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Curiously Carmen

Memphis Blues BBQ House

August 17, 2017

It’s no secret that the boyfriend and I love our BBQ meats! One of the places the boyfriend has been wanting to try for the past year was Memphis Blues, but we never ended up getting around to it until this summer! Since we tried this place, it’s been our go-to for BBQ in Vancouver.

This post features our first visit, and another visit with friends. We’ve also been a couple more times that I didn’t take pictures of, because we pretty much ordered the same thing.

We vary between going to the West Broadway or Commercial location. We found out on our second visit that the West Broadway one has free parking underground, but unfortunately it was all full.

The picture above is of the West Broadway location! I’m not going to write a review for the Commercial location because the quality and taste of both don’t vary much.

Jambalaya (Prices aren’t listed on their website): Jambalaya is a strange thing to order at a BBQ restaurant, but the boyfriend thought it was really good! It was incredibly cheesy, and came loaded with chicken, shrimp, and sausage. He would love to order it again.

Two meat combo, $25~ (From memory, price not listed on website): The two meat combo is great for two people. Since it was out first visit, we made the mistake of ordering both the jambalaya and the combo. But hey, now we know the portion sizes for the future!

Brisket is my favourite type of BBQ meat, and it was very delicious. It was tender, with a delicious smokey flavour to it. The pulled pork was also very tender and flavourful. The sides of beans, cole slaw, and cornbread also really filled us up!

On our second visit, we came with our friends since Fairy Bread was wanting to try this place! When we all got there, we found out they were having a special on the Elvis platter, which is what we were planning on sharing! I don’t remember the exact discount though, and their website sucks.

Elvis platter: The Elvis platter is meant to share for 6 people, which is what we did! Our eyes were wide and our stomachs were ready to devour this platter. It came with BBQ chicken,ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork, ribends, sausage and beans, cole slaw, and potato salad as the sides.

Surprisingly, the potato salad was one of the stars that day! Some of us found that the brisket was more on the dry side, unfortunately. The brisket on my first visit was definitely more tender than this visit.

Memphis Blues is a solid choice if you’re wanting some BBQ in Vancouver. Vancouver isn’t well known for BBQ which is a shame. I think there are only a handful of BBQ places. Perhaps more BBQ places will pop up! You know where to find us if they do.

Yay!

Memphis Blues Barbeque House Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, western

Product Empties – Summer 2017(Part 2/2)

August 14, 2017

After 3.5 years of blogging and not having a single product empty post, I am now back with two in a row! How funny is that =P I would love to write more empty posts, if only I could finish products fast enough. But I will try to motivate myself and write another one in the fall.
 I’ll also link the original review if possible, in case you’re interested in reading more about the product!
Dove Visibly Smooth Deodorant: I mentioned in the past empties post that products lose its effect on me after prolonged use, which is why it’s hard for me to write empties often! Anyways, I found this deodorant to be okay… Well, it was good at first but then I got tired of the scent. I only buy deodorant on sale so if this is line is on sale and there aren’t other scents I like more, I’ll get it.

Would I repurchase? Meh… if on sale I would.

Amie Deep Cleansing Mask: This is not a well known product at all, and I don’t even think they sell it in Canada despite saying so, but I LOVE it. It’s great for breakouts! I received it twice as a PR sample, so I actually went through two bottles. Since they don’t sell it in Canada and I loved it that much, I decided to order it online which is rare for me. Anyways, it took over a month but it’s finally here.

Would I repurchase? Yup, already did!

Kat Von D Tattoo Liner: Hah! This goes without saying… my go-to liner that will never disappoint me. My absolute makeup staple.

Would I purchase? I lost track of how many times I repurchased this! Actually I repurchased this for the 23423th time last month, except they were out of this one so I tried the new felt tip. No problems at all with the felt tip!
Crabtree & Evelyn Handcream: I really enjoyed this handcream, and will probably keep an eye out for when it goes on sale again!

Would I repurchase? Yup!

