There is snow in Vancouver and I am loving it!

We finally have snow in Vancouver! Can you believe it? We have snow in Vancouver and it is actually sticking. I do not remember the last time we had a snowfall that lasted beyond a day or two. I think we are on day four of actual snow still blanketing fields and rooftops. 

Now I am a snow lover, but for every snow lover like me, there are probably five snow dreaders in Vancouver. Yup, the number of people that completely freak out over snow in Vancouver outnumber snow lovers like me. Sorry, cannot relate, I just love the snow. It is magical, beautiful and I can run around in it all day! Also, when snow falls from the sky in big gauzy white puffs, it feels like a magical Disney movie moment! 

Bloedel Conservatory is a Topical Paradise in Vancouver

Situated at the highest point in Vancouver within the iconic Queen Elizabeth Park is a tropical paradise, the Bloedel Conservatory which is home to hundreds of tropical plants, flowers and birds! In celebration of its 50th birthday, the Bloedel Conservatory hosted a month-long Festivale Tropicale! 

It was pretty hard to resist because who does not want to escape Vancouver's gloomy rainy, windy and pathetic attempt of snow into a tropical-themed festival. I am sorry for not posting about this sooner and profusely apologize to all those who missed out. I actually went on the very last day of Festivale Tropicale, January 5th, 2020, so I barely made it for the festivities too. 

Top Nine Instagram Pictures of 2019 vs. My Personal Favourites

I love seeing my Top Nine Instagram posts, so I could not wait to see which nine pictures were most loved in 2019. Now Top Nine shows me the pictures YOU loved the most, so I thought it would be fun to share the pictures I loved the most from 2019. As some of you already know, I am a hobbyist photographer and I put in a great deal of energy into my pictures. Every picture I post is special to me because it is my way of sharing a special moment, event, or time in my life or just some straight-up delicious fantastic drool-worthy food! 

A quick examination of the Top Nine 2019 generated for @PinkTeaLatte (show me a little love and check out my Instagram! ) shows that everyone loves food, but specifically more of the "professional-style" photographs I took of the Mandarin Curd Rice Pudding Cream Puffs from Beta 5 and the giant cookie cakes I made for my blog's fourth birthday. Cutesy "instagramable" food is also really beloved like the flamingo puff and the mermaid hot chocolate. And then straight up epic food spreads like the My Balcony Breakfast from the Four Seasons Resort Whistler which I would also say I styled to be more editorial/professional. Thankfully I made the cut too and yall love me just a tiny bit because I popped up holding a massive white avalanche rose!

Year In Review 2019 Edition

HAPPY NEW YEARS! Wishing each and every one of you a fabulous 2020 and the start of a new decade.

Before pressing forward with 2020, I wanted to take the time to reflect on 2019. Both the HIGHS and the terrible LOWS. 

HIGH: New Job

I finally mustered up the courage to apply for a position I had been eyeing for over a year. I should have applied sooner because I landed the position and have been working there for half a year now. 

LOW: Burnt Out Millennial

I always think I can do it all, but in reality, I am only human and ultimately ended up severely burning myself out. Perhaps three jobs plus a blog plus school was a little too much for me. I did finally say goodbye to one position and I am hoping to leave another position later this year too. 

Fabulous Gifts for $50 or Less

The under $50 gift guide is my favourite gift guide because it includes items that are fun, silly and understated. The male versus female gift guides always end up being very gender-specific and as much as I try every year, it still happens. Perhaps next year, I will stick to making gifts of different price tiers. 

I am loving the cross-stitch kits and have already purchased three from Stranded Stitch (review coming soon!) What makes these stand out for me are the fun quirky designs like La Croix, Llamas, plants, Frida Kahlo and so on. The 365 days of Art, Creativity or Drawing are fabulous little books that have a daily prompt for a small sketch. Calendars may not seem like the most exciting gift, but the Rifle Paper Co. calendars are definitely more of a "premium luxury paper goods." This is great for someone who likes to make notes in calendars because most Rifle Paper Co calendars are made with a paper that can be written on, not a glossy paper that causes the ink to smear. 

Aurora Winter Festival Food Tour

picture from Maggi Mei

Can you believe the holiday season is almost over?! Fortunately some of the holiday festivities are going to carry over into the New Year. Aurora Winter Festival has made its annual return, but this time they have partnered with Playland. The Aurora Winter Festival will remain open till January 5th, 2020! I got to tag along with my friend Maggi (Maggi is a Vancouver-based foodie & lifestyle blogger: http://vieamaggi.com) for the Aurora Festival media food event. Thank you Maggi for thinking of me and inviting me to be in your video!!! 

I was Maggi's plus 1 for the Aurora Winter Festival, so I decided to be lazy and not bring my camera and simply enjoy my time there. In hindsight, sort of silly of me because now I have no pictures; however, Maggi is an absolute gem and asked me to be in her Youtube video and has given me permission to use it for this post! We got to visit 7 restaurants dishing out delicious eats at this year's Aurora Winter Festival. 

Gift Guide for the Boys, Guys & Gentleman in your Life

Shopping for men can be a bit tricky because they are often so indifferent and nonchalant about everything. How do you shop for a person who is happy with everything? That is not good enough for me. I want them to be wowed and excited by the gift. I hope this gift guide will spark some ideas for you. 

As the old adage goes, "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach." Every guy I know is absolutely infatuated with cooking meat. The meat cooking device they are all fawning over is the Dash sous vide circulator. According to my male friends, cooking meat via sous vide makes for a more tender, evenly cooked and importantly a juicy piece of meat because the meat is cooked in a vacuum-sealed pouch of its own juices.