January 2018 Daily Microposts and Inspirations

January 22nd, 2018
Keep calm and greet the mailman.

A few days ago I received a wonderful package in the mail from @scribesbyVS. She sent me these handmade scribes for my royal icing work. I was so touched to see that she even incorporated macaron charms in the design. One is made of clay and the other one glass with the logo from my site embedded underneath. It's all so pretty. One of my goals this year is to work with different mediums like sugar cookies and cakes, they'll come in handy, I can't wait to use them.

January 19th, 2018
"Better days are coming. They are called Saturday and Sunday."

On Wednesday night, I was invited to the opening of The Victor, one of the newest restaurants in the glamorous Parq Casino. It's located on the 6th-floor rooftop and features "a contemporary and seasonally inspired menu highlighting a wide array of Pacific Northwest seafood and a tiered selection of specialty steaks." It was a fabulous night and another enjoyable experience at the Parq for me.

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,

Mimi

January 11th, 2018
Piglet: "How do you spell love?"
Pooh: "You don't spell it, you feel it."

I remember giving many a Valentine's cards to classmates in elementary school. If my memory serves me correctly, we used to write out our cards and hand them to the teacher who would then distribute them to the respective recipient on Valentine's Day. For the most part, they all had "punny" sayings and cute graphics. None of them were very memorable except for one which I chose specifically for my grade school crush: a card that featured a bean with a happy face and a greeting on the back that said, "I've bean thinking about you." Oh gosh, it was so adorable, if I can say so myself, and it totally makes me laugh out loud right now as I type.

Here are 3 Valentine's projects I found which are so easy and perfect for V-day. (Disclaimer: no beans were harmed in the making of these crafts.)

NO BAKE alert! Make these adorable bear Valentine's treats without turning on your oven! Photo courtesy of: www.inthekidskitchen.com

No bean innuendos here. Just straight up, "I love you." 🙂 I love how you can reuse this Valentines for keeping trinkets. Photo courtesy of: adventuresofadiymom.com

I just watched The Last Jedi last night so these Star Wars inspired V-cards caught my eye right away. Super cute interpretation of the characters! Photo courtesy of: thismamaloves.com

January 9th, 2018

"Sometimes renewal comes in surrender"

Had a good cry this morning over this unsuspecting Facebook post about a donkey. I don't want to spoil it for you so give it a few minutes of your day. It will resonate with anyone who needs that reset button in their lives for 2018.

January 8th, 2018

"If you are working on something exciting that you really care about, you don't have to be pushed. The vision pulls you." - Steve Jobs

When I wrote my first post of the year on New Year's Day, I probably knew I'd break my resolutions before the first week of January was out. One of them was to do do daily updates here and indeed, I haven't posted here for the last 3 days. I was working on some needed upgrades for the site since it has outgrown some of it's resources due to reader traffic so thank you so much to all of you for reading. Although it was time consuming and I had anxiety over whether or not the site would be down (it didn't, thank goodness), I'm glad that part is over and I can get back to getting in touch with you guys. There are more changes underway but I hope you're enjoying everything on the site so far including the mini re-brand. Thanks again for reading, it means so much to me.

XOXO,

Mimi

These mermaid macarons were made with 2 different colored macaron batters but it looks like there's more colors there when you blend the two batters together. You achieve this look by following my galaxy macaron tutorial (click on photo) and using the colors pink and aqua. After baking, I splattered some edible gold paint onto the shells.

January 4th, 2017

There's plenty of fishes in the sea, swim with the ones who appreciate you. They have good taste.

A favourite saying of mine written by me 🙂 People who like you reinforce the good feelings you have about yourself and lift you up. As I grow older, I find they are the only type of people I choose to surround myself with.

Nemo fish macarons I made for a Finding Dory Birthday party. I didn't know if they would turn out at first but I'm pretty happy with the end results. I did forget the fin details on one guy hehe.

This is how I package individual macarons as party favors.

If time allows, I always try to photograph my macarons with a darker, moodier styling so I can practice my photography skills. They don't always make it onto the blog though because it doesn't really fit with what I'm doing here. Thought I'd share one with you today.

January 3rd, 2017

"You always have time for the things you put first."

