Little Black Dress

I’ve wanted to learn more about wine for a long time, but didn’t really know how to get started. Then I came across a wine log that I saw at Starbucks (or was it Chapters?? That in between area always confuses me), so I went online and bought one for cheaper just because I’m a bargain hunter like that lol.

So my terminology is getting better and I’m actually starting to remember which wines I like and why! So I decided to share one of my new favs with you; it’s perfect for a girl’s night!

It’s produced by Little Black Dress (so fitting already, right??), and I went for the Cabernet Sauvignon, I like my reds with a full body. I was drawn in by the cute girlie label and the fact that it was 13.5% - I like looking at the alcohol content for ladies nights! The price was around $14, and I was just as satisfied with the taste as I was with the name! The only thing was that I found it a little fat (meaning that it wasn’t quite acidic enough to taste balanced). However, some of my girlfriends might prefer this since they are just starting to drink wine, and less acidity means they won’t get as much of a strong finish (the last flavor you sense before swallowing). So this is a great balance of a full wine that I like, and smooth, gentle drink for the wine skeptics. Last, their slogan is definitely worth mentioning: “Responsible drinking is always in style”. Make sure your get-together turns into a slumber party so no one is driving after their taste of Little Black Dress!

If you’re interested, they also have a website (www.littleblackdresswines.com) which is kind of adorable and had little black dress styles to match your wine or your personality. But I took the test and it said that I’m not into lace and frills…. So wrong. I live for lace. But still a fun idea.

Cheers!

Love, Ami G

Socks on the Runway

I know it’s a little early to be thinking about fall wear, but when I saw Miu Miu’s pre-Fall 2010 collection I got a little excited about high socks!



Going to school in Edmonton (uhg), a city that gets dreadfully freeeeezing in the winter, I’m always looking for ways to stay fashionably warm (I was ecstatic when the UGG trend caught on). I should be able to wear my skirts and dresses a couple weeks longer this year by hiking up some knit high socks! Can’t wait to wear them with boots! I don’t think mine will have the $425 price tag that comes with the ones shown above, but they’ll still be inspiring my outfits.

Love, Ami G

Passion for Polyvore

Hola,

I decided to share with you another one of my guilty pleasure sites that I waste wayyy too much time on. It’s called www.polyvore.com, and it takes some playing around to completely get it but it is so much fun!

They have a plethora of backgrounds, designs, clothes, shoes and accessories to choose from, and basically you just make pretty squares showing outfits that work together with a funky background. They have affordable, cute items like clothes from Topshop (one of my favvvv places to shop in Europe), or tiny designer items that exceed $5000! Every item is attached to the link where you would actually purchase it, so all of these wonderful wardrobe builders are completely attainable! However, I try to forget that since I have an online shopping problem as is.



Making these squares is like playing Barbie, but for big girls. They also have competitions on a regular basis where the winners can get anything from a $100 gift card from NIKE and having your slogan featured on their shirts, or flights and tickets to the premier of the latest Twilight movie! Some of the super exciting ones are for Americans only, like the opportunity to get a contract as a fashion assistant and appear on the Rachel Zoe show (!!). But there’s plenty of other cool loot than anyone around the world can win, all for playing with fashion for free! Loves it!


Make sure to show me some of your creations if you get the Polyvore fever :)

Love, Ami G

Eagle Pose!

Also known as Garudasana, this is one of my favorites! It’s good for the reproductive organs (I always giggle on the inside when they say that in class), improves concentration and balance, opens the hips and shoulders, and is therapeutic for asthma.

If you’re doing it right you feel like you’re in a very proud or prestigious position, making the name “Eagle Pose” quite suiting.

It’s a little complicated to tie yourself in this knot, so along with the pics I’ll provide some step-by-step instructions for standing on your left foot. Obviously, you should do the opposite moves when on your right.

1) Make sure your left foot has the toes spread out so you’re planted firmly on the earth, and bend your knees as if you are going into chair pose. Lift the right leg high (the higher you get, the further you will get into this pose) and cross it over your bent left leg. Your eventual goal is to wrap it around the back of your left leg so that your foot comes onto the right side of it (like in the photos).

2) Lift your left arm to a 90 degree angle, and swing your right arm underneath it. Then bring your right hand closer to your face, and around the left hand, bringing the palms to better. Many people who struggle with eagle arms hold a short rope or piece of fabric to give the same effect if their palms don’t meet.

