Our Experience with Healthy Meal Plan

Hey guys! Happy Fabulous Friday!

As summer starts to wind down and the fall routine begins next week, both Mr. Fix-It and I decided it was time to kick it back into gear with healthy eating and exercise. I was in a great routine for the first few weeks of July and then it all came to a halt when we went on holidays. Doesn't it always? I love indulging in food, drinks and all round summer shenanigans. However, my bod paid for it. Two weeks ago I was feeling sluggish, my pants were most definitely snug and I wasn't thrilled with myself that I ditched the gym. I totally believe that you need to indulge, but when it's making you feel tired and sluggish then it's a good sign to get yourself going again.

I would say we live a pretty healthy lifestyle. Both Mr. Fix-It and I have always been active and we work hard to instil the importance of a healthy lifestyle in our kids. Whether I'm heading to the gym, or Mr. Fix-It is off for a run, it's part of our family routine. It's important for the kids to see that living an active lifestyle is just part of our every day family routine. However, during the summer, I find it hard to get to the gym. It's so beautiful out and we usually end up at the park or out for a walk after dinner. And, of course, the beer. Beer and summer just go hand-in-hand. Right?

I've never been a girl that is obsessed with the scale. For me, I want to fill good in my clothes and my muscles to feel super strong. My weight goes up and down by about 10ish pounds (again, not going with the scale but how my clothes fit) fairly regularly and I know that when my clothes start to feel like their strangling me then it's time to do a reality check.

So, long story short, when Healthy Meal Plan asked us to try their food for a week, I WAS IN!

End of Summer Love

Oh HI! Remember me? Hope you all have had a fabulous summer! It's not over yet but I think we can all feel that it's starting to wind down with the mentions of "back to school". Gasp!

I typically take most of the summer off at Keep It Beautiful Designs. To me, summer is a time of unplugging from the routine of the year, playing, taking random adventures and enjoying the long summer days.

We've had a wonderful summer. Mr. Fix-It and I kicked off our holidays in Prince Edward County with another bestie couple. We drank, ate and relaxed. I love this crew and we all love wine. 

Wave Your Flag, Eh!

Hey guys!

Happy summer! Hard to believe it's already mid July?! Why can't winter fly by so quickly? The weather has been amazing eh? Although our poor boat at the cottage is floating in the bare minimum level of water because of the lack of rain, they (although I'm not exactly sure who "they" are) just keep draining our lake to feed the other lakes. So, while I'm not hoping for rain, I kind of am...well at least for the nights. It can rain all night if it wants, with gorgeous blue skies for the day :)

What did you guys do for Canada Day? Most of you know that Mr. Fix-It and I got married on Canada Day and this year we celebrated 11 years :) Feels like yesterday. I always wear my veil on our anni ;)

DIY GARDEN STONES

Hey everyone!

It's been a little "here and there" the past few weeks. Isn't the end of the school year bananas? Every year I seem to forget that June is just crazy busy. The kids have been busy with spring activities, school is ending, I'm in a new job and it's been busy with figuring out vacation plans, camps for the kids etc. Yup, first world problems. However, it still makes things a whole lotta crazy. 

Oh and wanna hear something fun? On Wednesday, at the crack of dawn...literally! I'm going to be on CTV Morning Live, here in Ottawa as a hair model. FUN! If you're up at 6:50, my locks will be getting styled for the summer with KerMax products. Then, I'll be on again, sharing some fabuloso ideas for your summer entertaining with Sabra hummus. Double tv fun!!

In the meantime, I wanted to share with you a really cute and easy DIY for your garden. My kids did these cement patio stones for their Poppa for Father's Day. They're easy, inexpensive and adorable. Promise.

DIY: PAINTING PLASTIC FURNITURE

TGIF!! Hope you all had a great week! I have an easy DIY this week that can totally transform your outdoor space.

Al Fresco At Last! Summer Dining

Hey guys! Thanks for giving me a little grace while I've started up my new gig. I've been working hard, listening, learning and rockin' those heels. Last weekend was a welcomed break and the holiday on Monday was a sweet treat. My American friends, your long weekend is coming up. Woot! 

Can we talk patio season? It's officially here! Heaven. My parents took the kids up to the cottage for a couple days last weekend while Mr. Fix-It and I did some gardening and got the yard ready for this fab warm weather. It's always a sweet treat to be alone together. We get so much done and get to hang out...just the two of us. 

I've let you know about my love affair with Wayfair.ca before and thrilled to be partnering with them to bring you inspiration to kick up your patio love and dine al fresco. Finally, outdoor eating has arrived. 

So, with the kids being away, we took full advantage of the warm weather.

Creating a beautiful table is really easy in the summer with all the fresh flowers and greenery around you.

