Orange you glad we didn’t say Olives!

(Uhh well actually…guess we just did.)

Jazzed up in our finery, we sauntered on over to Olives Restaurant in Vegas in October.

And as is the case for eye candies, we were appropriately seated at the window. The restaurant is deceptively large. But due to the low lighting, dark rich wood flooring and furniture, it was quite cozy.

Two hotsie totsies, satiated by a lovely dinner.^

You start off with a trio of in-house tepanades, which is served with assorted leavened and unleavened breads. Kells is not an Olive-holic as is I… so I got the trio to myself. Warning though: they’re salty!

We ordered the Truffled Risotto**, Olives Chicken Parmesan & Handcrafted Gnocchetti.

When we were here the previous year with our other friends, I ordered the magnificent Risotto. (I dreamed of this until I could experience it again.  And heyyy this was my lucky night.) Oh my… perfectly al dente rice coated in lavish mushroom creamery. Amazing slight tang of parm and dotted with fine slices of funghi. Kells enjoyed it as well.

Last time, Kells ordered her go-to Butternut Squash Tortellini. I had a mere taste and it was delightful yums. Amaretto wishes and brown-butter dreams.  But this evening, she branched out.

The Chicken Parm was served bone-in. Bold choice for a restaurant. (And we like that moxy.) But bone-in makes for a tender flavourful piece of meat. It was so tasty good, accompanied by roasted garden veg and taters.

The Gnocchetti was quite a lovely surprise. We figured that it’d be good. But not this fantastic! Rich, mouthy Bolognese sauce nestled inside sneaky grooves of pasta. I thought there was a hint of cinnamon. Kells surmised tarragon. Whatever the heck it was, it was molto bene. Excellent job, Olives team!

The portions are healthy. We didn’t finish. And yes, fair enough we ordered 3 entrées to split between the 2 of us… we felt so bad to say goodbye to the tasty morsels. They didn’t deserve to be let down like that. Poor lil guys patiently waited to get into our bellies… and instead got the rude awakening of the bin.  (Not by choice, lil morsels, not by choice.)

Have you eaten here? What was your experience?

Or, have we enticed you to try it out?

The End Pieces

*we were in our twinsies floral cold shoulder get-ups from Torrid. And we were sporting our fantastic strappy black heels from Nine West.

** I’d have to say that this runs a close 2nd to the Crispy Kalbi roll (CKr) at Yellowtail.

^this is where our Blog Story began.

We contacted Olives twice for collabs but they didn’t respond. Imagine. Being too busy to respond to N&K?!  As busy as Yellowtail is, they responded when we reached out.

 

Purple Nurple

The Purple Café and Wine Bar is an eatery in the financial district in Seattle. It features seasonal northwest cuisine and wine pairings.

When you first enter the place, it looks surprisingly large with high ceilings. However due to muted lighting and dark wood furniture, it is feels intimate. Just off-centre, they have their wine/liquor larder. It looks like a huge wooden centrifuge from the industrial era*. This large pillar runs to the ceiling, with 360-degree shelving. There are stairs snaking around the side like a DNA helix.  (Kells and I wanted to go explore but there was a pesky ‘stairs not in use’ sign… and we didn’t want to make a scene… At least not that evening.)

We were wineless that night.  Kells had a Cosmo, extra tart. I had a beer**.

We ordered the Baked Brie to start. It was gift wrapped in

crispy phyllo, and accompanied by apricots, carmelized onions, walnuts, grapes and house crackers. The whole mess was delightful. Everything complemented each other perfectly. And the grapes were an amazement — halved and warmed, with salt. You may think ‘egads how odd!’ But trust us… your tastebuds will thank you.

For our mains, we couldn’t decide from Maine Lobster Mac and Cheese, seared Diver Scallops with grits (daily special) or Wild Mushroom Rigatoni. We were also eyeing the Veal and Pancetta Bolognese (I love me some parpadelle) and Pan Seared Muscovy Duck Breast. Due to availability and what was popular we went with Scallops and Bolognese.

The Diver Scallops were beautifully seared, toothy but tender and slightly sweet on the inside. Though cooked perfectly, grits were a little flat in flavour. (Grits are hard to season). The Bolognese was rich with al dente flavourful parps.

Kells was here before and enjoyed the Lobster Mac and Cheese. This is also a popular dish…Kells gives it 2 thumbs up. (But someone^ forgot her lactaid and we didn’t want to take a chance with someone’s^ gnarly digestive results if someone^ partook of the lactose-laden kryptonite.)

