LAST MINUTE STOCKING STUFFERS

Today I am sharing some of my favourite stocking stuffer finds from my local sponsor, . Perched in one of the best inner-city neighbourhoods in Calgary, the Bridgeland Market is stocked to the brim with goodies for your kitchen and home. With freshly baked goods, excellent coffee and fresh local produce, it is essentially a one-stop shop for all of your holiday needs.

I spent the afternoon searching for the perfect gift ideas for all of the food lovers in my life and I couldn’t believe how many amazing products I found. As one of the only retailers in the city who carries Jamie Oliver’s JMe line of pantry goods, the brightly coloured and gorgeously designed jams and sauces make the perfect stocking stuffer for foodies of all kinds.

Visit the market! Open until 5:00pm on December 24th.



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FOR THE BAR CART: Belvoir Ginger Beer | Belvoir Cranberry Lemonade | Fee Brothers Plum Bitters | Fee Brothers Celery Bitters FOR BRUNCHING:  Toast For Cheese | Seville Orange | Fig Jam* | Fig Crackers | Fig & Black Pepper | Lemon Curd*  FOR INDULGENCE: Phil & Sebastian Coffee | JMe Chocolate Bars*  FOR THE PANTRY: Chili Sea Salt* | Rosemary Sea Salt* | BeetRoot* | Basalmic Vinegar* | The Real Tomato Ketchup* | Heavenly Oil* | One Mean Mustard* | Hot Yellow Pepper Jelly*

*JMe Product

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GUIDE TO AUSTIN, TX PT. 2

Part two of my Austin City Guide takes our adventure to some of the best shops Byron and I found on this trip. From records and books to just darn good groceries, Austin welcomed us with open arms (and our open wallets!).

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Book People: As self described book people, we just couldn’t pry ourselves away from the shelves of Book People, Austin’s best indie bookstore. Two floors with literature on just about any topic, a cafe, amazing gifts and a rotating calendar of events – Book People is more than just a book store – it is a community space. We spent over an hour poring through their 50% off sale section for last copy books and magazines and ended up leaving with a healthy stack to last us well into the fall.

Whole Foods HQ: Every wonder where Whole Foods was founded? Austin! Yup, this incredibly huge Whole Foods flagship store is every foodie’s dream world. With over 8,000 square feet of delicious food, wine, craft beer and more, it is nearly impossible to leave without stocking up on at least the essentials (those being prosecco, coffee beans, organic produce and some fresh sushi). Just don’t forget your reusable bags…

Waterloo Records: Music junkies will delight in spending several hours flipping through vinyl and CDs for the perfect find. Waterloo’s staff is chill and informative – leaving you be as you go back and forth from stack to stack. They have loads of in-store performances and album releases so be sure to check their store calendar often for updates. Did we happen to mention Happy Hour? From 7pm – 11pm every Tuesday night shoppers will receive a 10% all non-sale priced new and used vinyl. Get there – now!

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Barton Springs: It ain’t summer in Austin if you are not perched at Barton Springs with a cup of shaved ice in your hand. The popular swimming hole is the perfect spot to indulge in a bit of summer sunning. The water is usually around 70 degrees making it excellent for swimming year round. Get there early though – this joint gets busy so claim your spot!

Spartan: A beautifully curated boutique, Spartan is filled with carefully sourced design objects and accessories. A great spot to find gifts for others and yourself, this shop will inspire you to think about adding more independent designers to your home decor roster. We couldn’t leave without the golden handled scissors – for DIYs, of course.

: Every other Wednesday during the hot hot summer, Zilker Park takes on a new persona – Blue on the Green. Lined with picnic blankets and lawn chairs, folks from all over Austin to come check out the live music programming. Be prepared and pack a cooler full of water and snacks – you’ll want to stay hydrated while you rock out to the free tunes.

This post was originally featured on Standard Issue.

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IN MINTED CONDITION: CUSTOM WRAPPINGS

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As a total stationary nerd, one of my favourite things to do is pick out pretty wrapping paper with coordinating tags and string. I just spent the whole night wrapping up all of our hand-picked gifts and am currently admiring them all under the tree.  I couldn’t be more excited now that we are literally counting down the days until Christmas. What has made it even more special this year is the custom wrapping paper and tags from Minted.

With so many classic designs to choose from you can’t help but want to order them all. I ended up choosing the Blue Spruce in Black wrapping papers. I love the gorgeous vintage feel to it. And with 5 sheets for $15, I ended up wrapping a huge stack of books without ever running out of paper. Tied all up with candy-striped twine, the gifts need to be topped off with a really great tag. I chose the Holiday Pine cards in black and customized it with our names. The result is adorable as you can see below.

