Clean Body Care

You guys all know Carly, right? (If you don't you should, go check out her blog!) She's been posting a lot about clean body care and clean living in general and I must say I've been thinking the same thing lately. I've made a lot of changes in how I eat and I'd like to bring that over into more aspects of my life - it just makes sense, to live as naturally as possible.

I'm looking into handmade, 100% natural beauty/body care products and I want to know your input - I have a few etsy shops that I've been browsing through but I want to know if you guys have any experience with Etsy shops that you love!
Here are the ones I've been looking at:

1. On A Branch Soaps - I met the shop owner, Tara, at the Christmas Bazaar I participated in! I bought several of her soaps for some Christmas presents at the show and everyone I gave them to loved them. She's also a super sweet person and I really loved her scents and everything! I only tried the soaps though, and I really want to look into lip balms, moisturizing creams, etc.

2. Southern Twisted Soaps - Carly recommended these guys on her blog, and their scents look AMAZING. Paprika Pineapple? Who would have thought of that, but it sounds super great! The one thing I'm wary of is that they are not 100% natural and include fragrances and some chemicals. Don't know if I want to splurge

3. Epically Epic Soap - I found these guys on Etsy and I really like their scent combinations and the fact that they are entirely vegan, totally 100% natural! I'm really leaning towards some of their playful lip balms and scents!




So yea! If anyone has any ideas or suggestions or has any experience with these Etsy stores please do let me know!

Hope you're all enjoying the long weekend - I am! Even though I'm working through it, only two more weeks of working all 7 days!
xo

Where's Waldo?

More like, Where's Katia?

I've been all over the place. Mentally, physically, in all ways really. I've just started a brand new full-time job and I am absolutely loving it - even though I'm working in a cubicle, which I imagined to be stuffy. And I am working within the corporate part of health care, which I imagined to be way too much for me to take - especially anything either business related or health/science related. But I'm finding it really fascinating and am throwing myself willingly head first into it! Because I am doing visual communication type things, I am in and out of the office meeting people, going to different hospitals, and even working from home if I can!

On top of this job though, I am finishing up this month at the French pastry store I've been working at on weekends, AND I am taking a summer course that happens every Tuesday & Thursday evenings. Needless to say, my schedule is fully booked. But fun! So I may be tired but I am learning a lot and enjoying it!

Oh, I was also part of a live art show a few weekends ago - it was amazing! Lots of friends and my parents came out to see, to hang out, and to hang out after. It resulted in an absolutely heart warming, memorable night!

My final result after 4hrs of painting!

My dad and I!  Everyone else came too, I just don't have pictures with them, oops!

Most of the gang who showed up, love them all! Many thanks and hugs and love to everyone who wasn't in this photo too of course, you all rawk my socks.

So that's been me lately. I've been quite the busy bee, and I must buzz off to the book store now. I finished reading the Great Gatsby (have any of you seen the movie yet!?) and it's time to move on to another literary masterpiece!

xo

Lit Chic 02 // Fall On Your Knees

Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald

 

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 My step mom lent me this book when I asked for my copy  of the Great Gatsby and she couldn't find it, and I must say I'm quite glad she misplaced it for two reasons. One, it is an amazing book. Two, I ended up buying a really adorable copy of the Great Gatsby to replace the other one. 

Where do I begin with this book...

Fall on Your Knees follows the lives of the Piper family in the early 1900's. The story starts with James Piper and Materia who marry against Materia's family's wishes. They elope, and things just get rotten for them from there on out. They have daughters each of whom have their own stories going through to the end of the book. I risk spoiling the entire thing for you all if I try to explain the plot any further, so I'll simply say that there are some pretty dirty secrets thrown into the mix and it makes for quite an intense, disturbing story. 

The way it's written is beautiful, often jumping from perspectives and POVs within the same paragraph and switching from real life to dreams and thoughts and imagined things without explicitly saying so. It doesn't get confusing though, which is what makes it such a good read. I love it when a book, a movie, any story really, isn't too linear and jumps back and forth and has plenty of plot twists! There is a lot of historical context, a lot of religious content, but not in an overly biased way. The characters are beautifully flawed, you can hate them to bits even though you love them in the end.

 

This outfit is based on my favourite character, Frances. I'm not sure if she's written to be your favourite or if I just naturally favour her. She's a wild child but within her own boundaries, she doesn't spin 'out of control' so to speak. She knows what she wants and she finds a way to get it and sets her own limits - she doesn't follow the limits set on her by others.

So basically, I totally 100% recommend this book and definitely think it's worth a read!

xo

My First Yoga Class

Last Monday I went to my first ever Yoga class with my step mom. I wanted to check out the gym that I'll probably be joining, and the classes it offers! My step mom jokingly warned methat the instructor was a little intense - in the sense that he really believed in Yoga as a spiritual activity.

Well, she was right. But I loved it! I can't say I left believing in everything he said or spiritually awakened, but I found it healing nonetheless. Getting into that frame of mind, the calm that allows you to really connect with your body and become aware of it, it was a very special experience and I'm totally hooked already! I swear I spent the entire hour and a bit in another place, one where the things that are normally on my mind were not. I literally left my worries and concerns at the door and focused on the moves, on the stretches, on the way my body behaved. It was super relaxing. 