And we ended with Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée. Holy caboodles!Beautifully torched top…sweet and smoky. The crème was mindblowing… flavourful, great mouthfeel, not super sickly sweet. An amazing way to end a good meal.

Staff: Our waitstaff Maddy was fabulous! She was super friendly, genuine and knew when to come by to ask questions (ie: not when we just took a big bite).

Conclusion: Purple Café is a must-try!

Have you gone to Purple Cafe?
What delights have you ordered?  

Tell us what you think below, in the Comments section!

End bitties

* did scientists have centrifuges in the industrial era? If they did, this is what my mind pictures.
**Wine is not sitting well with Kells’ system these days. This is a sad state of affairs for her. So, in blog-sisterhood, I didn’t get wine even though we were at a winebar.
^someone=Nals

Get To Know Ya


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No N&Kers, this is not a Maxwell song but a review of The Maxwell Downtown Seattle Hotel.

Stay Pineapple is a boutique hotel chain in 5 American cities.  We chose to stay at The Maxwell Downtown. Oh la la.

It is a funky cool hotel, just off of 3rd Avenue North^. The hotel is nestled in a quieter residential-type subdivision. It’s an 8-minute walk from the Museum of Pop Culture, and about 9 minute drive to Pike Place Market.

Their mottos:

  • Stay Naked (laundered bed linens so you can just pop into bed, and not have to pull a blue-light-worthy germy bedspread off),
  • old-fashioned hospitality and
  • pup-friendly (welcome with reservations).

We’d sum up the looks with: bright colours, lots of light and groovy-kinda-retro vibes.

Our room was in the corner, south-facing and on the 4th floor. We had a view of the top of the Space Needle. We had a balcony with some chairs. It was raining, cold and foggy so we didn’t spend too much time out there.

T H E    p R O s:

What first stood out were the non-carpeted floors, the lofty ceiling and big fluffy beds. Though the lobby and hallways were loudly coloured, our stylish room was thankfully muted.

This hotel is chock full of amenities like shuttle buses, in-room safe, microwave, mini fridge, basic beverages and popcorn, on-site gym, pool, espresso & cocktail bars and restaurant. There’s apparently an afternoon teatime in the lobby with pineapple cupcakes. There’s also a secured underground parking (fee).

Gender neutral washrooms!

There are tons of nooks and crannies for cool pictures*.

There are some little eateries within walking distance.

Gym fits 7 people. They have 4 cardio machines, free weights, TV, a bench, towels and water.

TV was a good size and positioned so we could both comfortably watch. We could cast Netflix from our phones to the TV, and loaded music when we wanted. (Wifi is free for guests.)

Saving the best for last… The beds were heaven. Absolute heaven! They were tall, firm, lofty, cozy and pillow filled**.

C H A L L E N G E S:

1. Shuttle schedule and stops are not written anywhere. One can phone the front desk to inquire. The staff are happy to provide a verbal schedule, or make a booking.  So, call the day before if you want to plan around the shuttle sched.

2. Restaurant and cocktail bar weren’t open when we were there (on a weekend).

3. There wasn’t a lot of countertop space in the bathroom or living areas. This was a bit of a problem as we have lots of makeup and girly things. We also require a separate snack stacking area. So things were very tight.

4. In-suite lighting wasn’t wonderful for getting ready. (Usually we share the bathroom, see point 3.) So I had to do my makeup at the windowsill which didn’t work well in the evening.  (Putting on lashes is hard enough in normal lighting!)

5. Pool is small. We didn’t think it would be huge but an average-heighted adult couldn’t do laps. This pool is probably more suited to keep kids busy when the supervising adults want some quieter time.

6. Resort and parking fees.  Nightly rates are reasonable but these fees add another $50/night.

They have fun wood-block games in their elevators.

C O N C L U S I O N:

Yes, we’d recommend this hotel.

Next time we’re in Seattle, though, we’ll probably be checking out other hotels for variety.

FOOTNOTES:

^ Oddly there is a huge mostly empty parking lot across the street in front with an airstream parked on top, like a cherry.
* hint hint… foreshadowing to our upcoming pictures!
** One evening, after traipsing around in the damp cold, I had changed into my jams and was bundled in my bed watching TV. Kells comes out of the washroom and for a moment couldn’t see me. THAT’S how fluffy the duvets and pillows were!

