Friday Favourites!

Friday favourites is just the best post! So I'm linking up with some other lovely bloggers to share my favourite things this week!


1. Fresh Sugar Rose lip balm

This stuff. I can't get enough. I think I mentioned before how I just love everything Fresh puts out and that is the truth! I'm not a huge fan of wearing lipstick, but this balm has the perfect amount of colour and moisture. I got this a few months ago and it's almost finished. I carry it in my purse (you can see the wear and tear) and use it every single day! They have a wide spectrum of colours, including one without any shade. It's just the best!

2. Our Last CSA

Not pictured; the incredibly muddy potatoes

Well, at least they went out with a boom! This was our last order until next spring/summer-ish. It was jam-packed. I guess since more of the autumn fruits are in season they are cheaper leading to us getting more. We had the green beans last week and this week they gave us more (and a larger amount!) They were SO good! We also got corn, eggs, spinach, spring mix, patty pan squash, potatoes (so many - I ordered extra), apples, pears, bananas, grapes, garlic, cauliflower, watermelon, green beans ... I think that's it! It will certainly be enjoyed!


3. ALL THE FALL things.

 

 

 

I don't know why they are all sideways. Sorry :(

Friends, Michael's has all of their fall stuff on sale and it is not good for me!! I swear I've spent so much time meandering through their aisles. I want my entire home to be bursting with Fall. Unfortunately, we have to maintain some neutrality for the showings. I'll be damned if they make me put away my "hello fall" pillow though!
I also made a nice flower bouquet for our table. Fake flowers make so much more sense! I couldn't find anything I wanted, so I made my own!

4. My new doTERRA cheer rollerball.

Such a happy scent. I love this one. I also got serenity this month, for sleep which I mix with my lavender. It's such a lovely scent to fill the room and makes for a very tranquil space. The cheer scent is great for a general feeling of overall "cheer" and also reduces anxiety. It is my definitely my favourite!



5. Dinner last night

 

Must work on lighting

This was so good! I love bruschetta (so much so that I actually make it for myself as a snack when I'm feeling ambitious). Now admittedly I love anything with tomatoes (except actual tomato juice), but mixing together two of my favourite things (pasta and bruschetta) ... well it's a match made in heaven. My only edit to the recipe would be to drain the juice a bit from the tomatoes because it was a bit liquidy. I would probably only do about 1/4 of the liquid. The only changes I made to make it gluten free were that I didn't add the pasta until the very end. Gluten free pasta is fairly sensitive so I cooked it al dente and then once I had cooked everything I took it off the heat and added the cooked pasta. It still ended up breaking a bit, but since the recipe actually called for the noodles to be broken before cooking, it worked out.
Overall, super delicious. I enjoyed it last night and for lunch today!


That's all for today! Happy Friday & Happy Weekend!

 

 

Back at it

 Finally back from the land of the sick. I pretty much slept for the entire weekend, and by Sunday afternoon felt well enough to go for a walk, do the laundry and do some little things around the condo.
Last week, by the time I left work on Friday I had a fever, my body felt bruised everywhere, I had the chills, pounding headache, congestion, even my teeth hurt from the sinus blockage ... I'm not actually sure how I managed to function. I took a nap in my car on my lunch break, and I'm the kind of person who cannot sleep anywhere but my own home. It was ridiculous. So once I got home I took a bath to try and regulate my body temp and get rid of the body aches. It worked temporarily, and then I slept oh how I slept. Hours upon hours and hours. They aren't kidding when they say sleeping cures all ailments. I dosed myself up with Nyquil, used my essential oils blend on my spine and feet both morning and night and must say that this is the fastest I have ever gotten over the flu. I've been unfortunate enough to get the flu three times in my adult life. The real flu -- not just a bad cold. Most times it takes over a week to get back to life and this time it was just a weekend. So I'm guessing it was a combination of sleeping and essential oils that did the trick. My new favourite blend - FLOOM - give it a shot! I used this alongside some infused Breathe.


Frankincense - 6 drops
Lemon - 12 drops
Oregano - 6 drops
On guard - 6 drops
Melaluca (or tea tree) - 6 drops


-Add this into a 10 ml rollerball bottle, top up with fractionated coconut oil and roll onto your spine and the bottoms of your feet twice a day. I smell like oregano right now, but aside from a cough and some lingering congestion, I feel pretty good! Thanks Beka for introducing me to doTERRA and for this blend! If you want to get in on this awesome-ness, feel free to connect  with me or visit this link

Picture from here

Now onto this week. Tonight I am making the "Autumn Harvest Skillet" from Speedy Spatula. It's easy, customizable and looks delicious! (The link is her summer version, but you can easily edit the veggies for fall).
I have to go grocery shopping after work, so figured I would do some meal planning this weekend before I went. We have decided that this will be our last week of the CSA produce. Now that the temps are getting cooler, a lot of what we get is going to be greenhouse grown anyways. We are still going to make an effort to eat organic and as local as possible (given our cold winter climate approaching), but we are ready to go back to choosing our veggies rather than being surprised each week. I didn't take a picture of last weeks (I was already feeling pretty sick by that point and didn't even have the energy to put it in the fridge. However, we got purple grapes, cucumber, tomato, watermelon, onion, garlic, green peppers, carrots, beets, green beans, blueberries, apples and pears. I think we have already eaten most of it. Except for the carrots. We have gotten 2lbs of carrots for the last four weeks. It is ridiculous! Thankfully carrots, even organic ones, have a long-ish shelf life, because we are still working our way through the second bag. Needless to say, there will be carrots in our skillet tonight.
Since this week will be our last CSA, we have added eggs and 2 lbs of potatoes to make it count. The potatoes have been our absolute favourite thing this summer - the flavour is unreal! Baking them with a bit of olive oil. salt and pepper has just been divine! I will miss those for sure! It will  be much easier to meal plan once I actually visit the grocery store (because I haven't really gone real grocery shopping in around 3 months - which I haven't missed AT ALL) so I'm hoping Fall can feel a little more organized!

