Food - Oliver & Bonacini (Summerlicious)

Last Friday, my boyfriend and I went to our first reservation for Summerlicious. 


Website (of Summerlicious): http://www.toronto.ca/special_events/summerlicious/2011/index.htm
There is a restaurant list which shows all the menus and prices, so I suggest checking that out. Hurry up though, last day of Summerlicious is July 24th.


my appetizer: Sweet Chili BBQ Baby Back Ribs crushed peanuts & mini corn bread pudding.
It was really good, I had a picture of the whole plate, but I thought that this would make it look more appealing and mysterious ~ so that you would go to check it out. 
 

















boyfriend's appetizer: Crispy Chicken & Ginger Dumplings maple scallion soya sauce (not pictured) 
 
my main: Steak Frites with caper & tomato brown butter sauce.
I was quite shocked when I ordered my steak frites, and the waiter didnt ask me how I liked it. It was alright when I got it, and it was rare. I can eat rare, as long as blood is not spewing out, but I usually like medium-rare.  It seems like there isnt a lot of food, but I couldnt finish it! I was so surprised, I love fries, and I couldnt even finish them !!
 

closer picture of my steak (looks sooooo good) 

boyfriend's main:  Panko & Citrus Togarashi Crusted Baked Atlantic Cod on minted sweet peas with red skin potatoes, baby shrimp & cabbage slaw

 

boyfriend's dessert:  Oliver’s Famous Carrot Cake with cinnamon Chantilly

my dessert: Chocolate Marquise. milk chocolate torte with hazelnut praline crunch.

This was a cute little dessert. It was quite small, but I guess the taste made it all okay. It was like a chocolate mousse, with fudge on top, and when you bit into it, it was like eating ... maltasers?  I can't really describe it, but every bite had a hint of hazelnut in it -- awesome. 

Picture while we're leaving, it's so beautifully lit. 

service: The waiter was friendly, joked around, and when we thought he forgot about us (we randomly asked him for a coke), he randomly surprised us with it ! Yay, I love coke !!

price: $25 + tips / person

decor: it's very urban-upbeat style, with tree stumps and flowers as decourations between rows of tables. (Funny story -- I was leaning back, and something was touching my head, I wasnt sure, so I ignored it. And then I leaned back again, and this time I turned around, and saw that a leaf was hitting me - I think a fake leaf - and then our waiter walked past and joked around with me)

additional thoughts: This was my second time coming to O&B for Summerlicious (once, just random), and my forth time eating at this chain (I ate at Auberge du Pommier last summer, with my family) and I would LOVE to try Canoe! So, of course I would revisit! It was quite crowded though, and I was a bit annoyed at some parents, because they let their kids run around, screaming and crying, and playing with furniture !!

First Luxebox !!!

Today, I received my very first Luxebox !

For those who don't know, it's a monthly subscription where you get a little box (but the things inside are anything but small) and it's filled with different products, ranging from skincare, make up, hair products ... the list goes on. (more information on their website!)

You can sign up here: http://www.loosebutton.com

For only $12 + tax a month (yes, free shipping) you get a wonderful box of awesome *deluxe* samples!

Here's what's inside. Let me start off by saying that the box was so adorable, it was nicely wrapped in bubble wrap, and when I opened it, it smelled great. Then I was greeted with two little notes (super cute) one which described the contents, and the other was a welcome note!

I would like to say that oh-my-gosh, blue wrapping paper? pink sticker?!!?! It feels that they put so much effort into wrapping each of these boxes! I am SO impressed!

 

So here's what's inside! When I read the little card telling me what I had, I was like "no way, I get an essie? Oh, it's probably a small little ones like those mini gift sets" -- Oh, was I wrong! It was a full sized Essie nail polish, in the colour "In stitches" I am super excited to try this out!

Next, we had a few things I am not familiar with:
1. Hair oil treatment (Proclaim) -- which I am also in need of, since my hair is pretty damaged with all my perming, dying and blow drying.
2. Pro lip liner (Trucco) -- I am not too sure if the product I got is JUST a lip liner, because the picture on the card shows a lip liner, and the product I got is "Pencil Duo" which has lip liner AND EYELINER! Pretty cool. Pretty good surprise too!