 

Drop It Like It’s Hot

Lately, it’s been raining a lot here in this temperate rainforest climate. It’s a gloomy and cold and damp. Kells and I decided to warm up by popping into a hot shop. So in we go to the casual The Ramen Butcher (RB) for lunch. RB is in the Menya Kouji Group, and pseudo-secretly tucked away into a half-street in Chinatown.

There was a bit of a line up as the place is smallish and it was grub time. But we got in in under 5 minutes. Window seat of course. (Kells insisted on this or we’d walk! JK.)

Ambience:

It’s all woodwork inside, with a collection of seating areas from typical slide-in booths to tall bar-type long tabletops. In the middle of the room, these tabletops have little cubbies right underneath. Handy little place for your wet umbrella* or your purse or your chinchilla**. Unfortunately this creates a problem for us long-legged folks (challenging to comfortably place the thighs under this contraption when using the handy foot bar-rests). Half pints would probably be ok.

Service:

Servers are peppy little ladies and gents that zip around. They are efficient and friendly. Food came in after a short wait, and was hot on arrival.

R a m e n   S c i e n c e:

Have you guys ordered ramen before? I’m not talking about the 3-minute pot-noodle stuff. There is a whole science and process to ramen noodles and soup.

  1. The main difference from other noodlers is that the ramens are alkaline. So they can be dropped into and withstand searing hot temps of broth, without getting limp. (& who the heck wants a limp noodle?) They come in thick versions (tsukemen) or thin (ramen).
  2. The broth is also a bit complicated, made with chicken +/- pork. There’s the thicker, opaque, white broth (paitan). Then there’s the delicate clear broth (chintan).
  3. Lastly, there’s the filling/topping (chicken, pork, egg, seaweed, veg, etc.).
Our RB order

At Ramen Butcher, these are all pre-assembled into menu items but the trio of components is the basic idea. We ordered:
Karaage to start. It was crispy boneless goodness that came with pan-fried cabbage and rice.
– Our lunch main was Chicken Ramen. This dish had thin ramen noodles with the clear chintan broth. It also came with a half-egg, chicken pieces and chicken meatballs. I was a little skeptical that a clear broth would have delicious flavour and mouthfeel. I think of wimpy consommé when I hear clear broth. (But this made me think of pho which is clear and totes flavourful… but is also made with umami-filled beef.)

However, Ramen Butcher did not disappoint. They clearly (ha ha) take their ramen noodling and brothing seriously.   The result is a delicious bowl of ramen.

Critiques:

-The long-tables (as described above).
-Parking is an issue for Chinatown. So take transit or walk. If you have to drive, try to carpool or… come early to find a spot.
-RB is smallish so if you have a party>6, prepare to wait a bit for a table at peak grub time.

Conclusion:
  • Kells has been here before. But, this was my first time. And we will defo be back! We’re intrigued by their gyoza, Red Spicy Ramen, Black Garlic and Classic Tsukemen.  You guys have got to try this place!

Fun fact: Only recently did The Ramen Butcher incorporate English into their Japanese menus.

 

Penny for your thoughts?  

Let us know what you think by clicking on Leave a Comment, exclusively available in this post’s tag cloud.

      End bits        
*There are 2 kinds of Vancouverites – those that carry an umbrella and those that don’t bother. Kells and I are the latter. (We choose rain jackets instead.)
**Fair warning: You can’t bring your pet into a food establishment in Vancouver. Unless it’s a guide dog…or guide chinchilla.

All that Glitzes is Glitter


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One cool December evening, we were watching Forensic Files, as I am a criminologist-by-night^. And we found out there’s a Glitter Guy! This dude has been collecting glitter for over a decade purportedly for forensic purposes (but we know he secretly loves to roll around in all that glitter!)

Clearly, this shibbles-n-bits isn’t just for kindergarteners anymore.

And so… what better time, than Holiday Time!, to discuss shimmery glittery goodness.

