$100 Wednesday Giveaway!

Today’s giveaway is from Shopgirls, a beautiful gallery boutique based in Toronto that just recently celebrated its 5 year anniversary. Huge congrats! Their selection features over 80 of the best Canadian designers to bring you the latest and most unique designs straight to your home. All their pieces are tailored to celebrate the female form as it should be and they cater to women of all shapes. The ever launched a Shop Your Shape campaign to take the focus off size and help women feel beautiful in their own skin. Bravo! Bonus: they sell the most flattering jeans in the world :)

Today, Shopgirls is offering one lucky person a chance to win a $100 gift card to their shop. Isn't that fantastic? You can totally pick and choose what you fancy the most. I would get this beautifully flowy blouse or the super sassy dress or maybe even those cute tomboyish pants. I also adore those silk shorts and this wrap skirt would look rather beautiful with a simple tee and red lips.

For a chance to win you should be a follower of exPress-o + follow Shopgirls on Twitter, visit the Shopgirls online-boutique and tell us which piece is your favourite or which piece/s would you choose. As always the giveaway is open worldwide. The winner will be chosen at random on Sunday night. Good luck! xo

For extra entries:
Follow exPress-o on Twitter, like Shopgirls on Facebook, follow Shopgirls on Pinterest, join exPress-o group on Facebook, follow Shopgirls on Instagram , follow exPress-o on Pinterest or tweet, blog about the giveaway and please make sure to leave a separate comment for each.

How To Make Moroccan Mint Tea (+ one special ingredient)

Whenever Balazs and I have a dinner in our local Moroccan spot down the street, afterwards I always promise myself that I'll try recreating their signature Moroccan mint tea at home. Have you ever tried the traditional blend? It's such a staple and it gives a regular mint tea run for its money - big time! Anyway, after a few failed attempts I finally found the perfect recipe blend that takes me back to my favourite restaurant with every sip. The secret ingredient? Well, it's verbena leaves. They add that special citrus flavour that refreshes you and energizes your whole body in an instant. Plus, the whole drink looks super fancy and beautiful, so you can feel like you are somewhere special when you drink it. The little things in life!

If you fancy trying it, here is the how to:
Put 1 green tea bag, a handful of mint sprigs and a small handful of dried verbena leaves into a cooking pan and pour in 4 cups of water. Bring the whole mix to boil and simmer for about 5 minutes before pouring it off to pre-prepared glasses. Psst: don't forget to add a sprig of mint to each glass for that fancy factor and a bit of honey for sweetness :)

Btw: you can drink it hot or cold. After your tea cools off a bit, just add a few ice cubes on top:) It's the perfect thing for hot days. Ta dah!

P.S: Also how to make a spiced chai concentrate and delicious green sun tea:)
P.P.S: Super snazzy GIVEAWAY is coming up!

(Recipe adapted from Fern Green. Photo by Polly Wreford and Sarah Kaye for Red Mag)

9 Frames

Have you heard about 9 Film Frames? It’s an awesome tumblr that showcases some totally iconic films using only nine of its frames. It’s a great way to get a feel of the films - they bring back memories or might even entice you to watch them. If you are a movie buff, you will love this place :). Above are a few of my favourites. What are yours?

From top: Amelie, The Royal Tenenbaums, Mulholland Drive, Inception, The Dark Knight, The Shining, The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Three Colors Trilogy and The Darjeeling Limited

P.S: Plus, a few other films that I love right now.

(via Sho & Tell)

Oversized Clutch: Thumbs up or down?

Would you wear an oversized clutch on a daily basis? Ever since I can remember, I thought they were ideal for date nights as they are the perfect busy-hands accessory. You can fit in them just enough without over packing, plus I'm convinced they make your arms look super sexy:). Anyway, last week I’ve received a sassy and understated oversized black clutch as a gift from a sweet friend and decided to just roll with it for a few days and wear it with my usual casual gear of jeans and tees. At first, I thought it would be on my way because of its size, but it actually felt very comfy to just stick it under my arm and stroll on. What do you think? xo

P.S: This one looks almost identical to the one I own.
P.P.S: And here is the sassiest backpack and a paper bag with a twist:)

(Photos by/via Stockholm Streetstyle, Wendy's Lookbook, Obaz, Polished to Perfection, The Suburban Diary, Lolobu, The Northern light, Le Fashion)

Raw Emotions

29 minutes...
7 min...
45 min...
5 min...
28 min...
8 min...
3 min...

