TV + FOOD + TRAVEL + MAKEUP +EVERYTHING ELSE
The Circle I didn’t have high hopes for The Circle, but I found myself very excited for the next set of episodes to drop. Sure, some of it feels a little cheesy. But, I’ve been having a great time watching it. I love being able […]
Nailed It After watching all of the holiday episodes of Nailed It, I couldn’t stop and am now devouring the regular episodes of the show. It makes me laugh so hard. I love that no one takes it too seriously, which is absolutely the case […]
Vanderpump Rules is returning to our televisions and hearts come January 7. As someone who has watched the previous 7 seasons very recently, I felt that made me the perfect person to judge fairly and unbiasedly rank the cast members.
Yes, Ariana can take herself a little too seriously sometimes, but she is far and away the best person on VPR. She’s funny and sweet, but doesn’t take shit from anyone (looking at you, Stassi). I love that she is open and honest about her feelings. She’s great! I am a total Ari-stan-a! Also this:
Because Ariana is my number 1, it only makes sense for her number 1 to be my number 2. Before watching the series, I kind of assumed he was on the same level as Jax. I’m glad he’s not. He brings joy and charm to a sometimes very uncomfortable show. He’s not afraid to show his emotions, and he shows a lot of love to his friends.
Are they doing Peter dirty by never making him a regular cast member? Who knows. At least we always know Peter will be there in the background making slightly better decisions than everyone else. No one really seems to hate him. If he gets involved in drama, he always finds a way to slink his way out of it.
Laura-Leigh absolutely had the best story line in VPR history. She comes in, does it with Jax in the bathroom at work, yells at Stassi in front of everyone for being a raging bully, takes Jax to her AA meeting where he tries to break up with her but he convinces him not to, and then leaves them in the dust because she got a role in a REAL MOVIE!!! STARRING JENNIFER ANISTON!! I’ve actually seen We’re the Millers more than once. Anyway, congrats to Laura-Leigh for blowing that pop stand. What a blaze of glory she left behind in season 1.
Stassi likes to blame her ‘Dark Passenger’ for many of her transgressions instead of just taking responsibility for herself. Anyway, Stassi’s Dark Passenger has created many memorable moments in the show, like: hitting her friends, being rude to her friends, having complete meltdowns at every single one of her birthday parties, etc. The show wouldn’t be what it was without it!
The other half of TomTom comes fairly high in the list. He also brings a lot of charm to the show. He balances out a lot of the meanness that goes on in the show. Tom lightens the mood by leaving you thinking ‘what adult man would make that decision?’ Which I guess you could say about most of the cast.
I like Beau. He might be in this all for the attention, but you can tell he genuinely loves Stassi. I feel like you can see a (slight) improvement in her attitude since she’s been with him. He is absolutely the best boyfriend she has had on this show, not that that’s a high bar.
I genuinely think Billie to too good for this show. She smart and she’s been through a lot in a way no one else really understands. Things started off well with Billie and the VPR group, but quickly fell apart when they weren’t listening to her. She did what was best for her and left the show. I hope she has a lot of success in the future.
When I was first thinking about this list, I genuinely thought Raquel would be dead last. But the more I thought about it, I’ve realized what a truly amazing character she is. She is so unintentionally hilarious, and everything she does is just mind-blowing. I can only imagine what kind of tomfoolery she will get up to as an actually employed person.
When I first started watching the show, I thought I was supposed to like Stassi. Over the seasons, I can see why she gained a cult following. And I mean cult. Stassi has grown on me. I often find myself laughing at things she says. I like that she knows she is ridiculous. She just has no ability to take others’ feelings into consideration.
Oh Kristen. Her arcs have gone up and down up and down. I like her some moments, and then we go back to her being a truly, truly insane person. Why she falls decently high on the list is because she is pretty darn entertaining.
Also did we know that Kristen was writing a book about DATING??? She might not be the first person I would take advice from on that subject??
