Eat Your Feelings - Homemade Pizza

Sometime over the past six months, I stopped cooking.

Whether it was getting back into an office routine, or summer being the epitome of eating outdoors, I became a "grab and go" kind of girl.

I used to be the type of person who always packed a lunch for work, and made homemade dinners 80% of the time. This summer, I found myself too tired to cook, and too lazy to make lunch. Fast-forward to the fall season, and I've wasted an exorbitant amount of money on food and I don't feel as great.

Recently, after another boring meal, I climbed my two-step ladder and grabbed some of my cookbooks collecting dust. I chose a recipe from one of my favourite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen, and set a lofty goal to make homemade pizza dough.

The Experience: The Lingerie Fitting

Image La Perla F/W 2014 campaign via Pinterest

I'd never been properly fitted at a lingerie store before. 

I mean, I've been measured for bridesmaid dresses a million times, and I've had my bust measured to figure out my bra size as a teenager, but that's about it. I arrived to Avec Plaisir, an upscale lingerie shop in Yorkville, a bit nervous about the whole thing, until I met Vasilia. 

Vasilia Panagakos, the owner of the shop, immediately made me feel comfortable. She was warm, friendly, and extremely knowledgeable on every aspect of lingerie. I'm not someone that does well with exhibitionism, or talking about my body, but Vasilia knows what she's doing. Within half an hour, I was in a tiny change room with her, topless, asking twenty questions about the new bra I was wearing. 

"Lingerie is your foundation. It makes your clothing. It doesn't matter if you're wearing a t-shirt, or a ball gown, you have to have the proper bra," she said. 

Vasilia knew my bra size without using any measurement tape. She conducts all of her fittings with her eyes, which she says is how a proper fitting should be done. I was impressed.

Her clients range in age from 14 to 80 years old. The shop has everything a woman could need from pajamas to corsets. She carries a lot of European brands, and says her shop is reminiscent of the lingerie shops in France. 

All of her staff goes through intense training to be able to work with customers and provide fittings. She told me that every woman can look beautiful, and to ignore the photos of women in lingerie, because even those women don't look like their photos. 

She also debunked a myth that I heard once, and always followed. It's that you have to wear your bra on the middle hook. Apparently this is bogus, and if you have a well-fitting bra, you can wear it on any hook you like. Anarchy! 

Afterward, I left with a new black lace bra and underwear set from Simone Perele, probably the most beautiful set I've ever owned. The next day I wore it around my apartment and I swear, my ratty university sweatshirt never looked so good. 

To have your own fitting, visit Avec Plaisir, 136 Cumberland St, or follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

The Sip

Earlier this week, Stef and I wanted to go for post-work drinks, but instead of knocking ourselves over with cocktails, we decided to fuel our bods with smoothies and fresh juice. We checked out Bolt Fresh Bar on Queen West in Toronto. Bolt has plenty of healthy options to choose from, including juices, smoothies, grain bowls and salads. We chose a Greena Colada and Spicy Citrus juice and started the week off on a healthier note. I wore my favourite sweater and scarf from my favourite store, Madewell, and my new cherished J.Crew necklace that I received as a gift over the weekend. Can you believe we still have to wear a scarf at the end of April?

If you're looking for a healthy weeknight option, Bolt is located at 1170 Queen St. West. I mean, who wants to head into the office hungover? Below are the photos that Stef took on our walk back. Enjoy!

This is what 27 looks like...

If someone asked my 13 year old self what I thought 27 looked like, I would have thought about the person I knew closest to that age, and decided from there.

I probably would have thought about a teacher, or a cousin, or someone I saw in a movie. We like to look at other people as an example of where we imagine we should, or could be. I know that by 27 my mom had me, and was close to expecting my sister. I know about the tragic musician's 27 club. I learned Ingrid Bergman was 27 when she captivated Bogart in Casablanca.

Why do we look to others as a comparison to where we stand?

I am entering the latter half of the party that is my twenties. It is like being stuck at a 10 year house party, where you enter thinking it won't be drastically different than your teens, and then you walk through the front door.

At the twenties party, someone is nursing a baby in a room upstairs, while another person is upside down taking tequila shots off a stranger. Someone is getting promoted, while another person is quitting their job to backpack across Thailand. One person is wearing a diamond ring, while the other is trying to find a hookup on an app. It looks quite different; for every stage, and for every person.

As I near the end of my twenties, I'm trying not to set goals that are attached to my age. For example, by the time I am 29, I should be here. Goal setting tied to age creates additional pressure, because if you fail to achieve a milestone by the target, there is a heavy sense of failure in that.

For example, a goal like: I want to be published by 30. What happens when I'm 31? Do all of my publishing dreams go to die in a 30 year old grave? Julia Child was 49 when Mastering the Art of French Cooking was published. If she decided that she was too old to become a chef, would her success have happened?

The important thing to do is to know yourself, and where you'd like to be, separate from people in your age range. Understand that it is always an internal struggle, not an external competition, or race.

Goals can be made at any age. Love can be found at any age. Education can begin at any age. Don't get trapped in believing that if you're not where you want to be when you blow out those candles, that you've failed. Another year is another shot to make it happen.

So this is what 27 looks like, and it's perfectly okay, because it's now.

Photo taken by Stefania Sgambelluri in Toronto, on April 19th, 2014 

Medium Magazine Launch

Are magazines dying? Are we just a touch, click and tablet away from obliterating the classics known as paper and ink? Will our children look back at the traditional magazine the same way we look at a record player?

These were the questions I asked myself as I attended the launch party for Medium Magazine at the Thompson Landry Art Gallery in the Distillery District.

Medium is "Canada's first beauty and fashion based interactive tablet magazine." The monthly magazine is downloadable (free of charge) on any iPad and allows the reader to interact with the content. For example, if the reader likes the shoes in a shoot, they can tap on the model and the model will spin around, and information on the product will appear. It reminds me of the Harry Potter portraits when the person in the photograph comes to life. (Apologies to all the non-Harry fans who missed this reference.) 

Overall the event was fantastic with delicious drinks, horderves and branded desserts. I'm obsessed with the gallery space and wanted to take every piece of art home. As I left, I realized that I'm not ready to declare that print is dead. I feel there is room for both as long as the content is stimulating.

So congrats to Medium for a successful launch! You can find Medium on their website or follow them on Twitter here.