BZEN

February is almost over and spring is on the horizon! Or at least that is what I am telling myself and with the balmy breeze we are experiencing in Southern Ontario today, it is easy to believe. February was my month to pursue slow self care and all in all I think it was a success. I didn't really have much of an agenda for the month except making self care my primary focus, and that allowed me a lot of freedom to pursue whatever self care meant to me on any given day. I tried to listen to my intuition more this month which let me tap into what I actually needed and giving myself the space to just do what I needed to do felt incredibly rewarding; Some nights that meant that I sat around watching YouTube and ignored everything on my to do list. Other nights that meant I took the time to wind down before bed time and pampered myself a little. I allowed myself to be flexible and tried to let go of any limiting beliefs I held regarding self care. Here are some other things I did thi

This year I want to do something a  ~ little~ different. In previous years I've often found myself unhappy with the season I was in: if it was summer, I would want the cold crisp air of winter. If it was winter, I would want the warm gentle breeze of summer, but as 2017 pressed on I learnt to enjoy the season I was in. I learnt to be present in the season (although I have yet to master being present in the moment) and I realized that maybe this was a metaphor for also being comfortable and happy with the season of life I was in. This year I want to take the time to celebrate the seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter and be thankful for the abundance each one brings; It feels important to me to give a little nod to each season - a thank you for what has been and an excited anticipation for what is yet to come. Each Equinox and Solstice I want to dive in deep and really drink in the seasonal goodness. + Cook Something Seasonal BBQ'd salmon and fresh veggies in the Sum

For a long time I hated the reflection I saw staring back at me in the mirror. There were more times than I can count when I would stare back at myself with hot angry tears streaming down my face thinking 'why does this have to be me?' And it wasn't just my appearance that I despised - it was the person inside too. I did not like myself, it was as plain and as simple as that. I am not even too sure where this dislike came from, as with a lot of young girls it started in my teenage years. Maybe it was because some of the girls in school made fun of me, or made comments under their breath to tease me... sticks and stones will break my bones, and words will always hurt me. I was never slim enough. Never pretty enough. Never popular enough. Never confident, or funny, or outgoing enough. Just. Not. Enough. And I was hard on myself too. Really hard on myself. Well maybe if I wasn't so stupid, or lazy, or awkward then maybe people would like me more, and if people liked m

And just like that my first slow experiment is at an end and the second one is about to begin! It only made sense to me that after slow food comes slow self care so that is what I plan to tackle this month. Plus with February being a bit of gloomy one a little TLC is just what the doctor ordered. Self care means a lot of different things to a lot of different people; For some it means having a detox of social media and processed foods, for others it means the exact opposite and having a cheese burger while taking some time out to scroll through Instagram is what they need. Determining what you need is the biggest first step towards embarking on a self care routine or challenge. As February approaches closer and closer I keep asking myself 'what do I need?' and 'what do I want to achieve?' Neither of these questions are easy to answer for me but what I've realized is that I practise very little self care these days so at this point, anything is better than not

Somehow we're already 2/3's through January which means I'm 2/3's the way through my slow food experiment. So far I feel like it has been incredibly successful and I plan on continuing this throughout the rest of 2018. It feels so much better to eat at home regularly instead of wasting money on constantly eating out, and I feel healthier for it too. The point of this experiment isn't for me to stop eating out entirely but instead to save eating out for celebrations and special occasions - to make eating out at a favorite restaurant something exciting again instead of the norm. Here are some of the changes I've seen come out of this experiment so far: + I spend less money + I follow a budget for grocery shopping + I've become more aware of how and where I'm spending money + I'm learning to appreciate simpler meals + I'm wasting less food + I'm being more resourceful + I am using less plastic + I feel more in control of my money a

Something I have realized since pursuing minimalism is the amount of money that has been freed up for experiences instead of stuff. I dubbed 2017 as the 'Year of Adventure' and adventure we did (I'll share more posts of what we got up to in the coming months). Our final trip of the year was a cheeky little weekend getaway to Toronto where we relaxed, played and took some much needed down time before Christmas was upon us. We hopped on a Greyhound bus and were whisked off towards Toronto; We prefer taking the Greyhound to Toronto because it means we don't have to worry about renting a car, navigating the busy streets, and paying for parking. Taking the Greyhound means we get to hop on and hop off which is easy-peasy. We stayed at The Novotel on the Esplanade right in the heart of the Entertainment District. I can't recommend this hotel enough - it isn't anything fancy by any means but it is priced well in an excellent location and is incredibly clean a