Gift Guide: Mother's Day!

I am playing around with doing hand drawn graphics, so what do you think of the title for the picture?

Hey dolls!
Mother's day is coming up quick and we all want to show our mum's how grateful we are to have them in our lives! Mother's are definitely your number one friend who will always be there for you no matter what happens. Even when we make silly mistakes, mums are still going to be your biggest cheerleader and supporter of all your dreams. 

If you have a mum like mine, who has everything she needs and wants, it can be tough finding a gift for her! However, it is not just about giving them a gift, you want to be able to show them how much your mum means to you. 

You do not necessarily need to purchase her a lavish gift because it is the thought that matters. My personal favourite is to get my Mum fresh cut flowers in a beautiful crystal vase or a gorgeous frame with our picture in it. You can also opt to take her out for a Mother's day brunch or a mother-daughter high tea! 

For 2015 Mother's day, I have selected five small gifts ranging from lavish to small and sweet. But the most important thing to do on Mother's day is tell her how much you love her <3 

ONE: Chanel N°5, a classic perfume for every Mum! 

TWO: Midi Rings. My mum is very trendy and loves to stay atop the latest fashion trends. If your mum is like mine, she will love these cute adorable sterling silver midi rings! (Ring 2)

THREE: It is PINEAPPLE FEVER this season! Its just such a cute gold pineapple jar from H&M from their affordable home collection. It is a unique and unexpected gift your Mum could receive! The Pineapple also comes in silver finish! 

FOUR: This is a trinket dish from the Sweet Nothings collection at Paper-Luxe. I absolutely fell in love with the unique shape and the chic arrow detail in the dish. There are other equally cute trinket dishes on their online site so check it out! 

FIVE: You can never ever go wrong with a Mother's day card; however, you can jazz it up a little by going for this Light Up CARD! I have never ever seen a light-up card before and it can also be a metaphor for how your mum lights up your days! It can be found at one of my all time paper shops: Urbanic Paper! 

BYES

Edible Obsession, Vancouver: ChocolaTas

Hey Dolls,
it is no secret I have a huge sweet tooth and LOVE chocolates! Especially when it comes to handcrafted delectable bougie chocolates! hehe So it is no shock when I was meandering through the MarketPlace on Granville Island, I gravitated towards the chocolate store! The store is called ChocolaTas and is known for real ingredients from all around the world. This is why the chocolates have a  short shelf life that only makes me love them more since they are preservative free! 

I am a bit of an oddball because I selected my tin first, not the chocolates... But the little blue tin was so darn cute!!! The insert within the blue tin required me to select two dome shaped chocolates and two square chocolates. 

The Domed Chocolates I Chose:
--> Pistachio (White Chocolate Pistachio Mousse with Nougatine)
--> Raspberry (Local, Organic Raspberries infused in Dark Chocolate Ganache)

The Square Chocolates I Chose:
--> Orange (Fresh Orange infused in Dark Chocolate)
--> Pepper & Mango (Mango pate de fruits and Pepper Ganache)

The most unique flavoured chocolate I have ever tried has to be the Pepper & Mango! Firstly, it just seems weird. Pepper? Who puts pepper in chocolate. I am going to be honest, what comes to my mind is Black Pepper, so I should have asked the sales associate to tell me what type of pepper are we talking about. I want to say it is suppose to be chillies - the spicy kind since fiery chillies have been paired with chocolate in the past. From tasting the chocolate, I am still leaning towards it being Black Pepper. I personally was not too big of a fan of this piece as it was just a bit of a weird mix which made me sad since my favourite fruit is Mangos! 

The Orange was divine (I love citrus and chocolates!) as well as Raspberry (My favourite fruit to be paired with chocolate). Pistachio was a miss for me probably because I do not enjoy white chocolate very much. 

Overall, a great little chocolate shop, but it does not out rank my favourites, Thierry chocolates! You can check out their chocolate selection HERE!


Let me know of any amazing chocolate shops I must go to!

BYES

Chic Life: Pineapples Galore!

Pineapples! Hand drawn piece with watercolour brush work.
Hope you love it dolls!

