Five on Saturday - January 13, 2024 ~ Extreme Cold, Polar Bears at the Calgary Zoo, January Most Anticipated Reads, Scratch Off TBR Cards, and ColourPop x Twilight Collection

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you all have a great week - I finally got to the doctor because I just felt like I wasn't getting better and now I'm on the mend, thank goodness! 

ONE 

I purchased everything in this post

We can't get started without talking about the week we've been having!! It is so cold in Calgary this week - yesterday waking up it was a high on -36 and the windchill felt like -47!! It was wildly cold and it's supposed to be -30 all weekend so we are going to hibernate all weekend! 

Five on Friday - December 29, 2023 ~ Merry Christmas, Christmas Gifts, Journalling Pens, FBOY Island, and End of Year Declutter

Happy Friday everyone - I hope you all have had a great Christmas and an amazing week! 

ONE 

The gifts I showed were from family and friends

I hope you all have a great Christmas - here is my lovely family and me at Christmas dinner! We are all getting over a cold/flu so it was a little rough leading up to the holidays, but we hosted dinner and I loved having everyone over! 

Five on Friday - November 24, 2023 ~ Moon of the Turning Leaves Book Review, November 2023 Owlcrate Subscription, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Movie, Across The Spider-verse DVD, and Monthly Declutter

Happy Friday everyone - I hope you all had a good week! It's been a little crazy around here, but I think at this point, I say that every week! 

ONE 

Moon of the Turning Leaves and Across The Spider-verse was sent as a review copy

I'm always happy when I have a good book to share, especially when that good book is Canadian! I read Moon of the Crusted Snow earlier this year and it was fantastic - it's modern dystopian, so realistic and super eerie. It takes place on a remote reserve in Northern Ontario and essentially the power shuts off forever and the people on the reserve have no idea what happens. The first book follows what happens immediately following the events and what the community does to survive. Then, this year we got a sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice and it's just as good as the first one! 

Five on Friday - September 29, 2023 ~ Relaxing Friday Night With Dr. Teals, Houseplant Hookups Book, Sheep River Falls, Smash and Tess Forever Frosted Dress, and Ban.do 2024 Planner

Happy Friday everyone - I hope you all had a great week! I'm sorry I'm being such a bad blogger and only posting two times a week right now! I just feel like there is so much going on, I can hardly stay above water and I just don't have enough time to do it all! 

ONE 

The Dr. Teals products and the Houseplants book were received as PR samples

Speaking of that, just in the nick of time, Dr. Teals sent me some relaxing bath products and I'm ready for some serious bubble bath time! I've reviewed their Foaming Bath and Epsom Salts, so these aren't new products on the blog, but this particular type are and they are lovely! 

Five on Saturday - April 22, 2023 ~ Remarkably Bright Creatures Book Review, Science Centre Exhibit, Amazon Finds, New Planter and New Plants!

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you all had a great week! 

ONE 

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

I've had book reviews straight for the past few weeks, but man, March was an amazing reading month! Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is a contemporary fiction novel, following two characters and an octopus as their stories slowly overlap. And, seriously, who knew a story with an octopus as one of the narrators was going to be so cute?! But once you've heard from Marcellus the grumpy octopus, you are going to love him! 

Five on Friday - January 6, 2023 ~ My 2022 Tarot Spread, Reviewing My 2022 Goals, Setting Goals for 2023, 2022 Brand Recap and Brands To Try in 2023

Happy Friday everyone and happy first Friday of 2023! I always find it a little hard to get back in to the work groove after the holiday break - it was a busy week, so I'm happy it's Friday and looking forward to a weekend with Elliott (he was at the cabin for a week so it was quiet here after Christmas!)

ONE 

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

I love getting prepped for the New Year - I'm not big in to resolutions or anything, but I am in to feeling reset and refreshed and planning and looking ahead! So, since I got the beautiful Phantomwise Tarot deck (designed by the talented Erin Morgenstern - my favourite author) in November, I have been trying to get back in to tarot. I often just draw a card a day to manifest the day, but I saw her do a spread for the year - a card a month, plus a summation card for the year. This is my year ahead and I really enjoyed summing up each month and will make sure to reflect back on this! 

Five on Friday - October 25, 2021 ~ Thanksgiving, Pumpkin Patch, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Hello Kitty Squishmallow, and Cara Kozik Order

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have a great week! Mine was nice and normal - love a short work week after a long weekend! 

ONE 

I purchased everything in this post

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving - I love the extra time with family and always make sure that we are together at least one night! Mitch worked most of the weekend and there is still gathering restrictions in place, but we were still able to see my Mom and have a turkey night! 

Five on Friday - September 10, 2021 ~ August 2021 Owlcrate Box, Candy Shop Cafe, Dynamite Clothing Haul, New Samsung S21 Ultra, and Recent Costco Finds

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all had a good week - mine was nice, always great to have a short work week! 

