Nail Look of the Week: 'Teenage Dream - A Secret Affair'

Just in time for Valentine's, here's my nail look of the week inspired by CutePolish. I didn't want to go overboard with all the hearts and kisses so I opted for a little bit of everything.

Polishes and Materials Used:
Revlon ColorStay #005 Base Coat (my fave!)
Essie #635 'A Secret Affair'
Essie 'Your Hut or Mine'
Essie 'A Cut Above'
Essie 'Set in Stones'
Revlon #731 'Knockout'
Revlon #110 'Pink Lingerie'
OPI 'Teenage Dream'
Seche Vite Top Coat (BEST TOP COAT EVER!)
Dotting tool

Step 1:
Start off with your favorite base coat - mines is 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 your base colour of choice, in my case I used Essie's #635 'A Secret Affair'. Let this dry before the next step.

Step 3:
This is the fun part - it's like decorating a cupcake! From left to right, starting with my index finger, I applied a coat of Essie's 'A Cut Above' then a coat of Essie's 'Set in Stones' both from their Luxe Effects collection. For my middle finger, using a dotting tool, I made kisses with a dark shade of pink (Essie's 'Your Hut or Mine' from the Resort Collection) and light shade of pink (Revlon #110 'Pink Lingerie' from the Top Speed collection). Check out CutePolish's video on how to make these easy kisses here. 

For my ring finger, I added a couple coats of OPI's 'Teenage Dream' from Katy Perry's collection to add some more sparkle to the look. You can't go wrong with too much sparkle right...? For my pinkie, I wanted to even out the black colours from my thumb's design so I designed to do a simple French tip. (Reconsidering this and may end up changing it to some polka dots to give it some life...)

For my thumb, I did a leopard design with a Valentine's day twist, inspired by CutePolish. Check out her Valentine's Leopard Nails here. This is probably my favorite nail design of them all. (Again, reconsidering re-doing the look and leaving this with the focus and doing the rest of my nails with a black French tip.)

Step 4:

Once you are satisfied with your design, apply your favorite top coat to seal in the look. Of course, I used my Seche Vite fast-drying top coat!

 

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

-Karennn

Nail Look of the Week: 'Carry On' with Gold Details

It's been a while since I posted a "Nail Look of the Week." The month of December was crazy busy and January I was on vacation for a week snowboarding so nothing exciting on my nails there either. Hooray for first nail look of the year! I did these just in time for my Winterlicious #3 with the 'Plex ladies (check out the review here if you haven't already). I wanted something classy but still fun! My current obsession is the maroon and plum hues so I decided to go with Essie's 'Carry On' as the base. To spice the look up a bit, I added a simple and fun polka dot design to my ring finger and thumb.

Polishes and Materials Used:
Revlon ColorStay #005 Base Coat (my fave!)
Essie #884 'Carry On'
Revlon #925 'Gold Coin'
Seche Vite Top Coat (BEST TOP COAT EVER!)

Dotting tool

This look is again super easy to do! You can use any combination of colours depending on your outfit and/or mood. Just have fun with it! Give it a try and let me know how yours turns out!

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


Karennn
xoxox 

Review: Winterlicious 2013 - Toronto Edition (Part 2)

Two down, two more to go! To complete my two-part review "series" on Winterlicious 2013 - Toronto Edition, I'm going to provide my comments and thoughts on the last two restaurants I attended during this culinary experience.

#3 - Fred's Not Here with the 'Plex ladies

To start, I had their famous baked crab and lobster soup. I get this every time I come to this restaurant - even when it's like 30 degrees Celsius outside! It comes out with a baked mushroom like pastry dome over it - possibly to keep the soup hot? Combined with the flavourful soup, its adds some texture to the dish. Caution, the soup does have a kick to it so if you're one that doesn't like an added kick, this may not be for you. I, however, love it!

For my main, I had the wood grilled New York strip steak with vegetables and duck fat frites. The steak was cooked to my perfection - medium rare. It was very tender and juicy - as a steak should be. It was very flavourful but as bad/rude it is I love my steaks with a bit of ketchup. (Don't judge me!) The "vegetables" consisted of some green beans and I believe that was shredded turnip or red beet. The steak was very filling so I barely touched the veggies. (Veggies are good for you!) The duck fat frites were very crispy on the outside and definitely beats out McDonald's fries any day!  

