My Second Brunch in the City

Yesterday I went to Female Department’s Brunch in the City for the second time. This year I was sans Carolyne, but I did still manage to have an amazing time, and hang out with some pretty cool people 🙂

I got there a little before 12, when it was supposed to start, so I figured I would get one of the free manicures from Trippy Nails before the lines got too long. I chose Pearl for my color, and chatted a bit with the owner, but I messed it up by grabbing things before it dried, so I won’t post pictures. But still, it was nice to be pampered for a bit 😉 While there, I got to talk with the girls waiting in line behind me, as well as sample a lot of delicious food.

And a drink. I don’t generally do alcohol, but it was a raspberry puree with Disaronno and it was pretty good. And I got to keep the mason jar, which I love 🙂 I will need to find a way to make a virgin version…

As for the food, there were cookies from Yes Please! which were soft, sugary and perfect.

As well as catering from Forketta: French crusty bread with ricotta cheese and a roasted grape/balsamic compote. The flavors went incredibly well together…

Tiny shooters of blueberry maple sauce with french toast sticks to dip inside. The toast was slightly dry, but the taste of everything was amazing, with the cinnamon and the maple and…I poured what was left of my sauce into the raspberry puree drink and it was wonderful!

The waiter introduced this as salmon gravlax when I asked him what it was. Basically, it was like a smoked salmon with creme fraiche on top of a tiny pancake. It was topped with dill and had a slight citrus taste to it as well.

This one was exciting because I feel like I could figure out how to make it at home. It was the whole wheat tostitos scoops that we usually make nachos with, but instead of being covered in cheese, there was avocado mousse, mango, cucumber and shrimp. It was…refreshing? I guess might be the word for it. I liked it a lot 🙂 Also, I somehow didn’t realize the tray was a mirror when I took the picture…

My favorite was the tart. I didn’t ask what it was before trying it, but the waiter warned me that it had Pancetta in it, probably in case I was vegetarian. I couldn’t recognize anything in it at first, except for the honey drizzle, I only knew that it was amazing. It was when discussing it with a friend (and later looking at the menu) that we discovered it was pear gorgonzola. As in the fruit and the cheese. Kind of heavenly.

There were a bunch of booths selling jewelry, purses and clothes, even one with roses in boxes. Some were new, some were there last year, and others were at the Christmas event.

One new and awesome vendor was Miyuki Crochet. She brought her summer collection, which includes bathing suits, awesome tops as well as chokers, hats and cacti. Her website also has more winter stuff, like scarves, sweaters and headbands. Definitely worth a look 🙂

“In our society, the women who break down barriers are those who ignore limits.”

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

All I *Need For Christmas

On Friday Night, I attended my second Female Department Sponsored Event. To celebrate the holidays, they rented out a loft, with a different vendor in every room, treats and drinks to go around, and some Christmas spirit 🙂 The tickets were free, we just had to bring a donation, which I think was an incredible idea.

I got there super early because I clearly don’t know how long it takes to walk places. This was slightly awkward, because I just meandered while they finished setting up, but it was also awesome, because I got to actually talk to some of the vendors, had first dibs on everything, and got pictures before all the food was eaten 😉 There were sugar cookies, as well as bacon chocolate chip cookies (which were surprisingly delicious) and tiny shooters of milk from Yes Please! I am not sure who made the other treats, but there were brownies, a cinnamony caramel cake, and salted caramel and chocolate popcorn. Be warned that I am guessing at these flavors, but they were scrumptious.

As soon as you walk in, the first thing you see is this winter accessories line. Although I am sure they are super awesome, I didn’t spend that much time there, because if I am in need of a hat, a scarf or anything of the sort, I would head over to Miyuki Crochet 😉

The first bedroom held clothes from Female Department, set out like any girl’s bedroom, especially when trying to figure out what to wear for a night out!

Next came Philo purses, designed here in Montreal, made in China, with a part of the sales going to charities. The girls were super nice and helpful. #BagsThatGiveBack

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a lingerie room, a super nice and friendly girl selling emoji shirts and beanies, as well as some cool jewelry with things like ‘namaste’, ‘hope’ and ‘strength’ written on it, but my purchases were made at BKind, the natural, vegan bath products/skin care line by the Christmas tree.