Today, we’ll be giving you the lowdown on:

1) BITE’s Prismatic Pearl Crème Gloss
2) smashbox’s Be Legendary Liquid Lip
3) Julep’s Moisturizing LipGloss

.One day, I had me a hankerin’ to get some glitterati. I was directed to the BITE Prismatic Pearl Crème line, with 10 coveted colour choices. The Pink Pearl is a light pink opaque with a suspension of light pink glitter. It has cool white-silvery undertones. The Rose Pearl’s base is a warmer opaque magenta with mesmerizing dual-tone glitter (pink-gold). I can’t quite figure out if the base is golden-hued or if it’s just the glitter. But whatever it is, it’s all fab. These glitter glosses (GGs) have staying power and true colour. (eg: it looked the same on me and Kells, and looked the same as inside the bottle.) The base feels like creamy gloss, and there’s no gritty feel to the glitter. Warning: this line is not for the glitter-shy. It bites you right in the kisser. So, if you’re unsure about glitter, you may want to look at the nibbly alternatives below. Check out our gangsta pic where we’re both sporting the Pink Gold. Kells has layered it on top of Fenty’s Cosmic Gloss Lip Glitter. I’ve layered it on top of Clinique’s Bold Pop matte lip. (Bold Pop is a rich velvety burgundy .)

For Christmas, my lil work SiSter, got me the Sugar Cane* gloss in smashbox’s Be Legendary line. This line has quite the array of colours from a ka-pow brick red to more muted tones. The Sugar Cane base is a full colour warm brown sugar with prismatic micro-glitter. It feels like a creamy slithery gloss (but not as rich as BITE’s). And with a soupçon of glitter. On my skin, this looks like a dark shimmery nude. I’m actually wearing this under a glossy Julep taco** in our Merry Christmas post on our Instagram.

Julep’s translucent GGs are also dreamy. They have pretty good staying power with that yummy glossy feeling. These are generally sheer with super duper fine glitter. There is a choice of 13 colours.  I’ve tried Glowing (coral pink), Charming (deeper rosy brown) and Adored (baby pink). The Julep glosses are great starters for those just getting into gloss and GGs.

Pink Pearl, Rose Pearl, Bold Pop, Sugar Cane, Low Key & Charming: L to R.

 

THE ANALYSIS

These are all awesome glosses in their own right.

more versatile than you think

What we love about glitter glosses is that are uber versatile. You can wear these:

  • straight on your nekkid lip
  • on top of lipstick… you can do the full Monty as we have in our gangsta pic, or just dot your centres to highlight
  • on top of lipliner
  • … get ready to have your mind blown… put a clear gloss on top of the glitter. Yes you heard me right, folks. When you add that clear gloss taco, your lips resemble a shiny marble. It’s glitterati to the max.

Okay so some other considerations…

Kells and I have a gorgeous gal-pal, Lil Kiwi. She is hyperaware of age-appropriateness of makeup and clothing.  She has a lovely porcelain complexion, warm brown mischievous eyes and an infectious AF laugh. However, she gravitates towards a more natural look, anyways, which is always age-appropriate. (Though lately, she’s branched out a bit, which Kells and I love.) So as I myself am approaching a certain number, I had a sad thought: is glitter is out of my age range? After thorough and extensive processing, the light of reason shone upon me.

My conclusion? “My inner diva is channeled and she wants glitter!” and boom! here you have this post^^.

We hope you enjoy exploring these GGs.

Do you have faves that you’d like to rave about?

What are your thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment below!

End bits –for you keeners that look this kinda stuff up–

^(in my head)
* (how appropriate as we are both from lands o’ sugar cane)
** Julep gloss taco: Ultra Hydrating Lipgloss in Low Key
^^ this post is dedicated to all the inner divas out there! Here’s hoping we can out them soon.

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90 pounds and counting…

Hold on to your skivvies N&Kers cuz things are about to get real. Miss Nals has a few things to say… so find a comfy chair and grab a big ass cup of coffee.

From the age of 6, I was referred to as “fat”. I would defo agree with this adjective. But news non-flash! Being “fat” does not equate to a good thing in North America (borrowing Martha Stewart’s catchphrase). It’s mind boggling how pervasive that negativity is, surrounding the word “fat”.  It reminds me of the static electricity ball, where moving witchy fingers of electricity reach out and nip you when you least expect it.  It shouldn’t hurt but it does.

You heard of, read about or saw a flick about… That friend who is hesitant to go to her high school reunion. Her high school sweetheart is going to be there and she doesn’t feel she looks her best. But she attends, and comes back elated, stating “He has a fat and ugly wife!” Or “That celebrity-du-jour is looking real nasty, cause she’s gained so much weight.” Or (my fave) when people say “You would be so pretty if you weren’t so fat.”

