PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) is BACK!

Good Friday morning to everyone! Today has been a great morning! I'm off from work today and decided to stir up my morning routine (No pun intended;You'll see below). You may or may not know that I am a huge fan of Starbucks. So when I learned that their PSL (Pumpkin Spice Latte) would be releasing earlier this year, I could barely keep my excitement inside. Of course, that's what I had to get this morning. I put on my most awful outfit ever (purple sweat pants with a big hoodie) and headed down to my local Starbucks. Now I was too late to unlock the PSL but that's okay. I'm just happy to even be getting one in August! So here's a picture of my very first PSL of 2014!

It was soooo good! There's just something about having it for the very first time. It's sad moment when it disappears off the menu but I do look forward to it (with lots of anticipation) once its back. Today also feels like an Autumn day with cloudy skies and chill weather. Since I was in the mood and the weather called for it, I decided to take a brisk stroll around the block with my PSL. It was actually quite nice, peaceful and very relaxing. This is something I very rarely ever have the opportunity to do. Then I decided to read my September edition of Canadian Living which introduces some autumn/Thanksgiving/Halloween recipes and ideas.

This got me thinking that I'm okay with Autumn fast approaching. Don't get me wrong; I absolutely love summer! But I think as I've grown older I've come to appreciate all of the seasons a lot more. I feel especially grateful for having the opportunity to experience all the seasons because of where I live.

And Autumn, there's just something really unique about it. I love wearing big, fluffy sweaters, sipping on PSL, reading good books, feeling the crisp air, eating apple pie/apple crumble, Fall decor, thanksgiving dinner, Halloween, watching seasonal movies on cable and preparing for Christmas (that's right folks it's not that far away!)! I look forward to all of these things and would love to try a few new things this year. On my list is apple picking, baking my own apple pie and going through a corn maze. So we'll see what happens.

Do you have any plans for Autumn?

~RANDOMiss

Celebrating My Birthday

I have to give a shout-out to my wonderful co-workers! They took me out for a late birthday lunch at one of my favourite restaurants of all time, Jack Astors (Btw, I will be doing a post tomorrow about my favourite dish from there. It deserves it's very own post.)! They are such a great group of ladies to work with. I am so fortunate to be working with such great people. It always feels as if they are my really good friends where we can just carry out a normal conversation about anything. 

They were even so kind and sweet to get me a little something. An Indigo gift card and China Glaze's Flip Flop Fantasy! They know me too well! I currently have Flip Flop Fantasy on my toes and I told them how much I like the colour, except that I don't own it....they are so sneaky..! Nevertheless, these will definitely be put to good use. I'll do a post once I decide what to get from Indigo.  

P.S. Let's all take a second to just soak in the glorious name of Flip Flop Fantasy. Doesn't it scream SUMMER to you??? Love, love, love this name!

~RANDOMiss

My Favourite Lip Balms

It's really hard to find the perfect lip balm. At least I think so. Some aren't the right formula and some simply don't get the job done. So I thought I would share my favourite lip balms. I have two and they are: Burt's Bee and the EOS lip balms. I swear by these! 

I've tried a lot over the years, but I actually got the Burt's Bees as a gift and fell in love with it ever since. It's really moisturizing and heals my lips almost overnight, it seems like. I've only every tried it in the Beeswax (smells like Peppermint) and Pomegranate scents. Love them both! This product is pricey but I think it's worth it. I like that it's 100% natural. 

I initially bought the EOS lip balms because EVERYONE was talking about it. So, naturally I had to get it. I think my first scent was the Strawberry Sorbet and it did not disappoint! I love these lip balms! They are definitely moisturizing and they don't give your lips that greasy or sticky feeling some brands can leave. I also like that it's 100% natural. I have the Strawberry Sorbet, Honeysuckle Honeydew, Summer Fruit, Sweet Mint, Blueberry Acai, Pomegranate Raspberry and Lemon (I found the Lemon scent when I visited an CVS in Chicago). I just saw on their website that they also have a Vanilla Mint and Coconut Milk scent as well. I'm totally in for trying those!

Also, let's all take a moment to appreciate the really cool and awesome packaging that this product comes in! Whoever created it, is a genius! What I love the most about it, is that you can actually find the product in your bag when it's at the bottom of your pursue, since it has such a unique shape (Life saver!). 