Everything is made here in Montreal, with natural products, no water, and she uses them all herself. I wondered what kind of school you go to in order to make that kind of stuff, and it turns out she studied microbiology. Which is not a requirement, but I’m sure it helps. She let me try almost everything, told me the awesome properties of all the ingredients, and I had full intentions of posting pictures of what I bought, but it ended up being a gift, so I let the experts at DakorMtl wrap it instead.

Also, not sure if it was Female Department that put these up, since they usually have awesome quotes strewn around, but there was some pretty inspirational writing on the walls 🙂

Skipping Breakfast at Tiffany’s

After having so much fun at last month’s Brunch in the City, I decided to try it again and spent yesterday at the second Skipping Breakfast at Tiffany’s event. Unlike last time, when I went with Carolyne and knew people who would be there, I had absolutely no connection to anyone involved, and the friend I inadvertantly heard about it through didn’t even attend. Still, that in no way means I didn’t have a lot of fun 🙂

I decided to ease my way in by accepting an invitation to get my hair braided. They had Nüva, a beauty salon doing hair, nails and makeup, so I figured it would be an easy way to check out my surroundings with absolutely no pressure. It turns out that I chose a style where the hairdresser had to partially straighten my hair, so I spent quite some time in that chair, smiling at strangers and getting my picture taken in slightly compromising hair situations. Still, it was a lot of fun and I got a pretty hairstyle that I definitely wouldn’t do on my own.

Next I wandered over to the sweets table. It’s what happens when you come to one of these things and haven’t had lunch. Maria, the sweet tooth caterer of the day, made an assortment of cupcakes, some blueberry cheesecake and the most delicious cake pop I have ever had in my entire life. It was moist and scrumptious and I could spend pages giving them compliments, but the point is, you have to get yourself some. Divine D’zerts. I am not sure if she also makes the cake pops like this, but some of the cupcakes were even gluten free and vegan 🙂

After this, I finally ventured upstairs to check out the clothes. Nathalie, founder of the Love, Nathalie website, who organized the event, doesn’t actually design the clothes, but she chooses them based on quality material, and styles that she would actually wear. She also has a sizing chart, to make sure that the clothes will actually fit when they get to you, since it is usually an online-only venture.

There were a lot of really nice things. I tried on a dress and this pink blazer that I really liked, but didn’t end up getting either. I know, very boring of me. But you see, there were no prices. It’s completely my issue, and no fault of the event’s, but I always feel super embarassed when I like something, and then don’t get it because of the price, so I was afraid to ask and then have to let them know I wouldn’t be taking it. Although I was a party pooper, a lot of people I talked to bought beautiful sweaters and dresses and told me the prices were very reasonable, so it was obviously my loss. Nathalie explained to us that a lot of other companies have overhead fees or have to pay for employees and a space, but since she is an online store, she can cut out those fees and keep things affordable.

I mingled a bit before Nathalie introduced the fashion show. The business coats definitely made me wish I had a stable, 9 to 5 job where I could wear those clothes, but it’s a small price to pay to be able to follow my dreams. And I can always wear those kinds of outfits when I play lawyers on sets 😉

As I was leaving, I got an adorable goodie bag with some delicious macaroons from Maria, some hair care products I can’t wait to try, candies and some promotions.

All in all, I would deem it another success, and plan on attending both the Brunch in the City, and Skipping Breakfast at Tiffany’s next year 🙂

“Anyone who ever gave you confidence, you owe them a lot.”

-Truman Capote

Brunch in the City

On Sunday, Carolyne and I attended Brunch in the City III, a networking event inspired by Sex and the City, geared towards #Girlbosses and combining fashion, food, manis, henna, makeup, networking and so much more.

First of all, it is categorized as a fashion event, so Carolyne and I made sure to dress to impress 🙂

  

  The clothes were gorgeous, and surprisingly affordable. I especially loved the fall collection at Female Department. If I had another event to go to where I wanted to dress to impress, and support an awesome female-run, Montreal company, that is where I would go 🙂

After the fashion, I very much enjoyed the food 😉 From cookies, s’mores flavored cronuts and pressed juices…

…amazingly delicious vegan and gluten-free cupackes and cinnamon donuts (that means they’re healthy, right?)…

…to my first and currently my favorite matcha latte!

Finally, I finished off the brunch with a well-deserved manicure from Trippy Nails. It makes me happy just looking at them 🙂

    

All in all, the day was an absolute success, and I can’t wait to go to the next one!

“You gotta overvalue yourself sometimes. Know your worth and add taxes to it.”