Christmas party dress = check

It was a moment of weakness, which I blame on the several glasses of alcohol consumed, but I now have in my possession a gorgeous beaded, tulip skirt LBD with pockets to boot!

This all happened yesterday at the BCBG/Max Mara Grant Reveal Event held at their downtown location. I had no intentions of trying anything on, planning to just browse through the racks of expensive duds. If asked by a sale associate if I need any help, I would airily reply "Oh, no thank you, I'm just browsing today." First step through the door and I was greeted by a friendly girl handing out glasses of white wine and it was the beginning of my downfall. I thought I was able to curb the materialistic urges when I just stood idly by, watching Shar try on one amazing dress after another. But, with nothing to snack on by tiny pieces of shrimp (tasty, though) encrusted with chopped pistachio nuts and mini mushroom tarts, the second mint-cucumber vodka martini went start to my bewildered brain and soon enough, I found myself in a gorgeous black dress and a pair of amazing black satin peep-toe bejewelled heels that the sales associate picked out for me. It was perfection! After trying on a few more dresses, umming and ahhing between the LBD and the shimmery purple, I decided on my first choice. Now, it's time to give my credit card a well needed rest...

My gorgeous, fabulous LBD! You can see my second choice, the shimmery purple dress, in the right corner.

Close up of the purple shimmery dress. I loved the shoes, it matched everything I tried on!

I tried on this dress because it was something that I would never have picked out for myself. It was quite the sexy, man-eater, va va voom dress!

***

I went back to BCBG on the weekend, since the sale was still on and tried on a pile of glittery, shiny dresses.

This was a very simple dress with beading down the front.

I really like this dress. It was an interesting colour and I really like the cut.

Finally, the pile dwindled to three choices:


In the end, I didn't buy anything because I couldn't decide what to get. Who knows, maybe I'll invest in a well cut, tailored suit. I still have a coupon that doesn't expire until December!

blank canvas

It was Shar's birthday pARTy last Saturday, held at Raw Canvas in Yaletown. It's a cafe/art studio/social space where you can paint to your heart's content while sipping on a large matcha chai latte (yum!) and listening to some cool tunes. It's a unique space where you can have a cappucino as you express yourself artistically. The place is so new that it doesn't have its debit/credit card machine set up yet.

There was a large communal canvas that everyone painted on and each person was invited to pick out a canvas (xsmall, small, medium or large) and create a their own masterpiece. Some people started off with one thing and ended up with something completely different at the end (fallopian tube to Christmas ornaments?!). Some people took their time to deliberate and plan out what they wanted to appear on canvas. Some people already knew what they wanted to paint and it was just a matter of making the first brush stroke. I was none of those people.

I haven't painted in years, so I just smeared shades of blue paint all over my canvas and did some yellow and orange swirls to make it less depressing. I was lacking the creative genius that usually inspires tortured souls to create meaningful and expressive art. But with the help of some cupcakes, chocolate cake and scones, I was able to manage. Hee.

Photos courtesy of Sharlene Eugenio and Grace Yaginuma.

you know it's been a good day if you've been drinking since noon

That's what happened on Saturday. I had brunch with some old coworkers at Browns Restaurant. Started off with a yummy Don't Get Caught martini (raspberry vodka, alize red, citrus and cranberry juice) along with my Hollywood burger and onion rings. It was a farewell brunch as Lenka is moving to Amsterdam to start a new, exciting life to follow her dreams and maybe one day, after much extensive training and education, become a yoga teacher.

After brunch, we wandered the streets of downtown to do some window shopping before stopping at Starbucks to chat with a new friend over caffeine. A phone call and a quick cab ride later, and the alcohol was flowing on the "party" bus (no booze allowed?!) where I had the pleasure of knocking back a vile concoction of disgusting white Jamaica rum mixed with Coca Cola. It burned. And my lips peeled. Very attractive. We spent 2 hours on the "party" bus, making a few stops for those who needed to use the bathroom (at Stanley Park by the Totem Poles and somewhere by Granville Island, close to the marina). All the windows were opened (that was the air conditioning) and we spent half the trip, shivering and drinking the rum and coke, not because of the taste, but in the hopes of it warming us up.

Finally, we reached our last stop and hopped off the party bus in Yaletown (back again!). Since we still had quite a bit of time before dinner, we stopped by Section [3] for have some real alcohol. A Fake ID cocktail brought my taste buds back to life and a plate of yam fries didn't hurt either and than it was off to the Hamilton Street Grill for dinner. For my appy, I had the crispy Asian spiced beef tenderloin, organic greens, chow mien noodles, ginger soy dressing. It tasted a lot like dried ginger beef that you would find at any Chinese kiosk at the food court. It was decent, but I was expecting a bit more than just fishing through the crispy noodles, looking for pieces of beef tenderloin. I had the oven-roasted B.C. Sablefish, house cured prosciutto and woodland mushroom risotto, buerre blanc as my entree, which was much better, although for the life of me, I couldn't find the proscuitto. It was around this time, where I was starting to get full and I ended up passing along my plate of half eaten sablefish and risotto down to one of the boys who was more than happy to finish it for me. I did manage a few bites of dessert (warm gingerbread pudding with caramel sauce, pumpkin and ginger gelato), which was really delicious and a very generous portion, but I couldn't finish it without getting sick. Next weekend: Glowbal!

happy thanksgiving!

Hee.