Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays friends! 

I have been so MIA from the blog, even though I know that thats not news but since it is the holidays I have been trying to take a serious break from social media. This has been a time to really spend with family and friends and just relax. I feel like these last few months have been so incredibly hectic that taking this whole week off has just been amazing. A "staycation" at its best. We had a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of food and love, I love having our families get together and spend quality time together. 

I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas and that you get to ring in the New Year with those you love. 

I will be taking a break until the New Year from the blog, so I hope that every one has a safe and happy holiday! Thank you for following me throughout the year and I am positive that 2015 will be an amazing year! 

Much love
xoxo

NYC

Happy Thursdsay friends! 

Last weekend, I had the chance to drive down to Jersey to see one of my bestest friends. Pinky is just one of those souls who gets me and even though she is so far away, she is someone who I can without fail always depend on. There aren't many words for the amount of love I have for that girl, I just love her with all of my heart! Also, Happy Birthday Pinky! Yesterday she turned 22, so lets send her all of the positive and loving vibes! I hope your day was magical! XO 

So, over the weekend we got to make a quick trip to NYC and boy was it BUSY. Those who know me, know that I loveeeee New York but New York over the holidays on a Saturday no less, is NOT for me. It was so so so so busy and full of people, in all the times I have been there I have never seen it like that, my anxiety was through the roof it was very claustrophobic. But alas, I have not lost my love for the city because I mean its my New York. Although it was super full and there were literally Santas on every single corner (thank you Santa Con) it was still nice to be back and see all of the big things I love seeing. 

It has been years since I had been to the Rockefeller Centre so seeing the tree was definitely special. But it was a "get in, take a picture and get the EFF out" kind of visit, haha there were just SO many people, I couldn't handle it! 

I have way more pictures on my DSLR that I will post soon! Thank you Pinky for the wonderful weekend and I hope you liked your surprise! Love you dearly and once again, Happy Birthday! 

ikea office haul

Okay, was it just me or was it extra hard to get out of bed this morning?! 

It's 7:12 am and it's STILL dark out. I'm going to blame that for my hitting of the snooze button ;) 

Over the weekend, my family and I went to Ikea to buy some stuff for my office (it's still majorly under construction) and boy did we buy a big haul! We got all of the necessities which is great, now I just need to get this office thing going! Before and after pictures will come of course! I haven't really decided a style I want to go with other then white and gold but it's slowly coming along! I figured I'd buy a turquoise shelf because A. turquoise goes with gold and B. I've gotta have some colour in there ;) 

Also, can I just kind of say that ikea is a wonderful, beautiful, HORRIBLE place? I mean I love how cheap everything is, it's great but being in there is like madness. My parents left after a while and only Brent and I were in there but Brent and I got lost from each other for HALF AN HOUR. His stupid phone died and we could not for the life of us find each other. I literally almost had a heart attack because I was pulling two big carts full of stuff and still needed to grab a few more items in the warehouse. I was stressed to say the least, thank god I called Gimena and she calmed me down because I probably would have had a break down. Ha! 

I hope that you all have a great day and somehow wake up, I'm on my second cup of coffee and finally don't feel like I'm a zombie (yay!) 

You can find all of the items links here:

Table, Chair, Shelving unit, faux sheepskin, candle 

just a thought

I am guilty, guilty, guilty of doing this. 

In a world where what everyone has is so shoved in your face (thank you Facebook & Instagram), it gets just a little difficult not to think "I wish I had that." I'm not saying I don't have anything because I obviously do but I feel like we're living in a society where the more you have means the better your life is. 

I can't say I compare my life to all the material things people may have, I think my main worries are women's hair. I am so damn jealous of all these girls beautiful thick long hair! I have very very thin hair, that in itself is the thief of joy. Haha but in all seriousness, I got the shitty end of the gene stick when it comes to hair. I am my mothers clone minus her thick hair, my sister on the other hand that lucky lucky girl has the LONGEST most beautiful hair and sometimes (only sometimes) I want to cut it all off. I'm so melodramatic I know. 

