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

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.

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.

New York in Bloom by Georgianna Lane + Win a copy!

ABRAMS Books sent me New York in Bloom in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Happy book birthday to New York in Bloom! Told mostly in photographs, it’s Georgianna Lane’s love letter to the city’s parks and gardens, floral studios and displays, and market blooms, and it’s out today. The book is a companion to 2017’s Paris in Bloom (also lovely) and a third book, London in Bloom, is on the way.

It’s bloomin’ March! What’s ahead

Well hey there, good lookin’! I hope you’re having a sweet Saturday. I wanted to get this out earlier but I’ve been cleaning like a woman possessed (it rarely happens, so when it does I’ve got to go with it) so here we are. Both of us with a cup of tea (yes?) and a few minutes to ourselves to look at what’s coming up here and elsewhere this month.