For dessert I had a baked banana bread complete with a rum caramel. The banana bread was a little burnt on the top but the sides was baked to a crisp. The inside was very moist and was quite delicious paired with the caramel. I love banana bread so I may be biased but aside from it being a little burnt on the top, I thought it was a very interesting spin on the banana loaf. Would recommend assuming it isn't burnt =)

Overall, I've never been disappointed at Fred's Not Here. I always try to include it in my list of go-to restaurants during the Winterlicious/Summerlicious festivities. This was probably my fifth or sixth time there. They specialize in steaks and seafood - which is my krytonite - so you can see why they are ranked as one of my faves! The thing that I love most about their Winterlicious/Summerlicious offerings is their variety. Most restaurants will only offer three to four choices per course but Fred's Not Here offers a wide selection aside from the compulsory meat, chicken and vegetarian dishes that most other restaurants offer. Their portion sizes are also mentionable as I've eaten here during non-Winterlicious/Summerlicious festivities and their portion sizes are pretty much the same. I find most other restaurants cut back their portion sizes during these prix fixe menu events to make up for the lowered costs. In short, I would highly recommend Fred's Not Here and I'm looking forward to going back sometime soon!

#4 - Bier Markt with the loves

Just wanted to start by saying I love Bier Markt. They carry over 150 brands of beer so every time is a new experience. The environment is super fun but sophisticated - always a good time for a simple night out. The poison of choice for the night was recommended by the server - La Trappe Quadrupel. It's a "malty sweet, slightly burnt and pleasantly bitter with a sweet aftertaste" amber beer (my faves). If you like ambers as much as I do, I would definitely recommend.

To start, we shared the "Charcuterie" which composed of cured beef tenderloin, smoked pork loin, Oka Raclette, double brie cheese, pear compote served with grilled Bistro bread and the "Brewer's onion soup" which was made up of Vidalia, Cipollini, Spanish red caramelized onions, Gruyère cheese gratin, Grimbergen Ale veal broth, cheese and balsamic croûte. Both apps were very good - the cured beef and smoked pork loin was salty enough and the soup was very hearty and just right especially with the colder temperatures as of late.

For the mains, he had the 10 oz. char-grilled Kobe T-bone beef burger accompanied with charred red onions, smoked bacon, vine ripe tomato, Iceberg lettuce, ‘Bier 58” sauce on a toasted classic bun with a side of Markt frites. The burger, I'm told, was really good. He wasn't too fond of the fries though... I had the pan-seared Arctic Char with wild and tame mushrooms, haricots verts, smoked bacon, savoy cabbage with seared fingerling potatoes drizzled with Rekorderlig Cider beurre blanc. The fish was a little dry for my liking but the sauce was really good so it help on that front. The green beans, to me, were a little undercooked. It felt like that rolled it in warm oil and *tada!* The mushrooms, cabbage and smoked bacon added a nice touch to the dish. It mixed up the taste buds and offered different textures and flavours aside from the fish. The dish overall would have been better if the fish wasn't over cooked and dry.

For the best part - dessert! He had the lemon tart made with lemon crème on a shortbread crust served with French vanilla ice cream, coconut tuile, strawberry and calamansi coulis. I'm not a huge fan of lemon based dessert but he loved it so if you're a fan of lemon treats, this is a dish you may want to consider. I had the double chocolate fudge cake. It was quite moist and very rich. I'm usually not a huge fan of chocolate (gasps!) but I thoroughly enjoyed this. It had an espresso ganache so that may be the reason why. If you're a chocolate fan, your taste buds will go crazy for this!   

Overall, I would still continue to go to Bier Markt to enjoy their wide selection of beer and ales. With regards to food, I will probably still stick to the apps and desserts. I find their mains mediocre and nothing our of the ordinary - just a personal preference. Well, that ends my mini Winterlicious Toronto 2013 blog series. I hope you all had a chance to take advantage of this culinary experience! Until next time - or at least Summerlicious - happy eating!

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

Karennn
xoxo

Review: Winterlicious 2013 - Toronto Edition (Part 1)

Every year, over 100 of Toronto's top restaurants come together and provide an exclusive prix fixe menu in one of the biggest culinary celebrations of the winter. Toronto is such a diversed city and needless to say there are endless options when it comes to food and drinks. With that said there are numerous venues that offer menus a little out of an everyday budget. Winterlicious definitely gives Torontonians the opportunity to enjoy eats at more swankier and pricer restaurants without burning a hole in their pockets or credit cards. I always try to take advantage of this opportunity to get dressed up and try these restaurants! This year I've narrowed down the list of over 190 restaurants to four - two of which I've been to before during the Winterlicious festivities. I'll break down my thoughts and reviews into a two part post. Let's get to it and start with the first two restaurants!

