Liebster Award

Ok!...here goes nothin'! I've been nominated by Emily who is another lifestyle blogger over at 

underthescottishrain.blogspot.co.uk 

I'm just becoming acquainted with Emily recently, and I'm so flattered that she has nominated me. I've been sort of daunted by this whole experience wondering how I'll get through writing this blog, so I've decided to Just do it like I usually do. If I put too much thought into it -something I tend to do- I wouldn't do it, so here we go!

    1. Thank/ link the person who nominated you
        Thanks again Emily!

    2. Answer the 11 questions they have written for you

      1. If you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why?

I would be a cat. I would be a cat because they're pretty smooth in the way they move, always landing on their feet (my only wish because I'm such a klutz lol!), and the best part is they can sunbathe any time they choose. This is partly why I blog. I can stay home and wait for the sun to shine on me :)

      2. Which country would you most like to live in?

Anywhere warmer than here really... I've been called a gypsy my whole life because I move a lot. For now, lets say Australia!

      3. Why did you start blogging?

Ooo! I like this question! I started blogging because I LOOOVE to write! I never thought anyone would want to read my words, and before I started blogging I thought "who reads blogs anyways? Who reads about other peoples lives?". But in all truth, I was doing that. I just didn't see it in the cards for myself until I just decided "you know what? who would this hurt if I tried?". The answer? No one! And I love every minute of it.

      4. What is your blogging goal?

Another juicy question! I like it Emily! My blogging goal is to become a monetized business, and live a lifestyle where I don't have to worry about money or wanting to travel. 

That being said, I want to share more travel blogs, and I'd like to get into fashion and beauty in the future, but- at the moment- with a toddler I can barely get a slick of lipstick on! He's a handful, but a lovely one and I enjoy teaching him things everyday. Raising him is the most important to me right now so this is partly what I'll share amongst life adventures with my family.

      5. If you could go to a different time period, which one would you go to?

I am obsessed with the Gatsby time period! The lavish style just has me hooked! I would've been very happy there dancing the nights away in amazing dresses :)

      6. If you were on a deserted island, what 3 items would you bring with you?

I would bring my computer so I could blog about it, a blender to make margaritas with, and sunblock. I don't burn, but sun protection is the key to life...and is the main item for a sunbather to bring to the beach.

      7. What do you want the future to hold for you?

Continued and unending happiness with the 2 loves of my life; my fiancee and my baby boy. May the future bring continued success and happiness to us all!

      8. What is your favourite film and why?

Ooo, this ones a toughie. My fiancee will tell you that I'm so bad with names and titles. I never remember anything! I am however, a movie buff, and the last great movie I saw was "Rise of the planet of the apes". Great cinematography! I highly suggest seeing it in theatres if its not too late.

      9. What is your biggest fear?

One of my biggest fears was deep, dark water. My dad watched one too many scary films for a young child's liking when I was little! I (embarrassingly to this day) still think there are underwater lake monsters, and sharks all over the ocean lol! But I just recently went to Mexico and snorkelled with sea turtles! Best experience of my life! 

      10. What is your wardrobe must have?

MY wardrobe must have?....hmm.. a good pair of skinny jeans :) 

      11. If you could change one thing about yourself, would you? And what would it be?

What would it be.. It would have to be my hyper sensitive body. Anything I put in or on will have a dramatic effect on my health. I would change that in a heartbeat, but I am an incredibly thoughtful person because of it... so now I'm stuck.. yes I would change it..no I wouldn't lol! Ah! I'll leave it at that!

     

     3. 11 random facts about myself

      1. I'm a lover of the sun! Put me in a floaty on a lake, or on a white sandy beach and I'll be happy forever!

      2. I've been engaged for 3 years...enough with it already! Its time to get married! :)

      3. I'm an introvert.

      4. Secretly, not so secretly I want to move away from Canada and blog about my travels

      5. I still need a new engagement ring lol! Yes, a NEW one! Wanna come shopping for one with me? I keep putting it off!

      6. I'm a perfectionist

      7. I've gone back to university and college a total of 3 times for 3 different careers (completed every single one), not once to become a writer though, but here I am writing for a living :)

      8. I don't regret anything. All life experiences are made to help us grow into the person we are today. Remember that!

      9. I'm a nerd. A book nerd. A life nerd. I love learning!!!!!

    10. Now that I'm blogging I sometimes forget to eat...yes, I do.

    11. I cannot lie worth a damn!!! If you suspect I'm lying, watch my face. I'm probably cracking a smile! 

     4. Nominate blogs with under 200 followers, who you believe deserve this award

•  Heledd at Running in Lavender
•  Sarah at Crowded Closet
•  Nicki at Nicki Kinickie
•  Laura at My Wee Sweet Pea
•  Michelle at Michelle Louise Love

