Try it Tuesday: Strawberry, Pineapple & Mint Smoothie

I am constantly craving this insanely refreshing smoothie I concocted over the holidays and don't worry you can't taste the spinach so go ahead and add as much in as you want!

Ingredients
2 cups of fresh pineapple
1.5 cups of frozen strawberries
1 handful of mint leaves
2 large handfuls of spinach
splash of water (more if needed)
1 scoop of chia seeds
1 scoop of coconut oil

Directions
Blend and enjoy!

Tea Party Themed Baby Shower

Well this is long overdue, but better late than never!

This fall I helped to host a baby shower in honour of my sister Christina and niece/God Daughter, Emilia.

My sister has always LOVED tea parties. The women in my family are tea party obsessed, any chance my sister gets to go for high tea at a fancy hotel she does (okay, so do I). Earlier this year when I went to New York, my sister sent me on a mission to get the tea menu from the Plaza hotel.  I ended up getting the insides, but 2 visits and 3 asks later, this is all I was able to get. She was also after the pretty pink hardcover it sat it. I knew when it came to planning her baby shower that this tea party theme would be perfect! Thankfully, I also have a team of amazing women (my mom, aunts, and pseudo- aunts) that helped pull it all together.

We opted to hold the shower at a beautiful bed and breakfast where my sister and her husband spent their wedding night. It's a gorgeous character home called McVivcar Manor, and it was the perfect setting for this event.

I created the invitations through Paperless Post. It was easy, cost effective, efficient and not to mention beautiful. You can see we set the time for only two hours. We did this as a) nobody wants to give up an entire afternoon to go to a shower b) mama and baby are tired and the more efficient and less drawn out the event, the better!

I strongly believe that for a good event you need to have drinks and food ready as soon as people walk in so that is exactly what we did. For the menu we served a berries and cream, tea sandwiches, scones and jam and danties. You can see the full list in the menu/program I made below.

Instead of a guest book, I bought the hard cover book Eloise so it was also a keepsake. The guests signed their messages on different pages and we also chose a page at random for a door prize.

As I am one for efficiency and with only 2 hours, we also stayed away from doing a lot of games. We had a quiz on each place setting if people wanted to participate and for a little fun we had a basket of diapers that we asked people to fill out a funny or loving message to the parents. This was a real hoot, as some of the messages were hilarious; we read them out and gave prizes to the funniest ones.

It was a very lovely afternoon and Christina and Emilia loved it, although Emilia slept through most of it. Here are some pictures...

I LOVE this, I found the idea online and made it i PowerPoint. It sat at the entrance and now Mia has it in her room. 

The guest of honour...taking a little nap!

Grandma and her girls

My aunts, grandma, mom, sister, niece and cousin after the shower (ignore my mom's shoes haha)! Love these ladies so much!

Things I am loving lately: Winter Hygge favourites

Hygge: (Pronounced - Hoo-Ga) basically my life motto of being cozy, is now the center of a popular book called The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well. Hygge is Danish word mean enjoying warmth and friendship, and it is apparently the reason the Danish are the happiest people on earth. Nearly all of my winter favs center around it so here we go:

Beauty: Mascara pack from Shoppers (okay not so much this one for Hygge). I got this for Christmas from my mom. It is 8 of the most popular mascaras, you try the samples and then cash in a coupon for a full size of your favourite. Who doesn't love trying mascaras? If you are looking for a new one try this pack out!

TV: Currently watching on Netflix: The Good Wife and Jane the Virgin.
My friend Gen always has the best recommendations so when she said watch The Good Wife, I dove in. It's so entertaining (I know I am about 5 years behind on this trend) and Matt Czuchry is in it and I love him long time. I spent several days over the Christmas holidays curled up watching binging on a couple seasons. #worthit
Jane the Virgin was a random find,  it's very quirky but funny and cute. I would say it has a similar vibe to The Mindy Project, if it were a telenovela (Spanish soap); it's mindless fun.

Clothing: Eddie Bauer pants: If you live somewhere with a long, cold winter, you need a pair of these pants. They are fleece lined with a windbreaker outer layer. I throw them over my pants and stay cozy warm on my long walks with Finnegan. Every time I wear them, I think to myself "I freaking love these pants."

Book: The Year of Cozy My sister got me this book for Christmas, it's full of cute DIY's, recipes and homemade ideas. It is broken down by season so I am looking forward to trying a few of her winter ideas.
  

Body: Omnipae Pedi Perfect. It looks like it could be one of those overrated gimmicks, but let me and my butter soft feet tell you it is not! I love this thing and ain't nobody want to get cozy with someone with rough feet, so go get one!

Tea: Celestial Seasonings - Sleepytime Vanilla: This is my all-time favourite evening tea. I love chamomile and this tea takes it to the next level adding a little vanilla, it is perfection. I usually have a cup of this every night.
Also worth noting since it is in this pic, I am a huge fan of Dr. Oz's magaine (random I know) it is loaded with great information, recipes etc.

Wishing you a winter filled with lots of Hygge, so grab your favourite cup of cocoa, some cozy socks and enjoy a little happy, cozy time!  Do you have any fun winter favourites?

                                        

                                                

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday with your family and friends! I had a most enjoyable couple of weeks spent visiting, eating, and binge watching The Good Wife - it was glorious!

I took down our tree yesterday and it was a little depressing, the house always seems so bare afterwards. Jeff walked into our bathroom and yelled "what happened in here?" to which I replied "I just removed the Christmas" (whomp-whomp).  It was also depressing to realize it's time to stop holiday eating.  Anyone in need of dozens of peanut butter marshmallow squares or shortbread? *help me*

I have my goals and to do's for 2017, but this year I have boiled my New Years Resolution down to one...

Enjoy the moment!

By this I mean be present, don't always be looking ahead, really and truly appreciate what is happening at this very minute. Cheers to 2017, let's hope it is a year filled with good health, happiness, lots of fun and a few miracles! Here are some of my favourite holiday moments.