I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I definitely came out on top after yesterday’s April Fool’s shenanigans. Five pranks pulled without falling victim to a single one. Win. The best one was probably the prank that I pulled on my mom…
Approximately 10 seconds after I sent that text, I got a phone call from a very panicked mother asking me what happened. I kept up the act for a while before becoming a little concerned that I might cause her to have a heart attack or something. Either Mom is far too gullible, or I deserve an Oscar for my performance. I’d say April is off to a pretty good start indeed. That being said, we’ve got another month under our belts which means it’s time for another monthly favorites post!
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. food .
I seriously lucked out on the food front in March and came across two new-to-me products that I became instantly obsessed with. First up, Barefruit Apple Chips…
Guys… As if my applesauce addiction didn’t have me eating enough of them, I now get to add to my daily apple count thanks to these wonderfully delicious chips of joy. What I love most about them is that they’re crispy the way chips should be (not spongey the way dried apples can be), and the only ingredients are apples and cinnamon. No sugars. No preservatives. No nonsense. Love it.
Next up is Oikos’ Coconut Greek Yogurt, aka Heaven in a 100g Container…
I’m super picky when it comes to flavored yogurts because most of the time I find them to be way too artificial tasting, but Oikos definitely got it right with this one. It’s subtle enough not to be overpowering, with the perfect amount of sweetness and coconut flavor. Combined with the aforementioned apple chips? Divine. And don’t even get me started on how good it tastes when paired with applesauce. There are no words.
This next one is a bit of an oddball because it’s not a food per say, but it doesn’t really fit anywhere else so I’m just going to lump it in here. What am I talking about? Genuine Health Greens+ multi+.
Say what? Hear me out. From the site:
For 20 years greens+ has stood the test of time as Canada’s favorite green food supplement, providing consumers with improved health, energy and vitality, as well as nourishing the body with protective antioxidants and detoxifying ingredients. Just one scoop provides a full serving of greens+ that’s rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants, PLUS the convenience of a superior quality, high potency and food-based multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.
Essentially, it’s a green food supplement and multivitamin all in one. You take one scoop a day in water/juice/smoothie/paste/whatever form, and it provides you with a good dose of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and probiotics.
My mom is actually the one who got me into taking this, so I have to send a huge kudos out to her because this stuff is… wow. Amazing. I’m not normally one to buy in to the claims of green/voodoo powders since I tried so many of them in the past only to be underwhelmed by the results, but this.stuff.works. I’ve been taking it daily since the end of February and not only have I noticed a huge difference in my hair, skin and nails, but my energy has gone way up and, surprisingly and unexpectedly enough, my stomach has been reaping all sorts of benefits as well. I don’t want to go all TMI on you guys, but yeah… let’s just say that things finally feel like they’re working as intended 😉 Smitten.
And last but not least, although it’s long gone and my heart aches because I can’t buy it anywhere around here, I have to send an honorable mention out to Cascadian Farm Cinnamon Crunch cereal…
I picked up a box while I was in Hawaii, hoping that it would be a slightly healthier version of my beloved Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and was pleasantly surprised. But all good things must come to an end, and it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all? Just trying to make myself feel better here…
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. beauty .
Winter was rough this year – cold and seemingly never-ending. In an effort to make myself feel better, I spent a good part of March trying to feel more ‘springy’ by painting my nails with pretty smile-inducing colors.
Essie’s Tart Deco – Turquoise & Caicos – Lilacism – Off the Shoulder – Fiji
It worked. Kind of. But to be honest, I spent most of March trying to minimize winter’s nasty effects on my skin and hair. On the hair front, I’ve been swearing by the Deep Repair Masque by Macademia Hair…
I mentioned this stuff in my post about healing malnourished hair, and while I’ve been using it regularly for about a year now, I find myself relying on it a lot more in the winter. It’s an argan oil based heavy-duty conditioner that penetrates deeper into damaged hair to help rebuild and moisturize, leaving it feeling softer and healthier. Definitely a must in my hair care routine.
In last month’s favorites post, I professed my love for MAC’s Fix+ makeup setting spray, and this month I’m admitting infidelity and professing my newfound love for Urban Decay’s All Nighter makeup setting spray.