A few years ago, I used to play Candy Crush before going to bed as a way to unwind before bedtime. However, as soon as I started an Instagram account, I quickly abandoned my game for the new (of the day) social media platform. Truth be told, I was stuck on a really difficult level and little did I understand at the time, I was no longer getting any positive feedback from the game so my interest started to wane. On the other hand, Instagram was providing the positive feedback loop my mind was craving, with their little hearts (likes) and comments from other engaged users, my brain was hooked. In the last year, I started to come across so many articles about how addictive social media apps were. In fact, they are specifically created to be addictive. Every time you receive positive feedback (aka likes) on your posts, dopamine is released and that makes humans react to it like any other addictive drug or habit. It all made sense. I merely replaced one addictive substance for the other as a "soothing" bedtime ritual. Here is a great interview from FORTUNE on Sean Parker, one of the founding presidents of Facebook, where he calls the social media giant, '"a social-validation feedback loop” that exploits a core vulnerability in the human psyche' and wonders what Facebook Is "doing to our children's brains".

Recently, instead of checking my social media apps before bedtime I decided to use that time to read, and I discovered a new app which captured my interest - TEXTURE. No, it's not a social media app, it's a collection of hundreds of magazines that you'd see on your local news stands right now. Some of my favourite magazines includes Vogue, Bazaar, National Geographic, History, Times, Inc., Newsweek, People and Town and Country, just to name a few. There's magazines from every genre: fashion, finance, home, cooking, lifestyle and more. In the morning I like start my day reading something motivational from Inc. or Fortune. When I find leisurely time, I'll look through the latest fashions in Vogue or Harper's Bazaar and finally at the end of the night, I like to read a little from History or National Geographic, basically something a bit more mellow and dare I say - sleep-inducing 🙂 The best part is how environmentally friendly it is. I can carry hundreds of magazines with me in my phone and read it while waiting at a doctor's office (no more germ ridden mags!) or in bed. I would highly recommend it as a little gift for yourself in 2018.

This is NOT sponsored. I have used and loved Texture for 8 months and I wanted to share this with you all.

XOXO,

Mimi

January 2nd, 2018

"I'm such a fabulous cook, even the smoke alarm is cheering me on!"

I'm sure many of you are getting back to the grind this Tuesday and cooking a weeknight dinner is probably on your list tonight. Here are a few quick meal ideas I found that are delicious and most importantly - easy! What makes them real winning recipes for a weeknight is the short list of simple ingredients. That should cut down on time spent going to the grocery store and weighing them out. Quick, easy, delicious!

WEEKNIGHT LEMON BASIL PASTA. The name says it all! Weeknight is the keyword here and this pasta uses only 6 simple ingredients. Sounds easy enough doesn't it? Photo courtesy of berlyskitchen.com

SUPER EASY DAIRY FREE CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER SOUP. It's also gluten, dairy, egg, soy, nut & sugar free, vegan and paleo. This is a great choice if you're feeling fancy and need a healthy starter for your meal. It can also be eaten as a light meal for those who are cutting back on portions for their NY's diets. Photo courtesy of theloopywhisk.com

15 MINUTE SWEET CHILI CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAPS. I am completely sold on this 15 minute meal that looks oh so fancy. It's such a creative addition to the weekday meal plan. Photo courtesy of saltandlavender.com

BASIL GARLIC BBQ BAKED CHICKEN WINGS. These wings look so scrumptious! Michelle shows us how to bake bbq wings without the mess. I'm sure we've all done enough holiday cleaning by now. Photo courtesy of thebrooklyncook.com

For those of you who were lucky enough to receive an Instant Pot for the holidays, this guide will really help you navigate the use of your new pot. There are many photos and recipes too. I will come back to this post myself as soon as I get my hands on one. Photo courtesy of amindfullmom.com

January 1st, 2018

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life."

Happy New Year! I hope that your 2018 will be a bright and happy one. It's time again for New Year's resolutions and I know from experience that it's often easy to start one but sticking to it can become a challenge after a month or two, sometimes even after just a few days. After the initial failure to keep up with one's resolutions, it's easy to fall off the wagon completely. I think it's completely OK to take a break here and there as long as we resolve to keep moving forward with our plans and stick to our goals. At least that's what I tell myself... I haven't exercised in 2 months! I'll follow my own advice, focus on the picture; it's never too late to follow up on our resolutions because, "today is the first day of the rest of your life".

Now here is something I had wanted to do for quite some time last year and never had enough time to complete. Throughout the year, so many of you have been tagging me and sending me your lovely macarons using my Best Macaron Recipe. I've chosen a few of my favourites and I'm sharing them below. As usual, I will also post the pictures you send to me in Mimi's Macaron friends on a continuing basis. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your macarons successes with me. I appreciate it so very much!

Wishing you even more sweetness in 2018!

XOXO,

Mimi