products, so you get a fabulous shampoo for the same price. 

Oh while I was at it, I picked up Drybar's Hold Me Hair Clips because the yellow is just so darn cute! Plus, the clips are extremely helpful in partitioning my hair for blowdrying and flat ironing. 

So yes, I definitely have a wee bit of a Drybar obsession, but their products are definitely worth the obsession. Let me know in the comments below if you love dry bar products as much as I do as well what other hair products and brands you love?

BTW - I am NOT sponsored by Drybar. Haha but I will happily test out all of your products for free Drybar hehe

BYES

Tuesday 12 July 2016

Chic Life | Romper Love for the Summer


Hey Dolls!

Gosh, I feel like it has been forever since I did a fashion piece. Being constantly busy with work and school has left me little time to be creative, but things are settling down and I am getting into a groove.

Summer is going to be warm this year in Vancouver - YAAS PLEASE! I am really excited for the glorious summer days full of sunshine and warmth because it means I get to rock some really cute chambray rompers! 

Like last year, the chic overall trend is back for another year. I got a pair of chambray short overalls in a light fade for the summer days. It has a drawstring waist tie and adjustable straps. The light weight chambray material makes this cute and flirty romper from Aritzia the perfect piece for the warm days ahead. 

I like to wear a cute striped top or even a cropped top on hot days under the romper. I would not wear only a bandeau under the romper just because it is not my style. I feel a t-shirt underneath is much cuter. Also, I would choose a top or crop top that is not sleeveless. A short sleeve really lets the straps of the romper stand out more and not blend in with the sleeveless top underneath. 

I generally like to pair my rompers with white birkenstocks; however, on cooler days I will throw on a pair of sneakers. If the day gets chillier, will pair my romper with a long cardigan or for a bolder statement, a denim jacket! When Denim-on-Denim is done right, it is tres chic!

Do try on the rompers in store when shopping because I find some styles can be quite short. I was actually a little surprised by how short some were when I tried them on! Also, rompers tend to ride up through out the day. Also try sitting down in the it to make sure you are comfortable in it and it does not ride up too high for you!

If you are still deciding on if you should get yourself some short overalls for the summer days, I definitely urge your to grab a pair already! Not only are they amazingly comfy, I have yet to come across an individual who has not looked adorable in one. 

BYES

Monday 11 July 2016

Edible Obsession | Beta 5 Blueberry Lemon Ice Cream Sundae


Hey Dolls!

This past weekend's Sundae Social was a fabulous pairing of sweet BC blueberries and tart refreshing  lemons. The Blueberry Lemon Ice Cream Sundae is a scoop of blueberry buttermilk and a scoop of lemon infused ice cream topped with lemon curd filled doughnut holes, rich blueberry jam and their signature creamy chantilly cream. 

Loved the presentation of this sundae! The deep purple blues from the blueberries were a fabulous juxtaposition against the white tones of the chantilly cream and lemon infused ice cream. 

This is probably the first Beta 5 Sundae where I felt the flavour pairings did not work well together. Unfortunately, the strong citrus lemon completely overpowered the sweet blueberry. I thought since the lemon was an ice-cream and not a sorbet, it would be a milder flavour, but I was mistaken. The lemon was very strong and I am not sure how to say it, but like it was not even a pleasant lemon flavour. I think the lemon ice cream needed to be sweeter to balance the sharpness from the lemons. 



I was really excited for the lemon curd filled doughnut holes. I have had lemon curd mini doughnuts from the Mini Doughnut Outpost and they were delicious! Ah, Beta 5, you need to revisit your lemon curd recipe because it was really tart and far too lemony! 

The blueberry ice cream was delicious and so was the blue berry jam. Unfortunately, once I had the lemon ice cream, it completely overwhelmed my palate and I could only taste lemon and none of the blueberry anymore. 

Though this sundae was not my favourite from Beta 5, I am super duper excited for what they come up for this coming up weekend. Fingers crossed for some fresh strawberry sorbet! Or MANGO SORBET!!!! Okay, clearly I just want some delicious fresh fruit sorbet hehe. 

BYES

Wednesday 6 July 2016

Edible Obsessions | First Beta 5 Ice Cream Social of 2016



Hey Hey Dolls!

