Five on Friday - July 30, 2021 ~ Beyond Van Gogh Experience Calgary, Summer TBR List, Grandma's Desserts, Wine Haul and Pixie Mood Purses

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all have had a good week! It has still been a busy stressful week, so I took today off to help me collect myself - going from vacation to everything with my grandma to a busy work week, I really need a day. Also, we are leaving for vacation in Fairmont tomorrow and I need some relaxing time! 

ONE 

We were hosted at the Van Gogh Experience, everything else I purchased myself - this post contains affiliate links 

I was so excited - I have heard about the Beyond Van Gogh Experience a few months ago (it was supposed to happen in Spring, but couldn't because of covid restrictions at that time still), and I was thrilled to be invited to a little sneak peek yesterday before the exhibit opens today in Calgary, July 30 and it is running through to August 29! 

Tok Beauty - Eyes That Tok Mascara and Lip Tonic Swatches and Thoughts

I've really wanted to try new brands this year, and the pandemic has really helped encourage me to find new, local brands to try! Cue, Tok Beauty! 

I purchased everything myself - this post contains affiliate links

There are not many Calgary brands that focus on makeup, so I'm always excited to find them and support them! I just received the Eyes That Tok mascara in my Summer 2021 Jilly Box, and so I checked them out and also picked up the Lip Tonics so I could try more from the brand! 

Manicure Monday - Matte Chartreuse Nails, Essie Have A Ball Polish

Happy Manicure Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! I had a pretty difficult past week and weekend and I may have more simple nails over the next couple of weeks -  I hope you can be understanding and hoping you still like all the polishes I'm sharing! 

I purchased everything in this post

Okay, I have been loving the matte polishes and I've just been getting in to the super matte finish and I love it! 

Five on Saturday - July 24, 2021 ~ June 2021 Owlcrate, Penticton and Revelstoke Visits, my Grandma, and Six Crimson Cranes Pre-order Goodies!

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you all have had a great week - it's been a really long week, getting back from holidays and getting back to work and some heavy personal stuff as well, so I'm looking forward to the weekend! 

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

I just received my June Owlcrate subscription (there was some delays waiting for products, so it's a little late!) and this month's theme is "Go Your Own Way" - 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! 

Travel Post ~ My Favourite Wineries in Okanagan, B.C - Naramata, Summerland, Kelowna, Okanagan Falls and Oliver & Osoyoos

Alright, it's no secret around here that I enjoy my wine - we love wine touring, collecting and drinking (we even built a custom wine room in our basement, so we are pretty big wine-os!) 

I borrowed photos of the wineries from their websites

We are just on our way home from the Okanagan and we always love picking up wine from there when we are visiting - it's certainly a newer wine region, but honestly I'm impressed with the variety and wines that they have! I have done wine tours in all different areas of the Okanagan and thought I'd share my favourites from each area to help out if you are planning a visit! 

Manicure Monday - Peach Holographic Nails

Happy Manicure Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend - I'm still enjoying a little family vacation in BC now that inter-provincial travel is allowed again! 

I purchased everything in this post

And I'm in the land of fruits and peaches - the Okanagan, so I thought some bright, peachy nails would be perfect! 

Five on Friday - July 16, 2021 ~ Klorane Topbox Circle, Well Order, UEFA Euro 2020 Cup, Bare Activewear and Blonde Ambition Clothes

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a great week - if you've been following me on instagram, then you know I've been on a family vacation all week, so it's been a little quieter around here! (And, if you don't follow along there, I will share some updates here when I'm back next week!)

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The Topbox Circle was received for free, everything else I purchased

Woo hoo - I got picked for another Topbox Circle and I'm really excited for this one too! It's a moisturizer and eye masks from Klorane and I'm so excited to try both of these. I love Klorane hair products, so I am excited to try more of their skincare products! 

Manicure Monday - Shark Week 2021 Nails

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend, and I hoped you if you weren't watching the soccer game yesterday, that you tuned in for the start of Shark Week! 

I purchased all these products myself

If you've been around here for a while, you know I like me some Shark week - I always think the shows are information and interesting, can you believe it has been around since 1988?! (I was only 2 then!)