I completely veered off topic there... Anyways, what I am trying to say is yes that person may have the best fashion sense or the newest car but we need to sometimes take a step back, get off Facebook and instagram and look at what WE have. There is so much more to my life than just what I own, I am literally surrounded by love and an amazing group of family and friends. If I had to choose between all the money and crap in the world over my family there is no way I would trade the family I've got. 

Life is so beautiful, sometimes we have to take a step back and really take a good look at what really matters! 

Rabbit Rabbit

Rabbit, Rabbit and Happy December friends! 

I have taken it upon myself to always say Rabbit, Rabbit on the first of the month. (I know it's the second but lets pretend for now). Rumour has it, if you say Rabbit, Rabbit on the first of every month it's good luck. So for the the last three months I have said it and you know what? I can't really complain! My months have been pretty good lately. 

I can't believe we are on the last month of 2014, where has the time gone? It has been almost a year since I moved in with Brent and that to me is crazy! I have had a lot of growing up done this year, our business has become a "real" business, so that means I'm actually running a business... Which is terrifying! I moved in with Brent, we got engaged (which is also terrifyingly amazing) and I bought a new car. That's a lot to happen in a year and I am so super grateful. I could kiss 2014 on the cheeks for being so darn good to me. 

I am so excited for 2015, I have decided on my word for the year but thats for another blog post ;) and I just can't help but feel excited for life. I have to admit although 2014 was really good to me there have been some awful things to have happened and I have suffered through a lot of "down" days but I'm finishing it up with a positive outlook because I want to be the leading lady of my life. Sometimes I feel like I take a back seat in my own life and thats a load of crap. Why do I feel inferior to my own life, I should be kicking its ass and making the best of it and thats exactly what I plan to do. 

I only have one life so I am going to actually start living it, listen to me... I sound like a motivational speaker... HA! 

Well I hope that everyone finished off their last chapter of 2014 on a positive note! It's almost christmas, its almost time for family and great food and I am super excited! Let's think about all the blessings we have received this year and put the bad thoughts on a back burner. I know life can get a little difficult at times but lets be real here, it also shoves a lot of good in our faces if we just take the time to actually look at it. 

Have a happy December friends! 

xo 

around here

Besides the fact that I was awfully sick for the last week things have been pretty grand around here. It seems that I am finally pulling myself out of this god forsaken rut and starting to feel like myself again. It's funny how my best friend and I both fell into ruts at the exact same time. She was in a bit of a emotional rut and I had more of a physical rut. It's crazy to think the closer you become to people the more alike you become and the more you go through similar waves of life together. 

Now that I am finally feeling better I am finding the energy I once had, you could say its because I am eating healthier and "cleaner" foods or even just my mentality has changed. Waking up as early as I used to is still a work in progress but I'm getting there. It's hard to wake up early when you can't sleep straight through the night but last night was better than the other nights!

Sometimes when life gets so busy and we get so lazy we tend to forget about what's important. WE are important, our health is important and our happiness is important. My best friend has decided to take forty minutes of every day to find time for herself. Half an hour for a work out and 10 minutes for meditation. Those 40 minutes don't need to be done all together, she'll split up the 10 minutes for when she finds the time like when she is riding the subway or walking home. 

I find that we have to make the time for ourselves. I am a victim of forgetting that, I sometimes work so much that I'm to tired to do anything but sit in front of the TV. Some may argue that, that is finding time for yourself but its not really, finding time for yourself involves really doing something that makes you feel good and makes your mind work. I find TV is just an easy way to let your brain rot for a while, of course there is nothing wrong with it but we should take the time to care for our bodies and our brains. Take a few minutes to read a book, to say a prayer or to just think about how good you've got it. 

Just remember:

Morning

image source

Today is my monday and let me tell you, although it's Tuesday it feels like a Monday. I have been dealing with a weird case of insomnia lately and it is awful. I have also been sick with flu like symptoms but yet no flu and by no flu, I mean I haven't gotten "sick". 

It's weird when your body decides to just do what it wants, feel awful everyday and not let you sleep. I am exhausted and every time my head hits my pillow, my eyes are heavy and my brain feels like its going to explode yet, I will lay there for for over an hour and a half in the dark completely wide awake. It is so frustrating and I'd be lying if I told you I haven't cried out of frustration, last night especially. I like my sleep and if I don't get at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep I am not fun to be around, I'm basically a two year old who is cranky because she hasn't had her nap.