Sometimes it feels that society says it’s ok to be a mass murderer as long as the murderer is not fat. Someone’s snarky behaviour is tolerated because it comes out of the mouth of a mini skinny.

Let’s not get all negative as there are some delights of being fat:

  • People (often strangers) keep you honest by telling you that you’re fat. And, yelling out-of-the-blue if you’re supes lucky.  (Yes literally shouting out, “You’re fat!”)
  • People have no qualms about sharing their pro-skinny opinions. As a kid, I was watching Roseanne.  When my cousin walked in, she immediately said, “Why are there so many fat people on this show?”
  • People love to offer up free advice, which is always unsolicited. No hello, how-do-you-do or even come-here-often-? as a segue. No way. It’s the straight up dope.  “You know you should cut out ABC and then do XYZ.”
  • You learn to be self-sufficient: as salespeople ignore you or people don’t engage in courteous behaviours like opening the door.

Going across L to R: 2001 Convocation, age 3, 2009 mendhi night, 2009 Wedding Day, age 6 and finally, present day dress & orange scarf!

The start of something.  In my 20s, I was working at a bookstore when a customer called to see if a copy of Susan Orbach’s Fat is a Feminist Issue was available. I was intrigued by the title and read it. And boom my mind was blown! I never considered “fat” as a tool of rebellion. I definitely didn’t feel rebellious but… was I?

Regardless of subconscious rebellions, “fat” as associated with “fugly”, who deems it “unacceptable” and who keeps perpetuating these ideas… I was sick of feeling shitty. I was tired (lethargic yes, and tired of letting other people’s constant fat remarks get to me).  I was physically achey, had a low mood & excessive anxiety.  I had gone on all sorts of diets and they didn’t stick. (The weight stuck, not the loss part.) I was just fed up, and mentioned it to me mumsey.  She suggested that I speak to our family doctor*.  So I did. And he said he could help but first he wanted to do a work up. I thought “C’mon man, let’s just get on with it. I’m in my 20s what on earth can go wrong?”

But they found something… After some more tests and a biopsy later, I was diagnosed with a chronic disease. I was lucky they found it early. Most don’t seek help till decades later, when it’s too late to change. So, with a weird feeling of oddly-displaced luck, I toddled off to see my newly-appointed specialist*. She told me I had to lose 115 pounds, and it would take a couple of years.

Oh holy Murphy c’mon really?!? How many times did I try to but I couldn’t even lose 10?!  This left me feeling mighty frustrated and hapless.

But then there came a point where I had to choose: to sit here and pickle in my misery, or to move forward.

So, I started by educating myself on the disease. And then I made small changes.


Please consult a licensed health professional prior to making changes in your life. What is beneficial to me may not be right for your body. And, things that the media depict as healthy may not be appropriate for your needs.


And just like that Miss Nals got her groove back!
. . . I started to exercise. . .     

Some of my enjoyable childhood memories were learning to dance with mumsey (including watching Arthur Murray Dance Studio videos!).  As such, Zumba beckoned me but I wasn’t quite ready to join public classes.  So I started pin-ponning along with YouTube videos 2x/week.  It took some time to find good videos.  But I eventually found Linda Edler, Sid Vicious and Shani McGraham-Shirley.  (Thank you, lovely ladies!)

. . . and I paid attention to what I was putting in my body. . . 

I looked at portions and nutrition labels.  This can certainly be overwhelming.  So, I’d suggest focussing on a couple of values at a time, not the entire label.  (Your focus is decided by you and your health team, not the media or your skinny friend or me.***)


To my amazement, my weight dropped and… holy frig it kept dropping! It was exhilarating.  Like a roller coaster… But uh … actually enjoyable.  (Sorry Kells I know you heart the rollers.)


My specialist said that’s a great start but you need to join a gym, missy. So, I reluctantly joined one**, and got hooked on boot camp. My awesome bootcamp leader Miss Martina (now at Train on Main) knew when to push me and when to back off. I was also inspired by her weight loss story.  And my fellow bootcampers, though all lifelong slim shadies, were very supportive as well.  Ohhhh this was spectacular!

And so my journey continues… Stay tuned for Part Deux.

The footies:

* I must give a shout-out to my fam doc, Dr. H. He was and is wonderful – always gentle, respectful and kind.  And of course a shout-out to my specialist Dr. S.  Both docs are slim, well-dressed and clearly smart.  But never judgemental.  So thank you to you both from the depths of my now-conditioned heart.

