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!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyQO4pxwxWbV2clhamroc-g 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katieedidd_/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/katiecakee_

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/katelynmcphee/

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

Everyday Hair Routine & NUME Tools | Product Review

I recently took the plunge and treated myself to a new straightener and curling wand- my goodness what a great decision! I didn't realize how bad my old hair tools were until I got new ones haha. I bought the twenty five millimetre titanium curling wand and the one inch ceramic straightener and I'm obsessed with them both!

This was my hair curled with the wand. I made the curls loose and soft on purpose- using the wand made it so easy to achieve these results. I found the wand super easy to use as well as super quick and efficient. I only had to hold my hair on the wand for about three seconds and the curl was already formed. I set the wand to three hundred seventy degrees Fahrenheit which worked really well for my hair despite how thick it is. With my old wand I'd have to crank it right up to four hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit to get the same curls.

The only gripe I have about this wand is that the temperature adjustment buttons are quite sensitive to touch which makes it really easy to accidentally bring the temperature up or down when using the wand. This definitely isn't enough for me to completely write this wand off- I LOVE IT. It was well worth the investment and I'd recommend it to absolutely anyone!

I tried using the straightener as well to curl my hair (I'm not much for straight hair but I do love the look I get when I curl with a straightener) and the above photo was the results I achieved. The straightener is amazing! I may even like it better than the wand thanks to it's versatility. I feel I can get more looks from the straightener than I can from the wand but I highly recommend both.

The downside to the straightener? I really only found one! That downside being that the temperature adjustment is done by a dial as opposed to a digital adjustment. This makes a precise temperature setting quite difficult. Beside that, the plates are ceramic which is amazing, the hand grip is the perfect size for my hands, and the one inch width is great for my hair length.

Over all I absolutely LOVE the NUME tools that I bought- great purchase for sure. I would highly recommend NUME hair tools if you're looking to upgrade from your current tools or you're in need of new ones!

I also did a video review of the wand if you want to check it out!

Have you tried any NUME tools? What'd you think?

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

A Few Changes & New Adventure | Update

So I've made a few changes here on my blog! I've decided to rename the blog to KatieDidd as well as change my header. This is something I've thought about for quite some time and I've decided that, now that it's a new year, I would take the plunge and rebrand my blog as KatieDidd. What do you think of the new name and header?

I have also made the scary yet exciting decision to start a YouTube channel! I've also been thinking about this for quite some time and this channel is really one of the main driving factors for re-branding this blog; I wanted my channel and blog to go hand in hand but my name wasn't available on YouTube. I'm not sure if YouTube is something I will stick with for the long term, but I'm excited to try my hand at it and see if it's something I will love!

I hope you all will stick by me through this new adventure, and possibly even join me! I would love if you'd check out my YouTube channel as well as give me some feedback about these little blog changes!

Thanks for reading & check back to see what KatieDidd xo.

14. Best of Vlogmas & Blogmas 2015 | Blogmas

One of my favourite parts of the holiday season is how Christmassy everyone on the internet becomes! I love watching vlogmas videos on YouTube and reading blogmas posts on other people's blogs! Today I thought I'd share with you my favourites of this years vlogmas and blogmas so far!

Vlogmas
Tanya Burr
I love Tanya all year round, but something about her Christmas vlogs is so cute to me! She's very festive and her childlike enthusiasm for the season is so infectious. I always have a smile on my face watching her vlogmas videos.

Zoella & MoreZoella
Zoe is really getting into the Christmas spirit by doing daily Christmas themed videos on BOTH her channels! 24 days of Zoella are sit down, pre-recorded videos, where as her second channel is where you'll find her daily vlogs. She's very festive and is great at all things YouTube! I love watching her videos.

Gabriella Lindley
Gabby's so darn cute! She's kind of the Grinch of this festive group as she's not the biggest celebrator of Christmas. That being said she's definitely coming around to it and her vlogs are always guaranteed to give you a smile and a chuckle!

Anna Saccone
I love love love the SacconeJolys channel so when Anna announced she would do vlogmas I was beyond excited! She's definitely one of my all time favourite bloggers/YouTubers so seeing her pop up in my subscription box everyday is such a treat!

Niomi Smart
I think everyone who watches Niomi just loves her! She's not doing daily vlogmas, instead she's doing vlogmas videos three times per week but I still look forward to them just as much! 

Ingrid Nilsen
Ingrid isn't doing vlog style videos for the month, but I included her anyways because her daily DIY videos are something I really look forward to throughout December! I adore her!

Jessica Braun
I've been watching Jessica for ages now- she's fast becoming one of my absolute favourite YouTubers to watch. I've been loving her daily vlogs with her newlywed husband, Tyler. She's got the cutest personality and her spirit is infectious! There's something really wholesome about her that I love.

Samantha Maria
Sammi and Jason are one of my favourite couples that do YouTube (Jason's idea for a channel is the best idea ever am I right?) Their daily vlogs give me such a warm feeling- I love seeing them together!

BLOGMAS
https://desire4beauty.wordpress.com
I've been loving Desire4Beauty's daily Blogmas posts! There's obviously a lot of beauty related Christmas posts but there's lots of other more generic Christmassy posts going up everyday! Been loving reading everyday for sure!

http://www.shannon-mary.blogspot.co.uk
Shannon's unique approach to blogmas has me checking back in everyday! She's writing as if she were doing vlogmas- posting sort of a journal entry everyday about what she got up to in preparation for the holidays. Really enjoying reading her posts everyday as well.

http://lsbyx.blogspot.co.uk
This blog has been another one I've gone back to everyday. The posts are so diverse and written/composed very well. Check this one out as well for sure!

http://cozycomfyhome.com
I'm not sure if Lor is actually calling it 'blogmas', however her Christmas themed posts couldn't go unmentioned in this post. I've been a fan of her blog for quite some time now and her festive posts have been some of my favourites this December!

I hope you enjoyed my best of vlogmas/blogmas list! Please do check out everyone I mentioned and if you have any suggestions for me to check out let me know in a comment!

Thanks for reading, xo, Katelyn