While I was at the garden centre buying flowers, I picked up a few loose floral stems they were selling by the cash. A little water, a couple of my Nana's glass milk containers and a mini blue vase for a pop of colour = centrepiece!

The hostas in the backyard are already massive. Holy cow those plants are hearty. I clipped off a couple of the leaves, and wrote our names with a gold pen for an easy place setting. Cute eh? 

I really like the idea of mixing plastic with your regular dishes. Why not? I like how the gold paired with the green. So fresh. You can find similar cutlery and shop Wayfair's dinnerware for gorg dishes and glasses. 

It's also a good idea to pick up a couple packages of napkins and why not add some matching straws. That way you'll have them on hand to whip up a beautiful and quick outdoor table in a pinch. A delicious gin & tonic is always good too :)

As your gardens continue to bloom over the summer, use those gorgeous flowers to create your centrepieces.

I'm so thrilled that Wayfair.ca has come to Canada. They sell pretty much everything, have insanely good prices, are right on trend, amazing customer service and free shipping to Canada. Yes! 

I hope this inspires you to dine al fresco this weekend! Cheers to long days and warm summer nights. 

Keep it Beautiful.

This post was sponsored by Wayfair.ca Everything you've read are my words. I'm in love with Wayfair.ca and want to spread the love with you.

Escaping to the Wakefield Mill

Happy Friday my friends.

We’re all busy. Busy, busy, busy. About a month ago, I was sitting on the couch at home, sipping on a glass of wine and thankful. I was thankful that the week was over. The week had been busy, the kids had been fighting and whining and I had “had it”! I needed a night away. Away from “the busy”. So, I immediately texted my girlfriend and told her I needed a night away. In a heartbeat, she was in. I knew she would be, she needed it as much as me. We all need our me-time, our space to breathe, escape the demands that life brings and just be. When the Wakefield Mill invited me to spend the night, I knew that a Girlfriends Getaway was born.

The Wakefield Mill is only about 30 minutes from Ottawa in the beautiful town of Wakefield. Tucked into the Gatineau hills, it’s a beauty.

 First stop. The spa. Lisa and I both had a massage and pedicure.  I’ve had a lot of massages and this was by.far.the.best relaxation massage I had ever had.

There was something ritualistic about it and it was amazing. I felt like butter under those magic hands.

We finished off our pampering with a pedicure, looking out through the beautiful glass windows and the pouring rain. Having the rain stream down the windows and the sound of the rushing waterfall outside was exactly what Lisa and I needed. Away from the busy, away from the demands of life. Just the girls. Girl talk. Girl time.

Our dinner reservations weren’t until later in the evening so we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in our robes, drinking vino and we watched a girly movie in our room J Can you guess what we were watching? So good!

The Wakefield Mill has a number of different rooms to choose from: Heritage, River Grand & Park room. We stayed in the Heritage Room with a queen bed and futon. While our room was fine, I would recommend choosing one of the others. We felt a little tight in our room and didn't love the idea of a futon for a third guest if there was one.

Muse is their fine dining restaurant. Delicious. Delicious. The staff were wonderful and the food was incredible.

Morning was lovely. Quiet, relaxing...bliss. Breakfast was delicious. Filling, rich...yum. We both treated ourselves to the eggs benny. The food truly is amazing here.

 We finished off our getaway by poking in and around the little shops of Wakefield.

I even found my hardware for the basement :) More on that later.

Overall, we were only gone for 24 hours but we came back to our families feeling rested, refreshed and happy. The Wakefield Mill is a wonderful gem for the next time you need to escape "the busy".

 Keep it Beautiful.

Life is Better at the Cottage!

Hey guys!

Hope you're having a good week. Holy cow, how is it already Wednesday? We spent last weekend with friends of ours and had a blast. Honestly…sun, water, friends, boats, swimming, tubing, food, wine, smores, kids, great friends & family = cottage heaven. To me, these images are all things summer...

And, who can forget the need to BBQ in summer. I mentioned last week that I was BBQ-ing up a yum dinner. This past weekend we enjoyed another delicious meal. Our friends brought up 80 day age steak....butter in your mouth! We grilled it on the BBQ along with lobster tails and have a massive feast! Who doesn’t think of summer when they smell someone’s BBQ feast in the neighbourhood?! I think Weber Grill has taken the best of two worlds (cottage life & BBQ) and turned it into an awesome video showing how a group of cottagers celebrated Canada Day.



Cool eh? This video makes me smile ear-to-ear. I remember at my cousins' cottage, folks would tie up their boats every summer on the long weekend and float together on the lake :) You can check out more Weber videos on their WeberGrillsCA YouTube














Here's to short work days, delicious BBQ meals, long vacations & cottage love. Hope you get a chance to experience cottage life sometime this summer.

