Runs on Coffee and Cream

The weather changed very quickly here. One day it was summer and the next day we had to dig out our pants because the weather had turned cool. I'm not going to lie, I'm loving it. September is the beginning of my favourite seasons - fall through Christmas. 

The evenings and nights are quite cold already. I'm finding myself pulling out hoodies to wear on the couch and warmer flannel pajamas for bedtime. With cool evenings comes hot drinks while I watch TV or work on the computer. Since I'm no longer pregnant and avoiding herbal teas, I've been drinking through my tea collection. I thought I'd share my favourite hot teas to drink during the cooler months.

So, um, where did April go? It's like I blinked and all of a sudden the month is almost over. April was full of cozy things at home; Easter, Adam's birthday, and lots of kitty snuggles.

Logan adores Adam. I love getting photos of them together.

Natural lighting is always best.

They used to snuggle like this and they stopped for a few years. They're back to snuggling together at Adam's feet while he plays video games. It melts my heart.

My amazing husband found a local place that makes macarons and they were heavenly!

My hair's straight! Only because a hair stylist did it.... I need to invest in a hair straightener and then actually straighten my hair because I like it straight.

Of course I had to try the Unicorn Frappuccino but they were out of sour syrup and sprinkles! So I ended up with a pretty mango flavoured frapp.

I think my newest obsession is showing in my most recent purchases.

Fall is great for all the yummy limited edition food!

Bath and Body Works is my weakness all year round but their cold-weather scents (pumpkin, apple, peppermint) are my absolute favourite.

I finally purchased Movie Night tea from Davids Tea and I love it!

Coffee all the time to keep me warm.

Smoothie from Tutti Fruitti

Sour Pumpkin Saison that was so tasty!

Now that fall is over I'm officially in the holiday spirit! My house is almost completely decorated for Christmas, a good chunk of my gifts have been purchased, and I'm starting my baking list this week to plan out all the holiday cookies I want to bake.

How's November been treating you?
xo Jen

Woodland Bear seems to be the theme of the packaging and mug designs and I'm loving it all. The urge to buy this travel mug is strong and I might have to add a new mug to my already overflowing collection.

The tea flavours sound amazing too:
- Pumpkin Chai
- Blueberry Muffin
- Carrot Cupcake
- Pom Cider
- Nutty Granola Crunch

Pumpkin Chai comes out every year at Davids Tea and it's by far one of my favourite teas. I drink it all year round because I buy enough at the end of winter to get me through until it's out again. But I'm so curious to try the Carrot Cupcake and Pom Cider. They sound right up my alley.

Once I try some of the new teas I'll be sure to report back on how they are!
xo Jen

Companies really know how to market to their customers. I've been receiving emails from Look Human, Davids Tea, Bath and Body Works, and Old Navy (to name a few) with Spring-themes! From light and fruity teas, to shorts, to floral candles, and camping t-shirts - I'm wanting everything!

Look Human

The latest email from Look Human was their road trip/camping collection. And as usual, I kind of want one of everything.



Davids Tea

This past week I went to the mall and stopped into Davids Tea to smell and check out their Spring Collection. The teas I thought I'd want from the collection initially weren't the ones I came home with. It's funny how smelling the teas in person can make a huge difference, rather than basing your picks off the name and description. I cannot stress enough how amazing White Nectarine is. The smell and taste is exactly like a ripe nectarine. The other teas I fell in love with were Melon Drop and Fruits of Paradise. Maybe it's because I'm wanting Spring so bad, but all the fruity teas were winning me over.



What are you loving now?
xo Jen

The weather has been exceptionally crappy the past couple of weeks. I'm ok with it being cooler, but it rains almost every day. So everything is damp and it feels extra cold. My hot drinks intake has increased because of this.

I recently stocked up on hot chocolate and chai latte mix at The Bulk Barn here. It's my favourite thing to do before Winter hits because it's so much cheaper and they always have different flavours, like salted caramel hot chocolate or mint hot chocolate. So it's fun buying as much as I want of each of the flavours.

For the longest time now, I've always made my own 'mocha' using powder hot chocolate and instant coffee. I think it helped ease me into coffee since it was sweeter. It's still a treat I make myself every once in a while. Adding marshmallows sometimes happens too...

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
xo Jen

Christmas is SO soon! This holiday season is flying by! I'm super excited for Christmas and some events that lead up to it... specifically building and decorating a gingerbread house with Adam, checking out the Festival of Lights, and wrapping up the last of the gifts.

