a glass of sunshine...

Every morning I try to make a delicious smoothie as I head out the door. This morning I had a little more time to get creative and mixed up this perfect glass of sunshine... 

Frozen mango & peaches

Freshly squeezed juice of one organic lime

Coconut water

A few mint leaves

A teaspoon or so of organic, unrefined coconut oil

There was no real measurements, just a little of this and a little of that until it tasted right. The lime juice gives it the perfect tartness and the coconut oil adds a little nutritional boost. Yum.

Photo: Instagram

saturday morning...

Sometimes the best of Saturday mornings are the ones spent sleeping in, don't you think? Hope you're all having a lovely weekend...

Photos: Canon S95

wake up with a little lemon...

Goodmorning everyone, welcome to a brand new week!

On the road to developing healthier habits, i've been starting my mornings with warm water and lemon. I think i've mentioned this before on the blog, but I thought it was worth repeating due to all the health benefits. Warm water with lemon first thing after waking helps to stimulate the digestive system and release toxins. It's cleansing, hydrating, and boosts your immune system too, amongst a long list of other benefits.

I was never one for coffee first thing in the morning, instead i'd have black tea with milk and sugar, but I find lemon water is much more satisfying now. I feel good about starting the day off healthier. And if I can get up early enough to enjoy it slowly, like a cup of tea, it makes all the difference! It's recommended that you don't eat for 30 mins afterward, which works out perfect for me by the time I get ready, whip up a smoothie, and head off to work. Of course, each morning isn't perfect if i've overslept or running late, but I try to drink lemon water throughout the day anyway. I swear I drink way more with lemon, than without! Definitely worth trying out for yourself...

*Squeeze half a lemon into a glass of warm water, never boiling. Some people like to add fresh ginger. I also try to get organic lemons when I can.

Photos: My own, digital from Instagram.

catching up on kinfolk...

I love weekends without plans. It's been a cozy one indoors as the weather turned chilly these past couple days. It's still sunny and bright though, with lots of natural light flooding the room. I've finally been able to relax and read a little from the latest Kinfolk! I received the third volume weeks ago, but haven't had any time to look through it, getting too caught up in other to-do's. Now's the time on this lazy sunday, cup of tea in hand...

How's your weekend so far?

Photos: My own, digital from my iPhone

cupcake heaven...

There's no resisting a sugary cupcake from the Cakebox, even when i'm trying to stay healthy these days. Oops. Their cake is amazing though, and frosting, delicious. They have so many flavours to choose from, coconut being my favourite, so when I heard they were moving I had to check it out. There new space is so much bigger and a much better location. Finally, parking! I highly recommend stopping by if you ever find yourself in the Kitchener area. I suppose a sugary treat every once and while is ok, right? lol...

What's your favourite cupcake flavour?

Photos: My own, from Instagram. Cakebox is located at 70 Victoria Street North, in Kitchener, Ontario.

blooming branches...

The weather today is perfection. Literally. It's one of those days where you aren't too warm in a jacket, or too cold in just a sweater. The sky is bright blue, the sun is shining, and there's a light, blowing breeze. Seriously amazing... I had my Yashica out with me today as well, so i'm looking forward to sharing more snippets of Spring!

Also, thank you so much to those who have taken the survey so far! I really appreciate the great feedback. If you haven't taken the survey yet and have a couple of minutes, you can do so here.

Photos: My own, Instagram

a second look...

Sometimes I like to look back at my older photos and see if there's any others that I missed, but might be worth sharing now. A second look months later can bring up things like these two photos. At the time I thought they were too light and blurry in all the wrong places... but now I kind of like them. There's a little mystery in an accidentally blurred shot.

Photos: My own, from film

wedding wednesday {no.19}...

So obviously it's not wednesday (i'm getting really bad at getting these ready for wednesday eh? lol...) but I was too excited to not share some photos of our save the date today! My friend Amanda did such a wonderful job printing them and taking some photos of her own, so I thought i'd just share some of hers here (more on her blog).

I wanted to keep our wedding stationery as simple and elegant as possible. As a graphic designer, it's really, really hard to settle on one design for myself, so I wanted to make sure we had something classic and not too trendy that i'd still love years from now. While wedding stationery may not be as important to some people, it's really exciting for me! (And Rick just pretends it's exciting, lol).

