Montreal Highlights

Hello everyone! I'm back! I know, it made so much sense for me to start a blog and then not be able to post for a month...

So much has happened! We took a weekend trip to Montreal, I had my 28th birthday, and my boyfriend Andy and I finally secured a new apartment! It's been a whirlwind and it doesn't stop there, this past weekend we were in Maine for a wedding, the following weekend we'll be going to see Ed Sheeran, and then the following weekend we'll be moving into the new place!

But anyway, back to the task at hand, I wanted to write about our short Montreal trip! Montreal is the perfect weekend trip for anyone in the tri-state area. It is about a 6 hour drive (or 2 hour flight, if you can spare the couple hundred bucks!) You are also able to check the wait-time at border control online here. I actually found it to be a pretty pleasant drive, as you're mostly driving through upstate New York which is very mountain-y and picturesque. Montreal is identical to a European town, very clean, and the people are very friendly and welcoming.

We stayed in a really beautiful modern studio apartment in the "Le Plateau" area of Montreal. We were close to a ton of eateries within walking distance, as well as a grocery store and other shopping. (Although all of their stores close at like 7PM for some reason, which I found difficult...)

I'll be sharing my favorite things we did as sort of a highlight reel for you.

1. Chez Victoire
This was the first place we went to eat after we arrived in Montreal. I actually found it via Yelp and we chose it based purely on it's proximity to the Airbnb, as we were pretty tired from driving in and waiting about an hour at border patrol. However, Andy and I both agree, this was the BEST place we ate in Montreal. They had absolutely delicious and innovative French cuisine in a beautiful, modern environment. My favorite part of the meal was marinated mussels. It was unlike anything I would have expected. The mussels were served chilled. I recommend going to Montreal for these mussels alone! For our mains I had salmon with sea snails and steamed vegetables in a creamy sauce and Andy had a steak with French Fries and a salad.

2. Parc du Mont Royal
Hands down the best panoramic view of Montreal from above! There's a reason why it comes up on every "must do" list for Montreal. However, please be smarter than us and have an Uber driver drop you off at the TOP, unless of course you're planning to walk/run up there for exercising purposes. :) I wore a cute outfit and was sweating bullets by the time we got to the top! Thankfully I was able to cool down and dry off enough for some pictures. There's a lovely little cafe up at the top where you can get coffee and pastries as well. So many amazing photo opportunities here!

3. Montreal Botanical Gardens
This place is truly amazing. The gardens are so big and kept so beautifully, with many different sections; Chinese, Japanese, a children's area, a cafe/eating area and they were actually going to be having a concert the day we were there as well. We were there on the perfect day as well, it was warm and sunny, so it made for some great photos. There is also an insectarium and planetarium there as well, but we did not have the time to check those out. Another bonus is that the 1976 Olympic Park and Tower's Observatory are located across the street! You can buy tickets for these at the gardens and then simply walk over and take a look at everything. The observatory view was really extraordinary.

4. St-Viateur Bagel
As someone who has had amazing NJ and NY bagels, I can confidently determine these are the best bagels on the planet. They were so good that we went here the day before we were leaving, and then I went again and got to-go bagels before we left for our journey home! I daydream about these bagels in my spare time. The cool thing about this place is that it's open 24/7. They do only accept cash though, so make sure you get some Canadian cash before you visit this place! However, I have to say they were kind enough to let Andy go run to an ATM to get some money and come back to pay. I stayed as collateral. Haha!

5. Old Port/La Grande Roue De Montreal
I think this area was Andy and I's favorite, we spent basically two days here. It's right on the water and there's a beautiful little area with cafes and the La Grand Roue De Montreal, which is basically a little enclosed ferris wheel that takes you up so you're overlooking the water. There's a line of food trucks and boardwalk style street-shops as well which was fun to walk up and down. They also offered some cool obstacle-type courses and a zip line! Neither of which we were prepared to do...but would be fun for people far more adventurous than us. Haha.

That concludes my Montreal highlights, we visited a few other eateries, ice cream, etc, but these were the best places we visited that I felt were worth sharing with the blogosphere! I hope you enjoyed and keep an eye out for future posts about moving and tiny apartment decor. I've got some ideas brewing!

xoLiz

My Travel Essentials

Hello and welcome back! :)

Seeing as I'm about to embark on a journey to Montreal, Canada this weekend (a 6 hour car journey, to be exact...) I thought I would share with you my current travel essentials. I am by no means a travel expert, but as I mentioned in my first post, I love traveling and have found these select items to be absolute musts on all my trips!

1. Tumi - Tegra-Lite Max Continental Expandable Carry-On | $485
Okay, so yes, I realize $484 isn't necessarily practical. The reason I own this bag is because I actually used to work in Tumi's corporate offices and was lucky enough to take advantage of a sweet discount while I was there! But, with that being said, Tumi truly is the top of the line when it comes to luggage. If there was any travel piece I would suggest someone to invest in, it would be a great international carry-on because you can easily fit a week's worth of belongings in there and have no need to check in any bags. Hard-side luggage is a must-have because it's lightweight, making it easier to lug around and jam up into those overheard compartments. I personally loved the Fossil color because it's neutral, but they do launch new colors each season.

