563. Renovations | Part 2

The past couple of days has been very busy with furniture shopping, store after store! So much fun though yet equally as stressful. I LOVE interior decorating. I had a lot of fun going around getting new furniture back when we moved into our house many years ago..then when I moved to my current condo now I didn't get anything new as it came with everything (hotel style) and I was happy enough just having my own place. But now I am so excited to finally be giving it a complete makeover. I can't wait until it is all completed so I can have all my furniture that I ordered (and will be ordering) come together, and finally move back downtown. Here are some photos I took from the stores we visited. Some places didn't allow photos so I couldn't take them in there..and also I am not going to show anything I bought so far as I want it all to be a surprise. My colour scheme will be: grey, navy blue, white (marble effect), gold..and a pop of red ;)

So at first I wanted my kitchen to be the main focus and was planning to just get the best things for that area but now as I pick out every piece, I want everything to be unique. So many options. Also I realize I am very lucky to be able to do this (thanks to my parents helping out)!

At the moment, my place is being worked on and everything is ripped out. It's kind of hard to envision how the final result will be like as everything is completely new. I really hope it'll turn out as nice as I picture in my mind. I will head down to check up on the progress this week though..can't wait!

Here are some photos of the general style I'm going for, and just cool pieces I found in the stores.



My favourite store so far where I loved almost EVERYTHING was Suite 22. But as expected it was also the most expensive. I didn't even start looking at the King East design stores yet (which I think are where the most unique designs are) but I know when I go..I will also want everything.




Cool chair



If I didn't already pick out my rug, I'd probably want this one...


I want to get one of those huge mirrors..







Sneak peek of the first thing I ordered...

Some other random photos from this past week:


Took these out to stage some shots when Snapchat released the Daft Punk filter.



Drinking excessive amounts of green tea and smoothies, in my mason jars

My cat and dog getting along with each other. If you are new to my blog: my cat (Blueberry) is a Himalayan and lives at my dad's house. We've had him for about 15 years already! My dog (Hennessy) is a Pomeranian and lives with me. He would always bark at the cat when we came to visit but now they have learned to tolerate each other lol. After taking these photos I realized how I always seem to get super fluffy pets.

I've been trying to keep up with doing yoga every day while here..hence the reason why I was wearing a sports bra here. Taking a selfie break. I love this filter! Wish I actually had cat eyes. (PS - feel free to add me on Snapchat: Leftbanked)

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473. Recent Life

Rainy day today + my Daft Punk Bearbricks. Nothing new has been happening in my life lately. I mentioned a few posts back (I think?) that I'm in the early stages of moving. I'm putting that off for a few months now until I file my taxes this year/get my tax assessment so I can figure out budget and all. I'm really not looking forward to paying it this year lol. I wish I was in the category of people who gets a cheque back during tax season rather than having to pay a huge chunk of money all at one time. But there are also many perks to having my "own business" and handling it like this. It's kind of ironic; when I was in the process of counting up my income every month in 2015, I kept wishing it was less (so I'd have to pay less in taxes) but of course I also like to make more. So stressful. The stock market is also doing quite bad at the moment which sucks because most of the money I was putting aside to pay are in stocks..so that probably wasn't a good idea lol. Ugh. Anyway enough about that - but that's basically what I've been focusing on these months.
I can't wait to get my new place and decorate though. I want to get a couple size 1000% Bearbricks (these ones in the photo above are size 400%) and a couple Gray Malin prints such as THIS ONE or THIS. Decorating will be an on-going process though because I like to only get things once I find the perfect one that I like the most. Also the style of things that I like are not that easy to find (not to mention expensive..usually). Which is why I'm starting this search early on.

Here are some photos of my recent life, taken over the past couple weeks or so....




Fast Fresh Foods is my current obsession. I haven't had a salad like this in years but recently I was suddenly craving a chicken caesar salad. So I went here to get one (there's always a huge lineup at their location near me so I figured it was good) and it's really good..really does taste "fresh"! I've literally had one of these every day in a row for the past maybe..5 days. You can't tell in the photo but their salads are HUGE. I get the large and get very full from it (& salad is pretty hard to get full from). Also they have a large variety of different options for you to make your own custom salad. Prior to this my obsession was IQFoodCo which I still love. So if you are in Toronto/close to the Financial District I would recommend these two places. Takeout food is all usually pretty unhealthy but I think these 2 are the best healthy options. Oh I also like McEwan's hot food bar which I mentioned in a previous post. I'm pretty extreme with my food phases though. Prior to this I had a few days of way too many cup noodles and way too much candy.



Apart from the rain today, the weather is getting better and we are having more daylight in a day!


Saks Fifth Avenue finally opened here in Toronto!


Baking 30 Valentine's Day cupcakes!!





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441. Hong Kong | Mongkok, Temple Street, Dinner with Family

This was either our first or second day in Hong Kong. My aunt, uncle, my mom and I went to Mongkok. I was on a mission to find the Daft Punk Bearbricks. We came to this boutique called Naughty Guy which was filled to the brim with hundreds of Bearbricks. Unfortunately the Daft Punk ones were sold out..but they put me on the waiting list. I probably would've been back in Toronto by the time it was in stock again though. Then we walked around a bit and found another toy boutique with Bearbricks.I saw a huge Daft Punk box behind the counter and got extremely excited. So I bought them immediately!

Carrying around the huge box all day in such a busy area was kind of a hassle (thanks to my uncle who helped), and bringing it back on the flight also took a bit of effort..not to mention the credit card damage..but it was definitely worth it lol.





More photos here



After walking around all day, we met up with all my other Hong Kong family members and went to this Middle Eastern restaurant that my sister recommended. I don't know the name but the food was really really good.


My mom & I shared a Hoegaarden


After dinner we walked around. My favourite time in Hong Kong is (late) at night. The streets are never empty.


We went to Temple Street. One of those night markets where a lot of foreigners/tourists go.







Then we stopped for desserts. It's like a tradition to go out for late night dessert (usually black sesame soup) while in Hong Kong. As I'm sitting here making this post and thinking back on that night..it's making me really crave this. I don't know if it looks disgusting for those of you who haven't had this before or know what it is lol. But it's a really popular Chinese dessert and sooo good.



This intersection kind of reminds me of Shibuya crossing.


These last 2 photos were found on my uncle's camera. I'm in this last one..which I didn't know at that time was being taken lol. Can you find where I am? ;)


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