Where have I been/ Outfit of the week

Before I begin, where I have been for the past month? I kind of fell of blogging and wasn't really inspired by the clothes I've been wearing. But I recently went through some transformations and am on a life track that has made me a lot happier. So, I'm going to try and ease back into blogging, but any ways, here are the outfits. 

These are my outfits of the week. There's this foyer in my building which is all the aesthetic goals with the plant and always has great lighting, so you'll be seeing this background a lot....

The first outfit, I finally wore out my black jumpsuit from Topshop. Little secret, this is actually the back of the jumpsuit, but I thought the v-neck was a lot cuter as the front. And it's really not noticeable that I'm wearing this jumpsuit backwards, because it's plain black. 

I threw on my jean jacket over and paired it with these lace up sandals. 

Jumpsuit: Topshop Petite

Jacket: Simons

Shoes: Sam Edelman

Tote: Forever 21

For my second outfit, I was heading out to a job interview so I wore my navy slacks, a white turtleneck and a black blazer type cardigan which reaches down to my calves. Threw on my pink bomber jackets, and you're set! Usually black and navy is supposed to be a fashion faux pas but I think because the black is an outerwear, it works. 

Turtleneck: Yesstyle

Blazer: Forever21

Pants: Forever 21

Jacket: Zara

Shoes: The Bay

Tote: Society6

3rd outfit consists of an all-black outfit with a black turtleneck and black jeans. I threw my hair into a loose low bun and broke up the outfit with my olive coloured jacket. Usually black and brown shoes are also another fashion faux pas but because brown and olive green go well together in this case it looks ok. Also, fashion should be about breaking rules to do you, so I wouldn't worry so much about these fashion "rules."

Shirt: Korea

Jeans: The Gap

Boots: The Bay

Jacket: Forever 21

Tote: Society6

For my 4th outfit, summer weather is finally making an appearance, so I've worn my black maxi skirt, a 3/4 length sleeve ribbed white top, black lace up sandals, and when out went out in the evening I threw on my denim jacket. 

Shirt: Topshop

Skirt: Oak+Fort

Jacket: Forever 21

Sandals: Sam Edelman

Tote: Society6

Forest Fairy

How cute is this dress? I was looking for clothes that I could wear to work and surprisingly I hit the goldmine at Forever 21. I used to be an avid shopper at Forever 21, but maybe now that I'm closer to being 21 I stopped shopping there? I just think that their graphics on their clothes is too excessive. 

For example,  step 1:"wow love this jean jacket." Step 2: " let's see the back..I love tacos..." Step 3: this can go back on the hanger. But this dress is super cute, and I've received tonnes of compliments. A lot of people were surprised to find out that I did purchase it from Forever 21.

I love the flowy sleeves, and I like the little lace detailing on the neckline. The tassels around the waist is fun, and the overall the boho look is a summer essential.

I also really like the versatility of this dress. You can actually unbutton is all the way and it becomes this long cardigan. I love the colour, which I think is very feminine and romantic. The only "problem" is that this dress is still a bit too long even when I wear my 2.5" platforms, despite me being 5'6". I instantly become a free cleaning service. Also, because there are two huge slits down each side of the dress, it's essentially three fabric panels that are around my legs, and sometimes they wrap around or get caught between my legs, and every so often I have to re-adjust when walking down the street.

Nevertheless, beauty is pain, and I love how I can transform this from a sweet, romantic dress, to a more casual cardigan look. I'm still experimenting with this dress, as I'm playing around with tying the bottom, or only leaving the bottom unbuttoned. 

Dress: Forever 21

Shirt: Brandy Melville

Shorts: Korea

Chokers: Forever 21

Blue Neighbourhood

Just thought i'd post something quick. This was an outfit that was inspired by the Korean fashion trend. Not sure why some magazines are saying slip dresses need to go, because I think they're classic pieces that are so versatile. 

I usually pair my slip dress with a plain white tee and throw on some jeans, but I thought i'd go the more dressier route by pairing this blue and white striped dress shirt under. 