They absolutely did Mike Shay dirty on Vanderpump Rules, and I will stand by that. He clearly had a lot of issues, and no one was helping him work through them so they just compounded. They aired his dirty laundry on television seemingly without consulting him. While he was on the show, everyone seemed to like him! This was just a very bad environment for him to be in.
What a good girl.
Kristina seems to be the good friend to everyone, but she is clearly not exciting enough to become a full-time cast member. Keep on keeping on, Kristina.
I can’t help but to like Lala. She can be a little much sometimes. I think her reliance on calling herself a ‘gangster’ is pretty cringe. But I like that she is confident in who she is, and she recognized when there was a problem and worked to change it. She convinced everyone at Sur to be friends with her when they all started off hating her.
Katie is an interesting lady. She has some really high highs and really low lows. I think her and Tom should really work on their relationship if their goal is to stay together. Katie isn’t always a great friend, even though she tries to convince others that she is. Wait, maybe she should be a lot lower on the list.
Ohhh Brittany. She gets some points because everyone in the cast seems to love her. She loses points she because she stays with Jax regardless of what a shit dude he is.
The ballad of James Kennedy. I don’t know if I actually LIKE James. It’s very clear he’s struggling with a lot, and he takes that out on other people. But gosh does he have some good moments.
It was a lot more fun when we didn’t know who Lala was dating, and he was just referred to as ‘her man’. From the Gucci slides, to the PJs, it was a lot of fun speculating over this definitely married man. I have no interest in seeing Rand on this upcoming season, that’s for sure!
I just can’t bring myself to like Scheana! I try! I try for Ariana’s sake! She’s just so hard to like! She is insufferable! She has her sparkling moments, like when she tried to comfort Stassi after Stassi came to her show just to make fun of her. But she puts a lot of pressure on other people to do exactly what she wants, and never seems to have a backbone about it.
Is it a hot take that I don’t really like Lisa? I mean, she brings the drama. That’s why she got a spin-off. I just don’t think I would want to work for her.
She was a good attempt at another cast member. She tried to be interesting, she just wasn’t. You could tell she really didn’t have any interest in dating Jax. I think she is off living a nice life without all of this.
I liked Faith on the show, and thought she could have some potential. She didn’t really get the chance to explore it. Also, it was not a great look that she hooked up with Jax while taking care of an old lady. But Jax is the real douche in that situation!!
I’m not going to put any effort in remembering any of their names. There was the guy who could do anything in 7 minutes, who Scheana was really into but wasn’t that into her. Then there was the Sur bar back who she liked to hook up with and said she didn’t want to date but totally did. Also, Robby from the Bachelor.
These are three grown men who aren’t able to commit to going to their older brother’s fake wedding even if somebody else was paying for it!!
Tequila Katie is scary. She lashes out in a way that even Stassi’s Dark Passenger doesn’t. She’s sent many an-incoherent rage text in her day. She’s even been known to insult her husband’s, uh, you know, every once in a while. She even got a cocktail named after her in Ariana and Tom’s new cocktail book that I desperately want because I am a sucker.
Jax sucks. He lies, steals, cheats. All of those very literally. He is a 40 year-old-man that acts like a kid in middle school. He made his girlfriend get implants, and then held them over her head whenever they had an argument, then still had the audacity to cheat on her. Remember when he showed up in Vegas when Stassi didn’t want him to and then he got a tattoo of her name? All bad choices! Jax sucks so bad!
Stassi has a pretty terrible taste in men. Frank was awful. He was mean to her. Also wasn’t he the dude who sold her ‘intimate videos’? He should be in jail. F this guy.
And somehow, Frank and Jax both got upstaged in terribleness by Patrick! He more or less isolated Stassi and belittled what she did as a living. And in his only appearance he sexually harassed Stassi’s boss! What a dude!
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal I read The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters in June, and then immediately put in a hold request for Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows. It took this long to come in. It’s been a popular book […]
I like to make resolutions and goals for myself. And I like putting them out there on the internet so people can share their experiences, give tips, and it keeps my accountable. It also helps me look back on my previous goals and see how […]
Looking back on the year, I feel like I’ve had a pretty good 2019. I’ve felt better this year, mentally. Not as better physically, but we’re working on that, now aren’t we. I’ve had the great fortune to travel a bit this year, and have had a couple cool experiences. Here are a few of my favourite photos I took in 2019.
