My First-Ever Dior Surprise....

My last post ended with a regret. I know, not a great way to end a blog post.

My regret was NOT purchasing this gorgeous Dior palette I saw at the Duty Free Shop on the way to New York. When I saw it, I thought, "I can't buy something here in CANADA when I'm going to NEW YORK..." So I left the shop, empty-handed, thinking that worst-case scenario, I can buy it on the way home at the airport.

BUT....

They didn't have the palette in New York. Needless to say, I was pretty upset. So imagine my surprise when I saw it sitting on the kitchen table this morning, while making coffee. (Gotta love the boyfriend who actually remembers the exact palette you want AND buys it on his way home from a business trip.....Ahhhhh, I'm a lucky girl.)

Ladies, this palette is FABULOUS. It's called the Dior Travel Studio Makeup Palette and it contains everything you need for a perfect on-the-go style. The kit contains three different shimmery color combos for eyes, three lip glosses, a beautifully smooth powder foundation, an eyeliner, lip liner and the essential Diorshow mascara. (Such a flawless combo.)

If you're going to splurge on a palette this year, (or any year for that matter, since Dior comes out with multiple travel palettes...) definitely grab this one. At only $65, you are getting an amazing deal!

xo

The Shortest Vacation Part 2

Were we ever tired the next day...

All that walking around REALLY tuckered us out so we slept in, ordered room service and finally left the hotel room around 11:30 am. First stop was, of course, Manhattan but, particularly, 5th Avenue.

As my to-do list said, I was desperate to see the Tiffany's on 5th Avenue. So, we hopped on the subway and arrived at 5th Avenue about 20 minutes later. If you aren't too familiar with 5th Avenue, this is the street that has everything from Cartier, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, MAC and even an Bergdorf Goodman. (They say that this strip is the most expensive shopping street in the world.) Having said that, IT WAS SO BUSY!! It was filled with tourists all doing the same thing as we were: window-shopping and celebrity seeking. I, of course, was pretending not to be interested in whether or not there were famous people around but, come on, I wore my sunglasses for a reason. ( I was really trying to find Beyonce or Sarah Jessica Parker...) Either way, we found the Tiffany's store, which is 6 floors high and still has it's original elevators and walked into the coolest store called Henri Bendel, this trendy boutique that carried everything from handbags, to jewellry, to dog collars. I was IMMEDIATELY drawn in this store because they had the most AMAZING ballerina display. They were literally hanging from the ceiling. Check this out:

From there, we went to the Financial District by the World Trade Centre to seek Century 21, the biggest discount designer department store, ever. This shop was packed! You could hardly walk around. It was much too busy to actually shop but Allan lucked out and bought two blazers for only $80 a piece. (Regular price about $300 a piece.) Amazing.

From there, we went to this little diner/deli for a sandwich and, of course, beer. We downed out drinks and food/fuel, only to carry on to the Flatiron District because this is where the Museum of Sex was. Yes, I really really really wanted to see this exhibit and even printed off coupons for it. It was a blast! There was tons of people and even had a cute little bar in the basement called the Aphrodisiac Cafe. I highly recommend this place if you ever go. Check it out here

After this, we were sooooo tired. We walked outside and all we wanted was a dive bar and an alcoholic beverage. So, within stumbling distance was this pub/restaurant that advertised creole food and whiskey. We were sold. We walked in and the entire restaurant was covered in plastic SO we take a seat at the bar. The bartender, this cute bubbly brunette, promptly said "we have no food and no draught beer." So, I , of course said, "do you have vodka?" A quick nod was all it took and Allan and were downing doubles within the next 10 minutes. The bartender, we'll call her Jane, was hilarious. She's pouring us shots like crazy and my doubles turned into vodka on the rocks, without the rocks. We left about two hours later and could hardly walk. It was excellent.

That night passed by in a blur. We went to a comedy show after the drinks, then for dinner, then to a bar called Houlihan's. We stumbled back to the hotel around 3:00 am and promptly passed out, sleeping through the hotel fire alarm, which went off at 4:00am. (Lucky for us it was a false alarm and unlucky for everyone else who had to stand outside, in the cold, for an hour....)

We were both very sick the next day and, since it was my last day there, AND we were scheduled to see a NY Rangers game at Madison Square Gardens, we dragged our sorry butts out of bed and left the hotel around 3:00pm. On the way to the game, we realized that a beverage was absolutely necessary (I know you understand what I mean...) so found this AMAZING pub called the Houndstooth Pub. It was just down the street from MSG and the decor (and food menu) just totally struck a chord. After the game, which the Ottawa Senators won shall I add, we went back to the Houndstooth Pub with some of Allan's co-workers and had some drinks and ate dinner. (If you're wondering, I had ribs and they were totally worth the heartburn!!!)

That pretty much sums up the shortest vacation ever. Oh, my only regret was not purchasing the awesome Dior palette I saw at the Duty Free Shop in the Vancouver airport. (For some reason, I thought they would have it there in New York...but, alas, no...) Oh well, maybe my next trip I'll pick it up..

xo (Sorry for the lack of pictures, we didn't really take too many on the second and third days.)

PS - this picture has nothing to do with our second day in New York but I forgot to post it the other day. Check this out....Allan ordered deep-fried macaroni and cheese balls with cheese sauce for dip....it's a plate of heartache and it was so yummy

The Shortest Vacation

How do I begin explaining our 3 and a half day vacation to New York, except by saying that it was FABULOUS.

Never, in my life, have I ever seen so many cabs in one place...or people, for that matter. Everyone driving is honking at one another, even if they're parked at red lights, and pedestrians literally walk like they're the only ones on the street. (They also have this funny habit of waiting for the walk sign to change from red to green in the middle of oncoming traffic....very very very odd.)