Because the dress shirt is a boxy fit, and the slip dress is loose, I rolled up the sleeves and paired this with black knee high socks so that it became a bit more form fitting and not as crazy bag lady. 

Dress shirt: Tommy Hilfiger

Dress: Topshop

Socks: Garage 

Korean Potato Salad Recipe

I made this Korean potato salad which is my favourite side dish that gets served in Korean restaurants so I was super excited when one of my favoruite youtubers maangchi did a video on how to make this! You should absolutely check her out, she is the cutest lady and she has so many different kinds of Korean food recipes that are super easy to follow along!

The first step you need to do is hard boil 2 eggs before you start doing anything! Once those are ready, make sure you let them sit in cold water for a little bit so that the peeling process is easier. Peel them, and separate the yolks from the whites. 

You will also need to boil 1 big potato or 2 small ones to start!

Give the whites a nice chop so that they're diced small. 

Next, cut up your cucumber into small diced pieces, and add to a bowl. Shake salt onto them and mix, and let the cucumbers sit in the bowl for about 30 minutes so that the water from the cucumber comes out. You also want to make sure that you are cutting away the seeds from the cucumber. 

Then transfer the cucumber into a paper towel and squeeze out excess water. 

Mash up your cooked potato. 

Add the egg whites and add two of the egg yolks

Add your cucumber

I added about 1 big tablespoon of brown sugar to make it sweeter, but you can add honey or agave nectar or sweetener of your choice. 

Then you want to add about 2 tablespoons of mayo or however much you need to create a mashed potato constancy. Stir everything together, and voila! You have this delicious, creamy potato salad that has a the refreshing crunch from the cucumbers! It's great as a side dish or sometimes I just eat this as a lunch. 

Bear-y nice to meet you

I guess this is what would be considered a "dad joke" which I really enjoy. But I also really enjoy this over sized bear jacket which a first came off as really tacky and reminded me of something that you would wear on a recreational hunting trip. 

However, I think this kind of tacky flea market jacket is a cute look that I've received several compliments on. I think the over sized fit and the shearling keep it more trendy. 

With this bear-y cute jacket/heavy duty sweater, I just paired it with a plain black top and some blue jeans and am forever carrying around my Henn KIm tote bag. 

Jacket: Flea Market

Jeans: Topshop

Shirt: Zara

Tote Bag: Society6

Sunflower Readings

Ah yes reading. I love reading, I do. In fact, I recently went on a huge book shopping spree and picked up all the novels that seemed interesting/that was on my reading list. However, reading kind of comes and goes for me sometimes. There are times where I thoroughly finish a book or start 3 books at the same time, or sometimes, they just end up collecting dust on my nightstand. 

But eventually, all the books get read, and I still think reading is an important aspect of one's life. Obviously, literacy is an important aspect you need in everyday life, because if you were illiterate in this day and age, it would be very difficult. But I also think reading provides a sense of imagination and is just a good way to unwind. 

In this week's outfit, I'm trying to vibe summer in hopes that one day, Canada's winter reign will end. I'm wearing this sunflower printed tunic which I've tucked into some high waisted pants, creating an instant top. 

Tunic: Forever21

Jeans: Topshop

Pom Pom

I've jumped on and off on a lot of trends that are constantly popping up in the fashion industry, and I have been converted onto the turtleneck train. I used to never like turtlenecks when I was a child, because I thought I looked like a nun, and quite frankly, having things around my neck is a bit of a discomfort. But, turtlenecks have been re-imagined in my mind as a classy and chic wardrobe piece. 

Here I wanted to keep things cozy and comfy, by wearing this tight ribbed turtleneck with my over-sized long cardigan. Although, there is snow outside, I can feel spring coming, so I wanted to keep this outfit colour palette on the lighter side, by pairing it was blue denim and a neutral coloured cardigan. The cardigan length also provides more interest and elongation. 

I am also wearing this outfit with my favourite new earrings. They're pink pom poms! How adorable! My pom pom phone case broke, so this is another way for me to rock some pom poms. 

