Wedding Wear

I was at my brother-in-law's wedding this weekend and it was perfect day. I was helping out in this DIY intenseive wedding though so I don't have the best pictures to share but here are the best I could find anyway.

I have been meaning to introduce a friend of mine Lady Jane who runs a wonderful blog and consignment shop where I picked up this beauty last April.





I really wanted to make this dress extra playful and added my yellow patent Stuart Weitzman peep-toe shoes and I would have loved a pair of vintage clip or large post earring like these but did not find a pair in time.



via Cupcakes and Cashmere

The wedding was held at Domaine Tomali-Maniatyn and it was the perfect setting in the Eastern Township with a great view. The wonderful bed and breakfast can be seen here behind my handsome husband.



Their caterers did an amazing job as seen here by a layered salad of tomatoes, mangoes, avocado and shrimp. not sure about the blueberries but otherwise I will be replicating this before the summer runs out!

Eat your hometown : Yuki Ramen

There's nothing as satisfying and comforting as a hot bowl of broth with noodles. In Asian cuisine, this goes so much farther than chicken noodle soup and while I've grown up with South East Asian soups I have recently widened my repertoire to include the Korean bi bim bap and the Japanese ramen. Now ramen to many including myself is a dried square of instant noodle with a package of msg kicked flavour. But Japanese ramen is a work of art with a deep flavourful broth and a meaty topping and a soft tangle of fresh noodles.



I had read about Yuki Ramen and when I arrived to one of my favourite Japanese places only to find it closed (Kazu - closed on Tuesday) I thought of going there instead even though it was a bit warm for soup. We arrived a bit early and the noodle expert was seated in the eating area and got up quickly to get to work on our lunch. The employees suspiciously did not speak Japanese, I overheard a customer say that it was Taiwanese. Nevertheless, I was in for a treat of hand pulled noodles and a lovely topping of braised pulled pork and a hard boiled egg.





banchan-like pickled soy sprouts that were delicious!





A queue formed quickly after our order was placed and it was a hot day, so I can only imagine how popular this spot is when Concordia has started and the weather is calling for soup... I will definitely be slipping this gem in between tonkinese soup outings!

Yuki Ramen
Faubourg Ste-Catherine
1616 Ste-Catherine W.
Montreal, QC

Eat at home : Steamed fish

BO-ring!... but with roasted cherry tomato compote (I actually just drizzled white wine vinegar over them and mashed them up a bit), rosemary oven fries and roasted asparagus you've got quite a Friday fish dinner!



Have a great weekend!

Listen to your hometown : Sam Roberts

I can boast knowing someone who went to high school with Sam Roberts, but that aside this is just a great song and I thought I'd share it!

Eat at home : Homemade Chicken BLT

Sometimes the best ideas are my husband's harebrained ones! (But don't tell him). He requested a fried egg topped BLT but I went with some herb roasted chicken and homemade mayo instead... now what can be bad about that?

Eat your hometown : La Paryse

La Paryse has a bit of a reputation in Montreal for good burgers but with a few new players in town, it is definitely getting a run for its money! From the fancy and hip M:Brgr, the brainchild of the owners of Moishe's Steakhouse, to the more casual Le Gourmet Burger,... there are a lot choices for burger afficianados in Montreal. Even the American chain Five Guys has opened in Montreal!



Anyway, while I loved the atmosphere and location of La Paryse, I can't say I would want to go back for the food, it was so so for me, Le Gourmet Burger was much better and a lot closer. The fries were definitely worthwhile and so was the homemade not-too-sweet lemonade.

Closet Expansion : Chambray and white eyelet

I wrote a while back here about summer sandals and I did pick a pair up and never showed them off.



It's actually been so hot that wearing a shirt is hard but this outfit still feels so summery!





Chambray shirt Gap; Skirt Club Monaco; Bracelet J Crew; Earrings Banana Republic; Sandals The Bay by Circa Joan&David.

Rebirth

Following some amazing inspirations from Emily from Cupcakes and Cashmere (through a bit of obsessive web stalking - I read three years worth of posts in as many days), I have a renewed motivation for my blog and I'm considering revamping. As you can tell I have a great love of food and I would like to incorporate it into my blog (I kinda already have just totally unrelated!).

I also dabble in design and beauty and am thinking of introducing those topics as well, please let me know what you think and what you're looking forward to reading about!

L

Closet Lust: Spring/Summer Footwear

I know, I know, it's been a while... School is wrapping up and I'm finally at my last full week of school! Obviously there will be many activities to wrap things up and I'll be sure to post up some outfits... what will I wear to Farewell Dance?! Dress up is fun (even if it is a glorified prom for 13-14 year olds!)

Anyway, this is not why I am here today. I am here to talk shoes. The most glorious accessory. Anyway I have been enjoying the oxford/brogue/blucher trend all year, I love the quirkiness and instant allure it gives any outfit! Now that summer has arrived (almost) my toes would very much like to see the sun. In the spirit of my oxfords I picked up a lovely pair of laced flats from Zara during Holiday Sale season. Obviously, espadrilles are being seen everywhere...




Via Dolce Vita for Target ;surely an imitation of these

My eyes keep wandering to laced sandals like these.



via Locale

And today I found these (in grey and tan)...



via Zappos

I kinda fell in love AND they are super comfortable! But they were slightly out of my price range so I will be watching them like a the bargain shopoholic hawk that I am. What do you think? Is it a little too much trend for one sandal?

Other options to keep your toes cool and happy.



via Little Burgundy



via Sam Edelman

Can we skip spring and go straight to summer?

So with all these lovely Coachella festival pics going around as well as the lineup for Osheaga announced it's got me thinking... about summer, about sandals, about sunglasses!

Anyway, here are a few of my favourites styles. The white dress, long and short.



















pics via Just Jared

Obviously shorts, casual or ladylike.




















pics via Just Jared

And maxi skirt and cute boy.


pics via Just Jared

I don't know where I'll be taking inspiration yet, but I definitely will be avoiding sandals since Parc Jean Drapeau is a sandy dusty dirty mess! I say it every year and last year still was tempted into wearing a open weave skimmer... not so great!

I'm excited to see Death Cab, Death from Above, Karkwa and Malajube, you?

Miscellaneous outfits and a recipe

Yes I have been neglecting in a major way, but now that the weather is getting better and I can have my pick of footwear, I will be much more motivated to put together cute outfits to show you! Also, since I am on a shopping ban, you can actually see what is IN my closet!

Just to whet your appetite, here is my outfit for sugaring off. We chose this lovely cabane à sucre which was wonderfully quaint, baked it's own bread as well as sugar pies and had a cute mini village.



Coat Michael by Michael Kors; shirt J. Crew; jeans Rock&Republic; hubby's belt Club Monaco; boots Winners; mittens and purse FCUK.

Also, I got around to wearing one of my recent purchases and here was the result. Forgive the awkward pose and dorky smile.



Top Gap; skirt Gap; necklace Banana Republic; shoes Zara.

And last night we had an amazing steak dinner (thanks Cosco!) and my scalloped potatoes came out perfect so I thought I'd share.



Thanks Em('s mom) for sharing this recipe (link is above). I made a 'low fat' version by substituting 5% light cream (the mixture of heavy cream and milk would be like using American half and half or 18%) and I topped with some cheese instead of butter.

Closet Expansion: Gap Give'N'Get and other Booty

Last weekend, there was a 30% off purchase last weekend and here are the goods... for a grand total of less than 100$!




I also received my order from Locale... less than 12.49$ (+ tax and 5$ shipping but still).



This weekend continues with great promos at Gap and Banana.

Day 3 and 4 in California

Day 3 was spent in Santa Monica and Venice, biking along the beach.



T shirt Jor Fresh; jeans Paige Premium (TJ Maxx); shoes TOMS; sunnies Urban.

We finished the evening at the movies watching I am Number Four. I had read the young adult novel last summer and was impressed by the movie, not that it was a great movie but it was what it should be.

Day 4 was spent going to the Getty Centre, driving along Mulholland Drive through Beverly HIlls to get to Melrose and attend a food truck night.



I finally got to feast on Ludo Lefebvre famous fried chicken and it did not disappoint.



We also had a grilled cheese with mac and cheese and BBQ ribs and some amazing ice cream.

Travel Closet: Oops

I know I've been neglecting, it's hard to live and blog!

Anyway, here we are today at the La Brea Tar Pits. I am showing off two new purchases, one necessary one (sunnies, ours got stolen from our car!) from Urban Outfitters and one not so necessary (shirt) from J Crew Outlet following our Monday activity of Outlet shopping.





Sweater Gap; shirt J Crew Outlet; jeans Paige Premium (TJ Maxx); shoes Nine West; handbag Gerard Darel; sunnies Urban Outfitters.

I did ok at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets, J Crew had some ok deals, Banana had some great ones but I still only ended up with one item!

I will make sure to be more diligent!

Montreal Highlights Festival Girl's Night

I was lucky enough to attend Koko hosting Anita Lo with Em.



Top and jeans Banana Republic; cardigan Club Monaco; booties DSW (Naturalizer).



We really enjoyed our dinner, we were surrounded by food critics (including one koo-koo one which was great entertainment!) apparently and were maybe not prioritized, the first two courses took close to 2 hours! But it was a great experience, thanks Em for joining and mostly for the entertainment of seeing you eavesdrop on everyone.

On opening night there were definitely some glitches with the service, but the food was fabulous, read more about it here on Miss A's. Here are some previews.




Stay tuned for my travel wardrobe!