My Petite Four Giveaway Winner :)

The winner is Samantha Tedesco!  Congrats on winning :)

Thanks to everyone who entered.  My Petite Four will be contacting you shortly through email.  Enjoy your prize!

Much Love.

NOTD: Revlon 261 Sparkling Julep Maven Maria

I fell in love with this sparkly Revlon nail polish in 261 Sparkling when I saw the last one sitting on the nail polish rail at Walmart.  It reminds me of rose gold and Carly Cristman!  I layered it on top of my beloved Julep Maven polish in Maria.  I did a blog post here when I wore Maria alone without all the sparkly gorgeousness!

Julep Maven in Maria / Revlon in 262 Sparkling

The sparkles in the Revlon polish is actually quite sparse.  I already put at least 3 coats on my nails.

If you want to have mega shiny nails, you probably need to put on a ton of coats and work with it for quite a bit. 

I actually really like how this combination turned out!  It's super girly and glamorous, but not over the top since the tone is more muted than in-your-face!  It's been a while since I'm this excited about my nails.  And it seems like I never get tired of it!  Another great thing that I like about this combination is that it's super easy to fix if our nails chip since the colours blend so well together.  You can't tell any imperfection in the application at all!  (I'm generally quite clumsy with painting my nails ;P)  It's been about a week since I've started wearing it... and I still don't want to change it up yet!  I add a coat of Sparkling every 1 to 2 days to keep up with wear and tear.  Next time, I'll try Sparkling on top of a darker colour - brown maybe?  I bet it'll be gorgeous!!

♥ Enter My Japanese branded Make-Up Kit Giveaway hosted by MyPetiteFour ♥

Much Love.

Wanted: Affordable Swimwear!

Summer weather is highly anticipated!  Sunshine, patio dates, cold beer, bbq, icicles - what else can be better?  I've been wanting a cute beach towel since forever.  All these years, I'm still using an overused Gardfield one!  I need some new cheap swimsuits as well!  Something I'll never understand is why swimsuits are always so expensive despite the lack of material used?  Meh.  Unless necessary, I always like to hunt for great swimsuit deals at Old Navy and H&M.  

For my fellow Canadians, click here for a 20% off coupon at Old Navy (Ends Apr 29)!

 From Old Navy:

Patterned Terry Beach Towel $14.94 each / Women's Polka-Dot Control Max Bandeau Swimsuit $44.94

Right & Center: $6.94; Left: $14.94

Bikini Bottoms: $ 19.94 / $24.94 / $19.94

From H&M:

 

Bandeau $5.95 / Padded Underwire $17.95

I was at H&M hunting for some swimwear... wanting to use the 20% coupon that expired last weekend.  One location doesn't sell swimwear at all.  Another said they haven't stocked swimwear yet. Fail.  I guess I need to stalk H&M on a daily basis from now on.  What's your favourite store to shop for swimsuits?

♥ Enter My Japanese branded Make-Up Kit Giveaway hosted by MyPetiteFour ♥

Much Love.

Chanel Nail Polish in 531 Peridot

Chanel Peridot is part of Chanel's Illusion d'Ombres Collection for Fall 2011.  I was drooling over this ever since it came out but couldn't justify spending this much on a polish :S  The bf got this for me for Christmas last year.  Actually before I got my hands on this, I bought a Sally Hansen in Burnt Sienna for $0.99 at Lisa's Cosmetics sales because I was inspired by this gold metallic colour.  If you're interested, you can check out my review here and the rest of my Lisa's cosmetics haul here.  Of course, the Sally Hansen polish was no where as pretty as Peridot since it's basically a solid gold colour whereas Peridot is a duo-chrome.

I love its green undertone!  It's definitely more gold than green in some lighting and vice versa so depending on the place that you're at, your nails will have different looks.  

The application is quite smooth.  I applied 2 to 3 coats to get the opaqueness to the level that I wanted.  As with most metallic polishes, you're bound to have a tad bit of streakiness, but it doesn't bother me too much.  