After running out of Fix+ and hearing so many good things about the UD spray, I decided to pick it up and see what all the fuss was about. I definitely see, and I have to admit that I’m probably a convert. What I do is apply my liquid makeup first (BB Cream/foundation/concealer), give my face a spray, wait for it to dry, apply my powder makeup (powder/blush/bronzer/highlight), and give my face another spray. Hello all day makeup with no powdery/dry look to speak of. Love it.
But what goes on must come off, and for that I turn to these Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes.
I have pretty sensitive skin that doesn’t respond well to harsh skin care products. Simple wipes are oil, alcohol, dye, perfume, and irritant free and do a great job at removing my makeup without making my face feel raw – just clean and moisturized. I use these every night as part of my nightly skincare routine, and I have a feeling they’ll be a part of it for quite some time.
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. book .
March’s book of the month is a little different. Rather than giving up something for Lent this year, I decided that I’d rather focus on doing something more. That didn’t mean that I wanted to eat more chocolate or drink more coffee, but rather work on spending more time strengthening my faith and relationship with God. Enter Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.
I first heard about this devotional from Lindsay, who recommended it to me after I asked her where some of the readings that she often posted were from, and I’m so glad that I picked up a copy for myself. I’ve been reading the daily entry and then spending a little bit of time each day, either in the morning or at night, meditating/journaling about my reaction/thoughts/feelings to it. There have been so many times where the words were exactly what I needed to hear, and the way it’s written makes it feel like Jesus is actually speaking to you, creating a greater sense of intimacy and closeness. I know I don’t spend a lot of time talking about religion and faith, but yeah… this has just been too big of a blessing in my life for me not to share.
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. blog .
Starting this month, I decided to add a little blog recap to the end of my monthly favorites posts, just as a way to look back and remember some of my favorite blog-worthy moments and memories from the past month… especially because I have a tendency to forget a lot of the things that happened to me over the past 30/31 days 😯
- Obviously, the best part of March was my vacation to Hawaii. The post-vacation blues were no fun, but can you blame me for feeling a little down after experiencing the beauty of places like Diamond Head and Manoa Falls and then having to come back home to grubby old Edmonton?
- In an effort to make myself feel a better, I did a little baking therapy and shared a recipe for Blueberry Banana Breakfast Muffins before deciding that the only way to cure the post-vacation blues was to take another vacation. Enter a weekend snowboarding trip to the mountains.
- Feeling refreshed, I came back and advocated living a life without numbers, before opening up about the girl I used to be in the depths of my eating disorder, and contrasting that with the girl I am now.
Overall, March was a pretty epic month. Here’s hoping that April will follow suit!
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Was that post epically long or what? Oops… 😳
Canadians: What are some products you see on blogs that you wish we could get here?
What’s something awesome that happened in March?
AND!! SOS! My mom’s birthday is coming up in a couple of days… any suggestions on what I can get her?!
My mom would have done the exact same thing! She worries way too much, I have had to start withholding information from her that I know she will take the wrong way. I reeeallly need to try that yogurt. I love coconut anything, but Oikos is hard to find sometimes.
As for what to get your mom… I really like getting my mum fun kitchen things. Decorative bowls, a pampered chef chopper and nice S&P shakers are a few of the things I have given her in the past. I also gave her a DVD boxed set of oscar best picture-winning musicals for Christmas. I don’t know if your mum is into musicals, but they have set of best picture films of other genres too.
My dad buys that Cascadian Farm Cinnamon Crunch cereal…ahhh it’s SO good. It tastes even better than Cinnamon Toast Crunch in my opinion. And I’m obsessed with all your nail polish!
I stay away from liquid foundation as much as possible… I just feel like no matter how light and silky it can be, it still must be terrible for your skin to clog your pores like that all day. So I go for a tinted moisturizer if I feel like I need to cover up — most days though, blush is all it takes because a healthy glow looks best! But I’ve never heard of that makeup setting spray… I’m intrigued.
I love shopping for my mom! Well, I love shopping for any female. It’s the brother and the father in my family that I hate shopping for because I never know what to get! If your mom is anything like mine, she’ll love flowers. I always try to find either a cute necklace or something she can have in the house like an angel figurine (Jim Shore does amazing stuff!).
GREAT post! I need to try that yogurt. And those Simple wipes are great!
Fabulous post. I am going to seek out that book. Thank you!
And can you expand on the taste of the greens powder? I want to love those green powders, I do, but I have never gotten past the taste. Blech.