I'm open for any suggestions as to how to conquer this insomnia, I have bought melatonin (extra strength, which did not help last night) I have bought that bedtime tea that calms you, I have gone to bed early and turned off all electronics at least an hour before bed. I just don't know what else there is left to do! Help! 

Besides that things have been rolling pretty well around here. I bought a new car, yay! Which is a terrifying yet exciting ordeal for me. Since I commute about an hour back and forth everyday it's nice to have a new vehicle that is secure and can handle this winter weather (that has mysteriously disappeared, NOT complaining though!) But this is what I feel like my first real "big girl" responsibility, dudes I am paying for a really nice car and it's actually all mine. AHH it really freaks me out. 

Sometimes I find it so funny how I can be caught so off guard about how I'm a "grown up", I am living on my own (it'll be a year soon), I am engaged to the most amazing man and I just bought a car. Holy crap does time fly. I remember being in high school and day dreaming about all this stuff and here I am living it now. It's just so darn crazy. I don't know maybe I get too into these things?  

Anyways, I hope that everyone is having a splendid week and I hope that my health starts turning itself around. Can you believe its almost Christmas?! Gahhhh I am so so excited, I absolutely LOVE this time of the year. I will be decorating the house reallllly soon, so I shall keep you posted!

Five things

This weekend was by far my favourite weekend of the year. My favourite day would obviously be our engagement, but we're talking about this weekend here. Friday night we had our engagement party with 30 of our closest friends, it was amazing. We felt so much of their love and are so blessed to truly be surrounded by so many beautiful people. 

On Saturday, we went on our anniversary getaway. Now that I think of it, it's kind of like we just had ourselves a mini pre wedding and pre honeymoon... Ha! That's actually pretty funny! Anyways, we drove up to Blue Mountains and spent the night, it was so wonderful. Since we were fairly hungover Saturday morning, we decided to drive up in the afternoon. Once we got to the hotel we put on warmer clothes and boots and decided to go for a walk in the village, where we proceeded to eat an amazingly delicious poutine. I don't know what it is about crispy fries, hot gravy and cold cheese but I am addicted to anything poutine and seriously refuse to ever give it up. 

We had dinner that night at a nice pizzeria. In honour of our five year anniversary, I have been bothering Brent to help me make a list of the top 5 things we both believe help make our relationship strong, healthy and happy. 

Trust
A cliche, I know but seriously hear us out. In order to be able to be with someone you need to believe in them and give them a reason to believe you. It is so easy to break someones trust, a small or big lie can sometimes do the trick so its important to always be truthful and honest. 

Kindness 
I can absolutely be a victim of my own anger and say things that shouldn't be said. Over the years I have tried to make a stop to it and slowly succeeded. Being kind to your significant other is so important, building someone up is harder than tearing them down so focus on the good in your spouse. Everyone has flaws, even you. 

Physical Contact
No, not just sex. Although we both believe sex is obviously very important and should happen frequently (even if your busy, MAKE the time) we mean touching. Holding hands, frequent kisses, a hand on the knee or even a hug, these are all mini examples of constant touch. Touch is something that is so important to us, it shows us that were constantly loved and wanted. 

Communication
Brent stressed that communication is key. One thing that we always do is talk. If we're angry with one another we give each other the needed space but we always talk it out before bed. Very rarely do we (mainly me) go to bed angry. In the early stages of our relationship I found communication was a difficult one for us to nail down but as the years have gone by and the more we know each other its a lot easier to talk about what is bothering us or what we love about our relationship. Just make sure you're always talking! 

Fun 
This one is probably our favourite, duh! Who doesn't enjoy a little fun? Through out our whole relationship fun has always been a big thing for us, we constantly travel, go out, be lazy and just spend copious amounts of time with one another. Having fun and being silly is so important, you need to feel comfortable and like yourself when you're in a relationship. I love being able to be my weird self around Brent and knowing he loves me even when I'm singing horribly in the shower. Being a big kid has kept our relationship fresh and with the help of new adventures it keeps us from falling into ruts of boredom! Our next big adventure is travelling to Portugal in February, we're SO excited! 

