FRIDAY FAVOURITES // AGENDAS

Ok, so today's Friday Favourites is for all your planner type freaks out there. I can call ya a freak, because I'm one of you! I get a rush from opening my agenda and seeing all my little appointments and plans...ha. So when Kate Spade 18-month agendas came out in June, I knew I NEEDED ONE. These ones (except for the red Minnie Mouse one) all started the first week of August and will carry you through until December 2015!

1. Red Minnie Mouse

2. Black & White Stripes

3. Pink & Purple

4. I AM VERY BUSY

5. Gold Polka Dots

Ok, how cute are those!! It's totally ok to buy two agendas right?? ha...total jokes there.

Hope you have a fabulous Friday! Tonight my friend, Kristy and I are hitting up the Food Truck Festival downtown...mmmmmm soo stoked!

xoxo,

s.s.♥︎.

JULY FAVOURITES

Well my friends, August is tomorrow...Summer is almost half over? Normally I would be a little sad (except for the fact that fall is just around the corner!!) BUT I still have many adventures to come in August! Looking back on July, it fleeeeew by. Like really flew by. Wasn't it just Canada Day? 

July treated me well. California, Portland, bonfires, beach days, tanning on my lunch break...yes.

I didn't get to blog as much. It's been super hard for me to stay motivated while the sun is just beckoning me to come outside and play. Fall inspiration is just around the corner, so I'm not too worried. Although, I did manage a handful of posts and here are your favourites from JULY!

1. REDDING UPDATE

My Redding update was the most popular post this month. I guess everyone just wanted to know if In & Out burgers were that good. And yes, they were indeed that good.

 

2. SUMMER RUNNING TIPS

Summer running tips was your second favourite post. I shared some of my summer running tips and asked for yours. I also shared about my decision to not run the marathon this year.

3. ONE WORD JONATHAN

This month Jonathan shared about his one word for 2014. It's a powerful post, so make sure you read it!!

4. ONE PIECE SWIMSUITS

I shared my love for one piece swimsuits. PTL for fashionable one pieces hey? I need one ASAP!

5. FISH TACOS

In June I ate a lot of fish tacos. I needed to find the best ones for you! And I did. In this post I gave you Victoria's finest fish taco joints. They were sooo sooo soooo good. Can't wait to go back (Tacofino & Finest at Sea, I'm coming for you very soon!) I love showing off my beautiful city, so I can't wait to continue this series!

Enjoy your last day of July!

xo,

s.s.♥︎.

SUMMER GOALS UPDATE

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It's almost August friends. And fall clothes are coming. My heart's getting excited (fall is my favourite) BUT I have to hold myself back because it's still summer!!! It feels as though summer is slipping through my fingers but I'm ready to hold on tight...even if I'm already planning my fall baking...ha.

Remember when we wrote about our summer goals? We'll I thought it was about time I'd update you on things. I've actually completed some of them and that's a pretty exhilarating thing for this a-type planner girl!

SUMMER GOALS

• Have at least three bonfires with s'mores and singing. (S'mores on s'mores? Yes please.) We've had two bonfires with s'mores!! (Lassen & James' birthday last Saturday) 
• Finish the Pentateuch course and start and finish a new course. (ROMer, I'm coming for you!) I finished the Pentateuch and am almost half way through Pneumatology!! BOOYAH. 
• Complete the half marathon. (One week today, that will be done!!) DONE LIKE DINNER! I wrote all about it here.
• Complete the gallery wall in the living room. (Oh dear Lord, help me.) Ha, haven't been motivated AT ALL.
• Go on one kayaking adventure. James is working on this one!
• Find a healthy rhythm for this blog. (So excited to learn all about this and be so inspired at Alt next month!) To be honest, this one has been pretty hard, but my goal is to get posts to you 3x per week! I'd love to blog full time but I just can't, I just can't. 
• Learn how to make macarons. I'm thinking this is more of a fall thing...
• Have lots of people over for BBQs. We've had three bbqs since I wrote that post so I'd say we knocked that one outta the park.
• Celebrate 2 YEARS of MARRIAGE!! (Booked already, sooooo excited.) Ohhhh, I'm SOOO EXXXCITED. ;)

I'm actually quite surprised with how much I've checked off that list this summer!

