MEGA Favourites Round Up: Blogtober

Today is the last day of Blogtober, and I must say I am feeling a little sad! It has been so much fun brainstorming content for this little bloggy of mine, so I am thinking I am going to keep it rolling and continue blogging as much as possible. That being said, I wanted to do a round up of some of my favourites from this month. It's a mixture of food, fashion, skincare, blog posts - a BIG range of goodies comin' your way!

Let's get started : )

Blog posts I loved writing this month:

My running journey

Still in love with these under eye masks to make your eyes feel refreshed and more awake!

Why being positive is a much better way to spend your energy.

Fall sunsets and sunrises

A little fall shopping haul ; )

Lots of snuggle time with the pup and a good book.

Healthy morning habits to start now. Easy to add into your current morning routine!

Running the Victoria Half Marathon

My food philosophy

Trail dates with Nala bear : )

Why I am LOVING high intensity interval training

Getting my hair refreshed for fall!

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I hope you guys enjoyed Blogtober. I want to thank everyone who read even one post this month. I truly do love bringing you guys fun content, so please let me know what YOU would like to see next on the blog : ) Chat with you all soon!

September FAVOURITES!

Good morning, friends!

I hope you are all having a great morning so far. It is officially FALL now - anyone else rejoicing? - and it is time for another favourites round up. I will be recapping some of my favourite things, moments, recipes, etc for the month of September, and I would love to hear what YOU guys are loving in the comments below!

So, without any further chatter, let's get into the favourites : )

The Kelowna Wine Country half marathon that took place September long weekend in beautiful Kelowna, BC. It was the first time in so long (I'm talking like ten years) since I had been to Kelowna, so the trip was much over due and it was great to run the race with my aunt and enjoy race weekend with Ryan and the pup.

Yup, still obsessed with this Mexican black bean salad. It is packed with veggies and the flavours are so fresh. No fancy sauces or spices needed. Plus it lasts well in the fridge (in an airtight container of course), so makes great lunches throughout the week.

The SPCA Paws for Cause walk was a great event we attended with my family and the pups. I look forward to bringing Nala again next year!

Fresh salads and veggies all day, every day. I have been experimenting with more fall-inspired recipes, and this salad with maple tahini dressing did not disappoint. Tahini is such a versatile ingredient, especially in salad dressings as it adds a bit of thickness, so I look forward to bringing more of those recipes to the blog. You can't go wrong with a big salad!

And because this is so relevant to me right now. I am the type of person who complains about how hot it is in the summer and immediately looks forward to fall. There is something about the crisp air and changing of the seasons that I just love. On that note, I am also that person who is bundled up in 101 layers come fall/winter because I am so freezing. Yep, there is no in between for me!

During the middle of this month we started a training program with Nala. It is all postive-reinforcement and clicker training based. She is super smart (proud parent over here), and it is fun to see her catch onto things so quickly and respond to the clicker. Soon enough we will be phasing out the clicker as training progresses, so fingers crossed it is an easy transition! So far, so good though.

Last but not least, this shirt. It is my go-to for strength training work outs, looks cute, but does not make you feel restricted. Lululemon, back at it again with the best workout tops!

Pumpkin spice oats topped with a swirl of unsweetened applesauce and a spoonful of almond butter. If this doesn't scream fall, I don't know what does. Maybe if I ate it out of a real pumpkin.

Yep, I bet you saw this coming considering I have been making my way through all the Harry Potter books again these last few months. I am determined to finish by Christmas!

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What are YOU loving this month!?

Monthly Favourites: July

One more week and I will be in Vancouver to run the Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon!

Holy crapola did the time ever go by fast! I am looking at my training plan now thinking, hmmm. I only have three runs left until it's go time!

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I wanted to kick off this morning by sharing my July favourites. July was a busy, busy month. It's always when I think, "Oh, we have no plans this month!" that by the time I blink, the month is full of things to do. August is going to be busy too, so I will have lots to share next month, too!

Let's get into it!

Still loving this Beauty Blender to apply my foundation. It is great to use with tinted moisturizer as well, and I find it makes my foundation appear better blended and less streaky. I highly recommend getting one of these bad boys if you are falling out of love with your current foundation brush.

I LOVED our day at Neck Point. It was a new adventure for both Ryan and I, and we will definitely be back with Nala to have her adventure at the seaside. 

Yep, you bet I am still loving this combination in my diffuser at night. There is something so relaxing about the scent of eucalyptus, and the "breathe easy" blend has peppermint in it as well. The blend leaves a nice scent lingering in the area, without the chemical residues that you find in candles or commercial fabric sprays. Can't go wrong with essential oils!

I had to. I'm sorry. I know you've seen a dozen pictures already, but I just love this little pumpkin!

OOOOH You thought my Harry Potter spree was over! Fear not. I am still puttering my way through this book, and read a good chunk of it over the long weekend. Saturday was the release day for J.K. Rowling's new screen play book, and I was THISCLOSE to buying it at Costco on Sunday, but something in me told me to hold back. Besides, I still have another three books after this one to get through before I can even venture into the newest one.

One thing I have enjoyed this month is getting back to basics and using my planner. Sure, I'm not using fancy stickers as often as I used to. Honestly, I find that I am spending my time doing other things such as playing with the dog or catching up on housework rather than cutting out stickers. Nevertheless, my plain ol' planner with my blue ink is working out just fine. It is helping me stick accountable to what kind of blog posts I want to work on, as well as organizing my life with time off from work approaching (and various things in between).