I hope you all have a happy Tuesday and safe driving out there! The winter is coming! Brrr.

xo

five

Five years. Today makes it five years that we have been together and I couldn't be happier. 

It's unbelievable how quickly time flies. Five years ago I was fresh in college making questionable decisions and unbeknownst to me, meeting my future husband. Gosh, it's unbelievable. Brent and I first met in September, we were both in the same course and I thought that he was a cutie. Being my openly loud self I spoke to him first, I still remember how I did it... I was nervous (it was one of the first days) and he was looking at a picture of himself on Facebook shotgunning a beer. I turned to him and said "I wish I knew how to do that, I've never been able to do it," the rest is clearly history. 

I am so beyond fortunate to have met Brent at such a young age. I was 18 and he was 20 when we started dating many will say that is so young and that we haven't experienced enough life on our own. I say, that it was the perfect age. I was going down a weird road before Brent and I had met, he made me see that I was better than the decisions I was making and he showed me how truly wonderful I am. I can honestly say that my confidence in myself has stemmed with how he has made me feel. We have always had a fairly healthy relationship, we support one another in all our decisions, we pick each other up when one makes a mistake and most importantly, we are kind to one another.

I am so lucky to be marrying this man, he is everything I could want and more. I am so grateful he came into my life five years ago and I am SO blessed he's stuck around. 

I can't wait to go on this life journey with you Swance, I can't wait to get married and have a couple of little ones running around. You are my best friend and my everything. Happy five years and here's to many many more! 

xo 

wedding invites

Woah, guys. It has officially been one month since Brent popped the question! Time flies and I'm loving every minute of it. I have decided that this blog is going to become a little more wedding-y. My best friend said it is time to start milking this exciting time in my life and where better to start than here? Thank you for joining me on this exciting journey! 

I started out feeling that wedding planning is overwhelming, if you look at any wedding planner there are just lists upon lists of things you need to do. It terrified me. I opened it once then closed it up and thought to myself, "maybe later?" Now that we are a month in, it has given me time to really enjoy being engaged and I am now "ready" to start planning! Ha! Remind me I said that when I have my freak outs, okay?

First up, is something you should probably only do about six-seven months before your wedding but since I like to work backwards. I'm starting with invitations. There are SO many invitations out there and these are clearly only a handful of ones that I've looked at. I was going through one of the bridal magazines that was given to me and there was a page talking about free samples. Since I'm all about the free stuff I totally jumped on it and ordered 18 different invitations from two different companies. I have to admit I loved a lot of them and this is going to be a little harder than I thought. Yikes! Good thing Brent is actually on board with the whole helping me plan the wedding! It's so nice when your groom is actually putting in some input and cares about whats going on. It's my day, yes, but its his day too! Remember that ladies, no bridezillas up in here! 

Minted (click here for the direct link) 

I thought it was pretty awesome when I opened up the envelope and found this beauty inside. I thought I would just get a handful of cards but oh no, they give you a whole package. You get cards with different fonts, colours, paper types and all envelopes. It's pretty amazing. There is such a variety of things you can do with every invite and not to mention you can customize everything. You can change so many colours and fonts and all that jazz. There are a few top contenders with minted but since the wedding is still so far away (a year and eight months) I will obviously be looking at all of my options. 

Wedding Paper Divas 

I really liked a lot of the designs from Wedding Paper Divas, although I wasn't a fan with how thick the invites came. Granted, I was the one who chose the thickness and it could definitely be changed so no worries there. There were a couple the we enjoyed and thought were pretty and go with our "theme" but like I said we're keeping options open because I'm sure there will be many more designs to look at. 

We have been going through these for the last week and although there were some that I loved, the cost of them is pretty up there. I never imagined that invites were this costly but when it comes to wedding everything seems to be expensive. I am trying to get this wedding planned and done all on a very tight budget. I am so so excited for this day but I also want to be reasonable about it. It is only one day and I would much rather a happy marriage than putting us in debt for the wedding. It's about priorities friends, Brent and I have decided to keep the wedding expenses to a minimum (no set budget yet) and spend more on our honeymoon. We're far more excited to just get married and travel then we are at spending 50k on one day.