 

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Weber Grills Canada for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.


Keep it Beautiful.

Date Night Menu with Ricardo Cuisine!

Happy Fabulous Friday y’all! Hope you all had a great Canada Day. The weather in Ottawa was changing at rapid speeds so we did a mixture of celebrating on Parliament Hill with the kids, relaxing at home and having a BBQ with friends. It was also our wedding anniversary so it’s always nice to have a holiday together on your special day. This weekend we’re heading up to the cottage with some friends for good food, good wine, good fun.

Speaking of food, tis the season for BBQ-ing! Some of you may brave the BBQ in the winter but generally, outside grilling is where it’s at in the summer. Ricardo Cuisine asked me to try some of their barbecue recipes and after browsing through the recipes, I was game. It was a great way for Mr. Fix-It and I to have a “date night” last week and I saw that one of the recipes called for halloumi cheese. Heard of it? I hadn’t, until Mr. Fix-It and I started buying these pre-made kabobs from the grocery store that had this amazing cheese on them. The best part, is that it doesn’t melt all over the BBQ. Win!

So…the night before “date night”, I made up the marinade for the Flank Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce. Sounds yum eh? Flank steak is not a piece of beef that you want to pick up and throw on the grill. It needs time to get happy and tender.

The marinade was really easy. It called for olive oil (I find that olive oil burns so easily on the grill so I swapped it out for canola oil), red wine vinegar, shallots, a bunch of fresh herbs (oregano, thyme & cilantro – I’ve been growing the cilantro and love it, so added a little more in there for extra yum) and a dash of red pepper flakes.

I added the steak, put it in the fridge overnight and let the magic happen. Then, all it needs is a hot BBQ and a few minutes on each side…depending on how rare you like it.

Next up, Halloumi Cheese and Roasted Bell Pepper Miniature Skewers. Sounds good eh? These were also easy peasy.

I soaked the cheese in a bowl for an hour and put it aside, chopped the red peppers into strips and made up the sauce - oil, red wine vinegar, fresh garlic, fresh cilantro (it called for rosemary but I swapped it out), salt & pepper. Then you just give the sliced peppers a toss in the sauce ;)

Cut the cheese into cubes so they will fit on your sliced peppers.

After cutting the peppers, I realized I hadn’t cut them long enough so it was hard to string them on the skewers wrapped around the cheese. So, I just folded up a little tinfoil package and placed them right on the grill. They just needed a few mins to get toasty.

I cooked up some wild rice and voila…Date Night menu complete.

We waited till the kids were asleep and everything was ready pretty fast. I love menus where you can do the prep work the night before. The food was delish, I definitely recommend these two recipes if you’re looking for a yummy meal for the weekend.

TGIF!

Keep it Beautiful.

Decorating the Summer Mantle

Did you know that Sunday was the first day of summer? The peonies have burst, the grass is green and the sun is hot. My fav season. Time to get rid of the spring mantle and give it a summer splash.  I decided to decorate this season with some gorg prints from Minted.

I’ve told you about Minted before (fab holiday cards) and they have gorgeous artwork. I knew as soon as I saw this beauty, it had to be on the mantle.

It’s called “Float”. It reminds me of my Nana. We belonged to a fabulous summer club when we were kids in Halifax, NS and she would float in the pool wearing her latest bathing cap. This is what the artist, Betty Hatchett, says about her piece: 

There's something to be said about relaxing and letting go of fear's impulses. It helps us rise to the surface - in water, in painting, and in life. I wanted to capture that peaceful space when fluid, transitory water supports us, as a metaphor for learning to rest in the middle of life's shifts and transformations.

Isn’t it so peaceful? Beautiful.

I also chose this one, Ethereal, as I just love the softness.

 When choosing Minted prints, you can opt to have them framed or un-framed. I decided to go with the weathered barnboard frame. It feels summer to me!

In Winter, I don’t mind a heavier mantle, it feels warm. Summer…needs to be light, fresh, spacious.  I paired the prints with a few pieces that I had around the house and voila…a fresh.fabulous.sophisticated summer mantle for 2015.

 

At the same time that I chose the above prints, I couldn’t resist choosing a couple for the basement gallery wall when it’s all done, as well as, a print for the cottage gallery wall that I want to do in the kids’ room. Stay tuned.

I know you'll love what you see on Minted and so I've got a code for 10% off :) Woot! Happy browsing. Use the code: KEEPITBEAUTIFUL10

Happy summer my friends!

Keep it Beautiful.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Minted. All words and opinions are my own. They produce high quality, beautiful products and I want you to know about them. I love pretty things and Minted definitely makes them. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that support this blog.