Friday, December 31, 2021

Five on Friday - December 31, 2021 ~ Christmas, The Book of Boba Fett, Pages Bookstore and Declutter

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have a great week - it's been around -25 degrees this whole week and my husband's car broke down, so we've been hunkered down inside avoiding the cold as much as possible! 

Can we believe that it is already December 31?! I hope you all have a great New Years and ring in 2022 in a safe and fantastic way! 

ONE 

I purchased everything in this post

The highlight of this week of course was Christmas! I'm a huge Christmas person and our holiday was so great! We spent Christmas Eve with Mitch's family and had a great night and Christmas morning was amazing - the boys loved their gifts and did so well. My husband had to work, but then my family came over and we had an amazing crab leg dinner and it was great! 

Thursday, December 30, 2021

Quarterly Reading Wrap-up - October to December 2021 & A Yearly Recap

Time for a little recap on all the books I've read in the last quarter a little recap of the best and worst! 

Quarterly Reading Wrap-up - October to December 2021 & A Yearly Recap
Some of the books discussed may have been received as review copies - this post contains affiliate links

Reading has clearly taken over as my most time-consuming hobby, and I've enjoyed incorporating more book content on the blog! So I thought I would recap all the books I read in the final quarter of the year - there were 26 of them (33 in the first quarter, 28 in the second quarter, and 30 of them in the third quarter). My original goal was to read at least 60 books through the whole year and I crushed that, so I upped it to 100 books for the year, and I certainly surpassed this goal this read by reading a total of 117 books in 2021! 

Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Reflections of 2021 ~ Yearly Recap

Happy 2022 everyone! Wow, 2021 was a year to remember - can you believe we made it through a whole year of a pandemic?! It's been a long year to say the least with a lot of back and forth on restrictions and waves of covid - it's a lot! So, I hope you know that however you made it through this year, you are doing great! I've been up and down with how I've been dealing because I'm really hoping the end is in sight, but it's been a long time in this pandemic. 


I'm a super nostalgic person and I love looking back a moments in time and remembering how it was and picturing myself back there (this is why I'm a big scrapbooker too!), and despite dealing with a pandemic, there was some really amazing moments from this year! 

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Project Pan 21 in 2021 ~ Final Update #6

I have really enjoyed working on a project pan last year, it really made me enjoy using up older products in my collection, so I was excited to start a new project pan in 2021 - I am hoping to use up or hit pan on 21 products in 2021! I will again, be focusing on all makeup products as I am pretty good about working through my skincare products. 

Project Pan 21 in 2021 ~ Final Update #6
I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links 

I started the project off with the first 10 products and was going to treat this like a rolling project - once I reach my goal, I will add a new product to the mix! On my first update, I reached my goal on 1 product, then with the second update, I finished another 2, my third update I finished another 4 products, in my fourth update I finished 1 more product, and in my fifth update I finished another 3 products! So, going in to this final update, I have hit my goal on 11 products, and had 10 more to go! (I have to be honest though, I lost all steam on this project this month and did not add in new products and just worked on finishing what I had).

Monday, December 27, 2021

Manicure Monday - New Year's Firework Nails

Happy Last Monday of 2021 - can you believe in less than a week we are ringing in a New Year?! While this year has totally dragged on and been crazy, I still feel like now it's flown by! 

Manicure Monday - New Year's Firework Nails
I purchased everything in this post

We are doing holiday nails all month with the CBBxManiMonday group and I have been doing Christmas nails all month, so I thought it would be fitting to do some New Year's Nails this week! 

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Monthly Beauty Haul ~ December 2021

I always love these haul posts - it's a way to keep track of everything that I picked up every month. I don't always blog about everything I pick up (I try to), but if you ever spot anything in here that you really want me to talk about, let me know! 

Last year, I got a little crazy about trying to stick to a crazy budget and this year I'm just going to buy what I want and try and be reasonable about my purchases! 

I purchased everything in this post

Winners Haul ~ $36.72 CAN. Ok, you can't really find I Dew Care in Canada, so I was excited to find this little set at Winners and to try a few things! Then of course I always pick up a few masks when I'm there too! 

