Sluuurp! What’s inside April’s GlobeIn Artisan Box

I received the GlobeIn Artisan Box for free for review purposes. All opinions are my own. This post also appears on A Year of Boxes.

GlobeIn Artisan Box is a monthly subscription box featuring handmade, ethically sourced products from makers around the world. Each Premium Box has a theme and this month it’s The Slurp Box. Usually I like to be surprised but I saw a couple of the things in this month’s box when I was scrolling through Instagram (GlobeIn has a gorgeous feed!) so I peeped the spoilers on A Year of Boxes for a closer look. It’s a good one, mes amies! 

Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon

Thomas Allen & Son sent me Keep Going in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I don’t want to tell you how many times I’ve thought of chucking my blog but it’s up there. For all of the usual reasons: My writing sucks; it’s too hard; I’m not funny or interesting or loveable enough; I should post more often; no one reads it; my pictures are crap; and so on. All of which I believe to different degrees depending on the day. Some days I’m even happy with a post or a particular picture, then two days later I think it sucks. But I keep going. And some books really help. Like this month’s new one from Austin Kleon, Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad.

Happiness is Baking + Win a copy!

Hachette Book Group Canada sent me Happiness is Baking in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

“Years ago I heard a doctor talking on television about the dangers of stress. It can kill you. It can cause a heart attack or a stroke. The doctor listed ways of coping with stress. Exercise. Diet. Do Yoga. Take a walk. I yelled, ‘Bake cookies.’ I often talk to the television. I yelled it again and again. The doctor went on with his list of 12 ways to reduce stress…and he never once mentioned my surefire treatment. Baking is a great escape. It’s happiness. It’s creative. It’s good for your heath. It reduces stress.” — Maida Heatter, Happiness is Baking

Yes Way Rosé: A Guide To the Pink Wine State of Mind

Hachette Book Group Canada sent me Yes Way Rosé in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

If you’ve never been properly introduced to the splendour in the glass that is rosé, you’ll be in the pink with Yes Way Rosé: A Guide To the Pink Wine State of Mind by Erica Blumenthal and Nikki Huganir. Part pink wine primer, part lifestyle guide, it’s a smart and playful celebration of la vie en rosé. 

Natural Living Style: Inspirational Ideas for a Beautiful and Sustainable Home by Selina Lake

Thomas Allen & Son sent me Natural Living Style in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

“There are many threats to our planet — global warming, pollution, overpopulation and water scarcity — and it’s easy to feel powerless in the face of all this bad news. As a stylist, I wondered how we can make our homes, work spaces and gardens more in harmony with the environment while keeping them beautiful? Can a stylish, comfortable, efficient home be achieved with minimal impact on the environment?” This is the question Selina Lake set out to answer in her new (and ninth!) book, Natural Living Style: Inspirational Ideas for a Beautiful and Sustainable Home. 

The Big Book of Less: Finding Joy in Living Lighter + Win a copy!

Thomas Allen & Son sent me The Big Book of Less in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Hey everybody! I hope you’re having a great week. I’ve got a crappy cold and haven’t been able to write here as much as I’d like but I’ve been dying to tell you about this book. It’s the new one (out just last week) from the editors of Flow magazine, The Big Book of Less: Finding Joy in Living Lighter. It’s a book of articles and activities about living with less (less stuff, less information, less control, and more) and learning less-ons along the way. #seewhatididthere

Breakfast time! April’s OatBox 😋

I received April’s OatBox for free in exchange for an honest review. This post also appears on A Year of Boxes. 

I think breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, so I’m always excited to see what’s in my OatBox. It’s a monthly breakfast subscription box from Montreal that comes with two large bags of handcrafted granolas that are 100% natural and preservative-free, plus two recipes. Gluten-free boxes are available and subscriptions can be delayed or cancelled free of charge.

A tisket, a tasket: Five things for your tween’s Easter basket

Easter is almost here and THANK GOODNESS! I’m ready to bite the ears off chocolate bunnies and see fuzzy newborn chicks and set the table in pretty pastels for a special dinner celebrating our favourite Spring holiday. But I think I have the most fun (next to decorating eggs) building Easter baskets for my kids. Usually a few little treats tucked around a special chocolate bunny — smaller treats when the kids were smaller, and now a little more substantial. Mainly because I find so many cute things they’d like and I CANNOT RESIST. But also because I want them to really value what they get and enjoy it for a while. Today I’ve got some ideas for an Easter basket I made with my tween in mind but older and younger kids might like them just as much too. 

Love & Lemons Every Day by Jeanine Donofrio

Penguin Random House Canada sent me Love & Lemons Every Day in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

There are so many great books launching this spring, and we’re just getting started! Today’s includes this beauty for anyone looking for fresh ways to put veggies (and fruits!) on their plates: Love & Lemons Every Day: More Than 100 Bright, Plant-Forward Recipes For Every Meal by Jeanine Donofrio. It’s the follow-up to her first book, The Love & Lemons Cookbook: An Apple-to-Zucchini Celebration of Impromptu Cooking, published in April 2016. Inventive recipes for every meal encourage cooks to introduce new flavour combinations into the rotation — think Strawberry Baked French Toast for breakfast; Parsnip Chickpea Noodle Soup for lunch; Spicy Black Bean and Mango Stuffed Peppers for dinner; and Chocolate Cake with Sweet Potato Frosting for dessert — and special features like the giant grid of salad dressings, tips for using veggie scraps, and 6 ways to scramble equip readers to experiment with tasty results.

Currently coveting

It’s Saturday night as I’m writing this but probably Sunday for you reading now, and I’m looking at the clock wondering how it got so late when I feel like I only just sat down to write a quick post. I don’t know why I keep telling myself I’ll just dash something off. I never dash something off. I’m not a quick writer (second-guessing yourself is a major time suck) and often edit to the point that my final version looks almost nothing like the first. And maybe there’s nothing wrong with that. Maybe it just is what it is. But make no mistake: what it is is not quick. That said, it took me no time to come up with this list of things I’m currently coveting: I’ve had the tabs for all of them open on my computer for a while. Weeks even! (So surely it’s love.)

The Home Edit: A Guide to Organizing and Realizing Your House Goals + Win a copy!

Penguin Random House sent me The Home Edit in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I was trying to remember the last time our house felt organized, and I think we reached peak domestic efficiency just before baby. A rainbow of impossibly tiny outfits ordered by size and colour hung in the closet. Neat rows of diapers stood at attention in a cloth-lined wicker basket on the change table. Receiving blankets went in another basket; lotions and potions huddled together on a tray. There was a place for everything and everything in its place. It was a thing of beauty.

What’s inside the March Glossybox

I received the March Glossybox in exchange for an honest review. This post also appears on A Year of Boxes. 

Glossybox is a beauty subscription box that delivers 5 deluxe or full-size products each month ranging from niche to high-end. The box ships from the US and items are sourced from more than 400 brands around the world.