apple blossoms

Puff pastry + sliced apple + sugar + cinnamon = yummy apple blossoms!

Midnight shopping spree

What started as an innocent Online purchase turned into a shopping spree last night when my dear friend Michelle told me about ebates.com, a shop-referral program that awards cash-backs for going to online vendors through their webpage.

Shopaholics/Deal Hunters Be Warned: ebates can get dangerous!

I was only supposed to pick up 2 Clarisonic Mia's - one for me and one for Eva - but ended up browsing through the skinstore.com and upon comparing prices with the Sephora website, the total damage came out to be over $300!!

Well, technically a third of that could be attributed to Eva (her Clarisonic Mia) and a third of the remainder was intended to be gifts (a gorgeous blush set and Hello Kitty blotting paper), so I don't feel *as* guilty.  The only challenge now is to hold off buying any more makeup until the orders arrive!

BIOTHERM Celluli Laser scrub

I love scrubs.  Face scrubs from my first St. Ives Apricot Scrub to my current fave Idealist Micro-D Thermal Refinisher from Estee Lauder, body polishes from the Body Shop, cuticle scrub by Avon, pumice scrub for the feet from H2O+ - I'm a junkie that will try pretty much any scrub on the market.  That feeling of pure cleanliness is addictive.

So even though I don't really have what's classically defined as "cellulite" (thank goodness!), I picked this up from one of the warehouse sales last year.

 

I had stashed it away and didn't remember having bought this until I went to put away the extra body butter I had stocked up on from the Body Shop's 3 for $30 event.  Instead of using the body scrub from the Body Shop, I thought I'd try this one out first.

 

The scrub itself is a translucent orange color with visible beads, and the texture is quite thick.  The citrus-y smell is decent and not overly strong.  The instruction was to rub and massage onto dampened skin - which proved somewhat difficult to do as it dries up quickly.  A little more liberal splash of water helped spread the scrub out and the skin did feel very smooth after rinsing out with warm water.  I can't tell if it's really effective in what it claims though, but I might as well believe that it helps prevent cellulite too!

moose's pick

yummy rice crackers in shape of sakura blossoms

this moment, I'm in love

Finally got to see some pictures from B's best friend's wedding back in July of last year, and this is probably the most candid shot of us :)

moose's pick

Does anyone know where to find these now? I never see them in store anymore!

Day 10: Banff - Calgary - Toronto

Good thing we checked in early and realized our flight had been delayed - we were put on standby for an earlier flight and got back to Toronto just in time for dinner!

Day 9: Banff Gondola and the Old Spaghetti Factory

Day 8: the magnificent Lake Louise

Day 7: Last Night in Panorama

...so of course we had to clean out our stock of wine :)