** I was reluctant to join a gym because I was anticipating judgemental attitudes.  At the time, there wasn’t a huge variety of gyms.  It seemed like only those who appeared in Jane Fonda videos were at the gyms that I checked out. I have also experienced people shouting out their negative comments to me while I was exercising. A good combo, these did not make.

*** What I mean by this is that we often hear about things like cutting fat or increasing fibre.  However, if you have an allergy or digestive tract issue, increasing fibre may be harmful. Don’t take what you hear at face value.  Find out the what-why-who-where-when before you choose to apply it to your life.

What are your experiences with weight dysphoria? Care to share? Please comment below!

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Belle du jour

Imagine the ambience of a small bustling Parisian patisserie, tucked away in a quiet corner. Quaint garden-furniture-esque seating with walls in soothing hues of blue and off-white. Off to the side, an armoire contains the creamers and sweeteners to tastify your beverages.  The aroma of baked love is intoxicating. And then oh la la the little takeaways wrapped up in cellophane with sweet wisps of ribbon – biscotti, madelines, chocolate dipped trinkets…

Well N&Kers, hold on to your bonnets because this place is for reals, yo. Cadeaux Bakery is situated on Powell Street in Vancouver, BC. The open-concept has a refreshingly honest what-you-see-is-what-you-get vibe.  Bakers and sous-chefs dot the back of the establishment. They work hard to bring us a variety of deliciousness from the usual fare (sweet & savoury croissants, quiches, petit fours, choux patisserie) to the creative (funky cakes, parfaits).

Food is made daily, and thus offerings differ daily**. Kells & I have tried some of the 5-layered cakes (London Fog, Dark Chocolate Cassis, Coconut Choco, Carrot), cheesecakes (Triple Choco Cheesecake, Vanilla), meringues and parfaits. (They also have ice cream and sorbets, but we haven’t yet partaken.)

To complement your food, they have espresso drinks and tea leaved-cuppas. They also have a house made lavendar syrup. Very subtle but lovely.

The sweets are not too saccharine or heavy. The whipped cake icing is amazingly light.  This leaves plenty of room to experience the ingredients and the perfectly-executed baking techniques on your taste buds.

We love love love it here.

Conclusion: you must try this joint.

Apparently, every well rounded review should have a critique. So here goes:
1) It’s not open 24/7 (way to slack off, guys)*
2) Offerings change daily**

*Chef Eleanor, we lovingly plead, if you have thought of an outreach model to cover your ‘closed’ days?
**Daily offerings are a catch 22. We love that you can walk in and not know what loveliness is in store that day. But we tried a savoury bread pudding last year. And my goodness, we’ve been patiently waiting but it hasn’t yet made the second rounds. (At least not on one if our monthly visits.)

Please don’t stop the Fenty

We skipped into Sephora in Vegas, hand in hand like 2 cute little tots in pigtails. Just days prior, I had popped in to the one in Burnaby (that’s in Beautiful British Columbia for you unworldly readers) to pick up my birthday gift* and some many other treats for my fiiine & wiser self. But a girl can always see what’s new with makeup.

And then (cue the angels singing)… our Miss Kells pointed out the mesmerizing Fenty Beauty line. I’ve never seen such an array that celebrates us cocoa-coffee-toffee skin tones.

Kells and I tried on and subsequently picked up the Gloss Bomb.  And as it was her birthday as well, she picked up a few other delights like the lipstick and highlighter, and a delicious Huda Beauty eyeshadow palette.  (The highlighter was so fab AF that it requires a separate post.  So, BOLO!)  The Starlit Hyper Glitz lipstick in Supermoon did the job – nice colour, texture but nothing really differentiated it from another higher end lippie.

(The Gloss Bomb is so bomb that it stands on its own, as pictured here… heh heh.)

And oh my word Rihanna you have outdone yo-self, son! Your butt-stopping product, the Gloss Bomb Lip Luminizer is Universally fantastic. This gloss comes in a funky geometrically cut bottle. It has the scent of sweet something. The texture is not too sticky but has excellent staying power. And the colour is dreamy creamy translucent luminous. What on earth does that mean?* Seriously perfect nude gloss for a darkie like me and for a porcelain-complected pixie like our Kells over here.

So get off your poorly glossed duffs and pick up a gd bottle of this potion, ladies & gents! Oh and hey Rihanna, our one critique is that there aren’t more colours so umm… get-to-steppin.

