These Are a Few of My Favourite Things! | May Favourites

No joke guys... I legitimately typed March favourites whilst writing this. WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

Favourites

This month has been so busy between organizing my life being back home and getting into the swing of things work-wise.

Food

1. Barilla Gluten Free Pasta

Having been diagnosed with celiac disease, I have been trying to find gluten free options to try. I have found that a lot of gluten free pastas can be quite starchy and just not really the pasta eating experience I'm used to. I love that this gluten free pasta is a blend of rice and corn flours. I have found, when it comes to gluten free, flour blends make a better product than one chosen flour. Once I discovered Barilla's gluten free pasta, I stopped missing regular flour pastas- it's really no different!

2. Homemade Gluten Free Pizza

When the celiac disease diagnosis came about, the first thing I that crossed my mind was that I needed to find a good pizza recipe. I shared the recipe in a previous blog post so I won't go into detail about it again here. My favourite toppings for my pizza have been bacon, asparagus, broccoli, and sweet corn... yummy!! 

Beauty

3. e.l.f. Liquid Eyeliner

Again, I mentioned this product in a previous blog post so I'm not going to talk about it again. I really love this eyeliner so much! I've never found a liquid eyeliner that I really liked so when I bought this one on a whim my expectations were set quite low. However I absolutely love this product!

Technology/Entertainment
4. Ladies Who Lunch Podcast
I think these two ladies (and their occasional guests) have such amazing thoughts and I love listening to their opinions. They cover some really intense topics and have a beautiful way of discussing the hard parts of life.

5. Grey's Anatomy
There's nothing to say other than I started watching from Season 1... Again...

6. My YouTube Channel

I started daily vlogging and I LOVE it! It would mean the absolute world to me if you all would check it out.

Miscellaneous
7. My Brother's Birthday Cake
Back at the beginning of May, my little brother turned 16! He asked me if I would make him a birthday cake, which I excitedly agreed to. He then expressed to me that he wanted a Minion cake... oh boy haha. I hate to toot my own horn but, this is not a bad job by any means haha. Watching people cut into this cake and eat it broke my heart a little bit to be honest!

8. Lilacs
I'm not a huge fan of flowers, but there's something about lilacs that I absolutely love! They are so beautiful and fragrant. I love walking by lilac bushes and taking a deep breath. Lilacs are the ultimate proof to me that summer is on it's way!

9. This Shirt
Not much to say other than I got it at Urban Planet and I love it!

10. Colouring
I'm sure I mentioned adult colouring books in a favourites post before but I feel like I need to mention them again as May saw a fair few finished colouring pages.

11. Quotes Photos

I tend to find solace in quotes. I think they can change your mood if you let them so I always keep quite a bit of photo quotes saved on my phone. These are just a few of them!

Moments

12. Graduation Photoshoot

I was hired for my first paying, professional photography gig. It was such an amazing experience! The photos turned out amazing too. I'm so happy with how everything went!

13. Boardwalk Stroll

I was reunited with Paul and it felt so good! Paul is one of my best friends. Our life paths seem to be harmonious as he also moved to Ottawa and now back to the Sault. We took a lovely walk at sunset down the boardwalk for about an hour... there were no quiet moments! It's nice to have those friends where you can just pick up where you left off no matter how long it's been.

14. Motorcycle Rides

Dad bought a motorcycle and I'm sure I was just as excited as he was haha. There's something about a motorcycle ride that makes me so happy!! I can't wait for the next one.

15. Swimming at Sunset

This entire day- Papa's birthday party- is a favourite of mine for the month of May. It's so lovely to be home and be able to attend family parties in person- no more Skyping in for this girl! We ended the day by jumping into the freezing cold lake at sunset! What a way to welcome summer!

Goals

1. Strengthen My Faith: mindful meditation 15 min on Sundays

I began meditating this month and I really enjoy the way it makes me feel. I was having trouble controlling my mind and so I downloaded the guided mediation app called Calm. It has made a huge difference in the success of my mediation sessions. I highly recommend it.

2. Love My Body: start running again

Not only do I love running itself, but I also love being outside and finding new and beautiful places. I think running is making a huge difference in my day-to-do happiness and in my self love.

3. Explore New Mediums of Creativity: write something just for me

This was such a therapeutic experience. I actually wrote two things- a personal essay and a poem. 

4. Find More Joy: enjoy being home

I have enjoyed being home to no end! Spending time with the people I love in the place I love has been such an amazing blessing.

5. Have an Open Heart: reconnect

I've been able to spend time with all my favourite people- both friends and family. It's been amazing to reconnect with all the people that I've been away from for so long.