Some people tend to hunch forward, but make sure to focus on keeping your back straight and tall, your hips squared, and your belly-button sucked into your spine. On your exhales you can bend your left leg deeper which will bring you further into this position.

Hope you like this as much as I do, it feels excellent to succeed in balancing and holding this pose!

Love, Ami G

Humanity Bracelet

My boyfriend recently bought me a bracelet because he thought it really suited me, and it’s my new fav accessory! Have you ever heard of Humanity for All?? It’s a charity-driven fashion line that aims to raise money for global understanding and consciousness for humanity. I love their designs as well as their message!!

My bracelet is a brown leather strap that wraps around about 5 times, and has silver sayings with studs in between and a funky clasp. Some of my fav messages are “Accept Diversity”, “Give Back”, “Seek Wisdom” and ”Make a Difference”. They come in a bunch of colors and styles, and make such good gifts! Good job boyfriend :)



Love, Ami G

Blogaholic

So I have a secret confession. Blogs have been a guilty pleasure of mine for a lonnngggg time. The one that got me started is a fictional “dear diary” style blog that I found on the Cosmopolitan magazine website. I haven’t told many people about it, but blogging is getting so big that I thought I should share one of my favorite ones with you!
It’s called the Bedroom Blog and you can find it here. I think they do a fun job with it, I feel like I really know K! (The narrator.) It deals with a lot of thoughts and events that a 20-something year old woman goes through, like career changes, friend drama, and a few sexy scenes ;)

So, what about you?? Do you have a favorite one? Feel free to share because I’ve been looking for more fun blogs :)

Love, Ami G

Standing Forward Bend

Also known as Uttanasana. This pose is rather simple, and stimulates the digestive system, as does any forward bend.
Start with your feet together, and as you breath in stand up as straight and tall as you can with your hands on your hips. As you exhale, start to bend forward at the hips. Every time you feel some strain on your body, inhale and lift up a little, and then exhale and go down further, finally bringing your hands to the floor. Eventually you should be gazing behind you. Try to keep your upper body as relaxed as you can- nod and shake your head to make sure it’s nice and loose.
After a couple breaths here, inhale and straighten your back. Try to keep your hands where they are, or against your shins to help, and keep your gaze at the floor. This should lengthen your back, so that on your next exhale you will be able to bend into Uttanasana even deeper. Next we’ll get to start some balancing poses!

Love, Ami G

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Review

Sooo, I just finished reading “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”. This post is going to be a review of the book, and I promise I won’t give any of the mystery away, except for the main theme of the book. The summary on the back is so vague that I had no idea what the book was about, but I’ve been seeing it everywhere and I know that it’s a big seller, so I chose it out. Now that I know what it’s about, I’m not sure if I would have read it… so if you want to be in for a total surprise like I was, don’t read on.

First of all, the original title was something completely different, but when they translated the book into English they gave it a new one. The original title was along the lines of “Men Who Hated Women”, which makes much more sense in the plot of things. It took me forever to figure out who “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” actually was, but apparently for the rest of the trilogy she plays a more major protagonist role.

So, I understood that this was a murder mystery, but I was completely unaware that it full of rape and sadists! They don’t get into too much detail (thank goodness), but it’s certainly enough to form a few VERY detailed images in your head, and make you more shy around your significant other. I feel violated by reading what I read. I know this is a theme that comes up occasionaly, so I don’t know why I’m so taken back, but I am. Stieg Larsson is quite the author. I just wish I spoke Swedish to see if anything other than the title was lost in translation…

But the overall mystery is captivating; without question I got into the book. I just would have appreciated a warning as to what I was getting into, so I decided to grant you with one. Now I’m trying to decide if I should read the second one… any suggestions from anyone without giving anything away? I heard that it’s “sick”, but I couldn’t tell if they were talking about more vulgar scenes, or that it was really good haha.

And if you’re not much of a reader, the movie is coming out too. Books tend to get into my head more intensely (is that a word??) than movies, but either way, I warn you that it is disturbing! Also, I recommend watching the Swedish version with subtitles, because the Hollywood version is rumored to star none other than Kristen Stewart!! Uhhg, really?? She is so not a Lisbeth Salander (who is described at edgy, sexy, and demanding).