Hiking at Holland Creek Trail earlier this month. If you are in the area, be sure to go to the waterfall and check out all of the scenery along the way. It is a good work out!

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What have you guys been loving this month? Let me know in the comments!

June Favourites

Happy Canada Day to all you fellow Canadians out there in the blogosphere.

I wanted to kick off the weekend by sharing my favourites from the month of June. At the end of May I thought to myself, "It'll be a nice break from the business of May!" However, June ended up being full of family, friends, and all kinds of events. Here is what I have loved!

Goddess Run 5km - a beautifully HOT run where I got to cross the finish line with my sister.

Sister dates to Victoria and our day trip to Vancouver where we met up with one of my best friends. As much as I love staying at home, sometimes you just need to get out of the house and GO SOMEWHERE, even if only for a little while.

Adventuring around our beautiful home. There are so many places on the island I want to explore!

Training for the Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon! Yes, it has been hard to fit it in at times, but I like having a plan to follow. Having my training outlined gives me something to stick to, and by talking about this on the blog, it keeps me accountable. I will be doing a review of my training very soon!

My go-to blueberry oats - perfect any day, with any toppings, at any time! ; )

Favourite exercises have been yoga & running, but I'm sure you could guess that already if you have been reading along since I started hot yoga and since I started training for the half in August.

Favourite exercises continued: Running on the trail because gorgeous and fresh air and scenery and quietness and stillness and all that is beautiful in the world. Nature is neat.

So, getting my passport stuff ready isn't exactly a favourite of mine, but VACATION PLANNING has definitely been a favourite! Ryan and I are looking at going somewhere hot. Like, hot hot, and all inclusive, in August. It is going to be a blast!

I don't have any new beauty favourites to share with you guys since I use the same ol' stuff day in and day out. Although I don't talk about make up all that often on here, I am going to be sharing my everyday make up routine on the blog very soon, so stay tuned for that!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend & I'll catch up with you guys on Monday! Let me know what you have been loving this month in the comments below. Anything I should try?

Easy Black Bean Spicy Peanut Pasta, May Favourites & Workout Recap

 

 

Hey everyone! I hope the week has been treating you all well so far. Since we are now officially in June, I wanted to share some favourite things with you for the month of May.

First things first, I want to kick this post off with one of my favourite dinners we had last week. I was in the mood for pad Thai, so this was the next best option, and fortunately it was a big hit! Easy peasy, too. 

Black bean & veggie pasta with spicy peanut sauce: 

Black bean pasta (found at Costco)

Cremini mushrooms

Yellow bell pepper

Dinosaur kale

Broccoli

Red onion

For the sauce:

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

Juice of 1 lime

2 tbsp Tamari or soy sauce

Chilli flakes (to your liking)

Salt & pepper

How to:

Bring water to a boil and cook noodles for 8-10 minutes

Sauté together all vegetables with coconut or olive oil, until tender. 

Mix all sauce ingredients together, then stir sauce into veggies.

Plate noodles & add veggies on top. Sprinkle on more chilli flakes if you like things a bit spicy!

 

Today I wanted to do a recap of this last week in work outs. I have officially started training for the Lululemon Seawheeze half, so running has been in the mix!

Monday: Cathedral Grove with Ryan 

Tuesday: Hot yoga & a walk around Chemainus Lake with the Brownies

 

 

Wednesday: Track workout. 10 minute warm up, 6 X 30 second sprints with 1 minute walk in between. 10 minute cool down. I covered 3.1 miles (or 5km)

Thursday: Hot yoga

Friday: 20 minute run & stretching

Saturday: Long run, 10KM

Sunday: REST!

 

One of my May favourites has been this rose quartz bracelet I picked up at a cute little crystal shop on Monday when Ryan and I went up to Coombs. I also bought a tangerine quartz that I keep on my desk. 

 

I am slowly collecting items for my home office. Ryan so kindly hung one of my paintings, and I found an older Victorian style chair for the corner. As you can see, I don't have an ordinary desk chair. Having the exercise ball reminds me to keep my core engaged, and I have some resistance bands stashed in one of the desk drawers so I can workout, too. I want to find a small side table or something of the sort to put on the opposite wall on the right, as there is only a lonely picture hanging there. In time!

 

Speaking of pictures, I am also loving this painting that I picked up at Home Sense. Thankfully Ryan is a handy man, so I just had to show him where I wanted it and voila, it was hung! Just like magic ; )

A few desk favourites, which include the tangerine quartz I picked up in Coombs. Also pictured is citrine and amber, I believe! It is always nice to have fresh plants in the house, too : )

 

As you probably gathered by my book reviews lately, I have been into reading. I am reading consistently and am currently about half way through the first Harry Potter book. My book shelf is becoming full (this is only one stack of many), and I much prefer getting lost in a good book than watching tv. Let's face it. As soon as you put me on the couch to watch a movie, I am out like a light, but fortunately reading is a different story!

Favourite Work Outs of May: HOT YOGA and RUNNING! I am so happy to have rekindled my love of running, and the Seawheeze training plan helped move that love to "on again" status ; )

Bloggers of May: Read about 'em here, PLUS my sister's blog! Be sure to check it out & give her some love.

Favourite Day Trip: Well, pretty much the only day trip of the month, but Cathedral Grove!


That is all for my favourites - or all that I can think of, anyway! In a later post I will talk about some beauty things I have been loving, as I have purchased a few new goodies from Sephora that I am loving!

Until next time : )

What are you loving this month? Let me know!