Whew!

Thank God for quizzes.

You Are Probably Not Pregnant

It seems like you're in the clear, but you should really take a test to be sure.

Are You Pregnant?

My first Mulberry Bag!

This quiz is for Chris

Awwwww.

He's a Great Boyfriend

You guy definitely loves you and knows how to treat you right. You have a five star boyfriend - so make sure you treat him right too!

Is He a Good Boyfriend?

Team Angelina

I can't stop doing these quizzes.

You Are More Like Angelina Jolie

Bad girl with a heart of gold. You are smart, sexy, and strong willed. You aren't against stealing another girl's man... If he's better off with you!

Are You More Like Jennifer or Angelina?

It's a sign!

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Chris! This is what I want for Christmas!

It's hip to be racist against the Chinese

How did this racist bull shit,

1. Make it to the production lines of Alessi.
2. Make it to the pages of Toronto Life.

I’ll be writing a letter to both and I encourage any one else who thinks this shit is just plain racist, please do so as well.

I guess Rosie O’Donnell has made racism toward Chinese people hip again.

Alessi
BETH DICKSTEIN ENTERPRISES
611 Broadway, Penthouse 907J, USA
Tel. 212 353 1383
Fax 212 353 2005
doug@bdeonline.biz

Toronto Life
To submit a letter for publication in response to a Toronto Life article, please send an e-mail to letters@torontolife.com.
Alternatively, fax your letter to 416-861-1169 or mail it to 111 Queen Street East, Suite 320, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1S2.
Letters must include the writer's full name, postal address, and daytime telephone number.

My Wish List

Every year I get asked, “What do you want for Christmas?” Every year I have the same answer, “Nothing.” For the past few years, people have been giving me gift certificates and I have yet to use about 70% of them. I even got this $100 gift certificate for the Future Shop from work and I gave it away to Chris. There is absolutely nothing that I have wanted to buy since I got back from Italy. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.

Until now.

I’ve become fairly obsessed with two people over the past few years — Ina Garten and Nigella Lawson. Both are domestic goddesses — Nigella in a more rustic way and Ina in a more polished, East-Hampton way. Both are hotties — Nigella in a more old-school screen siren way and Ina in a more Leave It Beaver, matronly fashion.

For Christmas this year, I wouldn’t mind a cookbook from the fine collection of either one of these ladies. That’s it. That’s all I could think of. So if I exchange gifts with you on a yearly basis over the holidays, this is all I got for you to go on.


(Unless your name happens to rhyme with "miss" and you sleep in the same bed as me a few times a week. For people that fit this profile, only the Cartier Love Bracelet will do.)

Sicky McSickerson

It’s friggin cold outside and I have a cold. Boo hoo for me. I haven’t left my house in about 48 hours and I don’t plan to for at least another 24.

Top 5 things that I crave when I am sick:

1. My mommy. Doesn’t matter if your 5 or 50, moms are the best cure for the common cold. Mine’s in Laos right now. :(
2. McChicken sandwiches. I remember being really little and really sick and when I was able to eat solid foods again, my parents brought me a McChicken sandwich. It was one of the very few times that we were allowed to have McDonald’s. Every time I’m sick I want a McChicken sandwich. Damn you McDonald’s.
3. Neo Citran. I love me some Neo Citran. I love it almost as much as I love Gravol when I’m flying. Nothing beats being knocked out cold by over-the-counter drugs.
4. Sleeping! For someone who has spent most of her life in a state of sleep deprivation, allowing myself the luxury of 10-12 hours of sleep per day is the best thing ever.
5. Sympathy. I am big old baby when I’m sick and I absolutely love being babied by anyone who will take the time to do it.

Cubed Celebs

I <3 Cava

As per usual, it’s been a rough few weeks, so Denise and I decided that we’d treat ourselves to a nice meal at Cava this past Wednesday. For the food nerds out there, Cava is the newest venture from former Avalon chef, Chris McDonald.

To set the scene a bit, Cava is billed as a “casual tapas place.” Nevertheless when I made the reservation on OpenTable.com, the dress code said “business casual.” I suppose tapas tastes better when one is adorned in sensible separates from Banana Republic.

