Artichoke Bruschetta

Good Day! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
It was my God Daughter's 1st Birthday Party this Sunday and today is her actual Birthday! There were about 30 people at her Birthday Party so it was a busy weekend cleaning the house, getting the backyard ready and cooking tons of yummy food. Some may think it is strange to have such an extravagant event for a 1 year old, but I see it as a good reason to get together with the people you care about to eat, drink and be merry! I can't believe that one year has past since she has been born, time really does go by so quickly.

I was asked to make Artichoke Bruschetta as an appetizer as it is ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. So I wanted to share this dish with you to try at home or to bring to your next Pot-Luck. Everyone loves these hot, dreamy Bruschetta bites and they are really easy to prepare so let's get to it!

You will need:

• 1 (6 1/2 ounce) jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped ** If you live in Canada, get the Artichoke Hearts from Costco, they are the BEST**
• 1 medium tomato, seeds removed and diced
• 1/2 cup grated romano cheese or 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion or you can use a couple Shallots for a different flavour
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed ** I use more, I like these garlicky (sp?) **
• 5 tablespoons mayonnaise ** Hellman's is the best **
• 1 French baguette, cut into 1/3 inch thick slices * * Slice these diagonally **

Directions:

1) Preheat the broiler.
2) Place the bread slices on a baking sheet and toast lightly under the broiler.
3) In a medium bowl, mix marinated artichoke hearts, Romano or Parmesan cheese, red onion, crushed garlic, diced tomato and mayonnaise.
4) Top the lightly toasted French baguette slices with equal amounts of the artichoke heart mixture being careful to spread the mixture over the entire surface.
5) The edges of the bread will tend to burn if not covered by the artichoke mixture. * this is important*
6) Arrange slices in a single layer on the baking sheet.
7) Broil in the preheated oven 2 minutes, or until toppings are bubbly and lightly browned.

You can view the recipe from Food.com HERE

Here are the decadent little bundles of heaven..... Also I will post more pictures of the event soon!

Dress I wore to the party, sorry for the poor quality. I bought this in the Turks & Caicos. So glad that the weather is warmer so I can wear it!

Dressy for a Friday

Happy rainy Friday!

Blazer: Le Chateau

Tube Top: American Eagle

Jeans: Seven for all Mankind, seen here

Necklace: Cleo

Rings and Earrings: From Mexico

Nails: Sally Hansen Insta Gel Strips (more to follow!)

 Down from above

Shoes: Aldo seen here

I love getting my nails done, Acrylic, Gel, regular Mani...I love'em all! But what I don't like is the time that it takes to drive to the salon and sit there for an hour or more. It just seems to take so much time and we all don't have enough of that. So when I came across this product from Sally Hansen, I thought I would give it a try. Here's what you do:

1. Push your cuticles down 
2. File your nails 
3. Apply the gel strips & file those to the shape of your nail 
4. Apply the gel coat and place your nail under the LED light to cure
5. Wipe off the access with an alcohol pad that is provided and voila! 

Now the applying and filing of the nails with the strips can be tricky. I found some YouTube videos that were super helpful:

The Sally Hansen video from their website
This one with a review
And this one I really liked

My verdict, I loved the way they turned out, they are shinny and with the help of the videos, weren't as hard to apply as I thought. It was my first time applying these so I am sure I will get better the more I do it.
My criticisms of this product is that on the box it says "2 Easy Steps"..... ummmm no. There are several steps so the box is a little misleading.
Also not ALL of the strips will fit your nails so I would maybe try Sally's gel polish to get a better gel manicure. I already know how to apply nail polish pretty well so it will just be easier overall.
But I would use this product again!

Polka Dot Continued....

Wanted to follow up on this post for the Polka Dot Dress that I purchased at Cleo over Easter Weekend in Kingston, Ontario.

 Fully Polkie!

 Love the detail of the fuchsia lining.

Down from above. Shoes are Nine West.

Eat Here Before You Die!

Hello and Happy Wednesday! This Eat Here Before You Die! post will feature a Sushi Restaurant from Montreal, Quebec.

I LOVE SUSHI....like love,  Love, LOVE it. I consider myself a bit of a Sushi snob when it comes to this Japanese cuisine. Being from Vancouver and eating superb Sushi freshly caught that day is a very hard standard to live up to. Most Sushi restaurants that I go to in Ontario are kinda meh!? Don't get me wrong, there are some great places to get your Sushi fix inland and I have had some really great Sushi all over Ontario. However once you have had the best of the best in Vancouver where the fish is fresh, the Chefs are world renowned and you have access to cutting edge flavor combinations for this creative delicacy, it's like comparing apples to oranges.