✚ You still have time to order your own custom Minted wrapping papers (including ones with your family photos!) + tags as long as you order by MIDNITE tomorrow (December 18th). When you spend over $50, you can upgrade to 2-day shipping with the promo code: 2DAY.

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SPREADING HOLIDAY JOY X FIESTA MOVEMENT

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I’m on a mission to spread holiday joy to as many people as I can. In the spirit of the season, I’ve decided to surprise some folks with random acts of kindness and hopefully inspire them to pass the movement on!

I decided to start spreading the joy when hearing about the Ford Fiesta Movement‘s theme for December – Social Activism. I think at this time of year, a lot of people definitely could use a little bit of happiness spread their way – however small it may be. Last week, I shared this awesome video from one of the Fiesta agents – she went all over town paying for people’s meals and coffees as a small act of kindness. I loved it so I’m being a bit of a copycat and doing some random gifting.

Will you be one of my lucky recipients of a gift boxes this week? I am deploying a pile of gift boxes into the world over the next six days and I can’t wait. I’ll be sharing my adventures in gift giving over on Instagram so you can follow along and see who I give them out to. It will be completely random so they could end up in the hands of friends, family, colleagues or strangers. No one knows!

I hope this will inspire you to spread the message of happiness and kindness this holiday season and beyond into 2014. You can over on Instagram this week. Happy gifting…

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This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own.

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AVEDA INSTITUTE X YUPPIELOVE || + GIVEAWAY!

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I love getting pampered. Manicures, pedicures, haircuts, blow-outs, massages, makeup lesson – you name it, I’m there! So, of course, when the here in Calgary invited me to come down and get a haircut & style with one of their students, I jumped at the chance.

I’ve been a long time fan of the hair school and the quality of stylists that leave their doors upon graduation. I even went to the Institute on my wedding day and it was the most stress-free experience I’ve ever had in a salon – let alone on one of the most important good hair days of my life. They always start your service with an incredibly relaxing scalp massage using Aveda’s signature essential oils – I think bigger salons really need to take note of how important a scalp massage is at the beginning of a hair service – it totally puts the customer at ease and helps them feel refreshed and invigorated!

My recent visit to the was pleasure as always. I was paired up with student Alexandra whom I could really tell will go far in the hair & beauty industry. She talked a lot about where she looks for inspiration and was very conscientious about getting my cut just perfect. I am fairly low maintenance in the hair department (I love to just blow it out and curl the ends. I also have never dyed my hair so it is super natural and pretty healthy.) but I do have a LOT of hair so it can sometimes be daunting for a newbie to take on my locks but she did an amazing job. I love how Aveda’s educators are all super supportive of their students – you really get a sense for the community at the school and their love for Aveda products.

In preparation for a brand-new year (and maybe a brand-new you), I am gifting one local Calgary reader an hair cut & style with one of their incredible young stylists! To enter please leave a comment here telling me your favourite way to get pampered. Giveaway ends on Friday December 20th at 11:59am. Good luck, everyone!

And here is a bit of holiday hair inspiration to get you thinking about your next ‘do…

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THE PIN PROJECT | NO. 3

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A bit of moodiness today with my Pin Project. I love the juxtaposition of the sweet quote contrasted with the feeling of animosity with the two people. The girl choosing to look away while he looks you straight in the eye with a troubled confrontational stare – it is all a bit heartbreaking – no?

I am really loving playing with this series – I am finding it super interesting to see what works together and if there happens to be any method to my pinning madness. You can see No. 1 and No. 2 here.

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one // two // three

 

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GUIDE TO AUSTIN, TX – PART 1

Every summer Byron and I get a bit of wanderlust that takes us on a journey least expected. This past August, we could be found in the hot and steamy depths of Austin, Texas. Yep, those 42*C days were a lot to handle for our fresh Canadian blood but we survived and came out the other side with all sorts of eating, shopping and music adventures to share with you.

Austin is a bustling city full of creativity and a sweet sort of laid back style. Known for their music scene made famous by SXSW and Austin City Limits, many musicians have been handpicked from the stages in this town. With so much to see, we’ve divided up our journey in Austin into two parts of must-sees, must-eats and must-dos. Enjoy!

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 Tiger Blood Snowballs: A must on a hot day, we couldn’t resist tracking down some Tiger’s Blood after hearing about it on The Cuisinerd’s post about Austin. The perfect combo of Red Dye No. 9 and cherry coconut goodness, we left feeling a bit cooler and with decidedly neon red tongues.

: One of the sweetest little joints we happened upon while adventuring in South Congress, Elizabeth St. Cafe is the home of some fabulous French Vietnamese cuisine. Bursting with charm, the tiny but spacious cafe hosts some of the most stylish locals we had seen thus far. We highly recommend the Rose Monsoon Cocktail and the Broiled Niman Ranch Pork Belly noodle bowl – their Nuoc Cham packs a real punch into the meal leaving your salivating for more.

