After a lifetime of saying that spring is my favourite season, I have finally concluded that in this era of my life, it is Autumn that has stolen my heart.

While Spring may be bright, energizing, and hopeful, Autumn is by far the most spectacular, connective, bonding, and reflective.

So far

• Reading memoirs & non-fiction for school.

• Fitting in magical, mythical and fantastical Fiction.

• Plotting and planning All Hallows Eve.

• Weekend nature walks as a family that are sublime.

• Weekend glasses of red wine.

• Cozy blankets everywhere.

• Gilmore Girls on in the background.

• My curated Autumn 2025 Playlist for car rides.

• Paced and scheduled days for the pre-teens’ school workload.

• Braiding the pre-teen’s hair after a shower so she has it styled her preferred way the next day.

• Manuscript Writing and virtual meetings with mentors.

• Submitting writing course assignments one by one. (only one left to go for this semester!)

• Sitting back down at the piano. (Defying Gravity, The Succession Theme, Scale practice.)

Whatever elements of Autumn that steal your heart - let it be stolen.

Being a self-professed type 'A' personality, I have a lot of routines, habits and methods of madness I have collected over the years to keep myself on track.

These routines and habits have been anchor points when life feels out of control, confusing or dull. For better or worse, I have been mostly good at sticking to my guns and following through with things as simple as a daily walk, reaching out to friends, scheduling the week ahead…’

Until last year.

Last year I began the slow unwinding of trying to keep all the balls in the air, specifically with relationships.

I stopped over planning and I just stopped being a leader in correspondence. I was still actively responding and communicating, but my energy to continue being the leader in all my interactions shifted. Rather than taking charge and seeking discourse, I was listening. Rather than holding space for others, I was holding space for myself.

This year I have continued to build upon that more profound and grounded state of being.

And to do that?

I have been breaking many of the routines, habits and methods of madness that kept me in control for years.

And in doing so, I have uncovered the new, re-found the old ways and delight in discovery.

So far, I have

• re-found my love for Hot Yoga and the Modo Yoga Community

• tried out 12-hour fasting.

• Asked for more in my work.

• solidified new and old friendships

• discovered my true love for a more urban lifestyle

• explored academia and its options

• fully embraced the reality and fun lifestyle choice of being parents to ‘one’ child.

These seemingly small things have impacted how I look at life, and I plan to continue breaking habits to find the new and re-meet the old.

Onwards,

Flat-lay of objects on a wooden table: A green box with the words in gold “Writers Tears”, black headphones, a small green book called Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke, An illustrations of a girl in a quilt holding her phone outside of herself in one hand. A white gourd. Part of a autumnal floral pattern on a pillow.

I am amazed that Autumn has came and progressed as fast as it has. Here are a few of my favourite autumnal things.

Writers Tears Whiskey | NSLC

I have grown to appreciate sips of Whiskey over the colder months & alongside new episodes of Outlander. It felt timely that I would come across this right after signing a contract I worked hard to get. A truly creamy experience. The box rests in my office bookshelf as a reminder of the work it takes to get where you need to go next.

Sennheiser HD 25 Headphones | Long & McQuade

As I am embracing my passions and work in audio documentary storytelling I figure the headphones good enough for BBC reporters are good enough for me. So far they have been comfortable, easy to use and allow me to hear what I am recording without being too bulky in the filed.

Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke | Gift from a Bestie

I am not sure how she knew this book was on my radar, but either way, I adore Ethan Hawke’s take on life and creativity. I found his work and life phlilosohys at just the right time and I am so moved by the projects he chooses. Rules for a Knight is a beautiful little collection of ways to go about life in the guise of a long ago Knight leaving notations for his children in case he passes before he can tell them.

Speak to Me! Beth Freeman Illustration Art | Beth Freeman

Beth illustrated this beautiful image for an article and audio piece I created for CBC & CBC Radio. During such a vulnerable time (year one of the pandemic) I found such peace and solace in Beths imagery. I am finally getting around to framing this gem.

Gourds | Local Purchases

Last year I bought a velvet pumpkin decor item from Winners and returned it after living with it for a week. I personally can’t get around buying decor items that come from nature naturally. Although being a seasonal purchase, these purchases remind me that I am supporting local farms who grow gourds and pumpkins for this very purpose. I love how nature creates the curls in the stems and the shapes of each one.

