Good morning and happy Monday!
Monday, 30 April 2018
Wednesday, 25 April 2018
An Update on my Congenital Heart Disease
I was hesitant whether or not I wanted
to write this post. I love reading personal posts so I thought that I would
write my own.
Monday, 23 April 2018
Friday, 20 April 2018
The Ultimate Mother's Day Gift Guide
Mother’s Day is approaching faster than I honestly expected.
It’s only three weeks away! Today I’m sharing over 30 adorable gift ideas for
different budgets.
Mother’s Day and my mom’s birthdays are only two weeks apart
from each other. I always end up getting her a bigger gift that goes for both
celebrations. For the past two years, I’ve taken her on a wine tour. However,
this year I’ve switched it up but since she reads my posts, I can’t share what
I got her.
‘Mom’ mug // Bose SoundLink Micro Bluetooth Speaker //
UGG Luci Bow Sneaker Mule // J. Crew Gingham Pajama Set // Serene Home Supernova Electric Aromatherapy
Diffuser // Philosophy Amazing Grace
Small Set // Kendra Scott Elaina
Bracelet // BP. Maddy Mule (25%
off right now, too!) // Voluspa Roses
Candle Set // American Alter Daphne
Set of 4 Stemless Wine Glasses // MAC
Lip Duo // Fresh Sugar Kisses Lip Kit
// sugarfina
Champagne Bears Large Candy Cube // Fitbit
Versa Smart Watch // Recover Gemstone
iPhone 6/7/8 & 6/7/8 Plus Case // Mantrabrand
‘I Love You to the Moon and Back’ Cuff
Nordstrom Makes
Chocolate Milk Chocolate Almond Toffee // Anastasia Beverly Hills Mini Matte Lipstick
Set // Kendra Scott Birthstone Pendant
Necklace // Kate Spade New York
Glitter 16-ounce Glass Water Bottle // Fresh
Sugar Lemon Bath Cubes // Aromatherapy
Associates Essential Bath & Shower Oil Trio // Papinelle Jersey Robe // Google Home Voice Activated Speaker // Picnic Time Gardener Seat & Tools // Cathy’s Concepts Monogram Acacia Wood Cheese
Board // Picnic Time Duet Wine Tote
// Levtex Mom So Hard Set of 2 Dishtowels
Thursday, 19 April 2018
Songs I Love The Most
As much as I love discovering music, I have a soft spot for
older music too. Especially from the ‘90s. Half the time you can find me
singing Nirvana, The Cranberries and Foo Fighters at the top of my lungs in my
car. For whatever reason, people almost always assume I listen to mainstream
pop or country. There are the odd mainstream songs and country songs that I do
enjoy listening to. I usually pick one mainstream song. Right now, it’s
Delicate by Taylor Swift. No idea why though. Before Delicate, it was Tell Me
You Love Me by Demi Lovato. They’re almost guilty pleasures to me.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that most people have songs
that they will always turn up and pretend they’re singing it at a concert. For
me, those songs will always be Zombie, Seven Nation Army and Carry On Wayward
Son. I could honestly make a playlist just containing those three songs and
just listen to them repeatedly. Both of the newer songs that I sing along to aren’t
actually included on the list. They’re Humble by Kendrick Lamar and Lay It On Me by Vance Joy.
I did forget some songs that I wanted to include, mainly
because I ran out of space! Other songs that should have made the list (beyond
Humble and Lay It On Me) are:
Question for my readers: what’s your “car karaoke” song?
Let me know in the comments!
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Current Madewell Favourites!
On Monday’s links + loves, I shared how
much I’m loving Madewell’s newest
arrivals at Nordstrom. As a stripe lover, I’m loving the amount of stripes that
Madewell always has in stock. The day I win the lottery, I will definitely be
purchasing everything in the store.
Monday, 16 April 2018
links + loves
Happy Monday! I
changed up my links + loves style last week by making it more article-friendly
and less product-friendly and I received lots
of positive feedback from it! Therefore, from this point on, that’s what my
links + loves will be about.
