Dessert By Candy

Guilty Indulgence

I am embarrassed to admit that I like shopping. My gender disposition ought to give me a free pass. However, as computer programmer and athlete, many of my girl friends turn up their noses at such traditional stereotypical activities. Shopping is for girly girls and we ought to engage in much more intellectual or athletic pursuits. Sorry girls, I love beautiful things and they don’t just land on my lap serendipitously.

The simple act of aimless browsing can be divisive and that is why I prefer to shop alone. I don’t necessarily have a specific item to look for but when I see something I particularly love, the discovery is akin to unearthing a treasure. Obviously I am highly interested in kitchenware and my recent find of Hello Kitty cake pan proved just that.

I spent last weekend in St Paul / Minneapolis. The reason for the visit was an inline skating race. Those who are keeping tabs on my concussion recovery, I skated. Despite missing six weeks of training, I crossed the finish line in very respectable time. I received a conditional clear all from my physician this week and the hard work of mounting a comeback has begun. Spending a long weekend at the Twin Cities gave me an opportunity to explore the little neighbourhoods that give the city its flavour. I found these etched beech wood mini spoons from local company Talisman Designs. I saw their cheeseboards and salad servers before but the diminutive size of these spoons (think ice cream spoons) with the little bird is absolutely adorable.

Shopper Extraordinaire

I am always a little embarrassed about shopping when I travel. A close family friend once scoffed at his wife’s foreign shopping excursions. He insisted that it was worse than frivolous because there are sights to see, museums to take in, and cultures to experience. In his opinion, shopping in most cosmopolitan cities is rather generic and there is no need to travel all the way across the globe when the same thing can be found back home. I am not 100% in agreement with him but have to admit that he has some valid points. It does not stop me from indulging in retail therapy when I travel but this is where my embarrassment stems from.

Shopping in foreign countries allows me to bring small mementos of my travel back home. Some are great reminders in months or even years to come of what I enjoyed abroad. Some are unique finds that I cannot get in my hometown. Some are simply objects I absolutely fall in love with and would have purchased anywhere in the world. On my flight back to Canada earlier this week, my suitcase was bursting at the seams with purchases of all three categories. It was a most fruitful trip in the shopping department.

Strawberry Jam Success Is Mine

The last three weeks I have been moaning on and off about my struggle with making strawberry jam. How do I capture the essence of in season strawberries at the height of their flavour into a mason jar? It’s all too easy to overcook the berries in attempt to reach that elusive jiggly set when there is so little pectin in the fruit. I refuse to use commercial pectin and I don’t have any apple pectin stock in my pantry. Last night, I found my strawberry jam success with a little help from pectin-rich red currants.

Mixing low-pectin with pectin-rich fruit in jam making to achieve a desirable set is nothing new. The trick lies in choosing a combination that doesn’t outshine the main flavour in the preserve. This is why under-ripe apples are often used to make pectin stock because of their neutral flavour. I paired red currants with strawberries for its complementary berry tartness and also the bright red colour. My fourth batch of Minty Strawberry Jam remains predominately strawberry with a hint of mint, lemon, and kirsch in the background. The only telltale sign of red currants is the occasional seeds found in the jam. The set is so beautifully loose with all that bright summer strawberry flavour bursting from the whole berries. I’m so happy that I finally have a batch of strawberry jam to be proud of!

BUILT NY Hoodie Camera Case Deal Alert

Ever since I got my BUILT NY hoodie camera case in Feb 2009, I swear by it for my compact camera. I love everything about it from the stiff EVA for screen protection to the stretchy neoprene that can accomodate my extra battery. It is cute and incredibly practical. Depending on which pattern you get, it can be a little pricy though.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into my local Starbucks today and saw that they are selling a VIA gift pack for $15. The gift pack contains two packages of VIA instant coffee snuggly tucked inside a red hoodie camera case. You can see something similar on the Starbucks website selling for $10 in a different camera case. Considering that the coffee alone will cost me $8, that's a steal!

Happy Halloween!

