2013 In Review

2013 was quite an eventful year. We went on quite a few trips, I graduated school and we moved across the country! 

I've put together my favourite posts for each month of 2013. Enjoy :)

January

The First Edition of Monthly Favourites!

February

Bathroom Organization

March

DIY Table Numbers

April  

How To Travel With Cats 

May

Exploring Toronto

June 

 

Organizing Your File Folder

July

The Wedding Sign

August

9 Months Until The Wedding Check In 

September

  

My Bridal Shower

October

 

 

Bridal Shower Planning Checklist

November

 

Christmas Decorating

December

 

 Christmas!

Christmas & Boxing Day Haul

Because I pretty much did my weekly recap on Friday, I am doing something a little different today. I made a video showing everything I got for Christmas plus the haul of Christmas stuff I got from Target on sale! 

Enjoy :)

 

Oh and also! I now have a Facebook page so make sure you like it to be notified whenever I post on the bloggity blog!

Click Here ;)

Christmas!

I totally dropped the ball on blog posting this week. I did have planned posts for the entirety of this week (except Christmas) but with all the holiday crazy and being busy, I just didn't even think about the blog! Whoops :P 

Anyway, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! There is always such build up and high anticipation and then it is over so fast and nobody cares anymore. It is so depressing for someone like me who loves Christmas lol but I still had a really good one and was happy to spend time with many members of my gigantic family. We even had a white Christmas! (Didn't dawn on me to take pictures of that though... sillyness)

Anyway, here are some pictures from mine :)

Again, hope everyone had a great holiday! I plan to post a video on my YouTube channel showing what I received - not exactly sure when because I am quite busy this week but it will go up!

A Homemade Christmas Gift

For one of my presents that I am giving someone, I wanted to do a homemade one and show off my non existent baking skills. I searched the internet far and wide and came across this recipe from House Pretty. I thought this would be easy enough! So here it is:

Start off with all your ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup fancy molasses
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup coarse sugar (I used regular sugar)

 Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy. Add egg, molasses and vanilla.

2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Add to butter mixture and combine. Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes.

3. Roll by 1 tbsp into balls. Roll in sugar and place balls 1-1/2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

4. Bake in 350 degree oven until puffed and crackly, about 9 minutes

5. Let pan cool on a baking rack for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to rack to cool completely.

My cookies did not turn out like her cookies did. They were supposed to be more round and a lot smaller but mine just came out as regular cookies. See this is how it works with me: I cook or bake and it never looks like it should but it still tastes phenomenal. Just like these cookies did!

I placed them in an old fruitcake can that I found and spray painted.

And tied a ribbon around it! So prettyful!

If you want to see how the cookies are supposed to look like, please feel free to visit House Pretty by clicking the picture below!

Alternatively, you can also watch a video demonstration of this whole thing on my youtube channel. I assure you, you will be very entertained (psst. it involves an egg being broken all over the counter!) 

Just click HERE to go there!

A Christmas Challenge!

Brandyn and I have created a little video. And of course, Gizmo and Kitty make an appearance! 

Also, I am going to be getting more frequent with videos but not all of them are going to be posted on my blog so make sure you subscribe to my channel if you want to see more fun vlogs that I make :) 

Enjoy!

Gift Ideas For Your Man

I have done a little collage of everything I bought Brandyn for Christmas! Do not fret, I have warned him not to visit the blog - not that he ever looks at it anymore anyways (how rude!). Anyway, you can also use this little collage as inspiration if you are stuck on what to get the special gentleman in your life!

Lunch Bag // Old Navy Plaid Sweater // Starbucks Ethiopia Coffee // Tim Horton's Prepaid Card // Starbucks Travel Mug // Battlefield 4 // Canada Puzzle // The Cool Fix Soothing Gel // Jack Black Beard Lube // Old Spice Spray

That is basically everything. I don't have a link for the Old Navy sweater because it is unavailable now (I don't even think that is the exact one I got). 

Brandyn loves his coffee so you really can't go wrong there. He also loves puzzles. I wasn't actually planning on getting him a puzzle but I walked into Roots and saw that Canada one in this really pretty tin box so I just had to buy it for him!

Hopefully this gives you some ideas for that special friend in your life. Men aren't too hard to buy for :)

What to put in a Christmas Basket

One great gift to give is a gift basket. I am personally not doing one this year but I figured I can share a few ideas on what to put in one for Christmas!

1. Something really warm and cozy 

One of my favourite parts about winter is being able to snuggle up in a cozy blanket and fleecy pajama pants! You can find some cute pajama pants just about anywhere at this time - especially in gift sets but if you want to keep it budget friendly, Old Navy is having theirs on sale 50% off. Other neat options would be some Christmas themed socks, slippers, or a scarf.

2.  One of your favourite snacks

 

Trail Mix is always a hit. I don't think I have ever met one person who doesn't like it! You could also get some popcorn seeds and put them in those really cute popcorn cup type things. You can find them at the dollar store! 

3. Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is a great thing to throw in there. If you are giving to a coffee lover, a gourmet bag of coffee would be a nice alternative as well!

