Runs on Coffee and Cream

July is THIS week... what?! I feel like summer is already 1/3 over! We didn't have great weather (summer weather) for most of June but it's here now!

This is our last summer before Emma starts school in September. It's crazy and very bittersweet. I look forward to her making friends and so that I can spend some one-on-one time with Lily. But it also means my baby is growing up *tears up*. 

So we're making the most of this summer and have already been to many playgrounds, splash pads, and eaten lots of ice cream!

It's been a while since I sat down and wrote anything. September is in full swing and it feels like fall is around the corner. The weather has cooled significantly and the stores are filled with all things pumpkin.

The summer flew by with visits to Hamilton and having company come up to stay with us. It was an exceptionally hot summer. There were heat warnings almost weekly. So both Emma and myself spent a lot of days in light cotton, bare minimal clothing while we hung out at home. I didn't want to overheat her and because she's still too young for sunscreen, we can only spend so much time at the beach.

I originally thought we'd spend a ton of time outside this summer. It was the first summer with Emma and the first summer in this house. I had fantasies of kiddie pools and dinners at a patio table. But again, too hot and Emma is still too young for sunscreen and to sit by herself. We still had fun though and spent some time outside in small intervals.


If anything, I felt like I had gotten into quite the routine and flow with Emma. Things felt 'easy' the past couple of months, if you will. But this month has brought on a new challenge... it's time to introduce her to solid foods. So far it's been a fun process but I feel like I'm doing way more research than I should have to about foods and purees and recipes, etc. Once we have her 6 month check up, I'm hoping to feel better when I can ask the doctor some questions.



As usual I've embraced fall with open arms. A break from the heat plus pumpkin spice lattes make fall such a lovely welcome.

I've been busy baking pumpkin things already and I've had more pumpkin spice lattes than I care to count (I'm making up for last year when I was pregnant...). It's our first fall with Emma but what do you do with a 6-8 month old in the fall? She's too young for pumpkin picking and to eat a Thanksgiving meal. Besides dressing her up for Halloween and some fall walks, I can't think of anything else we can do as a family for the fall season.


I'll be sure to share my successful pumpkin recipes on here. And if you don't follow me on Instagram already, you can see random pics of cats and babies and sweets @sparklegirljen since I post more regularly on there.


Have a great day!
xo Jen

Yesterday was my birthday. How old? I'll never tell...


It's weird that I hit my birthday slump this year. The last few years my birthdays haven't been anything crazy but I always looked forward to the day and whatever plans I had with Adam. Last year my birthday was extra special because we had just found I was pregnant with Emma. This year, even though we now have Emma, I just didn't care about my birthday.

Maybe next year it'll be different again. Emma will be older and will understand the celebration part a bit more... she'll be able to eat cake and be more active if we have another beach celebration.


I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way about their birthday. I know a few people who'd rather not make a big deal about it. It just feels weird to be apart of that club now.

We ended up having a beach day a day before my birthday due to Adam's work schedule. Well, a beach afternoon anyways. We bought a shade tent on clearance a couple of summers ago and I'm so happy we did. It works well and allows us to hide in shade in between dips in the lake to protect Emma's skin. We dipped her legs in the lake water while we were there and surprisingly she didn't hate it. The water was still quite cold but she just kicked her legs, which is how she typically responds to water.

Because the afternoon went so well and Emma was content splashing in the water and then lounging in the shaded tent, I'm hoping to do a few more beach days this summer. I forgot how much I love being there. The feeling that comes over me swimming in the lake, drying off on the sandy beach and hearing kids play and the food building's oldies music; it brings me back to childhood and a calm washes over me. It's basically an anti-depressant for me. It warms my soul.



And since it is still my birthday weekend and I have errands to run today, I might treat myself to an iced coffee to get me through this hot day.

xo Jen

Spring has finally shown up. The days are warm and the sun is shining. I've been going for multiple walks each week with Emma. Having a routine for my walks has been key to going out more. I load up the stroller with Emma, a water bottle, and my cell phone. Then we head out to walk around the neighbourhood. We have a certain route we take and we always hit up the mailbox half way through our walk. It's been great to soak in the sunshine and feel the fresh air on my skin. After a long winter being very pregnant, and then 6 weeks of being stuck in the house during my c-section recovery, these walks are very therapeutic. I need to move and feel warm, fresh air. It's a bright spot in my day.

