Mid summer bronze

I’m a real O.G. when it comes to self-tanner. I’ve been applying self tanner at least monthly for the past 9 years, and have tried nearly every brand out there.

In fact I’m working with a brand (well, gifted to me) that I purchased many moons ago. When I first moved to the USA I was so stoked to shop a few brands that was never available to ship to Canada. This brand that I’m showing you today is based out of Australia (and I bought it from their AUS site back in 2014) but now they ship worldwide, including Canada!

It’s no secret I have sensitive skin due to my nearly 6 years of chronic daily hives. I always reach for sensitive skin products, Bali Body is one of those that caters to people like myself. Sensitive to a ton of things! Bali body is 100% vegan and cruelty free.

I self-tan at home during the evenings when my two boys are gone to bed. Personally, I like the way that I look with a bronzed look to my skin. My favourite way to achieve that look is with a tanning mousse like the Bali Body mousse in ultra dark. I have to say though, this particular one isn’t as quick drying as others I’ve tried. Bali Body replied to my IG story and suggested I try their express tan.

My regime before I self-tan:

Day before: Hop in the shower and exfoliate your entire body, this is the day where I scrub like mad. Also, shave. Make sure your heels aren’t rough and if they are use a pumice stone (tanner will really accentuate the dry parts so make sure you’re good and smooth). When you get out of the shower, moisturize your entire body.

Day of: Exfoliate stubborn parts, like your heels or elbows one more time. I tend not to moisturize the day of as I find that an oily moisturizer (such as Lush’s Dream Cream) tends to not allow the self-tan to lock into your skin, and will wash off in 1 day! I do end up putting moisturizer on my elbows, feet and hands. Not too much!

Then apply your tanner in circular motions with a tanning mitt – I personally like to start from feet and move upwards. Sleep on it,wake up in the morning and rinse it off and you’ve got a mid summer bronze goin’ on. 

To maintain the tan throughout the week(s), apply a gradual tanner!

 

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Hit the ground runnin’ from sunrise to slumbertown

Wow, this two-kid-thing is no joke. I mean, it’s not even that the baby needs a ton of attention. First it was one kid needing 100% of my attention, and my husband joked saying that my toddler still gets 80% of my attention, because the baby is that easy compared to raising a toddler. Oof!

I have been heading to bed before the sun sets these days, to try and catch up on emails, or browsing on tiktok (hey, a lot of the content on there makes me laugh so hard) but I need to be quiet, since our 8mth old is still in our bedroom, will wake.

Whenever I was pregnant with this baby I was always wondering if I’d ever get alone time with him, and now the time has truly come where we spend a few hours in the morning together, before anyone else wakes. This fella has been waking at the crack of dawn at 5:30-6:00 (he’s in a crib right next to me in our bedroom and we don’t have any blackout shades there). He’s a morning person and loves to wake at the crack of dawn. As soon as ANY bit of light shines in, he’s up for the day. He turns and looks at me with the biggest smile. Which obviously makes it 100x easier to wake up to when a little baby is cooing and smiling so huge at you. He truly is pure joy. I’m enjoying this. It’s 9-12°C in the mornings at 6am, but we walk around our neighbourhood for a good hour, come home to nurse and I watch a bit of TV, then @minikerms is up and we start the other part of our morning routine.

Keep it up little fella, I’m liking these early sunny wake up calls. 

Those long a.m. walks with him has changed as of the last few weeks. My 3yr old caught on to our antics, and heard us leave the house one morning despite my best attempts at being super quiet sneaking out lol. He had since requested to join. Of course he can. But certainly not at 6am (he can’t handle being awake with no naps then heading to bed at 7p! Wild tantrums if so. So, I negotiated with him and told him he needs a bit more rest and I’ll be back for him in 30-45 mins. It gives me a bit of quiet time in the morning, before all the non-stop talking and questions come for the next 13 hours until his bed time.

Don’t get me wrong, I do love this new routine of ours. I often get 1.5hr walk in with little one, and another 1+hr when @minikerms joins. Yesterday I walked for THREE HOURS before breakfast 😳. Hey man it keeps me sane these days, keeping them all in the stroller and just being outside. I agree tho, 3hrs was a bit much 😂.

Anyway, just checking in with everyone who still reads my blog. I’ve been meaning to write a lot more than I have on here. It’s just that these last few weeks/months I’ve been trying to catch up on my own me-time, ya’know? I need a rest lol. Cause at the end of the day I really don’t have the brain power to pump out whatever I wanted to say….(see? I cannot for the life of me think of the words I’m wanting to say). And with that – good night!

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Our California Outdoor Oasis

This post is sponsored by Wayfair.

We’ve lived in our home here a number of years, and only now finally getting around to getting our backyard to be more inviting, rather than a concrete jungle. We want to live in a California outdoor oasis since we already spend most of time outside. That means more seating, more lush greenery. 

Although a little overwhelming since neither of us are landscape designers, this space was full of potential. We know that post-pandemic times we want to invite our friends over to enjoy this space with us. But where to start? 

We don’t have the space for large patio furniture, nor much greenery in the backyard. Wayfair has helped transform our average space into an inviting California outdoor oasis that we’ve been chipping away at it for the past 2 months.

My husband worked hard at creating a garden for us, and also potting some trees to add to the space. I’m loving our bougainvillea, and we even have a rose bush planted in there.

Being outside is a given, especially living in California and now with two boys we’re out a lot more, and also enjoying our meals outside at least once a day. Naturally, we wanted some comfy seating next to our mini garden and twinkle string lights (they’re the 24′ Outdoor Solar Powered 12 – Bulb Globe String Light). We ended up getting some patio furniture and went with the and Delorenzo 4 Piece Sofa Seating Group with Cushions. White probably isn’t the best choice with two young boys, but I love the way it looks so I went for it.

I also got a my first cast iron grill and by the fancy-pants brand Le Crueset. Talk about luxury, ha!

What do you think of our backyard? A nice transformation from what it used to look like, hey?

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Fixed!Sorry about that!Thanks for the feedback!

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