Okay, I'm taking a break from recapping my vacation for something more up to the minute. It's Halloween today and that means time to dress up! Since I've been reading Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland recently, it seems to be the logical choice for costume inspiration. I bought an Oxidize Shirt Dress from FCUK while I was in Hong Kong so I thought with a white pinafore, it would make the perfect Alice costume. Unfortunately, finding a pinafore is not an easy task in this day and age. I am not a very good seamstress either so for a long time, my costume was just a work-in-progress.

Luckily, while I was walking around in the mall checking out the last of summer sales, it occurred to me that a sleeveless white summer dress would be the next best thing giving a very similar visual effect. I found a button down sleeveless cotton dress from Club Monaco that is everything I was looking for. It even has lots of pleats for a nice volumous bottom. I wore it over my black dress with the buttons half-done and pair with knee-high socks, mary-janes, and a bow around my head. My costume was almost complete.

I thought it looked a little generic so a few props were necessary to highlight the Alice In Wonderland theme. A bunny was an obvious choice and I found a small stuff toy in my house without much problem. It was small enough that I could even put it in my dress pocket! Another prop that I chose was a little bottle asking me to "Drink Me!". I was hoping to find some fancy glass vial and fill it with colour liquid but no such luck. Being short on time, I grabbed a bottle of Grand Marnier and tied a little label around its neck. This year's costume is not my best work...hopefully I'll be more inspired next year!

Feeling Grown Up

For some reason, I always associate traveling with a fleet of backpacks as something that belongs to my days as a student. Besides, dragging around more than one backpacks at any time is just clumsy. To feel like that I've truly left those days behind, I've been slowly expanding my luggage collection. I already own a large Delsey suitcase in blue grey for week-long trips and a carry-on size upright Benetton suitcase in lime green. They are both very practical and so easy to spot out in a sea of black. However, with the increased number of weekend trips that I make, I find that I really need a good overnight bag.

For my weekend trips, I usually travel with my skate backpack containing all my skating essentials. However, I also need a seperate bag for all my non-skating belongings such as street clothes, pajamas, shoes, and toileteries. Luckily, I found my perfect bag at Lululemon yesterday. Their Activa gym bag is now on sale at $49 for selected colours so I quickly snapped one up. It is roomy, sturdy, and stylish yet it is still a good size for carry-on luggage. What I love most about this bag is the seperate shoe compartment at the bottom of the bag (a girl can't wear running shoes for every outfit after all). The inside of the bag is lined with easy-to-clean material. I can fit a water bottle on both sides of the bag and I can slip my phone or camera in the hidden front pocket for easy access. Now I can't wait until my next weekend trip so I can start packing!

Stripes

As a teenager, I used to have a lot of clothes with stripes. I love the geometry of the pattern, the constrast of colours, and the imagery associated with stripes fashion (think stereotypical Parisian women with their striped boat-neck shirts and a scarve). Well, that love affair ended abruptly when I looked in the mirror one day and noticed how unflattering (aka fat) I looked in my striped shirt.

It's been years since I last purchased any tops or bottoms with stripes though I found different ways to incorporate this pattern in my wardrobe. My sock drawer, for example, is filled with stripes knee-high socks and arm warmers of many colours. I wandered into American Eagle Outfitter yesterday, a store that I have not visited for a few seasons. I guess it must be the anticipation of summer...when I saw all those shorts and t-shirts, they really brightened up my mood. Sensibility told me that I'm too old to dress in such "spring-break appropriate" attire but I figure I will likely need some casual clothes to play in the warmer weather anyway. So I picked out this striped wide-neck hooded t-shirt and striped shorts just for kicks.

In the fitting room, I was surprised to see that neither of them add any visual poundage. I think the fitted but not sausage-tight shape has much to do with it. In addition, the t-shirt has a longer bodice than normal which goes well with the low-waist shorts. In general, patterns are best used as an accent piece in the entire outfit. So for example, if I wear a striped shirts, it would be best to keep the rest of my outfit in solid colour. However, mixing this striped shirt, shorts, and knee-high socks seem to work in an unexpected way. All I'm missing now is a pair of classic red Converse and I'll be all set for summer!