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Lumiere Tintype Photobooth: If you are a fan of photography and portraiture, you’ll want to check out this gem of a place on South Congress. A mobile studio, gallery and darkroom, Lumiere offers the amazing service of capturing you on a tintype photograph. Once your photo has been taken, it will take them just under an hour to develop it – creating a brand-new family heirloom of yours truly. If you are going to get any kind of souvenir in Austin, make it a tintype.

UnCommon Objects: For collectors, UnCommons Objects is exhilarating, overwhelming and incredibly intimidating all at once. Chock full to the brim with vintage, kitsch and antiques – this never-ending shop of treasures has more than meets the eye. Much like their slogan, ‘raw materials for creative living’ each and every corner you encounter has even more goodies (coloured blocked at that)! Highlights of our visit? The vintage neon and metal signs, old horseshoes for good luck and antique sports game paraphernalia. Go team go!

 If you are looking for the most authentically ‘Austin’ shop, look no further than Parts + Labour. Jam-packed with completely locally made goods, this sweet boutique is the best way to get a sense of Austin’s indie scene. We walked away with a tank top appropriately labeled ‘Local’.

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This post was originally featured on Standard Issue.

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GIFTS FOR THE BEAUTY FIEND

As a beauty fiend and bonafied product junkie, I’m always on the hunt for the best new lip colours, face illuminators and mascaras. When the holiday gifts starting arriving in the shops, however, I turn into pre-teen Kait, oohing and aahing over all the eye shadow palettes and gift packages. I always find the best goods at Sephora for gifting to my Mom, my girlfriends or myself – they have so many amazing gift packages and parcels. I searched and found the best of the best of holiday gift ideas for the beauty lover in your life. These gifts will certainly not disappoint!

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I’m looking forward to reviewing all of these products soon in a new beauty post series! Stay tuned for my thoughts on each of these (SPOILER ALERT: I’m kinda loving all of them already…!).

Fresh Sugar Kisses Mini Lip Trio | Benefit It’s a Love Fest (similar here) | MARC JACOBS BEAUTY Lightshow Luminizing PowderSephora Collection Prestige Luxe Brush SetFresh Fresh Sugar BabyNails Inc. Bling It On Rose Gold | Too Faced A Few of My Favorite Things (similar here)

All available at Sephora.

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TAKING ANNIE WILLIAMS HOME…

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I’m in the mood for cozy. Big thick woolen blankets, soft yet firm cushions and a rug to sink my feet into. Everything you need to hole up and hibernate for a whole winter. My talented photographer friend, Nicoleirene recently shot the look book for the AW + Josi Faye HOME Collection. I’ve been a long time fan of Annie Williams‘ beautiful clutches and totes – stunning raw leather paired with giant knits. I even just heard about a new collection of bags sewn up with real gold thread. I just about fell over.

A collaboration with Han Starnes of Josi Faye – they came together in the most beautiful way. The home line is bold and cozy. I love the oversized knits and the soft cream palette. From the bed roll to the rug to the pillow – I’m in love. And luckily, you don’t have to live in Williams’ hometown of Nashville to get your hands on some of these goodies – they are in the AW shop!

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Photos by NicoleIrene for Annie Williams 

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RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS X FIESTA MOVEMENT

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‘Tis the season for giving. And what better way to give than a random act of kindness. I’ve been so inspired by so many folks around me who partake in random acts of kindness, I think it is about time that I do something special for some random folks this December. The Ford Fiesta Movement‘s December theme is Social Activism so this is perfect timing. If are not familiar with the Fiesta Movement you can check out my previous posts from a rafting adventure to cocktailing in Victoria – basically video agents from all over the world have partnered with Ford to create awesome videos based on a new theme each month. I’m inspired to spread the word about their missions!

I found this great video by Fiesta Agent, as she drives all over town buying peoples meals and coffees for them! What a sweet surprise! I can’t wait to share my random acts of kindness ideas next week with you! I’ve got to get a bit crafty this week and figure out the details…

To further celebrate the Social Activism theme, Ford Fiesta is joining up for The Second Annual Tube-a-thon on Thursday! The Tube-a-thon is a live-streamed holiday party featuring huge YouTube stars as well as traditional Hollywood celebrities. On Thursday, December 12 at 6pmPT/9pm ET, viewers can tune into What’s Trending for two full hours of fundraising, music, comedy, performances and lots of surprises from your favorite online stars. Online viewers can tweet along with the hashtag #Tubeathon or #FiestaMovement, and for every tweet What’s Trending and Fiesta Movement will donate $1 to Covenant House. It’s a fun and easy way to give back this holiday season.

This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own.

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