Berry Barn - Saskatoon, SK

When I first moved to Saskatoon, I asked around for any good recommendations for restaurants.The Berry Barn was thrown out several times. I've always been curious, it seems like a great place to go for brunch with the family.

Wasn't sure what I was expecting but it was interesting that they had a little gift store before entering the restaurant. They really marketed the crap out of this place (berry barn bbq sauce etc). Behind the restaurant, there's a little farm/pond you can walk around, which added a nice touch.

But of course, the most important part is the food. Everything is homemade on the menu,

Honestly, its just a Saskatoon tourist hot spot, regards to the menu/taste wise - its nothing special. Pretty bland perogies, I would not have noticed a difference if it they were just frozen ones from the supermarket and passed as hand made.
Spring rolls were soggy and greasy. They only had vermicelli noodles in them and some strands of lettuce - no veg. They essentially exploded in the deep fryer but was still served.

Cheesecake wasn't as bad. You could tell it was homemade; but wasn't the best, not much flavor.

Service wasn't great. He seemed like he didn't want to be there / didn't know how to be a friendly server.

Overall, food wasn't worth the drive nor money. Atmosphere was ... alright; it wasn't really special. Nothing stood out for me or makes me want to go back.

Keo's Kitchen - Saskatoon, SK

Went here not too long ago, thought it was time to share my experience. I love thai food, the spice, the flavors, the culture... ahh.

Tried Keo's Kitchen after alot of people recommended it to me, all saying this place knows how to spice things up. And yes, yes they do. I was almost sweating eating the green curry and I loved every moment of it. Speaking of the green curry, it's my go to dish. Keo's does a well done job, i had medium spice and it had a nice balance in the curry. I do wish it had a little more coconut flavor but I guess the spice level may change that as well; hard to control.

I'm a sucker for iced coffee and Keo's did not disappoint with theirs. I didn't find it as sweet as vietnamese coffee, but Ive heard various differences between the two. Some say they're the same except different coffee beans, some tell me one doesn't use condensed milk (The horror!!) but i personally have no idea and didn't think to ask the server.

Back to the food, it all was pretty tasty. I would pass on the spring rolls next time, just growing up on them and especially having home made ones... its hard for me to like restaurant ones and their recipe for the meat. Nothing beats the food your parents make. And I also think spring rolls are ridiculously expensive.

Great plating, very modern and relaxing ambiance. Good service, she took the time to answer any questions 

The only thing i wish was that the veg in the curry was cut a little smaller. Mainly the cauliflower.... but that is of course, just my preference for my small mouth. The dessert was light and refreshing, probably won't get it again just because I find the others more appealing. It's essentially just a biscuit and vanilla ice cream, thats my go to at costco so sorry Keo's I'll try your custard or sticky rice next time ;)

Overall, I have no complaints and will be back to try the other menu items. Living up to all the recommendations I've been getting.

 

Make Up Forever : Smoky Extravagant Mascara Review

I usually stick to drug store mascaras because I usually don't wear mascara on a day to day basis. This Make Up Forever : Smoky Extravagant Mascara retails for $28/CAD at a local sephora. I got this as a sample when I was shopping there.

This is an alright mascara, hasn't changed my opinions about switching to higher end mascaras.  It does add length and somewhat volume I found. But it doesn't hold curl. I've realized over my years of life, that the only mascaras that claim they hold curl, actually only hold curl if theyre waterproof. This is not a waterproof mascara, so I wasn't expected it to hold a curl... and it didn't. It's clump free.

One thing I did really like about this mascara is the shape of the comb. With the cone shape, the thinner end grabs the inner eyelashes perfectly.

It didnt flake at all on me, worked fine with my contacts in. It's more of a natural look, in my opinion. Washes off super easily. Didn't smudge and it dries fairly fast.

Overall, i found it to be a more natural looking mascara. It provided adequate length and volume, didn't clump nor flaked/smudge. I wouldn't purchase this again because its not worth the price.

Too Faced - Better than Sex Mascara

 I love mascara samples, they [usually] last a couple weeks and you don't have to fork out heaps of money to give it a try.

For christmas, my gift to myself (along with many) was the Too Faced "Everything Nice" Holiday Palette, a small sample of Too Faced "Better Than Sex Mascara" came with it.

Bare lashes

I adore these scandalous names that companies give their products - its creative and humorous. I was of course, very curious to see if this mascara was, well... better than sex. ;)

With Better Than Sex

If you've read any of my previous mascara reviews, I mainly use waterproof mascaras since they are the only ones that have enough wax to hold the curl of my very straight lashes. And I usually don't spend money on high end brand name mascaras purely due to the product life of a mascara - its a costly product to keep repurchasing every 3 months. I'm already drowning in debt with student loans, I don't think its the best idea to add to that debt with beauty products... handbags on the other hand, well, thats another story.

This is an alright mascara, nothing amazing or a must try. It provides great volume, pretty decent length - you'll have fairly thick and "fluffy" lashes. I did notice a bit of flaking by the end of the day, it didn't bother my contacts or anything but it was still there and I feel like for some other people it have more of a negative affect.