Autumnal Pillow cover | Chapters

This floral pillow covers are as floral as I get. (outside of real flowers)
I love the autumnal atmosphere of this print and I have been waiting for an autumn pillow cover for my set that I liked enough to purchase.

I adore lists.

I love making them. Reading them. Sorting them. Categorizing them.
I love the feeling one gets when one checkmark or crosses off an item.
I love the whole darn process of it all.

As if overnight, our resident six-year-old caught the bug.
Inspired by a frog & toad story about making lists.

It made me laugh since my first memory of list-making also came during grade one.

I remember it clearly.
Putting on my snow gear at the end of the day, waiting for the bell to ring. A girl in class was talking about how every day after school, she had many things she had to do and attend.
Ballet classes, Gaelic language classes, tap dance …you name it.
Something about how much that filled her time and days made me realize what I was looking for.

Variety. Organization. Fun.

I can see how our little is getting a kick out of coming up with her own expectations of herself and others and finding a way to incorporate it into her own ‘method of madness’.
I can also recognize this is a tool to find peace in the chaos of life.

A reminder for all we list lovers:

The lists don’t have to be 100% completed to be productive, successful and fun individuals.
They are tools
They are ideas
They are tasks
They are ways to remember things.
They can change.
Items can move around in importance.
And
They can be scrapped entirely.

If you are anything like me and find peace and joy in the list-making
Find a way to pass yourself grace when life is wild.
Wipe the slate clean off and on and see what items don’t make it onto the new lists.

Keep it light.
Keep it fun.
And most of all
Keep them for yourself.

Spring has arrived and it has teased us with sprinkles of snow before settling into the purely Nova Scotian winds and rains that we are all used to.

The overlap of winter and spring.

With a new season,

a new playlist.

Highlights from the list:

Everyday People - Sly & The Family Stone

I first heard this song sung by Nicole C. Mullen and have always found a certain amount of joy, revelation, inspiration and insight in it. A song that seems to resurface over and over again through the generations.

It’s You I like - Fred Rogers

This song is a comfort. As a family we have been sinking into Fred Rogers words since the early days of the pandemic. There is a deeper message in his songs and episodes that translates even to the youngest of hearts. His songs make me a better person, parent and better to even my inner self.

Manhattanite - Frook

Gives that pep to my step. I have loved hearing it when starting a drive or my day.

I Know Things Now - Lilla Crawford

I wasn’t aware of Into the Woods as a musical until my early twenties. The entirety to of it speaks to me deeply. In part, because I think we all can relate to being in a season of confusion at one point in our lives or another. The awareness this character sings about although from a child’s perspective is a beautiful window into what it means to become self-aware and the revelation it can bring.

After a hard year, it seemed fitting to me that the tracks on this winter seasons playlist were both hopeful with a few reflective tones.

Winter 2021 Playlist

Stand Outs

New Kind of Beautiful | Lindsey Rey

Opening with Lindsey Rey. I first heard this song in December when the last episode of Greys Anatomy aired before the Christmas break. As always the amazing Alexandra Patsavas brings a greys episode to a close with epic tracks. This one felt so timely for the world, for the families, for the souls, for the singular person.

“A new way a new road, to a new kind of beautiful…..not like it was before.”

Want | Birdtalker

This is another soul cry track moving into the new year. We have seen division, terror, systemic racism and endless pain. When I heard this track a few months ago, it moved me. This is my heart cry for my work, my family and how I move through the world.

“I don’t wanna have a dagger tounge. I dont want my words to be a weapon, but a healing balm.”

Vincent | Ellie Goulding

This song has always been a favourite of mine. I first heard Josh Groban sing it when I was a teen and fell in love. It was around the time I began learning how to figure skate and how every song to me, was an opportunity to dream of choreography. Ellie’s rendition brings me back to that feeling of limitlessness I felt in those days and how much pain I was coming into the realization that the world was holding. A bittersweet tune full of bittersweet memories.

“Now I think I know. What you tried to say to me. And how you suffered for your sanity, how you tried to set them free.”