     5. Leave a set of 11 questions for those blogs to answer, and let them know they've been nominated

      1. What is your all time favourite food?

      2. What is at the top of your bucket list?

      3. What does the perfect date look like to you?

      4. What is your current favourite outfit?

      5. Do you like cooking? If so, what is your favourite meal to cook?

      6. What does your apartment look like right now?

      7. Have you travelled? If so, what was your favourite destination, or where would you love to go?

      8. Are you a cat, or dog person?

      9. What do you do on a rainy day?

      10. What is your favourite type of music?

      11. Are you living your dreams? If so, why, or why not?

Emily, thanks again for the nomination! This wasn't as hard as I assumed it would be, it took some thoughtfulness, definitely worth it to nominate some other rad bloggers who deserve it ;)

Come learn more about Emily here. She has some really great sights and experience she shares on her blog!

Feelin Good

I was watching Kris Carr's Crazy Sexy Cancer trailer today. She is an incredibly resilient survivor of an apparent incurable stage 4 cancer. Most people will know someone who has either dealt with it, IS dealing with it, or may encounter it in the future. Apparently 45% of men and 41% of women will deal with this sometimes life threatening disease in their lives. 
(Stats here at Cancer.ca)

This is something I believe that with the right diet, lifestyle and mindset can either be completely bypassed, or overcome. I really want to see Kris Carr's documentary- just the trailer itself drew me in. I am not personally dealing with cancer, but I know, have known and will know someone who is dealing with it. Her mindset got her through and above any other method of treatment- she decided that she was going to live. I love that! 

But why does it take disease for some of us to begin to wake up to life? I don't want to have to wait for something detrimental to happen to me for my eyes to open. Why do I bring this up? Because how many of us have that unwritten or unspoken bucket list we've always dreamt about? Or that hobby that we just love to do that we "just don't have the time for"? 

Why wait? I've watched more than my share of her inspiring videos on YouTube (more of her that I will share in the future). Why wait until tomorrow to live your life? Why is "another day" just better than right NOW? 

I say, let's stop. Breath, and do it. Just do it! That's what I'm all about. 

What if we don't have tomorrow? In a way, it's a blessing to think like this, because if we're always waiting for tomorrow, when will our lives ever be fully lived?

You may think what I'm about to say is a bit silly- but I LOVE dancing! That's all I want to do. And from the Crazy Sexy Cancer trailer it has inspired me to make time to just dance, even if it's to ONE song daily! That's it! That's my goal right now is to get back in touch with that ultra creative, physical side of me and just let loose- even if it's just with my son. He's much more entertaining to dance with then bumping into drunk people at a club anyways :)

What is it that you've been wanting to do, but just haven't given yourself permission, or simply just the time to do?

This is the life

Yes, it's that time of week again!

What did you do over the weekend?

On Friday evening we made our way to my grandparents once again- I think I told you before how much we enjoy visiting them. We have been busy all week showing our place to potential new tenants... oh ya! Have I told you that 

WE'RE MOVING AGAIN

Yikes, right? Didn't I tell you that I would rather stay put for a while since it was rather hellish moving to my current dream apartment in downtown Vancouver not even 2 months ago? We haven't had a chance to fully move into my dream apartment because we know we'll be leaving soon. Its sad, but at the same time exciting as this time we'll be getting super cozy (which means shopping for comfortable furniture and accessories!) as a means to stay put for longer than a year in one apartment. 

My Uncle offered us his larger apartment for a really good price that we just couldn't say 'no' to. It is far from the downtown life, but it is something that we are so grateful for! Not only is it bigger, but we'll be able to really save up for this darn wedding that feels like will never happen! Finally! So over the next couple of years I'll have plenty to write about :) This next little while is a bit of a sacrifice in location and lifestyle (oh God, how we love the downtown life! But the downtown life is expensive!). 

So get ready for some home decoration blogs in the very near future! I'll take you along on the trips we make, and ask for some advice on what I should buy. I'm not an interior decorator by any means so let me know what you think works, and what are just weird quirky mismatches ok? 

So, this is what we did- RELAX and we couldn't feel more recharged for the week!

Daddy and I started our Saturday at the lake, sadly leaving our baby at home with the grandparents as he caught a strange little cold (remind me to get him back on his probiotics!)- he is better now though thankfully.

