"Where We Belong" Book Signing Event with Emily Giffin

About a month ago my bff, L, texted me and asked me if I wanted to go to a book signing event for Emily Giffin's latest novel, Where We Belong. Obviously the answer was "Hell, f**king, yeah!" Since I read her first novel, Something Borrowed, sometime during first year of university I've been hooked. If you haven't read it (and seen it - yes, it's now a motion picture!) it's a must read! Along with all her other books of course! Any who, I started Where We Belong about a week ago and couldn't believe how fast I got through it. I couldn't put it down! I finished the book about half an hour before the signing and I all I can say is I REALLY hope she writes a sequel! 

Emily Giffin's latest and first novel I ever read.

Where We Belong is a story about a woman and a girl. The woman, Marian, is a successful 36 year old television show producer with a secret that she has kept from everyone but her mother - the birth of a child that she gave up for adoption her senior year of high school eighteen years ago. This child, who we find out is Kirby, now eighteen, comes knocking on her door one night announcing to an unexpected Marian, "I think you're my mother." The novel is written in first person from both female's perspective, giving the reader a very intimate perspective of their stories. As the book progresses we go through the ups and downs that they both experience as they discover "that where we belong is often where we least expect to find ourselves."

L-R (Clockwise): 1. Emily telling us about the book and her inspiration. 2. I asked her what she was wearing and she was all "I think it's Lisa Perry. Here, check." 3. L getting her copy of Where We Belong signed.

So everyone goes up there asking (very thoughtful) questions about the book (I would assume) but I go up there and what do I ask her? "What are you wearing?" Emily was rocking a very simple but elegant black and white dress by Lisa Perry. Funny is her response was like, "What am I wearing? I think it's Lisa Perry. Here, (pushes her hair aside and bends her neck down a bit) check." She's super gorgeous and talent I must say! I managed to get a picture of her standing up so you can see the whole dress. Isn't it just gorgeous?! We even matched! =) The photo does her and the dress no justice I tell you!

Emily Giffin and I rocking the black and white =)

She even personalized BOTH my books! Sweet, cause I was told she was only going to personalize one! I left a happy camper needless to say.

Worth a million bucks =) 

Signed and personalized =) 

Overall the event was super fun even though we probably waited about and hour to meet her up close and get our books signed. Thanks to L for making me aware of the event! Love this girl to death! 

BFFs

Have you read any of Emily Giffin's books? What's your favourite? 

As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3


-Karennn
xoxo

Nail Polish Collection

Note: This is EXCLUDING my top and base coats cause those are just boring. SECHE VITE TOP COAT IS THE BEST! =D 

So as some of you may know (or not know) I've been crazy into nail polishes since April of last year (?). My collection grew quite rapidly and I've been trying to control myself as of late. (Trying to save my moola and all for other things such as trips and moving out =P) Any who, I thought it'd be kind of cool to give you guys a peek into my "Nail Polish Wall" in a tiny corner of my room. Please don't mind the messy-ness of it...I need another wall rack *tears!* If you are interested in seeing a detailed list of my collection, you can find it here broken down by brands! My fave brands are definitely Essie and Revlon. I think Essie has very cute pastels and a good formula - usually 2-3 thin coats will do me justice and last at least a week. Revlon is a very comparable drug mart brand, again with a good formula and a lot of fun colours! I especially love their Scented Collection - definitely a change from the usual toxic fumes of nail polishes. Well, there you have it some odd 110 bottles in my (current) nail polish collection. 

Are there any polishes that you guys recommend I should try and add to my collection? I'm always up for some new ones! If you have any suggestions for nail looks let me know as well =)

As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3

-Karennn

xoxo

Outfit Ideas: Night on the Town

Sorry I haven't been posting any OOTDs or anything fashion related lately. Been a busy couple weeks and weekends have been pretty crazy as well with too many events and birthdays. With that said last weekend I attended three birthdays for some of my closest friends in a matter of two nights. Needless to say it was a great time, celebrating awesome people and of course in comfy but (hopefully) stylish outfits. Those who know me, I prefer comfort over anything else - I need to feel comfortable in my outfits for the duration of the event. This is probably why you will rarely see me in heels unless the occasion (or outfit) absolutely calls for it!

So here it goes! With two nights and three birthdays - it most definitely called for two outfits.