High | Miley Cyrus

Miley’s voice gets me every time. That genuine rasp she’s had since she was a kid, that rebel heart. Sometimes I have to roll my eyes at her antics, but there is no denying when she lays down tracks with her vocals, she has something that is unique to her and this is one of those for me. Oh, there is Miley putting beats and vocals to something I can feel my heart respond to.

“And you, like a rolling stone, always building cities on the hearts that you broke.”

White Point Beach Resort | An Autumn Cottage Weekend

*as I post this, I recognize our province could announce a second lockdown at any moment. That being said, there are skills and a renewing of the mind that has occured, that even if that has to happen, we are better equipped to handle what it means to create a rhythm inside the home.

March 2020 was a month none of us will forget.

For some, the worldwide pandemic was already at their door. For us in Nova Scotia, it was March when the reality provincial state of emergency was announced.

We changed everything in our lives in a matter of 24 hours.

A bit like being in a snow globe and having everything you knew being shaken and tipped upside down and then right side up again to only wonder how everything will fall into a new place. Or if it ever will stop spinning?

That has left some effects on us.

In our coming and going, we are still living in a state of unknown, of work and life colliding in the home and of many things being delayed or put off indefinitely.

This Autumn, one of my goals was to find some semblance of ‘weekdays’ and ‘weekends’ again.

Having a daughter go to grade primary was a marker for us as a family, and despite the pandemic, it has renewed many things in our lives. We hope she can remain in school l her whole primary year, but we embrace it for what it is for now.

Week Days

Morning routines are back. An alarm goes off, and it isn’t helpful to ignore it in the least.

Work hours are evident in some respects.

The school hours mean we are bound to drop-offs and pickups.

Weekends

time for the home DIY projects

the seasonal activities ‘pumpkin carving, fall walks’ etc.

Errands and household logistics.

Scheduling an event that is safe and within guidelines that provides an exhale.

Life still has been shaken like a snow globe.

Stores don’t open until 11 am.

Extra circular activities are limited and harder to get into

parties, celebrations and events are generally prohibited unless adequately managed.

Planning ahead is difficult.

Yet, somehow we are starting to feel our weekdays and weekends again. I hesitate to say it, but there it is.

We are finding our way back to a right-side-up world, even if the right side to us now was upside down to us before.

We adapt and start realizing the world will always keep spinning, but we can remain standing still amidst it all.

Compiled here on Spotify is a playlist I made for this autumn.

After committing to a subscription, I have been revamping my playlists, which already feels old.

It was a compilation I put together in September.

Stand Out Tracks

ily (I Love You Baby) | Surf Mesa

There is something about this cover that makes me find motivation in the corners of the day.

Forever Young | Rhiannon Giddens and Iron & Wine

This track is special to me for many reasons. In part, it was made for the finale of Parenthood, a show that helped shape my marriage and desire to continue developing healthy relationships with my family. Forever Young was the opening title song, and this rendition happens to be my favourite. It reminds me of why it’s worth it to be there for those you love.

& here we are.

Walking into the leaves of autumn. The night air is decidedly more crisp and the sun is slower to rise. Autumn was never my favourite but I am learning that I may like it more and more with each year that passes. There is something promising and comforting about it. The warm blankets, lit candles, baking in the oven and coffee that warms not just your stomach but your hands. A sense of renewal in the shedding of things.

Personally

This Autumn I am seeking to honour and encourage a new and steady routine. We had to put a lot on the back burner during the spring and summer to accomplish our necessary renovation and although I could remind myself it was all for a good reason, it was hard not to see the weekends and evenings waste away from us and the missed time spending with our friends, family and each other. We will embrace the Autumn weather and go for walks and I will continue tidying our house from our huge overhaul. Letting go of what isn’t for us anymore and finding a new way to connect with each other and those we love.

Professionally

The Spotlight Series is going back into the studio to film women. Through Brilliansea we are aiming to continue our project by mindfully curating the women we bring in. We want our project to display diverse and unique backgrounds in both life and experience. I am continuing to learn my place on the board of women in film and television and have given myself grace to learn how the association works before taking on too much. This season I am going to be pushing myself to grow and experiment behind the scenes of my work in both development and production areas. I am sensing that my season of carefully taking in and curating has been teaching and showing me where I can expand and accomplish new elements of my craft that will empower and equip me to create quality work.