I spent a lot of time in the 30+C weather with my Gramma reading a really great book for my blogging career while jotting down a LOT of notes! I'm immersed, and half done the book now! Once again I mixed a wonderful 

Wine spritzer 

1/3 c wine
1/3 c coconut water (hey, I needed hydration somehow!)
1/3 c club soda
4 ice cubes

Let me tell you it was much better with a touch of coconut water for sweetness :)

Do you think I'm a bit insane for moving again? Sometimes I feel like this life of mine is a never ending adventure! 

Let me know what you were up to! I'd love to hear! 
Comment below the post by either signing into your gmail account, or use the openID :) 

Thanks for stopping by!

Green Glow Smoothie

We are back for the next addition of Good Food Fridays, where I share not only time saving recipes, but healthy at that! 

I've been working on this one for a while now, so I hope you enjoy it- not only for the taste, but the amazing health benefits. There's a plethora of good fats in this smoothie- which is good for keeping a slim waist line as well as a healthy nervous system- and good greens to amp up your energy levels, and alkalize the body (which is very much needed these days). Also, I've added ginger to this smoothie to rev up your immune system, metabolism and it's also anti-inflammatory in every way possible.


Green Glow
Step 1:

Gather all of your ingredients!

• 1 cup frozen blueberries (I prefer frozen over fresh for this recipe, but if you want to add fresh blueberries add some ice cubes!)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 big handfuls of spinach
• 1/4 c hemp hearts
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tsp spirulina
• 1 tsp matcha powder
• 1-2 tsp coconut oil
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2- 1 inch of ginger (depending on your taste)
• 1-1 & 1/2 c of water (depending on how thick/ thin you like it)

And sweetener of choice if needed. I personally find this is sweet enough with banana and blueberries.

Step 2:

Put all ingredients into blender. Look at that deliciousness!

Step 3:

Enjoy! Pretty simple, right? 

Come check out these 2 links for more information on healthy fats, and ginger benefits!

• The big fat truth
• Ginger health benefits

Just do it!

This photo is courtesy of thinkforphotop/ freedigitalimages.net

Today I'd like to share with you a little part of my life. I like to read- did you know that? I'm a major geek at heart, and its something my sweetie loves about me. Apparently he's 

"the cool one" 

and I'm 

"the geek"

My way of enjoying life is singing, dancing, reading and writing. All of which require me to never have to leave the confines of my cozy little home. I love my home. Its not like I stay home a lot, as living in the city makes for such a busy lifestyle. 

I'm out and about with my son constantly. But as an introvert my way of recharging is being at home- its something I've recently accepted about myself 

I am me 

Big revelation, right? Not really. I can't change me. 

This was taken on a road trip with a friend along the Oregon coast

Accepting this has given me more opportunity to figure out what works for me. I love writing. And apparently it shows. I've been approached for the third time to write a book. Its nerve racking! Its nerve racking because fear gets in the way. But if I really think about it, I blog. I share myself with people all over the world every week. So I'm negotiating with myself on a daily basis 

"If I can do this, I can write a book!". 

My goal is to sit down and make a game plan. I have no idea where to start. But I'm just gonna do it. That's what I live by 

"Just do it" 

If you've been reading my blog for a little while, you must know this about me by now.

I went to Mexico recently and in the spur of the moment I decided to jump in- literally. I have a severe fear of dark water. I have an issue with not having control over situations around me. But an opportunity came up where I was able to go snorkelling. I said "why not?". If I even thought about it for a moment I wouldn't have done it. What I'm doing with my writing career is I'm thinking too much about it- wondering how I'll "make it perfect", and where I'll find the time to do it. Not only did I snorkel once in Mexico, I did twice more after that, and my last trip before leaving was with sea turtles- the most magical experience of my life! If I had reached my arm out I could've touched that big, beautiful majestic creature in front of me. Its something I will remember for the rest of my life, and its because I took the leap. I will now jump into the sea of writing where I feel happy, and content. I love connecting with people through my writing, and I love talking to you. 

I guess this is also a thank you. Thank you for reading. Please follow me on Bloglovin'. There is a button on the left side of the page, right under "All about me". You can receive emails right to your inbox anytime I write new content. I'll keep you posted on the book writing too! With such a little ball of energy (aka: my son) I'm going to assume that my book will take some time to get through. I'm already working on my blog on a daily basis, and its not something I'm willing to put on the back burner, as blogging is my fuel for creativity.

Please keep reading, and I will keep writing. You have no idea how wonderful it is to have such a great, supportive audience. Thank you!

A day out with my toddler

Bah! Another one of those days. I was so bored I felt like I was going bonkers! Usually my son and I are set up daily with classes, or dates with friends, but because our summer schedule consists of a lot of family time we are sort of at wits end when left to our own devices. I should say I'm at my wits end. I felt isolated, and bored yesterday. But that's all about to change. I saw boredom as a great opportunity to change things up, so here we go on another adventure!

