Fashion Friday :: Sochi Style

With designers like Armani and Ralph Lauren tackling Olympic team fashion, you'd expect the Parade of Nations to be Sochi's answer to New York Fashion Week. But many countries sported looks that belonged on the slopes instead of in the stadium---with a few notable exceptions. Here are my picks for the strongest sartorial statements from the Opening Ceremony of the XXII Olympic Winter Games.

Best dressed :: Sweden
Designed by H&M, Sweden's blue and yellow uniforms were the most fashion forward of all 88 nations. I wouldn't expect anything less from the ever-stylish Swedes.

Most memorable :: USA
Ralph Lauren designed the night's most patriotic and polarizing outfits, also known as the Christmas sweaters seen 'round the world. I liked the shawl collars, hiking boots and après-ski vibe. Looking for the sweater? Sorry, it's already sold out online.

Most traditional :: Russia
The host country team came out in uniforms inspired by their past. Adorned with fur, sheepskin and folkloric symbols, Team Russia made a stylish statement at a ceremony that celebrated their cultural past. Honorable mention goes to Team Canada for their duffle coats, which mirrored the iconic 18th-century Hudson's Bay Company point blankets. If you want to dress like a Canadian athlete, you can buy the official apparel here.

Best print :: Ukraine
Puffy jackets covered in a patriotic organism print reminded me of pieces you'd see from French design house Kenzo.

Most confused :: Cayman Islands
Did they know it's the Winter Olympics? These Caymanians were the bravest of the night, wearing shorts and flip flops. They weren't, however, the only team in shorts; Team Bermuda also sported, you guessed it, Bermuda shorts.

Best neon :: Lithuania
In a sea of forgettable uniforms, Team Lithuania went for the boldest color combo of the night---besides the Germans, who maintain that their rainbow uniforms were just a style choice and not a political statement.

BONUS PICKS
While these striking showpieces weren't on display at the Parade of Nations, I'd be remiss to write about Olympic fashion without including them. I give you Mexico's mariachi-inspired slalom ski suit and Norway's curling uniform.

This post is written by Trip Styler fashion and lifestyle blogger Heather.

[photos via getty, epa & ap photo]

Morocco :: Savoring the Sahara

[trip style = adventure]

Editor's Note :: Aside from a few travel lifestyle bits, Morocco’s taking center stage on Trip Styler this month.

Preparing and packing for my trip to Morocco, I knew December 10th, 2013 would be "desert day." No big deal, we were just going three hours off the grid into the Western Sahara. At 10am, I jumped into our 4x4 in Dakhla, a fishing and surf Mecca where the Atlantic meets the desert. When dreaming of dunes, one thing I hadn't considered was the bathroom situation until my guide Mohamed said "I've got toilet paper." Right. Of course there are no toilets in the desert. When nature called, well, nature was right there, and I was surrounded by solitude instead of souls. This only added to the remote allure of the day.

A series of paved highways run through the Sahara. Oftentimes the roads are only about 10 to 20 centimeters above the sand, so if you want to go off-roading, just turn right or left. Throughout the day, we off-roaded to lunch, to an oasis, to a beach and to dinner in a local family's Sahraoui tent. Beyond the pavement, a billion other routes exist, known only to locals. How our driver navigated without a map, a GPS or markers other than the sun and stars remains a mystery.

What desert day lacked in luxuries, it made up for in wonder. And isn't that why we travel?

Where the Sahara meets the Atlantic

Deep tire treads. Careful---certain water-soaked areas have a quicksand effect.

Cruisin'

Lunch ahoy. As you can see, there's no sign; you just have to know where to go {a big benefit to traveling with locals from Heritage Tours}.

Oyster and fish are caught and prepared on the spot, then you eat

Shucking station

Ready to serve

Exploring before lunch in my layered "desert day" outfit: sandals, lightweight pants, tank, cashmere sweater and jean jacket. While this might seem like a lot of clothes, desert temperatures fluctuate significantly from dawn till dusk and I needed every layer I had.

Private beach

Private beach

Oasis

Fish who fancy feet live in these rain-fed pools. Their mini nibbles cause you to break out in high-pitched shrieks. Here's a video of my friend Chadner's reaction to the fish pedi.

A vehicle sitting outside a family's Sahraoui tent we visited for dinner

Before stepping inside the tapestry-covered tent used to sleep, cook and lounge, we removed our shoes. Our hosts, who spent their days tending to their caravan of camels, were generous and gracious. While none of us spoke the same language, we communicated non-verbally with nods and smiles. As a frothy tea was served—a daily tradition in Morocco—we were welcomed with a heavy spritz of  cologne-scented sanitizer. A communal bowl of warm camel milk arrived next. I took a sip, and was encouraged to drink more of what tasted like tart Pinkberry without the sugar. The bowl continued to circulate as our host stepped out to cook lamb over hot rocks in a hole he dug into the sand. A grill kept the lamb from getting sandy. I don’t eat lamb, but that night I did, as well as rice cooked in lamb fat. Dessert was a palate-cleansing spread of fruit. If you ever have the chance to dine in the desert, take it, and save room for a local feast.

