MONOCHROME SUMMER

Even though summer is more than halfway over, and fall clothes are everywhere, I'm still in summer mode because next week I'M GOING ON HOLIDAYS!!!! Nothing crazy, just a trip to Vancouver, three days camping at Cowichan and then celebrating our anniversary (THREE YEARS BABY!!!!) So with summer holidays on my brain, I'm still all about the summer wardrobe...and who said summer has to be all bright and neon?
No thanks I'll take all the monochrome pleeeeease....

1. Grey Dress
2. Striped Bathing Suit
3. Marc Jacobs Bag
4. Essie Nail Polish
5. Sun Glasses
6. Shorts

One of everything please.

Happy Wednesday! You're almost at FRIDAY!

XO,

laura

SOME THOUGHTS ON TUESDAY

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When I was 13 years old I was OBSESSED with James Dean. I had a James Dean calendar, multiple "live fast, die young" decorative license plates, and a framed photo that sat on my dresser (funny story, I don't think I got rid of that until I married James...ha). At that point in life, my biggest dream was to finish high school, go to Fairmount Indiana and marry the winner of the James Dean lookalike contest. I dreamed BIG, I know.

A few years into high school I got over that dream. Instead I focused on the absolute perfect guy for me. He would be cool yet mysterious yet incredibly deep yet so romantic yet wealthy yet so handsome yet brooding yet had the best taste in music yet understood me completely. Oh ya and he would treat me incredibly but sometimes we would have passionate fights but they would all end in passionate kisses in the pouring rain so it was totally okay. I was hoping for a fantasy. I was hoping for the perfect guy. But I was setting myself up for a major loss because THIS GUY DID NOT EXIST. 

The guy that I would fall in love with would be a person and nothing more than a person. He wouldn't fit into all those crazy categories I was aiming for, he would make mistakes, we would fight and it wouldn't always end in a passionate kiss but that would be ok because he was a person who was allowed to be a person, not some high school fantasy.

The other night I saw Paper Towns. I reaaaally enjoyed it and highly recommend it. There was a line at the end that stuck with me. As soon as I heard it, I wrote it down....

What a treacherous thing it is to believe
that a person is more than a person.

Oh man, that hit my core. It got me thinking and reminiscing of all the times when I believed a person to be more than a person. All those times when I idolized someone and then was crushed when they turned out to actually be a person. The main character did the same thing. He thought his crush was a miracle.

The fundamental mistake I had always made—and that she had, in fairness, always led me to make—was this: Margo was not a miracle. She was not an adventure. She was not a fine and precious thing. She was a girl.

I love that. She was not a miracle, not an adventure, not a fine and precious thing....she was a girl....a human being. 

We're human beings, not fantasies....thank God for that.

XO,

s.s.♥︎.

WEEKEND WARRIOR

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And again we've made it to FRIDAY! yaaaaaay. Our weather round here has been up and down. Monday I had a great day at the lake and then Wednesday it was freeeezzzing. Today it's warm but tomorrow they're predicting rain :( But that's okay because I plan to get a lot done around the house this weekend (read- trying not to stay glued on the couch watching netflix...)

Aritzia has their fall collection on their site and it is heavenly.

Even though fall is JUST AROUND THE CORNER...I'm trying to stay in summer mode. I really want a pair of these cut-offs!!! or these ones!! or these ones! 

We're trying to book camping for a couple days in two weeks time and everything is booked!! Please give me your island camping suggestions!!

My sister is a VIB ROUGE at Sephora so I got to tag along for an amazing event on Wednesday night. Make-up heaven. I ended up purchasing this brow liner (in medium brown) and this brow tool. I'm currently obsessed with having great brows after watching Paper Towns. First of all OH M GEEEEE it was soo good (I have a post lined up all about a theme in it!)...and secondly, the main girl's eyebrows....serious brow envy.

And ICYMI I'm seriously eating these muffins errrrrday! And I'm still loving this devotional..so so so much.

Well hope you have an amazing weekend! 

XO,

laura

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SHE READS TRUTH

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I'm a morning person. Always have been, hopefully always will be. I am not a night owl. Wanna watch a movie at 10pm? HA! I'll be asleep in 20 minutes, just you wait.

But let's get something straight....being a morning person doesn't mean I wake up super happy, ready to change the world. I need some time first.

Here's my usual morning routine:
Alarm goes off around 6:30am.
Snooze once (sometimes twice if I'm real tired).
Get up.
Feed Coco.
Turn on espresso machine.
Make americano.
Curl up on my chair or couch.
Spend time with God.

This is my special time. Time to sit, time to think, time to drink coffee, time to read and time to talk to Jesus. This is my sacred time. This time allows me to gather my thoughts and rest in Him before the day before me. I love this time. 

I don't always get this time. Sometimes I sleep too late, sometimes I'm lazy, sometimes I make other plans. But I never regret it when I take the time to meet with God in the morning....never ever.

In this time I usually read some sort of teaching on the Bible (& the Bible of course). For the past number of years I've been reading Jesus Calling. I absolutely love it. I also do Bible reading plans through the Bible App. But the other day I decided to check out She Reads Truth and YOU GUYS...I love it.

I know SRT has been around for awhile but I just downloaded the app yesterday and I'm hooked! SRT is all about helping women connect with Jesus through His Word. They have a daily devotional that you can sign up for through email but they also have an app. I loooove the app. There's a ton of different plans that you can download for free and also ones you can buy. You can also go on their website and past devotionals for free too.

I purchased the women in the word plan and I'm loving it! The plan includes Bible readings and a devotional. 

They have a lot of other features as well and I just got an email today that they are launching a site for dudes! He Reads Truth !! Check it out if you're a boy reader or if you have a man in your life.

Oh and they also have a ton of cute lock screens....

Pretty sweet hey? I woke up this morning pumped for my morning coffee and excited to dive into my reading plan. If you haven't checked out She Reads Truth yet, I highly recommend it!!! 

Do you have any devotionals that you love? I'd love to know! Please let me know in the comments below.

XO,

s.s.♥︎.

QUICK + SKINNY BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

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Happy August everyone! Today is a holiday for all of us in beautiful British Columbia. Mondays are my usual day off so it's no big deal for me aside from a day in lieu for my vaycay in two weeks (hurrrah!) 

This August I want to get back on the healthy train...and for me that means cutting out sweets (insert crying face emoji)....except for my anniversary and birthday because no sweets on those days would be plain torturous! We're planning on doing a juice cleanse for a couple days (any suggestions anyone!!?? We have a juicer!) but mainly I'm just going to try to make wise health decisions (low carb, high protein, greens, greens, greens and no sweets!) And maybe once in awhile I'll indulge in one of these muffins...?

You guys...I make these muffins all the time. They take 30 minutes max and are so good and aren't crazy bad for you! I usually make a batch and then freeze half of them. They make a great snack or a super quick breakfast!

QUICK + SKINNY BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

makes approx 24 muffins (I made 26 very large muffins from this batch because I have odd size muffin tins!)

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (whole wheat pastry or white flour)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 very ripe med-large bananas
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tbsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips 

Directions

1. reheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray muffin tins with non stick cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl flour, baking soda and salt.
4. In a blender, mix bananas, honey, vanilla, oil, eggs and yogurt until well combined.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix until well combined then fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Pour the batter into the muffin tins and then bake for 25 minutes. They're ready when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean!
7. Let muffins cool in tins for a few minutes and then place on wire rack.
8. Enjoy!!

Recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen

Hope you all have a great Monday!

xo,

s.s.♥︎.