I really like the vanilla flavor – it’s sweet and doesn’t taste green or vitaminy at all. I actually find that it tastes better the less water you add to it, so sometimes I end up making more of a paste than a drink, but it adds a nice sweet flavor when you put it into smoothies. I dislike a lot of the green powders as well, but this one tastes really good 🙂
I LOVE that devotional book, I’ve seen it all over Lindsay’s IG and never knew what it was!! I will have to find myself a copy! Thank you for sharing!! Also, that April Fools joke..epic. I did not have ANY pulled on me, and I boringly didn’t pull any either haha. I MUST try this green powder, I am a sucker for green and green powders. I just love em!
April 1st scares the crap out of me to be honest – it was the day everyone at school took as an opportunity to do something extra-horrible to me and usually they got away with it under the guise of it being an April Fool. So I’m jumpy as Hell every April 1st.
The UK is even worse than Canada for cool food products – we literally have perhaps 1/4 of the decent vegan products available in the USA. I mean, fine if you want to pay ridiculous amounts for shipping, but I don’t have a money tree in the back garden!
Happy Birthday to your Mum in advance 🙂
xxx
This post was epically fabulous, not long 🙂 Great list of favorites!
Gift for your mom… does she collect anything? That’s always a good gift, to add to a collection.
I LOVE your beauty reviews 🙂 I used to use the FX Mac setting spray but will try the Urban decay (huge fan of the 24/7 eyeliner) when I run out. I love the new Essie colors I had to stop myself from buying them all, I usually have my friends buy them and we just share nail polishes so we aren’t splurging on the entire collection. Hope your month rocks 🙂 Love + Shine CourtStar
That’s actually a great idea… I don’t think I’ve ever made it through an entire bottle of nail polish, so sharing them between friends would definitely save quite a bit of cash.
COCONUT GREEK YOGURT?! What CAVE have I been living in?!?! I must find this ASAP!
I’m also going to check out that devotional book – it looks good!
I need to find those apple chips. It’s getting so difficult to think of gift ideas for birthdays, christmas etc…last Christmas my grandparents and my mom/his mom got “pampering in a jar” – I filled mason jars with gourmet soaps, scrubs, nail polishes (that kinda stuff) and a spa gift card!
Nice job on the April Fools joke! 😉
And don’t you just love the Cinnamon Crunch cereal? I used to LOVE Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I feel much better about eating this organic, healthier version. I seriously think it tastes the same, too! It is definitely shout-out worthy on your blog :).
I LOVED your posts this month lady. Seriously. Your honesty is much needed.
You always tease me with your beauty faves and I need to stock up on nail polish – you seem like an Essie fanatic – what’s your all time fave color (or you can pick 3 😉 ) I wanna invest 😛
Mucho Love! Happy APRIL!
Favorite Essie color? Eep! That’s kind of a tough one. Alrighty. I’m going to go with Off the Shoulder (hot pink), Fiji (opaque baby pink), and Sugar Daddy (subtle natural pink).
This is such a fun post! Those apple chips look great!!!! And I need to get that hair stuff.
I looove Jesus Calling! It lifts me up every single morning.
That hair stuff looks awesome too- I’ll have to check it out!
Love everything about this post! Those essie colors are so fun, perfect for spring! I’m still on the search for coconut oikos. That cinnamon cereal looks great too. I am cereal obsessed and still on the search for a great gluten free one!
That is absolutely hilarious. I should have pulled a prank on my mom since she is so gullible, but I didn’t. Those apple chips have my name written allll over them!!
I completely agree about both of those new products! I tried both this month too and loved them.
March was definitely marvelous to you – I may have been down in the Caribbean in January but Hawaii sounds awfully nice right about now… The winter blues have definitely put me in a funk and I’m more than ready for spring to spring itself 😛
I’d love a greater variety of gluten-free products! A bunch of american bloggers I follow post about all these great GF breads, English muffins and bagels, whereas the only one’s I’ve had an opportunity to try here have been sub-par at best.
I totally need to try that coconut Oikos – I’ve never been a huge fan of coconut per se, but I’m thinking I might actually love this. Also on my to-make list (most definitely inspired by you!): homemade apple sauce! I have a craving like none other now.. 🙂
It’s probably one of the things that I crave more than anything else, but be careful! It’s kind of crazy addicting.
