Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a safe, fun weekend - those of you out on the East Coast, hope you're alright and not covered head to toe in snow! Today we're switching things up and celebrating Makeup Monday, cause I'm so excited about this eyeliner!

While I was in Hong Kong last summer, I knew that my holy grail Dolly Wink liquid eyeliner would need to be replaced soon. But instead of picking up an identical one, I decided to discover some of my options, and the Kanebo KATE super sharp liner stood out at me when I was visiting Sasa one day.

The size and structure of the eyeliner is very similar to Dolly Wink, in that the packaging is very sturdy, and the cap fitting tightly to ensure the product doesn't dry out. Similarly. the the pen is very fine, flexible, and capable of drawing both thin & thick lines. Upon application, the product dries readily, and does not smudge or budge all throughout the day. It works so well that its difficult to remove, and can leave a bit of a stain on your eyelids if you don't take the time to thoroughly wash it off!

For the time that I need to be wearing the product for (8+ hours), this liquid liner is awesome for me. The applicator tip is precise, and the colour is just as intense at the end of the day as it is at application. Serious perfection. It also is a little cheaper than the Dolly Wink liner, and goes for about $10. I highly recommend this eyeliner, so do try it out if you're in the market for something new! It's available via Amazon & Kanebo.

Where are my local wine lovers? Winefest is here in Edmonton just in time for Valentine's Day (Feb 15-16) and I have an awesome surprise for you!

Alberta’s favourite all-inclusive wine event is back celebrating its fifth year in Edmonton at the Shaw Conference Centre. Winefest invites guests to sample hundreds of local and international wines, including a selection of red, white, sparkling and dessert wines from fifteen of the world’s most renowned wine regions. Wine experts will be available to share their knowledge and suggest tasting notes, as attendees sample their way from booth to booth.

An afternoon spent sampling all the wine you can imagine - does it get better? Oh yes. Each ticket includes unlimited wine tasting (offerings here!) as well as a complimentary Riedel wine glass and a keepsake Tasting Notebook. Attendees can also nibble on a delicious selection of hors d’oeuvres (menu here!) from The Shaw Conference Centre Catering, The Cheesiry, Cococo Chocolatiers, COBS Bread, Oh! Naturals, Nefiss Lezizz and Terra International Food Inc. The onsite Liquor Depot store will allow guests to purchase their favourite finds of the night, and there are tons of prizes available to be won, including tickets to next year's winefest, tickets to the Rocky Mountain Food & Wine Festival & a getaway to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel!

Tickets to the event run for $75 each and are selling out fast! The Saturday night session is completely sold out, but I have a pair of tickets to the Saturday, February 16 afternoon tasting session from 2-5 PM to give away to one lucky reader! Get ready to vino out. The tickets will gain you entrance to the event and all the wine you can drink and appetizers you can eat *valued at $150*. To enter, follow the directions below!

Mandatory Entry
- Leave your name and contact email address for me in the widget below!

Optional Additional Entries
- Follow my blog via Google Friend Connect (+1)
- Follow me on Twitter @littlmissandrea (+1)
- Tweet "Enter to win a pair of tickets to @Winefest in #yeg on February 16 from @littlmissandrea! http://t.co/myImbZnK #yegwine" (+2)

For additional information, please visit the festival website here.

Contest opened to individuals 18 years of age and older. Please note that this event will NOT allow minors - not even if you are bringing an infant along with you. Please ensure that you are able to attend on Saturday afternoon! Winners will be chosen by random and announced on February 13. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A couple weeks back, Robyn sent me a top secret invite for a surprise birthday party down in Calgary for her husband Phil, another food blogger here in Edmonton. Phil had mentioned he wanted to celebrate his big 40th birthday over a meal at Charcut (a dear favourite of mine!), so I quickly arranged to clear my schedule and get myself down to Calgary for the big night.

CHARCUT Roast House - 101 899 Centre Street - Calgary AB

The morning had come to head down to Calgary, and to my knowledge, Phil still didn't have a clue what was going on. I didn't think it would be that hard to hide from two people in a big city like Calgary, but WOW I was wrong. Things are a little different when a group of people share similar tastes and want to hit up all the same places in the same city! I was travelling with Diane, Teresa and Carmen, and we had planned to grab brunch after entering the city, going to a couple local bakeries to pick up goodies for home, and hit up the Calgary Farmers Market before checking into the hotel. We were twitter stalking the couple, finding that we were following their tails to each location. It was difficult not to tweet about where I was, and seeing that we were staying in the same hotel as Phil and Robyn, Robyn had to be creative and stall every time we were in a nearby location, or when we were checking into the hotel.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we found out that Robyn had rounded up about a dozen of us from Edmonton for the big surprise. We weren't sure whether Phil had figured things out yet, but all was confirmed by his expression when he walked into the restaurant. He was speechless. Weeks of sneaking around and being secretive had paid off big time!


Arugula & Tuna Conserva - shaved celery & lemon preserve - a hit around the table, even for the tuna haters!
For the night, Carmen had worked with Chef Connie DeSousa to plan a 10 dish meal served family style for all of us. Little did I realize it would be the biggest meal of my life! Restaurant hospitality was great, but the company even better. I won't go in depth about each dish that night, but thought I'd share a glimpse into the major gluttony around the table.


Warm raclette cheese - cast iron baked pan bread made to order - the melted cheese on fresh brioche is always, always welcome

Slow roasted heirloom beets - house made soft organic cheese, mint, basil - the beets are refreshing and great for palate cleansing, while the cheese adds richness to the veg on the plate

CHARCUT BOARD - house cured meats including Heritage Wine and cheese sausage - the sausage is Phil's favourite! But my favourite will always remain to be the pig head mortadella and lonzino. But really, a big plate of meat? You can't really go wrong..

Duck fat fried poutine, cheese curds and truffle gravy - potentially a heart attack on a plate. go big or go home!

Farmers market seasonal vegetable pasta - kudos to the kitchen for the freshly made al dente pasta. Flavours were light and the sauce was nice a creamy

Spit roasted Spragg Farms porchetta - arugula, grilled lemon, roasted garlic - natural flavour, beautiful crackling, but unfortunately chewy as decided unanimously across the table

Platter: Slow roasted heritage chicken - Share Burger CHARCUT style - smashed poplar bluff potatoes - I think this dish pushed my limits as I was so full at this point, but the chicken was tender, the share burger a sausage-like patty delicious when paired with a bun, and the potatoes a nice filler

MASSIVE warm date toffee pudding - chantilly cream, caramel sauce, roasted almonds

Individualized warm date toffee pudding - can I just say this is amazing? The warm cake-like texture drizzled in caramel and cream is something else. So. Good.

Raspberry lemon meringue cake - light meringue and super tangy filling
All in all, it was a wonderful meal with friends over great food. I can always expect CHARCUT to meet my expectations, and the trip down to Calgary just for dinner was totally worth it! Of course you'll be hearing about my other Calgary shenanigans soon enough, but to tide you over, you can read Robyn and Chris' account of the dinner in the meantime!