As you all know, I made a list of all the things I wanted to see and do while in New York. I'm happy to report that Allan and I completed almost all of those things and more. Here are a few pictures I'd like to share with you.

I was soooooo excited Thursday afternoon. Here I am sitting at the airport bar, drinking vodka sodas, waiting for our plane to board. This is my classic "excited" face. Allan says I looked this way the entire 5 hour plane ride.

Now, my classic "excited" face might be funny, but this is a classic Allan face. To me, he looks very pensive. Either way, he travels a lot for work, so airports are his second home.

Cab ride to the hotel in Weehawken, New Jersey. No, we didn't stay in Manhattan, as nice as that would have been BUT our hotel was at the base of the ferry terminal and for only $8.50 per ride, we got a direct pass across the water into the heart of downtown...not too shabby. Oh, I should also mention that the drivers in New York are CRAZY....our cab driver was driving at about 100 km AND taking corners at the same speesd....I was too excited to be scared but, come to think of it, he definitely freaked me out.

Our hotel room...

Our hotel room part 2...

Our hotel room bed and Allan. Yes, that is a free gift on the bed.

Our free gift turned out to be a doll bed as there was an American Girl Convention in New York at the same time as our trip. Lucky us....

Our hotel room bathroom...

YAY, our first morning in New York. I was way too excited to sleep so I was up by 8 am (5 am pacific time) and demanded that Allan get up too. First stop was the Bagel Smashery in Hoboken, a neighboring town to Weehawken.

I discovered the Bagel Smashery while doing a search for the "best breakfast in New Jersey". This little cafe popped up first. I actually told the owner this and she was super excited about it, in fact we had a very long conversation about the internet and what I typed in to find them. I'm sure you can tell by the name BUT they actually smash your bagel, like a panini sandwich, and you eat it all hot and gooey. Yummy....Allan and I both had egg, bacon/sausage, and cheese on our flat bagel. This place is definitely worth a stop in for sure....

After breakfast we went to the ferry terminal and caught our first boat to Manhattan. The ride was short, about 10 minutes, and then, once docked, we started our first long walk of the weekend. First stop was Times Square. This picture really doesn't do justice BUT the sole purpose of us being on this strip was for the MASSIVE Sephora store. So, in we went....

This Sephora was huge. I don't think I can explain it any other way. They had, at least, 20 people working the floor and even more behind the multiple tills. Prior to leaving Vancouver, I'd made the decision to buy the 2010 Sephora Blockbuster BUT after looking around, I purchased the Tarte Blockbuster instead. This jewelry box palette has:

16 full-sized metallic eye shadows

16 full-sized matte eye shadows

8 lip glosses

Full-sized mineral bronzer in Park Avenue Princess

Full-sized highlighting powder in Soft Pink

5 long-wearing eye liners

*Plus a cute black and gold necklace

This is, quite possibly, the most complete palette I've seen in a long time. Either way, I am soooo

happy with this purchase.

After Sephora, I was rather tired. (Shopping does get tiring.) So, Allan and I went for some lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe at Times Square. I proceed to start my weekend of binge drinking on a high note with an Absinthe Pina Colada. As tasty as it was, I felt my toes curling after one, so I finished our lunch with two double vodka sodas.....not too bad for it only being about noon.

After drinks, we went to the biggest Macy's I've ever seen. The crowds were outrageous and the store was frightfully hot, but I was determined to find a new handbag. We braved the people and pushed our way to the handbag section. Now, I've been on a metallic kick for the past few weeks and really wanted to find a metallic bag. I was looking high and low, and the, in a clearance bin I spotted a cute, cross-body bronze metallic bag on sale for $55. I grabbed the bag, tried it on in the mirror, and fell in love. I took my bag to the till and bought it for the very low price of $19.84 (I KNOW...can you believe it??? This Fossil bag was about $89 regularly but with all the additional discounts, I definitely lucked out.) As soon as we bought this, we left the store thinking someone might assume we stole it.

The rest of the day flew by in a blur. More drinks, more walking, lots of subway rides and a Central Park tour. Check these out...

Dilapidated subway....

Subway (Metro) train...

Central Park Fountain...

Belvedere Castle in Central Park and my leg attacking it....

About half way through our Central Park adventure I needed, quite desperately, to find a ladies' room. This is the absolute dirtiest, most creepy bathroom I have ever seen. I made Allan stand outside the door, talking to me, since I was squatting right below a ceiling that looking like it was caving in....

Dirtiest bathroom part 2...

Well, this pretty much sums up day 1 of the New York adventure. There will be more tales to come, my friends!!!

xo

New York, Here We Come......

I know that some of you may already know, since my countdown began on Facebook about a week ago, but I leave for New York tomorrow. YAY!!!!

Since I was 5, there've been three places I've wanted to visit: Italy, France and New York. And, after all this time, I'm FINALLY knocking off one location.

I have literally been planning our trip by myself (sorry Allan but you know it's true) since about three weeks ago AND have planned everything from where we're going to eat, drink, visit, shop and sightsee. Here's a few things we have planned:

1) Since Audrey Hepburn is my idol, I want to see the Tiffany's store that she stood in front of in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's.

2) Eat at a pasta restaurant in Little Italy, attempt to finish a deli sandwich from one of the many fantastic deli's in Manhattan AND brunch at Shopsins. (Have NEVER heard of Shopsins before until I began researching online and OMG, the food looks fantastic. I am DYING to try the Mo'Betty....Check them out here!)

3) See Central Park, and in particular, Belvedere Castle as well as the giant Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Centre.

4) Shop at the HUGE Sephora store, Chanel Outlet Store and Century 21....

Big list, I know, for such a short time but we're going to do our best. I am saying goodbye until Monday, my friends, but be prepared for some great pics and fun stories...

xo