Thursday 11 December 2014

When do we consider ourselves grown ups?

IMG_9485IMG_9486IMG_9506 IMG_9493 IMG_9497Baggy jeans man, my boyfriend hates them, I would say 95% of the male population wishes this trend would die, but oh my goodness, I love me some baggy jeans. Add in some fake fur and mostly black, and well, it's a good day. And now, on to a story that has nothing to do with this post but a lot to do with boyfriends, so you know, it’s all connected.

We’re discussing going on a trip next November, so far the consensus is Mexico. Free food, free booze and not much else but sand, sun and tacos? Sign us UP.

Seeing as how this November I spent most of it with what turned out to be pneumonia, uhh yeah I’m so down for getting to some warm weather come next year. We’ve been talking about it for a while, taking our first “big” trip together and talking about where we’d want to go, how much we want to spend, etc. Well one of my best girlfriends is headed to Hawaii in the next couple days with her family in-law to spend Christmas there, and I said to Jake, “hey what if we did Hawaii next year, not Mexico?” He wasn’t too into the idea, because Hawaii is basically just a really pretty version of the US, aka no all-inclusives or resorts, which means no free unlimited food & booze which means, no thanks. The part that still makes me giggle though is how he said he wasn’t into it.

“No, I think Hawaii is something we’ll do once we’re adults.”

We pay for a mortgage. We own our own vehicles, not to mention the house we live in and pay said mortgage on. So like, we’re grown ups, but we’re not “grown-up grown ups”.. In 5 days I'll be closer to 30 than 18, but that's something for future Brianne to have a quarter-life crisis about.

Wednesday 10 December 2014

I'm no food blogger, but this is yummy.

I'm a big salad fan, but I find it is very easy to A) take a healthy salad and jack the calories up like crazy with all the add-ons you can use, and B) just get plain old bored of salads. This one however, has not hit either of those. The dressing gives it enough zest that it is just so good, and the fiber in the tomatoes, avocado and greens generally fills me up very nicely. Also, bacon. Need I say more? I would say without exaggeration that this has been my lunch on work days for the past 2-3 weeks, and I honestly don't see it stopping anytime soon.

BLTA Salad.

  • Greens, I use a mix of spinach and arugula

  • Goat cheese

  • Bacon (if you have it, it's yummy both ways but obviously bacon makes it way better)

  • Cherry Tomatoes

  • Avacado


Dressing (I don't measure out any ingredients for my homemade dressings, I just add until I find the best combination; for the oil to vinegar ratio, I`d say it's 1 part oil to 2 parts vinegar):

  • Olive Oil

  • Dijon Mustard

  • Garlic

  • Apple Cider Vinegar

  • Salt & Pepper to taste


* this dressing is very easy to manipulate. Personally I love vinegar, so I sometimes even go 1:3 for oil to vinegar ratio. It's also delightful with balsamic, but I really enjoy ACV for the multitude of benefits it's brings to the table (that is, if you're using the raw kind).

Chop your tomatoes into quarters, slice up your avocado the way you like and chop the bacon into little chunks. Throw together with goat cheese crumbles, drizzle your dressing over and shake shake shake! Okay, I do this in a container, so maybe don't shake if you're using a bowl ;)

Ridiculously easy - I throw it together in about 5 minutes on my lunch break, super delicious and quite good for you. Win, win win.

BLT saladLike I said, not a food blogger and even more so, not a food photographer. Photo cred goes to theLondoner, because her salad looks the same as mine, just much prettier.

Tuesday 9 December 2014

Hits & Misses

I am a big product junkie. You know how some people emotionally eat? Well, I emotionally go buy products. Make-up, hair products, lotions, you name it. I mean, I'm not going to say no to a chunk of chocolate if I'm feeling a little sensitive, but for the most part I'm making a trip to target or shoppers to console myself. Because of this, I have made many poor shotgun choices that I never end up using again or that just suuck, but I also have made some insane HG* discoveries. It's been quite some time since I've done a hits & misses post, so here we go, as told to you through GIFs and wordiness.

Hits:so exciiited

  1. TooFaced Beauty Wishes & Sweet Kisses palette. I am a big fan of highlighting & contouring on the daily, so this palette was a major score. The bronzer is very matte (and smells like chocolate), while the Sun Bunny highlighter has been something I've used since my sister bought me my first one 7-8 years ago. The lipgloss included smells like cloves and is a perfect nude, while the eyeshadows are not only a great size, but perfect colors for my skin tone. For the price and the sizes of all the products, huge score.

  2. Revlon Colorstay Foundation for oily/combo skin. I have tried out so many different foundations/tinted moisturizers/bb creams and have always come back to this foundation. My t-zone tends to get fairly oily and this product controls it so well, without ever feeling cakey. It lasts perfectly until I wash my face at night, which for me is always the game changer.

