The Toque Girls

I’m writing this post about Calgary’s newest burger joint, Clive Burger, about five minutes after polishing off my delicious burger. I just ran across the street to the Starbucks on 17th Ave. to write this post and to get a quick caffeine hit before meeting an old friend at Brava for wine. Have I mentioned I love tonight’s activities?

The kind people at Clive Burger hosted an event for media folk tonight and I’m so happy I stopped in. Considering I still have burger juice on my wrist — classy! — I know what I’m talking about when I say the meal was pure yum. I ordered a single patty with cheese, mushrooms, fried onions, pickles and other toppings I can’t even remember and it was messy perfection. The fries were incredible, too.

I have a tidbit to share about Clive Burger but you have to promise to keep it secret, okay? Thanks.

I asked where the name Clive came from and was told that it’s a partner’s dad’s name — but they’re keeping it secret until the dad checks the place out. So sweet!

Also something to note: Clive Burger is starting its late-night hours, which means you can stop in before 1 a.m. to get a late-night treat on your stumble home. You know, when you’re messy perfection yourself.

~Michelle

I’m a terrible model. I get nervous and go for funny rather than glamourous every time. Baby dinosaur? I do a killer imitation. Lizard face? Check. Glamour? Not so much.

So, just in time for wedding season, I enlisted the help of trish boyko (no caps at her request) of Calgary’s f8 photography Inc. She and her husband, Matt, have been shooting weddings together for 13 years. On the side, trish does glamour photography, too. She fell in love with glamour photography through her work with brides. Those are moments when a woman’s curves, glamour, beauty and confidence really shine through, she says.

Trish gave me a few tips for women who want their look to be more glamour, less baby dinosaur when there’s camera pointed in their direction.

1. Stance

Glamour is all about the way a woman stands. It’s about creating curves, elegance, grace. Don’t face the camera dead-on like a football player (I totally did this at my wedding!!); instead, turn slightly to the side. Now, step forward slightly with the front foot, bringing it slightly in front of the other. That will give you a lovely curve along your thigh and bottom. If you raise up a little onto the toe of the front foot, it activates the muscles in the leg and shows off your toned shape.

Keep your shoulders down. Try this: lift your shoulders up to your ears, slide them back an inch, and let them drop into place. Feel your posture improve? Good. Now keep them at that level. You can still use your shoulders to accentuate curves; move one forward, one back; one up, one down.

2. Arms

Arms deserve special mention. Bend your elbows lightly, and keep your arms away from your body. Put a hand on your hip if you want. That gives you sexier arms than if they’re squished up against your body. If you are not confident about your arms, three-quarter-length sleeves look gorgeous in photos. (The most important thing, she says, is that a bride feels good in her gown. Buy a dress that shows off your favourite assets.)

3. Face

Tilt your face out towards the camera. That will accentuate your bone structure and elongate your neck. Like Tyra Banks always tells the models on America’s Next Top Model, smile at the camera with your eyes. Sounds nuts, but it works! Engage the camera with your eyes; don’t just stare at it.

4. Avoid Tone-on-Tone Colours

Find colours that pop. “If you are using white flowers, make sure you’ve included a lot of green in the bouquet.” If you are planning an engagement session or family photos, she cautions against wearing anything with a logo. Go for clothes that you make you feel amazing. Black always works well for photos, she says.

This is my beautiful sister on her wedding day (she’s a photo pro and really knows how to make an image pop!):

And some other suggestions for the wedding day:

5. Give The Photographer Plenty of Time

Trish recommends booking two or three hours with your photographer. That way, you have time to enjoy the photos and no one has to stress about holding up the reception. Make sure you leave yourself some wiggle room for things like traffic problems, missing flower girls or any other hiccups.

Trish also suggests brides leave enough time for the photographer to get picture of the details of the reception — the flowers, the plating, etc — before everyone digs into dinner.

5. Consider an Engagement Session

It’s a good way for the couple to get accustomed to the photographer, and the photographer to get a good sense of the couple. (We didn’t do an engagement session and we definitely started out very unnatural in front of the camera that day!)

You can find more of f8′s beautiful work here.

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I’m working on a post for next week with Calgary makeup artist, Trena Laine. She’ll give you her makeup tips! (She has some very good suggestions for women who cry during weddings.)

~Chris

PS – Jennifer Dykstra of Open Image Photography was our wedding photographer and did an amazing job! Our time with her was one of the highlights of our wedding day. Jen is a specialist in working with people that love outdoor adventures.

Hey gang! Chris here. I’m struggling to switch my brain from holiday mode to serious work mode. So, let’s say we both procrastinate a bit and go through the Scotland pics. Agreed?

I already told you about our little flat. The flat’s guest book is filled with messages from past guests, describing their Edinburgh highlights. The book turned us onto a nearby pub, The Magnum, where we headed for our first dinner. It was DOPE! (I’ve been on a marathon of watching The Voice since I’ve been back and Christina Aguilera-isms keep busting into my vocabulary.)

