Birthday Part 1

My parents are divorced so for the past few years I've celebrated my birthday twice each year.

This year with my mother, we went to the restaurant. D., my brother and his girlfriend came with us the Thursday night (July 21st, actual birthday was July 22nd).

Usually I picked an Asian restaurant to go to but this year I wanted to make it a little different, so I went for a French restaurant I had been to the year before and had been really wanting to go back. For the occasion I decided to wear the orange dress I got for super cheap a month earlier.

I also curled my hair with the curling iron, but it was so hot and humid that they didn't stay put very well...

I had light make-up, I figured it wouldn't matter with the heat it would likely melt away.

The restaurant...

Maison Chaloin http://www.maisonchaloin.com/

The inside is cozy and seats about 20-30 customers at most. There were a few people when we came in, but they had all left by the time we ordered. A few other customers came in later.



Is a small restaurant slash chocolate shop/factory owned by two French gentlemen that moved to Canada in 2008. Every single thing they make is made from scratch at the restaurant. They sell chocolates, macaroons, cakes and gelatos. Half of is it the shop, and the other half is the restaurant. And as I've said, every thing is made from scratch, by hand, home made, including everything on the menu. They specialize in crepes, sweet and salty ones. But they also have pizza, pasta, salads and desserts of course.

And now... Onto pictures of FOOD!

My plate... Chicken, mushroom and creamy cheese crepe with salad and tomato soup.
This was "Table d'Hote" so it included a drink and a dessert.

My brother's dish. 4 cheese pizza with salad and tomato soup.

I didn't get a chance to photograph everyone else's dishes, they were already stuffing their faces. But who can blame them! The food there is AMAZING! My mother had a smoked salmon and maple syrup crepe. D has duck and date crepe. And my bro's girlfriend had pasta which looked SO delicious! I'll definitely be having a pasta dish next time.

My dessert!
Small cake with chocolate, raspberries, whipped cream and lime gelato (my favorite!)

While everyone was choosing their dessert (because you get to choose from a wide variety in a display window, I snapped pictures of everything (or almost) they had.

Cake display...

Macaroons, in the display on the other side...

Chocolates display...


A lot of their chocolates are made out of flowers! I had the chance to taste some of them last year and they're delicious! Everything you can order to eat there, or take out. They put everything in super cute boxes which makes it all perfect for gifts too.

All in all it was a great dinner and I'm definitely going back again! Any next occasion or even just for a nice coffee break and snack. The service has been impecable every time, I definitely recommend Maison Chaloin, if you are in the area. They are located in Hull on St-Joseph Blvd. Check out their website for more info, they also recently opened a chocolate store (no restaurant) in Ottawa!

Part 2 of birthday coming up soon...

What do you think of all these sweets?
Which one would you have picked for your dessert?

Hello Kitty Graffiti @ Sephora

In January I wrote a short article about Sephora releasing an Hello Kitty Collection which consisted of brushes, blushes, nails polishes, fragrances and several other items. While I quite liked the look of the Collection and took the time to investigate it in person in store, I didn't buy any of them.

While everything was very cute and good looking, I thought there were too expensive and I already had everything I needed in my make-up bag. Personally, I would have been paying for the look of the product (cases, logos, boxes, bottles) more than for the make-up itself.

Well what do you know, a second collection was released this month Hello Kitty Graffiti. With a more vibrant, dare I say screaming, look!

Similar items as the previous collections, same brush stand/case but with graffitis all over it instead and some of the brushes are tinted with different colors. A compact mirror, a new fragrance bottle and eyeshadow palette all covered in graffitis. New with this collection is a Make-Up Bag.

While browsing the Sephora website, I also noticed they have a few new items along the lines of "Memoirs of a Kitty" (2 eye shadow palettes, make-up bag, a notebook) which were not there before with the previous collection. These ones have a more feminine look with cherry blossom designs on them.

And also a "Combination set" of brushes, eyeliners and an Hello Kitty brush stand covered in Swarovski for a whopping 495$.

On July 14th, the Hollywood & Highlands Sephora hosted an event to welcome the new collection into store. The one and only Yuko Yamaguchi, creator of Hello Kitty, made an apperance. The first 125 people that made a 50$ Hello Kitty purchase received a wristband that guaranteed them a chance to meet Mrs Yamaguchi and get her to sign on of their items.

Lucky them!!

While I really like the new look of these items (especially that make-up bag! Wonder if I could figure out a way to turn it into a wallet?!), I'm still sitting on the fence, undecided if I will ever purchase on of these. I'm still dreamingly staring at the nail polish bottles, SO CUTE!

You can view all of the Sephora Hello Kitty collection at www.sephora.com


What do you think of this new collection "Hello Kitty Graffiti"? Like it? Love it? Better or worse than the previous one?

China Town in Montreal

I'm on summer vacations this week and it was my birthday last Friday (July 22nd) so I've been busy enjoying my time off! I've taken tons of pictures but I haven't been home all week so I can't re-size them and post them up on here just yet.

In the mean time, here's a little post on a trip I took a few weeks ago...

D. and I took a road trip to Montreal not so long ago. We were going to the Jean-Talon market but made a quick stop at the China town there before heading out to the market.