As Amanda started the printing process she messaged me that the lavender colour we picked was proving to be a little difficult to mix, and coming up too red as the ink dried. We ended up meeting in between where we both live, at a highway-side Starbucks, to pick out a new Pantone colour. Lucky we did, as they new colour worked out so much better. I'm so appreciative of Amanda taking the time to mix just the right colour!

I knew I wanted to have a little bit of lavender and a darker, almost black-brown for main copy, but I also wanted to have a little bit of flair, hence the blind emboss of Rick and I's initials. It turned out just how I envisioned it! The blind emboss will flow throughout all the stationery items, hopefully including our thank you notes. Everything is printed on the softest, thick cotton paper from Crane - perfect for letterpress printing, and I hand-cancelled them at the post office so there's no digital codes running across our custom stamps.

I'm so happy with how it all turned out! What do you think? Can't wait to get our invites started... which Amanda will be printing of course!

Photos: Amanda Keenan, Silverplate Press in Toronto, ON

catch up...

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! Mine was a busy one, driving here and there, and enjoying quite the dinner – so much food. I tried to keep things light though, and not overindulge too much. Hard during a holiday right? A few chocolate lindt bunnies might have disappeared from the table ;)

Back to a healthier week though, reading a new book, and relaxing with Miley. Lately she's been obsessed with the blackbirds outside, but hasn't quite grasped the concept that she can't actually get them through the window. Always amusing.

Photo: My own, from film

healthier habits + steel cut oats...

So... this is sort of a long post, you've been warned, lol.

Earlier this year when I participated in the Whole Living Action Plan I felt great. I was eating cleaner, exercising more, and sleeping better, but somewhere around February there was a lot going on and I sort of fell off track. Recently though, I came to the conclusion that those type of healthy habits I learned from the Action Plan should really be a lifestyle change, not just a one-month cleanse.

I've been looking at all my meals now and asking, how can this be more nutritional? Is there something I could add like nuts, seeds, or greens? Or is there something I can take away, like dairy, sugar, salt? Its really helped me get back on track this week with eating healthy, whole foods, and avoiding anything that's not going to do me any good nutrition-wise. I'm exercising and inspired again, and I love that feeling!

Frankly, i've liked the whole topic of holistic nutrition for a while now, and learning about what things I can do to lead a healthier lifestyle has always been interesting to me, it's just a matter of follow-through. I came across two blogs this week, "The Healthy Ginger" and "Hol-Fit" which really helped with the whole motivation and inspiration thing. If your looking for the same, i'd definitely recommend checking these two out. Lots of great information and recipes from these gals!

I've also decided to mix in some Instagram photos with my film shots here on the blog, so I can post a little more often, and also share healthy tidbits or bursts of inspiration on the go. I know what you're thinking... it's the totally opposite of film, lol... but for some odd reason I like my Instagram shots better than using my digital camera right now. Either way, I hope you'll like the mix.

Today I decided it was time to kick the ol' package of instant apple cinnamon (and sugar) oatmeal, and start making steel cut oats for breakfast with real, fresh ingredients. Steel cut oats are way less processed than instant/rolled oats (which is why they take longer to cook), as they include the whole grain groat (the inner portion of the oat kernel) which is cut into pieces. They're rich in B-vitamins, calcium, protein, magnesium, and fiber, and because they're less processed they take longer to digest, helping you feel fuller, longer. There seems to be quite a few ways to make them, including soaking them overnight or cooking them in the crockpot, but today I just cooked them the regular way, adding some simmered, softened apple, almonds for crunch, a teaspoon or two of cinnamon, and a little organic maple syrup to slightly sweeten. Pretty delicious if you ask me!

Hope you all have a happy and healthy weekend... and have a great Easter too!

Photos: My own, using Instagram (@daniellamz)

a bit of spring...

I love all the tulips available during this time of the year. I received the prettiest purple bunch as a birthday gift last week, but they just started to fade away a couple of days ago. Long lasting for tulips I suppose. I'm glad I took these shots when I did, although i'm amazed at how different the colour showed up on film this time around. The bright morning light definitely gave a different glow to the room, and the blooms look more pink than the pastel purple they originally were. Another happy film accident...

Photos: My own, from film