I will definitely keep re-purchasing these lip balms for my lip care routine.

Let me know what your favourite lip balm is!

~RANDOMiss

My Weekend at the Cottage

I spent my weekend at my parent's cottage, which was very relaxing! It was bittersweet since my parents are selling it. It's been around for some time in the family and we've made some really great memories over the past years, so I'm glad I got to spend the last bit of summer out here and soak it all up. I had a great time relaxing, enjoying nature and spending some quality family time. We didn't do anything special... however, I did make dinner for my parents, sat around the campfire, had breakfast outside and I even saw an otter! The only disappointing thing is that I went to my most FAVOURITE chip truck on the planet only to find out that I could not get my usual; poutine...apparently it got it really hot inside the chip truck that their sprinkler system went on...(story of my life...)! Therefore all the food had chemicals on it.

My Favourite Chip Truck on the Planet

(For those of you who don't know what poutine is, its fresh cut fries, with gravy and cheese curds. It's the best thing since maple syurp! It's also a Canadian thing so if you're not from Canada the next time you're up in here, you gotta try poutine.)

View from the cottage

But nevertheless, it was a great weekend and I'm glad I went to enjoy the last bits of summer!

~RANDOMiss

My Favourite Summer Magazine

In addition to reading, I also like to browse and read the occasional magazine. This summer my favourite has been Canadian Living. I'm obsessed and get super excited every time this gets delivered to my mailbox! There's a wealth of ideas for recipes, makeup, fashion, crafts, DIYs etc... These magazines have everything I love and more. Seeing that summer is almost coming to an end, I'm excited to see what they have in store for the Fall months. These are also great magazines for when your travelling to the beach, cottage or wherever! 

What's your favourite magazine?

Happy reading!

~RANDOMiss

Movie Review: Chef

Title: Chef

Release Year: 2014

Director: Jon Favreau

Actors: Jon Favreau, Scarlett Johansson, Sofia Vergara, John Leguizamo, Emjay Anthony

Genre: Comedy

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: An aspiring and passionate Chef loses his full-time job at a restaurant. Things turn out for the best as he starts up his own food truck. He also discovers that he has the ability to re-patch his broken family. 

My Favourite Part: The bonding that happens between the father and son. And of course all of the amazing food!

Lessons Learned: When one door closes another opens. 

Would I Recommend It?: Definitely! It's a feel good, happy movie! 

~RANDOMiss

Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream Review

Love, love, LOVE this stuff! It's a must in my nail care routine. Here are my thoughts:

• It strengthens weak nails - my nails have become brittle since I use water, (ie: washing dishes), and use nail polish remover a lot.
• It helps with preventing the skin from peeling around nails - this is my biggest problem.
• It's an expensive product but worth it. A little goes a long way! This product will last for a long time.
• I saw Cute Polish recommend this item and got it after her referral. I have no regrets! ThePolishAholic recommends it in her blog as well!
• I use it once in the morning and once in the night. I have one at work and one on my bedside table so I have no excuses to make...
• It's really hard to find time to go all out on a full nail care routine. Plus getting a manicure every week can be very expensive, but I found that this method works best.
• It smells awesome and really fresh!
• Makes a great gift item.
• Best of all, it's made of all natural products! No harsh chemicals to irritate the skin!

Hope you give this product a try! What's your favourite product for your nail care routine?

~RANDOMiss

Taco Tuesday!

For anyone who wants a quick, yummy dinner after a busy day at work....Tacos! I bought the Old El Paso dinner kit and I have to say it's very convenient. I didn't even have to think or stress about making dinner. Here's some pictures from tonight's dinner. Next time you can't decide on what to make for dinner, make Tacos!