I love this photo of my in-law’s dog, Jake. It shows off his unique eye colour and gorgeous spots.
We finished our kitchen mini reno early this year, and we are so happy with how it turned out. The sink is what I’ve been dreaming of for years. Ethan’s idea to paint the upper and lower cabinets different colours turned out really cool, and gives a unique touch to a pretty classic reno. Check out the blog post about The Kitchen here.
These were both taken during my trip to Cabo, Mexico in February. The Arch of Cabo is the city’s most iconic site. You can’t really see it from land, but we had gone on a boat trip. The second is very obviously a sunset photo. I know most people say that you can never truly capture the beauty of a sunset, so just enjoy it, but I can’t help but to take a few photos of them.
Check out my Mexico posts here.
I love this shot of our summer dinner at Oast House Brewers in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Brushfire Smoke serves up their BBQ classics with a twist there all year long. The bright colours really made the photo work for me.
I had the pleasure of babysitting a friend’s kitten, Stella this summer. I have hundreds of photos of her now because she is so cute. This one was my favourite.
So obviously I didn’t take the first one, as I am in it. But I knew I wanted a cute photo of us in a friend’s cherry orchard. We often forget to take photos together, so I love having this one.
The second, was the cherries once they are ripe. There is nothing quite like fresh Niagara cherries.
We got engaged this year!!
Right after we got engaged, we went on a boat tour on Lake Erie during one of our local festivals, and this is a photo of the sunset over the lake through one of the portholes on the boat.
I turned 28 on September 28th AKA my champagne birthday, so here I am popping a bottle. If you look closely, you can see the cork flying!
This is a photo of the Niagara River flowing though the gorge from the Whirpool Aero Car. The fall colours were just starting to pop up.
This Butternut Squash pasta dish was on the cover of an issue of Food Network Magazine. I’ve been experimenting with styling in my food photos and flatlays, and I really liked the way this one turned out. The dish was pretty tasty too!
Early in the year, Ethan won two passes for the Niagara Helicopter Tour. This is something we would have never done on our own – it’s preeeeetty expensive. We were both very excited to go in a helicopter for the first time.
We visited Iceland in October, and there was no shortage of beautiful sights. Skogafoss was my favourite of the waterfalls we visited. It was a sunny day, so we even got to see a rainbow.
It’s always been a dream to see the Northern Lights. We couldn’t have had a more perfect night for viewing them when we went to the Aurora Base Camp just outside of Reykjavik. One of the guides there, Erik, helped me adjust my camera to the correct settings to be able to take a photo of the Lights in action.
Taking a trip to the Blue Lagoon was my favourite part of visiting Iceland. We had a wonderful day floating around the hot springs.
The Black Sand beaches on the southern coast of Iceland are breathtaking.
Check out all of my Iceland posts here.
We got an adorable kitten in November and his name is Jasper!! It’s been a lot of fun having a playful kitten running around the house. Even if it means that on occasion we have to pull a roll of paper towel from his death grip.
I love taking pictures of makeup. I enjoy looking at all of the bright colours and beautiful packaging. This is my favourite makeup photo I took this year, featuring the Tarte tarteist PRO palette.
I loved our Christmas tree this year. I also love the way our wrapped paper went together with our tree skirt.
I hope everyone else had a nice 2019, and I think we are all looking forward to what 2020 brings.
Books My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite This was a really interesting read. It had a really different style than I was used to. My Sister, the Serial Killer had short chapters and it was a really quick read, but it was gripping […]
We are in the throes of December, which means a very holiday/wintery version of What I’ve been watching this week!! Elf Elf is my all-time favourite movie. Sorry! That’s just the way it is!! In my heyday I would watch it 3 or 4 times […]
I am a lipstick fiend. Sorry, I can’t help it. I love all of the bright colours. I love the way lipstick makes you feel. Because of this, I have accumulated many, many lip products. One of my favourite brands is BITE Beauty.