Day Two, our Canadian-turned-Scottish friend Sabrina picked us up and took us on a tour of the countryside. We visited gorgeous St. Andrews (home of the world’s oldest golf course and where Kate and William first met), drank beer for lunch and drank whiskey for tea time. Lovely Sabrina drove us all over the place; we saw highlands (from a distance), sheep, beautiful little towns and more shades of green than I knew existed.

My favourite stop was Dunkeld, a village where people spoke with accents so thick that I couldn’t understand a word but with lilts so lovely that it sounded like poetry! We counted seven pubs for population of 400. Impressive, no? There’s a beautiful Hilton just outside the village and I’m staying there at some point in my life.

Day three, we walked ourselves silly. The heels of my shoes were wearing away by day’s end. We visited castles, the museum at the Royal College of Surgeons (fascinating and macabre) and walked up and down the Royal Mile. Late in the afternoon, when we were already exhausted, we decided to hike up Arthur’s Seat, the main peak of a group of hills overlooking the city. Amazing!

We ended the climb with a fantastic meal and a pint at Holyrood 9A, a pub near the University of Edinburgh. Not my prettiest moment here, but I’d just hoofed it up a big hill!

On our last day, we did something that no one else under 60 years old would admit to: we visited Britannia, the former royal yacht. Mock me all you want, it was fascinating! The yacht was decommissioned in 1997 and docked in the Edinburgh port, right up against the back of a shopping mall. So you can go to the yacht and then to Debenhams.

Inside, the yacht is  almost as it was when it was still the Queen’s floating home. We saw her bedroom with its tiny floral-covered bed, the family’s gin stash and beautiful candid photos of the family. Back in the day, they used to host official state dinners on the ship. Staff typically took three hours to set the table as they meticulously measured everything with a ruler to make sure the spacing was perfect.

That about covers it! Now, back to work.

~Chris

We’re back from Scotland! Our trip was all kinds of awesome: charming pubs, beautiful walks, a visit on the queen’s yacht and so much more.

I’ll fill you in on the details later this week once I’ve cleared the jet lag cobwebs out of my brain. For now, I’m excited to tell you about where we stayed. This (below) was our living room:

We rented this one-bedroom Edinburgh flat after finding it on Airbnb, a Web site that lists flats, rooms, even castles available for rent from private individuals around the world. It was our first time to using Airbnb and we’re hooked. (I’m now obsessed with looking up houses in Spain.)

Our apartment took up part of the top floor of a traditional tenement building built in 1890. James, the owner, stocked our kitchen with bread from a local bakery (the dangerously good Manna House Bakery), homemade marmalade, milk and eggs which we ate every morning looking out at our view of the city. We were quite near to the famous Royal Mile — close enough to walk, far enough away that we could escape the tourist crowds.

The place was cleaner than many five-star hotels that I’ve stayed in, which impressed me no end. For about one-third of the price of a hotel room, we had a full kitchen (with an excellent espresso machine!), bedroom, living room and a personalized guidebook  filled with suggestions from James’ former guests.

More on the trip later this week!

~Chris

Happy Friday! It’s an exciting day for Michelle, who will see her good friend Misha tonight. Misha and her hubby have been living in Brooklyn (remember when Michelle visited them in the fall?) and are in Alberta for a few weeks. Tonight, the two M’s will have a girls’ night and Michelle couldn’t be more excited. She can’t promise a sing-song, as took place one night during her stay in Brooklyn and is pictured below, but she will do her best to deliver a good time. And Chris is home soon, too! Hooray. (Michelle can’t wait to see her co-Toque.)

From visits with friends we move on to other things making us happy this week:

• We feel very, very sorry for these bulldogs but you can’t not laugh.
• Chris’ friend sent her this guide to curly hair. Turns out Chris is a has 3B type curls, or curly spirally.
• One more reason to get excited for summer: banana smoothies. Chris and the boy are hooked on this combo: one cup almond milk, with one frozen banana and a scoop of Vega chocolate smoothie powder. Darn good stuff.
• As for food that is incredibly tasty — but not as healthy as a banana smoothie — let’s chat about Smashburger. This U.S. chain just opened its first Canadian location here in Calgary, at #4 2770-32 Ave. N.E. Doors opened on Wednesday and, though we missed the sneak peek, we hear incredible things from those who were there. It’s called Smashburger because that’s how they make ‘em — by smashing a ball of never-frozen, top-quality beef onto the grill, which, according to them, sears the bottom to keep all those good juices inside. We’ll check it out and report back!
• Back to healthy stuff: Michelle thinks there is no happier post-workout feeling than coming in from an outdoor workout, especially when it’s cool outside. This was the case on Wednesday, when she used her lunch hour to run the Crescent Heights stairs. What a great workout — the temperature was perfect for working up a sweat and the drizzle kept the crowds away. She was a happy girl.

~The Toque Girls