June

1. Strengthen my faith: find a comfortable way to pray

2. Love my body: start building muscle mass

3. Explore new creative mediums: build a photo frame

4. Find more joy: discover a new hobby

5. Have an open heart: recognize the needs of others

All in all, May was an amazing month and it is giving me nothing but positive vibes heading into June.

What have you loved this month? Do let me know!

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Thanks for reading & check back again to see what KatieDidd, xo

Random Thought Thursday | May 28, 2015

May Favs!

As another month draws to a close (where is the time going!?), here I am with another month of favourite things. As the season is changing from winter to spring/summer, I am rediscovering old favourite things as well as finding new favourite things!

Beauty

I am a big fan of Aveeno products and this moisturizer is at the top of the list for best of Aveeno in my books. I've used the daily moisturizing lotion for probably 2 years now and it has never failed to amaze me. What I love most about this one that I found is that it is SPF 15! I was so pleased to find this as I have a really difficult time finding an SPF that I don't mind wearing.

The second beauty related favourite I have is the Revlon nail enamel in 211 Charming. It is a gorgeous pastel lavender colour. I have been wearing it on my nails almost the whole month; it's the perfect colour for this time of year!

Third in the beauty category is the Essence all about nude palette. When I bought this I didn't have high expectations since it was only $4.99, but I really really actually love it! The pigmentation is great, the shadows are blendable, their longevity is great, and the colours are really nice, subtle colours but have enough pop to them to be great spring/summer eye shadows.

The last beauty related favourite I have is The Body Shop flannel. I have used flannels from The Body Shop for probably close to a year now but it is only in the last month that I have really been experiencing their full potential. Using the flannel with my makeup remover instead of a cotton pad has been so much more effective at taking off a face of makeup. I also really love to saturate the flannel with fairly hot water and just lay it on my face in the bath. I feel like I'm at a spa, the flannel doesn't make me feel suffocated like a cotton cloth would, and it opens up my pores really well!

Fashion & Accessories

I have a really hard time finding sunglasses that fit my small and oddly shaped face/head that aren't from the kids section. I found these aviator style sunglasses in Winners and they have become my favourite sunglasses I've ever owned. I think the gold frames with the dark lenses and pink arms are so cute! They're also from a brand called SuperDry which means that even when you're sweating they don't slide around or feel gross like traditional sunglasses do so they've been perfect for my outdoor workouts!

My oldie but goodie Coach cross body bag makes an appearance every summer. I love having a smaller bag that I can just sling over myself for the summer since I'm doing a lot more activities outdoors. It's got a huge pocket on the front and an identical one on the back as well on top of the main zippered pocket so it is able to fit quite a lot in it! This bag is perfect for summer festivals, art shows, parades, fairs etc.

My last fashion & accessories favourite is my mid rise classic jeans from Forever 21. No surprise at all since I've been wearing them as much as I possibly can! They are just the perfect skinny leg blue jean for every outfit and they fit me so well! They're form fitting enough to look feminine and show off my curves, but baggy enough to be casual and not show every nook and cranny of my lower body. I'm definitely repurchasing these jeans in every colour as they are only $9.90!

Random

The first item in the random category is my Kiristin and Company 100% pure soy candle in the scent Best Friends. I got this candle from my best friend last year as a gift and after last summer I put it away as it's definitely not a warm winter scent. It has resurfaced in the month of May and I have been burning it almost non stop! It's an aromatherapy candle with a hard to describe scent. It's almost like the smell of strawberry Kool-Aid powder (which let's be honest, we all love). It's not sickly sweet which I love and the candle guarantees 100+ hours of burning time- can't be beat!

The second random item I've been loving are floral patterned pencils from Michael's. They are so adorably cute and I can't wait to be using these in class in the fall!

Tomatoes had to make the list for me. I know that's a weird item, even for a random category, but I find myself working tomatoes into my diet every day. I've been adding tomatoes to every salad, I've been roasting them for a side with chicken, I've been juicing them, I've been dicing and cooking them with spices for a lighter version of a spaghetti sauce. You name it, I've been trying it. I am on a huge tomato kick!

Lastly, I love the framed paw print we got from the pet crematorium that we took our dog to after her passing. My mom is a vet so she knows the people at the crematorium very well. They were so sweet to not only do this, but to make 3 of them -one for me, one for my brother, and one for my parents. This is the perfect way to memorialize her and to keep a piece of her in our home always. It was such a sweet gesture by my moms friends during this incredibly hard time of grief.

So that is all my favourites for this month! I hope you enjoyed them, do let me know if you love them too or if there are other things I should try for the month of June!

Thanks for reading, xo, Katelyn