Turtleneck: Yesstyle

Jeans: Topshop

Cardigan: Aritzia

Earrings: Yesstyle 

Cheat Cheat 4 step Jangjorim| Korean Food Recipe!

Today, I'm going to be sharing a Korean Recipe known as "Jangjorm" which is braised beef in soy sauce. If you've seen my recipe for Korean Soy Sauce Eggs, this is very similar and in fact, that dish is one component of this dish! 

I say this is a cheat cheat recipe, because Jangjorim is usually a long process that takes minimum 1 hour, but because I don't have the skills to properly execute Jangjorim, I thought I would try and modify the recipe. It's not the exact same, but the concept is similar, and tastes great! 

Ingredients:

(feeds one person) 

Beef (I think marinating beef would be more effective but I just used a leftover steak I had. Honestly, just use any beef you have lying around.)

1/2 a potato (if you like potatoes, add more potatoes) 

1-2 eggs (but you can add more if you're an egg fan)  

**I also made cauliflower rice which I will also share the recipe to at the end, but for this you just need olive oil and cauliflower.**

Step 1:

In a pot of boiling water, add your potato, egg, and beef. 

Leave your potato and egg in the pot until they are fully cooked. Egg should be hard boiled. 

I put the beef in the water too because that's what a couple of other recipes had, because you have to make beef broth, but I just stuck it in there for a couple of minutes until some of the fat got removed from the beef. 

Step 2:

In another pot, add enough water to fill about 1/4 of a small sized pot. Add enough soy sauce so that the colour is a dark brown. 

Add 3 cloves of garlic. 

I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar, but you can adjust this depending on how sweet you like your marinade! 

Step 3: 

Once your potato and egg are fully cooked, add them to the pot of soy sauce. Make sure to cut your potato into bite sized pieces before adding to the pot.

Take out the beef when it's fully cooked. Then the potato. Take out the egg when you are satisfied with the colour of the egg. if you want more soy sauce flavour, take out the egg when it's a darker shade of brown. 

Transfer the beef, potato and egg into a separate bowl and pour a little bit of the soy sauce mixture in, but not all. Make sure to take out the garlic. Wrap it with plastic wrap, and stick it in the fridge overnight. 

When you are ready to eat, shred the beef into bit sized pieces and cut the egg in half. I served this cold over a hot bed of cauliflower rice. 

Cauliflower Rice recipe:

Chop up your washed cauliflower into tiny pieces so it resembles couscous. Try and get it as fine as you can!

In a skillet with olive oil over low-medium heat, add the cauliflower with some salt. Cover the pan with a lid, and stir frequently so it doesn't burn!

You should get fluffy cauliflower! 

Overall, the meat was REALLY well done and kind of chewy. (usually jangjorim is supposed to be super tender because you're marinating it for hours on end and braising it for hours on end) but it was still super delicious and all the flavours were there! This was a very hearty dish that I would easily grab seconds of. 

I think the beef may need some more experimenting (maybe I don't need to boil it?) but this is a super shortcut recipe to jangjorim, but I think all the flavour and same tastes are there. 

The girl with the dragon...sleeves.

The whole graphic down the sleeve is a trend that I am all about. I love the contrast between the red dragons and the white long sleeve. It also makes me feel like I could be the cutest member of  the Yakuza or a Japanese motorcycle gang. 

I love how simple this top is, and it's one up from a basic. It's casual, but eye catching. 

For this shirt, I paired it with my mom jeans and my white sneakers. I thought my yellow backpack would also look great with this outfit as it adds some more pop of colour, and the red logo matches with the red dragons. 

I love the fit of this shirt, I like how the sleeves are long enough to do that cute hand covering look. I also like how it's a bit of a looser fit. The quality of this shirt is nice and thick. 

Shirt: Urban Outfitters

Jeans: Topshop

Backpack: Fjallraven

Shoes: Adidas

Japan Crate Opening! (Japanese Snack Subscription Haul)

So, I ordered a Japan Crate. Snack crates have always interested me because I love eating, and what a great way to try out new snacks that aren't available to you. I thought Japan Crate was cool because I'm interested to try out Japanese snacks, because it's very unfamiliar territory, and everything is so new and exiting! 