It is that time of year again.... Beta 5 Ice Cream Socials! I literally look forward to the weekends in anticipation of finding out and trying the new sundae creation that Beta 5's fabulous pastry team comes up with. And this weekend did not disappoint! However, I was super bummed that I could not attend last weekend's Beta 5 Ice Cream Social which was the official first sundae of the season --- Cherry Cola -- but I have my fingers crossed in hopes that they may do a repeat of that sundae flavour sometime later this summer. 

In celebration of Canada Day, Beta 5 came up with the Raspberry Earl Grey Sundae, a red and white treat to reflect Canada's two colours. I literally get excited for the small details like that one. Haha I think it is super cute. 

This sundae featured a scoop each of the Earl Grey and local raspberry swirl ice cream, topped with fresh raspberry compote, two earl grey raspberry french macarons, their house made vanilla chantilly and as a garnish, some shards of raspberry earl grey chocolate. 


Believe it or not, but all of Beta 5's weekly ice cream sundae's are just as complex and sometimes even more! 

Not only was this sundae delightful to stare at, a little cold treat work of art, but it also tasted amazing. Mangoes are my favourite fruit, but raspberries and strawberries are a close second for me. I love the tartness and sweet flavour of a raspberry and how well it pairs with other flavours. The french macarons were yummy, but I do not think they added to the sundae. The compote was delicious and I appreciated how they tried to keep a lot of the raspberries still whole. My only complaint would be that I think they gave me two scoops of the Earl Grey ice cream and not one of each of the two ice creams. I really wish I got a scoop of the raspberry swirl ice cream because I am sure it would have been amazing. 

For future Ice Cream Socials, I hope Beta 5 does a sorbet scoop too. I find two scoops of ice cream ends make the sundae really heavy. The sorbet generally gives some freshness and almost cleanses your palate from the creaminess of the ice cream and chantilly creme. 

I cannot wait to find out what next weekend's sundae flavour combination will be! I really hope they do a citrus and chocolate duo. I think that would be yummy! Also some mango sorbet because mangoes are my favourite fruit! 

think I might do a icy treats series for this summer since various cold treat shops have been popping up all over Vancouver. Let me know, do you like the cold confection posts? I will definitely keep doing the weekly posts on Beta 5's ice cream socials because they are delicious and so pretty to photograph! 

BYES

Saturday 2 July 2016

7 Lattes & Wishes | July 2016 Wishlist


1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Hey Dolls,

gosh, it has been a while since I published a post. Time just keeps flying by on me and my list of things to do just keeps growing. But I am determined to stay on pace for the month of July and hopefully the rest of 2016 with blog posts. 

What better way to get back into the swing of things with Pink Tea Latte than to kick off with a monthly wishlist! For the month of July, I am wanting some fun summer wardrobe basics as well as fun items for days spent outdoors. 

The denim crop top from Couturist is amazing. I tried it on in store and it fit me like a glove and hit me just below my natural waist. A perfect top to pair with a high-waisted skirt or a pair of high-waisted shorts. Also, denim and chambray are one of the main trends this summer. While thinking of what I would wear with this top, I came across a gorgeous high-waisted skirt from Aritzia. This flowy cotton skirt is going to keep my cool on those muggy hot summer days to come. And while I am building this outfit, I think a pair of trendy street style Adidas's Stan Smiths are going to bring this outfit together. Of course you can always go with a cute sandal, but I prefer comfortable sneakers as I love roaming Vancouver on foot on a nice summer day. 

I am really hoping to pick up a pear of these lululemon pants soon because they are not only amazingly comfortable, but the breathable fabric is going to keep me cool at work. The office I work at is located on the fourth floor which means none of the windows can be opened. On a hot summer day, it can get pretty darn muggy in our office. 

If you were to ask me what I would day on a summer day and gave me the option of a skirt, dress or a pair of shorts, I will always pick a cute pair of shorts. But I would never ever be caught wearing a pair of cut-off denim shorts. You will see me rocking a pair of well tailored shorts and I think I need to add these cute linen shorts from Aritzia to my wardrobe. I think the tie to the side of the hip of is really cute and different design element! 

Lastly, if I am going to be chilling in the sunshine at a park, I am going to need a big giant towel, the Beach People's Majorelle pattern Roundie towel to be exact! Haha I have been wanting this towel for over a year now and I hope I can get it this year. Also, how cute are the flamingo drink floaties! I just need them just cause. Plus, flamingos are so on trend! 

That is all for my July wishlist for 2016. I would love to hear what you have been eyeing in the shops and cannot wait to get your hands on! Also, if you have any post requests, leave it in the comments below. 

BYES