ONE 

I purchased everything - this post contains affiliate links

I just received my August Owlcrate subscription (there was some delays waiting for products, so it's a little late!) and this month's theme is "Dark Academia" - each month the book Owlcrate includes is signed by the author and comes with a note from the author as well. They often have special edition covers just for the box, and they seem to include a lot of exclusive items just for Owlcrate, which is so fun! As a bookworm, I have been loving this subscription! 

Fall 2021 - The Jilly Box Subscription Unboxing

I'm a big fan of Jillian Harris, so when she announced last year that she was starting a subscription box, I was so excited! The box started with the Winter 2019 box and sadly, I was not one of the lucky originals who won a subscription spot, so I sign up every season and hope to get picked for a lottery spot! 

I purchased this box - this post contains affiliate links

The Jilly Box is a quarterly seasonal subscription box - the products within the box include some of Jillian’s (and Team Jilly’s!) favourite items (and brands) from home decor, fashion, bath and beauty, health and wellness, accessories perfect for each season. Some of the items included will be custom designed exclusively for the Jilly Box. The Jilly Box really focuses on including products from small, local businesses while being ethically sourced and inclusive. They also focus on reducing plastic waste and packaging - the big boxes can be turned inside out and reused! Also, they try to include Canadian, woman owned brands, and this box also includes 3 LGBTQ+, BIPOC and Minority owned brands! 

Five on Friday - September 3, 2021 ~ Blind Date With A Book YYC, Wedding Anniversary, New Planners, August Scratch Monthly Mani Kit & Calgary Farmyard

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all had a good week - mine was good and you guys, my oldest kid started Grade 11 yesterday and I can't even believe it! I'm looking forward to the long weekend (and I'm going out for drinks with some friends tonight!)

ONE 

The planners were received as PR - this post contains affiliate links

Okay, I'm so excited to share that I'm starting a new little endeavour - it's a fun little "Blind Date With A Book" thing! It's called @blinddatewithabookyyc and if you are reader, I would love for you to give my new page a follow and see if there is anything that catches your eye! 

Five on Friday - March 26, 2021 ~ Concrete Rose Book Review, March Owlcrate Box, Z Library, Baun Bon Cards and Palettes of the Week

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you've all had a great week! We are officially in to Spring and I always love Spring, it's time for everything to warm up and start growing and getting green (although, I remember that I live in Calgary and we will have snow and cold for the next month still!)

ONE 

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

I'm keeping up with my promise of more book reviews this year - and, I feel like I'm having a really good reading year! I've already read over 25 books and I always have a mix of audiobooks, e-books, and physical books on the go! I really want to focus on books I'm loving and my second 5 star review of the year went to Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas! 

So, I own a physical copy of this book already; but, I did actually listen to this on audiobook and I would highly recommend that - the narrator did a fantastic job. Angie Thomas also wrote The Hate U Give and On The Come Up, and I enjoyed both of the books, so I was looking forward to this. Concrete Rose focuses on Starr's dad, Maverick Carter, 17 years before the events of THUG. So, even though you know the "outcome" or the eventual paths that Maverick chooses, it is still a fantastic read. This book just hit me with all the feels - I laughed, I cried, I did it all and it felt pretty powerful to me. So this book takes us back to Garden Heights with 17 year old Maverick in a very intense time in his life - he is raising a son that the mother has left with him, he loses a family member to a crime, and he is trying to decide on whether to get out or go deeper in the gang life he has been living. 

Five on Friday - December 11, 2020

Happy Friday! I hope you've all had a good week - it's pretty crazy for me. I have been in Edmonton doing some instructing for the week, so I've been living in a dorm room and away from home for a few days. Also, Alberta is basically going into full lock-down now for 4 weeks and it's pretty tough - it's over Christmas. Lots of people have been calling for this for weeks so we could have a small Christmas and it sucks, because now we get nothing. Of course, it will be lovely with the husband and kids - it's just hard without our parents involved too. But, on a good note, the first vaccine was approved in Canada and we will slowly start rolling that out, so it feels like there is a little hope on the other side of a long tunnel! 

ONE 

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

I received my November Owlcrate subscription and this month's theme is "Growing Wild" - I actually skipped the past couple of months, but was so excited about this theme and I love this box. Each month the book Owlcrate includes is signed by the author and comes with a note from the author as well - they often have special edition covers just for the box, and they seem to include a lot of exclusive items just for Owlcrate, which is so fun! As a bookworm, I have been loving this subscription!  

Five on Friday - October 9, 2020

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a great week - I actually took off Thursday and Friday to spend some time with the family and it was really lovely. (It's a little worrisome about seeing too many people as Alberta's covid case numbers are on the rise, but we are just sticking to our immediate family). 