To shake things up, today we left the lacklustre routine of ours to take a ferry across the water to Granville Island and take a stroll through the Kids Market. I've been looking into activities to do in Vancouver, and my son loves boats so I thought he would just be thrilled! 

Even though we both felt the pinch of boredom yesterday, he still managed to make me smile.

Here he is in his Dada's stylish sunglasses :)

It was about time this duo got their groove back! 

Even though it was a rainy day, we still made the best of it.

If your looking for some activities to do in the Vancouver area check these out!

• Toddler orientated activiities
• All ages events

Now I'm ready to tackle the rest of the summer with my son- even if we hit another slump in activities.

What did you do over the weekend?

Before I get started with my blog today I just wanted to let you know that I spent the night updating the blog page. Hopefully it will be easier to navigate from here on. At the top left there are tabs for; All About Me, Lifestyle, Healthy Food, and Motherhood & Relationships. So if your looking for something to read in particular like an easy dinner, smoothie or lunch recipe you can go straight to Healthy Food and look through the recipes. I hope you enjoy the new look!

All About me is a new section I added and is a bio for none other than- myself. I want you to get to know me a little bit better, as well as for those who are joining my blog more recently.

This will also be my official announcement of what the blog week will look like; 

• Tuesday: What did you do over the weekend?
• Wednesday: Lifestyle
• Thursday: Lifestyle
• Friday: Quick and healthy recipe day to cap off the week

Every so often I will blog about relationships, organization and reviews of restaurants and whatever else I fancy to review (like a new bike for my son, or makeup that I bought) but it won't be too often because I'm noticing that you enjoy more of the pure lifestyle posts right now. Please let me know if there is anything you'd like to see as this blog is for you. I love writing it, so if I can go over something you would like to see (like more reviews for example) now is the time to say so :)

Because I have more viewership every week I also want to let you all know that you can follow me on Bloglovin'. If you don't know what Bloglovin' is, it's a great site where you can follow your favourite bloggers (aka: me), and they will send you emails to your email address  of my blogs when they are posted on a daily or weekly basis. I've made it very convenient to follow my blog. If you look to the top left of this page there are a few buttons; one called "Bloglovin'" click the button, and it will set you up for an account quite quickly. Also there is a Twitter and Facebook share button right underneath "Bloglovin'". If you enjoy my posts, please share them with others to help me to continue to grow my readership. Thank you! Now on to my regular blog for Tuesday!

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Here's the second addition to "What did you do over the weekend?". You all seemed to really enjoy this topic, as did I. I would love to know what you did too, so let me know in the comment section below the post!

This weekend our son was with family again so Dada and I had a chance to sleep in, and reconnect. Our life wouldn't be balanced if we didn't fit in some adventure to the relaxation would it? We started off the weekend by once again heading off to White Cliff Park- somewhere that we're very fond of going to to watch sunsets.

This picture was taken a few months ago at White Cliff Park

We then came home where my sweetie had a chance to produce some music while I flexed my blogging muscles and learnt how I could improve this blogging career that I love so much. I ended up finding this very cute blogger from the UK named Zoella. After watching some of her more recent work as a Vlogger I couldn't help but watch more than a few of her videos here. If your into fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogs- check her out. The reason I bring up Zoella is because I want to get into Vlogging in the future, so finding someone who is successful with it is someone I was on the lookout for.


We slept until 11 am on Saturday and made our way on a very unexpectedly long hike to Lynn Valley Headwaters. I've done this hike once before a year ago. Our  "light hike" ended up being a 4 and a half hour long hike with the last half being "intermediate". As in, "wear the right shoes". Well, I wish I could tell you I have hiking boots. But I don't. I used some running shoes that have been sitting in my closet for well over a year now. I'm not a runner (I try to be sometimes). I'm a biker. I love biking. Running just seems.. a waste of energy personally. I love going fast!

I digress- usually this happens. I should also let you know how clumsy I am. Of course I fell into the water with my lovely pavement running shoes! All in all, I got a bruised toe, but the show continued. I walked it off, iced it in the water and enjoyed my time in the woods.

Once we finished the unexpectedly long hike we were hungry! And I think we deserved some good food, don't you? I want to rate this restaurant in the near future as the eating experience itself is a blog post. For now, pictures will have to do over this drool worthy food at Bin 941. I must say that we entered this tapas bar muddy, and sweaty- too hungry to get ready! I felt a little more than underdressed but this restaurant was more than willing to serve us :)

So, how was your weekend? I'd love to hear! Leave me a line or 2 below in the comment section :)