Denise and I haul our assess to Yonge and St. Clair (a hop, skip and an annoying bus ride through the never-ending St. Clair streetcar lane debacle, away from chez moi.) The dining room was not big and the lighting was only okay. However our waiter was a cutie and he had a sexy Spanish accent.

Denise started off with a nice Cava Cocktail (the girl can’t stay away from bitters) and I had a nice Cava Daiquiri. My drink came with the mix on the side. There was a piece of pineapple in the glass with the booze. Those of you who know me well, know that I like a stiffer drink that most. However this piece of pineapple was so boozy, that I could not finish chewing it. I actually had to spit it out, it was that boozy.

Here is what we had:

PINCHOS OF RAPINI, WHITE BEAN & MANCHEGO
This was essentially good bread, topped with a white bean purée, a piece of rapini and shavings of Manchego (last year’s hip cheese.) This is one of the best things I have ever put in my mouth. I am soooo making this at home.

CHARCUTERIA
A meat platter composed of pâté, salami, chrizo and buffalo bresaola. The pâté and salami melted in your mouth, while the chorizo and the bresaola was a nice shock to the taste buds.

GRILLED OCTOPUS WITH GREEN ONIONS, FINGERLING POTATOES & HAZELNUT ROMESCO
I am normally pretty nervous to order octopus as it is almost always rubbery. Nevertheless, we took the risk. I am so glad we did because it was fanfuckingtastic. You will not taste octopus that is this tender.

WILD MUSHROOM & FRESH CORN TAMAL WITH AN ANCHO CHILE SAUCE
Don’t order this. It was only so-so. The tamale was a bit stiff and the flavours not as bold. Had the other dishes not been so outstanding, this wouldn’t have seemed so mediocre.

FORTY-EIGHT HOUR BEEF CHEEKS
This was the star of the show. I have never had beef cheeks in a non-French restaurant. These were outstanding. Soft, moist and full of good flavour. More beef cheeks!

Accompanying our meal was a nice half litre of sangria. There was so much on the menu that we didn’t order, that practically guaranteed a return visit. Next time I’m going whole hog and ordering the PORKY BEANS WITH CRISPY BRAISED PORK BELLY.

Read a proper review of Cava over here.

Gotta try this!

Which celebs do you look like??? Check it out on MyHeritage.

Apparently I look like an Italian lady.

Bo'Selecta

Avid Merrion is the new Borat Sagdiyev. This guy is awesome.

I never want to use Vaseline again

Tyra done gone insane.

Ben Affleck is grody

Making fun of cerebal palsy and groping a journalist? It's Sunday morning with Ben Affleck.

Some photos from night number one in Montreal

Tonight I got together with my dear friend Ana and she cooked up a feast. Her beau Karim makes a mean apple martini and the night was good fun all around. Here are some shots from tonight.

Ana is a teetotaller, but she sure loves her some booze.

The aftermath of our boozing.

Ana recreates a Picasso

Happy couple number one: Lewis and Cloelle

Happy couple number two: Karim and Ana (I miss Chris!)

My bed at the Hôtel Godin. This is where I am headed right now.

Montreal bound

After much debate, I finally convinced my place of work that despite the fact that it may not be as popular as New York or Paris, it is our duty as a Canadian media outlet to cover both Montreal and Toronto Fashion Weeks. Their response? “You’re absolutely right. So go do it.” Lousy bastards would not shell out for an actual writer.

So to compensate for me essentially having to do it all myself and still do my day to day job, I booked myself into the Hôtel Godin. If I’ve got to bust my ass, I may as well do it in style.

I'm actually fairly excited for Montreal Fashion Week as well. It's really a shame that for the most part, Canadians who can really afford high-end designer clothing would rather spend their money on Louis Vuitton or Armani rather than someone homegrown.

I do realize there are some whack Canadian designers out there, but I've also seen some amazing ones that still don't get a lot of attention. Hopefully I can just force them down the throats of the Canadian public. :)

Now back to the Godin. Check out the heritage staircase. Soooo purdy.

I've been quoted!

I do realize that it is just the York University newspaper, however I have never been quoted before! Click to image to enlarge it.

Harry Potter is all growed up

Out of action

I've been insanely busy at work and have now been maintaining a blog for our TIFF feature. This is where I'll be doing most my blogging for the next few weeks, so check it out: http://sandraandluluattiff.spaces.live.com/

Will be posting regularly once it's all over.