Five things

If it’s a holiday Monday where you are, I hope you’re enjoying the day. My cold’s got the best of me so I’ve been pretty ineffective all-round today but I do have some highlights from our adventures over the past few weeks. We had my son’s birthday, Mother’s Day and my daughter’s birthday all in an eight-day stretch and my mother-in-law was here to celebrate all of it with us, which was really nice. (Regular readers will remember her from Friday’s GlobeIn post.) 

Inside May’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 for May it’s the Delish Box. Speaking of delish, you might wonder who’s the tasty lady with the box. It’s my mother-in-law, tanned golden brown from a winter in Florida. She’s visiting for a bit and agreed to help with the reveal. (Yeah she’s the best.)  

Inside April’s Glossybox

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

April’s Glossybox didn’t arrive ’til the beginning of May so I’ll have two Glossy reviews for you this month. The U.S. beauty box delivers 5 deluxe or full-size products each month ranging from niche to high-end, sourced from more than 400 brands around the world.

It’s a limited edition! The Book Lovers Box from Sweet Reads Box 😍

I received the Book Lovers Box for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Shoana Jensen was on Cityline this week talking about subscription boxes and I was so surprised she didn’t mention Sweet Reads Box because IMHO, it’s one of the best on the market. (If it’s new to you, it’s a Canadian monthly subscription service that delivers a bestselling novel and few treats that tie in to the story, including gourmet goodies and an interesting bevvie.) Their monthly boxes sell out super quickly, and their new limited editions seem to be snapped up just as fast. Today I’ve got a look inside the first Book Lovers Box. 

May TBR

“Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” — Groucho Marx 😂😂  May is a busy time with the kids’ birthdays, Mother’s Day, and my mother-in-law visiting so I’ve pared down this month’s TBR to what I think is a manageable stack. I’ve got some romance, some literary fiction, a mystery and the first middle grade novel by a beloved YA author. If you’ve read any of these, or see any you like, please let me know!

Inside May’s Mapleblume box #luxebeauty

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

If you haven’t heard of Mapleblume, it’s a quarterly subscription box of luxury cosmetics and skincare with at least five full-size or deluxe sample-size products in every shipment. May’s box is my third (you can see the other two here) and I’ve been so looking forward to it! 

Currently coveting

And suddenly it’s Friday! I hope you’ve had a good week. Wednesday I put this egg-cellent iron-on patch on an Old Navy cardigan that has seen better days and I’m still so happy with it! Partly because it’s so cute, partly because I finally did something I’ve been meaning to do for ages. Look out world, I’m just getting started! 😂😂 Now on to this month’s list of big loves.

You’ve got MAYL 💌 + A giveaway!

For a long while I was big on picture frames. Then candle holders. Now bud vases. But I’ve always loved stationery — for ever and ever! — and what better day than the first of May to share a little happy mail mayl? I’ve put together a baker’s dozen of my favourite cards to send to one of you, super fun sentiments from Kate Spade, ban.do, A Beautiful Mess, and more. 💌  

The New Plant Parent: Develop Your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-Plant Family + Win a copy!

ABRAMS Books sent me The New Plant Parent in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Everybody likes my husband. It’s true! Babies coo in his arms, kids laugh at his jokes, old ladies wink at him in the grocery store and plants flourish in his care. (A leaf falls off the philodendron and he can charm it right back on.) I’m okay with people, but I’m a disaster with plants. If only there were some way to learn how to be better? Something with two covers and a bunch of pages in between, maybe. A handbook of sorts. An illustrated guide, if you please. I think that is this book: The New Plant Parent: Develop Your Green Thumb and Care for Your House-Plant Family by Darryl Cheng.

Bird is the word: Flying off the shelves for Mother’s Day + Win with Foxy Originals!

Foxy Originals gifted me the pieces in this post in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

“[My kids are] 7, so to me, I’d just rather have a hug and a ‘Happy Mother’s Day!’ But when they’re that age ― and moms know ― you have to be a good actress. That’s when you gotta turn into Meryl Streep. Seriously, because they give you gifts that are just … [sighs] … So I just had to go ‘Oh that’s amazing! Oh that’s so beautiful!’ And they were so proud. But now I understand why athletes buy their moms a house when they make it ― because they really should to make up for this crap!” — Wanda Sykes 😂😂

As much as we love the kids’ homemade gifts and cards, sometimes it’s nice for us mama birds to get something we would pick for ourselves. This selection of Foxy Originals favourites fits the bill. 🐦 😂 But hurry, they’re flying off the shelves!

New from Goodfood: Smoothies by subscription

I received the smoothies in this post for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This post also appears on A Year of Boxes. 

Goodfood is a weekly subscription that delivers all of the fresh ingredients you need in pre-measured amounts to make delicious meals at home. They recently introduced a breakfast option: 10 different smoothies that are packed with quality farm-frozen ingredients and ready in seconds. I’ve tried five flavours so far. Here’s the skinny. 

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!