budding lushie

Warning: Girly, beauty-type post ahead!

After a quite an eventful school year I've really been wanting to do a little damage control and give my stressed skin some TLC. I had already singled-out LUSH as good company to support because they create fresh, organic, handmade products while remaining ethical, "green", and cruelty-free. But before heading down to there without having a clue what to look for, I did research on the effectiveness of products I was interested in using.

Originally all I wanted was a lip scrub so that is what I started with. I wanted something that I could use to exfoliate my lips to create a smooth application for lipsticks. LUSH's "sweet lips" is perfect. Made of sugar, it melts before it can do any harm and it tastes delicious too! It's actually meant to lick right of your lips when you're done, this particular flavour tastes like chocolate and vanilla.

Next I picked up two products that I pair together, the first being the Buffy bar. It has ground almonds and other exfoliants that really give your skin a good scrub but at the same time it is a body butter. You can feel the softness in your skin immediately after — literally buttery!

As if the body butter isn't moisturizing enough, I use Sympathy for the Skin as an all-over body lotion which comes in this adorable tub.

I've been using these few products over the past two months and I swear by them now. If you're looking for summer smoothness, I recommend both the Buffy bar and Sympathy for the Skin lotion. Your skin will thank you!

Everytime I go back to LUSH I pick up a new sample and when I eventually finish it up I ponder purchasing the full product. Next up on the plate is the Cupcake Face Mask which you'll see above. It looks just like cupcake batter and smells like chocolate! I'll be giving this product a whirl tonight and perhaps in another month or so you'll see it here in what might be a second post in this "LUSH haul" installment.

OCAD bookbinding workshop

Last week Hazel and I had the pleasure of attending a bookbinding workshop at the OCAD Student Gallery hosted by OCAD's Student Press. The particular technique we learned is called case binding. I had a ton of fun tapping back into my crafty side while nibbling on the fresh strawberries they put out for us. It was a really great way to end of a dreadfully hot day. The best part is that it was completely free — materials and all! A shout out and thanks to Lisa and Eunice for being such lovely hosts!

Here are some process photos of the book I made:

The finished product!

I'll be looking out for more workshops next year and you can too at www.ocadustudentpress.com, and at their facebook or twitter.

mothers at mildred's

Another blog post via Instagram! It wasn't planned this way though. As you all know, yesterday was Mother's day and with the tradition of going to brunch, me and my folks did just that. We took a trip down to Liberty Village to eat at Mildred's Temple Kitchen before doing some shopping. I'd never been there before but boy was it beautiful! Unfortunately, my camera battery conked out while we were waiting for our table so I reverted to my trusty camera phone to capture all the goodness.

Mildred's had a special set menu for Mother's day and started off with their homemade current scones. They were dangerously delicious as I was trying not to fill up before the main course. It was awfully smart of us to cut ourselves off and pack them to-go because they ended up being part of my breakfast this morning. For the main course there were three choices and I went for "Veda's choice" which consists of poached eggs on a flaky croissant with a choice of smoked salmon or rosemary bacon, topped with Béarnaise sauce. I decided on the salmon while my mum went for the bacon so that we could split our croissants and try each. Both were equally delicious! The breakfast also came accompanied by a mixed greens salad and a choice of orange or grapefruit juice — really refreshing! And just when I thought it couldn't get any better, our server brought over a complimentary apple pie on behalf of Mother's day for us to take home. It's safe to say that I was thoroughly impressed by Mildred's, what with the modern design and decor, outstanding food, friendly and charming waitstaff, and awesome playlist (they played Fat-Bottomed Girls twice!). There's also the added bonus of being able to watch Looney Tunes across their projection screen while you wait to be seated.

I highly, highly recommend Mildred's Temple Kitchen! Not too shabby of a location either. Located in the lovely Liberty Village right across from West Elm (which you'll see some pictures of above). I will most definitely be back at Mildred's this summer, with a charged camera no less!

polaroid

I'm very excited to premiere to you guys my newly acquired polaroid camera! An uncle of mine is moving homes very soon and upon cleaning out his basement he came across this gem which he thought I'd be interested in. If you're keeping count this is my second vintage camera passed down from an uncle, haha.

But alas, I am now on the hunt for polaroid film compatible with 600 cameras. I've been searching the web for any cheap and locally available film but have come out unlucky. It seems I'll have to go for the Impossible Project's film, in full stock at my nearest Urban Outfitters but a whopping $28 a pop — and only for 8 photos, yikes! I am happy to support the Impossible Project though and what they're doing to revive analog instant photography. Perhaps in time they'll be able to sell their films for much less. Until then I think I will spare a little extra cash to be able to test my new baby out!

april snapshots

April has come and gone so quickly. When my first year of university ended I expected to be blogging much more but after my last exam I've unplugged and become somewhat of a couch potato. Far less time has been spent on my laptop but the attention has been reverted to my phone instead with Instagram. It's proving to be a little addictive so I thought why not utilize my phone photo collection for a blog post. Perhaps this will be a monthly thing.

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