Warm Cocoa!

In the spirit of the cold weather I think it's important to let everyone know about my favourite hot cocoa recipe!


What you'll need:
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of cocoa
1 dash of salt
1 cup of milk
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions to make this delicious warm drink:
 1. Add sugar, cocoa and salt in a large cup
2. Heat milk in the microwave on high for 1 minute
3. Pour milk into cocoa mixture and stir
4. Stir in vanilla

Optional: whip cream! and/or marshmellows

Additional recommended step: Break out a book or a movie cuddle up and enjoy! :)

The Fault In Our Stars

I can't string enough words together to express how great this book is! I honestly think it gives the realest interpretation of what it would be like to be a person living with a life threatening disease. It's incredibly well written, guaranteed to tug on your heart strings and make you fall in love with the characters. However, if you're not of the reading type you're in luck because they've also made it into a movie! 

Check out the video for a sneak peek into the lives of two modern day, star crossed lovers. (The movie is just as great as the book!)

Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

I found the most inspiring artist, Carol Rosetti who seriously tackles all the challenges us woman face on a daily basis in the most simplistic and artistic pictures! I love things like this, small pictures with a large message. Here's a few pieces of her work:

Carol actually does her illustrations in different languages and although they portray woman, they actually depict daily struggles that almost everyone faces, so really these pictures are for everyone! This women's empowerment project started by Carol simply wanting to practice drawing and did so by drawing nice pictures for her friends with nice little messages and from there is has grown into this powerful movement to accept who you are and do what you like because the only person who matters at the end of the day is YOU! 

Check out the rest of her work here!

You might find one that hits close to home! 

Sephora!

My favourite store opened yesterday at a local mall and of course I had to stop by and break it in with a few purchases! Being a poor university student there's many luxuries in life that I can't afford, however Sephora is one store that I will do absolutely anything to get their products!

For the people who are new to Sephora it's a one stop shop for everything beauty and the most unreal experience! 

A little stroll down memory lane:
I'll walk you through my first experience at this unbelievable store.. So my friend (The same one who suggested The Defining Decade book to me... she clearly has great tastes) insisted that we take a trip to London to go to Sephora! So after a long 2 hour drive we walk into the store that changed my life. It all started with a consultant that asked me what I was looking for and I told her a good foundation for my skin type. She instantly picked ones that were suited for me and within my price range (because this store can get pretty pricey!) and she proceeded to give me a makeover! I left the store with a free new look for the day, my purchase (which ended up being more than just foundation), a membership to Sephora and a birthday gift (even though it wasn't my birthday)!

For every dollar you spend at Sephora you get one point on your membership. Once you get to 100 points you can start redeeming them for makeup samples but you can also redeem at 250 as well as 500 points. At the 500 point level you get a whole kit of makeup so it really is worth holding out on the redemptions.

There's three levels and depending on how much you spend in a calendar year that determines what level you are on. After this visit I moved from "Beauty Insider" level 1, to "VIB" level 2... This means I've spent over $350 in a calendar year. It seems like a lot but you definitely get what you pay for and that is quality products and an unmatched experience.

Ordering online also has it's perks, you can pick a promotional item and 3 samples when you place an order and orders over $75 ship free! 

A few of my beauty bag must-haves include: 

• Dr. Jart's Dis-A-Pore BB cream 
• Cover Fx concealer
• Sephora baked finishing powder
• Benefit highlighter

If you're interested in checking out the site and maybe finding a store near you click here!

Mug Cake Bliss

I was craving cake tonight and the fact that it was nearly 8 at night definitely stopped me from baking a full blown cake... So the solution? Make a mug cake!

Mug cakes are super quick, super simple and ultra delicious! The best part though is that unlike your standard box cake flavours you can pretty much make any flavour you want. Tonight for instance, I made a Nutella Mug Cake which was all kinds of chocolately hazelnutty deliciouness.

The recipe is:

• 4 tbsp of flour
• 1/4 tsp of baking powder
• 1/4 cup of Nutella 
• 3 tbsp of milk 

Set it in the microwave for 1 minute to a minute and 20 seconds, let cool for 10 minutes and you've got yourself some cake in a mug! 

You can find this recipe and a bunch of others here!

Post Secrets

One of the neatest books I own is hands down the Post Secrets book.

For those who aren't familiar with the concept, basically it all started with one man asking strangers to write their secrets on postcards and mail them to him anonymously... He got such a great response that there are now four Post Secrets books and a website where you can read everyone's anonymous secrets!

You can get a taste of the Post Secrets twitter feed on my blog but the next time you're aimlessly clicking around the Internet you should also pay a visit to the Post Secrets website. You can definitely look at all this stuff for free online however, if you love books and the novelty of a crisp spine then I absolutely suggest owning at least one of these wonderful, unique book of secrets!

I'm in love with everything about this idea and I'm definitely inspired to start up my own campaign but coming up with anything even remotely as unique and heart warming as this is way easier said than done...


Anyways here's a little taste of what you'll find on the website:

A little off topic but equally as cute is the project called "I found your camera". This blog collects lost cameras and uploads the pictures to a website in hopes that people will go on there and tag the people in the photos so the owner can be found! Family pictures are so irreplaceable, I would really appreciate my pictures being uploaded if I ever lost my camera...

Shout out to the amazing minds who came up with these great projects that are bringing people around the world together! The world needs more of them!

The Defining Decade

I'm an avid reader so I thought my first post should be about my absolute favourite! It was recommended to me by a fellow "twenty-something" and my best friend, it's called "The Defining Decade". Now after reading this book (a few times over) I'm convinced of two key things;

1. Our 20's are definitely a crucial part of our life
2. My life is on track compared to the average twenty-somethings (or at least the ones depicted in the book)

Now the book goes over a broad range of topics including: work, love and the body, and I can relate to most of the notions in each chapter.

Here are just a few crazy ideas I had before reading the book:

• I'll think about kids when I'm closer to 30. 
• My twenties are for having fun, I'll worry about work later on. 
• I'll most likely get a job by being referred by one of my close friends or relatives.
• Not making a decision is better than making a decision (for instance what career I want to pursue)
• I thought at some point things would just fall into place

Thoughts now: 

• The older you are the harder it can be to have babies... It's important to have a plan and at least factor it into your life so you're ready. 
• My twenties are actually a time for building workable capital, working a lot, going to school trying new things so that I gain transferable skills. Thirty is too late to get started. 
• Weak ties will reap the most benefits. It's about networking and finding out what people have to offer and what you have to offer other people. 
• Not making a decision closes the most doors. Make a decision, whether it be the right one or the wrong one you'll have learned something useful. 
• Nothing falls into place, if you want something plan for it and work for it. 

The cover says "Why your twenties matter- and how to make the most of them now." That seemed silly to me in the beginning but by the end of the book I definitely want to take the rest of my twenty-something years and make the most of them.

You can purchase your own copy at : Chapters Indigo