2. Henri Bendel - Jetsetter Convertible Nylon Backpack | $278
If you live on this planet you've probably seen this bag attached to the back of many-a-gal. What makes this backpack better than most other backpacks is that's convertible. You can carry it as a backpack (which is what I mostly do - I also added a cute pink puff :) ) or you can carry it as a crossbody for easier access. I've seen this bag used as a baby bag, a carry-on bag, and a work bag...the possibilities are basically endless. I love this bag for international travel because there's plenty of room for your essentials, like wallet, keys, etc and also room for a water bottle and snacks (I don't know about you but I need food and water accessible at all times...)

3. Aspinal of London - Classic Travel Wallet | $195
This one is not necessarily practical either... I believe I picked this up on a MAJOR discount years ago when I took my first trip to Europe. There are many other travel wallets out there at various price points anywhere from $15-$200. What drew me to this wallet specifically was that it has labeled compartments; as someone who suffers from some serious OCD, these labels were (and still are) everything to me. There is room to put your passport, documents, ID, and boarding pass. It fits all sizes of money; US dollars, Euros, Danish Kroner and GBP, so it really is perfect for international travel. It also makes for some pretty snazzy Instagram stories...

4. Sonia Kashuk - Cosmetic Bag Travel Tote | $30
I am really and truly obsessed with this makeup bag. There's. So. Much. Room. This is the be all and end all of toiletry travel bags for me. And it's not even a little bit expensive. (Wassup Target!) You can easily fit shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotions, skin care, toothbrush, toothpaste, makeup palettes AND there's an entire sections for brushes WITH a cover! Finally, you can travel without having to crush your makeup brushes and risk destroying their shape by shoving them in a compartment that is clearly not meant for brushes. What impressed me so much about this bag is that you can have everything all in one place - I have seen plenty of travel bags for makeup brushes, but that just becomes another extra thing to pack - this bag brings everything together conveniently in one bag of perfection.

5. Fujifilm - Instax Mini 9 | $59
I got this camera last Christmas from my thoughtful boyfriend Andy and I absolutely adore it. I love the old school feel of these photos. They're also great for home decor; I've seen a ton of pins with these pictures attached to twine in various adorable ways. My only complaint about it is that it's sometimes difficult to get pictures outside; you can't have too much light because it will get washed out, but it also can't be too dark because the flash isn't all that powerful to lighten it up. However, there are so many different types of cute film you can get, which outshines any of the downsides of this camera to me. Urban Outfitters online often has sales on film - I most recently ordered Macaron Film, which is adorable pastel colors. Target also sells the film!

6. iPhone 8 Plus | $799
This is more or less a LIFE essential but I wanted to mention it here because the camera on this phone is OUTSTANDING. I live for portrait mode! I've taken so many phenomenal photos with that feature. I also take a lot of photos of scenery while hiking and they come out flawless always. I'm certainly not a professional photographer, so the fact that my iPhone can make it LOOK like I know what I'm doing is great.

7. iPhone 8 Plus - Battery Case | $26
This little guy is a lifesaver. This is a necessity for literally any trip, short or long, far or near. I actually carry this case around with me on a regular basis. If you're anything like me the thought of being caught out and about with a dead phone is basically a nightmare, and this case solves that problem. The best thing about this case is that it charges through a lightening port, so you just use your regular iPhone charger with it!

8. Nike - Roshe One | $75
These are my favorite sneakers, especially for a vacation because they are both comfortable and stylish. I bought these earlier this year before our trip to Copenhagen and I'm so glad I got them! They look great with anything, jeans, leggings or shorts. The gray color is perfectly neutral, but there are plenty of other colors to choose from as well.

I hope you find this list useful if you're planning on doing any travel within the near future, which I hope you are, because traveling is the best thing you can do. Look out for my review of Montreal once I get back!

Until next time...

xoLiz

My First Post!

Eeek, it's finally here, after weeks of debating, curating, and preparing - here is my very first blog post on Liz and Chips! (Like "fish and chips" but, ya know, Liz)

A little background on myself first; my name is Liz (which I'm sure is obvious enough...) I'm about a month shy of being 28 years old and I grew up in New Jersey. I currently live in Central Jersey (which I think does actually exist? I know it's quite debatable...) with my mom and my cat, appropriately named Kittie. However, I have plans to move in with my boyfriend (and blogging photographer!) Andy soon. I'd venture to say I'm a pretty regular gal. I work a full-time job as a sales agent, and live to make the most of my weekends. I love going shopping (I go to Target or Marshall's/HomeGoods every day during my lunch hour...) spending time on social media, cooking (and subsequently eating...), working out, being sarcastic, watching Friends and Gossip Girl over and over, being a feminist, and traveling and hiking with my boyfriend Andy.

So - why am I writing a blog anyway?

I've always had a knack for fashion, which has thankfully since evolved from preppy Abercrombie & Fitch and Ugg boots. (Shoutout to years 2005-2008!) As I've gotten older my penchant for fashion has grown into the beauty/makeup world as well. Once I began watching tutorials on YouTube I quickly became obsessed. (And quickly racked up credit card debt buying all the things - but that's a story for another time...) I also just recently began a health and fitness journey. It started off with doing Whole30 and ended up completely changing my life. Getting my diet on track influenced me to then begin BBG, more commonly known as the Sweat app. My hope for this blog is to bring all those facets of my life, as well as just general life-of-a-twenty-something musings, together into one (semi) cohesive creative outlet.

So, I hope you will continue on this blogging journey along with me! We'll learn as we go.

xoLiz

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