Mediterranean Miss

Kalimera my blogloves!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! My week was very busy last week, so it was nice to be able to unwind with my beautiful mama, who flew up to Toronto on something of a whim (three days notice!) to spend the weekend with me. It was so worth clearing my plans for <3 I was just home the weekend before, if you’ll remember, and I had just started to miss my parents. I’m never lonely, here, not really, but I do miss them dreadfully when I’m all the way in Toronto and they’re in Montreal. So yes, long story short, it was great to see her.

We had a mother-daughter date weekend, which we promised is going to happen more often. It had everything you’d imagine, including mani/pedis, shopping and lots of sharing plates while eating out. We also totally failed at a game of Scrabble (my mom’s favorite) and did a little bit of shopping for the loft, which was a great time.

I don’t have recipes for you today, but I had some incredible meals over the course of the weekend that I’ll share with you now. Ready? Go!

A spinach, mango, feta and grilled shrimp salad. This was enormous, and I totally demolished it except for a few of the shrimp. Yum!

Truffled Mushrooms, Arugula, Shaved Regiano with Lemon infused Olive Oil; heaven.

Steam Veggies, Blackened Chicken and BBQ Chicken to share at the Caribbean Grill

One of my favorite meals was one that we “made” ourselves. We went to the market and bought little tastes of all of our favorite things: hummus (of course), olive tapenade, creamy brie cheese, sundried tomatoes, marinated veggies, olives, etc. In Greece, these appetizer plates are known as “Pikilia,” and it’s one of my favorite ways to eat. You get such a variety of tastes and flavors, which means that you fill up faster, yes, but also that you enjoy every bite. May I say one thing, please, to try? Hummus + olives. To DIE for.

Bits and bites of everything

We also hit up some of my favorite home decor stores, including my beloved West Elm. I go there almost daily to try and get things for the loft, which is finally (after about a year of living here) nearing completion. I go and I take pictures of everything that I think might work, bring them home, look at them again, go back, etc. You get the picture. Everybody on staff knows me, which is a little embarrassing, but they get a kick out of it. So do my coworkers, who sometimes tag along to give their expert opinions on oh, chandliers, say:

Thanks, boys. The chandelier was a resounding "yes"

I took mom to all of my favorite places, and we got busy. She has a wonderful eye, and was able to yay/nay her way through my 13510135 pictures at warp speeds.

Getting a sense for the color palette I’m looking at right now? It has a very neutral, organic, almost beachy feel to it. I want it to feel like a fairytale garden that you just happened to discover on your walk to the beach. (blush) That’s why the colors are so natural, and why there are about six billion plants in here, including this weekend’s latest addition, a baby fig tree!! I’ll snap some pictures of him for you later, but it’s so cute, and already bursting with fruit. I know it’s so typical for this Mediterranean Miss to have a fig tree in her apartment, but what can you do ^~ I <3 him.

• Did you have an idea behind the decor of your house/apartment/etc? A feel or look you were going for?
• What kind of plants do you have at home? Do you have a favorite one? I have orchids galore, an umbrella palm, a mother-in-law tongue (haha!), an air plant and my fig tree.

We spent a dizzying couple of hours at Sherway, a beautiful mall in Mississauga/Etobicoke. Clothes were bought, jewelry was admired, we raced through Pottery Barn and ended up, finally, at Holt Renfrew, which is a dangerous store to begin with because everything there is just so beautiful. Case and point, these shoes:

As a surprise, my mother had decided that the two of us were going to pick out designer purses to celebrate our date weekend (hers to add to her collection, and mine as the first of my “big league” bags ^~ I definitely can’t afford these on my own -yet- so I was thrilled!) When it came time to decide, though, I got so flustered that we opted to wait and go visit Holts every time we have a date weekend until the “perfect bag” made itself known.

• Do you have a designer preference? Right now, I’ve been a big fan of this look by Louis Vuitton. It’s so pretty, and although I don’t think I’d wear it year-round here in Canada, it’d be the perfect everyday bag in Florida or California:

This is the Darnier Azur series from their 2010 Cruise Collection

As if I wasn’t giving you enough pictures to swoon over, Mama noticed the overwhelming number of dogs in my area of Toronto. It’s very, very difficult to be here without Molly, our beloved family dog, but living in the big city was just too hard for a pup who grew up in a sleepy french village. Right now, going to school and working as I do, I don’t think I’d have enough time to dedicate to a little life. I’m a big dog person, too, as it happens. Although I may be willing to make an exception someday (graduation present to myself?) for a little Doxie like this one.  I love the idea of being able to travel, easily, with a small dog. Also, as my mom pointed out, Andrew and I can get a big dog together when we’re older ^~ Plus, oh my gosh, there is nothing yappy or annoying about this breed. Feast your eyes, my dears, on the absolute epitome of cute:

And I'm done for.

That pretty much sums up the weekend (and what a note to end it on!) We had a brilliant time. That’s all from me for now – phew! Stay tuned for a product review of a gorgeous natural perfume, plus a recap of yesterday’s date with the lovely Kristin!

Lots of love, bloggies!

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