One thing that I did notice while applying this mascara is that, i'm not sure whether its the shape of the wand or it's size but it can be at times very difficult to apply. Meaning it took me a little longer to apply this mascara than compared to others. I think its a mixture of its shape and its size... hm. Also, depending on your application, your lashes can clump together.

Overall, its a decent mascara. I wouldn't recommend to go buy a full size of this product to try, if it comes in part of a set that you've been eyeing - I'd say go for it. It gives you thick, fluffy lashes but be careful of your application because it can cause some clumping or it may take more time to apply this mascara.

Adore Me First Haul/Experience & Review

I've seen quite a few posts on instagram with a haul featuring "Adore Me". Adore Me is essentially a site that sells lingerie. They offer 'show rooms' each month featuring new/old products that fit your style (You take a test at the beginning). Its sort of a monthly subscription service but it's not mandatory to make a purchase each month.. which is something I enjoy.
I've been looking at their items every once in a while but never found anything worth committing to, especially for the price since I've never seen the quality of these items. But on black friday they were offering a special deal, your first set for ... wait for it...$8 dollars! Well 7.95 , but you just round it up to $8. I saw this really cute teddy, 'Ieesha' and thought , why not for $8 good way to try this out.

this is the product i ordered

I just received it in the mail, and must I say... It's barely worth the $8. I rarely shop at La senza, only when they have underwear for $3. La Senza bras are low quality and have low support for bigger busts and I feel like Adore me is at a lower level then La Senza

The color that it came in, did not represent the item that was shown on their site. As shown in the pictures I have attached. When i was purchasing the item, it did not show any offers for any other colors.
The 'cup' fabric is very flimsy and thin, the cut is not flattering and the straps do not provide support and are very cheap. I understand this is lingerie and support is something that rarely comes with it, but I've shopped at winners and have had better quality items. Overall this item is of cheap quality, did not look anything like it was suppose to online and worth maybe five dollars. I was very disappointed at the quality, the site has a vast inventory on very sexy and cute items that look like they're made of good quality fabrics.

 I may give Adore Me another try and actually try a bra set... if there was a good deal on it. Currently I feel like they are misrepresenting the quality and color of the items. I would not recommend it to any of my friends or family.

The Rock, Wood Fired Kitchen - Red Deer, Alberta

"My My Hey Hey"

Ive tried it numerous times since it has opened and "rocked" Red Deer. Every time I am left unimpressed and unsatisfied.

I've had numerous dishes from this place since it's opened (Only one photo, the most recent one):
"Get Back Mac", I was expecting some good ol comfort food. It was bland, not cheesy enough
"Classic Rock" Pizza, the basic pepperoni pizza. This wasn't bad, not overly greasy but not overly special. I can get the same satisfaction from Delissio.
"Flirtin With Disaster" Actually not bad, had a nice balance with the sweetness from the onions and a nice minor kick to it.
"Bourban Chicken Wrap" Just a generic wrap to me, nothing stood out in this dish verse a wrap at other restaurants
"Beer Battered Fries" Now this I believe everyone just loves,
"Chicken in a Basket" The fries were the only good thing about this. Too much batter on the chicken.
"My My Hey Hey" This was my latest meal @ the rock. It was bland, tasteless and boring. I was super disappointing since i was craving a creamy and rich pasta dish that day. I would have been more satisfied with sidekicks.

Sorry The Rock but the only thing that I would go to the rock for are it's drink specials. I feel like almost every dish I have is boring, tasteless and just doesn't deliver.

SKINNY TEATOX - 7 Day Review

I've been curious about these tea detoxes for a while and have been researching the many companies out there. I kept a relatively good diet for the week to see if it helped the results at all.
I must say, this fad on tea detoxes is just a fad. One of those diet fads like those who are straying from gluten in their diet because they believe it will help them lose weight.
I weighed myself before and after the 7 days and there was no change. I personally purchased the 7 days for around $35/cad because I knew I wouldn't stick to a 14 day commitment. It came in a simple white bubbled mailing envelope. I took the tea mainly for the detox purposes, to see if there was a difference in my body that I would notice with detoxing. And I was hoping there would be some weight loss benefits since I'm hitting a wall at the moment.

 I worked out the same amount as I normally would, 3-5 days a week for around 40-60 mins a day (depending on my work schedule). Side note, I have two serving jobs at busy restaurants, so basically each shift is a work out. My appetite was honestly the same, I didn't feel any less hungry then I normally would. One thing I did notice was that I did have a boost in energy, but I can get that with almost any tea. Taste wise, it was alright. I usually drink green tea or black teas which can be on the bitter side. This loose tea (the detoxing tea) tasted a bit bitter but not as strong as green tea or not overly bitter to the point where I hated drinking it. The packed tea, basically a laxative tea (Colon cleanser), tasted alright - personally I thought it tasted worse than the loose tea. I read reviews saying how the laxative aspect had a huge affect on many of them. You only take it every other day I believe and personally only one of those times I've taken it did i actually find it having an affect on my bowels.