I LOVE the Simple face wipes. I bought them the other day and they are the perfect lazy girl’s solution to face washing. Love them. You and my little sister would get along quite well based on your Essie collection. I wish I was patient enough to actually let my nails dry after I paint them…
Yayy for monthly favorites! I was victim of about a million pranks yesterday. On Kath Eat’s prank where she put sardines on oatmeal, I totally commented “thanks for the inspiration!” Embarrassing haha. I love that macadamia oil by the way. Have a lovely day!
Yes … love that devotional and get so happy every time I learn someone else has found it. She has two more and I recommend those, too. (0:
I love the spring nail colors. They remind me of cotton candy colors. One thing I’ve been seeing alot of lately is liquid vanilla stevia drops. I would love to make an at home version of my favorite vanilla latte from Starbucks. Must go searching for this product…
Woo go you not getting caught out on any April Fools…I thankfully didn’t either..although my dad tried to play one on me by texting me pretending my local gym had had a fire and was shut.!! Luckily didn’t happen and I didn’t fall for it hehe :P.
Those apple cinnamon chips look amazinggg! And that Coconut Oikos..wow. Bet it tastes like heaven on that applesauce!
It depends what sorta stuff your mum likes but I made a hamper for my mum one year full of all her favourite little bits n bobs so nice bits of food, perfume, beauty stuff etc and then wrapped it all up a la hamper style..she loved it 🙂
That’s a really great idea! I was actually thinking of something along those lines – it’s just coming up with what to put in it that has been giving me some trouble.
In highschool, I showed up to practice on crutches. My coach had a very concerned look on his face, and I told him I tore my ACL over the week playing soccer with some buddies. You should have seen his face!! He literally stumbled and blubbered through a sentence about being more careful and then I dropped the crutches and jumped on him to give him a hug. PRICELESS!! All my teammates were cracking up. So freaking hilarious 🙂
Ahhh my mum’s is coming up too! I think I’m doing a mother/daughter mani/pedi date. As far as something awesome in march…i suppose joe coming home for good and running my first half were pretty good 😉
ahh you should buy the regular cinnamon toast crunch! i guess that’s a bit hypocritical of me as i haven’t like, ever probably (when i was little we weren’t allowed “sugary” cereals but i’d sometimes get them as a treat for birthday sleepovers…yet my best friend always had huge costco-like box so i’d have it every morning when i stayed there 😉 ) BUT…i don’t think it’s too bad now, they recently made them whole grain i think lol. yet my taste buds have sort of changed and it might be too sweet now—is the cascadian one less sweet? i spend a long time talking about cereal :/ so yea this post isn’t too long, maybe it’s because i normally write the longest comments on people’s blogs :O anyway…hm oh well for things we don’t get here…just certain bars i like, lots of flavours aren’t here (like larabars/lunabars and we don’t get purebars which i like), and i guess certain brands of things. otherwise i don’t think it’s too bad. there are great things about canada, and alot of benefits that other countries don’t have, in my opinion ;P anyway, hope you have an amazing april xox
Aside from the cold weather around these parts, I love being Canadian 🙂 We do have a pretty good selection of products, and it seems to be getting a lot better – I remember a few years back it was super hard to find Greek yogurt in stores, and now it’s everywhere.
As for the Cascadian cereal, I’d say it’s a little bit less sweet than CTC, but it also has this suble mediciny aftertaste because of the added vitamins.
Wow, I didn’t think you’d be a girl playing such a mean trick on your mum ;). Unfortunately, April Fool’s day passes by like any other in my family and around my friends so I didn’t even fall for one. Okay, maybe I should consider that lucky but I should have thought of pranking somebody else.
One of my favourite moments/days in March was actually Easter weekend because I spent a great time at my parents’ – including a Disney movie and cake on a full-on rest day (!). Listening to my body felt good.
You have me thinking that I need to try that greens powder…probiotics didn’t help a hell of a lot for me and digestive enzymes are working ok, so I’m still trying to find my miracle digestive cure.
So many pretty Essie colours! I’m still loving my Turquoise & Caicos.
And I want the massive cereal selection that they get in the states…and Chobani. Two things I always come back with when I go to the States.
Winter is wrecking absolute havoc on my skin right now. Especially on my face – so.dry.
