731. Christmas Part 1

Merry Christmas!! It is now Dec 23 as I make this post. I'm quite behind on my blog (as usual) so this is just part 1 of everything since we returned on vacation about a month ago. Christmas came so fast this year. I can't believe it's already two days away. I usually like Christmas Eve more though. Last year we spent the holidays in Iceland, Spain and the Netherlands. It feels like just a few months ago still. Also it's crazy to think that 2020 is just around the corner. The years are flying by way too fast..!!

In the photo above is an all-chocolate frame that I got from Nadege. It's one of the stores I visit every single Christmas without fail. The other one is Williams Sonoma. I love their holiday products!


This is hot chocolate from Williams Sonoma. Our annual tradition.


Visiting the Christmas Market at the Distillery a few weeks ago..when Christmas was still 19 days away hahah.





Holiday sequins + Moon Boots



I got a Kitchenaid Mixer from my mom and sister for Christmas. I've been wanting one for soooo long. They gave it to me early so since then I've been baking a lot of bread. I mainly wanted one for bread-making since it comes with a dough hook, and making bread is too difficult for me by hand. We've been experimenting with different breads and making more than we can eat. It's a lot of fun to use.

I attempted pretzels..as you can see, I got lazy with shaping them lol. They tasted pretty good though but just wasn't as soft as I would like. I will try again soon!


Hokkaido milk buns. We've made these a lot.


Delicious matcha cookies. We've made these a lot in the past already though.


Also matcha milk buns. They look nice but you can barely taste the matcha.


Family dinner a couple weeks ago at The Keg Mansion.


I've been reading and buying a LOT of books these days (I lost count but I got at least 15 new books within the last month and a half). I'm in a reading phase suddenly and I don't even remember how it started. Here is one of the books I'm currently reading (Stiff by Mary Roach). It's super interesting so far and probably one of my favourite books I've ever read. It's quite an unusual topic though. It talks about cadavers and their uses when people donate their body to science after death. The author is really funny so it's not dark or anything like that.






For Christmas this year, I decided to do a "10 Days of Christmas" gift-giving for my boyfriend. Kind of inspired by the song 12 Days of Christmas (but I was too late on doing 12 days). A random mix of small items, bonus items and some not so small. For the Star Wars movie premiere last week, I decided to give a themed one:




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618. Blogmas Day 12 & 13 | Cactus & The Nutcracker

I am now fully into the Christmas spirit! Well maybe 90% there. I will be fully once I have the rest of my Christmas gifts and outfits sorted out..
Every year, for the past several years, I always buy a lot of Christmas things from Williams Sonoma and Nadege. Then all the wrapping supplies and extra stuff from Papyrus. I love the Christmas chocolate cards from Nadege as I think they make the best gifts..but I've never tried any myself. Last year I bought a few and gave them to random people I knew (that I would run into) as a nice surprise, as I would always carry one around. I might do it again this year/next week.
& I'm really excited to make this gingerbread train!

Last night I went out with my friend to Cactus Club for dinner then we sat and talked in our lobby for awhile. Tonight I went to watch The Nutcracker (possibly my 4th year in a row seeing it? lol) with my company as our annual Christmas event!









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552. Recent Life | The Week before Christmas

I love the Christmas season! I always do more and take a lot of photos during this time that I can barely keep up with my blog. I also love buying presents and festive food like the gingerbread and macarons above (from Nadege)..as well as Williams Sonoma of course! They're always my favourite 2 places to shop at this time of year. So this week has been quite eventful..here is a big photo update:

Last Sunday my friend and I went to the Christmas Market at the Distillery District. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing because I hadn't planned to go there this year. But that day it finally snowed here in downtown, and I felt it would've made the perfect atmosphere! I know they are usually extremely busy on weekends, but because there was so much snow that day not a lot of people went and we didn't have to line up at all. Apparently some people lined up 2 hours on some days. It was so much fun and festive!








Apple cider is my favourite winter drink!! I remember the first year when I went to the Christmas Market (it was also the first year they did it), I had so much Glühwein and was obsessed with it. We had it beside a fire pit which now they don't have..actually they do have them on a restaurant patio this year but it's not as authentic. The first year they actually made the fire with logs and they had to keep turning the logs and putting more in as they burned. The ashes kept flying in my face but I loved it. This year they only have gas fire pits (I think) and not that many of them as before.



I really want to visit a Christmas Market in Europe one year..especially in Germany. It's one of the things on my bucket list. Maybe next year...?

For dinner we decided to come back to our area/Beer Bistro. I always get the salmon dish when I come now. It's the best salmon I've had in Toronto. They changed it now unfortunately..but this one is still good. One of the reasons I love blogging is to document my life so I can read back in the future..here is an example. THIS (in the first photo) is what their salmon used to be like.

Afterwards, we went to the Royal York Hotel for some dessert at their Library Bar. I wanted to come here to see their Christmas decorations as well. It always feels so cozy here and I love coming around the holidays. This year it looks like they didn't do much decor though..before they had a train going around the tree, a huge gingerbread house, Christmas Carol carvings/statues, etc.






Festive nails!

Finally here is a non Christmas related photo lol. They are hair products I bought from Japan. It's my favourite..the scent is soooo nice (smells kind of like peach). I've bought them here as well but obviously they're a lot more expensive here. In Japan they're just like regular drugstore hair products. They're really good though. I wanted to buy more while I was there but they were just too heavy to bring back.

Here is my view which you've probably seen me post a million times already..but I can never get tired of it. The sky looked really cool that evening so I had to take a shot. It looks better in person though.

Gingerbread snowman!! I bought a box of these as well as the white/sugar cookie version. They're sooo good. Gingerbread is my favourite food during the holidays (while apple cider is my favourite drink). They are from Mad Batter Bakers - I think they make the best gingerbread.



For apple cider, my favourite is from Williams Sonoma and Second Cup (but the Second Cup ones are really hard to find).

Last night I went out with a friend from my building and her friend who I met for the first time. We went to Cactus Club's rooftop lounge. It was a lot of fun! Luckily Cactus Club is connected to my building from the underground path, so we didn't have to venture out in the snowstorm or bring coats either. Also I was able to wear heels instead of the moon boots you see behind me in the photo below hahah. After that we came back to our lobby bar for some late night food. & met some interesting engineers after their work party in my building's ballroom.


Here was my outfit!



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