~RANDOMiss

My Relaxing Weekend

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I've been so busy for the last few weeks that I really wanted this weekend to be relaxing and spend some quality time with the hubby. We did some awesome things to just relax before the work week:

• We did a couples massage at a nearby spa. We didn't really find it relaxing as much as sore but it was very rejuvenating. We don't go often so when we do, the Registered Massage Therapists always massages the kinks out of our body.
• This was followed by a nap since we felt really tired after the massage.
• We made Sunday Night Stew (but we made it on Saturday) by the Pioneer Women (see picture below). It was delicious! It was raining all Saturday where we lived, so the stew was perfect for the weather. I can't describe how yummy this recipe is! Definitely is a favourite in our cookbooks!
• We watched Mrs. Doubtfire to honour the great comic and actor Robin Williams. Mrs. Doubtfire is by far my favourite Robin Williams movie ever! We really enjoyed watching this and had such a good laugh together! RIP Robin Williams. 
• We tidied up the house. This may not sound relaxing but I realized that when things are disorganized in the house it makes me really anxious. By tidying up it made us both more relaxed. Besides it didn't even take more than hour of our time.

What's your favourite thing to do on a relaxing weekend?

~RANDOMiss

Kitchen Hacks - Cutting Fruit

As I finished cutting some fruit for snacks this week, I realized that I'm always fumbling around the kitchen with my chef knife trying to figure out what the best way to cut fruit is. Then I remembered that PureWow sent an email about these helpful cutting hacks for Pomegranate, Grapefruit, Pineapple and Mango (I'm subscribed to their email list)! I'm always cutting Pineapple and Mango and found this to be super useful. Thought that you would find these useful as well!

Check it out here: http://www.purewow.com/agenda_detail/national/292/Final-Cut-Pro.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=national&utm_campaign=Final_Cut_Pro_2014_08_13&utm_content=List_Article_editorial

What's your favourite cutting hack for fruit?

~RANDOMiss

Appetizers for Dinner

Ever thought about having appetizers for dinner? I LOVE having appetizers for dinner. Whether it's at a restaurant or at home. I think it's different, unique, keeps things interesting and allows you to try different foods instead of having the same old boring dinner, week after week. My favourite day of the week to have this is on Fridays! I'm not sure why....maybe because I'm excited for the weekend and love the idea of something new and fresh. Of course, this can be done on any day.

Here's a recent pic of my hubby and I's appetizer choices on a recent date night. This is our fav combo! We went out to small little restaurant in our town. I also love to make fresh salsa with our tomatoes from our garden in the summer months.

So if you're stuck about what to have for dinner tonight or what to do this weekend, try this idea!

What are your favourite appetizers for dinner?

~RANDOMiss

Fav Mani & Pedi Summer Combos

Life Unsweetened by Rachel Maleady did a post yesterday about her favourite mani/pedi combos for the summer. What a great idea! Check out her blog, she has so many cool ideas! So I thought I would catch on and do a post with my favourite combos as well for the summer. Here they are:

French Affair + Madison Ave Hue

 Bubble Bath + DJ Play That Song

Such a Budapest + Lady Like

I'm looking to purchase a pale yellow before the summer ends. I don't have a colour like this in my collection. Any suggestions? What are your favourite mani/pedi summer combos?

~RANDOMiss

Book Review : The Fault In Our Stars

Hi Everyone!

I absolutely love to read! Especially in the summer. There is nothing like having a good book outdoors with a cool drink beside me. I recently finished reading The Fault in Our Stars and thought it would be fun to write this review. Here are my thoughts:

Title: The Fault In Our Stars

Author: John Green

Genre: Teen Fiction

Rating: 4/5 

Synopsis: Hazel and Gus, teenagers who have been united through a support group session, are battling forms of cancer. The book highlights their journey together. Their journey is centered over their mutual love for a book called the Imperial Affliction in which they discover their love and friendship for each other.

Why did I pick this book?: Recommended by my sister. It is one of the top Teen picks of the summer. Thought I would give it a shot! 

My Favourite Part: When Hazel and Gus are able to come together to find positivity, happiness and love through their relationship, even though they were both going through tough times.  

Lessons Learned: There is always a good outcome to every bad situation.  

Would I Recommend It?: I think it's a good book to read if you've never read fiction books about cancer. Although, if you are interested in seeing the movie I always think it's a good idea to read the book first.  

How Would The Movie Do?: I think this type of story would be better told through screenplay on the big screen than through writing. Visually, the emotions may be portrayed in a more surreal and tangible way. I am really excited to see the movie!  

Would I Read Other Books By This Author?: I've heard that John Green's "Looking For Alaska" seems to be a popular read as well. However, I'm not sure if this author's style of writing is my pick for a summer read.  