Sunday, 15 April 2018
Seven Books to Read (before they become movies!)
I love reading books
before the movie comes outs. Nine times out of ten, I find the book
better than the movie.
I’ve only read one of
these seven books, The Rosie Project. Which was honestly one of the best books
I’ve ever read. Although I typically stick to thrillers, it was just so sweet
and fun. With that being said, these books are all on my to-read list.
“Jodi, a dedicated
wife who, despite her husband Todd’s frequent indiscretions, continues to play
the part with immaculate precision. When confronted with the brutal truth of
him leaving her for a younger woman, Jodi will not accept defeat. Wheat begins
as a tragic dissolution of a marriage quickly spirals into a game of cat and
mouse with calamitous stakes.”
Movie info: A date has not been released yet, however, Nicole Kidman will be playing
Jodi.
“Bernadette hates
people, she hates leaving the house and more than anything, she hates the other
parents at her daughter’s school. But when Bee’s mother disappears, it’s her
mission to find out where she is and what really happened to her.”
Movie info: The film adaption is set to be released on October 19, 2018. There’s
many well-known actors and actresses in this film. Cate Blanchett is playing
Bernadette Fox. The film also features Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer,
Laurence Fishburne, Troian Bellisario and James Urbaniak.
“At first glance the
28-year-old Ani appears to have a perfect life: She works as an editor at a
glamorous women's magazine and has a loving fiancé from a good family. However
Ani also hides a secret - as a teenager she underwent a series of horrifying
and emotionally crippling events, including a school shooting, that have
continued to impact her well into her adult years. As the story progresses Ani
begins to question whether or not she is truly happy with who she has become
and whether or not this life is truly the one she wants and needs.”
Movie info Not much is known, however, Reese Witherspoon will be producing it!
“Sam and Clementine
have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just
started a new dream job, and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the
audition of a lifetime. If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other.
Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends. A single look between
them can convey an entire conversation. But theirs is a complicated
relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue
with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate. Having
Tiffany and Vid’s larger than life personalities there will be a welcome
respite. Two months later, it won’t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can’t
stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn’t gone?”
Movie info: I think everyone under the sun knows about Big Little Lies. Good news:
Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon will also be in the film adaption of Liane
Moriarty’s book!
“Garrard, the son of a
Baptist pastor in a small American town, is outed to his parents as gay at the
age of 19. Garrard is quickly pressured into attending a gay conversion therapy
program – or else be shunned by his family, friends and church. It is within
the program that Garrard comes into conflict with his head therapist.”
Movie info: Boy Erased is set to be released on September 28, 2018. Garrard will be
played by Lucas Hedges and his parents are played by Nicole Kidman and Russell
Crowe.
“Portia Kane is having
a meltdown. After escaping her ritzy Florida life and her cheating pornographer
husband, she finds herself back in South Jersey, a place that remains largely
unchanged from the years of her unhappy youth. Lost and alone, looking for the
goodness she believes still exists in the world, Portia sets off on a quest to
save the one man who always believed in her—and in all of his students: her
beloved high school English teacher, Mr. Vernon, who has retired broken and
alone after a traumatic classroom incident. Will a sassy nun, an ex-heroin
addict, a metalhead little boy, and her hoarder mother help or hurt Portia’s
chances on this quest to resurrect a good man and find renewed hope in the
human race? Love May Fail is a story of the great highs and lows of existence:
the heartache and daring choices it takes to become the person you know (deep
down) you are meant to be.”
Movie info: There isn’t currently a movie release date. However, Emma Stone is set
to play the main character. I do also feel the need to add, Matthew Quick also
wrote Silver Linings Playbook; so I expect it to be as good as it.
“A first-date dud,
socially awkward and overly fond of quick-dry clothes, genetics professor Don
Tillman has given up on love, until a chance encounter gives him an idea. He
will design a questionnaire—a sixteen-page, scientifically researched
questionnaire—to uncover the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a
barmaid, a smoker, a drinker or a late-arriver. Rosie is all these things. She
is also fiery and intelligent, strangely beguiling, and looking for her
biological father a search that a DNA expert might just be able to help her
with.”