#1: Wildfire Steakhouse & Wine Bar with the boyfriend =)

To start we had the "Escargots Provencal" served with herbed butter, roasted garlic and shallots with panko topping and the "Shrimp martini," tiger shrimp served with cocktail sauce. We were pretty hungry so no pictures to show but I don't think you can go wrong with escargots and shrimp although the escargots from The Keg still ranks #1 in my books.

For the main, we both had the New York striploin with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and grilled seasonal vegetables both cooked medium rare. The last time I ordered this exact same cut and requested it cooked the same way, it came out more or less well done (major fail). This time, however, the steak was cooked as requested and was very tasty and juicy. The mash was mediocre, again I prefer The Keg's garlic mash over Wildfire's - just because I like the texture of some of the potato skin in the mash at The Keg. The "seasonal vegetables" consisted of a slice of carrot, zucchini and red pepper - nothing overly special there. Overall, the steak dish as a whole was good but there are definitely better places out there for the same price range but with the prix fixe menu it was worth it. 

For dessert we had the "Wildfire Crème Brulée"a traditional homemade crème brulée, made with rich Madagascar vanilla beans and the "Red Velvet Cake"made with rich artisan red cocoa, layered with chocolate ganache and vanilla cream cheese frosting. The crème brulée was really good and the portion was a perfect size to thoroughly enjoy it without getting sick of it. As for the red velvet cake, those that know me know I'm not a huge of creme cheese frosting so I can't fully critique the dish but the cake part itself to me felt a little dry. Not so much "moist" as the menu had suggested...

Overall, our experience at Wildfire was a good one to say the least. The ambiance is very nice and the staff are very attentive - maybe even a little too attentive? Would I go here on a regular day without the prix fixe menus? Probably not. Although they offer a solid menu, with the price point that one would expect to pay here on a regular basis I would opt for The Keg or cheaper alternatives (food wise without the fancy ambiance) such as Master Steaks. I would still recommend Wildfire for those looking for a solid restaurant to try during the Winterlicous (or Summerlicious) festivities. 

#2: Coppi Ristorante with the bf =)

Every Winterlicious/Summerlicious, I try to go out of my comfort zone and try a different restaurant I've never tired before. (I tend to stick to the same ones just to be safe - totally defeats the purpose of these events, I know!) Since two of the four restaurants I was going to were grill houses, we decided we should try a new Italian restaurant. You can't really go wrong with pasta right? Again, we got a little to excited with our starters so no pictures for Coppi either. He had the "frutti di mare e fava"
which was a cold salad consisting of steamed seafood, fava beans, blood orange chunks and fennel.  I had the "prosciutto di anatra" which was a spinach salad with fig balsamic vinaigrette with house cured duck breast and pistachio goat cheese. Both dishes were very tasty and I would highly recommend.

For the mains, I had the linguine "ai frutti di mare"a house made linguini with assorted seafood and san marzano tomato. He had the "bistecca di manzo" another grilled striploin with rustic yukon gold mash and green beans. The pasta was very flavourful and had a decent amount of seafood in it. The sauce was perfect! (I love rose sauces!) Surprisingly a good serving size also. Would highly recommend this dish. I didn't taste the steak but I'm told it was "good."

For dessert I had the "tiramisu" and he had the "affogato" - a vanilla gelato in espresso coffee. Let me tell you, the tiramisu was probably one of the best ones I've had to date. There is a significant coffee taste but all the flavours still melded together perfectly. It simply just melted in your mouth. It was simply delicious! The vanilla gelato was very smooth and creamy - not too sweet. It definitely paired well with the expresso coffee.

Overall, we really enjoyed our experience at Coppi. The interior was really interesting too! Did you know "coppi" was the name of an international cyclist champion, Angelo Fausto Coppi? It is also the name of an Italian bike manufacturing brand, Coppi. There was a whole wall decorated in a bike frame part, painted in pinks and greens. The light chandeliers above the tables were made of bike chains. I thought this was very clever. The restaurant is a very small and quaint little space but the food will blow your taste buds away! Would definitely recommend!

Do you have any recommendations for Winterlicious/Summerlicious?

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

Karennn
xoxo