I'm excited for summer. I have so many plans for us... hangouts in the yard, walks, picnics at the park, afternoons at the beach. I'm excited for these family days and moments with Emma.

There's a few things I'd love to pick up to get ready for summer.


Clockwise from top right:
Iced Tea Pitcher - I have the personal iced tea press and I love it! I want the pitcher for when we have company over.
Ice Cream Notebook - I love this print and I think this notebook would be great to carry in my bag to write down random thoughts, to-dos, and shopping lists. Mommy brain is real!
Summer Dress - How comfy does this dress look!? And it's super cute. It's so needed for hot days.
S'ip Bottle - I've been trying to drink more water and a stainless steel bottle would be great to keep my water cold during hot days.

What's on your summer wish list?
xo Jen

I've been a huge fan of Davids Tea for years now. In the last couple of years I started to make my own iced tea with loose leaf tea from Davids Tea and now I have the ease of taking iced tea on the go with me.

I'm talking about Davids Tea Iced Tea Press. I've been coveting one since they released their new design this year and I finally picked one up!



The directions are super easy:

how to use

Step 1

• In the outer sleeve, add tea and hot water to the fill line. Fill the inner compartment with ice.

Step 2

• While your tea is steeping, slide the inner compartment down into the outer sleeve, stopping before the fill line.

Step 3

• When your tea has finished steeping, slowly press the inner compartment all the way down. Enjoy!

Because I'm going to be addicted to my Iced Tea Press, I need to stock up on teas that are perfect iced!

I've been hitting up my local Davids Tea store to taste all the new teas being sampled and I've fallen in love with a few that I desperately need to pick up:

From top to bottom:
1, Sour Watermelon
2. Rainbow Sherbet
3. Raspberry Mojito - by far my FAVOURITE!

I'm sure this list will get longer as they keep releasing new flavours for summer. I'll be sure to taste test as many flavours as I can! What tea do you recommend iced?

xo Jen

I'm longing for sunshine, warm days, and not wearing layers of clothing. We're barely getting spring and I freeze at night because I refuse to put my furnace back on. I'm itching to open windows for fresh air and to wear shoes without socks.

More than likely this is pushing me towards my mermaid obsession... I'm wanting to live at the beach, the sun on my skin, and sand under my toes. I want to spend afternoons swimming in the lake and lounging on a beach towel.


Clockwise from top left:
1. Mermaid Hair Tank
2. Mermaid Glass
3. Majestically Awkward Tank
4. Mermaid Blanket
5. Mermaid Pouch

Not only do I have a mermaid theme going, but it seems a teal-theme as well. Come on sunshine! I want spring and summer!

xo Jen

I love notebooks, smooth-writing pens, and stickers. I have a serious addiction to stationery. Now add in the fact that I'm badly wanting sunny and warm weather, and Chapters' new stationery collection is pretty darn perfect for me.




I plan on treating myself to a new notebook and some new pens soon. The rainy weather we've been having has me wanting to surround myself in sunshine items!

xo Jen

The theme of April seems to be 'waiting for warm weather and sunny days'. This post is no different.

Bath and Body Works

I had the chance to go wander around Bath and Body Works recently and I spent a long time smelling all their new scents. I fell in love with so many. Surprisingly I fell for more of their body products than candles this time around. They've released a bunch of summer-themed products; aloe gel lotions, coconut scents, body scrubs. I plan on impatiently waiting for a sale where I can use a coupon on top of the sale to go coconut and pineapple crazy!


Smoothies

We've been on a smoothie kick in our household lately. Fresh fruit, frozen fruit, leftover almond milk or yogurt close to expiry, chia seeds. It's been an easy way to include some fruit into our diets and use up random ingredients from our fridge. I've experimented with green smoothies in the past but we no longer have kale or spinach on hand. We buy different greens since we share them with our pet turtles. But after seeing this super handy graphic, I'm realizing there's nothing stopping me from trying green smoothies with the other lettuce we have on hand.


What have you been loving lately?
xo Jen

Since I'm on a unicorn kick, as well as the fact that we have spring weather finally, I'm obsessed with colours - pastel, bright, tropical. All the colours! I bought a sweater last week and it's coral! This is odd for me since I tend to fall into the grey/blue category with most of my clothing. I will more than likely pair that coral sweater with a grey tank. But it's such a bright, happy colour and I'm excited to wear it.