So happy reading or watching, tell me what ya think!

Love, Ami G

My New Favorite Song!

Maybe I need another Mexico trip soon? That is all.



Love, Ami G

Bottled Bacteria

On the radio today I heard something terrifying: That 70% of bottled water has enough bacteria in it to not even pass the test for good tap water, and this study was done in Canada! I decided that this was worth researching, but ofcourse they’re not letting out which brands have these elevated levels. It turns out that they weren’t just a little bit over the limit either; they were up to 100 times the recommended level of heterotrophic bacteria!

Some claimed that there is still no need to worry, and that studies on fruits and vegetables would give the same results, which I do believe. But I drink an incredible amount of water, so just to be safe I’ve been using a classic tip that I learned years ago: lemon wedges.

Putting a lemon wedge in your tap water will filter out a significant amount of bad bacteria, and keep in the good stuff that bottled water companies sift out. It may take a little bit to get used to the taste, but I’m at the point where I prefer some lemon in my water! Plus, lemons have tons of health benefits on their own: release toxins, high vitamin C, good for skin and hair, etc. The list goes on.

Just maybe be careful about this tip if you’re out at restaurants, those bar wedges that have been sitting on the counters and handled my many hands aren’t the wisest choice for someone who is bacteria-conscious.

Love, Ami G

Big Giant Parody

Sooo, I was just browsing the movie store with my little sis, and under new releases I found “The 41 Year Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It”. Initially, I was stoked! I’m a fan of those directors and at first glance I thought it would have all the character meshed together and somehow meeting up together. So first thing I did was rush home and look it up!

Unfortunately, I was wrong. Upon further inspection that characters are not even close to the originals, and the directors of the real movies aren’t even involved; it’s just a big parody from some randoms. But, I find it’s hard to make a parody of a comedy, because the comedy is already funny. Wouldn’t that just be redundant?

So let me know if you have any surprise reviews of this movie that prove me wrong! Hot Tub Time Machine ended up being better than people expected, so maybe there’s hope here too?

Love, Ami G

Half-Moon Pose

Post of the week is half moon pose! AKA Ardha Chandrasana. I apologize in advance for the pictures, I had just done a hot yoga class and I am drennnnched haha. So, the traditional way to do this pose it a little different, but the hatha series that I do takes a couple inspirations from Bikram yoga, so that is the form of half-moon that I do.

This is commonly the next pose in the series, and starts with your feet together. As you inhale, bring your arms up, clasping your hands overhead with the pointer fingers towards the ceiling.

With every inhale you want to make yourself a little longer (taller), and with every exhale you want to bend a little bit deeper. Start by leaning to the left, and looking towards the ceiling. Go deeper and deeper for eight breaths. Do the same on the right.

Last , we do it backwards. Try to push your hips and thighs forward, and heart towards the ceiling, or eventually the back wall. Make sure to keep an imaginary orange under your chin so that your don’t strain your neck and look too far back. If your breathing becomes difficult, you’ve gone too far into this position.

One day I wanna look like this chick! Except she’s not looking at the ceiling as she bends to the side, so she's not getting the full benefits of this pose. Also, she's not keeping that imaginary orange under her chin as she leans back, so this could be dangerous for her back. She is clearly doing Bikram yoga because his style tends to push the body to extreme limits such as this, even when it's not ready. This is the most common criticism of Bikram yoga.

“The moon has a rich symbolic significance in yoga mythology. In hatha yoga, for example, the sun and the moon represent the two polar energies of the human body. In fact, the word hatha itself is often divided into its two constituent syllables, "ha" and "tha", which are then esoterically interpreted as signifying the solar and lunar energies respectively.” – Quoted from yogajournal.com

Love, Ami G

Music Cont...

Neato, right after I posted my schpeal (how do you spell that word??) on my current music trends, I ended up spontaneously going to a Daniel Wesley concert! Unfortunately the pic I got with him was post-concert, so it’s a tad sweaty.