Monthly Beauty Haul - June 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

Cheekbone Beauty ~ $1.45 CAN. I had a gift card for Cheekbone, so when they released this stunning new red lipstick shade, I knew I had to pick it up! I love the Sustain lipsticks and I also picked up the matching lip liner, which is great too! You can see these both on me in my most recent Shop My Stash post, as well as the lipstick just made my June Favourites! Love! 

Self-Care and Skincare Saturday - Kananaskis Nordic Spa Hydrotherapy

Happy Self-care Saturday everyone! I have been dreaming of going to the Kananaskis Nordic Spa since it opened a few years ago, and I'm so happy I finally got to go there on Thursday! 

I purchased my entry - all photos of the Spa are from the KNS instagram, as cameras are not allowed

The Kananaskis Nordic Spa follows the traditional Nordic Hydrotherapy cycling, which includes cycling through hot, warm and cold baths, followed by periods of rest. This specific sequence is meant to stimulate blood flow, eliminate toxins, reduce stress, allow the mind to unwind and gently increase the heart rate for an instant feeling of well-being. For full benefits, they recommend you get in 3 to 4 full cycles for your day at the spa! 

Five on Friday - July 8, 2021 ~ Telus Spark Science Centre, Kananaskis Nordic Spa, Cats, Topbox Circle and Palettes of the Week

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had an amazing week - I'm feeling refreshed and lovely, had some self-care this weekend with a little spa night and got my eye-brows all done and tinted up for a little vacation time next week! 

ONE 

I purchased everything in this post myself, with the exception of the L'oreal serum 

This past weekend, I took the kids to the Science Centre and we had so much fun. They have a venus themed space exhibit and a fun new Astro cafe with amazing ice cream designed after all the planets! We did all the exhibits, caught a movie in the dome theatre and played on the big brainasium park outside! Such a good spot! 

Monthly Beauty Favourites - June 2021

Here were my top 5 products I was loving in June: 

I purchased all these products - this post contains affiliate links

Last month I didn't have any makeup in my Monthly Favourites, so I made up for it this month with a few great makeup products I have been loving all month, and rounded out the top 5 with some seriously great skincare products! 

Manicure Monday - Summer Skies Nails

Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend - it was finally reasonable here this weekend, instead of melting hot and we had lots of family time, so it was a good weekend! 

I purchased all the products featured

We are in to the swing of Summer and I always love Summer nails - the CBBxManiMonday group is keeping it nice and easy over the next two months and we are just going to do fun, Summer nails, however we interpret that! 

Monthly Beauty Empties - May & June 2021

Here's a look at my May and June Beauty Empties:

Some products were received as PR samples - this post contains affiliate links

Guerlain Meteorites Light-Diffusing Perfecting Primer ~ sample size shown (full size is $85.00 CAN). For skin that seems lit from within, apply this smoothing liquid to clean, moisturized skin as an essential first step in any makeup routine.

I just shared this on my 21 in 2021 Project Pan - I finished this as much as I could before there was no more getting out. This was fine; it has the distinct Guerlain scent and the primer was fine. This is older and discontinued now. 

Repurchase: No can do

Quarterly Reading Wrap-up - April to June 2021 & Mid-year Book Freakout Tag

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

Some of the books talked about were received as review copies - this post contains affiliate links

So, 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 second quarter - there were 28 of them (33 in the first quarter)! My original goal was to read at least 60 books through the whole year and I feel like I'm going to crush that, so I upped it to 100 books for the year!! 

Five on Friday - July 2, 2021 ~ No More Covid Restrictions, Hubby's Birthday, Heat Wave, Peonies and Canada Day!

Happy Friday everyone! Can you believe that we are already in July?! Where did June go - I feel like it just flew by! I've had a quite week as the boys all went to the cabin for a few days to beat the heat by the river, so I had the house to myself! 

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July 1 marked a pretty big milestone for Alberta - all of our health restrictions were lifted (a few more still exist in long term care homes), but basically everything is lifted and things can go back to normal. Feels a little weird, but I'm pretty excited. I've missed my family and friends, got my second vaccine and have been starting to do more! I'm ready! What is like where you are? I know all provinces are in different places right now. 

TWO 

Speaking of things reopening, last weekend was my husband's birthday and we went out for dinner and drinks! We ate sushi and stopped for a drink, and it was nice to get out - we haven't been out in a long time and it was fun!