All Over the Place

Today, yes, literally! A colleague and I had to visit various offices to talk to people about a pending major change. We ended up visiting 6 offices spread throughout the city. It didn't appear to be much work, but having to talk to every single person at every office and maintaining a certain level of energy all day, boy, I was just pooped at the end of it. The best part, we do it all over again tomorrow, wheee!!!

And to add the weekend that just passed seemed all over the place as well, heck I guess my thoughts have been scattered around for a good few days now...

Anyhoot, with the Black Friday that just passed, Canadian retailers have now figured that they should participate now as well so Canadians wouldn't find the need anymore to cross the border to get advantage of sales. I didn't think it would really make a difference but I guess I was wrong. The mall that I went to was buzzzy! It's like Boxing Day, but only in November. It was cray cray! Fortunately, I didn't get carried away...

Bath & Body anti-bacterial hand soaps

Needed to refill our stash so the deal couldn't have come at a better time.

American Eagle jeggings

I had to recently dispose of 2 black jeans thanks to that common(?) problem of thinning out and ripping at the inner thigh (is it just me? eeep). At 40% off, I figured, again, the deal couldn't have come at a better time. And that was it! Whew!

Then, yesterday, I decided last minute to recreate the steak dish I had at the wedding I went to last Friday night.

Ribeye steak with broccolini on a bed of mashed potato

I thought it was just as delish as the wedding steak, albeit not as nicely plated and the portion is a tad(?) bigger. I learned it takes a great deal more butter than I anticipated to make it just as delish, but you're definitely not gonna hear me complain, nope. Hah!

And since I painted my nail that nice dark wine color last week, I couldn't resist going even a bit more dark this time.

Nicole by OPI in Razzle Dazzler (sorry, this is before clean-up)

All over the place, aren't I?! And like I said, we get to do it again tomorrow, so looking forward to it! *snort*

Lip Service

I seriously cannot recall the last time I wore lipstick. Which was kinda' weird for me since for the longest time, especially in my younger years, that was all I would wear sometimes. And the darker/redder the better at that. But I guess I got lazy at some point. Now I put more effort in putting a "face" forward, but don't expect me to re-apply any lip product by mid-day. I know, so wrong...

So what happened? I started turning to lip shine/glosses. I suppose this part is almost a natural progression (or regression, depends how you see it) for me, especially with the realization that I'm really low-maintenance (translation = laziness, sometimes... most times hehe) when it comes to beauty products.

And taking into consideration my slightly obsessive behaviour...

Bigelow Lip Shine for Bath & Body Works in Cinnamon,
Bath & Body Works Liplicious I <3 Stilettos

H&M lipgloss in Blushing Bride

And can't forget my birthday present from Sephora.

Fresh Sugar Kisses

Probably thought I was going to talk about lip service, eh? Which we're all guilty of sometimes, I think, inadvertently or not. No?

HAHA...

Something Wicked This Way Comes

I finally got in the mood, the other day, to use this nail polish.

Essie Wicked (Winners)

I bought this one end of spring/beginning of summer, I think. And yes, I only used it recently. I think this color came out fall/winter last year. Not that it makes a difference to me, obviously.

This color is definitely up my alley. It's so up my alley that I probably have 3 or 4 more in the same family color, in varying degrees (slightly obsessed much? and not too smart?). I can use, and have used, this color any time of the year, but of course, more appropriately so in the fall/winter.

So the name of this color made me remember a song from the Harry Potter movie...

Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire burn and cauldron bubble
Double, double, toil and trouble
Something wicked this way comes...

Then it got me thinking of the book, Wicked, which I'm in the process of reading, which got me thinking of the song in the play version, Defying Gravity. Love that song!

Such is my train of thought...

Maison Martin Margiela for H&M

So! Last Thursday, thanks to a friend's reminder, I remembered to check out this new collab at H&M. As usual, it was all out of curiosity, since I usually don't find anything that talks to me with these collabs. Either that, or my size is usually gone by the time I get there. Which was the case, again, this time. But hey, I thought, not enough to prevent me to still look anyway...

Surprisingly, this is probably my most fave, so far. Not sure why, but it ended up being one of those times when the pieces looked better in person to me. I know not a lot of people would agree. I don't understand it either, but I ended up liking them.

Granted, like mentioned earlier, my size is usually gone by the time I check out these things. And this time was no exception. So there I was, just happy to check things out with no real plans of buying anything. That is until I showed the next pic to sis.

I did like this one when I first saw it, but not enough to buy it. That is until my sis went agog over it when I sent her the pic. Then I thought to myself, now that I got the chance to stare at it some more, that may be she is right. Hmmm... she likes it, I think I like it more now too! hehe Monkey see, monkey do, no? So what did I do? Why, return to the store of course! Got one for her... and for me too... HAHA! 

And since the same friend who reminded me about this asked me to check out something in the men's section, thought I might as well check that out too. Didn't find what he asked for, but I found this one, for me...

... sigh... 

Thank You, Advertisers

Maybe it's just me, but I really gotta hand it to these ad people when they make me like a song even more than I already do, or actually discover a song, just by using the song in their ads. No, I'm not talking about those cheesy ones (no offense). I think they nail it in the head. The whole point is to evoke an emotion, right? For the song to reflect their product? Not that I end up buying their products. Hah! But it does give me the warm fuzzy feeling. Kinda like the Google Chrome ads (here, here, here, and here). I'm such a sap, I know hehe...

Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop (Landon Pigg), from De Beers Diamonds, 2008:

 


We Are Young (Fun), from Chevy Sonic, 2012:




Everything At Once (Lenka), from Microsoft, 2012:




Home (Phillip Phillips), from Tim Hortons for Tassimo, 2012:




Out of all these, I'm realizing two things. First, I imagine from the artist perspective, the whole thing about commercialism might equate to a feeling of selling-out, but I also imagine, they need to stay commercial eventually, no, in order to survive. Second, what does it say about me when I discover a song thru an ad? Does that validate an artist when it's able to reach an audience like myself? AND more importantly, am I that old that I only hear certain songs thru ads? Or maybe I just watched too much TV, is that it? Which is it? Hmmm...

To Infinity (Scarf) and Beyond

Not sure what happened (pfft) but 2 years ago, I got meself an infinity scarf.

Zazo (Winners)

I loved it coz it kept me warm and it was a novelty item, for me anyway. Fast forward to beginning of fall this year.

H&M

H&M

Before I knew it, that's all I could see everytime I'm in the accessories area. When the second black one was bought, I said to myself that it was a different material, it's chunkier and totally different style, so that made it ok. Riiiight! And when my hand reached for the gray one, on a different day, and it decided to walk out with me from the store, I said to myself, hey it's gray. I don't have a gray scarf, or to be more specific, a gray infinity scarf. Riiight!

Then over the weekend, as I was buying Christmas presents, look what my hands gravitated towards.

Gap

This time, I overheard myself saying to myself that I don't have an orange one. And it's stripes on top of that!

Riiight!!!

Keep on (Food) Truckin'!

Lately, I'm finding myself kinda' losing momentum with my posts (did I even have one, in the first place? hehe). Is it the weather? Is it work? What is it? Is my brain prepping for hibernation mode? If only that can be done, eh?

I haven't really been up to much lately. Other than work, just doing my best to relax with hubs and friends. A drink here, a dinner there, a lunch here... and there...

Soho Road food truck

Tried the butter chicken one. Fresh naan, the right amount of heat, it was yum!

Cazbah Express food truck

Love love Persian food to begin with!!!  Got the Koobideh and it did not disappoint. The combination of the ground meat with the veggies and the yogurt and hot sauce inside the pita bread, another yum!

Guanaco food truck

Pupusa platter

Is it a good pupusa? Wouldn't know since that was my first pupusa, but it I thought it was really good. And the yucca fries (at least that's what I think it was) was crispy on the outside and with just a right amount of creaminess inside. I like how the cole slaw salad and the salsa on the side balance the richness of both the pupusa and the fries.


If I really think about it, I'm pretty sure work has got to do with it mostly. With what's happening lately, I'm barely able to collect my thoughts at the end of the day that really, when I get home, I only have enough energy to enjoy whatever mindless drivel is on TV that moment, or to get lost in some of my books to relax for a bit.

Anyhoot, I think I'm slowly getting used to a different pace now and I'd like to think I'm gaining grounds again. Besides, the holiday's just around the corner, so there's something to look forward to.

At least got another day to rest tomorrow, thanks to the long weekend. An hour and 35 min left to the day, Happy Remembrance Day! And tomorrow would have been dad's birthday. Happy Birthday, from down here!!! Miss you more everyday...

Outliers

Over the weekend, I finally got around to finishing the book, Outliers.

via

It's quite an interesting read, I thought. The writer definitely offered a different point of view as to the success (or failure) of certain people.

Personally, I find it comforting/encouraging how hard work comes into play when analyzing the success of the people he wrote about. A fact I think that sometimes some of us forget or choose to ignore, especially when one appears to have achieved overnight success.

What I find less comforting/encouraging is the fact how things we have no control over, like the month or year or generation we're born in, or the culture we grew up with, also could play a part in what could make or break us in our chosen career or endeavor. That something that could be considered so random have so much impact, although he does go on to explain why it may not be so random after all. It felt like the cliche, being in the right time and the right place. Or I should say born in the right time and the right place.

There was that interesting part about planes and pilots...

Then I revert back to feeling comforted/encouraged with the fact that being born with a silver spoon is not an automatic guarantee of success. Although it can definitely open up opportunities. O wait, does that mean I'm feeling less comforted/encouraged again? HAH!

I do like how he mentioned the people behind some of these successful people, the part that they played in these successful people's lives whether done intentionally or not.

In the end, regardless of what I got out of it, I thought it was a good (and easy hehe) read. None of these information is new to anyone I think, but to me, I like how it was presented in a different light.

Halloween Dinner

No, I don't have my dates wrong. I know it's now November. And what's Halloween dinner to begin with? Actually it wasn't. On Halloween, we celebrated a friend's birthday, that's why... nyek, nyek, nyek...

I did end up wearing my pink wig to work, in the spirit of Halloween. I almost chickened out but like hubs reminded me, why did I buy it to begin with?

And since I knew for a fact that I had a wig hair underneath for wearing that pinkness all day, I really had no choice but to wear it thru dinner that night... hehe...

And of course, dinner was at this nice French restaurant. Not appropriate? Well, it was Halloween after all, so meh... HAH!

Ris de Veau (sweetbreads)

Bouillabaisse

Creme Brulee

The evening's mascot
(not endorsing smoking, for sure)

Not counting the fabulous company, loved the food and loved the ambiance of the place, for sure!

Like we were discussing over dinner, in addition to word of mouth, isn't it interesting how social media is all a good resto need these days to get its name out there, and they don't even have to do anything about it. Well, they have to make good food at least. Thanks to Instagram, Four Squares, blogs, whatever, people readily tell their friends (or readers) where they were and post pictures of the food to confirm to their friends (or readers) how good the food was.

Providing of course they have friends, or readers...

HAH!