Its the long weekend! Or should I say TGIM! I plan on taking the little one to circus event at Harbour Front today if I can the weather should be beautiful, and I wouldn’t mind stopping by for lunch at this gret vegetarian resturant the hubster took my son and I  to on Bloor st. in Toronto a few days ago called Fresh.

Fresh carries an extensive menu of items completely devoted to those like myself who as a common practice choose to indulge in vegetables as the main staple in their diet. As a vegetarian I like to incorporate different and unique foods away from the usual and sometimes boring garden salad. Fresh does this in a way that’ just that; fresh! The food was amazing, portion sizes were generous, and service was excellent.  I after much deliberation ordered the Tofu wrap which came with a side of Kale Slaw which I though would come covered in mayo so I was hesitant about its arrival at first, but as J reminded me this was a vegetarian spot so there would be no high calorie mayonnaise dripping from my fork.  It turned out to be excellent, just doused in what tasted like Italian dressing, thumbs up there! As you can see my wrap was so huge I was able to eat half for lunch and save the rest for dinner.  That’s another great thing about how customizable Fresh is, you can request a variance in portion sizes to suits your needs and caloric intake, taking home any left overs in compostable take out containers!

Emijah and Jarratt both got burgers; the real traditional styled burger complete with pickles and a BBQ style both of which came topped with a single large  a crispy onion right on top and a serving of sweet potatoes fries, of course I got sample, loved it!

Fresh focuses on healthy meals with a kick,  has a young urban vibe, with a crowd and employees  I would describe as ranging from fashion forward hipsters and artists to the average round the way Joe; felt like home! A very popular spot in Toronto’s Annex district you can find Fresh bustling with customers at the location I went to at Spadina and Bloor, or 2 others you can find here.  The waitresses and waiters were fast and friendly from what I experienced there I would definitely make this a usual spot for a bit to eat when ever I’m in the area.

Kid friendly too, Emijah loved his burger. Dig in Mij!!

Hey dolls!

Lately I’ve been finding myself trying to shake up my look by exploring new looks with makeup, but as we all know feeding the make up habit can be an expensive investment.  Fortunately to get me started on my colorful new journey I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of  lovely gift from the people over at Smashbox cosmetics!

The Samshbox Fame Collection comes with 9 eye shadows, 2 cream eye liners and a double ended brush. I don’t typically use cream eye liner so my experience with this should be interesting. The colors range from shimmery neutrals to bright sea blue. I think the range of colors provided are great for summer, fora person like me who isn’t necessarily ready to try anything as bright as what maybe you’d see on Nicki Minaj, this is a good start. The kit also came with a bonus sample of the Photo Finish lid primer, which is also new to me, since I’ve been sinning and applying shadow without primer my whole life!

From left to right: Bliss, Honey, Sandstone, Nude, Sherbert

Forgive my camera, I don’t have access to my DSLR right now…the very thought of not having her makes my eyes water, so I tried to make due with my camera phone…I know don’t get me started.

L-R: Safari, Pacific, Praline, Mocha

The pigmentation as you can probably tell from the photos despite the poor quality is fairly sheer, but buildable a quality I like because as I said I consider myself to be a novice and this allows me to me to cover any mistakes I may encounter during my application.  My favourites are Sherbert, and Pacific because their bright and perfect to compliment all the hot summer dresses I plan on stocking my closet with in the coming months.

Kim K in Toronto? That’s right! Kim Kardashian will be at The Bay Queen street location today between 4:30-5:30 promoting her new jewelry line Belle Noel which you can pick up on site today at The Bay or online at retailers such as Shopbop.com.  Any purchases made today at The Bay ringing in at $50 or more will grant you access to the fashion maven herself for an autograph and photog opportunity! I won’t personally be able to make it down there but would love to hear from anyone who is planning on going or picking up any of her pieces.

Think these pieces are worth $50 to see Kim face to face? Here’s a couple more of my favs after the jump!

From top left to bottom right: Enameled collar $180.00, Molten gold cube bracelet $110 , Pave hair hair chain $43.86, Molten squares necklace $145

I haven’t featured anyone for True Queen of the week…in Months! So when I saw Karis post this photo to her Facebook I was inspired and excited because I knew she was the next style Queen on my hit list.  Karis is obviously gorgeous and has the style knowledge to match, her white sleeveless shirt, mint colored skinnies and nude/orange sandals  have an air of high sophistication and cool summer simplicity. LOVING IT!

Residing in the bustling city of Toronto Karis was nice enough to answer a few questions about her style for us:

What beauty products do you swear by? For beauty products I swear by Mac lipstick and Mixed Chicks leave in conditioner

How would you classify your style? I’d call my style uhhh casual sheek? Lol never been asked

Favourite summer trend? My favorite summer trend is definitely bold colors and prints, my least is those hideous clingy polyester dresses that have all those blingy accents…u know those ones lol the Malvern/Cedarbrae dresses especially worn with tights

(LMAO I know exactly what your talking about! Toronto Catties!)

