LUXOMME

Osborne Village holds a special place in my heart. It's a busy little street filled with little boutiques and restaurants, the occasional tattoo parlor, and everything else in between. I remember roaming this street with my friends in Grade 10 and feeling particularly mature and grown up.

Fast forward a few years, I find myself back in this place I spent many hours of my highschool days.


For work, I like to keep my outfit casual and comfortable. Today, I found myself rushed for time and threw on a simple cobalt blue dress from Vila, a long sweater from Banana Republic, my favorite pair of Steve Madden boots, and of course, my go to purse of the month - a speedy-like Kate Spade bag.



Lately, my life has consisted of long work days and many sleepless nights. In order to balance that out, my co-workers and I take equally long breaks to zen out the negative effects. Since our office is so closely located to Osborne, a few of us decided to venture out in search of some food.



Shauntel suggested we drop by Sukhothai, which has been our go-to place since we started working. It's difficult to say no to Thai food, so tom yum goong, yes please!



The three of us often find ourselves spending 10+ hours stuck in a little dark room by ourselves for work. It's really hard not to bond after that kind of experience, so naturally, our relationship has evolved into something a little closer to friends than just colleagues. We're often quite unfiltered and sarcastic with each other, which usually leads to much laughter, a few side eyes, and screams in Huy's case.







We all decided on the lunch special, which comes with an appetizer and an entree. The two of them chose spring rolls and pad nut puck, while I opted for the equally delicious rice rolls and tofu kaeng phet. Seriously nommy.



Finishing lunch with still a bit of time to kill, we decided to take a brisk stroll outside, enjoying the amazing weather Winnipeg has recently been graced with.


Deciding that the most indulgent dessert shop was probably not the best place for us to go after a heavy lunch, we avoided the temptation by perusing a vintage store located close by. These places are so lovely because you feel like you stepped into a time machine the moment the door closes behind you. Filled to the brim with history, it's pretty special to think that the object you are holding was held by someone else a long time ago. Hidden treasures are to be find everywhere.

Anyone interested in a $145 vanity?





You know those stories of people finding a Picasso painting in an antique store, and all these other treasures that somehow wind up in places like these, I fantasize that one day, I too will also find something amazing like that. Winnipeg is a place with such interesting history, with such rich stories stretching back to the fur trade era and even before. Because of that, it's a city filled with all these little gems from years past.



What most people don't know about me is that I am a history junkie and I try to go to antique stores in every city I visit. The most memorable one so far was located in the English countryside, where everything that I saw could probably qualify for a museum display. So much history there that it feels like you were transported back centuries.



Being with these two for many hours each day is such a joy and I could not have asked for better co-workers turned friends. Days at work feel more like going to school, where we are able to crack down and churn our results while also having loads of fun. They are what make my entire day feel like a break. But feeling a little more refreshed after the brisk stroll with these two, we all headed back to work where the giggles and silliness continued.

But work and everything else asides, the weather and life in general has been absolutely gorgeous lately. I just solidified my Summer plans with Tiffany, and #amoebaadventure are in place. The countdown officially begins.

naomi.

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For more information and reviews on Sukhothai, please visit the following link

Hot pot is one of those things that you can sit hours for, slowly enjoying the food and the company. It's also a dinner event which forces you into conversations and creates a sharing environment which quickly becomes absolute mayhem. With people throwing ingredients in and people taking them out at the same time, it's messy business, but the more chaotic it becomes, the more relaxing it feels.




For those of you who have never had hotpot, it's essentially Asian fondue, where you put together an assortment of items and cook it as you go. It makes for a long drawn out dinner process where you can sit and mingle with friends for hours.



Typical items include meats, seafood, dumplings, vegetables, and assorted tofu products which you dip into a wonderful concoction of sauces you pre-mix beforehand. It's fun, it's casual and it's personal.






Slowly working our way through the food, we found ourselves left with a ton of leftovers and feeling exceedingly full. The girls moved over to the couches and played TABOO and charades, while the boys stayed on to help polish the last things off.

Between long work days and my need to sleep, I don't get the chance to get people together like this often. In fact, I don't think I've done anything like this since my university days, which seems like eons ago. I was planning on heading back to Hong Kong for CNY this year, and was disappointed when I wasn't able to leave because of work, but I'm glad we were all able to share in this night together.

Despite this being a fun filled month so far, work asides, I'm still not loving February because of the cold. Let's hope it goes by a little quicker.

naomi

While I re-vamped my blog, I worked from my bed. The blogger system is based on templates which are coded, and in order for me to personalize and streamline this blog, it meant that I had to play around with the coding. To a person who has no formal html training, it was frustrating at times, but everything seems to run smoothly now!


I spent most of my afternoon working on refining the coding and finished working out the kinks just in time to watch the sun set.

Lamenting over the fact that the weather right now has dipped significantly compared to the temperature a few weeks ago, and feeling exhausted from a long days of non-stop errands, I decided that it was time to finish it off with a bowl of delicious noodles.


Not wanting to go alone, I texted my friends to see when they would be ready to leave. The girls and I piled up into my car and we drove into the frigid Winter night, in search of something to fill out tummies. We eventually settled on a quaint and cozy restaurant close to downtown.



The three of us ordered a Smörgåsbord of different items ranging from soup noodles, and vermicelli, to salad wraps and steaming hot beef baguettes. 

A beef vermicelli wrap for me, and a pho and vermicelli bowl for the girls!