On a trip to Montreal several years ago with my old Roommate from University we were hankerin' for some Sushi and the Concierge recommended we go to Shodan, located on Metcalfe Street. From the moment we walked in, we were impressed. The decor was modern and stylish, funky house music was playing but at a volume where you can still talk comfortably. The staff were very friendly and like any good Sushi establishment, the Chef's assemble their dishes for all the restaurant to see.

The Chefs will prepare dishes that are off the menu, kind of like a see-what-you-get dish with your favorites as a starting point, if you wish. The fish is fresh tasting, the dishes are incredibly presented (it's like art) and the service was efficient and friendly. This is a great place to start your night out at before you hit the club scene or you can have a romantic dinner for two as well.

 The Pheonix

 Rose Maki

 Specialty dish. Yes that's watermelon you see there. You really never know what you will be surprised with!

 Beautifully modern, funky decor

 Martinis YUM!

 Me the first time I visited Shodan in 2008.

Me again the last time I was there in 2011. It's time to go back!

There is a wall of celebrities that have eaten there, including Ms. Britney Spears, back before she went off the rails :-)

Even if you don't really like Sushi or haven't tried it before, I really think you will enjoy eating here. Please, if you are in Montreal check this place out!

Neutrals

You have heard about my new obsession with Jessica Simpson jeans and how I love the way they fit. I had picked up a pair of the Jessica Simpson Forever Skinny Jeans in White and today being the gorgeous day that it was, I thought it was time to break them out of hiding! I love the look of white Pants or Capris  There is something so crisp and polished about a fresh whites, before I go spilling food all over them of course!

 Sorry for the lack of clothing brands! The top was purchased long ago in Virginia, cardigan was also bought long ago and I can't remember where. The Bracelet is from Ricki's and the Necklace is from Dynamite (love this, wear it all the time and get tons of compliments on it). 

 Down from above

Shoes: Aldo beige heels

Some Progress

I have mentioned before that I have been doing Weight Watchers since early January and I wanted to share a quick post of my progress with the hopes that it will inspire others to start/continue/contemplate a weight loss program of their choosing. Now first I must say that Weight Watchers has not sponsored this post or given me any compensation to endorse their program. I have participated in WW before a few years back and it worked so I chose to use it again. That's it, plain and simple.

Also I don't want to get into my struggles with weight, body image, self-esteem or anything about my "journey" to my goal weight. It's not that I don't want to share that with you.There are SO many of these stories out there, you've heard it a thousand times on Oprah or the Biggest Loser, Ricky Lake (haha, "Go Ricki!"), any magazine and countless blogs. I think we are saturated with the reasons why people choose to change their eating habits but it all comes down to one thing, the need to change. That's what it was for me and that's all there really is to it. 

So I have been slowly loosing weight and have been keeping it off for 3.5 months and I feel much better overall. Again I say I have slowly lost weight and I think this is part of the success and why I want to keep going. I do indulge now again with my favorite guilty foods and I do still drink alcohol from time to time. But now I plan for those splurges by eating better the rest of the time. Before, every day was a splurge!  I saw a commercial for WW the other day with Jennifer Hudson and she said something along the lines of that she has been successful with the program not because she doesn't indulge in her favorite foods, it's because she does indulge that she is successful (in moderation of course). 

Here is a before and after. I am not sure if you can really tell that I have lost weight but I am down 17 lbs so far. I am tall-ish 5"7, so I can gain and lose a few pounds without others really noticing; but I notice!

Before

This was taken right before Christmas 2012, when I saw this picture all I could think was "what the hell happened!"

After

This was taken Friday April 19th 2013. Now I know I am posing more to the side in this picture compared to the before but I still think it shows the progress I have made.

I should say that this weight loss is entirely diet driven. I have not done regular exercise this entire time. But I will begin to walk/run again as the weather is getting nicer. I am more of an outdoor activity person then a gym person. I took the dogs for a walk on Sunday and it was so fun! I will do that more often now as I have plateaued and I will need to burn more calories then I am taking in to get over that hump.

If you wish to share your thoughts on weight or struggles that you have had please leave a comment or send me a message. Just because I have chosen not to divulge my history with weight (I may at some point) doesn't mean I don't want to hear yours!

Morning Basics

Happy Friday Everyone!

Like many of you, I have some morning essentials that I need to make it through the groggiest time of day (for me anyways, so NOT a morning person). I also wanted to show some pictures of the Flower Peasant top I picked up at Dynamite a couple of weekends ago. It's finally starting to warm up in Ottawa so I took the opportunity to wear a Spring-Type outfit.

I have my Lady Grey Tea in my special mug that my Roomie made me for Xmas, a multivitamin and Fish Oil Omega Supplement and the all important Coach purse in Red that I would die without! Seriously, I can fit so much in this bag if I need to and it still looks great; not all bulging and sloppy. 