More Morocco
Casablanca
Stay: Dar al Hossoun in Taroudant

[photos by @tripstyler taken as a guest of Tourism Morocco]

Morocco :: Casablanca

[trip style = urban + sun]

Editor’s Note: Don’t forget to enter our contest for a one-night stay at the OPUS Hotel in Vancouver, it closes TODAY at noon PST.

In mid-December I found myself in the exotic embrace of Morocco's eye-catching escapes. My eight-day jaunt satisfied almost every trip style from spa to surf, starting in Casablanca and veering from the Western Sahara to the Atlas Mountains to the Atlantic shore. The journey was fortuitous given my obsession with North African design, and my September brush with the Morocco pavilion at Epcot, where I wished upon a star I'd get to visit soon. {Careful what you wish for!}

Spoiler alert: Aside from a few travel lifestyle bits, Morocco's going to take center stage on Trip Styler during February.

On December 9th, 2013 my flight landed in Casablanca---the country's hub for most international flights---just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. Given the rise-and-shine hour, I dove into the local time zone with abandon. No dither-dather; my meeting with Morocco's major metro was only a day.

When I stepped out of the airport, the air was crisp. The light chill---similar to a late-September a.m. on the West Coast---woke me up. Coming to, I spotted my name on a signboard in front of a Mercedes van. From this moment on, the trip was guided by in-the-know locals from Heritage Tours who schooled me in Morocco 101.

During the 30-minute commute into the city of five million, the landscape turned from rural to urban. Early on we shared the palm-lined highway with a boy guiding a horse-drawn carriage filled with farming supplies. This was my first clear picture of Morocco's culture: a country where cosmopolitan and classic meet in the middle.

Once inside the concrete-clad port city bordered by a sweeping beach, we hit Monday morning rush hour and inched into the inner plazas where modern Euro-style trains buzzed about, and the time-crunched workforce played human Frogger over eight-lane expanses. I wanted to bottle the enigmatic energy and take it home.

Trip Styler Tip: Casablanca hosts major hotel brands, as well as beautiful boutique properties like Le Doge, a 16-room Relais & Chateaux property, and the smallest hotel in Casablanca {every room is different---I love the Josephine Baker and Earnest Hemingway rooms}.

Casablanca Disembarking the plane at sunrise

Mosque Hassan II, the most important living and breathing monument in Morocco capable of holding 25,000 worshipers inside and another 80,000 outside. The French-design structure rides the wave of traditional and fantasmic topped by a retractable roof and lit by almost 60 Murano-made chandeliers. Cool-to-the-touch white Carrara marble serves as a foundation throughout, while humidity-absorbing pillars made with limestone, black soap and egg yolk form the interior structure.

Mosque Hassan II

Mosque Hassan II

Mosque Hassan II

Exploring Place Mohammed V

A Casablanca rooftop vista

Regal staircase at Le Doge

Josephine Baker room at Le Doge

[photos via @tripstyler---except hotel room via hotels.com---taken as a guest of Tourism Morocco]

Face Masks For Frequent Flyers

[trip style = any]

Something about face masks reminds me of teenage sleepovers---a time when I wore scrunchies, played Truth or Dare and watched Girls Just Want to Have Fun with an oatmeal mask on my face. While I can still recite lines from the classic Sarah Jessica Parker movie, I've matured and started incorporating masks into my weekly skincare routine in the hopes that I'll look as amazing as Martha Stewart does at age 72. The New York Times recently published an article about her beauty regimen, which includes several face masks. They aren't only effective for detoxifying, firming or brightening your skin; they also boost hydration, which makes them the perfect travel companion.

Trip Styler Tip: I'm a huge fan of try before you buy. Drop by your local beauty store and ask for a sample or two before committing to a mask. Bonus: samples are perfectly sized for travel!

I suffered the harsh effects of recycled air and zero humidity while flying to Europe last year. My face and lips were parched for days. I wish I knew then what I know now: you've got to prep and treat your skin for travel. That means applying a hydrating mask before, after and even during a long flight. Hear me out before you call me crazy! Many masks are invisible and can be left on the skin overnight, so there won't be any embarrassing episodes on board. Plus you'll be the only one emerging from the flight looking dewy and glowy.

Trip Styler Tip: Don't forget to hydrate your lips on a long flight---I have friends who swear by MALIN+GOETZ's fragrance-free lip moisturizer. If the recycled plane air already got the best of you, steep a bag of green tea, pull it out and press it to your lips for several minutes. This trick totally works.