Movie info: The movie is set to come out on May 10, 2019. Ryan Reynolds is
reportedly set to play Don. This honestly kind of disappoints me because as I
read the book, I saw Don as someone like Jim Parsons.
P.S. the sequel, The Rosie Effect is fabulous, too.
Friday, 13 April 2018
The Cutest, Most Affordable Spring Wall Art!
Pink Pansies Watercolour // “Hello Spring” Floral #1 // “Hello Spring” Floral #2 // Blue Hydrangea Watercolour // Mother’s Day #1 // Mother’s Day #2 // Abstract Watercolour Flowers // Watercolour Succulents
I honestly love Etsy! That brief one month stint
where Shopstyle got rid of Etsy products was honestly painful for me. I wish I
could just share Etsy products day in, day out! Today I thought that I would
share some gorgeous wall art for spring. Best part, they’re all super affordable.
P.S. does anyone
watch The Voice? I’m usually not a giant fan of the powerful voices on the
show; they remind me too much of screeching. However, I died at Kelsea Johnson
singing Rise Up earlier this week.
Monday, 9 April 2018
15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me
 |
| Circa 2016 with my 60 pound fur baby who thinks he should be carried around like the cats. |
I thought today I would write a fifteen things
you probably didn’t know about me. Switch things up a bit. I was going to do
this for my 25th birthday in two months but will do something else
for it!
I am mildly addicted to naps. Every time I
have a day off, I have an afternoon nap. My grandpa used to be a small engine
mechanic and had his own shop so he used to nap every afternoon. I blame him for my nap addiction.
I was super close with my grandparents on
my mom’s side. They both sat at my bedside whenever I needed a surgery, spoiled
me rotten and spent so much quality time together. My grandma passed away from
cancer in 2009 and my grandpa in 2010 from complications due to dementia. I
don’t think I’ll ever truly get over losing them.
My grandpa built the house that I live in
for my grandma as somewhere for them to start their life and raise their
family. It’s on my great grandparents’ land, but it was zoned off and sold in
the ‘70s. My house is more meaningful to me than I think most people can
imagine.
I created my blog in 2016, originally as
redwineanddanceparties but rebranded in late 2017. I created it because I love
shopping, it’s a serious problem. I don’t always purchase things for myself. I
used to buy basically anything I looked at and loved. I created the blog
because sharing things I love actually deters me from shopping! Strange, I
know. However, it works.
I love older country music. I don’t really
like anything post-2010, it’s too pop for me. Again, I think it’s my grandpa
Roy coming out in me.
Johnny Cash’s version of You Are My
Sunshine is my #1 most played song on iTunes and has been for the last three
years.
If you ever want to see me cry, play The
House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert.
I love both cats and dogs equally. It’s a
running joke that I’m a crazy cat lady because of Oliver and Moose, however, I
do love dogs too. I want two golden retrievers and name them Gus and Cash.
I think one of the most popular things on
my blog over the past few months has become Mater, my border collie! He’s the
most rambunctious dog I have ever met in my life. If he didn’t sleep with me, I
would think that he doesn’t sleep. For sixteen hours a day, it’s constantly
running, playing fetch and chasing the cats around. Him and Oliver have also
become best friends and it’s the cutest thing ever.
One Saturday a month, I drink wine and look
at all the adult cats on Kijiji and Craigslist and cry over the fact people don’t
want these precious angels anymore. I wish I could take them all. P.S. this is one of the many perks of living alone. This is how I can spend my time without someone to judge me.
I’ve never been a giant brand person. I do
love Kate Spade purses and watches, plus my Nike sneakers; but I’m as equally
content with Old Navy and Reitmans products.
I was born with rare, complex congenital
heart disease. I’ve had four open heart surgeries and eight catheterizations.
You can read more about it here.