This is my first Chanel polish and I'm really enjoying it.  However, if you're still unsure about ditching the money for just a polish, I've read quite a few reviews for dupes.  Here's a post from Fleur de Force's blog suggesting 2 alternatives: Ciate's "Oil Slick" and Topshop's "Hidden Treasure."  And from her pictures, they look exactly identical to Chanel's Peridot!! Only if I knew sooner about these dupes, but I don't regret owning Peridot... A Chanel definitely has a special place in a girl's heart ;)

♥ Enter My Japanese branded Make-Up Kit Giveaway hosted by MyPetiteFour ♥

Much Love.

Au Pied De Cochon in Montreal

I recently made a trip to Montreal for some good food and chill time.  While I was researching online for restaurant ideas, I came across Au Pied Du Cochon on 536 Ave Duluth E, which is famous for their foie gras.  I was told by my coworker that I need to make my reservation early since she couldn't get one last time she visited.  And that I did, I called about 3 days in advance and realized they're not opened on Mondays so I changed my original plan to an 8pm reservation on Sunday.

When you go in, you'll realize that you walked into a cute little place with a nice atmosphere - nothing too fancy pancy, which I like :)  We ordered the Au Pied du Cochon beer that I didn't enjoy a whole lot.  It was a tad bit sour for my taste.

We ordered 1 appetizer and 1 entree: Foie Gras Poutine and Duck in a Can.  They serve you bread while you wait for your food.  The bread was really good, fresh and crispy.  The portion of the poutine wasn't too large, but trust me, this fills you up quickly since it has a really rich taste!  The consistency of the gravy and foie gras are quite similar.

Duck in a Can is a very interesting dish.  When you order this, expect a waiter to come with a can with duck inside.  He will then open the can, and pour the duck on your plate.  It truly is a strange experience haha!

Close up picture of the duck (left) and foie gras on bread (right)

It would seem like we didn't order a whole lot, but we were completely stuffed at the end of the night due to the richness of everything!  Foie gras is quite a controversial topic... If you're an animal lover, you might not be up for it!  I figured I at least need to try this famous place once, and I recommend it!

If you haven't checked out my giveaway for a Japanese branded make up kit yet, then you should check it out now!! ;)

Hope my little attempt on food blogging wasn't too hideous ;P Much Love.

My Petite Four Giveaway!

Hello girls, I'm soooo excited that My Petite Four is hosting a giveaway on my blog!!!  
If you haven't heard about My Petite Four yet, it's an online store that sells cute Japanese clothing and accessories, and they ship worldwide!  

For this giveaway, My Petite Four will be giving out 4 Japanese brand make up items!  The lucky winner will be able to choose 4 products out of 5 that suits your need!
Mascara, Eye Shadow, Blush, Eye Lahses, and Eyeliner

♥♥♥♥♥

Guidelines
♥ Open Internationally!
♥ Giveaway ends on May 5th, 2012 at Midnight.

How To Enter
♥ Follow me publicly on Google Friend Connect

♥  Create your Petite Four look 
Go to My Petite Four and choose your 3 favourite items!  
Why 3 you may ask?  Because the fourth item is of course the perfect make up kit to finish up your perfect look :)

In a comment, leave me 

♥ Your Name

♥ Email Address

♥ The names or the links to your 3 favourite items from My Petite Four 

Bonus Entries
(+1) Follow me on twitter @lalaofsurprises

(+1) Follow @mypetitefour

(+1) Tweet about my giveaway (Make sure to mention @lalaofsurprises and @mypetitefour!)
(+1) Link my giveaway on your sidebar
(+4) Like PetiteFourInc on facebook

Remember to include the bonus entries that you've done in the comment!
Good Luck everyone :)
♥♥♥♥♥


Now let me show you my 3 favourite items on My Petite Four 

Laudine Layered Fringe Dress /  Estelle Colorful Button Moco Moco Cardigan



Jehane Jersey Tulle Dress / Sabine the Kitty shirt