I was delighted to find out last month that Dave Lackie & Nina Westbury would be coming to Vancouver to host a beauty event at The Bay. For those who aren't following Dave on twitter....you are seriously missing out! He has the best beauty giveaways, wonderful makeup tips & the 411 on all new beauty releases. He's also the editor for BEAUTY the Guide, which is a great publication if you enjoy runway looks and keeping up to date on the latest trends. I find it super inspiring- and it's also a wonderful enabler in terms of fuelling my need to buy new make-up! ;) As for Nina, she's hilarious and always willing to offer excellent personalized advice if you have any questions about makeup!



In truth, I wasn't sure I would be attending- I hadn't been able to RSVP before all the seats were claimed, and I also happened to have an exam later that evening. Regardless, I decided it wouldn't hurt to stop by. Everyone was already seated by the time I arrived, and one of the lovely managers/co-ordinators (I didn't even catch his name, yikes!) told me to check at the registration table to see if there were any free RSVP seats for me. It was still full, so I took a seat in the general area. I'm so glad I decided to attend after all- Dave & Nina were as bubbly and fun as they seem on twitter. It was an excellent presentation, filled with quirky anecdotes from Dave of behind-the-scene moments at fashion shows; he's really seen it all! From Anna Wintour to Michael Kors- it was wonderful to hear of his experiences. I really enjoyed learning about the thought process of makeup artists when planning runway looks- crazier looks to contrast with more conservative outfits, or more dramatic eyes to bring attention to detailed dresses. (Suddenly reminded of how much I'd LOVED the fun makeup at the Manish Arora FW14 show!!!!)

It was also a bit of a throwback to go through fall/winter shows- those who know me are aware of how closely I follow fashion week (albeit menswear more than womenswear), and having just gone through the spring/summer season in October, the shows from February were already one big blur in my mind.

Unfortunately, I can't access the archives for the October 2014 of BEAUTY the Guide, which provided excellent examples of the runway trends mentioned in the presentation (and my memory is horrid. Why didn't I write them down like I was originally planning to? I'm a horrible blogger, honestly.) The few that I can remember are..... glacial blues, darker red lips, and my personal fave- "Medici modern".

Thiarine Garcia & Sasha Luss @ Max Mara FW14 RTW. Obsessed with that shade! Wish I had their cheekbones :(

As an art history student, I'm fairly aware of the Medici family- it was even more of a surprise for me to see a Bronzino painting, as I had to write a paper on him last year. (It's odd how I feel a certain sense of pride every time I hear about Bronzino. I came across a copy of the very painting I wrote on while in Florence this summer, and again in Milan, and I couldn't help but rave about it to my mom, haha.) I swear a little shiver went down my spine when Dave talked of how the makeup at Milan fashion week was very nude & natural but flawless- as if the models themselves had stepped out of these paintings. It's absolutely brilliant!

I just want to start off by saying that I love the idea of baking, but once I actually start doing it, it's not long before I realize I have no patience for it. Two weeks ago, my friend hosted a movie night at his place, and for some insane reason (I must've hit my head????) I decided I would bake a few batches of cookies to bring for the potluck. The problem is, I had to buy a ton of ingredients, and as always, I waited till the very last minute to do so.....I ended up arriving 2 hours late, sigh. I will also state that I haven't made cookies since high school- and even then, my baking was always hit or miss. I've made numerous successful cheesecakes, but my cakes can be questionable, so I wasn't sure how these cookies would turn out. (I do think part of the problem is I don't own proper measuring equipment so I guesstimate on a lot of things, hahahahaha....) Luckily they were delicious! They don't LOOK that great- my oven doesn't seem to distribute heat evenly so I struggled a lot with it- but they really were yummy. Anyway, the cookies were a hit. In fact, I'm craving some now...

These are the Nutella & Salted Caramel cookies (recipe here!) I ended up not using Nutella, as I was a bit worried they would be too chocolatey already. I also used mint chocolate chips instead since I am obsessed with mint. As I was in a hurry, I ended up rolling quite huge balls of dough (also an attempt to ensure the Caramilk was covered.) Because of that, they were quite heavy- reminded me of brownies. Next time I'll definitely try to even out the amount of dough...but there was also problems with my oven. I wasn't sure if they were done or not- as a result, they may have been in there for too long :(



And my personal favourites.....these AMAZING Brown Butter Salted Caramel Cookies (recipe here!) These blew my mind. They changed my life. Honestly, I lost track of how many I consumed on my own. Brown butter really does make a HUGE difference!! My kitchen smelled heavenly afterward ;) Unlike the chocolate ones, I didn't have too much trouble with these, although my caramel pieces melted onto the wax paper, so there were a few issues trying to get them off in one piece. I replaced the chocolate chunks with white chocolate, and I also opted out of adding coffee. If you have time, you definitely need to make these!

I promise I'm not usually so haphazard with my pictures & presentation, but I really was in a huge hurry, haha.

Delayed post (as always), but I was delighted to attend last month's launch of the Marc by Marc Jacobs FW14 collection at The Bay hosted by the wonderfully adorable & charming Beckerman sisters- Samantha & Caillianne.

here's a picture of me holding said chocolate! taken by my lovely friend christina.

adorable & delectable mini cupcake that we had to chase down the servers to get. they kept running away from us :(

marc by marc jacobs: black moto quilted bag

marc by marc jacobs: black leather easy rider ankle boots