Hey Dolls!
The weather has just been so darn awful in Vancouver as of late and pictures just do not look as great without natural lighting. We have been having multiple weathers in one day... Rain, Wind, Sun, Cloudy and Hail?! This gloomy weather has got me down and I am craving for some sunshine already. Crossing my fingers for lots of sunshine tomorrow so I can start working on a glowing summer tan!

With the unpleasant weather, I have been spending some time online browsing and shopping and I must say, pineapples are all the rage right now! And I am loving it! Pina Coladas anyone? Perhaps it is a sign I should be heading somewhere hot and tropical to enjoy some icy pineapple beverages poolside! hehe 

Spring & Summer 2015 is full of fun fruit patterns, with pineapples as the winning fruit! The bright sunny yellow is a joyful fun colour to rock during the warmer days. Not to mention, pineapple patterns and prints on shirts and dresses would look so darn cute at music festivals. It is also quite versatile as pineapple shaped containers are an adorable decorative piece to have in your home as it is such a unique shape and will stand out amongst your other pieces! I have my eye on a porcelain pineapple jar that is matte white to display on my desk! 

Pineapples - get on it dolls! You do not want to miss out on this tropical funky fruit to rock this spring/summer season! 

BYES! 

Desk Goodies: Ten Chic Items for your Desk!

Your work space also needs to match your chic style!
These are the ten chic desk items I am dying for right now!

ONE: This adorable tray from Kate Spade gets me really excited because I LOVE receiving letters in the mail! 

TWO: Lighting a candle in my bedroom is soothing especially when it has a pleasant scent. 
This jar of matches are just too cute and rustic and much more fun to have than a plain old box of matches. 

THREE: I think it is no secret that I am a huge obsessor over yellow gold, so of course a gold stapler is what I need from Kate Spade! Brings glam to any desk!

FOUR: Let me be the first to say, why is there no Sugar Paper store in Vancouver? All of their items are too darn cute! This white binder with gold corner pieces is tres chic!

FIVE: I am helping my daddy with his business' paperwork so obviously I needed folders and these gold polka-dot folders scream gurly!

SIX: I gasped when I saw these golden eiffel tower scissors! I dream to visit the city of Paris! (insert my french accent!!). These scissors are a step closer to reaching my goal of visiting the land of boulangeries! haha

SEVEN: It is a must to have a coaster on your desk. Coffee rings, are NOT cute. The gold heart on this coaster with the scalloped perimeter is adorable!

EIGHT: I do not like getting paper cuts or ruining my manicure, so having a gold letter opener is a no brainer!

NINE: Cross Designs is by far my FAVOURITE interior decoration store in Vancouver. In the heart of their store they have a "paper shop" in which you will find the cutest and chicest desk goodies! This weekly planner is not only going to help you organize your week, but is also a mouse pad. 

TEN: Dolls, of course I would never forget to include a little Starbucks! I have two of these glass cold cups myself! I also have the plastic ones, but glass is far more bougie and the recycled glass tinted green looks rustic and unique on a chic desk! I generally sip water from it through out the day!

Share with me your favourite desk goodies or items your lust over to complete your chic work station. I would love to hear if you like any of the goodies I have chosen. 

BYES!

Latte Moment: April 24 Free Starbucks Day?

April 24, 2015 Free Starbucks?!

HEY DOLLS!
I am so upset right now because I missed out on the FREE Starbucks yesterday. I was unwell in bed studying for a final when I received a text from a friend telling me how Starbucks' Point of Sales program was down; therefore, Starbucks was giving drinks for free! Turns out, this was not isolated to one location, Starbucks' computer system was down all across Canada and USA! This occurred around 4pm PST and I think they got their computers back online around 9:30 pm. 

Some locations gave out free drinks for a few hours and eventually closed their stores, while some locations restricted what type of free drink you were allowed to order as well only one per person. Needless to say, if you were lucky, you got a free drink! 

Even though I am a gold member --> No DUH, I do get a free handcrafted beverage or food choice after earning 12 stars. HOWEVER, that does not compare to the thrill of walking into your local Starbucks and being given your drink for free!

Dolls, I think April 24 from now on should be International FREE Starbucks DAY! Starbucks is a giant business whose revenues would not suffer if they gave out Free Drinks one day out of a year? APRIL 24 FREE STARBUCKS DAY! 