A New Look

Around this time last year, I had a drastic change of hairstyle by getting a perm. The soft wavy curls were gorgeous and so easy to maintain. The picture on the left was taken three days after that visit to the salon. I was traveling in Sweden under a tight schedule and that wash-and-go hairstyle was absolutely perfect. The curls held for a long time and it was November before I got another perm. However, the results were less than ideal. My hair straightened itself out to a messy wave very quickly and I ended up wearing my hair in a ponytail most of the time.

I talked to my hairstylist friend HL about this and he confirmed what I thought was true. Perms work best on untreated hair. On hair which has already gone through a perm before, it really doesn't work as nice. I am ready for a change anyway so it was good news to my ears. However, just going back to straight hair seems a little boring to me. After all, I had a similar long straight layered look for about a decade (seriously). Recently my guilty pleasure is watching Pussy Cat Dolls Present The Search For The Next Doll and I love the hairstyle of my favourite contestant, Chelsea. The heavy thick bangs are quite fashionable right now so I want to jump on the bandwagon too! As you can see in the "after" shot above, the bangs is a nice counterbalance for my face (which is a little long proportionally). The cut is not the complete transformation though. I still have some light brown colour on the ends of my hair. For this new hairstyle to truly rock, I will have all my hair dye to jet black with lots of shine. It will be so awesome.

As usual, I got some great beauty tips from HL. This time, he taught me what to look for in a straightening iron.

• ceramic heating surface
• 1" in width is the most versatile. Any wider and it becomes unwieldy.
• adjustable temperature setting. For asian hair, you need to look for an iron with at least 200F setting because the texture of the hair needs a higher temperature to set. Cauasian hair are generally okay with a lower temperature setting.
• stiffness of the iron is important. When you squeeze the two plates together, the iron should give a little so that the two heating surfaces completely touches each other without creating any angles. Otherwise you will end up with "fold marks" on your length of hair.

A Splurge

It's been years since I first walked into the Fluevog store on Queen Street West. As much as I love their shoes, the price tag was something which stopped me from actually owning any. Yesterday I bought my first pair from this maker at last.

When I saw the Body Parts Pump on their website a few days ago, it was love at first sight. The anti-AIDS message etched onto the sole of the shoe left a strong impression: Your Body Parts Are Not Communal Property. However, it was really the sexiness of these shoes that I could not forget. I absolutely adore the gold detailing contrasting with the shiny black patent leather. I have always had a weak spot for maryjanes. The low cut of these shoes also shows a bit of toe cleavage. I have been in search of a pair of sky-high heels (nothing less than 4" would do) that I could walk in and I think my search is now over. With a concealed platform and padded insole, I can dance all night in these shoes!

The sensible thing to do is to wait for an occasion to wear them. However, I really don't think sensibility can possibly be related to such a gorgeous pair of heels in any shape or form. I will wear them, just because.

Me And My Monkeys

I am not a fan of Boxing Day shopping but after a couple of days hiding in my house, I decided to venture out for grocery. Well, my usual haunt is actually located inside a mall so what did I do? I went for a bit of shopping. It was already late so there were barely any shoppers. I didn't find much deals either. Little did I know I would come back home with the most ridiculous purchase in a long time.

When I saw them in the store, I just couldn't help myself but to try them on. Ooh, they look so adorable and I look so cute in them (haahaa)! Alas, they weren't even on sale....what to do, what to do? Frankly, they are really too expensive for what they are...but, but, BUT...I like them soooo much! I finally gave in after 15 minutes of struggle.

Behold, my matching monkey hat and mitts.

You can't see it too well in the picture but the hat actually has monkey ears sticking out on both sides for that extra wind resistance. With the two little monkeys on my mitts, I am my own walking puppet show. AL challenged me to wear them on my next snowboarding outing and ride down the hill making monkey noises. I think I may just have to rise to that challenge!

Hat and mitts are designed by local Toronto company deLux.