Here comes the Bride

For one long weekend only, Brides magazine hosted the White Hot Style Shop which featured specialty cocktail drinks and complimentary makeover appointments for your hair, makeup, nails, and more! This event was not just for brides-to-be's so I went to check it out. To my surprise there was a human bride all dressed in white in the front display window!

Lots of wedding cakes on display, so elaborate. And shopping paroozables.

 Facials, hair styling, full makeup, and manicure stations!

 And of course toastables ;) I never knew Godiva made liqueurs.

The best part (besides getting my Essie watermelon-colored nails and full face makeup done by Hair Room Service) was the super goodie bags I got to leave with.

Jazz Age Lawn Party

Take a ferry from Manhattan to enter Governor's Island and you've stepped toes into the 1920's:

 

Brought by St. Germain featuring live band Dreamland Orchestra.

Lots of picnic blankets sprawled out over the grass lawn. There were a bunch of vendors and booths there selling vintage (aka old&stylish) clothes and accessories too – a bit too overpriced though I would think. There was also a dance floor where people bounced around kicking up and down just like they did in the 1920's.

Our attire and accessories.

Home made brownies stuffed into a too small teensy tupperware that our friend made which caused her to come late. We brought along our own Viet sandwiches to munch on as well.

Lots of cocktails, sangria, and drinks all around to cool us off... but also to dehydrate us some more when the sun beat down on us. It started out a hot day, but it started raining like crazy the hour right before it all ended. Umbrellas opened up and people in skirts dispersed like ants. But the soaked and laughing Brooklyn Brewery folks were super casual and cool enough to give us each free 6 packs of beer to take on home! Props.

Triple prepared for this event with matching polka dot suspender skirts.

From Wikipedia: The earliest instant camera, which consisted of a camera and portable darkroom in a single compartment, was invented in 1923 by Samuel Shlafrock.^[1]

50% Dumber

For a good year now, my two wisdom teeth on my right side were starting to peek their heads out – it's comical to compare it to Ground Hog's Day. It never really hurt me much until I got my cleaning a month ago and decided to go ahead and take it out. Always having to chew gum after meals and getting food stuck in there was an annoyance to keep track of in the back of my mind (and teeth). I've considered taking all 4 out at once, but I did my calculations and my insurance allowance only covers up to $2000 this year, and at $750 a pop per tooth (wowza), there's no point of doing both sides of my face.

I know everyone's experience is different for wisdom teeth extractions, so here's mine: I chose to suck it up and stay awake during the whole thing. I was fine with the more than a few shots of Novocaine that were being juiced into my gums like a marinated chicken, so I only felt pressure, no flinch no pain. Once home, living off Advil, painkillers, antibiotics, ice packs, salt water, and occasionally passing out in nap episodes, my swelling was not as terrible as some google case study pictures that I have seen. Not sure if my dentist was trying to make me feel better or was just lying, but he had mentioned that only 5% of people really get full on swellings that deem them to be "Chipmunk Faces". They also let me keep the teeth – surprisingly these two little suckers were actually bigger and heavier than I had expected!

Laying down on the couch counting down the hours by watching The View and Chinese TVB drama shows, the only thing I'll be eating and drinking in the next couple of days will be fish/beef bits congee from my Hello Kitty bowl through a bubbletea straw. They actually advise against using straws but god it's just so much faster and easier to drink up the lukewarm-cold congee in a couple of minutes vs. trying to fit a spoon into your mouth without dribbling! TMI.

Interesting factoid #297 about me: One of my remaining wisdom teeth on the left side is actually laying down completely horizontally under my gums instead of looking up vertically. Ha!

Update: I've upgraded myself to cut up soft breadsticks and tea.

O Canada!

How terrible – I went to Canadian Montreal, QC for an American holiday celebration of our July 4 Independence Day weekend :X What? I made sure I had my red whites and blues on. And apparently there were a lot more colors in Montreal! Look at these crazy building murals and wall paintings off the side of storefronts and alleyways!

And the architecture choices there are so interesting, from material to shapes and structures.


St. Catherine Street, complete with pink beads dangling around up top. Leads straight in to Gay Village which boasts lots of outdoorsy places to laze around with a pitcher of Sunday sangria.


There was an art festival/fair the weekend that we went – FIMA (Festival International Montréal en Arts) showcased a bunch of illustrators, sculptors, and creative minded artists and their work through outdoors booths set up all along St. Catherine. We even came across one interactive installation that invited us to step in and participate in tying strings to a dude with dreadlocks. I wonder if he ever needs to go the bathroom the whole day?!