Outfit #1 - Black & White with a Hint of Floral

L-R: myself, S.Quach (Birthday Girl) & A.Nguyen

Saturday night. Two birthdays. Two lovely ladies. One dinner and one pub. I wanted to keep things dressy enough for the dinner but casual enough that I wouldn't be too over dress for the pub. I figured you can't go wrong with black and white. To give it a little pizazz, I added some floral and decided to pair it with flats to dress it down and of course for extra comfort. To top it all off, I kept my accessories simple and classy and paired the look with my current fave, my Louis Vuitton Damier Speedy 30. 

Outfit pieces:

Club Monaco 'Scarlet' white blazer

Costa Blanca mesh floral tank

Club Monaco  'Diana' leggings

Costa Blanca X mauve flats 

Marc by Marc Jacobs rose gold watch

black shamballa bracelet

Forever XXI pink floral bow ring

Outfit #2 - Lace & Sheer

Myself and B.Ly (Birthday Boy)

Sunday night. Celebrating the birth of Mr. Ly at good old Joey's Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. The dress code as requested by the birthday boy was "dress to impress." This type of dress code usually makes me cringe as it usually involves a feet-hurting pair of heels (as you may learn to know I'm not a huge fan of wearing heels). Regardless, I was up for the challenge and felt like being a little girly so I went with a simple pair of lace shorts and sheer black top. I decided to stick with the 'golds' for my accessories. I've always love the 'black and gold' combination - uber simple but super classy and classic. To complete the look I paired it with a simple black pair of stilettos and of course my Louis Vuitton Damier Speedy 30.

Outfit Pieces:
Club Monaco sheer black dress shirt
Zara champagne-tiered lace shorts
Urban Behaviour black stilettos
Michael Kors gold watch
Jewel Mint 'Cinema Americano' bracelet (top bracelet in picture)
Forever XXI bracelet with black accents
Forever XXI faux pearl earrings

So I've been trying to get my friend, Mr. Ly here, to be a guest blogger on Kandi3ful as you can see, he has a very GQ sense of style. I guess it comes with working at Harry Rosen for so long. Any who, I managed to get him to comment on his (pretty fab) birthday outfit. 

As quoted directly from B.Ly:

"First off notice how the cuff of the shirt is showing just a little bit, that's because the trend is to have your blazer sleeve just a little short to show about quarter inch of the coloured shirt. Three piece suit in a charcoal gray with a slight bit of glen check to it, very subtle though. The white puff with a splash of red just compliments and pulls the whole look together. Bowties are back in but not everyone can rock it (I think he pulled it off pretty well don't you think?). Lastly the pocket watch accessorizes the outfit perfectly as a conversational piece. Make sure you tuck it in one pocket and loop the chain through the second bottom buttonhole of the vest. Statement hosiery is also in but unfortunately you don't see how colourful my socks are."

B.Ly's Outfit Pieces:
3-pc Custom made suit by Coppley (Can be found at Harry Rosen as part of their "Made to Measure" program)
Eton dress shirt
Hugo Boss bow tie and pocket square
Harry Rosen (slightly wing tipped) black dress shoes

Again, Happy Birthday D.Pantov, S. Quach & B.Ly!

-Karennn
xoxo

Nail Look of the Week - Metallic Gradient

Sorry for being MIA for the last little while. Schedule's been uber busy with cottaging, birthdays and everything in between. I had this Nail Look of the Week on last week and have been meaning to post it for you guys. This week's look is a very simple Metallic Gradient. 

Polishes and Materials Used:

Revlon ColorStay #005 Base Coat (my fave!)

Revlon Scented Collection #370 'Not So Blueberry'

Revlon #271 'Extravagant'

Revlon #925 'Gold Coin'

Essie 'As Gold as it Gets'

Seche Vite Top Coat (BEST TOP COAT EVER!) 

A cosmetic triangular sponge

Step 1: 

Start off with your favorite base coat - mines is currently Revlon's ColorStay Base coat. The base coat will give your nail a smoother surface for the polish to go on. It is especially important if you are wearing a darker colour like red or black so it doesn't stain your nails.

Step 2:

Apply 2-3 coats of your base colour of choice all over you nail. (I used Revlon's #370 'Not So Blueberry' from their Scented Collection. It smells like blueberries!)

Step 3:

Using the larger end of the cosmetic sponge, take the colour you want to appear next in the gradient and apply some of it on the sponge. (I used Revlon's #271 'Extravagant' from their classic collection.) You want to dab this lightly to about 2/3 of the nail starting at the tip. 

