weekly (un)wind: forever young

 

Above from the top: (1) Family time (2) Bestie birthday party celebrations (3) Jeff's sister makes beautiful cakes (and cupcakes) in the Ottawa area! (4) Patio time. Yum!

Jeff left for Vancouver last Monday morning, and it's definitely been a learning curve for me. I'm far from being the perfect housewife! Cooking and cleaning tumble to a more permanent spot at the bottom of the to-do list more often than not. When Jeff left, all of a sudden my shortcomings became a bit more noticeable. Never having lived alone, I'm appreciating some independence to learn to do things for myself. He gets back later this week (5 more days babe!), and we're very excited to have August to catch up and enjoy the rest of the summer.

I had the opportunity to do a 36 hour getaway to Toronto last week to see Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake at the Rogers Center. During the encore, they performed "Forever Young": I was with a girlfriend, sweating and smiling and singing out "forever young/I want to be forever young" and so were 35 000 of my closest friends. I love when you have a moment you know you're going to remember for the rest of your life. That was definitely one of them!

Recently I've learned that no money in the world, no material item, can replace a moment or a memory. Going forward my "fun" money is much better invested in experiences. So much more meaningful!

This past week I've been brainstorming and planning like crazy for a big project I've been working on. I feel like I always have multiple projects on the go, but I love to be busy. Taking a leap of faith is scary, and so is hard work, but I feel ready.

That's my weekly update! I am loving the scorching hot weather and am looking forward to sitting by the pool and spending time with Jeff's nieces and nephew this upcoming weekend.

To give me time to produce a fantastic list, I've decided to include links with my weekly unwind only once a month. Below are my links for July!

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- 5 ways to make some extra money (!)
- A conversation about scrapbooking: also, this unconvential approach to scrapbooking. One of my new favorite hobbies!
-  Passion projects: what are they, and why should you have one?
- What should I read next?
- A roof with a view - Rooftop bars around the world 
- The joy of making physical things
- Adorable summer prints
- Watch the first Instagram video trailer
- Summer recipes: fish taco bowls & lobster and potato salad
- Not sure how I feel about this project yet
- Check out this preview of the new Marc Jacobs beauty collection for Sephora
- Turn any quote into a masterpiece
- This charming short film made my day
- It's hard to resist temptation: an engaging article about willpower 

And this month I'm coveting..

- this adorable necklace
- this popsicle coin purse & these matching earrings
- these cute and colourful tea towels
- my home needs this cheeky doormat

Happy Thursday!