Lastly, I got a Stella in two peony miniature eau de toilette. I just feel, that Luxebox read my MINE! I have been looking for a new scent for a month or so now, I was looking for rollerballs to try out. And now I dont have to look! *little girl squeals* 

Well, I just got this box and I havent tried anything out yet. But I will be sure to take more pictures and give more comments and little reviews sometime within the next week or so.

Once again, this was from http://www.loosebutton.com. Check it out! You can do monthly subs, three month subs, or yearly subs! I've got to say, this box is beyond my expectations! I love it already and I havent even tried it!

Until next time!
aggie

Ribfest !

I just received these pictures off my boyfriend's phone. We visited "Ribfest", I put quotations because it wasnt really ribfest, it was called "Rotary Multicultual Ribfest"

Website: http://www.rotarymulticulturalfestival.com/
Location: 2020 McNicoll Avenue (corner of Kennedy/McNicoll)
Price: $13 for half rack / $22 for full rack (approx)

This isnt really a review thing, just showing some pictures of it.
Boyfriend got pulled pork.


And this is a bunch of us eating the ribs.
It wasnt much of a ribfest, because there were only three.























Below is a picture taken of Ribfest at night, we went up to a building(residential) to watch fireworks. This is what the ribfest looked like, there arent too many booths.

Food - Whole Lota Gelata

My boyfriend came to where I was studying for the weekend and he took me to this cute little place called Whole Lot-a Gelata.

Website: http://www.wholelotagelata.com
Address: 120 King Street. Waterloo, ON
Phone: (519) 884-5760

There were so many flavours of gelato! The picture has maybe about 75% of it, so there's a few more I didnt get in the picture. It was super duper hard to make a decision, luckily, my boyfriend let me choose his flavour too (^^)













Look at that, look at those swirls. If you don't know which one to pick, you can always try it out (taste test) They are so nice, and they make sure that when you try it, you get the full flavour. I tried a strawberry swirl, and the girl made sure that I had a couple of strawberries on my tiny little spoon.

















We hadnt had lunch yet, so we got grilled cheese sandwiches first. I got a Four Cheese Grilled Cheese, and my boyfriend got the Chuck Norris Grilled Cheese(Chuck Norris can grill it, just by looking at it.)
Boyfriend's Chuck Norris.

My Four Cheese.














The sandwiches were amazing. They are so good, and so filling, and the best part, it was $3, including tax !!!!!! It is delicious, and it doesnt break the bank. Oh, and after we ordered, we went to sit and they actually delivered the food to us!

After the sandwiches, we sat around for awhile and talked. Then we finally got what we came for. We got our gelato! Yum !! My boyfriend got the Tiramisu gelato, and it tasted pretty good. It was very coffee/expresso tasting, which I assume is good. There were chucks of those lady fingers (?) and it was like eating an actual Tiramisu cake!

I had gotten the oreo swirls, which I was doubting at first, since McDonalds was having their Snack Size McFlurry for $1.99. Oh, man, am I glad that I got this. It was soooo good. I dont even know how to explain. And this baby, was a small size. It was huge!! There was so much gelato in it!

Oh yeah, and before I forget, it was $7 for both of these gelatos (once again, including tax)













Revisit? : I would definitely come back again for some more gelato, grilled cheese sandwiches, and after looking at their website, I think I might spend my whole undergrad there! The atmosphere was great, the people were friendly, and it was just a small little restaurant that people can chill and relax in.
Price: $3-5 /person (for normal things, nothing too extravagant. I'm sure if you get a whole cake it'd be much more)
Additional thoughts: YUM YUM YUM!

Food - Kenzo (Ramen)

Restaurant: Kenzo
Address: 6180 Yonge St (south of Steeles, west side of Yonge)
Number: 416.229.4526
Open: everyday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

My boyfriend and I decided to try out this ramen place called Kenzo.
It was a tiny little place, it was sort of home-y. I didnt take pictures of the inside because there were only about4 tables that fit four people, and 3 other tables that fit 2 people. And, there were people sitting in all the tables, so I didnt want to seem creepy.
(Sorry about the pictures, I forgot my camera again and had to use an iPhone) 

My boyfriend got the King of Kings Ramen (I think)
Look at how awesome it it looks. Makes my mouth water.
It had spicy broth, seaweed, egg, fishcake slices (naruto), green onions (I learned that day that my boyfriend loves them. Who knew?), and I believe that it is BBQ pork (Chasiu).