& with that I step onto the fallen leaves with a bit of refreshed purpose and mind.

Being back in a functioning kitchen is everything amazing.

I ADORE food and especially, find solace in baking. We haven’t had a lot of time to relish in our kitchen yet, but slowly we are getting back into a normal and healthy cooking, baking and eating routine.

Being that it is summer and we are still on a hectic schedule, I am trying to utilize our kitchen for a bit of fresh food creativity. Quickly whipping up a cream cheese filling for strawberries and doing a quick scan of toast ideas on Pinterest that can utilize our fresh fruit has been a great way to ease back into our love of ‘kitchen life’.

I am beyond thankful to have this new space and am anxious to have more time in it. Time has a way of flying by when life is happening.

When the tired and busyness kicks in, I take a deep breath and think of autumn blended soups, waffle brunches and all the Christmas baking that will be happening in here sooner than later and it keeps me going into a new week.

& onward we go.

Fireworks from Dewolf Park. Bedford. NS

I think it’s safe to say the first half of this year has flown by…

At the beginning of 2019, I felt it impressed upon me to focus on the word ‘Curate’ and it has remained with me every day since.

Personally

This year has taken turns we were not expecting. Dealing with a beetle infestation and having to embrace that our home needed us to put some financial investment into it not down the road, but right now, was a blow to a few of our plans this year. In reflection, I see how those hard and confusing months allowed us to see how important it is to invest in our home and property and that we are 100% capable of doing so. I believe that God has a way of providing what you need exactly when you need it. So many little things along the way helped me to see that even when it feels like a step back, so often that step back is so you can leap forward in a more clearer and better direction.

Professionally

Earlier this year I had a break through with my use of time. I recognized I was acting as if I still had a very dependant toddler at home when really we were thriving together and individually. When I started assessing how busy I felt I realized it was because I was doing tasks like a scattered mom with young children. Making an effort to re-evaluate how I can have a better work flow has been essential and of course I discovered all of this to only have to put a lot on hold to deal with our home, but that time of distraction allowed me to see how necessary developing a proper work flow for this new stage was and how efficient I could be for my work and projects.

As I enter into the last half of 2019

I recognize I still want to continue curating our home and it’s atmosphere. Putting our house back together after months of upheaval in a mindful and intentional way will allow us to find rest, to host others and commune together in it. I also want to continue re-evaluating on a weekly, monthly and seasonal basis how I allot time for paid and non paid work. Both are worthy causes and both deserve the appropriate attention.

Bedford basin.

and here we are in summer…

How did this happen I wonder? It’s as if I fell asleep as the spring rain begun, awoke with the trees in full bloom and our loft filled with humid air once again.

I enjoy preparing for the turn of the seasons, but I confess, this season there has been less preparation and more of a treading water while I wrap up the ever running list of action items. They haven’t all been attended to in time, but a feeling of satisfaction for what has been dealt with lingers with me today.

I am approaching the summer with a bit more intrigue.

Personally

we are over half way done a kitchen renovation. Getting close to putting the counters in gives me hope and interest on what is to come once we have it finished (meaning a functioning kitchen, I’m no sucker, I realize this won’t end anytime soon) and how we will celebrate the hard work we have slogged through doing it mostly (90%) ourselves.

Professionally

finishing up a short documentary with Claire Fraser (adding the last segments along with colour grading and music) while also taking on a new roll as a ‘Women in Film and Television Atlantic’ board member. It all leaves me very curious and intrigued over the next few months.

I am welcoming curiosity into this next season of my life and I wonder where summer will take us?

Kayla Short

Lifestyle Blogger

Kayla can be found documenting her journey on her personal social media platforms, exploring the corners of Halifax and beyond while also sharing with others that staying true to who you are both inwardly and outwardly is not only of value, but possible.

Kayla is grounded by finding a well rounded wholeness in life and maintains that wholeness in everything she shares allowing us to take part in the discovery of self, others and the world around us.

She also happens to have a lovely way of skimming past the surface and taking you into the deep of life that is full of insight and celebration.