I'm curious, do you make goals for each season? Have you made a summer bucket list? If so, are you checking things off? How do you stay motivated in the summer? ha, sorry for the 20 questions but I'm actually quite interested.

Hope you have a fabulous Wednesday!

xo,

s.s.♥︎.

RUNNING UPDATE + SUMMER RUNNING TIPS

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Like my new running shoes??

It's been awhile since I last updated you on my running progress (here's when I ran my first half marathon!) I had been hoping to update you with the news that I've registered for my first marathon and that training is going amazingly...but sadly that's not happening.

I had the high hopes of running a marathon this fall. I know in my heart that I could do it...but this summer is (thankfully) full of adventures and I know that I wouldn't be able to squeeze those 3.5 hour runs in. With a marathon, you have to train smart or else you're going to hurt yourself. So I decided not to be an idiot and just swallow my pride and not complete a marathon this year... :(

BUT I'm still going to register for the half..and I'm excited to try to beat my time of 2:08 ! I'll get you next time, full marathon.

So when I was in Redding, I managed to run a number of times. Our house was 1km away from a trail that was along the Sacramento River. The trail was pretty nice (nothing compared to what this Vancouver Island girl is used to!!) We had to go pretty early as it got very hot very quickly there.

Here we are super sweaty after our first run in the heat.

It's good to be back running in BC..can I get an amen for fresh air and ocean breezes? But it can still get hot in the sunshine, so I have a few tips for you. (Remember I am NOT an expert, these are only my personal opinions!)

1. STAY HYDRATED

I brought water with me on every run in Redding and I was so thankful! If it's hot, you're going to be sweating A LOT and you need to put that moisture back in you!! (I use something like this to carry my water in.) If you hate bringing a water bottle or a running belt, make sure you run where there are frequent water fountains because no one wants to pass out in the middle of a run...yikes.

2. DRESS APPROPRIATELY

I make this mistake way too often. I think it's chilly outside so I wear capris and a t-shirt and then 1km in, the sun is blasting on me and I'm sooo sweaty. I prefer loose clothing when I run. My go to summer running outfit consists of this tank and these shorts. That tank top was worth every penny. Honestly, it's so loose and free and feels like you don't have anything on, but you do, so it's awesome...ha.

3. PLAN YOUR RUNS IN ADVANCE

I don't know about you, but my summer schedule is quite PACKED. Between beach days and vacations and things happening around town, there isn't a ton of spare time. So scheduling my runs in advance is a must do for me. I like to keep it old school and write my runs down in my agenda but you can download a running plan on Runkeeper and send it to your ical!

So those are my top 3 summer running tips. I'd love to hear your advice on running in the summer time! Let me know in the comment section.

Hope you have a fabulous Monday...today my hunk of burning love turns 25...make sure you wish him a happy birthday!!!  LOVE YOU JAMES xoxo

stay gold,

s.s.♥︎.

SUNDIAL BRIDGE

When I told people I was going down to California for two weeks, they usually responded, "Ohhhh, lucky!!" I would quickly assure them that it wasn't like that. We weren't going to Disneyland, we weren't going to the ocean, we weren't going to a metropolis.

No, we were going to Redding, California.

Northern California. Inland. Population, 90,000.

Now don't get me wrong, Redding has some things going for it...Bethel (OBVS), In & Out Burger (ok, that's enough for me to consider moving..), Water Works Park (check out James & Tim on the Avalanche!!) and Sundial Bridge. 

I discovered Sundial Bridge on one of my long runs. The scenery wasn't mind blowing (I live in Victoria, so I'm pretty spoiled), but I was pretty stoked to run across it! I knew I wanted James to see it, so we went back on our last night there. Beautiful skies & warm evening weather. It was the perfect end to our trip.

The bugs were a little chaotic so we couldn't stay for long but James managed to catch some awesome shots...including Chenoah and I with NO MAKEUP (and sunburnt, ha!). When it started to get dark, the bridge lit up! Pretty cool move Redding, pretty cool move.

It's good to be home. I'm still processing everything that happened there but I'm also throwing myself into everything that's happening here. I'll definitely need to carve out some Jesus time to go over my notes and reflect on all that God did in Redding.

Hope you have a beautiful Wednesday.

xo,

s.s.♥︎.