Vermont vacation Part 2

Yesterday, we went to Lake Champlain Chocolate Plant in Burlington, VT. We participated with a mini tour of their facility and learned how they make their chocolates and all that.

Their chocolate chips actually comes from Bernard Callebaut, which is another famous chocolatier. While we were at the store/plant, they were making Chocolate Truffles. We could see those delicious little heavean sent on the conveyor belt behind a see through glass wall.

Cocoa bean

After the tour, we got to taste their milk chocolate and also a 54% cocoa dark chocolate. It was an awesome experience...Free chocolates!!! Mmmmm....

Anyhow, we picked up a couple of things as even though they are very very good, they are also very expensive!

Below are pics I took while we were there. I love the robot chocolates, they look so yummy!!!

For more information about Lake Champlain Chocolates please visit http://www.lakechamplainchocolates.com/

Being on Vacation

I have been in Vermont for 5 days now and I love being on vacation, visiting places and that sort of thing. My only problem is that I have very dry skin. When I say "very" dry, I really mean, like my skin is like a crocodile's skin. Ok, it's not that bad, but it's close enough.

When I am away from our beloved house that has a water softener/purifier system , my skin gets even worse due to the water they have at hotels, resorts and etc. It's been 5 days in Vermont with their hard water mixed with tons of bleach, my skin looks horrendous!!! I have patches of red, itchy, flaky dry skin all over my face and neck (yeah I know it's gross). Let's not talk about my back and my legs and arms and just basically everywhere....Grrrrrr It's like high school all over again, yikes!

If it weren't for my ever trusting Bio Oil, I would have just gone home....Oh how I miss my soft water....Sigh...Can't wait....

Vermont vacation Part 1

We made it to Vermont yesterday around 5:30PM. It was a nice drive, definitely one of the nicest for sure. What was really weird was, when we crossed the border, it was like ghost town. There were I think about 5 booths, give or take and they were all empty. We got through and they gave us our passports right away, except for Robin as he needs to go inside to pay.

Normally, they take all the passports and we all have to go in, but they were like, here you go.... Yeah, total opposite from the peace bridge or niagara falls border.....
I took some pics this morning quickly, but I will post more pics later....We're too lazy today...Ha ha ha...so just sitting around relaxing....Well except for Lex.. He is too pumped up and want to go swimming....He's been a bad boy all morning so we'll see if Robin will take him to the pool..:D
Here are some shots I took from the balcony of our suite. Enjoy!

Part 2 of this trip will come soon!

Going on vacation..

It's Friday night and I am home blogging, how fun!

It's all good, because tomorrow morning we are on our way to Vermont! Yay!

So ladies and gents I will be gone for a week, but don't worry come check out my blog anyway as I will try to update it about our vacation.

Summer cocktails...Mmmmm

I love having people over for BBQ, even though everytime I get all stressed out and swear I won't have a BBQ again! The next week, I do it again. Entertaining and I have a love - hate relationship, one day I am all gaga over the whole plan and then the day before I am freaking out and just want to cancel...Ha ha ha... :) yes, I know I am weird... But in the end, my love for having my friends and family over always wins and everything seems to flow in the right direction... Especially the Sangria...Mmm...

Let me tell you about my favorite summer or winter or for that matter any day drink ;).



Sangria[san-GREE-uh]


The blood-red color of this beverage inspired its name, which is Spanish for "bleeding." Sangria is made with red wine, fruit juices, soda water, fruits, and sometimes liqueurs, and Brandy or Cognac.


I make an awesome Sangria, ok, well according to my taste buds they are absolutely delicious. However though, people (including me) tend to get drunk pretty fast, hmmm maybe more fruit juice less alcohol? what do you think???


Here is my favorite recipe, I always make my Sangria the night before the party so all the juices and the fruits have some time to get to know each other and get all happy and get all jiggity with their chemical reaction to produce the most aromatic Sangria ever!!!! He he he, yes I am very passionate about my drinks.. :D


This Sangria recipe is perfect for big summer parties - always a favorite, you may consider doubling the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja, Zinfandel, Shiraz)
1 Lemon cut into wedges
1 Orange cut into wedges
1 Lime cut into wedges
2 Tbsp sugar
Splash of orange juice
2 Shots of gin
1 Cup of sliced strawberries or raspberries (may use thawed or frozen)
1 Small can of diced pineapples (with juice)
4 Cups ginger ale


PREPARATION:
Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the lemon, orange and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and pineapple then add sugar, orange juice and gin.