Imagine sitting across from someone you don’t know but who stares into your eyes…now, what kind of emotions do you think you will feel? Would you break down, be uncomfortable or wouldn’t feel anything at all? How many minutes would it take you to start crying?

Back in 2010 an amazing performance artist Marina Abramović put on an art exhibition at the New York’s MoMA where she sat on a chair and stared into the eyes of anymore who was brave enough to engage her. The rules were simple; just sit down across from Marina and let your emotions take you over. There was not time restriction so you could leave anytime you were done without a word. Marina sat in the museum for a total of 716 hours and 30 minutes and engaged with over 1500 people. The photos above are the collection of the raw emotions that many of the individuals experienced at the time when they were sitting across from Marina.

The strangest thing is that by just looking at those photos I get a bit choked up and I wonder what they were thinking about at that exact moment when the photo was taken. Were those the tears of grief, love-lost, happiness, regret, sadness, hope or maybe a final goodbye...

And here is an incredibly emotional video of the artist herself reunited with her former love that she hasn’t seen in years. They had an intense relationship in the 70s when they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end and meeting for the last time in the middle…but they never seen each other again…till that day back in 2010 when he sat across from her during the exhibition. Just like that! (Little warning: you will need tissues. Every time I watch it, I get chills). xo

P.S: A Soldier's story.
P.P.S: Women are heroes.

(via My Modern Met, video via Swiss Miss)

Llama Type of Day

Fancy a smile? Recently a Canadian photographer, Jen Osborne had a one day assignment that left her amazed and utterly happy. She was asked to photograph two therapy llamas on the job at a Washington state rehabilitation centre where elderly people are recovering from illnesses. She said that as soon as the patients knew that llamas are coming, the whole vibe of the rather sad place became vibrant and uplifting. They all patiently waited for their turn to hug, kiss, cuddle or just be around those calm creatures that are often associated with naughtiness or aggression. But Jen said they were very calm, tolerant and incredibly therapeutic. It always amazes me how much joy animals bring us with their presence, wiggly tails, sweet eyes and loving aura.

Do you have a pet? xo

P.S: Remember those cuties or those two best pals?

(via Slate)

Walking meetings?

Would you go for a walking coffee date/meeting with a friend or a colleague? Recently, I read Nilofer’s article where she boldly stated that sitting is the smoking of our generation. As harsh as that might sound, it's true. Sadly (or not) the 21st century is all about technology, whether it's work or play, and we tend to swap walking, strolling or outdoor activities for sitting, watching and browsing. It’s incredible to think that on average we sit about 9 hours a day while sleeping about 7 hours. Sitting became so prevalent that we don’t even question or realize how much we actually do it.

How long do you sit on average each day? I’m totally guilty of over-sitting. There are days that I have cooking clubs or a recipe day and I stand all day long, but there are others that I spend even up to 10 hours at my monitor working on projects, writing for exPress-o or doing a research. Knowing all that and being super inspired by Nilofer's article, I decided not to be a statistic anymore!

About 3 weeks ago I started scheduling my Tuesday morning breakfast dates with Sofia in a park. We used to meet in a Bistro down the road for a French toast and eggs breakfast, but now we just pick up a cup of coffee and an egg sandwich, put on running shoes and off we go. We walk for 1,5 hours instead of sitting. It’s not much but it’s already something and you know what? Tuesday just became my favourite day ever! I feel inspired, lighter, my mind is clearer and my brain is more absorbent. Can you imagine how much better we could feel if we made this into a long lasting habit? Are you game?

Psst: From now on, every Tuesday morning, I’ll tweet a photo of my walking path and if you decide to join in, just tweet yours too in a way that I can see it. We can be walking buddies even if we are in two different countries, continents, cities or neighbourhoods. Deal? xo

P.S: And the healther way to phone chit-chats!
P.P.S: Plus a few great ways to cope with stress.

(Photos by/via David Bellemere, Hamburg Kennedy, Hip Paris)