Mine looks so plain compared to his. This is mine.
I ordered this because it came with gyoza, and I am pretty picky with food so I wanted to play it safe.
I think I got it in miso soup broth, or original broth. I cant remember.














This is the gyoza, it looks funny and all stuck together.
But, my goodness, it was sooooooooooo good.

















And I'm assuming that this was some sort of appetizer, or flavouring.
A bunch of stuff I didnt eat, but my boyfriend enjoyed.

















Price: around $10/person
Revisit? DEFINITELY!
Additional thoughts: I love this place, although parking was really hard (we didn't know there was extra parking in the back). It was a bit hard to find, it blended in with the other shops, so drive slowly! I love this place. Next time,  I think I'm going to get the spicy one.

Oh, and if you're wondering how it compares with Ajisen Ramen (Warden/Steeles) this is way better. Kenzo is authentic, the waitresses were Japanese, while at Ajisen they are Chinese. The menu at Kenzo doesn't have as much variety or pages, but the food there is super delicious. My boyfriend used to love going to Ajisen, and I asked him which one is better, and he said Kenzo - hands down.

Food - Woo (Yonge/Dundas)

A few weekends ago, my boyfriend and I tried out an All You Can Eat restaurant. We had bought a groupon/teambuy where it was $12 for $24 (meaning, 1 ticket = 2 people for lunch or 1 ticket = 1 person for dinner)

It was not bad I guess, we paid taxes and tips on top of our tickets. Our waitress was really nice, she often came to great us, but after awhile it got ... repetitive. We sat down for 20 minutes, and she already came to ask us "how is everything" three times! I guess that's her job, but man, I havent even taken a bite of my first plate yet !!

Location: 10 Dundas St. E / Suite 500 / Toronto, Canada (It's in the building of Adidas/Future Shop)
Website: http://www.woorestaurantlounge.com/
Price: $20.95 weekday dinner / $23.95 weekend dinner

Here is the drink menu, it's cute how they wrote "Woo"

















The decor was cute! there were mirrors as the ceiling, it was fun to take pictures. But it was a bit creepy, because I can see other people and what they're eating. (and for the girls, dont wear shirts that are too low!!) We got a window seat which I was really happy about.

















The ceiling of the normal restaurant.  It looked really nice, very artistic. There were wine glass walls that were lit up. It was cool! My boyfriend and I came to the conclusion that it's a lounge at night.













This is all the sushi that looked appealing to me. (The food was a buffet style, where you go up to get the food. Maybe it was just me, but there wasnt much selection) There was seaweed,crab meat, salmon (which was NOT fresh at all -- tasted funny), bean sprouts (tasted horrible), and sushi roll which was okay. I would NOT come back to eat their sushi/sashimi.

Sorry, but I was too busy eating (hehe) to take pictures of my food, but here's a dish of the food I really liked. Black bean beef and some sort of chicken.
(Food not pictured that I can remember: Fried rice, wonton soup, kimchi, steamed buns, a few soups -- sweet/sour) Oh man, I few so bad that I cant remember what else there was.

Forgive me, there was actually more food than I had taken pictures of. There were 3 buffet tables of cooked food, one round table of small flavourings (Kimchi), one table of sushi and a little bar area of sashimi, and one table of desserts.













Now, my FAVOURITE part of buffets/all you can eats... ICECREAM!!! I love the desserts of every buffet. This buffet however, only had 8 types of ice cream, one look disgusting like it melted, was frozen, and then someone tried to see if it was frozen yet, but it wasnt -- it just looked gross. Other than that, there was mint, mango,papaya, vanilla, chocolate, orange, strawberry and green tea.(if I remember correctly)
But, this was a disappointing dessert. There were only two different (tiny) cakes, and maybe a few colours/flavours of jelly. 













Now I dont usually do this, but I felt bad for eating so much, so I got some fruit. Well ... one fruit. watermelon! But it was weird, either because it was under those lights (at the buffet) or my plate was hot. I was eating ... a hot watermelon. Yuck! A word of advice, never eat watermelon warm!!!!!

