The guy opening for him I recognized from YouTube because he sings my Favorite. Christmas. Song. Ever. !! It’s called I Wanna Be Your Christmas by Andrew Allen, and it’s way too cute. I got a pic with him too :)

It was a pretty wild night! Wish I could tell you more but I do like to keep some aspects of my life private from social media outlets ;) Hope you enjoy the Christmas song though, I’m suddenly craving eggnog…

Love, Ami G

My Coach Confession

Sooo, I have a confession. I’m not the biggest fan of Coach (don’t get mad at me!! → this is a risky post cause ½ my friends have Coach bags :S). I know it’s super high quality and they have some great stuff, and are even affordable (compared to other fashion labels that is). Buttt, I’m just the kind of person who hates having the same things that everyone else has, and Alberta has swarmed over Coach. I don’t blame them, we don’t have that many world-known designer stores here. So I have no problem with other people having Coach, it looks good! It’s just not my style; it’s the same reason that I try to keep my shopping at Aritzia to a minimum.

Buuuut, their new collection has me quite excited, it’s based off of illustrations by Pierre Le-Tan → the author of children’s books like Puss in Boots. Cute! You’ll notice it immediately next time you step into their store, it really stands out from the classic design covered in labels. It’s fun and seashore themed!!



I haven’t seen too many people carrying these around yetttt, and even if I do, they’re so much fun! I think I might have to get one of the neckerchiefs…Oooh, and just for the record, incase you do want to get me a present, I will accept Coach shoes and jewelry, specifically rings. Loves it!

Love, Ami G

New Old Music

Sooo, the music coming out today is okkk, but nothing special. I could just be biased cause I have to listen to the radio all the time and every song is over played, but either way it’s driven me to start listening to different genres. Lately my playlists are consisting of surfer chill music, like Daniel Wesley (from Vancouver), and rock from the early 2000s, like old Matchbox 20 and Coldplay, and just some classic favs that I’ve almost forgotten about. I can remember some of the lyrics I’ve heard, but not song names or bands. So if you have any suggestions let me know! Here’s a couple of examples of my new old music:

California - Wave
Pilgrimage - Daniel Wesley
Unwell - Matchbox 20

Love, Ami G

Shopping Rules

So, as it turns out, I am an expert shopper. I have a knack for finding every cute thing in the store, which is oober fun while I’m shopping, but not so fun when I look at my bank statement. And I clean out my closet twice a year and find sooo much that I never wear and just give away, even though some things have hardly ever been worn!
So I’ve come up with a couple rules to stop myself from spontaneous purchases that I will later regret. The shoes and jacket posted to the right were purchased after I followed all my rules, and I am sooo happy with them ☺

First off, I’ve stopped random purchases on anything over $15 unless I’ve already planned to buy it. For example, consider I go jean shopping because I’ve ripped a hole in my only skinnies, and I happen to find a pair of jeans that I love for $100, and an adorable matching top for $30. I can buy the jeans, because that had been planned for, but not the top. I keep the “over $15 rule” because when you find something cute for under $15, it’s probs a good deal so go ahead and snatch it!

Second, I wait to see if that article of clothing crosses my mind alot. Most things don’t because there is just so much out there that thinking about all of it would consume my whole day. If my mind does keep wandering back to that one thing, I ask myself 2 questions.
Can I find something similar for cheaper? Like at XXI, or is this unique?
Does it match what I already have? AKA, will I wear it? My jacket and shoes defs followed my rules!

*My only exception is when I find something adorable at the beginning of a shopping day in another city for over $15. Then I allow myself to get it if I’m still thinking about it at the end of the day, because driving back would just be a ridiculous hassle.

So that might have sounded a little complicated… but if you’re a shopaholic, it makes sense and you catch on fast! Have fun and show me some of your must-have items!

Love, Ami G

MIA

Eep! I haven’t been able to blog for a bit, so I’ll make up for it in the next couple days. I’ve been visiting my boy up in his hometown, Slave Lake. And we had such a good good weekend!! It was action packed and now that I think about it, we hardly spent anything. Which is excellent for a broke joke like me.
We went for a walk on the beach and saw the sunset, went for an 8 km run (!!), went fishing twice, hiking, quadding, and took sleeping bags into their cabin that is still under construction. Roasted smokies over a fire on the beach, played games and the guitar (well, he did), and everything was just perfect!
It made me think about all of the things you can do, even it you’re on a budget. I had a blast and would highly recommend any of the above-mentioned activities! Well, except the run, that was grueling. But good training for the Underwear Affair haha.
See, wasn’t all that a good excuse for being MIA on the blog scene??

Love, Ami G