These are just a few things I'd be super happy to receive for Christmas. The holiday-themed dresses and skirt are beyond adorable and I'd wear them all Winter!

Where do I start?!?! Though, June was a busy month between unpacking, sewing, and exploring our new city, I did spend a lot of time watching TV, reading comics, and drinking tea!

Since we had to pack and scramble like crazy in May to get things organized for our 5 hours away move, I missed out on a lot of season finales. But as of last night, I'm caught up! I just finished up Grimm and Elementary, and holy crap, good season finales! I'm so excited for the new seasons of both of those shows!

I also started watching Call the Midwife. My Nan had recommended it to me a while ago but the cover of the boxset and the plot description wasn't really grabbing me. So after finishing a season of Doctor Who, I thought I'd give Call the Midwife a try. I'm soo happy I did! It's a great show. The actors are wonderful and the story lines are really interesting. I have one episode left of the first season and I can't wait to get my hands on the second season. 



I also feel like I'm flying through comics lately. Maybe it's because I read on the treadmill and I've been trying my hardest to use our treadmill a few times a week. I finished The Runaways Volume 5 (such a good series), continued reading a lot of X-Men and also read Lost at Sea finally. Lost at Sea was adorable and touching and I really liked it (and not just because of the cats in it!).



Just before we moved, Adam brought home a new Pop! Vinyl toy to add to my collection. My addiction to these toys is ridiculous and there's still so many more that I want... My Little Pony and TMNT just to name a few!!


A great, and dangerous, thing about our new place is that there's a Teavana in our nearby mall. I've been twice and came out with a large tin of tea each time... see, dangerous! They've had samples of iced tea and I've received lots of tips and instructions on how to make my own at home. So that's what I've been doing constantly!


Oh, and rock sugar has seriously changed my life. Thank you Teavana! Right now, I'm sitting at the computer drinking homemade iced tea... it's a really yummy obsession!

xo Jen

Even though the swap I did with Katie contained tea, it was still a Sweets Swap since the tea was sweet flavours!

Back in the Fall, Katie contacted me to do a swap since she wanted some tea from Davids Tea but unfortunately they don't ship internationally.

We ended up discussing chocolates and other treats that were found in each of our countries so the swap turned into a fun, sweets-filled swap.

This is what I sent Katie:





I had soooo much fun putting together this package for her and I squeezed in as much as I could! Katie posted about her package here.

The package I received from Katie was so amazing! I was incredibly excited to open it, and I have to be honest and say that I ate one of the chocolate bars right away but I kept the empty box so I could photograph it later.





Everything was so yummy! My favourites: Fox's Party Rings, Rowntree's Randoms, Hula Hoops Roasted Chicken, and every single one of the Pudding Bars! I actually just ate my last chocolate bar yesturday so I'm officially out of U.K. treats...



It was such a fun swap and it was awesome emailing Katie back and forth beforehand discussing our favourite treats. And I was happy to send Davids Tea to another part of the world!!

xo Jen

A while back, Fran from Skulls and Ponies posted about setting up a craft swap. Years ago, when I lived at home, I used to participate in craft and candy swaps all the time. I absolutely loved putting together and sending out little packages. And receiving mail is ridiculously fun and exciting. So I jumped at the chance to participate in this swap.

My swap partner was Kate from Just Kate Crafting and I am thrilled with the swap results! We definitely had similar interests which made it easy to put together my package. I was silly and forgot to take a photo of what I sent but it included a pretty zipper pouch, a kitty kicker for her cats, and some cute post-its.

This was the awesome package that Kate sent me:



Her cards are so pretty! I'm very tempted to frame this to have up all year. It's so happy!


TEA! Yes, this excited me so much. And I swear I'm not a weirdo, but I felt so proper receiving tea from the U.K. Somehow it makes it better. But look at that adorable cozy!

My kitties enjoyed sniffing everything and I had to kick them off the desk numerous times while taking these photos.

This has me back in swap mode.... I'd love to send out more packages! I'm very busy with sewing since I have my biggest show of the year in August. But I'd love to even do a candy swap now, which is basically sending a package full of sweets that are fun, different, and possibly only found in your country (expect some Maple-flavoured candy from here). Then come September I could set up a craft/handmade swap.

Is anyone interested?

xo Jen