BITE Beauty is a cruelty-free, Canadian company that focuses exclusively on lip products. They are reformulating all of their products to make them vegan, which they will be launching in 2020. So right now you can get almost all of their products with a major discount on their website and at Sephora.
Here’s everything I’ve tried from BITE Beauty:
This is more or less BITE’s flagship product. They are best known for these creamy, pigmented lipsticks. If you’re willing to invest in a really great lipstick, these are my absolute favourite. I find they have good lasting power, and they’re easy to apply. There’s also great range of colours – from neutral to very bold. If you’re nervous about spending that much money on a lipstick, these come up all the time as Sephora points perks.
You can even make your own shade of the Amuse Bouche lipsticks at the BITE Beauty Lip Lab! Read more about my experience at the Lip Lab here.
Favourite Shade: Beetroot
The Multisticks are probably my favourite product BITE makes. Multi-use products aren’t for everyone, but I personally love them. These have a matte finish, which makes it work well as a lipstick, blush, and eyeshadow. I love a monochromatic look, and these are perfect for that. The Prismatic Pearl Multistick makes a nice glittery highlight and lip topper.
Favourite Shade: Mauvember 2017
I got one of these as a birthday present to myself, because that’s the only way I could justify spending $30 on a lip stain. I think I might have gotten it during a Sephora sale as well, so that soften the blow just a scootch. It’s a great product. It’s a gorgeous lipstain that fades really nicely throughout the day. The colours of this collection are perfect for spring and summer. I’d love to see them come out with different colours in the future.
Favourite Shade: Strawberry Frose
I received these complimentary for review from Influenster (sign up here!). They’re my least favourite thing I’ve tried from BITE. The formula I think would be great for some people, it just wasn’t for me. It felt a little heavy and thick for me. They are super pigmented though. Check out more about these lipsticks in this blog post.
Favourite Shade: Flambe
These are a classic wooden lip liner. They are creamy and smooth. I don’t think I would ever think to buy these on my own – I received these from Influenster as well – I don’t usually reach for a lip liner. I do like these a lot, but again, I really don’t think I’d buy these at full price. I’d recommend picking them up while they’re still on sale.
Favourite Shade: 044
Okay, so I also got these from Influenster. They’re great if you love the Amuse Bouche colours, but you were looking for a matte finish. Like the OG, they’re very pigmented and long-wearing. I find that the citrus-y scent is preeeetty strong in these.
Favourite Shade: Red Velvet
These lip glosses were all the hype when they came out in 2018, and with good reason! They are great lip glosses. They aren’t overly sticky. I will say the coffee scent is a little stale for me. The colours have a nice nude range.
Favourite Shade: Dirty Chai
The Agave Lip Masks are a cult favourite. It’s rare to see beauty YouTuber that doesn’t rave about these. They are really fanastic I love to put it on a night, or if my lips are feeling really dry during the day. My mom likes to wear hers as a lip gloss.
Favourite Shade: Maple
They aren’t really making or selling these anymore. You can still find a few odd colours at Sephora, and sometimes you can find some nice ones at Winners or TJ Maxx. I really like these, and wish they didn’t discontinue them. I guess they’re not THAT different from the Matte Creme Lip Crayon though.
Favourite Shade: Bramble
I’m also not sure if they’re making these anymore either. I got this it the Matte Creme Lip Crayon box from Influenster. I’m not totally sure of its purpose? I guess it makes your lipsticks last longer, but I’ve never really had an issue with that. I guess I should start using it more to see if it makes a difference.
America’s Next Top Model Sorry, I am in a full-blown ANTM spiral. I’d like to thank the YouTube channel Top Model Channel for this. This week they posted the marathons of Cycles 15 and 16. I had seen cycle 15 before, but I think maybe […]
haley strong • culinary bad boy • casual wine enthusiast • z-list podcaster • here for the wrong reasons • IG: