Sick days the worst days. Seriously. I hate being sick! Why is it a thing that has to happen? It could just not happen and everyone would be happier. But alas, here we are. You woke up. You feel gross. You are sick. 🙁

Getting a cold happens to the best of us, but there are ways that you can decrease the duration of your sickness and nurse yourself back to health quickly. What is my favourite trick? A special hot tea made of lemon, ginger, and manuka honey. I love this magic little drink, but the majority of people who I have made this for have hated it. (All weirdos, clearly.) Sometimes you need to do things you don’t necessarily loveeee, in order to get the result that you want! My special tea –> quicker cold recovery time. Science.

Here’s the skinny on how to make my sick day tea:

• Hot water
• About 2” chunk of ginger (the more the better)
• 1/2 a lemon squeezed into water
• 1 tsp manuka/regular honey (this is optional, but good to add if you really aren’t feeling well)

Okay so why should you drink this magical drink?

1) Hydration! Lemon and water provide your body with the electrolytes needed to hydrate your body. (Winning.)

2) Cleansing! Water, lemon, and ginger will stimulate your liver to release it’s toxins.

3) Fight that sickness! Water, lemons, and ginger help fight infections. Lemon has tons of anti-inflammatory properties and helps cure sore throats and other cold/flu symptoms.

4) Water and lemon help aid weight loss! People who have more alkaline diets, have shown to lose weight faster. (This is a bit of a side note, but a happy benefit! Haha)

5) Ginger helps with all sorts of stomach problems. If you have any stomachaches or pains… reach for ginger it is amazing.

6) Honey has natural antibacterial properties. Honey stimulates the production of cells that can repair damage from infection. Hydrogen peroxide is a component of honey, and that is what gives it its antibiotic quality!

So if you are feeling under the weather today (like me) give this tea a try. It is such a comfort to me on days that I’m sick, and it feels good to know I am actively doing something to improve my health even though I am just laying in bed. I always feel better when I am working towards something instead of passively waiting for it to happen haha… Hence I will be downing this tea allll day long.

Hope you guys like this health-boosting trick! Lots of love <3

x

Today I wanted to share my favourite Lush face mask. This mask is seriously the best! I have been using it for years now, and love how it makes my skin look and feel. The mask itself is meant to reduce the look of wrinkles and fine lines. Hence I use it about twice a week, almost every week! And it is au-natural. So so into it.

This face mask is called Ayesha, and it costs about $7. It always is nice to treat yourself to a little at-home spa experience. I find I rarely make enough time for myself, and having this as part of my beauty routine forces me to take 15 minutes and just enjoy the relaxing face mask. 🙂

What do you guys do for your at-home spa treatment?

x,

Would you look at this food?! Last week I attended the Bittered Sling Bistro Pop-Up Dinner, hosted at Cibo Trattoria in Vancouver. This was the first revival of the Bittered Sling Bistro in a few years, and was it ever amazing. It was hosted by the Bittered Sling co-owners, Lauren Mote and Jonathan Chovancek. Jonathan also happens to be the Executive Chef at Cafe Medina (which we all know is next to godly.) In case you missed it, check out my review of Cafe Medina here.

This event was all about perfectly pairing a beautiful three-course dinner with equally beautiful drinks. The result? MAGIC. Seriously, every single bite, sip, and attempt-to-not-inhale-my-food-at-the-speed-of-lightening was better than the last. I am a huge bitters fan as is, and really appreciated the unique drinks that were presented at the Bittered Sling Bistro. Not to mention the food… Why did it have to end?! And when can I go back?! (Already experiencing withdrawal symptoms, clearly.)

Overall, such a fun night and I totally recommend you get your hands on some tickets for the next event!

x,

Here we are, the day of the big game. You have friends coming over last minute and you need to prep some snacks!! (Because, what is the point of football if there are no snacks…. Seriously haha.) My genius idea when making this post was to finally (because I have been wanted to share this recipe forever with you guys) share my homemade guacamole recipe. I go to the store, all stoked and stuff, and reach to pick up an avocado. They are ROCK HARD. These babies wouldn’t have been ripe for years at best. Think hockey puck status.

Being the overly-busy and efficiency-obsessed person I am, I went straight for my “guacamole for cheaters” recipe. Hahah yes, I am blogging about how you can trick your friends into thinking that you are the best guacamole maker ever.

Why would you need to know this? LIFE SKILLS (duh.) For example today, you are in the same awkward position as I am with these stupid hard avocados. Or, you are just short on time and want to make a delicious and impressive appy super quick.

So, how do I make this “homemade Guacamole” for cheaters? Here’s the skinny:

• Buy store bought guacamole. (Just do it, this will be good I swear!)
• Purple onion
• Tomatoes
• Lime
• Cilantro
• Salt/pepper to taste

Start by chopping up your purple onion and tomato into small little chunks. Put them into a bowl (rocket science.) Squeeze as much lime as you like on top of your onion and tomato. I like to use pretty much a whole lime, because I am a full-on lime addict. Now, chop your cilantro up super fine and add that in the bowl too. This is the total cheater part… add in the pre-made guacamole!!! Mix together and you are doneeee.

I made this for my boyfriend and his eyes were glazed-over with wonder at how great of a cook I am. (Hopefully he isn’t reading this…. If you are I am sorry I lied, it was for science.)

Anyways that’s it! This hack is soooo essential for anyone who is super busy, needs a last minute appy to make, or has the curse of hard avocados that have no hope of ripening anytime in 2015.

Hope you guys love this! Have fun making my cheater guac, and lets hope for a great game today!! I know I will be fully enjoying my food and drinks, and maybe will occasionally glance at the game. 😛

x,

When I was putting this post together, I seriously debated taking some “sleeping” photos of myself. Then I thought about it, and basically every single photo you see of someone “sleeping” on the internet (if they look half decent while doing it) is a lie. They are fully awake and probably have a room full of people telling them which is a more flattering “sleeping” position. ANYWAYS, I decided to spare you guys the pain of fake sleeping photos of myself and share these old modeling pics instead. (I look totally natural, I’m aware.)

Okay back to the point of this post. BEAUTY SLEEP. You need it, I need it, we all need it. Quality and quantity of sleep have a direct effect on your physical and mental state of being. Nobody likes a cranky-pants, so don’t be that person. And, studies have shown that getting between 7 – 9 hours of sleep a night is a highly powerful beauty treatment! What?? You heard me. Get pretty by sleeping. (Sign. Me. Up.)

Here’s the skinny on beauty sleep:

• Smoother skin. While you sleep, your skin cells regenerate and muscles that cause wrinkles will relax. This will promote that beautiful wrinkle-free look. 
• A lack of sleep increases inflammatory cells in the body and leads to an increase in the breakdown of collagen. Collagen is one of the primary structural building blocks of your skin, and the more collagen you have the better your skin looks! Learn more here. 
• Not enough sleep actually accelerates the aging process. Don’t give you skin cells enough time to repair? Each day of sleep deprivation will cause your skin cells to slowly break down (and this effect accumulates over time.) Bad. News. Bears.
• Too little sleep contributes to weight gain. I always notice that when I am tired I eat more (and make poorer food choices) because I think I need the extra energy because my body is so exhausted from the lack of sleep.
• If you don’t get enough sleep your blood vessels dilate, which causes dark circles under your eyes to form.
• Too much sleep also has negative health effects! Anything over 9 hours can be just as detrimental to your skin as not enough sleep. Oversleeping increases skin cell breakdown.

As you can see there are so many reasons that you should set aside enough time to sleep at night! I am a huge baby when it comes to sleeping, and will literally be the grumpiest person ever if I am short on sleep for a night. Let me tell you… not pleasant for anyone involved haha. So let’s set aside those 7 – 9 hours a night, and sleep ourselves pretty! 

x,