Tip: The more you apply on the sponge and the harder you press down on the sponge the darker the colour will appear.  

Step 4:

Using the last colour of the gradient do the same but this top to the top 1/3 of you nail. 

Step 5:

This step is optional. Using a glitter polish (I used Essie's 'As Gold as it Gets' from their Lux Effects Collection), I applied it all over my nail to blend the look together.  

Step 6:

Apply a top coat and clean off any excess nail polish that may have gotten on your fingers around your nail. 

Give it a try and let me know how yours turns out!
As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3

Karennn

xoxo

Recipe: Rock Climbing Birthday Cake

This pass weekend we had a mini BBQ for, Tony, a very good friend of mines. It was an intimate BBQ with some of our closest friends celebrating his big 2-4. I've been friends with this guy for almost ten years - crazy how fast time flies! It was a potluck so the boyfriend and I made vegetarian spring rolls (courtesy of his mom's secret recipe) which were uber delish! Since no one was bringing dessert and I had the urge to bake something special I decided to bake a cake just for him. I always try to bake a cake catered to the person so it's special to them in that sense and not just some boring round cake with candles. I raked my brains to think of what he was into and rock climbing came to mind. Now, how to "design" the cake. I googled "rock climbing cake" and to my surprise there were so many previously made cakes with the same idea. After browsing through a bunch of other people's cakes I had a vision...With that vision in mind I set out and baked my cake the day before the BBQ...

I baked four chocolate cakes using Dr. Oetker's Devil's Chocolate cake mix. 

Tip: Use some PAM spray and spray it all over the inside of the pan before pouring in the mix to bake. It makes it really easy for the cake to come out of the pan after baking =) Guaranteed non-stick!

While I left the cakes to cool on a cooling rack, with the help with one of my close girlfriends, J, we prepped the other ingredients. I wanted to have a strawberry-whip cream filling instead of icing so we washed and cut up the strawberries. We also got started on the fondant. Using pre-made white fondant from Bulk Barn (best place for baking needs =D) I added some black food colouring to create a marbled grey rock-like base for the cake.

Using other food colouring, we made bit of other coloured fondant for the "holds" on the rock climbing wall and of course to make a miniature "Tony." 

After the cake cooled, we leveled it out with a cake leveler and started layering it up. Doesn't it look so yummy?

Next up, it was decorating time with all the fondant =) After about three hours, the cake was complete! 

Come day of the BBQ, the birthday boy was uber happy which made it all worth it even more! Cheers to another year wiser and all the best to you Tony! Much love always and thanks for everything that you are - awesome! 

As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3

Karennn
xoxo

Recipe: Penne Toscana

Spent a low key Saturday at home after an eventful Friday night to say the least so decided to make my favourite comfort dish - pasta. This is my first attempt at posting a "recipe" blog so please bear with me =)

It's a pretty heavy pasta dish considering it has sausages (you can also add bacon) in a tomato vodka sauce. I LOVE my veggies so my pasta usually is never lacking in this department. I usually do my Penne Toscana with spinach and just sausages but decided to try something new today. Instead of spinach I used broccoli and added mushrooms.

Here it is, my modified version of a "Penne Toscana."

Prep time: 20-35 minutes | Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 6-8 portions

Ingredients:

1 bottle of Classico Vodka Sauce
1 bottle of Ragu Original with Mushrooms tomato sauce
6 Smoked sausages
2 broccoli crowns
1 pint of mushrooms
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Salt

Step 1:

Boil cold water (cold water actually boils the fastest) adding about a tablespoon of salt and oil to keep the pasta noodles from sticking to each other. Once the water has come to a boil add your penne noodles. Let it simmer on med-high heat for about 10-15 minutes or until it reaches your preference of noodle consistency (does that make sense? haha).

Step 2:

As the pasta noodles are cooking, prep your other ingredients to save time. You want to slice the mushrooms to about half a centimetre in width, cut the broccoli into bite size pieces, slice the sausages and chop up the two cloves of garlic. Optional: Steam/boil the broccoli before hand. 

Step 3:

Drain out your noodles and get another pot ready with some hot oil. When the oil is hot enough, put in the chopped garlic and let it fry until it is a slight golden brown. Love the smell of fresh garlic in hot oil =) 

Step 4:

On high heat, toss in the sausages and cook until slightly golden crusted then toss in the mushrooms. Let it cook until the mushroom are lightly sauteed. 