Weleda Evening Primrose Body Wash: Surprisingly, I finished this body wash pretty fast! Well maybe not surprisingly, body wash is the easiest to use up because I shower every day…. and I hope you do too! Anyways, I never ended up writing a separate review for this body wash which I kind of regret, because it’s amazing. I wrote a review on their day and night cream which works really well too.

Would I repurchase? Yup!

———-

Stay tuned for the next empties post… coming to you in another 3.5 years! LOL jk, I am going to make a huge effort to write another one for fall!


Filed Under: Beauty, body, face, makeup

Product Empties – Summer 2017 (Part 1/2)

August 11, 2017

I am so excited and happy to finally be doing an empties post! The first ever on my blog! Well obviously I have finished products before this but there weren’t ever enough at once to write a post about it.

Why am I so excited? Because excluding my daily products of brow pencil and eyeliner, it takes me a super long time to finish products! I’m talking like… a year… or more because I only use my brow pencil & liner everyday, and I like to switch up my face products, foundations, etc.

I find that if I use the same moisturizers, face wash, deodorant, etc.. it slowly minimizes their effect because my skin has gotten used to it. And I know I’m not the only one because I’ve heard about it from Youtubers!

Anyways, enough rambling… Even more great news, I managed to have enough empties to do TWO blog posts! So I will be doing a part 2, because I hate super long blog posts!

Estee Lauder DayWear Matte cream: I have been using this on and off due to trying and testing new moisturizers. But when I don’t have any new ones to try, I can always rely on this to moisturize my skin! This cream is more of a gel and feels very light weight.

Would I repurchase? Yes!

Weleda Almond Soothing Facial Lotion: I talked about this product three months ago. It is a bit odd that I can finish a moisturizer in three months, but this thing is super tiny! It is a very gentle moisturizer, with a hint of almond scent. Here is my original review on it.

Would I repurchase? Yes!

Sephora Waterproof Eyeliner: This product has been tossed around from makeup area to various makeup bags, traveling, etc… that the print is completely gone and the smudge tip is long gone. It wasn’t one of my favourite eyeliners because it smudged easily. By the end of the work day, I would have a bit of a raccoon eye. Honestly don’t know why I kept using it, but at least it’s finally done.

Would I repurchase? Nope!

First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser: I received this as a present 2 Christmases ago, and I finally finished it! I LOVED this cleanser. It’s very gentle, but also removed my full makeup looks effortlessly. As well, it never dried out my skin. I liked to “save” this for occasions when I wear a full face of makeup because it’s $15 for a travel size. Although now that I think about it, that’s cheap compared to other face products at Sephora. Here is my original review on it.

Would I repurchase? Yup,  in fact I bought another one two weeks ago!

St. Ives Apricot Scrub: Okay, this is like a washroom staple… I say this because I’ve seen many homes carry this product (Yes, I notice what products people use when I go to their washrooms LOL). Plus, it’s a very affordable price and works really well! I started off using this scrub on my face, but over the years, my skin became slightly more sensitive and this was too harsh.

So, I ended up using this as an exfoliator for my body to prevent ingrowns, pimples, etc.

Would I repurchase? Yup, I ended up buying it in a jar format because it’s easier to use in the shower. As well, in high school, I bought this many times so you could say it’s definitely a staple for me!

———-

Stay tuned for part 2 of my empties! On a side note, I didn’t know that talking about empties was considered a weird thing to people who aren’t interested in beauty. In one of the Facebook groups I’m in, one blogger joked how we like to take pictures of our garbage and share it with others who love to see our garbage. LOL!!!


Filed Under: Beauty, body, face, makeup

Lucky’s Smokehouse

August 9, 2017

Back in May, the boyfriend and I went on a weekend getaway to the Sunshine Coast! I have a couple of food posts to publish still. Plus, there is a Sunshine Coast weekend itinerary at the end of this post if you’re thinking of heading there as well!