I hope you all have a happy tuesday and also a happy Rememberance Day. Thank you to everyone who has served for our country and for those who continue to serve for us. You keep us free and I will forever be grateful. Take the time to remember those who we have lost and to thank those who have risked their lives for us. 

xoxo

Sunday Funday

Another weekend has come and gone. It's depressing how long we have to wait for these two days and how fast they just happen to fly by. Anyways, it was another fun and eventful weekend. Saturday night Brent and I and some friends spent our night having some drinks and crafting. We made a bunch of decorations for our engagement party! 

Sunday was the most fun though, Brent and I went to Toronto with my family. We had a wonderful lunch at Bairrada, a delicious portuguese restaurant and spent some fun time at the science centre! Since my cousin is here for three months we have been trying to find a bunch of different things that we can do with him! 

I can't believe that in less than three months I will be flying back with them to Portugal and the real wedding planning will begin! It's so exciting and nerve wracking. I haven't planned anything at all, actually I just opened my wedding planner for the second time yesterday!

There is something about spending time with family that I just love. There is nothing better than having my grandma here visiting, I love spending time with her and seeing how happy my mom is to have her own momma here! Its so endearing. I don't want to think about what it'll be like when she's back in Portugal! 

After lunch we headed over to the Ontario Science Centre. Learned a bunch of new things and got to play with a lot of toys. It's so neat what science can do. It was definitely a fun trip spent with those who mean most to me.

This week is going to be a short one for me, I have Friday off to set up the house for our Party. I'm really looking forward to the weekend since Brent and I will be going away on a little romantic getaway. We'll finally get to celebrate 5 years of us and our engagement. I am so lucky to have such an amazing man like him. 

Have a wonderful week friends! 

xo

weekend update

I am so absolutely terrible with this blogging thing lately, it seems that all I do is blog about my weekend halfway through the week. What is this madness called life? Being busy is so terrible sometimes, I've had my October Ipsy bag literally laying on a table just waiting to be photographed and blogged about. Since my November bag will be coming in the mail soon I'll just do a total overhaul! 

Can we just take a minute and make note that it is fricken November already? Next week will be mine and Brents five year anniversary and our engagement party. 50 days until Christmas ya'll! 

Anyways, lets talk about my weekend! I paid Gimena a nice visit, I drove all the way to Toronto all by my lonesome, those who know me know that this is actually a pretty big deal. I absolutely hate driving and Toronto traffic, so if that doesn't explain it I don't know what will. 

We had a very lovely dinner out at a new restaurant that opened in June (or was it July?) it is actually a restaurant that gives you a little bit of a life experience... Signs, is a restaurant that is all about sign language and gives you a better understanding of how sign language works. 

We were greeted by wonderful hostesses who signed our welcome and right from the get go we were intrigued. Once we were seated someone came over and explained to us (speaking) how the restaurant works, how to read at the menus and how to communicate with our deaf server. It was such a fun and interesting dinner and we learned a bunch of different signs. 

Once we were left completely alone with our server, we were a little terrified. In no way did we want to offend our server by being incorrect but in reality sign language is actually pretty difficult and its so amazing how graceful those who are deaf (and those who are not) sign. Obviously they have spent years learning but I find it beautiful how they can understand and speak to one another without using words. This restaurant had great service, delicious food and gave me a great life experience. 

I now have my eyes opened and have a better understanding how it could be difficult for someone who is deaf, when they are in a world surrounded by people who are not. If we found it hard and confusing at dinner at times, imagine their world where it is a constant struggle to communicate with others. Next time we do encounter someone who may be deaf or even hard of hearing, take your time to really understand them because in reality I'm positive that they get just as frustrated if not more than you. 

After our wonderful dinner we headed home, got into pjs and watched halloween town all night. Dudes, that movie is a classic and I am so glad we watched not one but TWO movies. It was the icing on the cake! 

