382: The Sun Made the Drive

This week I had a genius moment. I took my seamless background stand for photoshoots and set it up using only half the width. It’s perfect for video calls, IG Stories backgrounds, or Reels. I have heaps of really nice wrapping paper I can pop to use as backgrounds. Sean and I drove up to the cottage after work and the sun made the drive so beautiful. We’re spending the weekend up north, just the two of us. Looking forward to a nice lazy weekend, running in the woods, and watching the ice melt on the lake.

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Day 376: You Make Me Happy

This week has been good. I’m getting into a workflow and figuring it out as I go. Most days I get up at 7-7:30, go for a run at 8 am, do a short Peloton workout, then get ready to start work at 9:30. If I’m at my desk or working inside the whole day, I like to put on something I’ve not worn in ages and go for a walk. Sometimes it’s just around the neighbourhood, other days it’s a nice long walk with a friend. YOU MAKE ME HAPPY The title of this post ‘you make me happy‘ is also a song also used in my latest video here. When I put on this jacket, it instantly made me smile. Made me think about how my clothes make me happy. So many of them have fond memories of a time or feeling. After spending 90% of 2020 at the cottage, one of the things I was really looking forward to was being home with my stuff. I love playing dress-up or sorting through things I haven’t worn in a while. While the world around us is so different, I find great comfort in the familiar things. Might be my Taurus nature to love home so much. I don’t have many family heirlooms but some of my most treasured things are clothes worn by my parents or anything from nana. Remember the other day when I mentioned Transitional Coat Season? Well, here we are again with another coat! I ordered this one 5+ years ago from one of my fav artists, Valfre in Mexico. It didn’t fit for years but I couldn’t bear to part with it, no matter how many times Sean said “you have too many coats“. Glad to report she fits great now and Valfre is…

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Day 374: Transitional Coat Season

You know the season I mean? That Transitional Coat Season in spring where you can wear all your jackets that only work for temperature between 5-15 degrees celsius. Sean always bugs me about having too many coats and each year in the spring/fall I try to wear as many as I can to justify keeping them all. ? This fur number was a gift from a friend and I’ve had it hanging up all winter waiting for a day when the temp was warm but still not hot. I will deff be wearing it a few more times because I had no idea how great it looks on camera, I LOVE the bright red collar & inside. Today was a great day, peace out!

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Day 372: Social and Culture Manager

Woke up with a killer toothache this morning and took an easy morning for my Advil and CBD to kick in. It was another beautiful day and I am loving the energy I get from this weather! I ended up taking an afternoon nap and felt nice and refreshed when I woke. Went for a nice walk to the grocery store to get supplies for the week. Sean is shooting something up north this week so I’m home by myself, which I don’t mind. ? This week I am starting full-time at Funday Agency and I am so excited! I absolutely love working with this team so it was a natural progression to move from contract to FT. My role is Social & Culture Manager and I’ll be working on Funday initiatives, branding, and merch. This is a new role that was created just for me and I’m really keen to develop the Funday brand. One of the recent tasks my team completed was our first round of Funday supplies including notebooks, note cards, Sharpies, and stickers. They turned out so good. Here’s to a great week! Sending sunshine!

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Day 365: A Year of Cottage Living

Living in the woods for a year will change you. I remember when I started dating Sean and spending time at the cottage, I dreamed of us running away to live in the woods. I’d eat healthily, build a garden, go for long walks, and letting my hair grow out. Today marks one year since we packed up our essential items and moved up to the cottage to wait out the Covid-19 Pandemic. We thought it was a great opportunity to open the cottage a little early and get some jobs done around the property. We had no idea it would last this long. The first few months were filled with online workout classes, dance with Ryan Heffington, and long runs outside through the woods. Over the summer I read a bunch of books, perfected my tan, and safely hung out on the water with cottage friends. In August, I spent a week in the city and it was so nice to walk with friends, sit on patios, or hang in the park. I started a new job in August we both worked from the cottage for most of the fall. I was starting to miss home and good wifi, I wanted to get back to some kind of normal routine. In December, we had our first family Christmas at the cottage complete with a tree, presents, and fireworks. Sean and I spent a nice 7-day stretch at the cottage the week before NYE. We came back to the city on January 1, 2021. Sean spent most of January and February 2021 at the cottage alone or with Emily while she was doing home school. I wanted to spend some time at our house in the city, I missed my stuff, my closet, and the comfort of our space. I…

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Day 364: One Full Pandemic Year

