July Favourites
Hello Blondies!
Anyone else want to slow down time? I always get to this time of year and go holy crapy! How the heck did I end up here? I can’t believe COVID has been in our lives for a solid 6 months now, and while I wish I could rewind the clock to a different time, this is our new normal and I am doing my best to adapt to these changes. With that being said there are somethings that will never changed…like my allergies.
While not the most exciting things to be on my monthly favourites, Reactin and Flonase have been literal lifesavers, without them I’m sure I would have many people giving me glaring looks thinking I have the plague, I’m happy to announce that as to date I do not, just allergies. Probably doesn’t help that I have taken up gardening and have been pretty much living in my backyard now that the weather is nice and I am mostly retired.
While I have been loving seeing all my plants (and my dads) grow, I have not been a fan of all the birds pecking at MY strawberries, for some reason they don’t seem to be keen on my Brussel Sprouts, odd.
I have also been experimenting with our Rhubarb, first was a successful batch of rhubarb simple syrup which I have had fun creating various cocktail concoctions, which will be up on the blog later this summer/early fall. I also had a couple of misses that my brave family tested and quickly vetoed.
As most of my time has been spent outside, I have discovered it is a great place to nap…so I have had a lot of fun diving into the summer book club bingo via Audible as I can set a sleep timer so I don’t end up too far ahead of where I dozed off…oops.
I have already read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine a few years ago now along with the Kiss Quotient which is why I added them to the summer reading list. As for new ones, I am still in the process of reading Wine Girl, which is super interesting and has inspired my friend and I to sign up for a level 1 wine course in the fall! I thought Girl Logic would be something up my alley as the title attracted me however while there were some funny bits, I ended up returning it halfway through as it ended up not being my cup of tea. I decided to switch to Josie Silver’s The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. I have also finished Such A Fun Age, which I enjoyed listening to, and it had a bit of a Gilmore Girls ending in the way that it doesn’t end as you (me) would have expected. I have now moved onto Beach Read, which is exactly that, super light but with well developed characters. A perfect garden listen.
If you are following along on the Hosted By Holly Book Club, this month was Latte Factor by David Bach and this upcoming book is Bring the Joy, by my friend Jessica Janzen! The links will be out shortly, currently working on a few different projects behind the scenes so there is a bit of delay on the curriculum. If you want to purchase the book you can right here! Or if you’re like me and like audiobooks Jess is currently working on the audible version and will be out very shortly! I will attach a link as soon as it’s available. $2.50 of each book sale goes back to Love For Lewiston, and if you’re reading this post on the date of publication $2.50 will also be going to Life for Lucy and $2.50 for Kaysen’s Quest, until July 31.
Speaking of Love For Lewiston, they have announced that tickets for their 3rd Annual Golf Tournament are released, for Friday, September 25th. I personally have been working on my swing, now that I have finally found a pair of LEFTY clubs!
While I have got back into the swing of things with golf (pun intended), I have also begun playing tennis which turns out I love…whether I’m any good at it is another matter, but getting outdoors and putting the technology down has been great especially as there has been so much going on having real personal connections has been such a nice change from the past couple of months.
If you haven’t gather already that I like keeping busy I have also decided to take up a bit of refurnishing as a side project, I have loved spending time outside/ in the garage sanding and painting, while it’s not close to perfect I do enjoy blasting some tunes and being in my own space.
Between all the projects and work I have become a bit too reliant on caffeine and have found my way back towards Redbull however, a new Calgary based company Rviita has come on the market with a natural energy drink and I have to say it’s become a quick favourite, just the other day they announced that they will be releasing a few more flavours which I can’t wait for, as for now I think Midnight, their blackberry flavour, is my favourite.
Aside from alcohol and caffeinated drinks I have found my way back to the farmers market, which my body thanks me for, I have been loving the Hulk and the Popeye from the Cherrypit. As for snacks, I have gone back to an old classic, rice cakes, but this time I’ve stepped it up a level by using Mumgry! If you get my monthly email you’ll recognise the name as I mentioned it as my recommended product. While their plain peanut butter is amazing, their chocolate peanut butter is next level! I have already polished off an jar by myself an on occasion it goes straight from knife to mouth…#noshame.
Onto a couple fun girly bits, I have recently been using BeautyCounters’ skin twin foundation and so far so good no complaints. Hillberg and Berk also released their limited edition Lustre Sparkle Ball which is the perfect amount of sparkle for someone who is more on the neutral side of things. And of course you know I love Saje and Jillian Harris (who doesn’t), so obviously I needed their latest diffuser. While I already have the limited edition Breeze from a couple of Christmas’ ago which is still in perfect working condition, I felt this new one would work better with my new office aesthetic as I will now be working from home from now until further notice.
One final favourite, that I feel needs to have it’s own moment in the sun is I HAVE A NEW LOGO!! Like a real grown up logo, I hired Lace & Confetti who did an incredible job, I believe she is currently on pause for new clients but if you are looking for a designer I would highly recommend sliding into her DM’s or if you’re more professional than myself email her!
All right I think that’s me for July, not super exciting but hey that’s travel ban for you, I do however, have a few trips planned up my sleeve for August and hopefully September (road trips of course).