Friday, December 24, 2021

Five on Friday - December 24, 2021 ~ Family Christmas Cards, November 2021 Owlcrate Box, Grinchmas at the Calgary Farmer's Market, and Christmas Baskets and Mugs

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have had a great week - happy Christmas Eve, I hope you are all looking forward to Christmas tomorrow! 

ONE 

I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links

We are all prepped for Christmas tomorrow - everything is wrapped and ready to go and the kids are excited for Santa to visit! Any bets on how early my little one is going to be up tomorrow?! He is not good at sleeping in when he is excited! 

Monday, December 20, 2021

Manicure Monday - Deck The Halls Christmas Nails

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! 

Manicure Monday - Deck The Halls Christmas Nails
I purchased everything in this post

Okay, we had a few very sad moments this week and look at these tiny little nails as a result - I lost a few tips and edges, so I just chopped them off so hopefully they all grow out nicely together with no mishaps for a while! 

Friday, December 17, 2021

Five on Friday - December 17, 2021 ~ The Marrow Thieves & Hunting By Stars Book Review, Cookies I Have Loved Cookbook, Owlcrate Special Edition Books, Palettes of the Week, and Hurraw! Lip Balms

Happy Friday everyone ! I hope you all had a great - I've been using this week to finalize all my Christmas prep and will hopefully finish my wrapping this weekend! Are you guys all ready to go? 

ONE

the marrow thieves & hunting by stars
I purchased all the products in this post - this post contains affiliate links 

I'm a big fan of Cherie Dimaline - she is an Indigenous Canadian author and I've really enjoyed her writing style. She wrote The Marrow Thieves in 2017 - it is a young adult dystopian novel and it is set in a future where the world has been ravaged by global warming and people have lost the ability to dream - the only people left with the ability to dream are Indigenous people and the cure potentially lies in their bone marrow, but this means death for the unwilling donor, so Indigenous people are being hunted and we follow a young man, and a group of people who are on the run and trying to find their loved ones. 

Thursday, December 16, 2021

Beauty Gift Sets That Caught My Eye This Year - Last Minute Gifts and Stocking Stuffers for Beauty Lovers

I haven't done very many holiday posts this year - the holidays still feel a little different and I know my family is trying to keep things local or smaller this year for the holidays, so I imagine we aren't the only ones going that route. 

Beauty Gift Sets That Caught My Eye This Year - Last Minute Gifts and Stocking Stuffers for Beauty Lovers
I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links 

But, of course, as a beauty lover, there was still a few little fun sets that caught eye this year. Personally, what I like in a beauty set is a low price range with a mix of a couple new to me products from a brand I'm interested in trying more from! Or, a few of my favourites from a brand I love will also hook me! 

Tuesday, December 14, 2021

ColourPop The Nightmare Before Christmas Collab - Shadow Palette & Creme Lux Lipsticks

What's this? What's this? A lovely new collab! I know ColourPop comes out with a ton of new products, but some of their collabs have been amazing and I could not resist picking up this collection when they announced they were partnering with Disney for The Nightmare Before Christmas! 

ColourPop The Nightmare Before Christmas Collab - Shadow Palette & Creme Lux Lipsticks
I purchased all these products - this post contains affiliate links

Myself, like a ton of people have been waiting to see if they would be doing a Nightmare Before Christmas and I was so excited when they announced it! This was released right before Halloween, and lot of people were actually disappointed in the colour story of this palette; but, I was actually really happy with it - it's bright and different and was a great group of colours together! 

Monday, December 13, 2021

Manicure Monday - Winter Penguin Nails

Happy Manicure Monday everyone - I hope you all have a great weekend! Can you believe it's less than two weeks until Christmas?! I'm getting so excited! 

Manicure Monday - Winter Penguin Nails
I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links

So, to help us count down to the big day, I have some fun little cold weather friends - it's been super cold and snowy in Calgary the last couple of weeks, so these penguins are perfectly dressed for December! I love cute little Wintery critters and I love how these penguins turned out! 

Sunday, December 12, 2021

Monthly Beauty Haul ~ November 2021

I always love these haul posts - it's a way to keep track of everything that I picked up every month. I don't always blog about everything I pick up (I try to), but if you ever spot anything in here that you really want me to talk about, let me know! 