Girls night for the win! I hope you all have a speedy week, were halfway there friends! Only three more days until the weekend! Hang in there :) 

xo

life lately

Life lately has been quite the blur. We're going on three weeks of being engaged and when they say that the wedding will be here sooner than you think, they're not kidding. I feel like time is flying but in the best way possible.

In the last few weeks I've had a lot of ups and a few downs but I have to remind myself that no matter what you have to think about all of the beautiful parts of life. Life is something that is so easily taken for granted, sometimes we forget to really soak it in and enjoy it. I have to admit, even though I am going through such a wonderful and beautiful time in my life, I haven't allowed myself to enjoy it and that to me is so sad. 

Over the summer I felt so motivated and pushing myself to be a happier me. It feels like as soon as that warm sun went away, the leaves began to fall and our nights grew a little colder my inner hibernation bear has come full strength. I don't feel like doing anything and I'm hating it. I'm beginning to resent that I am falling behind, that I am not working out and that I am not living my life the way I would like to. 

Of course, there is no one else to blame but myself and maybe the early winter blues but maybe just maybe if I put it all out here it'll kick my ass back into gear. I want to fall back into my healthy lifestyle, I want to work out, eat (just a little) better and enjoy life a little more. No more stresses and no more complaining it's time to start kicking ass and being the boss ass bitch that I know I can be. 

I am going to focus on all the good in my life, all the happiness and love that surrounds me and I'm going to find the love in being healthy again. It may take some time but that's okay, I will fall into it this is my promise to myself. I love me to much to not care about myself and its about damn time I start showing myself that I do. 

Hope you all have a great week! 

xoxo

Yesterday, while laying in bed Brent says "Wow, it's been a while since you have made a blog post.. Should probably get on that." 

So, here I am making a blog post ;) I can't believe how fast time has already flown since we have gotten engaged. The love and excitement we have received from family and friends is seriously amazing. I never realized how big my support system actually is. So, to all of you thank you for your kind words, visits and gifts, we truly appreciate each and every one of you! 

I think of the two weeks we have been engaged, the hardest thing for me has been calling Brent my fiancé instead of boyfriend. Is it just me or isn't the word the weirdest sounding word ever? Every time I say it, I feel like I'm just trying to be a french woman with a cigarette in my mouth and a beret on my head. It is such a foreign word to me! Brent has surprisingly eased up to it pretty quickly, I mean the very first day I was already called his fiancé, good on you babe! I have slowly been getting used to it but every time I say it I make a comment because it's just SOO weird haha! 

I have to admit though being engaged is awesome. I have been truly blessed with such an amazing fiancé (SEE!!) For five years this guy has put up with me, loved me, cared for me and now I get to marry him. If that isn't lucky, I don't know what is. 

To all my single ladies (and men), I know some of you are rushing to find 'the one' but take your time. I know a lot of you are tired of the waiting game but I promise you when you least expect it that special person will come knocking. I was lucky enough to find mine when I was 18, he swooshed in and literally saved me from a life of excessive partying and craziness. Lord only knows who I would have become had I not met Brent but like I said when you least expect it, it'll happen. 

In the upcoming weeks, months and years (2), this blog will obviously begin to include a bit more wedding stuff. If that bothers you sorry but this is my space so, tough. If it doesn't, welcome and please please please leave comments about any tips/advice when it comes to planning a wedding and living a happy marriage! 

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend! 

xo

yes.

You guys........... 

Something pretty big happened this weekend! Mr Brent Swance popped the big ol' question and I couldn't be happier! Next month will be our five year anniversary, five whole years! I am so excited that we have taken our relationship to the next level, we're fricken getting married! Not that I didn't expect us to not get married but now I can officially start planning and getting excited about our big day! 

I am so unbelievably lucky for all the support and love that we have received over the weekend. We are truly truly blessed to have the amazing family and friends that we have. Our support system is so big and I so overwhelmed with love and happiness. So thank you to all of you who sent us well wishes, Saturday was truly a magical day! 

Brent, I have loved you since day one and I will love you until the end of time. Thank you for being my best friend, my rock, my everything. I am so lucky to have you by my side, there is no one in this world I'd want to go on this journey with. I love you! 

