Topbox.ca new beauty box service! November box!

I am quite a fan of these beauty box services where you receive some full size and sample items every month.
When I heard there was a new company starting up in Canada I had to sign up!
Topbox.ca is $10 a month and you get 4 or 5 deluxe samples or sometimes full size products.
So far I have gotten the November box and the December edition!
Since the company is quite new they have a limited sign up period and are not taking any new registrations for now, but from what I read you might be able to sign up in Febuary.

The items I received in my first Topbox were:

*Cake Velveteen hand cream in It's a Slice (full size 3.4oz) $18
-It is nice on the hands and a lovely orange vanilla cake batter type scent!

*Deborah Lippman nail laquer in Some Enchanted Evening (full size 15ml $20)
-I tried the polish by itself and it had a nice sparkly festive look. Would also look nice over another nail polish.

*Dr Brandt Time Arrest Eye serum (sample tube 2.5ml)
-This is a kind of eye gel/serum/light cream. It absorbs well and did not irritate my skin at all. My skin was moisturized well all day and it is winter here.
The full size is quite pricy at $85 for 15ml. If I was not on a budget and did not have some emergency home renovations,I would be tempted to buy this product.

*Stila: was supposed to get the lip glaze but they ran out and subsituted the tinted moisturizer.
It is a small tube of 5ml (I think). Haven't gotten around to trying it yet as I have so many face items open right now.

Overall I am very pleased with the Topbox service and plan to continue with it!

Topbox.ca November 2011 edition!

Also, almost forgot that there was a sample of the Benefit toner included as there was some shipping issues and it was to make up for that.
Have you signed up for Topox yet or any other of the beauty sample services in Canada?
If there are any special codes or offers I will be sure to post them here!

Holiday shopping made easy online! Places with affordable shipping in Canada!

Happy shopping season everyone!
I happen to have a lot of gifts to send and do not like trekking to the post office, have to package and wrap the gifts carefully and then pay for postage.
Just seems like too much....work!
 In this modern time it seems much easier to buy gifts online.
The only issue is if you are not careful you can spend tons on shipping. Just thought I would post some of my favorite websites to buy gifts in Canada.
Most of these websites have free or very well priced shipping.

1) Well.ca free shipping for any item in Canada. There is a charge to send items to the US, so for  US based gifts something else is faster and better.
But for sending a gift in Canada, this is great! Well.ca also sells a lot of nice handmade soaps,candy,food!
Prices are usually better than a retail store for the most part.

2) Chocodirect.com
This is one of my favorite places to buy candy and gifts. Shipping is $5 for any order and I just noticed this week they made some gift baskets for the holidays!
The website is based in Quebec and usually an order takes at most 5 days to be received.
Chocodirect only ships in Canada, so not really good for US gifts.
The price of their baskets is quite good and compared to most of those "basket shops" shipping is very resonable. They do not seem to be charging a crazy ammount just to have items in a basket.
I calculated the cost of their $20 basket and the value of the items is $19 if you buy them without a basket!
Speaking to my mother who happens to order gift baskets for the holidays, she told me that she pays around $15-20 to send gift baskets from a local store (she is in Montreal).
I have been shopping at Chocodirect for a few years now and have not had any issues with shipping. One good thing they do for the environment is they seem to reuse or "repurpose" their mailing boxes. My last order, the outside packaging was a box used to hold a large  quantity of chocolate bars (it was a giant Valor chocolate box). The packaging inside to protect my items was mostly paper and my glass items had bubble wrap!

Hopefully this helps your online shopping. I will try and find more sites and add links later today!

Ribs at Alex's Bakery! Tasty Spicy lunch!

Last weekend I passed by Alex's Bakery on Bank st and saw they had some bbq chicken and ribs on the lunch menu that day.
From what I've seen they change the hot dishes they make every day and I think that ribs and chicken and just on the weekends?
I know the last two Saturdays they have had some very tasty spicy ribs and fish en papilotte- tilapia one day and salmon another time.
This is my lunch with the bbq chicken and I just asked for a tiny bit of ribs- this is not a whole portion. A whole portion I was told has "5 bones" in it. Not too sure what you call those. It is a decent size portion and the price is around $7.50 plus tax for the chicken or ribs.
The rice that day was jasmine rice and the meal also came with a side of guacamole!

Alex's Bakery Bbq chicken and ribs!!!

Candied orange peel at Alex's bakery on Bank st: Ottawa!

I have been going to this small new bakery for the past few months.
This lovely and modern looking store is a new addition to the Glebe area.
Usually I purchase some pastries and bread a few times a week.
During my last visit I spotted a few interesting new items- some homemade jams and freshly made candied orange peel.
I happen to be a fan or candied orange peel with chocolate, orange marmalade-so this was right up my alley :)!
The lady working at the bakery told me that they freshly made the orange peel in the store. The display was very nice looking and the price was very good at .80 per piece.
Each piece of candied orange peel was aprox 2x3" and around 1/4 inch in thickness- so fairly easy to bite into.
You could see the texture of the peel quite well and it was quite tart in taste!
I plan on purchasing more of this peel for myself and for a gift to someone who happens to enjoy everything with candied orange.
If you have a chance do stop by and try this item.

Candied orange peel from Alex's bakery!

Test Tube August 2011 New Beauty loot!