* It means exactly what I said.
** For my birthday gift I chose the
Tarte blush (paaarty pink) and mini creamy matte lippy (Birthday Suit pink for those 60s-inspired days). Kells picked up Caudalie skin care goop in Vegas. And hey if you’re wondering how the in-store birthday gift offerings compare in USA vs. Canada… They are the same.  Sigh anti-climactic but true.)

Watch out for our All That Glitzes is Glitter in an upcoming Christmas-themed post.  We’ll be trying out Fenty’s Cosmic Glitter Lipgloss & Bite Beauty’s Prismatic Pearl Creme Lip Gloss… and we may throw in some other blitzy surprises (if you’re lucky).

Sushi Nazi

Have you seen that Seinfeld episode when the boys fell all over each other, trying to scramble to get to the soup nazi on time? Except Elaine wasn’t convinced until she tried the lobster-freaking-bisque? One mind blowing slurp is all it took. And she had to sit right down on some steaming filth of NY sidewalk to appreciate* the experience. When you eat at the Yellowtail in Vegas, you will experience that intensity in your viscera.

Yellowtail Photos_Credit Hakkasan Group

So Miss Kells and I decided to visit our buds** Chef Akira Strikes Back. And boy did he ever. We made our order^.  But the crowning  glory was*** the Crispy Kalbi roll (CKr). Omg the perfection of that first bite… the salty toothy nori, slightly sweet tangy sushi rice then the crispy Korean short ribs nestled like a treasure inside. The textures were amazing. But the flavour of each layer was the rub… distinct and yet played so well with each other in that perfect little sandbox. Then the holy trinity of the topping: fresh micro-greens and the K-rib sauce. So yes. It was life-changing.

Myths of the CKr: a) hot crispy ribs are going to get cold and/or b) the steam will make them soggy and thus, c) one should gobble it up toute de suite.

The stone cold reality: it was so good that Kells and I inadvertently slowly dotted our meal with the CKr. We wanted that golden goodness to last as long as freaking possible. And my word, subsequent bites were as amazing as the first. (No need to chase the dragon here!)

So Chef, standing ovation for this genius invention. My only critique would be that I didn’t get my own mofo roll.

*pronounced the dignified English way (as in up-reece-ee-ate)
**not actually our buds but we are all-inclusive up hurr at N&K
^we also ordered: the real crab-stuffed California roll and agedashi tofu. The Cali roll was fine, nothing to write home about.  (We found this surprising because uh hello: real crab, no Jackson Pollack-ing here! We finished the roll but will not be ordering it again.)  The agedashi tofu was defo amazing… Just like me, it had a just-right crispy exterior, soft melty insides and covered in a mind-stopping numma-nums sauce
*** my heart is beating in sweet anticipation just mentioning the CKr

Acknowledgements: Thank you to Hakkasan Group for allowing us to use their beautiful photo for our Yellowtail Restaurant post.

The Cold Shoulder.

 

We love love love the cold shoulder and feel that this is a look that can suit all women*.

During our last trip to Vegas, this fall, we were sitting at the airport waiting to head south for some S&S (sun and shopping), when Nals looked at me and said: you really like the cold shoulder don’t you? I was wearing a beautiful royal blue cold shoulder top from Kenzie with basic white capris pants from the Gap when I threw Nals a smirk and showed her the cold shoulder!

As we toured around Las Vegas we noticed that we were getting the cold shoulder everywhere. Women* of all heights and shapes were rocking the cold shoulder. And we got to say; we loved it!!!! It wasn’t long after that Nals joined the ranks of cold shouldering with a lovely floral dress from Torrid paired with a sexy pair of heels from Nine West. I couldn’t help but go twinning with my friend in a floral dress also from Torrid. And no, it didn’t go unnoticed that we were dressed alike! And yes, we have the same purse!

Here’s what we love about this look:

  1. It doesn’t matter your size or shape, the cold                                                                 shoulder fits perfect.
  2.  It can be taken from casual to dressy with the                                                                 simplest of changes.
  3. It’s sophisticated and sexy all in one.

We will say, the verdict is still out on a plain cold shoulder t-shirt. We find these a bit frumpy and unstructured. Nals and I have yet to find one we love, but girl if you got it, rock it!

Love this cold shoulder? Shop at Reitmans for this knitted cold shoulder, Silver Denim for the jeans and Steve Madden for the knee high boots!