And now, probably the best part of Woo (besides the ice cream) -- The VIEW!
Lucky for us, we got sat by the window which overlooked the yonge/dundas square. We actually just happened to be there that day, during the weekend long "NXNE". Which, after a few search terms with our phones, we found out that it is a "large festival dedicated to new and upcoming music" which was pretty cool. Since the MMVAs were down the street!













So ... my thoughts on Woo:


Revisit? I think I would revisit, if I am looking for a nice place to hang out and snack on food. Or, if I'm checking out the lounge at night.

Essie -- Too Too Hot (Brazilliant)

I borrowed my friend's essie in Too Too Hot from the Brazilliant collection.
I put on three coats, and got this cherry tomato red. I think it's cute, but a bit bold for me.
The application was a bit messy, and after the first day of wearing it, there were signs of minor (very minute) chipping. 

Mmm, I'm not liking this as much as Smooth Sailing.
But, here is the picture:

Price: $8.95
Store: Trade Secrets

Versace for H&M -- Fall 2011

Just heard news from H&M on Twitter, Versace will be doing a collab with them! (#versaceforhm) 

I am super excited!! Can't wait to check out the collection.

According to Sassy Bella "The first Versace for H&M collection will be the Autumn 2011 collection set to drop on November 17, 2011, while a pre-spring collection will drop in countries with H&M online sales on January 19th, 2012." (http://www.sassybella.com/2011/06/versace-for-hm/)

Here's the video:

Food - Joey's (Shops @ Don Mills)

My boyfriend and I went to Joey at Shops at Don Mills for lunch.(His idea)

Website: http://www.joeyrestaurants.com/location/don-mills
Location:15 O’Neill Rd - 1090 Don Mills Road (At Lawrence Avenue East)
Toronto - Don Mills | ON | M3C 0H2 Phone: 416.445.6391

We had a pretty good time, the waitress and the manager came by many times to ask us if everything was going well. We went at lunch so there weren't too many people there. I didn't know too much about Joey, because, well... reservations were super hard to get, and I wanted to go there with a lot of friends. But apparently, their signature dishes are: Ahi Tuna Taco, Lobster Grilled Cheese, Bombay Buttered Chicken and Panang Prawn Curry Bowl. (Which we didn't know, so we didn't order them -- keep reading to see what we ate!)

First came the water ( I took a picture because my water was much cooler than my boyfriend's even though it came at the same time, and probably the same jug!)

Then we had our appetizers: Calamari w/ asparagus and onions.
It was pretty good! At first I thought the asparagus were beans, silly me.  And anyone who knows me, knows that I am super duper picky with my food, but I actually tried that orange-ish sauce on the side, and I liked it!

I had the 7oz steak with frites (I pronounced them wrong, and the waitress corrected me, and I felt silly once again...) Oh, and I wanted to eat my veges, so when I tried to eat the spinach, I actually ate arugula, and oh man, was that a mistake! But, doesn't it look so tasty?! (LOL for having steak for lunch!)

My boyfriend had the Lobster Ravioli. And boy, was that good.
It looks like a small portion, but it was actually really filling!

The washrooms were gorgeous!(Don't worry, I waited until everyone was out before I took the picture)
They came with Dyson hand dryers AND an elevator that takes you to where the washrooms are! But if you took the stairs (which non-lazy people did) you would have been greated with a beautiful chandelier (forgive the quality for this, it was taken with my BB)

Well, that's all I have to say for Joey Restaurants. I know they're opening one at Eaton Center (soon?) It was a really nice environment, and the people were really nice. The food was amazing, and the prices are what you'd expect them to be.

Price: $56 + tax/tips (for two -- which is quite expensive for lunch)
Place: Joey Restaurant ( @ shops at don mills)
Thoughts: I would go here again! I hope they'd let me bring my group of 12 for my birthday dinner

<3 A

Essie -- Smooth Sailing

When I went to the grand opening of Sephora in Waterloo (post coming up soon)  there was a Trade Secrets in the mall, and since they were having their "Buy One, Get One 50% off" sale, I decided to check it out.
Now, I have read and heard tons of reviews about Essie's new "Brazilliant" collection, and I couldnt find it in any of the Trade Secrets near by, so when I saw it at the mall I was at, I HAD to pick some out.