After we got off the ferry to the Sunshine Coast, we were ready for lunch! The boyfriend found Lucky’s Smokehouse on Trip Advisor, and being the barbeque fan that he is, he really wanted to go check it out. I’m glad we did because it was probably the best restaurant that we ate at on our trip.

Lucky’s Restaurant is located in Sechelt, about a 25 minute drive from the ferry. Sunshine Coast has one main road called the Sunshine Coast Highway (it’s not a highway at all though) and once you get into Sechelt, you make a right and it’s there. We actually drove by it the first time by accident because it was a bit hidden and surrounded by car repair shops and such.

When we parked the car and walked over, we were greeted immediately by a delicious, smoky BBQ smell outside. Taking that as a good sign!

After ordering and paying at the counter, the staff will bring you your food. There are two tables outside for you to enjoy on a sunny day, which is what we did. The outside tables had a water bowl for dogs as well!

Train wreck, $15.95: The boyfriend’s colossal meat tower burger. It came with their signature BBQ pulled pork, sausage, and brisket. He was in love at first bite. All of the meat was extremely tender and full of smoky flavour. I had a few bites and I enjoyed it as well, although there was too much meat in it for me. I would have liked it with just the pulled pork, and MAYBE the brisket. I have a really sensitive stomach and IBS so I would have a really hard time digesting all that meat protein.

BBQ chicken burger, $11.95: I was in a chicken mood, so I decided to order this. It was also very tasty, although it didn’t have the “WOW” factor like the train wreck burger. I’m glad that I ordered the BBQ one because without the BBQ sauce, it would have been pretty plain.

For our sides, we ordered salads to balance out the unhealthiness. Well, the boyfriend was actually going to get potato salad, but he was glad he chose the salad as the train wreck burger was very rich and filling. He wouldn’t have been able to finish a starchy potato salad too.

If you’re a barbeque lover, check out Lucky’s Smokehouse! It wasn’t too busy when we went, but I suspect that it will be busier as peak summer season approaches.

Planning a getaway to the Sunshine Coast? Here is a post on our weekend itinerary!

Lucky's Smokehouse Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato


Filed Under: food & drink, Sunshine Coast, travel

Hard Candy Stroke of Gorgeous Eyeliner Duo

August 7, 2017

I wasn’t sure what to title this post because the packaging had many different names on it. I ended up following what was labelled on the product itself. I have been trying out Hard Candy products this summer, so keep your eyes out on more Hard Candy reviews! This Hard Candy product is a double tipped eyeliner.

What it says (Taken from PR release):

This dual-ended eyeliner equips you with both a soft kajal eyeliner and an ultra-black long-wearing liquid
liner: everything you need for perfect eyeliner every time. Glide on the soft kohl kajal along the lash line’s inner rim and smudge to fade around the edges. Then, line top lash line with the blackest black, precision tip liquid liner for eye-popping drama.

Application: The application was one of the things I enjoyed most about the eyeliner! The overall feel of the liner reminded me of a felt marker in elementary school! So cute! The size is about the same as well.

Since there are two applicator tips, I will start with the felt tip. The felt tip was thicker than I was used to, but it wasn’t a problem. I wasn’t able to get a tight, precise line so I only used the felt time for winging out my liner. For the pencil/kajal (I’m describing it as a pencil because some people might not know what a kajal tip is), it was thinner so I used that to tightline and line the rest of my eyes.

Wear: Both tips were intensely black! I normally wear the blackest liner so this was right up my alley. However, I was quite disappointed with the wear. Within a couple hours, the liner started to crease and smudge. Overall, it did not look good or fresh anymore.

– Beautiful, intense black
-Both tips were easy to apply, colour glided on smoothly
-Good price at $7.98 CAD

-Lasted only two hours on me before it started to crease & smudge

Nay…


Filed Under: Beauty, eyes, makeup

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Hi and welcome to Curiously Carmen! I am Carmen, the girl behind the blog. You can read more about me here!

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