The ideas that I totally did get into were that of loving your body for what it is. The instructor insisted we kiss our knees when we were doing the stretch with bringing our knees up. He insisted we thank our bodies for what we were able to do, even if it wasn't as far of a stretch as others were capable of. If our hands were in a near prayer position, he'd tell us to pray to whomever or whatever it is we pray to that our bodies stay as wonderfully capable as they are now. It was so refreshing to have such a simple version of self-love thrown at us in a setting where it's pretty easy to believe it! What with our bodies twisting and stretching and curving and releasing so much energy. It's remarkable.

I also loved the idea of "healthy body, healthy mind" and vice versa. It's something I've been focused on a lot lately, in the way I eat and the way I live. If that weren't obvious by the health smoothie recipe I just posted! I can't lie - I've had one of those smoothies every day this week! Different recipes, but with the same 'health' goal in mind! 

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So basically, I think I'll be going back to Yoga again. Soon.

xo

 

Adventures in Vegetarianism // Weirdest Smoothie

I've heard about 'green' smoothies, smoothies made with kale and other vegetables that are considered super nutritious and good for you, basically - in my opinion- smoothies that seem really gross. However, now that I'm eating a vegetarian diet and my step mom suggested I use the kale in the fridge for a smoothie, I decided to try it out! I didn't follow a recipe, just sort of used whatever we had in the fridge. And this is what I came up with!

I ended up using a few more blueberries and pineapple pieces than pictured here, just to sweeten it up a bit more! And it worked - the smoothie was surprisingly delicious, albeit a bit of an unusual mix, but the radishes weren't too too hot, so it all balanced out nicely. I'm excited to try out other recipes for healthy smoothies like this, adding kale and other veggies to smoothies just opens up the door to so many more options!

So guess what guys, I'm done second year! My exams are all done and I believe they went well, and it is now summer break! I am going to be working and taking a summer course, but I hope I'll still be having some more free time. The weather is also finally getting a bit warmer - it's been the most awfully long winter with the most ridiculous up and down weather and temperatures. I just want some sun and some warmth and the freedom to go to the beach without freezing my butt off. But I guess that'll come soon now!

xo

Lately - End of 2nd Year!

Well, that's it guys! My crazy whirlwind of a second year is coming to an end this Thursday with my final exam. I'm still going to be busy this summer but hopefully a little less so, though I'll be working potentially 3 jobs and I'm taking a summer course from May to June. Welp. I suppose once a busy bee, always a busy bee, at least for me anyway!

I am hoping to NOW take steps towards blogging again. I feel inspired to. I want to share my summer art, I want to maybe start some outfit posts again (I have some thoughts on this that I will explain at a later date!), I want to share recipes, I want to share my little adventures, I want to start making necklaces again for Solé, and I want to give Kitty Snooks a face lift!

In other news - I got a new laptop. Those two photos are the (super classy) first selfies taken on it. The first of probably far too many. I am a bit of an obnoxious selfie queen. I guess I could just blame that on being a blogger though, right? My last lap top (affectionately named Earl) basically died on me in the middle of my final assignments, which was brutal because of how much I had to get done. Luckily I was able to open 'er up thanks to the help of a tech-savvy friend and retrieve my files, but I needed Photoshop and Illustrator and the rest of the Adobe suite! So I've got a new baby, who I've named Louie. I don't know why naming laptops is a thing for me but since musicians name their guitars, why can't an illustrator name her creation hardware?

Speaking of illustration, I have one final assignment that I was quite proud of that I'd like to share with you all!

We had to design a print Ad for the "Get a Load of Milk" Campaign. Mind you this was just an exercise for class, so I've blurred out the logo for posting it online. I'm trying to break away from my usual use of solid, uniform black linework and experiment with other alternatives. I quite like the result if I do say so myself!

Anyway, for now I am off to study for my Graphic Design History exam, and then off to work! Just thought I'd pop in and let you all know what was up.

Have a good week everyone!

xo

A Kick of Inspiration

Because winter is lingering, 

Because transitional phases that last too long are frustrating,

and because life has a way of picking feathers off our metaphorical wings one by one until we feel we are falling. Sometimes we just need a little kick in the butt to get us back up again!

1. 25 Things to Do Before you Turn 25

• "5. Recognize freedom as a 5:30 a.m. trip to the diner with a bunch of strangers you’ve just met."

• "11. Learn to say ‘no’ — to yourself. Don’t keep wearing high heels if you hate them; don’t keep smoking if you’re disgusted by the way you smell the morning after; stop wasting entire days on your couch if you’re going to complain about missing the sun."

• "18. Stop hating yourself."

This is such a fabulous list. All I wanted to do after reading it was sing a happy song and go on an adventure into the wilderness at sunset. Except it was 10AM, and a little cold outside for my liking. So instead I turned on some great music and painted my coffee table - something I will share about once it's done!

2. THIS story about the realistically sized mannequin use in a Swedish department store.

I love this. I love that finally people making big business choices - not just women making a personal decision to think differently about body image, are being so great about this. I also love how kindly facebook users seem to have taken to this idea!

3. Almost making it to my fundraising goal for the MS Walk!

My cousin and I are doing the MS Walk this May under the team name 'Maren's Marchers'. My aunt Maren has MS and I have done the walk since I was very little in her honour! It has always sort of been my 'cause' so to speak and I'm so excited to do it again this year! I haven't done it since I was in grade 10 I think, and that's way too long. We almost already made it to our initial team goal so we decided to increase our goal and see what we can get!

Hope you all had a lovely week and have great plans for the weekend! I will probably be working most of the weekend, woop. Oh well! Summer break comes soon and though I will be working and taking one summer course, I hope it will give me more time to relax a bit!

xo