Chill overnight. Add ginger ale, berries and ice just before serving. If you'd like to serve right away, use chilled red wine and serve over lots of ice. However, remember that the best Sangrias are chilled around 24 hours in the frig. - allowing the flavors to really marinate into each other.

Oh and by the way, the perfect complement to a summer get together and Sangria.....Is of course Tapas!!!!

Come on! Let's BBQ!!!

Toronto Meet was a SUCCESS !

Last Saturday, May 17, 2008 was the first ever Louis Vuitton Toronto Meet. There were total 14 people showed up!

We met for brunch at the Windsor Arms Hotel at 10am which is 2 seconds a way from the LV store on Bloor street. We showcased our bags and exchanged authentication tips while enjoying our brunch. We also had a gift exchange, which I received a beautiful photo frame!

Me during brunch admiring Cyndee's French Company Speedy 25. Which I can say that I am also a proud owner! I will post soon about my vintage speedy, I am in the process of cleaning and restoring this piece.. Just wait and see.. :D

You can see below the bags we brought with us...

The bags: Watercolor Papillon, Sac Kathleen in green, Epi Petite Noe in yellow, Monogram Speedy 30, Watercolor Speedy 35, Mandera PM in Black, Mini Lin Speedy 30 in Ebene.

After brunch we all went to the LV store, browsed around saying oohhhh, ahhhh, nice, wow. beautiful, pretty, gorgeous, out of this world and all the endearing words you could think of...LOL
Most of us bought something, here is the list:

Neverfull MM
Batignolles Horizontal
Watercolor Speedy 35
Sandals
Pastilles
Coin purse
Scarf
Bandeau
and many more..

After shopping, some of us walked around and went to shop some more at Holts, Chanel, Hermes, Coach, Cole Haan, Tiffany's and other stores in the Yorkville area.



Around 6PM, we all went to Hemingway's for dinner. Food was awesome! I had Kung Pao chicken and Lara and I split a pitcher of sangria. It was really good, just chatting with everyone, relaxing. Around 8:30PM, we took some more pics and then we parted, knowing that this event will happen again in the fall!!!

See you all in the fall!!!

A more luxurious Neverfull

Ok, we all knew that the Louis Vuitton Neverfull was coming in Damier Ebene. Actually, it was released today in Hawaii. Anyhow, thanks to Louis Vuitton Lover's blog, I would have not found out that it came out in Crocodile leather as well!!! (hmmm it's probably 100x the price of a regular Neverfull)

So now, the Neverfull comes in Monogram, Damier Ebene and Croc Leather. I wonder if they will eventually release it in Damier Azur as well...Or Epi or Suhali or Denim...Oh by the way, the Croc Leather was from the LV Japanese site, so I am not sure if they will release that in North America.

But, here it is! Feast your eyes my friends...:D Gorgeous!

Pics Borrowed from Louisvuitton.com

Mono, Damier and Croc

Pics Borrowed from Louisvuitton.com

Croc, Damier and Croc (again)

Pics Borrowed from Louisvuitton.com

Croc, only in GM and MM

Louis Vuitton Meet In Toronto is tomorrow!!! Yay!!!

A wedding in England

On Saturday, May 17, the first Grandchild of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be getting married. Peter Phillips is Princess Anne's son, the only daughter of the Queen of England.

Peter will be marrying his long time love Montreal born Autumn Kelly. Since Peter does not have a title, his new bride will not have a title as well. Princess Anne didn't give her children title because of two reasons. One, because of their father (Captain Mark Phillips) does not have a title. Two, because she wanted them to lead a normal life. What is normal anyway? Having lots of money and having nannies? and living in a castle??? and having the Queen of England your grandmother??? Hmmmmm...

Picture from www.hellomagzine.ca

There was some buzz whether Peter will have to give up his rights to the throne for marrying a catholic girl. In the end, apparently Autumn decided to renounce her religion to join the Church or England. Do you think she's hoping that there might be a slight chance that she could be Queen of England someday??? I doubt that will happen. Peter is tenth line to the throne, so I think it's a long ways, but I guess it's worth a try. Best Wishes!

"The Kite Runner"

Last Sunday, I started reading the book "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini. You can click on his name to go to his website. The book is so good, that I am now halfway thru the book! That is a record for me!

Here is a little bit of info about the book.

"The Kite Runner is a novel about friendship, betrayal, and the price of loyalty. It is about the bonds between fathers and sons, and the power of their lies. Written against a history that has not been told in fiction before, The Kite Runner describes the rich culture and beauty of a land in the process of being destroyed. But with the devastation, Khaled Hosseini also gives us hope: through the novel's faith in the power of reading and storytelling, and in the possibilities he shows for redemption. " Taken from Khaled Hosseini's site.