I've been drawn to colours everywhere. These are a few of my favourite colourful things right now:

1. Tarte's Make Believe in Yourself collection. I want it all.


2. Starbucks' spring cups. They're too cute.


3. Davids Tea Summer Collection. I plan on picking up an iced tea press for myself to have fresh iced tea all summer!


All these colours put me in such a happy mood so I plan on surrounding myself with them.

xo Jen

Summer is over and it's incredibly bittersweet. Looking back at photos from August have me wanting another beach day or to wear my light cotton Summer dresses around. But autumn weather is starting to show itself and my mind is somewhat fall-obsessed right now.

This was how I spent August...

Eating vegetables from our garden. These tomatoes were my absolute favourite thing we grew this year.


This groundhog was spotted in our yard all summer. We ended up with less vegetables than normal since he enjoyed eating the flowers off all the plants.


This is from our last day swimming at the beach. We squeezed in a trip right before Fan Expo since we knew fall weather hits here fast once September starts.



Of course I was surrounded by fabric and covered in thread all month while I finished up prep work for Fan Expo.



The fact that it's September 12th is freaking me out. I don't even have my fall decorations out yet! I must dig out all my pumpkins.

I hope September is treating you well so far.
xo Jen

The cats have claimed the guest room. Logan has taken to sleeping right on the pillows.


One of my favourite places this Summer - Moonlight Beach.


How I spend most evenings: sewing.


I saw Gwen Stefani in concert in Toronto at the beginning of the month. It was an incredible night and she was absolutely amazing.



xo Jen

These plants were all over the blueberry patches. I have no idea what it is but they were really tall (maybe 2 feet high) and really pretty.


It's exciting to spot a patch full of all those juicy blueberries.


We came home with 10 cups of blueberries which means I can make 2 pies and have leftovers.



The morning after picking the blueberries I made us pancakes with some of them. They're so incredibly juicy and full of flavour.


I made our first wild blueberry pie earlier this week and I have blueberries in the freezer for a second pie in a couple of weeks.



The recipe I use for fruit pies is super easy:

1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 cup water
4 cups fruit

Directions:
1. In a pot mix sugar and cornstarch together, add water. Bring to a boil on medium heat.

2. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring often.

3. Add your fruit and mix well. Continue cooking mixture for 3-7 minutes. The time depends on how soft the fruit is and how you want your filling - more chunks of fruit or more mushed up.

The pie turned out incredible. The filling was nice and thick and the blueberries are really tasty with the graham cracker crust.

Since we had great luck with our wild blueberry picking during our two hour outing last week, we might try going out again to get more to put in the freezer.

xo Jen

Seriously, how is it August? It's bittersweet that Summer is half over. Summer has been so much fun this year but it'll be over before I know it. On the other hand, this means Autumn is around the corner which is easily my favourite season of them all!

Pokemon Go

One reason the last half of July flew by is because of the new app, Pokemon Go. We've been out for evening walks, made trips downtown, and spent time at the boardwalk catching Pokemon, fighting gyms, and stocking up on Poke balls. It's been incredibly fun, I'm getting lots of sunshine and my legs are a little sore from all the walking. But this game has made my days fly by. We race through our errands and chores so we can spend time walking around outside to find Pokemon.

Playing Pokemon in the car is interesting. You can find some really good Pokemon driving through different neighbourhoods, or you can end up with yet another Weedle on your knee.


I was hoping to catch so many Magikarp at the park but only one showed up flopping around on the pathway.


The one and only time I successfully beat a gym and left a Slowpoke to guard it.

Korean Face Masks

My skin has been better than ever this Summer. I'd like to think it's because of all the sunshine (which means lots of moisturizing sunscreen), lake water, and fresh air. But my weekly face masks might have something to do with it. I noticed my face getting a bit dried out at the beginning of Summer because of all the sunshine my skin was getting so I pulled out the few Korean face masks I had picked up this past Spring and decided to use one. Since then, I've used a couple of green tea face masks and a coconut gel one. And all of them have left my face brighter and more clear. So these have become my obsession and I'm so excited to hit up The Face Shop during my next visit to Hamilton.

My current face mask collection after receiving a couple of new ones for my birthday. I'm super excited to try the Egg Cream Mask and Panda Eye Patches.


What have you been loving lately?
xo Jen