F21 Chambray Shirt | H&M Faux Fur Vest (old)(similar) | American Apparel Glossy Leggings
Coach Booties, Clutch & Watch | F21 Bracelets
I never really knew how I felt about fur on clothing. As a child, it freaked me out. As an adult now, it still freaks me out - which is why I go faux fur. I get the best of both worlds - warmth for one thing, and PETA is not chasing me down the street. The weather has gotten REALLY cold in the past couple days, making me not want to leave my house under any circumstances, but life must go on. Thankfully this faux fur vest is easy to layer and keeps me warm wherever I go!

How do you feel about fur?

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend - I spent it studying. Surprise, surprise... not. Just two more weeks til Christmas break and I absolutely cannot wait. I want to do absolutely nothing school related for three whole weeks :)

Up this week for Mani Monday I have yet another polish from OPI's Skyfall collection, and this one is gorgeous! Live and Let Die was the 8th Bond movie ever released.. definitely before my time. I kind of have this desire to sit down and watch all the Bond films as a marathon, just so that I feel like I have an idea of what I'm taking about while I'm writing about the Skyfall collection. Perhaps I'll add that to my list of things to do this coming break!

Live and Let Die is a dark smoky blue-green polish packed with green and gold shimmer. The base colour itself reminds me of those really deep green Christmas trees, making it sit perfectly in this holiday collection. It really gets your attention in the sunlight so I had to snap a couple shots under the sun to show you all that it's got! The shimmer in it makes the wear time phenomenal - I had up to six days without chips! - and it is surprisingly easy to remove. This shade is definitely unique to my collection and I know I'll be wearing it again soon :)

Who likes breakfast? I'm sure most people do. I love breakfast. But I also love my sleep. So really, the big problem in my life is that as much as I really love breakfast foods, I love sleep more, and love to sleep in til the very last minute I can, then dash around to get ready in the mornings and I'm out the door without any food in my stomach. Oops. So when The Common announced their Breakfast For Dinner pop up event for November, it was the perfect way to catch up on breakfast foods that I miss!

The Common - 9910 109 Street - Edmonton AB

So the pop up dinner at The Common was a little bit different, as it was featuring the culinary genius of their own Chef, Jesse Morrison-Gauthier. While I have had some dishes from him before, it was never the entire meal planned out and executed by him.. I was definitely excited to see what was in store, as it would be a pretty good indication of the quality and standards of food normally served at The Common.

The night started off with an amuse bouche: Fondant potato, hollandaise & smoked salmon. This dish was an excellent start, as the potato had a crisp interior, breaking away to reveal a tender interior. The hollandaise was thick with a tangy zing, and the smoked salmon tied it all together. I could sit and eat a couple of these by myself.

The next course was what I deem the best dish of the night: Muesli with black sesame yogurt, elderberries, honeycomb and prunes. This to me was a yogurt parfait taken to the next level. I had imagined the yogurt would be a black sesame yogurt, but instead it was served as a very tart plain yogurt with a clump of black sesame on the side. I enjoyed it this way, as it gave me a chance to try to balance the tart yogurt with each component separately.. and everything worked so well. The black sesame wasn't too strong, prunes and elderberries gave a nice sweetness, strawberries very sweet and the honeycomb sweet and chewy. Add in the crisp Muesli with everything, and I would like to have this every morning for breakfast. I promise I would wake up a little earlier!

The third dish was packed with protein: Oeufs en cocotte: eggs, truffle, asparagus, Gruyere, prosciutto. To be totally honest, I'm not a big truffle fan. I find that the taste can be very overwhelming, but the amounts in this dish were perfect. The truffle was present without being too prominent, sitting amongst two eggs, asparagus pieces, and Gruyere cheese melted within. I loved the crisp proscuitto topped with herbed breadcrumb - crumbled and mixed in with the eggs gave the dish the flavour it needed.

So dish number four had me quite excited. If you've read for long enough, chicken and waffles served in front of me is something I've wanted to have for SO long. And this dish did not disappoint: confit chicken, amaranth bacon waffle, maple, watermelon, persimmon marmalade. The chicken was literally the size of my hand and I didn't know how I would eat it all, but I definitely had the desire and drive to finish it. The chicken was tender, and the coating was golden and crisp. The waffles were a little soft, but studded with bacon, and this dish was what I would have hoped for as my first real chicken and waffles. The fresh fruits were a nice addition to eat inbetween to cleanse the palate, and really helped the dish along. Luckily this is a permanent dish on the menu for The Common too - definitely try it out!

Last but not least was the dessert: espresso panna cotta, mini doughnuts, nutella. The panna cotta was firm but smooth, with a prominent espresso flavour throughout. The warm fresh donuts were light and soft, not too dense and delicious dipped in the nutella. Such a great end to the meal.

All in all, I have to say that this popup dinner has been the best to date for me. The portions were perfect and you were getting such a good deal! I love that it really featured what Chef Jesse Morrison-Gauthier is able to do, and gave me an indication of what the food at The Common normally is like. If anything, I can't wait to go in on a regular day to try things out.