I love superhero movies but I can only
watch them once. After I’ve seen the suspense and know what’s going to happen,
the thrill is gone for me. I can re-watch them years later but it isn’t the
same.
I think it’s no secret that I’m single and
am convinced that I’m forever alone. As a result, I have Tinder. Don’t ask why.
I always pick a random question that helps me pick out someone’s true colours.
Then I ask everyone that question for a month as an ice breaker. I think the
best one I ever asked was – “You win the lottery. You get 40 million dollars
but there’s a twist. You must work part time. You’re offered two jobs, a
professional poutine taster or a puppy photographer. Which job do you pick?”
I’m the laziest person when it comes to
getting ready most days. 95% of the time, my hair is its natural curls
(occasionally I’ll straighten my hair three times a week but it almost seems
like too much effort for work). I have a five minute makeup routine perfected,
consisting of filling my eyebrows, concealer and mascara.
Anyways, it’s 1:55 pm as I finish this post and it’s
time for a nap!
Links + Loves
Happy Monday! There’s quite a few amazing
links I’ve stumbled upon this week! This post is perfect to sit down and read
with a cup of coffee.
Saturday, 7 April 2018
Luxury Spring Finds!
Fresh Sugar Lemon Rollerball // Kate Spade New York Hartley Gingham Backpack
// Vince Camuto Frayed One Shoulder
Chambray Dress // Steve Madden Julian
Ankle Strap Wedges // Kate Spade
Scallop Metro Watch // Free People
Sunny Day Dress // Lovers + Friends X
REVOLVE Rebecca Top // Marc Jacobs
Daisy Dream Perfume // Ray Ban Erika
Sunglasses (I love the tortoise
colour!) // Ray Ban Blaze Cats // Kate Spade Stop and Smell the Roses Idiom
Bracelet
I am loving the amount
of spring clothes out! There’s so many cute things that I need in my closet. These are just some of the items on my spring
list!
In other news…
I had full intentions
of doing another Try on Thursday because last week’s was so successful and I
got so much wonderful feedback. However, the story as to why that didn’t happen
is funny though.
On Good Friday, I went
hiking with Mater. Another person came up to me and asked if Mater could play
off his leash. I, of course, said yes. Mater found a tree branch that he was so
happy to show me. Therefore, he ran up to me with it. He happened to hit my
pocket and knocked my phone out of the pocket. My phone landed on the ground
and hit a rock. My camera is now shattered. I keep meaning to take it to get it
fixed but keep forgetting.
Wednesday, 4 April 2018
My April Wish List
Every month, I share
my monthly wish list.
P.S. I’m not usually a Tuesday night TV
watcher, there’s usually nothing for me. However, I’m obsessed with Splitting
Up Together! I just love Jenna Fischer. I’m also loving For the People, it
reminds me of the court version of How to Get Away with Murder.
Although on the more
expensive side, I’m loving this striped
lace up peasant top. I would get so much wear out of this shirt.
This striped pullover from Anthropologie is
absolutely adorable.
Love this open back thermal in grey.
As someone who has a
strong obsession with stripes + showing my back tattoo, I love this v-back sweater from J. Crew.
I would live in
this lightweight maxi cardigan from
Madewell.
I am absolutely
obsessed with these compression
leggings from Old Navy in all three colours.
I shared these gingham shorts on my links + loves
post on Monday but I’m honestly so in love with them. The black and the blush
colours are both so cute.
I’m usually a plain jane but this skirt from Gap is giving me some serious
heart eyes.
I shared these on my $5 000 post last week
but I seriously love these woven mules
from Gap.
I love this striped umbrella from Lands’ End for
rainy spring days!
I hate rain boots, they make me feel too
restricted when they’re knee-high. I love
these Chelsea rain boots by Hunter,
though.
I love this zip top tote bag, the English Saddle is
such a beautiful colour.
I think I may have shared these before, but
I love these cat eye sunglasses.
Monday, 2 April 2018
Links + Loves
Happy
Easter Monday! I’m actually working today but pre-wrote this post so I could
share some wonderful links for you to read with your morning coffee!
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