ONE 

Magic Lessons and Legendborn were sent as e-ARCs - this post contains affiliate links

I usually share my book themes of the month later; but, since we should all be spending our long weekend hunkered in and reading, I'm jumping in a little early! My Fall Reading list started with Fairytale retellings last month, and for October we are going full on Witchy Magical reads! They feel perfect for Halloween month, and I can't read anything too scary because I'm a bit of a wimp! 

Five on Friday - September 18, 2020

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have had a great week - mine was pretty normal, nothing too crazy! Someone pointed out that it's been 6 months since things shut down in Canada for the pandemic - while things have slowly opened up, it's certainly been different. We are planning on sending out little guy back to daycare next week and my older son has been in school for a couple of weeks now! Crazy! 

ONE 

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

Can you guys believe that it is almost Fall?! Where did that go?! I do love Fall even though we don't get a long Fall here in Calgary - it basically goes straight from Summer to Winter here. Do you guys have a cozy, Fall read that you love?! I always reach for The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and it is the perfect book to snuggle up with with the colder nights coming (especially with scented candles inspired by the book - I am actually burning them on Tuesday and cracking open this book for the first day of Fall!)

Five on Friday - September 11, 2020

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have had a great week - I love a short work week and this one flew by! 

ONE 

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

I just received my August Owlcrate subscription and this month's theme is "Written In The Stars". Each month the book Owlcrate includes is signed by the author and comes with a note from the author as well - they often have special edition covers just for the box, and they seem to include a lot of exclusive items just for Owlcrate, which is so fun! As a bookworm, I have been loving this subscription!  

Five on Friday - January 19, 2018

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a great week - I have had a great week; but, it was busy! 

ONE
We are leaving tomorrow for our family vacation to L.A. and Anaheim and I couldn't be more excited! Travelling with a baby comes with so much more prep! We are flying in to L.A. staying there for a couple of days - we have plans for Universal Studios, shopping, the Hollywood sign, etc. Then we are driving to Anaheim and staying near Disneyland for a few days as well and doing both Disney parks! We may be a little crazy for trying it all with a soon-to-be 9 month old! (Any tips you have would be lovely!)

The posts will be a little on the lite side while we are on holidays; but, I do have a few posts scheduled while I'm away - mostly Disney related! Hope you all have a great week! 

TWO

I don't have much information/knowledge on the Seacret brand (I have heard a little bit about it and tried one of their face masks before); but, my hair stylist uses this brand and this brush is amazing! It is the Seacret Pro Styling Hair Brush and it is sooo good on my hair. I have fine and thin hair and it tangles so easy - I also have a really sensitive scalp so I hate my hair being pulled, etc. This brush is so soft and gentle and works quickly - no pulling, no frizz! 

Five on Friday - October 20, 2017

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you had a great week! I'm looking forward to tonight - my husband is coming home from his 4th week being away. I'm ready for him to be home and not be out of town anymore!

ONE

Ahhh... my week is made! I have finally found these adorable little Lip Smacker Disney Tsum Tsum Halloween nail polishes!!! I have literally looked in Walmart and Shoppers whenever I am close by one, and I finally found them at a community Rexall! I'm sooo excited! While the little lip balms in this collection are adorable, I NEEDED these nail polishes! You know what next week's nail post is going to be now - swatches and thoughts on these guys! (Seriously, are they not adorable?!)

Five on Friday - October 13, 2017

Happy Friday everyone!!! Oooh... how spooky a Friday the 13th in October! I'm not superstitious, nor do I watch scary movies, but if I did watch them - I would especially watch one tonight! Maybe, I will catch up on an episode of American Horror Story instead!  

ONE 

This past weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada and we had such a lovely family weekend! We had 2 delicious dinners at my mom's house and my inlaw's house - I love turkey dinner; but, the best part of the weekend is acknowledging how thankful I am for these 3 precious boys!

Five on Friday - May 5, 2017

Happy Friday everyone! hope you have had a great week! Mine has been pretty simple - lots of visitors in and out to meet the baby and trying to find a good awake and sleep routine, but it's slowly coming!  

ONE

This is pretty much what my new day to day life looks like - I snuggle with Elliott and when he sleeps I try and get some blogging or other tasks done! I will put him down soon, but I actually love when he snuggles like this! 

Five on Friday - April 28, 2017

Happy Friday everyone!! Holy moly, this has been a big week for us! 

ONE

This Sunday, April 23 we welcomed our beautiful little boy, Elliott to our family! He came at 2:08 in the morning - I ended up being induced because of my blood pressure (which has been high my whole pregnancy). Elliott came pretty quickly, but gave us a little scare as he had his umbilical cord around his neck twice and needed a little extra oxygen after he was born. He recovered really well and is doing great!