Well, this has been a long rambly post. I am so sad that I missed out on Friday favourites, but there will be lots this week to make up for it!

Happy Monday!

Sickie sick sick

 Well, my feeling slightly off has developed into a full blown cold. It's safe to say, I feel like complete garbage. Sore throat, sneezing, coughing, nose running, head foggy ...ughhhhh. Last night I diffused some On Guard, and applied my floom mixture (a blend of frankincense, lemon, oregano, on guard and melaluca (tea tree)). It helped -- usually the first day my sore throats are completely unbearable, but this one is just painful, haha. I'm hoping it passes quickly. I don't like feeling this way (well, who ever does?!)

 

 

Some positives - today I went and bought those red Kate Spade shoes that I shared a few days ago. Sigh, I know I need to cut down my spending, but a good pair of shoes just completely does me in. Pathetic, I know! Now I just need that dress. I'm crossing my fingers that it goes on sale, but it hasn't so far and I need it in about a month. I'm debating just buying it and then returning it and re-buying it if goes on sale. That might be a bit excessive.

I was impressed that even with my feeling gross yesterday and with a very off stomach to boot, that I was able to convince myself to make dinner. My run became a walk because who wants to bounce around when their stomach isn't cooperating. What a mess, amiright?!
I've entered into a stepbet and while this is the first week, which doesn't count, I'm still feeling the pressure to get my steps in. Losing $40 USD isn't something I'm too keen on. I don't have insanely high goals. Not like some of the ones I've seen, but I also have an office job where I'm sitting for the majority of my day, so while I park as far away as possible and walk often on my lunchtimes, I still have to try to get 8000+ steps on non-running days. I have to say - this is a really great incentive. I know that you don't make much $$ overall, but even the idea of losing your own money is pretty motivating to keep you moving. I'd highly advise people with office jobs who are finding it tricky to get steps in to join a step bet! The one I'm doing only has about 700 participants, so the pot isn't huge, but some have tens of thousands!

Anyways, I'm out. Need to get in some steps and then try and sleep some of this nonsense away!

Moving drama and a trip to the beach

I missed Monday's post! BUT that was because I took a long weekend off work, sooo technically I missed nothing.
I am currently in the midst of becoming obsessed with doTERRA essential oils. I went to a learning session on Friday evening with some lovely ladies and was blown away by all of the things these essential oils can do for you. So needless to say, I've ordered a starter pack and can't wait to start diffusing! I'll document my experiences with all of the different oils as I go. So far, while I wait for my diffuser, I've been using a sample of lavender before sleep which has been helping me to sleep deeper and wake up less frequently. I just put it on like war-paint before bed. I've used the peppermint to combat some ants that can't take no for an answer, and that has worked well as a deterrent (hurrah for Pinterest!). I'm most amped for Cheer, which I'll be ordering in September. It does exactly what it sounds like!

 

So things are progressing on the moving front. We did a bit of painting on the weekend, some staining (wrong colour, oops!) and some bed-construction (anger, bed now only half-done). I also picked up some boxes from my brother and his girlfriend so we now definitely have enough boxes to move! I was really not okay with paying for boxes.
I have filled my parents basement (aka my storage locker) with way too much stuff, and more to come (sorry mom and dad). So thankfully we haven't actually had to rent a storage locker.
There's just so much to do. Honestly, I wish I could just pay someone to pack my home, stage it, sell it, and unpack in my new home. There's too many stories of moving trucks going rogue for me to even consider using one, so I'm already anticipating the nightmare that will come with renting a certain truck we all know and love (to hate). Sure they only charge a minimal fee to rent the truck, but believe me, they find other ways to get their money back. Oh the drama!
I'm going to aim to get a lot of packing done tonight so that tomorrow I can go to the gym. It's really a toss up right now between exercise and moving and with how much we hate this place, packing is winning.
We have enough issues with the building that I won't bother going into, but now my mail has started going missing. I had two packages in less than a month say delivered and never show up. Luckily both senders have replaced the items, but I am absolutely shocked that someone is getting my packages and keeping them! I don't even know how they are getting them since they are addressed to me, but twice in less than a month is no longer just a random occurrence. I'd rather not think my mail person is orchestrating this, but not getting my Ipsy box has made me slightly jaded. Props to Ipsy for asking no questions and immediately sending out a replacement! Love that company!

Tomorrow, since I'd like to gym after work. I'm going to attempt to use the slow cooker. Now I just need to find a good recipe. Good thing I haven't packed my cook books yet!

I finally made it to the beach  -- It was so nice to get some colour, feel the warm sun and relax with my dear friend! I did burn a bit (that will happen to pale people who haven't sunned all summer), but overall I have a nice glow.
I just love going to the beach! It wasn't crowded either, which made it all the more enjoyable. They have five sections of the beach and we went to the area that isn't too close to the boardwalk (as in, you would need to drive there). We drove to that area after to walk the boardwalk for a bit and that part of the beach was jam-packed. It's nice that you can kind of choose the beach-day vibe you're going for and select a number based on that. It's funny because I really don't like sand, and when I go on vacation I always choose pools in lieu of the Ocean (I know, shame on me), but for some reason when I'm here, I don't mind sand as much.
I took one photo of the beach, but at least it's something pretty to look at! I don't know why I have so much sand in this photo. Talk about needing to aim better.