Hope you all had a very happy thanksgiving and gave thanks for the amazing lives you have! Here's to another week of work! 

xoxo 

B

It's hump day! It's hump day! oh you dirty minded people, its the middle of the week... which means it's almost the weekend! Can I get a HELL YEAH?! This weekend is a long weekend, thanks to thanksgiving... Holla! I love me a long weekend ;) 

Anywho... Last week I made a few purchases and I'm actually pretty excited about them. For as long as I can remember I have wanted to buy a necklace/ring/bracelet etc. with an initial of Brents name. I've never really bought one because I was afraid people would think its lame. Now that, for the sake of better words, I don't give a shit I finally bought not one but THREE! I bought myself two necklaces and a ring! Ha! You go big or go home right? 

I don't know why I ever really wanted one of these things, I think I just love having something that makes me think of him or whatever. I did not spend a fortune because alas I am Kathy and one of the cheapest humans on earth, although I wouldn't go as far as those people on extreme cheap stakes... I mean COME ON, peeing in a bottle? Ew. 

You can find these little numbers on ebay here and here.  They were $0.99 and free shipping! You are welcome! 

Enjoy your Wednesday... we're almost there friends :) 

unsplash

Is it just me or did the weekend fly by? Seriously, Monday needs to come a little slower! Anyways, I had a very lovely laid back weekend. I love spending quality time to with my family, friends and Brent and that was all this weekend was about! It was super great and a lot of fun.

Last week, I found this new website on pinterest and now I am in love. It is pretty simple, just has a bunch of amazing photography and you can take the work for free. Alas, I would never give myself credit for it so here I am showing you a few of my favourites and letting you know about this amazing website. The photography is to die for, so many pretty and dreamy pictures. If there is one thing in life I wish I could do it would be to be able to take beautiful pictures. There is just something so magical in capturing the beauty of the world, I love it. 

you can check out the website here.

Enjoy and happy Tuesday! 

weekend roundup

Rabbit, Rabbit! Welcome to the month of October! I have a feeling it's going to be a good one :)  

We had quite the adventurous weekend ladies and gents! I know its Wednesday, but lets be real here my blogging skills have been lacking... Alas we had a salsa night and a fun night out on the town in Toronto.

Life has been pretty fun around here, on Friday night we had a couple of friends over, drank some wine, made some salsa and watched beauty and the beast. Can I just note how great that movie is? I hadn't watched it in years but when one of the guys (YES one of the GUYS) suggested it, we were all pretty cool with it and it was great. The salsa took us a few hours to cook, only about an hour to prep though which was great once I get a full recipe I will post it! 

On Saturday, the four of us went down to Toronto to pay Brent's friend a nice little visit and go out to the bar. We went to a place called the Bier Markt and it was pretty neat. Very laid back, a lot of beer choice and great music. It's so fun to do things that are completely out of our element. Since winter is just around the corner and our hibernation season will begin, we are are trying really hard to fit in all these fun activities! 

This weekend we decided to take it a little easy, we have been talking about renovating my office for the LONGEST time but have been so busy we just haven't gotten around to it. So this weekend we will be cleaning it out and getting the ball rolling. Can I also add that my grandmother is coming to visit us for four months! I am so excited! Only three more days until she's here! It's almost the weekend guys! Just hold it together, we can get through Thursday and Friday!

health break

Happy Fall friends!

Over the last three weeks I have taken a bit of a break. The first week of September was a pretty crazy one, the company was busy and I was working 12-16 hour days I had no time for myself let alone any time to work out. Since then I have worked out but I haven't stuck to my strict Kayla Itsines regimen, it kind of sucks but I really needed a break. I am going to eventually get back into it. I know I will, I am motivated and really do want to but these past two weeks I have been fighting off terrible allergies and now fighting off an extremely annoying cold. As you can imagine my energy is hardly even there. 

I don't think that there is any problem with taking breaks from your healthy lifestyle as long as it stays just that, a break. Sometimes to stay sane you need to just take a few weeks to yourself, start feeling better and get right back into it! 