Check the rest of the interview after the jump!

Celebrity fashion inspiration? I really love Gwen Stefani, Rhianna, and Solange’s style

Favourite place to shop? My favorite place to shop is on Queen street and the random Asian malls like Pacific Mall, I always find unique stuff there..my favorite mall store is Zara and Club Monaco

Favourite place to eat? My favorite place to eat is this restaurant Alice Fazzolis they make this angel hair pasta cream sauce and stuffed chicken that I could eat any day.

Favourite designer/label? My favorite designer/label is Alexander McQueen and Thierry Mugler, if I was a crazy eccentric and could afford it I’d wear their clothes. I love Marc by Marc Jacobs for more affordable stuff..the labeling isn’t loud and pronounced like some other labels and the products are of good quality.

****

If you happen to be a style queen or know someone who you’d like to nominate to be featured drop me a line at truequeeninc@gmail.com. I promise to start keeping my promises and keep this post a little more regular, after all the best fashion is street fashion.  The next feature could be you!

This week I start school and I promised I wouldn’t go back without spending sometime with my girls so to Dazzling Lounge for a dazzling evening we went! I hooked up with my bestie Aaliyah, to met my girl Kara and Simone for what was great food and an interesting spontaneous night.

Located on the corner of King and John in downtown Toronto, we dined in an inviting atmosphere with two floors of stylish modern decor you could enjoy a good meal downstairs and before heading upstairs to dance the night away. There was one weirdo who tried unsuccessfully to ruin the ambiance, but we weren’t going to let anything spoil the evening.

Dinner was great, Aaliyah and I were in twinzy mode so we both ordered the Mango Salad, and split a plate of Philadelphia spring rolls. I’ve had sushi before but never with raw rawish fish, so I cheated and tried to cover the possibility of finding the smoked salmon revolting by opting for the cream cheese. I got a mouth full of goodness and no gag reflex to threaten my credibility so I think my encounter turned out pretty well!

My partner and I in a pose showdown.

Outfit: Top/Urban Behaviour, Tights + Tank/H&M, Shoes/Payless

Philadelphia cream rolls, it had avocado in it and lets just say I had a bad experience which this particular fruit, totally forgot and ate it anyways.  Didn’t toss my cookies but I still have no plans of becoming BFFs with avocado anytime in the near future.

We didn’t end up paying the $10 bucks to get into the Lounge upstairs, it was looking kinda of dry. So we headed out on the street and managed to get on the guest list without paying a cent for Faces nightclub which I went to for my birthday back in February. I don’t know what was up that weekend but the club scene was extra dry. We called it an early evening after holding an unoccupied booth hostage and watching a few dance machines get disturbingly loose on the dance floor.

Regardless though the girls were great company and after my Purple Haze I was ready to call it a night. Despite the turn of events I still recommend both locations, Dazzling for the food and Faces for the dancing, I doubt either will disappoint.

I’m relishing in the few days that I have left before school starts back up; yes I’ve doomed myself to a summer filled with papers and exams. Not that the details of when and where I’ll be attending class have found their way to my inbox yet but that’s a whole other issue I’d prefer to just avoid until completely necessary.  This past weekend however I spent in Niagara Falls with a bunch of wild and crazy girls I’ve come to know and love who invited me to tag a long in celebration of my friend Ms. Ebony’s 25th birthday…it was definitely not a weekend that I’ll easily forget!

Our celebration  consisted of late night escapades on the Clifton Hill strip, club hopping toasting and boycotting Rumors nightclub before ditching the Beef Barron for their lack of swaggalicius beats. The first of two days in Niagara was jam packed; dips in the pool, sauna and hot tub; which after entering I quickly fell in love with. After satisfying late night munchies at Denny’s (terrible service) dinner our last night at  TGIF Fridays (overrated) a frighting trip in the haunted house and earning no money at the casino, I was beat.  The highlight of the trip had to be running into Sheena of MTV Canada after dinner, she was super sweet and gladly posed for pics with us. SHEENA woot!!! Who would have ever guessed she chills in the Gra’..lmao don’t mind me I spend so much time in Niagara a nick name was sure to be born at some point!

Me and the birthday girl @Ebony in pic #1 and the other 3 out of 6 girls; @Pennylain @Heavenly and Tasha

 Me & Missy

Late night snacking with Heavenly at Denny’s <3

All the ladies together at the celebrity wax museum, chillin’ with the Simpsons!

Thank you to the girls for letting me in the “circle” shout out to Ebony once again happy birthday, I had an amazing time. Despite my own mini drama that regretfully clouded my mood on the last day and bus trip home, it was great.  Thanks girls!