 

Step 5:

Toss in the broccoli and sauces. Let is simmer so all the ingredients meld together. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Step 6:

Toss in the penne noodles and stir until all the noodles are covered in sauce. 

Step 7:

Plate up and serve! 

If you do end up trying this recipe, let me know what you think! Hope you enjoyed my first food recipe =)

As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3

Karennn

xoxo

Nail Look of the Week - 'Classy' Polka Dots

 

Been dying all week to paint my nails as it was chipped and nasty. Funny to think just over a year ago I  hated nail polish and never wore it. Now I have to paint them on a weekly basis and own over 100 different ones! (I know I'm a little crazy =D) So, this week I wanted to try something different - I usually just paint my nails all one colour and usually leave it at that. This week I wanted to do some polka dots!  It super easy to do and I think it's pretty cute too. 

Polishes Used:

Revlon ColorStay #005 Base Coat

Revlon #281 'Classy' 

Essie Blanc

Seche Vite Top Coat

Step 1: 

Start off with your favorite base coat - mines is currently Revlon's ColorStay Base coat. The base coat will give your nail a smoother surface for the polish to go on. It is especially important if you are wearing a darker colour like red or black so it doesn't stain your nails.

Step 2:

Apply two thin coats of your base colour - I used Revlon's #281 "Classy"

Step 3:

Optional: Apply your favourite top coat on all of your nails prior to putting on the polka dots to seal in the colour. I abide by Seche Vite's top coat - it dries super quick and gives it a very nice shine! 

Using a dotting tool or the end of a bobby pin, dip it into the colour of choice for your dots. Starting in the centre of you nail create a straight line of dots even spaced. Dip the dotting tool or bobby pin into more polish as needed. Continue creating dots in a staggered pattern on both sides of the first line of dots. 

Step 4:

Once the dots have dried apply a final coat of your favourite top and tada! 

I only put polka dots on my thumbs and ring fingers because I didn't want to over do it with all the dots. I think its a little more subtle and 'classy' this way =) 

Give it a try and let me know how yours turns out! 

As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3

Karennn

xoxo

Fashion: Watch Collection

I should definitely be banned from all shopping malls. Its almost impossible for me to go through the mall without leaving with a shopping bag. Anywho, I went to the mall with two of my girlfriends and my little sister last week for some much needed Shopping Therapy. I wasn't really intending to buy anything (as is always the case as of late - even then it fails) and yet again I walked out not empty handed. 

I've had a silver watch on my to-buy list for a while now. Those who know me, knows I love my gold watches and was never really a fan. As of late, however, I felt a need for a silver timepiece. I was never really an accessories kind of gal let alone "bulky" watches. On a trip to Buffalo, NY in 2010 I came across my first timepiece in my "collection"- a Michael Kors gold watch - which i got for just over $100. I had a gold DKNY watch before that so I was already in love with the gold. I wore this practically everyday for about two years until I decided I needed to get another to prolong the life of my MK one.

Just on cue, Cyber Monday of 2012 I found a steal on my next time piece in my collection - a heavy metal plasteramic Toywatch in gold white - for about $200. Again, you can see I didn't stray very far from the gold. I find its a bit less flashy and works just as well with any outfit. (I try to find pieces that aren't too "bling" and are a bit more classic in look.)

Now that I think about it my last three time pieces were all bought in 2012...Hope that's not a sign or anything...Time's a ticking? *yikes*

My third timepiece in my collection was purchased in May - a Marc by Marc Jacobs "Blade" watch in rose gold for $150. (I know these watches were pretty good buys right =D) I had been dying to find a rose gold watch that I could finally fall in love with. My sister also has a matching watch but in a ceramic white. I guess this is kind of our "sisterly bracelets." 

The final and most recent piece in my collection is of course a silver DKNY watch. This is probably the only piece in my collection that has any sort of "bling" on it.  Still, I think its not too flashy and still simple enough for my taste.

It so happens I bought my last two timepieces at the same store - Watch Station - which recently opened up a Canadian location at Vaughan Mills. They always have great deals on watches and I highly recommend you checking it out. They have all the latest brands of watches. I haven't been disappointed yet! So there you have it my completed watch collection (for now)! 

What's your go-to watch?

As always, Read. Comment. Share. Follow. <3


Karennn
xoxo