 I am so excited for the month of October, I know that great things will be happening that month and one of the most exciting things is that my Grandmother and cousin from Portugal will be visiting us for four months! I am so so so happy to have these visitors, to have my grandmother all to myself (and my sister) is so great. We never really get our grandparents to ourselves since we live so far away but when we do we are spoiled like crazy with all the love that we've missed out on over the years! Nothing better than that! 

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend, it's almost here only a few hours to go, yay!! 

time for change

It is 1:10 pm on a Saturday and I am still in bed and I'm not even mad about it. I have not had a legit lazy day in months and one where I'm all alone? It's been years. I am not one who bodes well with being alone, I usually kind of hate it. Too much time spent thinking is just a recipe for disaster when it comes to me but not today. No, no, not today ladies and gents. I have been longing for a solo lazy day for a very long time, which to me is super surprising. I have spent this morning laying in bed, listening to music and making lists. 

I have been reading 'The Secret' for a few weeks now, I'm taking er' real slow. I have been reading and taking breaks and really trying to think hard about my happiness and what kind of life I have been attracting. Since I started reading this book, my mind set has changed immensely. When I start to think of anything just slightly negative, my sub conscious kicks in and points myself to a more positive thought. It's a work in progress but over time I believe I can achieve a more positive life. There are so many 'wants' that I have in my life and I have always thought that they're out of this world, to high of a dream but you know what? WHY? Why can't I have those things? I don't know why I have felt I don't deserve all these luxuries, when I do. So, today I made a list of everything I want from this life and to be blunt, I think I'll get em'. 

A few things on my list include: I want to know I am good enough (this is on a number of different issues), I want to travel the world and make new adventures, I want to live the happiest ever after with Brent and I want to own a big old fashioned home with a ton of natural light. That is only four bullets of my two page long list but it's just a small example of how broad that list is.

I can and I will achieve my dreams. Just like you can and you will. If anyone tells you otherwise, you tell them to just shove it. With all the worries in life and how busy I become, I feel like I turn into a robot who is just living in my body but I want to change that. It's time to face things head on and make the best of this life. It's the only one I have, it's time to live it. 

Now, who's with me? 

growing up

This post is kind of a love letter to all of my amazing friends. It's a little all over the place but thats okay, I'm a scattered kind of person. 

My boyfriend has a core group of friends and they have all been best friends for well over 10 years, they have moved away from each other but remain to be the closest friends and it's something that I admire dearly. Over the last few years I have lost touch with a lot of old friendships, I took it very hard for many years but I am finally at a point in my life where I am okay with it. It happens, you grow up or you change and it just doesn't work out. No one is really at fault its just a part of life. Since I started dating Brent one big thing that his friends have always done for me is always making me feel welcome. Since day one his friends have been nothing but big brothers to me and it's difficult to describe how much these men really mean to me. They are my best friends and I can literally go to them about anything, even bitching about Brent. Granted they never really take my side but they're always there to listen and make me feel better. I think its funny how sometimes certain people can leave such big impressions in your life and I am so thankful that Brent has people like that in his life. 

Last night Catina and I met up with Gimena in Toronto, we had a girls night out and guys I can't remember the last time I had that much fun in a club. Good friends are so so so hard to come by but I found myself some solid gems. These girls are my rocks, they inspire me to be better, they're honest and when I'm out of line or being ridiculous they are not afraid to tell me so. I have known Catina for 12 years we have always been great friends, I honestly feel like we have both kept each other sane over the things that life throws at us. Its funny how we've always been best friends but in these last five years she has become a sister to me. I've only known Gimena for almost three years and it's crazy how quickly she became a sister to me, this woman has whipped me into shape so many times and if it weren't for her I'd be lost in life she truly is a ray of sunshine and one of the best things to ever come into my life. The three of us together are a force of nature. I swear when I am with these two girls my life brightens up so much and my happiness meter goes crazy. I have the most fun and laughs with them and I just love them with all my heart. 

I have noticed over the last few years that in life having a ton of friends just isn't important anymore. All that matters are the people who are real and there for you under any circumstance. Having close friends who care about you, who take the time to reach out when life gets busy or who just buy you chocolate because they know you love it. Those are the friends I keep around and will always cherish. 

I love you guys. Each and every one of you, thank you for making my life a good one.