Exploring Canada - Maple Syrup & All {2/3}

[trip style = urban + wine tasting]

I feel very strongly about Canada. When someone tells me they like Quebec's maple syrup, I take it as a personal compliment. I'm not from Quebec, nor do I make syrup or know anything about tapping the tree, but as big, as far, and as wide as Canada's border extends, every bit is part of me. Maple syrup and all.

Since Tuesday I've been tasting my way through Vancouver, Richmond and the Okanagan with four other bloggers from Paris, Australia, the UK and India. The maple syrup factor has come into play a lot. I blush a little hearing them gush about eating doughnuts in Vancouver, drinking bubble tea in Richmond, and sharing chicken poutine in Kelowna, again, as if I had something to do with the process.

Being a tourist in my own backyard offers a crash course in Canada all over again. And I love it. Everything is new. Even in familiar territory, it's healthy to switch into tourist 'learning' mode sometimes, because there's always a region, restaurant, shop or person that's new---something I've been discovering on this trip, as well as on jaunts to Montreal, Banff and Victoria over the past few months.

As my train was pulling into Banff National Park a few months ago, I could not believe my eyes. Surrounded by a real-time reel of nature through my glass-domed coach, the jagged, snow-dusted edges of the rocky mountains humbled my soul and put my camera in workout mode.

Oh, and by the way, when everyone in my train coach was admiring the Rocky Mountains, I took that as a compliment too, as if I painted the snow on the rocks and hand-selected the positioning of the trees below the peaks.

Speaking of real-time reels, you can find my Canadian version via instagram, twitter and facebook. Otherwise, I'll be posting a full feature on Monday. In the meantime, I'll be sipping wine on the Naramata Bench. Cheers!

[photos taken while exploring BC via Tourism Canada]

Exploring Canada {1/3}

[trip style = urban + sightseeing + wine tasting]

This week I get to be a tourist in my own backyard, gushing about BC’s coast and countryside, while snapping and scribing the latest and greatest.

Over the month of September, Tourism Canada has invited a bevy of international bloggers to comb the  True North from coast to coast. Some are pop culture junkies, some are foodies, some are adventurers and some are photogs {for example, in my group we have a New Delhi-based photog whose shot for National Geographic}. On the menu: Heli-yoga in Alberta, lobster fests in PEI and wine tasting in the Okanagan. {Mountie sightings not guaranteed}.

Covering the nation from the Pacific to the Atlantic, four teams are combing Canada's varied landscape for a class in Canadiana 101. Four Canadian bloggers are also jumping onboard, each one of us covering a different region. I’m e-x-t-a-t-i-c to be part of the BC group, because eh, as much as I write about traveling elsewhere in the world, I’m also a huge proponent of getting up close and personal with one’s own nation.

My trip started yesterday and wraps up on Saturday. I’ve made a short video---gulp, please DON'T judge or stop reading TS because of it---outlining the trip's 411. I wish it was funny, but it's not, and someone has already "disliked" it on YouTube---SO MEAN. {Note to self: get better at videos.}

As a result, this week we’re tweaking our regular editorial schedule to fill your cuppeth full of red and white kanadian Kool-Aid {my fave flavor} today, Friday and Monday. Follow my adventures sipping cocktails in Gastown, sampling dim sum and bubble tea in Richmond and savoring wine in the Okanagan.

I’ll be posting regularly to instagram, twitter and facebook, and if you’re a real keener, follow the #explorecanada hastag on instagram and twitter to see BC from FIVE different perspectives.

[graphic via tourism Canada]

School Is Cool In PDX

[trip style = urban]

Whether it's just-pressed apple juice, just-cured bacon, or just-foraged mushrooms, everything tastes better fresh. This farm-to-table approach to food defined my weekend at the first-annual Bon Appetit-sponsored Feast Portland, a culinary celebration of Oregon's biggest export besides music, hipsterdom and Pendleton. If you read TS regularly, you know that I'm a big fan of the place and its provisions, so when I got the chance to see the faces behind the food and the techniques behind the craft, I was in like {barrel-aged} gin.

Like iron sharpens iron, diners and chefs keep each other accountable in Portland. There's truth to the Portlandia sketch where Fred and Carrie sit down at a local restaurant for a chicken dinner and ask to visit the farm where the bird is sourced. Putting this to the test, when eating brunch yesterday morning at The Woodsman Tavern, I jokingly asked my server where my bacon was from and he responded with a cheerleader-like fist pump: "It's hyperlocal; the pork hails from a nearby farm and we cure it in house." Touché.

Attending Feast was like going back to school {except cool}. At "Feast U", the principal is a fashionable foodie magazine editor, the gym coach bartends, the teachers dish up 10 courses of passion and the dress code is denim-on-denim. After class, foodie grand central keeps boiling with grand-scale events---sans tuxes or gowns---and a baker's dozen chef-led tasting menus at restaurants like Luce, which was recently voted one of the top 10 new restaurants in the US by Bon Appetit.

Did my culinary classes measure up? My teacher evaluation would give four heaping tablespoons of YES.