My top picks for hydrating gel or cream masks are Origins Drink Up 10 Minute Mask, skoah hydradew mask and GLAMGLOW Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment. PS. They all smell delicious! Another style of hydrating mask is the sheet mask, which is huge in Asia, where the biggest skincare trends are emerging these days. Case in point, Japan Airlines gives out moisturizing eye masks to business class passengers {see our editor wearing one}. Made of cotton and soaked in hydrating ingredients, these sheets are individually packaged mini facials. Perfect for travel, but maybe not applying inflight unless the lights are out. My top picks are Dr. Jart+ Water-Full Hydrogel Mask, SK-II Facial Treatment Mask and When Essence Mask.

This post is written by Trip Styler fashion and lifestyle blogger Heather.

[graphic by @heatherlovesit]

Dine Out Vancouver + OPUS Hotel + Giveaway

[trip style = foodie + urban]

Vancouver's food scene sizzles in every season. Living on Canada's West Coast has made my flavor benchmark soar as high as the mountains towering over the city---a bar that has become abundantly clear as I trip style and taste my way around the globe. The local catch and crops, infused with flavors from the Pacific Rim, inspire a city of uber-foodies who have a mere 1/4 teaspoon of tolerance for bad bites.

Dine Out Vancouver Once a year for 17 days over January and February, Vancouver chefs slice and simmer up a storm for Canada's largest restaurant festival: Dine Out Vancouver. Now in its 12th year, the festival has grown from a handful of prix-fixe menus at the city's hottest eateries to a celebration of gastro-wow at hundreds of the city's top tables from L'Abattoir to La Pentola to Wildebeest to YEW to PiDGiN to Bella Gelateria {multicourse gelato tasting anyone?}.

Beyond the 263 participating restaurants offering tasting menus at $18, $28 or $38, the festival has grown to include 31 quintessentially Vancouver events, think: snowshoe-and-fondue evenings {see my photos of this event on Instagram}, food truck gatherings, brunch crawls and a 'palate promenade' through Granville Island---the city's undisputed source for fresh ingredients.

A Dine Out Night Out Since we're food- and hotel-obsessed here at Trip Styler, for us, the most appetizing Dine Out story is the 25 savor and stay pairings! Excited to show off two palate- AND palette-pleasing spaces under one roof, we hightailed it to the OPUS Hotel---one of Canada's top-rated boutique hotels---for a sweet staycation.

Our evening started with craft cocktails mixed by bartender Martin Corriveau in the velvet-imbued and Tulip table-topped OPUS lobby, continued into La Pentola della Quercia for the $38 four-course tasting menu, and concluded with a tech-savvy and trip-styled stay. Bonus, the stroll 'home' was 20 steps.

Trip Styler Tip: Keep reading for delicious details how you can enter a OPUS Hotel Vancouver GIVEAWAY!

Here's a Taste Chic check-in offering a water or sparkling French wine {tough choice!}.

A suite. At turndown, every room and suite receives retro candy like Popeye Cigarettes or Pop Rocks on the pillow.

La Pentola just before the pre-dinner rush.

The lobby---for cocktailing and chilling out.

La Pentola Northern Italy-inspired Dine Out menu with two choices for each course.

Dine Out antipasti: House-cured organic Coho salmon.

Dine Out primi: Parmesan souffle with a zucchini crudo {my fav course!}

Dine Out surprise dish: rabbit and artichoke ravioli in a brown butter sauce.

Dine Out main course: Mushroom risotto with a Qualicum Bay scallop.

Dine Out dessert: Chocolate mousse paired with beet ice cream and foam crumble, and poppy seed puree.

My deluxe king room at the OPUS. All rooms include ah-ha extras like iPads for stay use, heated bathrooms floors, WiFi, original art by local artists and a Jaguar XJ downtown car service. PS - Fido is welcome without charge!

Dine Out Details - It's on NOW, the 2014 dates are Jan 17 - Feb 2. - Some events, and restaurants---like La Pentola---still have availability. - Make a night of it, check out the hotel pairings---we dig the OPUS {from $138}. - Peruse restaurants, events, hotels and availability on the Dine Out Vancouver website.

OPUS Hotel Giveaway - One lucky reader will win one unforgettable night in a superior room at the OPUS Hotel Vancouver. - Hotel certificate expires December 30, 2014. - Enter by liking this post on Facebook---see like button below---AND by leaving a comment below notifying us of your entry. - Bonus entry: go to Instagram.com/tripstyler for details {must complete above step to confirm your entry}. - Contest closes Tuesday, February 4th, 2014 at noon PST. Winner will be selected via Random.org. Upon notification, winner has two days to claim prize. *Winner announced and contacted. Congrats Casey.

[photos by @tripstyler and OPUS Hotel, taken as a guest of Dine Out Vancouver]