I had lunch on Sunday afternoon with Miranda Sam of Style By Fire at Moderne Burger (2507 West Broadway). It's such a cute little diner! The restaurant recently went through renovations and an expansion, but the joint has still managed to maintain its retro feel with mint-green walls and aluminum paneling. There were booths against the wall and windows, paper placemats and stools for sitting placed around the counter... As Miranda brought up, if this was in New York, the area would be much more crowded and less laid back with people rushing to eat their burgers while multitasking and reading the newspaper with a coffee in hand. The burgers were pretty good too - not much menu selection, but about $7.45 for a burger (ie. veggie, ground turkey, steak, etc.), and $1.25 for additional toppings including mushrooms, cheese or fried onions. I got a turkey burger, plain as can be, and it still tasted good. No fries, no milkshake ;).

I probably bought my first pair of Mavi Jeans 7 or 8 years ago and have gone through so many pairs by wearing them until they got all holey and patched up. I remember wishing for a replacement program for people like me who would wear their Mavi jeans to shreds! But then, for a couple of years, the styles went through a phase with stiff, coarse denim instead of the stretchier denim I was used to. Think "American Eagle" rough denim. So I stopped shopping for that brand and only started taking an interest in the brand again when free-standing shops started popping up around Vancouver.

Mavi philosophy is to build a brand around perfect fitting jeans that convey a Mediterranean feeling in terms of fashion and detail. Maviterranean is sexy, intimate, inspirational and breezy. Mavi, which means blue in Turkish, is known for high quality, great fitting and fashion-forward denim.

Do you like electronic music? Trance, progressive house, and electro house - Believe on Saturday nights at Redroom has it all! The electronic scene in Vancouver is relatively small, but Believe at The Redroom (398 Richards Street) is filled with a crowd who enjoy and appreciate this music genre. The venue has a great layout with its open dance floor and a second backroom, but overall, it's a little bit grungy and in need of some major upgrades and renovations. The beloved back corridor, with its black walls and neon space scene makes it a popular picture taking location. I remember when I first went to Redroom, I felt like I was in a maze with back corridors and passages and steps leading up, down and around the DJ booth. (There's also a third secret room hidden in the wall, but I won't get into that right now...) It keeps things interesting. I also like how there are separate entrances and exits to avoid crowding. Cover is $15 but there are a ton of "black cards" and VIP passes floating around so if you can get your hands on a couple of those, it'll save you a ton of cash. Nonetheless, when party-goers congregate at a club solely for the music, nothing else matters. If you're designated driver for the night, there is a parking lot just around the corner (on West Cordova and Richards) where you can park for $2 for four hours at night!!]]> Looking for something to do? Every Monday morning, we present to you “Modern Mix Monday”, a brief but link-filled one-liner review of our past weekend loaded with suggestions to inspire you for your next!

Do you like electronic music? Trance, progressive house, and electro house – Believe on Saturday nights at Redroom has it all! The electronic scene in Vancouver is relatively small, but Believe at The Redroom (398 Richards Street) is filled with a crowd who enjoy and appreciate this music genre.

The venue has a great layout with its open dance floor and a second backroom, but overall, it’s a little bit grungy and in need of some major upgrades and renovations. The beloved back corridor, with its black walls and neon space scene makes it a popular picture taking location. I remember when I first went to Redroom, I felt like I was in a maze with back corridors and passages and steps leading up, down and around the DJ booth. (There’s also a third secret room hidden in the wall, but I won’t get into that right now…) It keeps things interesting. I also like how there are separate entrances and exits to avoid crowding. Cover is $15 but there are a ton of “black cards” and VIP passes floating around so if you can get your hands on a couple of those, it’ll save you a ton of cash. Nonetheless, when party-goers congregate at a club solely for the music, nothing else matters. If you’re designated driver for the night, there is a parking lot just around the corner (on West Cordova and Richards) where you can park for $2 for four hours at night!!

On Saturday evening, I went to Wink Beauty Lounge (67 East Cordova Street) for The Style Spy's Holiday Shopathon event. After a fifteen minute walk from Waterfront Skytrain Station, we graciously accepted a warm welcome into the brightly lit Wink Beauty Lounge in Gastown. The retail shop, with its whitewashed walls and clean white shelves, allowed its beauty and makeup products to colorfully stand out and be tried on.

Exam season is upon us. If you are still a student at UBC, sometimes it can get boring studying in campus libraries. On Saturday afternoon, my friend and I decided to study at Bean Around the World instead. The cafe on 4456 West 10th Avenue is a cozy, mid-sized café with forest green and dark red walls which correspond to its easily recognizable logo. Wooden tables and stools are scattered throughout the front half of the café, while low couches and a fireplace take up the back. He ordered a medium (16 oz.) chai tea latte for $4.35, while I got a chicken teriyaki wrap for $5.50, grilled “panini-style”. We spread out our textbooks, binders and notebooks on a large, wooden table and felt comfortable spending the entire afternoon studying leisurely without feeling like we were “taking up space”. In fact, there were other students there as well. The only distracting aspect of studying here is how the door opens every few minutes for customers and you can hear the loud traffic and rain from outside. . For those of you who live a little further East, there are two other Bean Around the Worlds on Main Street as well as other cafes on Granville, Cambie and North Vancouver (to name a few). ]]> Looking for something to do? Every Monday morning, we present to you “Modern Mix Monday”, a brief but link-filled one-liner review of our past weekend loaded with suggestions to inspire you for your next!

Exam season is upon us. If you are still a student at UBC, sometimes it can get boring studying in campus libraries. On Saturday afternoon, my friend and I decided to study at Bean Around the World instead. The cafe on 4456 West 10th Avenue is a cozy, mid-sized café with forest green and dark red walls which correspond to its easily recognizable logo. Wooden tables and stools are scattered throughout the front half of the café, while low couches and a fireplace take up the back. He ordered a medium (16 oz.) chai tea latte for $4.35, while I got a chicken teriyaki wrap for $5.50, grilled “panini-style”. We spread out our textbooks, binders and notebooks on a large, wooden table and felt comfortable spending the entire afternoon studying leisurely without feeling like we were “taking up space”. In fact, there were other students there as well. The only distracting aspect of studying here is how the door opens every few minutes for customers and you can hear the loud traffic and rain from outside.
.
For those of you who live a little further East, there are two other Bean Around the Worlds on Main Street as well as other cafes on Granville, Cambie and North Vancouver (to name a few).