I decided to try it out for this month, because they now do free international shipping which is amazing! I bought the Premium crate which comes with 15 snacks, a drink, a DIY kit and a bonus item. 

The Premium Crate is the most expensive option at $30/mo but it's the best deal out of all the crates because it just comes with a lot more items and you might as well just go all out!

So, this is the March Crate, and I was really surprised to see this many snacks in here! There are a variety of sizes in snacks, and different types of snacks. There is candy, chocolate, cookies, chips a drink, and some things I can't even identify. 

It also comes with this booklet that showcases some of the snacks that are featured in this box, and a list of what you get, as well as some interesting facts about events happening in March in Japan and some traditional foods that get eaten in the month of March. 

This is the Bon O Bon Creamy Cream. At first I thought this was going to be a chocolate banana candy because I thought the yellow thing under the logo was a banana, but it just ended up being a peanut butter chocolate candy. I wasn't too fond of this, I think I'd rather just have a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. 

2.5/5 stars 

Next are these Country Ma'am Chocolate Chip Cookies, and this is  a HUGE package. I think it contains more than 20 individually wrapped cookie. On the back it says you can microwave these cookies for 20 seconds or in your toaster overn for a minute. 

They come in two flavours, "Chocolate Cookie Vanilla"which is basically just a regular chocolate chip cookie, and then a double chocolate chip one. I tried these on their own, and they were really good. BUT the magic is to pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds, and it gets all warm and gooey, and buttery, just like a homemade cookie, and it's DELICIOUS. 

5/5 stars

Next is this Awadama grape candy which is the size of a marble, This I also wasn't a fan of, mainly because I don't like grape flavours, but this was also sour and it made my tongue hurt. It's not really anything special. There's a ring pop version of this in this crate too, which I don't even think I'm going to eat. 

2/5 stars. 

How cute is this panda cookie!It's called Melon Pandaro and centre is actually green and tastes exactly like a melon! It's like a shortbread cookie but it's light and crispy which I really liked. I think I could easily eat a box of these. 

4/5 stars

Doesn't this kind of look like a taquito? However, this is the furthest from Mexican food. This is actually a flaky corn snack called Umaibo in a shrimp and mayonnaise flavour. Honestly, at this point you shouldn't even be surprised that's a flavour combination that exists, because Asian food has some weird flavours. But this was honestly one of my favourites. Japanese mayonnaise is very different from American mayonnaise and has more of a sweeter and more complex flavour. 

The consistency was kind of like eating those fat puffy cheetos, where if you hold it in your mouth it starts to melt. This has a very shrimpy taste with a bit of that sweet mayo flavour which I really enjoyed. 

4.5/5 stars

Next up is this cute little Ichigo Daifuku in strawberry flavour. It's not actually a daifuku because it's not mochi, but it looks like one. This is actually a little marshmallow with a strawberry filling. 

If this was just a strawberry flavoured marshmallow I'd be pretty disappointed, but the filling is delicious. It tastes exactly like strawberry ice cream. I also like the texture because it looks so cute when you squeeze it.

4/5 stars

This is called Bonchiage which is a fried rise cracker in a sweet soy sauce flavour. I was super excited to try this out because it seems like it would be a great crunchy, savoury snack I could enjoy while watching a movie. 

This tastes exactly like this Korean rice cracker snack that usually comes in a rectangular shape. But this one has a more pungent flavour. It's very salty, but has a sweet after taste. I think this would be a good healthy snack choice. It has that umami taste. 

3.5/5 stars 

 This is Japan's #1 longest chocolate. It is this long, crispy corn puff that's coated in chocolate and peanuts. The corn puff melts in your mouth. This is very similar to this Korean snack called Corn cho/ Con cho/ 콘초. 

This was kind of surprising because I thought it was going to be this long chocolate bar, instead of a corn puff/chocolate stick, but it was still really delicious. It made me want to buy the Korean snack. 