Finally!!!
My quarterly edition of New Beauty Magazine's Test Tube has arrived!
Here is a list of what I received in my tube:

*Mally Evercolor Starlight waterproof eyeliner in "Midnight". full size $15 (it is a dark black shade).
*Lashfood lash conditioner 1.5ml (full size 8ml =$120.00).
*L'Oreal Elnett hairspray 312g can $14.99 full size.
*Orlane Hydro-mattifying care 3.5ml (full size 50ml=$88.00).
*Dr. Brandt Vacum Cleaner 7.5ml (full size 30ml= $45.00).
*Sparitual Handprint Serum 7.4ml (full size 120ml $60).
*YBF lipliner in "Posing Plum" (full size $8.00).
*Macadamia - Healing oil treatment 30ml (value $15), Deep repair masque 30ml.

There was also an issue of the latest New Beauty magazine!
The magazine is always interesting with a lot of timely scientific articles on the latest cosmetic surgeries.
I also enjoy seeing the before and after photos of celebrities and "regular people".
In Canada you can pick up this magazine at Chapters and at Shoppers Drug Mart!
A bit on the pricey side, but worth reading.

I will be uploading some pics as soon as my slow computer downloads them off my camera!

Aug 2011 Test Tube still packaged!

Aug 2011 Test Tube: another view!

I will be posting reviews of each product as I get around to trying them.
So far I have tried the Mally waterproof eyeliner. The eyeliner is a very dark black shade and goes on very smoothly. After a minute or two it seems to set and has a lot of staying power. I put some on my hand and washed it at least 4 times and the eyeliner did not budge!
Another nice thing is that it is made in Germany.

More reviews to come.......

New breed of chicken called "Cotton Candy"!

I was at the Lansdowne Farmer's Market during mother's day when there was a petting zoo.
There were some very unusual animals there that week.
What really caught my eye were the fluffy colored chickens!
They looked just like fluffy cotton candy, with the pastel shade to match!
If you manage to find one of these chickens at the store,supposedly the meat tastes a lot like...cotton candy ;)
These colorful birds are actually the size of a small chicken, but this pic was taken on a cell phone and turned out much smaller.

Cotton Candy chickens at the Lansdowne Farmer's Market!

 

A grey Llama!

There was also a grey spotted Llama. I have never seen that before!

A goose with very fluffy feathers!

There was also a pair of geese that have very fluffy feathers.
I was told it is a breed that originates in another country (forget which one).
The same petting zoo was at the Lansdowne Farmer's Market this weekend!
Hopefully they will be back, the animals were interesting to see,

Close call with food poisoning at Maison Baguette!

Hope that everyone is having a great summer!
I haven't posted in a while as I just did not get around to it. Now I hate to start up again with a negative experience,and debated writing this- but this was my personal experience two weeks ago.
I had bought a few (3) coupons through a local deal of the day website and had heard of Maison Baguette before from their previous location downtown.
Having never gotten the chance to go to their old location, I jumped at the chance to try this much heard about bakery.
My first visit was good- had a breakfast sandwich made from a croissant and that was ok. It was slightly ruined by the cooking of the eggs in the microwave and also heating the croissant in the microwave.
The breakfast croissant was alright,but the sogginess somewhat ruined it, at least they did use real cheese!
I also had a bread with fruits in it and the homemade baked beans.
My visit was overall positive and I looked forward to going back to try other items.

Now my visit two weeks ago was not very pleasant for the most part.
I had bought a filled croissant and that was good (unfortunately it is hard to remember what was even in it), a "corn bread" and the homemade baked beans.
I did not try the baked beans in the store as they were already packaged. Since it was hot out at the time I had brought a small insulated cooler to keep my grocery items cool.
The beans were transported in that and were still very cold when I got home.
The beans were tasted when I got home and I immediately noticed an "off taste" or a fermented taste.
Also when I had gotten the container home the lid was inflated,but I thought that was just from carrying the container on the bus (even though it was secure).
I ended up putting the container in the fridge and came back an hour later to find there was a lot of buildup of gas and the container looked like it could explode in my fridge-the lid was pretty much about to pop off the container.
Unfortunately I did not get a picture,but I know what spoiled food looks like (cans and sealed containers that are bulging are unsafe to eat).
I also consulted with some food safety experts, a nurse and the city dept that handles food safety and my details of the spoiled item did confirm that it was spoiled and too "fermented".
(I have also seen a similar thing happen with some beans from Costco someone bought a few years ago...roommate had left them in the fridge too long...).
Just to be sure, I also spoke to some "bean experts" who make baked beans every week and they told me the item was unsafe to eat and that I'm lucky I did not get ill from this.
Before I forget, the beans were also not dated, so no idea how long they were there for. It was also the last container in the fridge.

Based on this latest experience, I am sure I will not return to Maison Baguette on Montreal road.
Another thing is I thought most of their items were supposed to be homemade?
Well, when I was there they were advertising fresh waffles....MADE FROM A MIX.
I do not remember the brand, but they had the manufacturer's poster for Malted waffle mix.
If I wanted items made from a mix those are easy enough to make in my own kitchen.

I'm sure some people may have had more positive experiences with Maison Baguette,but I am not one of those persons apparently.
Now I do want to end this post on a positive note and will also include my list of places that have delicious fresh baked beans.

Bearbrook Farms at the Lansdowne Farmer's market has fresh baked beans every week.
The only downside is they have bacon in them and vegetarians might not want that?
But if you enjoy eating bacon and like baked beans, these are very tasty.
They have molasses,onion,bacon and...beans.
A large container is $5- you can also only get these on Sunday's till 3pm.

La Binerie Plantagenet also makes baked beans that are sold in some local stores.
I've bought these from Farm Boy before. These are good and they also have a vegetarian version for the people who do not want meat in their beans!

Foolish Chicken on Holland also has baked beans on their menu. I just had some as a side dish with my meal and they were very good. Forgot to ask what was in them though.

So there you have it! Thankfully I managed to avoid food poisoning!