A Taste Of Feast

{Thursday Night :: The Sandwich Invitational. Multiple chefs, a bajillion sandwiches. Shown: maple-glazed pork belly with pickled watermelon slaw on housemade semolina buns from Beast---the evening's big winner.}

{Friday Morning :: Coffee That Rocks with the guys behind Portland-based Stumptown Coffee, who demonstrated how to make the most of your morning ritual with five home-brewing techniques.}

{Friday Afternoon :: Strange Brew with local brewers, where I learned about commonplace to experimental craft brews, like lychee beer aged in white wine barrels, or cucumber and lime zest beer with hint of sea salt.}

{Friday Night :: Feast Portland Night Market. An outdoor street food party with corned duck pancakes from Departure, smoked salmon poofs from Bent Brick and a DJ on the side!}

{Saturday Afternoon :: Thai Street Food with Andy Ricker of the always-busy Pok Pok. Note: you can only get Andy's pad thai at sister restaurant the Whiskey Soda Lounge---across the street from Pok Pok---from 10pm onwards.}

{Culinary Techniques for the Home Bartender with Jeffrey Morgenthaler, experimental barman and cocktail blogger from Clyde Common.}

{Sunday Morning :: Brunch at The Woodsman Tavern. Shiffed eggs with local bacon.}

If you can believe it, I did a ton of eating outside of Feast too---my belt has since been adjusted accordingly. I'll share my best extracurricular meals on TS at a later date. Stay tuned.

Related
Fashion Friday :: Falling For Portland
PDX'ing in Pictures
Ace Portland
IMG_FRI :: Portlandia
Vancouver to Seattle Must-Stops

[photos taken by @tripstyler when in portland as a guest of oregon cvb]

Fashion Friday :: Falling for Portland

[trip style = urban]

Fashion Friday posts are published on the last Friday of every month by fashion blogger Heather

Tax-free shopping. Need I say more? No, but while we're on the topic, I must mention that the City of Roses, famous for its culinary and coffee scene, cycle culture and offbeat tv show, has some pretty killer shops where you can spend your tax-free dollars. Here are a couple of my downtown favorites...

Around the corner from my favorite Portland hotel, the Ace, is my favorite Portland shop, frances may, where you can find lines like Rachel Comey, Lizzie Fortunato, APC, Suno, Rag & Bone, Wings & Horns and Gitman Brothers. You can also spend some quality time chatting with friendly shop girl, Ashley.

Just up the road, you'll find Alder & Co., a well-curated home, accessories and clothing store. Just a warning: It's almost impossible to leave without buying something!

Portland mini shopping guide {for women & men}
- Una
- Filson
- The Woodlands
- Odessa

[photos via frances may, alder & co., portland mercury, luckymag, travel portland]

Travel Beauty :: Gorgeous Hair in Five Minutes

[trip style = any]

{Want more travel beauty? Get your fill the third Wednesday of every month. Lauren, our travel beauty expert, is already whipping up her next concoction post!}

I recently took a few trip style = weekend trips with my family, which includes a squirmy, out-of-control one-year-old. Add to the fact that I'm almost 8 months pregnant and you'll understand why I literally never get more than five minutes to apply my makeup and do my hair. I've come to realize that unless I'm going out for a big night, none of us need more than five minutes to complete our look. All that's need is a plan and the right products and tools.

Let's start with hair {the five-minute face is coming next month!}; here are a few variations of my favorite style, the ponytail. Ponytails always look chic and put together, and best of all, they take minutes to create.

Sleek Create a deep side part then lightly smooth the hair back and secure into a low ponytail, leaving out a small 1" section of hair underneath the pony. Take that section and wrap it over the elastic band, securing it with a pin underneath. Brush through the ponytail to smooth the hair and use a light hair spray {I love Alterna Bamboo Smooth Anti-Humidity Hair Spray} to hold the style and keep frizz away.

Casual Start by spraying a texturizer like Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray throughout the hair for a beachy, piecey look. Use fingers to tossle the hair a little, part it down the middle and gather it at the back into a loose ponytail. Allow layers or bangs to fall alongside your face.

Trendy Use a comb to carefully backcomb the top portion of the hair, and lightly smooth it back maintaining volume. Gather hair back into a high ponytail, keeping the sides of the hair sleek but leaving the top of the head voluminous with height. Secure with an elastic and spritz with hair spray.

Romantic Create a slightly off-center part, then use a large barrel curling iron to curl the hair into big waves. You don't have to curl all the hair, just choose key pieces so you have more waves than straight parts. Don't brush the hair, rather use fingers to create this look as it's a soft, loose style rather than smooth and sleek. Gather the hair over one shoulder and secure into a loose side ponytail, allowing the curls to fall over your shoulder. Spray with hair spray and allow any layers to fall along the side of your face.

More Travel Beauty A Sky-Vival Kit The Best BB Creams For Travel How To Prolong Your Gorgeous Glow In-Flight Beauty Masks Q&A With OPI’s Founder {Nail Tips For Travel} On-The-Go Teeth Cleaning St. Tropez’ Celebrity Tanning Expert’s Self-Tanning Secrets  Q&A With Dr. Murad

[collage by @tripstyler with images sourced online]