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DIY: Brit + Co Marbled Jewelry tray

December 2, 2015 6 Comments

It was perfect timing, when I attended the Brit + Co summit a while back (and instagrammed a few paintings I didÂ while there). Just weeks prior I had told my husband that before the internet existed (please don’t question my age, haha!) I was so creative, I had crafty hobbies, and did a lot of DIY’s.Â From making intricate bracelets that were super thick, to painting Picasso replica’s (seriously â€” I love the paintings I did, and they are still hung at my parents house in Newfoundland), to just painting for the fun of it.

A few weeks had past, and I heard back from Brit + Co, asking me if I wanted to take the challenge on committing to a full week of creativity. It was to spend 1 hour/day doing something creative. Know those adult colouring books that people seem to be enjoying now? Although it is fun, it’s not just for fun, you know? The adult colouring book helps de-stress, and self-express your creativity. Colouring has been said to be able to be therapeutic and help eliminate anxiety, relax the body and mind. In that regard, it can be helpful for your mental and physical health.

Put down the cell phones (or my tip: put it on airplane mode so you don’t get any notifications). Stop scrolling through facebook and instagram and unwind during your evenings electronic-free. Doing something creative often relaxes the body.

One of the ladies from Brit + Co asked me if I wanted to tryÂ out one of their kits. Clearly by the title and photos from the post, I wanted to try making their marbled jewelry trays kit.

This weekend since my husband wasn’t in the country, I had tons of free time, and decided that I wanted to reserve my Saturday afternoon to crafting and some me time.Â I turned up the mellow tunes on Songza, turned the lights a bit dim and relaxed as I made some gorgeous little marbled jewelry trays.

I love how they turned out. What do you guys think? Totally gifting one of these trays to my sister-in-law for Christmas along with this Ireland necklace from Etsy (don’t worry, she doesn’t read my blog). I also made a few more because the kit provides you with a lot of clay.

Making the marble trays one day, then resulted in the days following after itching to do more. I went to Barnes and Noble, and I picked out one of those adult colouring books, and a set of fancy new lead pencils, and got to it. I’m definitely going to keep this up :)Â Thanks to Brit + Co and their #IamCreative campaign for reminding to take a little me time, and get my butt off the darn tootin’ internet for a bit and just do something that brings me back to my past. (Does that sound cheesy? Sarry).

Daily, Fashion, Fitness, Running, Travel, Vacation

Our spontaneous trip to Monterey and Carmel

December 1, 2015 5 Comments

We had some of our Canadian friends come down to visit us a few weekends ago. I gotta tell you. I love it when visitors come to stay at our place â€” I enjoy hosting friends and family, plus our home looks really awesome for a few weeks there after â€”Â dusting is completed, the floors freshly washed, it’s all around a nice feeling.

Olympians lined up. Who can spot Kara Goucher?

While I had the Lexus NX200t to review for the week, we decided to join our Canadian friends as they drove south to Carmel + Monterey for the weekend. Their plan was to run a half marathon, and then finish their drive back down to SoCal to visit more friends.

My husband and I loaded up the Lexus Nx200t, with Alfie in tow (including his crate for him to sleep in at night) and made the drive down to Carmel-By-The-Sea, where we hunkered down at our favourite place, Hofsas House â€” you guys know that place all too well by now I’m sure, as this was my third visit to warm and welcoming Hofsas (see our 2 day honeymoon + girls weekend trip!).

Alfie-in-Carmel Our room at Hofsas House this time, ended up having its own private balcony. It was excellent to have breakfast out there, overlooking the ocean in the distance, and it wasn’t too chilly either. A perfect time of year to pop down for a visit.

Can you tell Alfie was demanding satisfaction here in this photo? He’s getting a bit more bold lately, scratching your arm for attention or belly rubs and won’t stop until you give in. Mr. Bossy Boots is his new nick name you guys…I think it fits :)Â

Minutes before registration to sign up for the the Big Sur Half Marathon closed, my husband casually decided he too was going to run the race with our 2 Canadian buddies. WHAT? I mean, how can you just do that without even training? Although, his everyday workout routine pretty much consists of hours and hours of exercise (whether it be biking or running) so I suppose that means he’s always in tip-top running shape for a half marathon the very next day.

However, I had made plans for us to have supper at The Grill (where we had our supper on our 2 day honeymoon just the previous year!), and I wasn’t about to cancel because he decided to sign up for a half marathon (many people prefer to have a bland carb loading meal before a race like that). But we dined at the busy Grill and had a delicious warm meal with dessert to boot. The-Grill

He doesn’t like me posting many photos of him, so unfortunately no photos of him running the race were captured by me.Â But let me tell you how fast his lil’ legs can go. He not only bet his half marathon time (sub 1:20), but he came in with the Olympians. I literally screamed when I saw him, it was unexpected especially with our large supper the previous night.