I wish I bought the whole collection, but the bright reds and oranges were way too bright to look good on my skin, or maybe they were too bold for me. So I got Smooth Sailing, and my friend got Too Too Hot.

This is what it looks like on my nails, I would say that this is the true colour.
Essie - Smooth Sailing -- two coats.

I absolutely loved this one, it's a gorgeous blue with tons and tons of sparkles!
And from afar, it looks like denim! How AWESOME is that?!?
The application was wonderful, much better than my (probably didn't close properly) Essie's Mint Candy Apple (which was a pain to put on). It was nice and easy, and smooth!

Price: $8.95
Store: Trade Secrets (I believe it's only available to Trade Secrets)
Additional Thoughts: I love this, and might even buy a back up

Shoes -- Hunter boots !

I am super excited! I got these in the mail recently, and I cant wait to wear them.
Finally, I can go to school without getting my feet wet!

I have been debating for awhile if I should get Tretorns or Hunters or Burberry rainboots, or Tokidoki if they are ever available again. But when I got that email from Neimanmarcus about their sale, I looked at shoes (I love shoes) and saw these babies.

Now, I dont know too much about Hunters, and I dont know much about the colour availability or design or anything, but when I saw these I am pretty sure they dont sell this in Canada (or at least not that I've seen.)

These boots are pretty tall, a bit hard to wear with sweat pants, but why would you even need to wear rainboots with sweat pants? With leggings and bare leg it's good though.

I got these boots at neimanmarcus if I havent said so already, there were four colours, white, pink, and purple that were at this price range (Bergdorf  Goodman is also selling these) and if you are iffy about having it shipped from the states, browns shoes is also having a sale on Hunters. They have it in the colour, black, green, yellow and blue (I believe) and at the price of $99 + shipping.


All in all, I like these boots, I feel special and my feet dont get wet when it rains!

Price: $83 + tax + shipping
Colour: Duck egg
Store: Neimanmarcus.com

Sally Hansen - Colour Quick nail polish pen

This is the Sally Hansen - Color Quick (Fast Dry) nail polish pen.
I bought it because it was on sale (only a dollar off) and I was buying something anyways.

After seeing chrome/holographic coloured nail polish, I really wanted to try out one. So I bought this.
I got home, and tried it on, and yes, it did what it said it would.
It dried super duper fast, perhaps the fastest drying polish I've ever used, BUT.
... BUT, it was NOT the colour that the box had claimed. Instead it was just a normal silver, it wasn't even shiny or anything, just ... a normal ... silver.

Sorry, but I didnt take pictures because I was super disappointed with this.
So I dont recommend this product at all.

Price: $5.97
Store: Walmart

Smore's donut @ Tim Hortons (short food blab)

Yesterday, I tried out this new "summer" donut from Tim Hortons.
It was the Smore's donut (80cents)

It was a regular chocolate donut (donut dipped in chocolate) with marshmallows, granola bits and chocolate pieces.

The marshmallows were softer than I thought they were (I expected them to be hard like in cereal)
I didn't like the granola too much but I could live with it.

All in all, it was alright not as good as the triple chocolate donut they had two years ago.
I am still dreaming of the day when it comes back.

Ahh, first post.

There is so much to write about.
I have so many blogs. I worked hard on them, but after awhile I stopped.
I'm not sure what the reason is, but I will definitely work on this one. (I promise)

I think I will be posting my shopping hauls, reviews, and random daily things !
I'm so excited!

A few things about myself,
I love to do my nails, I'm really rough with them or I get bored of them. So every week I will probably be updating about nails, nail polish, nail designs, new upcoming nail products!

I love to shop! Who doesn't love a good deal?
I will probably post about awesome deals (like Barney's sale, or Neimanmarcus.com, or Net-A-Porter.com sales!) It's super awesome, so many good deals!
From Marc Jacobs, to Jimmy Choos, to Louboutins, to Lanvin to anything you could possibily want!!
Sadly, I am on a student budget ... so, those designers won't be in my hauls anytime soon. Unless, maybe I do super duper well on a term, or I get a super awesome co-op job (wish me luck!)

Lastly, I love to eat.
My boyfriend and I super-duper-love-to-eat. Even though I'm super picky, we go out to eat a lot of random things. From burgers to pizza, to oysters to sushi. We go all around Toronto trying out new foods and new restaurants.

see you next time <3