Five things

I don’t know how you can say you overindulged over the holidays because I’m pretty sure I ate all the treats. Sometimes because they were there, sometimes because they were just too good, and sometimes because I was stressed out (I’m a terrible stress-eater!). But there are plenty of other things that aren’t brownies that are really good too, and much healthier all-round. This week I loaded up on fruits and veggies to try some of the recipes in Julie Daniluk’s three-day hot detox and three-day reboot cleanse.

I’m not following either to the letter (see last night’s tacos) but I’m loving the recipes I’ve tried. The berry boost smoothie is a surprisingly delicious and energizing blend of mood-boosting spinach, fruit, coconut beverage, hemp hearts and a few other things, and the broccoli blender soup is also tasty and satisfying.

Have you ever tried a detox or a cleanse? How did it go?

A shout-out to 1Milk2Sugars PR for their speedy delivery of the Clarisonic prize package I won from My Fash Avenue just before the holidays. It arrived this week in this beautiful box full of items (including a Clarisonic Aria — woot!) to make my skin clean, clear and younger-looking. Have you joined the #sonicrevolution?

Yesterday we went to IKEA for the first time in a couple of months and look what’s arrived since our last go-round! The IKEA Paper Shop! It took everything in me not to load a cart with all the pretty decorations, stationary, wrapping paper and washi tape.

And speaking of stationary, look for a giveaway this week for your chance to win this More Is More notebook from The Red Bow and some my other faves from Chapters and Target.

Have a good week everybody!

Collections

I don’t collect anything per se, but I can’t resist a cute roll of washi tape (aka Japanese paper tape). Today I’m sharing my wee inventory. Just a baker’s dozen. Hardly gonna land me in an episode of Hoarders.

 

I keep them in a clear plastic box where I can see them, and then one out in this doggie (Target!) for everyday use.

 

IKEA put out some washi tape at Christmastime. Half of these red ones are from there, while the others are from a Valentine collection at Loblaws.

Now these, these are high-end. I splurged on them at Michael’s a few years ago when their selection was limited to one small rack. Now they have dozens, from a wide variety of brands.

Are you a collector? What’s your prized collection?

Rhubarb chiller

After several nights of tossing and turning in the sticky heat, we’ve finally got a bit of a break in the weather. Today is my kind of day: warm enough for flip flops and bare legs, breezy enough for a light sweater. I do much better in more temperate weather, and even better with a refreshing drink like this one by my side. It’s a mocktail, but you could easily splash in some booze if you choose.

For one rhubarb chiller, you’ll need:

• 2 ounces IKEA rhubarb drink concentrate (yay, IKEA!)
• 250 ml sparkling water (mineral or otherwise)
• A handful of ice cubes

I know some of you feel like you need a drink after a trip to IKEA, so this is like, perfect!

So you pours your rhubarb concentrate over your ice cubes. Take a big sniff. Oh it smells so good already!

If you’re feeling fancy (and even if you’re not), you can jazzy it up a with a pretty garnish. A rhubarb stalk would’ve been perfect for this drink but they’re out of season here so I put a fresh Ontario strawberry on a bamboo skewer for swizzling and added the lemon because I had one in the fridge.

Then add your sparkling water. Glug glug glug glug.

Give it a little stir with your swizzler and there you have it, one tasty rhubarb chiller.

I knew you were feeling nibbly, so I put out a little snack.

Have you tried Sahale crunchers? They’re tasty little packages of flavoured almonds. These ones have cranberries, sesame seeds and honey.

Enjoy your summery drink! And maybe make another for a friend.