April showers bring May flowers…that’s exactly what I’m hoping for. It’s been rainy and grey out for the past few days but that’s not stopping me from infusing my wardrobe with bright pink and orange florals!

I actually ordered that pair of “Mallory” Sam Edelman sandals, they’ve been on back order for a while so its actually been about a month since I said “Charge it!” The anticipation of slipping my feet into one of those sorbet colored beauties if killing me!

If they’re comfortable I want to start wearing heels just for the heck of it…park..heels..mall…heels…Africa…heels…lol @ Marlow of #RHOA ! Love that show!

What’s on your wish list this month??

Hey hey!

Hope your weekend was well, I’m starting off  this Monday morning with 1 of 5 heavy hitting final exams…womp womp…but have no fear there is a silver lining…for you lovelies anyways; it’s giveaway time!!

The lovely people over at SKINN cosmetics were nice enough to send me two of their latest lip wears called Tint & Shine Luscious Lip Stain & Gloss Set.  For the past few weeks I’ve been sporting both colors; the darker tint being Villa Rosa and the bright pink (which actually isn’t that bright on) Ciao Bella.

I leaned towards the Ciao Bella for everyday wear, since the darker tint seems to add a bit of a sexy edge that works better for nights out.  Ciao Bella has a come hither appeal that makes your lips look just bitten. The glosses themselves for both tints are very similar in color and I’m assuming meant for layering over the tint for a bit of sheen.

The Verdict

Like I said I loved the colors them selves but it takes a few layers to achieve a long lasting color, so don’t leave the lips as the last step if you intend on wearing them on any given day.  I would also avoid consumption of any food or drink realistically for a minimum of 30 minutes to allow the color to set.  The stain isn’t the strongest I’ve seen so tread lightly with anything that might threaten your coverage.

The two on left is Ciao Bella the two on the right is Villa Rosa

Now how you can benefit from all this!

The best part of this post has arrived; enter to get your very own bottle of SKINN Tint & Shine!

What you need to do:

1. Follow @truequeeninc on twitter (mandatory)
2. Like SKINN cosmetics and True Queen on Facebook (mandatory)
3. Let me know you’ve entered by leaving a comment! (mandatory)
4. **Extra entry** Subscribe to True Queen via Email (Don’t worry I won’t fill your inbox up with junk!)

The contest is open internationally between April 15- 29 2012 so everyone is welcome to enter.  The winner will be selected at random and announced once confirmation has been established with the winner via EMAIL. Be sure to leave a comment with your email included you will have 24 hours to respond before a new winner is selected.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Make sure to check out Dimitri James’ upcoming ShopNBC date, April 22

With Olympic fever gripping the nation, and everyone excited about London taking centre stage for summer 2012, it’s no wonder that emotions were running high for the unveiling of Stella McCartney’s eagerly anticipated Olympic Team GB kit.

Following its launch, a high-profile fashion bust-up ensued – all to do with the abundance of blue and, crucially, real lack of red in a kit that is supposed to take inspiration from the British National flag. Whilst the critics remain divided, the athletes seem happy – and it’s not hard to see why. Whilst the kit utilises the latest technologies in both material and design, it’s abstract, interesting and – love it or hate it – undeniably slick. It really flies the flag for British fashion – even if that flag isn’t traditionally red, white and blue.

Whilst we can only speculate as to why Stella’s collection has provoked such a strong reaction, the kit’s brash modernism could be one theory. Many felt that a real heritage feel was needed when it came to the important national uniforms – think Ralph Lauren’s classically cool 20′s-style outfits for Wimbledon, or Jaeger’s regal red jackets for the staff at Kensington Palace. They wanted a wardrobe that is thoroughly British in design – albeit with a little tongue-in-cheek attitude. And whilst Stella McCartney is at the pinnacle of UK cool, the Olympic kit is perhaps just a little too obscure to truly capture the heart of the nation.

The designs are cool and contemporary and wouldn’t look out of place in any adidas Originals collection. But like Matthew Dent’s designs for The Royal Mint in 2008 – a jigsaw design which provoked widespread dissatisfaction by using parts of the old to create something new and inventive – McCartney’s kit is so fashion-forward that it may just take a bit of getting used to.

Retro sportswear will always be a favourite – with street-style heavily influenced by looks from the past – whilst futuristic trends will take time to catch on. Whilst retro might have been the easy route to instant approval for Stella, her brave decision to look forward instead of back will hopefully ensure a long-lasting, original and memorable kit for the Olympic Games and beyond. Her work should stand as an inspiration to sportswear labels across the country, and remind designers that – for 2012 at least – London is the city setting the benchmark for the rest of the world.

 Disclaimer: This was a sponsored post written for truequeen.com