3/5 stars

This is the Pai No Mi: Uji Matcha which I was super excited to try because it's like a little mini matcha puff pastry! I used to not be a big fan of matcha, but slowly it's growing on me.

I liked this snack because of the size, and it was quick finger food that I could eat when watching something (I do this A LOT.) but I thought that this was just OK. I was kind of expecting more of a matcha filling, but it was mostly this crumbly puff pastry texture. It kind of just tastes like a sweet cracker. 

3/5 stars

This is the Sobameshi snack which was the bonus item for this month's crate! This is supposed to be a snack version of Sobameshi which is a fried noodle dish. This has little curly ramen looking pieces and puffed rice pieces, and it's all seasoned in this salty, savoury coating. 

If you've ever tried "whale food" or Goraebap (it's not actually whale food, it's this Korean crispy snack that's shaped like starfish, fish, whales, etc) it tastes EXACTLY like that. 

I really, really like this, although I prefer goraebap, just because it's a little easier to eat, this is the flavour I like in a lot of snacks. 

4/5 stars

Throwback to my childhood days in this Japanese version of a ring pop! 

I mentioned this candy when I talked about the Awadama grape candy, and I'm glad that I decided to try this out, because this is so much better than that candy. It's a lot sweeter, and not as grape flavoured as you think it would be.

It kind of just tastes like sugar...which makes sense because this entire thing is just sugar, but I liked that I could wear it, and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't taste like sour grape. 

3/5 stars

These are the Cheetos Kyushu Soy Sauce flavoured cheetos which I was excited to tr because I've never heard of a soy sauce flavoured cheeto, but I would say that this was a flavour that I'm very used to, even though I've never had them. They're still super delicious, but I don't know if it's because Korean and Japanese snacks are very similar, but these just tasted like normal Asian cheetos. But, I do like the Korean spicier cheetos better than this one.

These are way different from the American cheese ones you're probably used to, and I would say give these a shot! They're kind of sweet and salty, and super easy to snack on because they're just like potato chips. 

4/5 stars

 

This is the Umakamon Mayonnaise which is a corn puff snack that's a Japanese mayo flavour! I know, mayo as a snack?? But Japanese mayo is very different and it actually tastes like a very mild sour cream and onion chip. I wish this bag was bigger because this was a very small portion. 

4/5 stars

Next is this Calpis peach drink which is something that I cannot describe. It's like a yogurt drink? But it's not thick like yogurt and doesn't taste like yogurt? But it's also not like a juice, and it's not a pop. It's a strange drink but it's very tasty. It's a very sweet drink. It even says on the bottle "Calpis tastes like nothing else."  If I were to try and compare it to another drink, it's kind of like freshly squeezed apple juice but sugarier and less acidic. 

4.75/5 stars  (just because it makes me feel more thirsty) 

Last but not least, this Yayoasan Soft Candy DIY kit. The whole thing is in Japanese and I had tried to translate it, but it turns out that it's a lot simpler than I thought it was going to be. 

It comes with these two molds which I think is a pineapple, a peach, corn and an onion. And 3 sticks of this yellow, green and pink candy which feels like powdered play dough. You kind of just squish this into the mold, and then you can set it up in your vegetable shop. 

They look super adorable, and it was kind of fun to do because I've never experienced something like this before. I've seen some other DIY candy kits where it's powder and you have to mix water which seems a little complicated, so I liked that this was simple. It's super cute, the taste is OK. The pink candy tastes like a grape Hi-Chew, and the yellow is lemon. I think the green one was my favourite, but not sure what it was. A sour green apple maybe? 

4/5 stars. 

Overall, I think Japan crate was great! It included a lot of interesting snacks that all tasted good. (minus that grape candy) Obviously, if you have access to someone in Japan who can send these snacks to you, this would be considered expensive, because I'm sure these snacks are all convenience store snacks and at max cost $5. However, compared to other subscription boxes I've researched, Japan Crate seems to have a wide selection for a good price.