So since I missed out on the free Starbucks yesterday, the only logical thing to do was to go out and get my own darn drink! I am special too! So today dolls, I am sipping on my Grande Lite Ice Black Tea Lemonade! The secret to getting more out of your iced beverages is to ask for "Lite Ice," otherwise, you end up with 3/4 of a glass of ice!

Also, I am sorry Dolls that I have not been posting as much as usual. Just really not well and swamped with finals :( BUT my last final is on Tuesday so Summer is almost here!

BYES! 

Latte Moment: We Will Miss You Birthday Cake Truffle!

Hey Dolls!

As I enjoyed my Extra Hot Green Tea Latte w/ Whip from Starbucks, I savoured some truffles. My last TWO Birthday Cake Truffles from Godiva Chocolatier. 

Dolls, if you have been into your nearest Godiva Boutique, you will notice their chocolate glass case is changing. To my dismay, they are reducing the number of varieties of truffles they offer in the glass case since they want to include more non-truffle chocolates. I do not know how i feel about that. Are truffles not the most amazing way to enjoy chocolate? Why would you opt for a seashell or chocolate pieces when you can enjoy a truffle which is filled with the most exquisite flavours. Plus truffles are Bougie!!!! Who does not want to feel a little bougie ;) 

One of the truffles which is leaving our lives for now from the glass case is the Birthday Cake Truffle! Sadness, that pink delight will be highly missed by me. The outer coating of white chocolate coloured pink sprinkled with little white sprinkles, with an inner coating of milk chocolate filled with vanilla cake mousse mixed in with colourful sprinkles! LIKE YUMMMM

Stock up on the birthday cake truffle before they are no longer available from the glass case and are only available through the truffle flights! I personally avoid the pre-packaged truffles since I am not a big fan of having caramel with my chocolate. Plus there are a few flavours that are not appetizing to me such as the Strawberry Creme Tart Truffle. Im just not a fan of the strawberry filling. 

Let me know in the comments below which truffles you think are the most fabulous!

BYES

Edible Obsession, Vancouver: Outpost Mini Donut Co.

How can you not but love this amazing gourmet donut shop! Go Output Mini Donut Co.!!
L- The cutest inside setup! Top R - Donuts being prepared! Bot R- Finished mini donuts!

Hey Dolls!

yes! MINI DONUTS! The Outpost Mini Donut Co. is in Steveston Village in Richmond BC. This place is no ordinary place, firstly this has to be the only store that specializes in donuts and not be at a carnival or amusement park. Secondly, these are GOURMET mini donuts! Not just cinnamon sugar, but there is boston cream, and lemon curd. 

I got half a dozen = 2 Boston Creams, 2 Lemon Curds, 1 Cinnamon Sugar and 1 Coconut!

The custard for the Boston Cream mini donut was AMAZING. It was the perfect consistency and texture with the perfect amount of sweetness. Glazed over with chocolate.. YUM. And my favourite of course is the Lemon = dollop of tart and sweet lemon curd with more drizzling of lemon icing!

Top R - Mini Donuts being freshly cooked!!!!!

The donuts are made fresh daily and the ingredients are locally sourced!
1/2 Dozen ($4.75); Baker's Dozen ($7.50)

The classic flavours (available all year round):

• Cinnamon Sugar
• Powdered Sugar
• Chocolate Icing w/ sprinkles
• Vanilla Bean Icing w/ sprinkles
• Maple Icing w/ sprinkles

In addition to the classic flavours, they have featured seasonal flavours!

Their current seasonal flavours are:

• Lemon
• Coconut
• Blueberry
• Boston Cream
• Peanut Butter and Jelly

Generally anything that is not too overpoweringly sweet is right up my alley. So my favourites are the lemon, Boston cream, peanut butter and jelly and the best of them is cinnamon sugar! Trust me, these cinnamon sugar mini donuts are a million times more scrumptious then the ones you get at the fair. Also they are far better balanced with sweetness and nutty cinnamon! 

Check out their website: http://outpostminidonutco.com

The only problem is, these donuts are just so mini and delicious that they disappear too quick :( 

and remember "sharing is caring!"

BYESSSS