  3. L'Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes mascara. I had been using the Younique 3D lash product, and while I still love the idea behind it, my eyes did not. By the end of the day they were just getting too irritated, and I obviously wasn't using it correctly because I kept getting fibers under my eyes as the day went on. I've always been a big supporter of mascara primers to do the heavy work for mascara, and I figured I'd try this one before I went to sephora and spent double the cash on one. Well, this sucker is basically life-changing, no joke. I put the primer on, leave it 10-15 seconds, and use ONE COAT of the mascara. Two coats and it looks like I have falsies on. HG, without a question. thumb-is-up

  4. Nip & Fab Glycolic Fix Serum. I was starting to get really frustrated with my face because it just was looking dull, and when I'd put my makeup on, my cheeks looked dirty and cakey, and no amount of exfoliation was making a difference. I have to be SO careful about what I put on my face, since my skin is so sensitive it will break out in a rash if the product is too harsh (Looking at you, Proactiv). This serum was exactly what my face needed. Within a week, my face was back to feeling smooth & glowing, and all the little blackheads I had on my nose and chin were starting to dissapate as well. It has 4% glycolic acid so I only put it on my face before bed; so far I have had no reactions and it seems to be working fine for my ultra sensitive skin.

  5. NYX Butter Gloss in Eclair. I find this to be a direct dupe for a TooFaced lipgloss that I purchased for over $30 - !!! god, past Brianne - which apparently is discontinued anyway, and the color is so perfect. It is a sheer bubblegum pink with a blue tone to it, so it also helps with the appearance of whiter teeth. For under 10$ and serious staying power, I'm in.


Misses:stiiink face

  1. Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost. Now to be fair, I may not be giving this product it's fair shot. I wanted a serum to help brighten and help regenerate up my dull skin, and this was more a make-up primer full of silicone. It's not really a serum at all, and didn't do anything to brighten up my face in the long run, only while on. So basically, the same job a highlighter could do, packed full of crap I don't want sitting on my face. Also, for $26 it was quite dissapointing. After a couple uses, it was returned.

  2. NYX Matte Bronzer. While it was a good product with great pigmentation, the color was very terracotta as opposed to being a light/medium brown, and in the winter it just made me look very orange and fake. I will keep it to try again come the summer time, but was a little dissapointed at how red the undertones were. Who wants to look like a member of Jersey Shore in the winter? Not this girl. nooope

  3. OGX Keratin Oil Conditioner. I've usually had good luck with OGX; the macadamia oil line was my jam for a while. I've been slowly taking my hair back to the blonde side, and wanted a rich conditioner to help keep my hair healthy and read on a hairdresser's blog that this is what she used. Dare I say it made my hair worse? I was not a fan, even the fragrance was a little too grandma for me.


And there you have it! Thankfully from looking at this list I have more hits than I do misses, which makes my bank account happy, at least as happy as it can be when being abused. There is nothing worse than spending money on items you aren't going to use or that you don't like as much as you thought you would. In conclusion, how about my favorite GIF in the entire world, because this is how I feel when I waste money on useless shit. Enjoy.corgi flop

*HG: Holy Grail, can't live without em products.

Monday 8 December 2014

Thanks, boys.

_MG_9469 _MG_9457_MG_9467 Jeans: GAP, Sweater: Buffalo, Purse: Michael Kors, Watch: Fossil, Boots: Target, similar here & here

I've written before about my (in my opinion) slightly unhealthy love for the boys of One Direction, but if I'm being honest, it's mostly just because of one song. But regardless, they put out a little documentary last year, and because I still have dignity I did not go watch in theaters, nor did I rent it. BUT, Telus on Demand has it for free currently, and with Jake away at hockey on Saturday night, I figured this was the perfect time to indulge in a guilty pleasure movie. Little baileys and tea, some take-out Thai food and it's pretty much a night made in Heaven. The kind of Heaven that includes holding onto your youth with a chokehold and thinking you're too old to be doing this.

Except you know, my Heaven got hi-jacked on account of the movie was TERRIBLE. So terrible I gave up partway through and watched House Hunters instead. Talk about a serious let down. The only silver lining I could take away from it is that they had fans older than me crying on camera about their love for them. So I no longer feel inappropriate, just so, so much second hand embarassment.

But this outfit also needs a shout out to the boys, or more accurately the men's department. I have been on the hunt for a nice, chunky knit sweater forever. One that fits a little baggy but not boxy, and is cozy. Welcome, men's department sweaters. This sucker was on for 60% off at The Bay, and fits like a dream; just chunky enough, & just baggy enough without being overwhelming. I got a small, but if it was available I would've gone extra small. I recently read an article about what women should buy in the men's department, and the two that I will take from said article is "boyfriend jeans" and men's sweaters. More often than not they are better quality, and much better pricing. The bonus with buying your boyfriend jeans in the actual boyfriend department is that the cuts are all different, so you can go as tapered or baggy as you want. Win win.

And if I have learned anything from this post, it's that my struggle with RBF is so real, and next time I'll leave boy band movies to girl's who can't legally drink Baileys while watching.