Sometimes it feels like, is anyone out there? You’ve been following my year but how has your year been? How are you doing? I’m here if you want to talk, text, email, or Tweet. It’s me on the other side of your screen. Some days I feel good like I can handle this, I got it, I’m doing good. Other days I melt into the couch in loungewear wondering when the hell this will be over. I binge-watch shows and eat too many snacks. Then go to bed early, in my same clothes, and wake up hoping for a good day. Day 1: Social Distancing was published on March 14, 2020, it’s been one full pandemic year. My biggest accomplishments have been growing my hair out, writing this blog, and surviving. Getting through this has been hard and just making it to Day 364 is an accomplishment, so man people aren’t with us today. Although our old ‘normal’ seems a lifetime away, there are things to look forward to. As vaccines continue to roll out, and stores start to reopen, we’ll get back to some kind of normalcy. Yes, you still have to wear a mask and it might be sometime before we’re all vaccinated, but the days are longer, patios will open, and things will get better. One thing we can all take from this is the joy of slower living, the hygge of having a space that feels cozy. How important it is to have best friends, or how a call from someone can turn your day around. Some of the best times I has this year were long walks with friends or hanging out in the park. I have great memories with our cottage friends and spent lots of time reading on the dock. I’ve talked to…

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Day 363: Counting The Days

Socially distanced. Wearing a mask. Staying home. Staying inside. Working from home. Distanced walks. Banana bread. Zoom meetings. You’re on mute. Loungewear. Self-care. It’s wild to think back to March 13th, 2020. I remember going to the gym in the morning, meeting friends at Drake Commissary for lunch, eating inside. Picking up beers from the brewery, walking home in the sunshine. I went for a walk at magic hour, sat inside at the bar for a pint near our house. The next day my sister came over and we watched Contagion thinking, no way this could happen here. I’m not exactly sure how to ‘celebrate’ one year, it’s not the kind of thing you’d throw a party for. A party is technically illegal these days. I’m gonna keep counting the days until the pandemic is over. Hopefully the end is near but looking at how the vaccinations are rolling out, it might be a while. A couple of friends in Canada got their vaccines this week and I can’t wait to get mine so we can all hang out. I miss seeing friends. events, concerts, yelling in a crowded bar, karaoke, fashion shows, press-previews, or grabbing one last drink at a dive bar. Today we watched The One on Netflix and finished the 8 Episode series. Good show! Sean chopped wood and we had a nice fire, cozied up on the couch. Pretty sure it was only 9 pm when we both fell asleep.

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Day 359: Welcome to Ice Beach

It was so warm today, almost 10 degrees! Sean came into where I was working and said ‘let’s go tanning!’. We sat outside in the Muskoka chairs, in the snow, and soaked up the sun. If you squint a little the ice almost looks like sand. Welcome to Ice Beach! Can you believe we’ve been at the cottage for almost a whole year? This week in 2020 was the last week before everything changed. I have learned so much in the past 12 months, especially about myself. I’m grateful for the experience of being here with Sean, connecting with nature, and learning to appreciate a slow living. I am loving this weather so much. It’s incredible how warmer air and a touch of sun can boost your whole vibe. Feeling more creative this week than I have in a while. This jacket is one of my most treasured vintage finds, I got it at Curries’s Music in Gravenhurst, they have a great section of clothes in the back.

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Day 358: Ice Cold Therapy

Yesterday we had an epic day of outdoor adventure with Pat & Miranda at their cottage. Sean has been really into Wim Hof breathing and cold plunges for the last year. Some benefits of cold therapy are reducing inflammation, swelling, and sore muscles, improved quality of sleep, more focus, and improved immune response. To read up on it, check out wimhofmethod.com. If you can tough it out for a few minutes, you’ll feel AMAZING after. Sean filmed this with a drone and it turned out so good. Watch the video on Instagram here. Pat had to break the ice with an axe before we could go in the ice hole. He went first for about 2 min, then me for about 1.5 and Sean too. The temperature outside was about -6 and the ice water was VERY VERY COLD. Felt so energized after going in the cold water. I’m gonna try and go in our ice bath at the cottage a few more times this week. I find it really helps with arthritis in my arm and sore feet. Here’s to a great week!

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Day 357: Walk On Water

Nice morning walk on the frozen lake. The ice is very thick. Crazy to think we went right across to the other side. Walk on water, baby! I love these smoke bombs, thanks Sean! You can find them at your local fireworks store or here on Amazon. Made a video and posted it on Instagram. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE It’s so quiet and peaceful out on the lake. The shifting ice makes these subsonic sounds that you can feel in your bones. With a shift in temperatures, ice moves, vibrating up and down, kind of like a drum or deep-sounding bass. It’s really cool to feel when you’re walking on it. Sometimes it’s loud and we can hear it from inside the cottage. How great is this jacket?! It’s Sean’s mum’s and has matching hot pink snow pants. I love it! Hi Lorna if you are reading this, miss you!

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