I definitely recommend this book, it's well written and the story will just take your breath away. It produces so many feelings to the reader. You will feel happy, mesmerize, dreamy, then suddenly you'll feel hate, anger. fear and sadness.... This book made me cry the other night, I was so taken by the story that I felt it in my heart. ( ok, ok, I am not normally sappy, but it did make me cry).

Also there is a movie that was created based on this book, you can check out the link below for information. I haven't seen it yet, but I will soon, after I finish the book.

http://www.kiterunnermovie.com/main.html

Once I am done with this book, I think I am going to get "A thousand splendid Suns", also by Khaled Hosseini.

Oh My! So delicious...Mmmmm

This was posted by Vernilover at the Purse Forum and I just had to share it with you all non-tpf LV fans.

This model is called the Firebird and it comes in different color combination. I have not seen this bag in real life, but you can really tell the detail on the stitching of the monogram and the flowers.

http://forum.purseblog.com/louis-vuitton/vernilovers-lv-picture-book-288279-19.html

The colors are so vivid, perfect for summer!...Actually if I have this bag, I will use it no matter what the season is! Such a shame to leave it in it's dustbag.... He he he... Price???? don't ask, you might faint...lol..

Monty PM is at Bloor St. !!!!!

Ok I have good news! I called the Bloor store earlier today, and the SA told me that they have the Montorgueil PM in stock! and they have 3...yes...3 of them!!!

So anyway, I told them I will be there on saturday so I can check it out if I really like it in real life. The price between the Monty and Neverfull is not much which is really cool actually.


Also, the funny thing is that the name of the SA that I talked to is.....are you ready for this????

Her name is KARINA.... Ha ha ha

Ok, now I need your help guys.... I need your opinion on the two bags now. Which one do you like best? Please Vote on the right hand side and let me know :D

Montorgueil PM

Neverfull MM

Thanks everyone!!! I really appreciate your help!

Ironman

Hubby and I went to see Ironman today. I actually never heard of the super hero until I saw the previews. I didn't have any expectations going to the theater, but I actually liked the movie. Of course, it's great to be a genius with loads of cash, I would be a super hero too :D. He he he..

The special effects are awesome! Acting was great too, except there are some scenes with Gwyneth and she didn't sound convincing. All in all, the movie was great, this will be a movie we would buy on DVD for sure.

You can check out the movie info HERE.

No Tivoli, No Monty!

I have mentioned on my first post that I wanted to get either the Louis Vuitton Tivoli PM or the Montorgueil. Well, I wanted to check them out today to see how they would look on me, so I called the store at Yorkdale!!!!!!!!

To my disappointment, the only way to get the Tivoli is to be put on waiting list!! Dang it! Then I asked for the Montorgueil PM and they only have the GM!!

I AM SO DISAPPOINTED!!! Now, what do I do?

So I guess next week, I will just have to get the Neverfull and the pochette, I guess that pretty much decided what I am going to get....It's ok, I am still happy with those 2, I have been eyeing the neverfull MM for awhile now and I think it will be really functional and useful when we go Vermont at the end of the month.

Oh well...Ce'st La vie..

Summer is approaching!

Just wanted to show you these cute sandals I found from my online store.

Coach Reagan Sandals $89.99

Check out my store to see other coach shoes.

My Very First Post

Since this is my first post, I would like to talk about one of my passions. Next Saturday, May 17th, I am going to a Louis Vuitton Meet. What is a Louis Vuitton Meet you say? Basically, this is a gathering of people who owns and adores the desginer Louis Vuitton . At these meets, there will be food, drinks, presentations, mingling, adoring of each other's bags/accessories, and of course the main event is the big shopping spree at a Louis Vuitton boutique.

The actual meet is happening downtown Toronto. Our group will be meeting for brunch at the Windsor Arms, following a presentation. In the afternoon, we will all go to the LV boutique on Bloor St. to shop and spend hundreds of dollars on a bag/piece we have been eyeing for the past few weeks. Here are my prospects for the upcoming meet. My budget is limited so I can't get all of them, either I get one expensive piece or 2 less expensive ones.

Damier Azur Pochette

Pictures are property of www.louisvuitton.com

Monogram Tivoli PM

Pictures are property of www.louisvuitton.com

Monogram Neverfull MM

Pictures are property of www.louisvuitton.com

Monogram Motorgueil PM

Pictures are property of www.louisvuitton.com

So what do you guys think I should get?