5. Christmas Treats

If you like to bake, you can make up some tasty little treats to throw in there or if the person receiving likes to bake and you... maybe not so much... Home Sense has so many little kits for holiday baking! I picked up a few myself to give out to some people :)

6. Some luxurious lotion.

Bath & Body Works is always a hit when it comes to lotions and if you are doing a few baskets, they usually have a deal going when you buy multiples as well!

7. One of your favourite books

You may recognize this one from a previous "Love List" I did. I actually went out and bought it! Also, if your gift receiver isn't a book person, a classic Christmas movie would be really great too!

8. Small Christmas Items

A candle, a cute ornament, lip gloss, anything really that is Christmas themed could make its way there!

And of course, you will need a good basket to hold it all in! Something multifunctional that they can use after would be perfect. I like the idea of this tin bucket here and putting some vinyl letters on it!

My Wish-List

Every Christmas (and for my birthday), I get asked what I want from my Dad and Brandyn. My Dad I can forgive (because he doesn't go shopping with me) but Brandyn hasn't picked up on how to make a mental note every time I say I want something and walk away from it lol. I can forgive him too, he is only a male after all! 

Anyway so I have to create this list for both of them and often times I would get to Christmas time and get a mind blank. "Umm... what do I want? :/" And to make matters worse, my birthday is literally just over a month after so I would get what I wanted for Christmas and then have to re-create a new list in a month? I know, first world problems right?! I feel ashamed after writing this.

Anyway so this past year I decided that every time I came across something I wanted, I wrote it down in my favourite organizing app (more on that in another post that is coming soon). If I bought it for myself, I would cross it off. If I didn't by Christmas, it would go on my wish list!

So,  I had this big plan to create this really organized looking list just like I did on my paper that I gave out but for the life of me, I can not find my list. So I will go back to my app and try to figure out what I did and didn't put on there (because I didn't put everything). 

Oh and for the record, this is not some gloating, I'm a spoiled brat post lol I hate when people post their haul of gifts after Christmas but I figured I could give you ideas by showing you what I'm coveting (and have been for probably a very long time). 

When I did the list up on paper, I made it very detailed - you need to do this when working with guys here ladies. I categorized by price point and then I put the item, where to find it, and the color and size if applicable! Ok so enough of this mindless chit chat here it is!

Over $100

•  Clarisonic Mia 2 in pink or  light blue. $175 from Sephora 
•  Silhouette Portrait $139 from Amazon - I have actually been wanting this for over a year now, basically ever since I entered the blogging world and was shown the amazing things it could do
• Camelback Running backpack $139 from the Running Room

Over $50

• Lululemon Yoga Pants $98 - the only one I didn't give detail to because I have no idea what my size is. A gift card would have sufficed
• Too Faced "A Few of my Favourite Things" Palette $68 from Sephora - sold out now or I would link it
• Under Armour Hoodie $64 - I saw one that was white with a light pink logo and I loved it but any color would be fine
• Urban Decay Naked 2 $62 from Sephora

Over $25

• UA Running Gloves $34
• Remington Curling Wand $30 at Target
• Maple Leaf's Toque $25 at Foot Locker

I know there were quite a few more in the cheaper ranges but I just can't remember because I don't have my list with me. As you can see, there are some expensive gifts. That is basically the reason they are still on my list! Also you can see a bit of a pattern with a few of my gifts! I guess I developed a bit of a theme - beauty & fitness! I didn't do it on purpose. Hmm. 

Also whatever doesn't get bought (I obviously don't expect to get everything on there - I just like to give options) is just on the list for my birthday :) Like I said in my 50 facts about me video, on Christmas, I would be happy with a chocolate bar as long as it is wrapped because I just love ripping up some wrapping paper! But people, including myself, hate it when you ask someone what they want and they respond with I don't know so I gave my gift givers a very detailed list with options in every price point :)

What is on your wish list this year? Leave me a comment! Always curious to hear from you!

Christmas Decorating

I like to respect Remembrance Day but the day after, it is totally fair game. On Tuesday, November 12th. We decorated for the holidays!

Yes there is presents under our tree. There are even more now. While we were doing this, we set the camera up and actually made a video (don't worry I sped up the time). So if you would like to see how Christmas decorating goes in our household, you can just press play! Psst.... There is a lot of shenanigans to do with the cats. They pretty much made the entire video.

And here are the pictures you see me taking in the video. Gizmo is hilarious... but I'm not bias or anything. 

Oh Gizmo...

Halloween Love List

Halloween is literally just around the corner (less than a week!!). I didn't get a chance to decorate for it this year (we have to save for the wedding of course) but I did come across some really neat stuff that I just needed to share! 

So here it is, The Love List: Halloween Edition

 

This bowl would be great to hold candy in! I love it and wish it was available in Canada to buy! Wishing World Market would just ship to Canada already! You can find the bowl here.

This is actually a DIY. You basically just collect condiment bottles and spray paint them black. I plan to collect through the year and create this for next year! See the DIY plan here.

This is a really neat way to use a Pumpkin. Another fab idea by Martha Stewart. 

An excerpt from one of my favourite story lines! I will definitely be doing this when I have a doorstep to put it on haha. All you have to do is go to the thrift store and pick up the stockings and shoes and then stuff them with whatever!

I have so many more things pinned to my Halloween board. You can check it out here.