 To conclude, I did not notice any benefits that were listed with the skinny teatox. I most likely will not be repurchasing Skinny Teatox, they do have some new products I am curious a bit about.. but for now I'll stick to my regular green tea or my juicer.

THE BODY SHOP - All In One Instablur Perfector Primer

I've tried many Body Shop make up Products.. most of them wasn't a big hit with me.  They came out with this new "ALL-IN-ONE™ INSTABLUR 5-ACTION PERFECTOR" recently and I decided to try it out. One this great about the Body Shop is their return policy... easy to make returns if it doesn't work out for you. You can purchase this for $22/Cad at your local Body Shop.. I would wait for a sale to come on , which they come out quite often.

I'm always on hunt for a good affordable primer, one that can keep your making up fresh looking all day, everyday. This primer... it was alright.

This primer strives itself on being a
"Five action perfector:

• Shine Controlling 12h
• Reduces appearance of pores
• Blemish Hiding
• Complexion Unifying
• Make-up Extending"

It kept my make up/face matte for most of the day, I wouldn't go

to as far to say for 12 hours (I do work in the restaurant industry so a lot of heat/sweat is involved). I didn't notice the blurring effect that is part of its name, not saying I have huge craters for pores (yet) but I still did not notice a reduction in the appearance of my pores when using this primer. As for blemish hiding and complexion unifying, I don't think any un tinted primer would be able to do that by itself? 

Overall, it didn't do anything special, it did mattify my face and made my make up last longer... but any drugstore primer can do that. It didn't make my make up look fresh for any extra amount of time vs competing brand primers..
I will not repurchase this primer and its not on my recommendation list.

Joey Chinook Calgary

Stopped by Joey's since we were at the mall and ready for food but didn't feel like going to the food court.

First off, rant: i'm probably the only person to complain about this but I must! I'm a petite person. And i find the seat/table height ratio at Joey's bothering. The booth/chair thingys are comfy and my feet do firmly touch the ground but when i first went to sit down, I underestimated how low it was and basically just flopped into my seat. The tables are rather high compared to the seats,  halfway past my chest high.
I'm use to tables being halfway up my stomach and barely any inches between my thighs and the table top. But there was a good 9 inches from my thigh to the table. I thought it was an awkward position. Why must you put those chairs so low and the tables so high up?

Putting aside that, the food at Joey's is pretty good. Worth its price. The service on the other hand... could be a little better. 
They were adequately staffed, by that I mean i saw plenty of hosts/servers wandering around especially regrouping at the host stand. I don't mind if they're chatting and all but they could have actually been more attentive towards the guests. We were seated right away, but our drink orders took a good while. At first we thought our server was going to stop by asking for our drinks but then after a while a different hostess came by to take our drink orders (three waters). A while longer, our server came by with our drinks. And i noticed the same thing happened to other tables. It wasn't too busy in there...
Other then the table/chair heights annoyance (First time this has happened) , I get annoyed when my water/drink is constantly empty. I drink a couple cups of water during a meal and if I have to ask multiple times for more water, especially if they have looked at the table a couple of times, i'm not overly impressed. Nor am i impressed when hostesses are wandering around that are capable of filling drinks/collecting plates, or when we asked a different server for a refill but she never did return with water...

... maybe i'm a little anal about my water. :P But seriously, our glasses were empty during the entire time of our mains before we could finally get our server to refill them.

FINALLY, the food part! 

We had the Lettuce Boats with Chicken to start. They will give you extra lettuce boats if you want them too. They were pretty good, nothing that made it different for me then any other restaurant with lettuce wraps. Slightly spicy sauce, nice crunchy noodles.

I had the Steak frites as my main. Loved the seasoning and the parsley butter on top. It was very tender. Only thing is that I asked for a medium rare steak and i found it to be ... pretty rare for a medium rare. Not complaining, as long as it is not blue or well done, I will eat it! Because it was pretty rare, it was pretty juicy as well. Love the fries that come with the meals, it reminds me of the fries at earls... thin and crunchy. Mcdonalds fries except 10x better.

(after some googling on Joey's Tomatoes I found out it is part of the earl's family, which explains those fries!)

Steak Frites

Medium Rare Steak

Panang Prawn Curry Bowl

 Had a bite of my friend's Panang Prawn Curry Bowl, I didn't find it too spicy but then again I do love spicy.. or maybe my bite just didn't have any since the others did say it was spicy. Nice creamy curry. I find the plating to be a little odd with that tower of rice...

My other friend had the Chicken Souvaki and said it was decent.. the chicken was well seasoned. Personally, I didn't see it to be worth the try...

Chicken Souvaki

To conclude, pretty good dishes, the chairs and table heights bothered me, it seemed the hostesses don't do much from my point of view, my server or rather the whole team could be a more attentive. Worth the go.


Joey's AB Menu