Random pics of our walk in Montreal's little China town~

Plastic food menu in the window of an Asian restaurant!

Great place to go if you want to find random Anime toys / figures / items. Also tons of Hello Kitty stuff of course. Lots of Asian type souvenirs and food markets. But nothing very gyaru-ish. :(

'Was still fun to walk around and feel like I was in another country~


Do you have a China Town in your city?

Summer outfits & new phone

I've been thinking of getting a new phone for about 6 months now. The one I was sold when I signed up for contract was great for the 1st year and then it went to crap. Frozen screen, broken qwerty keyboard, wasn't receiving/sending certain texts, etc, etc, etc.

Two weeks ago I managed to get a good deal off wireless network supplier and got a new mobile!

Take a guess!

Took a guess yet?

White BlackBerry Torch 9800 !

(Yes, Sailor Moon as wallpaper, there you go inner geek in me~)

Touch screen AND keyboard, e-mails, GPS, BBM, are some of the options among many other things. Oh yeah, and phone :B

I've been making my own wallpapers off some of my favorite images and photos on Photoshop. And I've been changing them every few days.

So far the best phone I've had ever, not that I've had THAT many of them, but this one is great. It's used by many businesses because the network and the device are secure. I love the combination of touch screen and keyboard. Many people suggested me the iPhone, but I already have an iPod touch and quickly get tired of the touch keyboard, so BlackBerry it was <3

The case around it was found on eBay for quite cheap. I've been thinking of making my own by buying a clear case and deco-ing it myself, but it's the summer and I'd rather be outside on my extra spare time, so maybe that'll be a project for the winter! Have you deco-ed your phone?

Next... Two of my favorite outfits of the moment!

Ottawa's been pretty hot the past week and I'm LOVING IT! I don't care what people say, 30-40C just means it's awesome sunny outside and I can never get enough. When I hear people complain I can't help but tell them to zip it because it won't be long that the snow it'll be back on the ground.

First one is my most casual for evenings out at the movie theater or chilling out with friends around a bond fire.

Black leggings to the knees and extra long graphic tee. Super comfy, super light and also more coverage against the damn bugs!


Second outfit is for days out in town, shopping and other activities in the middle of the day!

When it's super hot I like my denim short shorts and my favorite tank tops. This one's an off-white color, but I have red, hot pink, blue, yellow, light red, etc, etc, etc.



I hope everyone's having a great July so far~


What are your favorite outfits for the summer?

Splish-Splash Pool Time

I try to visit my dad once every 2 or 3 weeks but sometimes plans don't go accordingly. In the summer though, I find myself hanging at his place more often because he has a pool, a big back yard with a deck, a BBQ and always cooks a delicious dinner!

Recently I managed to convince D. to go out there for a swim and chill during a hot afternoon (he's not big on swimming pools, he likes the lake better), which went like this in no particular order...

Pool time!

And a bird!
(My dad & his girlfriend adopted a bird from a family who couldn't take care of him anymore)

More pool time!

And a dog!
(My old pup named Nicky, I had to leave him with my dad when I moved out.)

Even more pool time!

Ending the day with curly frizzy hair!

This is what it looks like naturally ladies and gentlemen.
Yes, it's quite a mess.
(Exactly why I straighten my hair every day! XD)

How have you been enjoying your summer so far? Do you let your hair go natural in the summer season?

Tsubasa Masuwaka is Milky Bunny

For most of you ladies following gyaru (or gal style) in Japan, if I say Tsubasa Masuwaka, you know exactly who I'm speaking of. But for you other ladies (and gents?) who just went "Tsuba-wha?", here she is:


More commonly know as TSUBASA, or simply Tsu-chan by her fans, Tsubasa Masuwaka is a very well know magazine (Egg, Popteen, PopSister) model in Japan. She's quite the icon out there and has made a huge impact on gyaru style among japanese girls, and in the most recent years, western girls looking up to become "western gyarus" themselves. She has a clothing line by the name of LIZ LISA, which is a very "sweet" and "floral" oriented brand. Not only that, she has her very own cosmetic collection also, titled Candy Doll with blushes, eye shadows, nail polishes and even eye lashes.

Oh and also she's married and has a kid. All this and she's only 26 years old! Mad crazy I say!!

And just when I thought she'd done it all, she goes into a singing career. Thus Milky Bunny (her stage name) being born.

Tsubasa advertising her new single "Bunny Days" as Milky Bunny in the recent Popteen August 2011.

I've been following Tsubasa on her blog just because I like the "behind-the-scene" look of all of her projects. Her blog is the #1 resource to see and learn about what she's doing and working on at the moment.

You can find it Here

Tsubasa with a copy of "Bunny Days" in hands.

Covers of the new single.

"Bunny Days" is set to release on July 20th. You can find it online on most japanese music selling websites, such as YesAsia, HMV Japan and CD Japan.

In the mean time, you can heard what the new song sounds like and view the music video, right here on Gossip Candy!

In my honest opinion I really don't think she's that great of a singer. Her voice sounds really annoying. So I'm going to skip on the music and keep looking forward to more Candy Doll products instead.

What do YOU think of Tsubasa?
Her style? Her cosmetics?
How about her new single?
Like it? Love it? Hate it?