Apparently there were drag queens who were shooting a video when we saw this pole/letters work of public art – it also lights up at night, too. Not sure what it says completely since it's in French. I can't believe I haven't mentioned that Montreal is a bilingual place – all around town I only overhear locals and children speaking to each other in French, plus the bonus of being able to understand and direct me when I ask in English where the nearest train station is!

Speaking of public transportation, getting to and from the airport in Montreal was pretty easy. They have a 747 express bus that runs downtown for $8 each way which also includes 24 hours access to their metro. And if that doesn't float your boat, Montreal also adapts a public bike share program called Bixi. Basically they set up a bunch of bike stations every 2-3 blocks or avenues away from each other – you can rent it on a daily, weekly, even monthly basis. Meant for short durations/trips, they can equal out to only $5 a day if you can park/return the bikes within a set time. They have these stationed in Europe too, so smart! This system, however, would never work in New York City.


I'd also like to point out that it was my 2nd time giving a fauxhawk haircut to someone, not bad not bad I hope! There's even a Bixi right in front of this building so we took advantage of the symmetry and snapped a shot.

I usually am not a fan of touristy sightseeing things on my list of to-do's when I go tripping, but the Basilica Cathedral was definitely a must see, worth every penny of the 5 dollah admission fee. To a church tsk tsk, tourist trap much? Yes, but it had AC and it was hot as hell outside.

Amazing, I can stay there for a couple of good hours just zooming in on every detail in that space. Look at this spiral staircase that leads up and down the floors – it is so adorned!


Very satisfying to dip my toes in the river after a long hot day. Also in preparation of walking over the Jacques Cartier Bridge to get to the other side to check out the annual Montreal International Fireworks Competition show at La Ronde (a sister 6 Flags establishment I believe?) They shut down the bridge for the night so people can walk over and on the bridge to get close to the fireworks. City looked different from another angle up above.




The particular show we saw that fell on July 4 weekend was by Czech Republic : Flower Duet was the theme. Pretty cool and sync'ed with music.

Also something else noteworthy was the fact that Cirque du Soleil happened to have its big top touring tent stop by Montreal with the evolution-themed show Totem. Fun Fact: Did you ever know that CdS originally started in none other than Montreal?



Snuck a pic of the turtle shell display that we saw upon entering the tent. Of course we got yelled at, since it is the ushers' jobs to be all hardcore on us if they catch us snapping any pics.

Intermission time induces strange mask fitting behavior.

I definitely think my favorite area is Old Montreal, it's great to spend a day there if I'm looking for the closest feeling to feeling like I'm in Paris. Or anywhere French for real.

Jardin Nelson, fine choice. We went here just in time before the rain really started to pour. The outdoors garden is open rain or shine, and features a live jazz band and we lucked out with great seats right smack near them. Cocktails, coffee, crepes and plates. Perfect since we got there right near sunset and lingered around until the sun went down and the rain cleared out.

Speaking of food and eatery, we took a visit over to Jean Talon market in Little Italy. Look at how organized and full of color these fruits were! I'm so glad we went there on an empty stomach since there were bunches of stalls and stands that had samples for us to taste and snack on.

That's the thing with food samples – sometimes you just can't get enough with just one bite and have to end up buying a whole loaf of sweet heavenly bread!

In the more hipster area of Montreal, in La Plateau, we waited a well worthed 15-20 mins for brunch at L'Avenue. It was the most amazing home fries I have ever put in my mouth and I don't even LIKE homefries. The fruit was so fresh I almost cried juice. My California omelet was amazing and so was Eric's Philly cheesesteak. We both monstered everything and washed it down with strawberry/raspberry mojitos. And polished it off with a long, long walk through the neighborhood exploring and checking out wall murals and residential spiral staircases.


Also popular in Montreal is the smoked meat. We got cheese/fruit plates at this particular place as well. What was strange was when I asked for ice in my water, they told me that they do not serve ice. This would be a good time to say huh?? Unheard of, someone please educate me on why not.

And of course, we had to have a meal with French food at Le Grain de Sel. Small plates, big flavor. The bread itself came with 3 sauces and seasalt and fresh ground pepper with butter. Next to that is the amuse, duck liver, foie gras dish, and another duck entree in which we split.

A must try in Montreal is poutine – fries drenched in gravy and cheese curds. Even Burger King features it on their fast food menu there. We also ordered a "burger" which actually tasted pretty good on a roll. Who would've thought?

And we took a sit n stop for Red Velvet, Creme Brulee, and Triple Chocolate mini cupcakes.

And the thing that topped off our trip at last – a baby popped outta nowhere in front of my plane seat which literally just scared the veins out of me when I was 3 inches away from my 7 inch personal airplane TV!