After the half marathon was over, the runners all went back to their hotels, showered and got ready for checking out of the hotel + lunch.Â Hi Jenny!

Since we had Alfie, we needed a dog-friendly place (which isn’t difficult to find because I feel like Monterey and Carmel (basically all of California) is the epitome of dog-friendly places, including restaurants). Carmel-Monterey

The 6 of us ate at this cute hipster spot called Wild Plum. A few of us got sandwiches, the rest got big ol’ yummy breakfasts. I always choose a sandwich over breakfast. How about you?

After we said our good-bye’s to our Canadian buddies, we wanted to take advantage of having the rest of the afternoon free, and not drive back up to South Bay just yet. So we ended up aimlessly driving the renowned, beautiful Highway 1 coast until I think we got to Big Sur. I haven’t got a clue because the bridges all looked the same. I’m sure we were close to it. Right? :)

I’m pleasantly surprised with the fuel efficiency of the luxury Lexus Nx200t, eats up about the same amount of gas as my little Mazda 3 hatch. Not to mention the Lexus’ gorgeous red interior. I made sure to drive the vehicle every single day the week I had it. Even took it to San Francisco on my last day, just to visit a new-to-me coffee shop. One thing that stuck out to me with the Lexus, is that when it’s in reverse, it of course has the rear back up camera â€” BUT â€” the camera shows you the wheel rotation. I don’t usually like to use back-up cameras (because I only have the car a week and don’t want to get used to it), but you bectcha bottom dollar I used it this time, it was too cool.

I even convinced a dude on Twitter to get the Nx20ot over another vehicle he was looking at, which I thought was kinda neat. I mentioned to him a few key things I thought were pretty spiffy looking. The front of the Lexus has a mean-lookin’ grill on the front of it, so it isn’t too “girly” looking. The cargo space in the back is limiting, so if you’re looking for a family car to store a bunch of kids hockey gear or suitcases, perhaps it’s not for you. Though, a fun and fast lil’ vehicle to drive with hip hugging seats. It’s not even that outrageous in pricing, considering it is luxury. This model is $43.3k. I definitely thought the MRSP would be higher.

Many thanks to Lexus for the car to review for the week, Hofsas House for providing a warm welcomed stay, and to The Grill for the wonderful grub.Â

Daily, Fashion, OOTD

OOTD: Trying to play it cool, meeting REBECCA MINKOFF!

November 29, 2015 31 Comments

For those that know me in person already, it isn’t a surprise to know I am a little quirky and often silly. I don’t try to dress cool, or stylish for anyone. I probably still dress the way I still do when I was a teenager to be honest, with an odd layer thrown in to make it look a bit different than so many years ago.

I frequent both older shops, and still shop at places like Forever 21, H&M because hello â€” they have amazing basics and I’m not about to spend a fortune on an $80 t-shirt. Okay, unless it’s like once a year or so and I feel like splurgin’ for once. There is that odd time. I mean, who can say no to Anthropologie, and Free People? They have some gorgeous pieces.

It’s been a while since I did an ouftit of the day (OOTD) post on spiffykerms. And like Pomeranian Friday’s, I thought I’d bring it back.

This entire outfit I’m wearing below, is exactly what I had worn to the Polyvore + Rebecca Minkoff event. Ahem, although MINUS the purse.

Because oh my word, I won that Minkoff Micro Moto bag, and even had her sign my new purse for me. I got it all on film too!

I’d love to say that this is my everyday bag. But I don’t carry it unless I’m going somewhere in particular â€” ie: Not the grocery store. I can’t afford these types of luxuries any more, especially since I’m currently not working. I’m not usually the type of person that saves things for special occasions, but this purse now has a soft spot in my heart! HAH!

Which is why I’ve also agreed to work with Free People again. I decided this time, when I was picking out something from their website, that I’d get something a littleÂ out of my comfort zone, yet still something I would wear on the regular.

I’m usually a browns/neutrals girlâ€” but when pulling this outfit together, I realized I needed to wear something black or grey on my feet. I ended up gettingÂ the Summit Ankle Boots in black. It was a good choice. Although, being an 8.5 shoe (I went for size 40 Euro = size 9) it does elongate my foot a little bit longer than I would like. Then again, I don’t have the smallest feet in the world either.Â I’m always a bit disappointed when expensive shoes doesn’t come in half sizes as I am a true 8.5, so these are a bit loose on my foot.

However, I’ve been wearing themÂ non-stop, with jeans, with black pants…and best yet, with these faux leather leggings from Joe Fresh (I picked those up while home in Newfoundland). What do you guys think? P.s I’m a big fan of mixing brown’s and black’s together, hence my faux leather brown jacket + black/grey everything else.