My Next Read: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

First Impressions: So far...really good! I think this book might be life changing for me.

Let me know in the comments below if you like this review, or if you think I am missing anything you would like me to discuss. This is my first attempt at this, any suggestions would be appreciated!

~RANDOMiss

A Big Fat Indian Wedding

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had an awesome weekend! I had an Indian wedding to attend this weekend for close friends of the family. It was such an enjoyable experience as it always is, when I attend these things. Not really sure how many of you out there have been to an Indian wedding before. And that got me thinking, everyone who has the opportunity to attend one...should! It's one of those things that you need to experience for yourself. 
 

I don't think there are other weddings quite like these. With vibrant colours, traditional festivities (that last for days!), ceremonial beating of the drums, good music, exquisite attire, delicious food, meeting family (that you never knew you had) it can seriously be a production. In my opinion this is something to experience. There is nothing quite like it and no blog can describe the eloquence, incredible and extraordinary experience of it. Just thought that I would share my thought on this and hopefully inspire you to embrace the Indian wedding culture that is a treasure to experience.  

Have you been to a big fat Indian wedding? What was your favourite part?   

Some pics from my own wedding!

 

~RANDOMiss

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday Everyone!

Just thought I would share these beautiful flowers that I got a few days ago for my birthday. Aren't they just gorgeous? Every time I look at them they just brighten up my day! Thought I would share as it's Friday! TGIF! Enjoy your weekend everyone!

~ RANDOMiss

Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's. Have you heard of the name or visited a location before? If you haven’t…..Google It.Right.Now. Or go to a location if you are ever near one. Where I live we don’t have Trader Joe's but people seem to vlog and talk about it all the time. So I decided that the next time I’m near one, it’s on my places to visit list (I know it’s really weird to have that be a part of one such list).  But what can I say…I love everything food related!  In short Trader Joe's is a grocery store with some pretty unique and random items. I’m going to highlight two items that are my absolute favourite (out of everything that I bought). 

Number 1 is the all too famous Trader Joe's Cookie Butter! I’ve heard so many people talk about this often that I had to try it out myself. Like seriously cookie butter? What is so great about it? And does it taste like raw cookie batter that you would make at home? And how can a cookie turn into butter??? Well  the verdict is…….so yummy! It’s the most divine, satisfying, scrumptious, mouth-watering replica of actual homemade cookie batter. If you are a diehard cookie addict with no cookie supply (in times of desperate need), then this would definitely do the trick (and I know this because my husband is one and can speak to the fact that it definitely fulfills a cookie craving when no cookies are to be found…).  It’s actually a really neat and cool product. I don’t think there is much out there like it and if there is I wouldn’t know how they would compare. Also what’s really cool is that Trader Joe's has it in different varieties.  For example, they have the regular cookie butter, the crunchy kind and the cocoa and cookie butter kind (below)….It’s so good!  I bought the cocoa and cookie butter for myself and the regular one for my sister. I’ve tried both and they are super good! However, I think I prefer the cocoa one because it tastes exactly like a chocolate chip cookie! Cookie butter itself is quite random too in the sense that you can put it on waffles, on your banana, on ice cream…or just eat a spoonful like I do. I suggest you take a try the next time you're close by to a Trader Joe's.

The other item that I really like from their store is the Trader Joe’s Movie Theater Popcorn! It’s sooooo good! Now I guess I’m kind of biased here because I absolutely love movie theater popcorn. I will totally just drive to the movie theater to get movie popcorn without seeing a movie….yup…I am one of those! Anyways, the Trader Joe's kind is pretty close to the real deal you get at the movies theater. It comes in a pretty sizeable bag as well. They also have other flavored popcorn as well if you want to try something new and with really cool varieties like olive oil, or cracked black pepper. For me, movie theater is the ultimate flavour. I loved it so much that I only have a little bit left and I’m trying to savour it….as the closest Trader Joe's to me is about a 2.5 hour drive away. 

Both these two items are definitely going to be a staple in my Trader Joe's haul the next time I am around the store! Hope you all enjoyed this post as much as you will enjoy these items.What's your favourite Trader Joe's item?

 Until my next post, take care everyone!

~RANDOMiss