Last year, I got a little crazy about trying to stick to a crazy budget and this year I'm just going to buy what I want and try and be reasonable about my purchases! 

Monthly Beauty Haul ~ November 2021
I purchased everything in this post

Adrienne Furrie ~ $90.30 CAN. I went to a beauty and fashion event in Calgary with a local makeup artist and designer - I had never heard about the brand before, but I'm so excited to try these products out. I picked up a concealer, cream blush and liquid shadow and hope to try them right away! 

Saturday, December 11, 2021

Five on Saturday - December 11, 2021 ~ Circus Reads, Smash and Tess Rebecca Dress, Christmas Cookie Decorating, Fun Shopping Finds and the 2022 Pantone Colour of the Year

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you all had a good week - mine was normal and pretty quiet! 

ONE

circus books
I purchased everything in this post - this post contains affiliate links

I don't plan a whole lot of my reading anymore, but I am trying to finish up a few long standing series I've had on the go. But, I have been craving Circusy set books, so I've rounded a few of the ones I really want to read soon! 

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Monthly Beauty Favourites - November 2021

Here's a look at the Top 5 things I was loving in November: 

The Bali Body and Bubble T products were received as PR samples - this post contains affiliate links

I am still using few new products - I've found it a little hard as the pandemic continues on to try a ton of new stuff! I'm hoping to get some time to play with some new makeup and products soon! 

Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Lush Kitchen Subscription Box ~ December 2021

The Lush Kitchen Subscription box is a monthly subscription box full of exclusive Lush Labs goodies made exclusively for the box - every month subscribers vote on the monthly menu of products that they would or would not like to see in the box, so you can help pick what is included in the box! Also, all of the products included in each box will be vegan. 

Each month the Lush Kitchen Subscription box is £35 per month + shipping (shipping to Canada is £17.95), so all together the cost of the subscription box in Canada is £52.95 a month, which converted to around $95.00 CAN this month). The subscription will come with 4-5 exclusive products and I think it will include a variety of products that Lush makes; but, will of course be mostly bath and body products.

Lush Kitchen Subscription Box ~ December 2021
I purchased everything in this post

Each month you pay and vote for products that are coming in the following month's box - so for this October's box, you had until September 5 to vote on the products you'd like to see and then payment comes out on the 6th of the previous month. Then, Lush spends the month making the products and ships it out at the end of September so receive it in October! 

Monday, December 6, 2021

Manicure Monday - Dinosaur Santa Nails

Happy Manicure Monday everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend - can we believe it's the first Monday of December already?! Wow! 

Manicure Monday - Dinosaur Santa Nails
I purchased all the products in this post

So, this manicure is for those of you who aren't quite ready for the holidays - or as I'm going to tag it as "for when your feeling dead inside, but also festive" (because, aren't we all kind of feeling this way going in to the second holiday season of the pandemic?!) But actually, I'm a crazy Christmas person, so I'm always full on Christmas spirit mood! 

Saturday, December 4, 2021

Five on Saturday - December 4, 2021 ~ Monthly Makeup Baskets, Santa's Reindeer, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Monthly Declutter

Happy Saturday - I hope you all had a great week! Mine was pretty good - I took a day off to get to my Christmas shopping (I'm very close to being done!)

ONE 

I purchased all the products in this post

I have been keeping up my Monthly Makeup Baskets throughout this pandemic; but, I think after curating my collection a little bit better, I will probably stop doing these next year! So, this might be my last Monthly Makeup Basket for a while! (Also, should I just call this the month of Sleeping Beauty products?!)

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

Family Advent Calendars ~ The Chocolate Lab, Yawn Brew Hot Chocolate, Lego Star Wars, and the 24 Days of Celebration Wine!

It's December 1st and I absolutely love advent calendars - I'm ready to countdown to Christmas! I really like to try new ones every year and we've tried it all - beer, chocolate, tea, books, lego, you name it! I'm really excited with our family advent calendars that we picked out this year! 

Family Advent Calendars
I purchased all the calendars on my own

I always like to go with some classic advent types as well as some unique and different ones! I tend not repeat calendars as I always want to try something new; but, my teenage son loved the hot chocolate calendar so much, that he requested the same one this year, so of course I obliged and got him one!