Click the Fish Oil link for some valuable diet information!

Can I just say the look on my face in this picture is hilarious! I don't know what expression I was going for here but it makes me giggle. Flower Peasant Top from Dynamite, lace tank from Ricki's and Seven for All Man kind Jeans.

Side View 

 Look down from above (shoe info to follow)

This is a close up of the top. I love the fun detailing and the tassels on the ties. This top is super flirty and feminine, perfect for Spring!

Aldo Wedges in White: I bought these last year at the end of Summer so they were on sale. Not sure how much I paid for them but they were a deal, I remember that! I love to wear them with boot cut jeans and the bamboo platform is my fav part of this wedge style shoe. Nail color is OPI - Quarter of a Cent-Cherry

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and thank you for stopping by!

MelMac oxoxoxoxo

Dig It!

How unbelievably gorgeous is this watch from Marc Jacobs? 

Marc by Marc Jacobs

Henry Gold Watch

CA$ 212.90 | $200.00

I haven't used a watch in years (my cell phone serves that purpose) but when I came across this Ombre watch on Pinterest I was yearning to have it. Ombre is so huge right now, from hair to nails to now watches, this trend is popping up in the most creative ways and I dig it!

Jennifer Carpenter at the Grammy's shows how ombre hair is done. Source forums.thefashionspot.com

Ombre nails, how pretty! The link includes a DIY video to get this look at home. Source: originalpiecemag.com 

Fig Clothing

Okay I am SOOO excited to write this post! A fashion blogger that I admire and read daily, A.Co Est 1984 recently featured a clothing company on her blog called Fig Clothing. Now A.Co is the Fashion Vlogger for Place D'Orleans Shopping Center and she does a great job on featuring what fashion trends are hot, DIY videos, food & fun and everything in between. She is tall and beautiful so she looks amazing in everything that she wears (she should have been a model!) so when she blogged a picture of herself in a dress from Fig Clothing, I immediately LOVED the dress and ordered it. But eeek.... would it look the same on me? I would soon find out!

Now Fig Clothing is a Montreal based company that creates very functional, comfortable sportswear and urban pieces that are 100% manufactured in Canada. Again, I love to support a "local" business so that was another appealing aspect of ordering from this company.When browsing the website, I found most of their collections very Lulu Lemon-ish, which isn't a bad thing. The sweaters and pants look like they would be the ideal outfit to travel in and still appear put-together. Very comfortable and stylish! But it was the Nev Dress, from their Ocean Spring 2013 Collection, that I had my eye on. It came in the mail yesterday and because they are shipping from Canada, no shipping fees YAY! I was going to order the dress in a beautiful Coral color, however I thought that the Navy would be more "work appropriate" and would give me more occasions to wear it.

The ruching on the front tummy area will hide a multitude of sins!

 A close up of the rouching detail

Yes the price tag is still on the dress, I was so excited to try it on and take a picture that I didn't take it off :)

The fabric is really unique and very comfortable. It's a quick drying material so you could wear this to the pool on vacation with flip-flops, change into heels and go straight to dinner. I love that kind of versatility from a dress, especially when you are traveling and packing space is of the essence!

Now I don't know if I look as stunning as A.Co in this little number but I am happy with the purchase and I look forward to wearing this dress to casual events, work and dressing it up for a dinner out (whenever that happens). Please, if you are in Canada, check this website out! Thank you A.Co and Thank you Fig Clothing! oxoxox

Sleepy weekend

Hello and Happy Monday! I had previously posted about a little shopping spree I had in back in January; my first of 2013 and my first for a long time before that. I had purchased a couple of tops from Dynamite, a store that I can always find success at, and there was my Rag & Bone Jeggings from Aritzia. I promised that I would post a picture of me wearing these items and so here we are, taken Gorilla style in the Ladies washroom at work ;-)

You can see that the top is very drapey and quite see through so it requires a tank underneath

I kind of look surprised that I am taking my own picture :)

 Paired the jeggings with Nine West brown boots that I LOVE! I wear these all of the time. They are easy to walk in due to the block heel. 

Boots tucked into skinny jeans or jeggings is one of my favourite looks. I probably sport this look a little too often and should change it up but it's because I love it so much!

This weekend I rested and really didn't do much of anything. But I did make a batch of a super healthy soup to eat throughout the week. It has quinoa, chicken thighs (for more flavor), butternut squash, olives (for a briny goodness) and kale. I got the recipe from Pinterest and have loved it every time I make it. Kale is my own addition but you don't have to use it for this soup to still be yummy and healthy.

I am telling ya, I don't know what I would do with out soup! It's so easy to make and so good for you. Best of all, it's filling and for those of us trying to watch what we eat, soup is a MUST!