I really wish I was more religious because I believe if I had something to read and believe in it would just kind of calm my mind. You can’t really make yourself be religious though which is the downfall. Oof. I’m a terrible Catholic. My face is super sensitive, too, and I use Cetaphil because all other products seem to have some sort of side effect on my face from pimples to black heads to flaky skin. Ew.
If your mom is a massage/spa kind of person, you could get a mother/daughter package deal so the two of you could spend a day together 🙂 They’re a bit pricey but definitely worth it. Otherwise, I would opt for something to do with mother daughter time because, really, it’s the best gift.
Yeah the faith thing is a little tricky, and I even find myself struggling sometimes 😕 But I find that the more time I spend reading things like that devotional, the easier it becomes.
hahaha omg that prank on your Mom lol she must have been freaking out! The guy where I work got us good yesterday– pretended he fell and hurt himself lol then started laughing when we came to his aid lol I’m in loooove with Essie’s new color line.. I’m hoping to see them at my Ulta soon 😀 And I’ve totally seen that cereal at the store! Never thought to try it.. maybe I should :p
It’s great if you liked Cinnamon Toast Crunch! The only thing I noticed about it was that it had this strange, subtle mediciny taste because of the added vitamins, but it wasn’t really that noticeable.
Congrats on your successful April Fools’ Day ;). I want that Oikos yogurt so badly. It looks like pudding!
Gosh, I am SO jealous on that Oikos Yogurt!! It looks so good an I bet it tastes just as!! My March highlight was definitely the trip to Berlin, it was wonderful! Speaking of Mom, here are my ideas and things I use to give to my Mom:
Wellness Voucher (to enjoy together) – same with movies, a dinner out, or a hiking day….
A self baked Birthday Cake (my Mom freaks out about home made stuff)
An evening you cook for her
Gift Voucher of her favorite Beauty Shop or Book Shop
Have a lovely day girl!
The sad part for me is that I did slip and fall and proceed to break my arm on ice so I couldn’t pull that one off very well LOL. Glad to hear that you came out on top though as far as April Fools jokes went. 🙂
The apple chips look really good. I’ve recently seen the Oiko’s new greek yogurts which I cannot wait to try.
I like the spring colored nail polish. I’m currently trying to find some pretty colors for my nails. I believe I said I was going to buy the pink you posted either yesterday or the day before…I still plan too at Target when I go this weekend.
!!! You seriously broke your arm? Nooo… See, now I’m all paranoid that someone is trying to play jokes on me, but… you’re okay, right? 😯
Lol-it happened last winter. It healed and I’m okay now 🙂
Epic indeed, my friend. 🙂 Pretty nail colors, BTW.
You’re the second person to recommend that devotional book. Perhaps I need to track down a copy!
Twins, I just did my monthly favorites today too:)
Haha I love the prank you pulled, I didn’t do anything too daring for pranks, I’m always paranoid people will play tricks on me though.
Your polish colors are the best! I had to travel to Nanaimo to find cute ones, for some reason Victoria gets the worst color options, I swear it’s weird.
I do like the OPI polishes though, they don’t seem to chip as much for me, but Essie colors are too cute.
Macadamia oil is a life savor…between that and argan oil they are both amazing.
I love that makeup setting spray too! Okay, let’s just say I like everything in your favorite 🙂
I like the OPI ones a lot better in terms of lasting power as well, but sometimes the colors that Essie comes out with just win me over.
Haha you must be quite the prankster! I made it through the whole day without falling for any and then I got a text late last night from a friend who got me really good. Oh well, win some lose some. I did almost convince my coach that our entire team was quitting track. Just kidding, he didn’t believe me. I’m not a very good liar.
Hahah Great prank on your momma :-)! A friend & I got another one of our friends so good with a fake email account- I don’t think we’ve cried so hard from laughter before! I absolutely love those polish colors- they’re so fun! What about a spa voucher for your mom? Spas are one of those indulgences which seem overly expensive to justify purchasing, which makes receiving a voucher so much more pleasant! And of course a hefty stash of chocolate would probably go down well :-)!
I was thinking about a spa voucher! I’ve asked her if she’d like one a few years in the past, and she always said she wasn’t really into that kind of thing, but I’m pretty sure that’s only because she has no idea what she’s missing out on. I mean, who doesn’t like to be pampered?!
LOVE the Jesus Calling book, it’s such a great way to set the tone for the day 🙂
Also, I’m not sure there is an ESSSIE color that I don’t like. <3