Out With The Old, In With The New Year

When I first started to really get into makeup at the age of 15, I had the mindset of wanting everything. I was watching these makeup collection videos of beauty gurus on YouTube and wanted to just try everything and have everything. After reading Allison's blogpost of her new minimalistic outlook, I realized I was having the same crisis in my life. I just had way too much stuff!

Above is the start of my makeup purge. I admit I am a bit of a hoarder and have a slightly hard time letting go of stuff (i.e. I still have magazines from 2008). However, I realized through my purge that most of the stuff I'm tossing is stuff I bought on an impulse (usually at some manufacturer sale) and didn't actually enjoy that much. As a result, I never got my value out of this stuff because I just didn't end up liking nor using it.

I don't think I'll ever be a full-on minimalist (at least not yet), but I see this change as exactly what Allison stated in her blog, "it's not about owning as little as possible, but only what you really use and love". With this in mind, it's more about the value you feel you can derive from the item. So in this upcoming year, the next time I'm choosing between buying an item that I really want and will get good use out of but costs a bit more, versus cheaper impulse purchases on items I'll use once; I'll be a lot more conscious about what I'm buying and whether it's something I would actually derive value from, or if it's something that will just collect dust in a week.

The Little White Dress

With the summer slowly coming to an end, I finally found my perfect summer dress! It's white lace, doubled layered for no see-throughness, and slightly ruffled at the bottom. The dress also has a low open back which I'm not showing because, between you and me, I was not wearing the right bra for this dress. It's currently on sale at Aritzia for $29.99 here and I am positive I will get a ton of wear out of this. When it's not hailing of course (zero exaggeration). 

The Covet List: #1

With a Sephora gift card still unused from my birthday, I decided to share my current wishlist. Or as I like to call it, my covet list. As you can see, I'm currently craving pink balmy lip colours and more face masks!

Starting from the top left going clockwise:

1. Three Floor Coveted Dress (how appropriate) 

2. Kate Spade Bow Ring in Rose Gold

3. GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment

4. Aesop Parsley Seed Facial Cleansing Masque

5. Dior Addict Lip Glow

6. Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Foundation

7. Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector

Food For Thought: Museum Tavern

Last weekend was my birthday weekend. To celebrate, I spent it in my favourite way: eating, shopping, and doing nothing. Since Summerlicious started in Toronto, my boyfriend decided to surprise me by taking me to one of its featured restaurants, Museum Tavern.

Honestly speaking, I wasn't too excited to dine at this place at first because the pictures made the place look slightly dingy and old. Boy was I wrong! The environment was quite romantic looking but formal attire was not necessary. As always, I was overdressed in a black lace pleated dress; likely to make an appearance in the near future on this blog.

Albacore Tuna Tartare Tostada

For starters, I chose the Albacore Tuna Tartare Tostada. I thought the bitterness of the cilantro balanced the slight tanginess from the raw tuna perfectly. I'm not a fan of anything pickled but the pickled red cabbage added a good texture, I didn't hate it and that says a lot from me. The tostada was quite unnecessary as it made the starter difficult to eat but I guess it gave it a nice crunch.

House Crafted Summer Game Sausage

The entree is where things got interesting. Being the adventurous person I am, I decided to try the sausage made from wild boar, elk, and lamb. Eating this sausage made me feel primal, like I was eating roadkill. Yes, that sounds really harsh but I think it was just the texture of the sausage - all hard and chewy- that made it less enjoyable. The side made of spinach, spaetzle, and the tavern sauce was delicious and totally made up for the sausage. PS, there was no way to make the picture of this entree look more appetizing, believe me I tried.

Peach Sorbet

Dessert was exactly as it looked, pretty average but still tasty. What I found strange was the fact that the sorbet didn't taste at all like peach, just fruity but undistinguishable of what fruit.

Overall, Museum Tavern turned out a lot better than my expectations. I wouldn't try the game sausage again and wouldn't advise you to either, but the bite I had of my boyfriend's ribs was great!

Have you tried any of this year's Summerlicious picks? If so, what were your favourites?