More Kayla

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http://shortpresents.com

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From top Center - Clockwise: Pleather Black Jacket | Suzy Shier, Apple Bourbin Candle | Foxhound Collection, Open Black Blazer | H&M, Silk tank with gold Zipper | Bootlegger, Nivea Hand Cream | Gift, INSPIRE t-Shire | RW&co, Ultra Repair Hydrating Serum | First Aid Beauty, Pleather Pants | Zara, Blue tank top | Second Hand, Brown leather KEDS | Soft Moc, Black Heels | Call it Spring , 2 tone Scarf / wrap | Indigo, Graphic T | Threadless ‘12, Girlfriend jeans | The Gap, Dark Jeans | The Gap, Green Pants | RW&co, Focus Body cream | Bath & Body Works, Green Sweater | Bootlegger, Mini Moet | Maid of Honour gift.

This Autumn I was able to focus on adding the pieces that would continue to carry me through my professional life.

New To Me:

The black blazer from H&M was more than I wanted to spend, but when I considered how long I would have it and why I was hunting for a blazer it seemed like the right choice. I enjoy the lack of button on it as well as the already sinched up sleeves.

INSPIRE T Shirt from RW&Co was a find that matches my visions, goals and personality. Solidarity is key in my life and I truly believe in the concept of togetherness over solo life.

Two Tone Scarf from Indigo was the first purchase of the season & the most worn. It’s versatility was everything I have wanted. (I secretly have envied a producer in the maritimes for her scarf / wrap she wears & was inspired to hunt one down that was closer to my price range)

Still Going Strong:

The black Pleather Jacket from Suzy Shier bought last spring was in full use this season & I have to say it’s an absolute favourite. It has that edgy feel accompanied with a feminine appeal. I adore Feminine & Edgy combos.

The Graphic T from Threadless has a quality of continuity to it. It could be the Inkwell concept that speaks to me as a writer, but as the years have gone by it continues to have a renewed life in my wardrobe.

The Brown Leather KEDS are my absolute favourite KEDS I have ever owned. (The blue nautical ones coming in at #2) These have such a great structure to them & I hope to be able to wear them over many seasons…although I am known for wearing my favourite KEDS out to the ground.

Time to Go:

The reality of the timing of this post, is that I don’t actually remember which items I donated / purged over Autumn. I will be more mindful to document this part of my capsule wardrobe experience.

Looking forward to next Autumn to see how this capsule morphs again!

New Years Eve Sparklers | 2019

The ground is shifting.

It’s quaking and rumbling beneath my feet. I can sense the place in which I am planted is about to change in this new year.

If I am being honest, it has created a lot of questions for me.

How will I manage in 2019 as these shifts take place?

Will I and what’s important to me, fall through the cracks?

Will I find that I am even more capable, or will I crumble?

Spinning these thoughts in my head over the past month has led me to the unique word: ‘Curate’.

Curate verb

• select, organize, and present (online content, merchandise, information, etc.), typically using professional or expert knowledge:

& although it’s often reserved to explain an art gallery or other aspects of gathering information/elements together, it has struck a chord within me. As I am adjusting to the ‘shifting’ and ‘growing’ in my / our lives, it is time for me to make careful and precise choices with where I place my energy and time.

PERSONALLY

Raising a ‘little’ into a child to equip her to handle the various aspects of life that will be thrown at her in less than 2 years (entering the public school system) means we need to be even more focused on bringing her the opportunities to grow, learn and mature in a new way. My time with her in this format of life is limited. Instilling values of kindness, empowerment, literacy, imagination, etc, before her world becomes more than just us, is increasingly heightened in importance.

As a family we are capable of more than we ever have been before. Leaving the baby/toddler stage has meant we are more able to connect and interact with our community, family and friends on a deeper level. It’s time to open up and pour out our energies in a new way.

PROFESSIONALLY

Continue to carefully align myself with the work atmosphere, collaborative teams and projects, knowing that what I commit to will get my full attention. Learning not to downplay myself & what I have to offer is a practice. I have learned so much in the past year about my craft, the industry I work in and where my boundaries are. Continuing to cultivate these interactions and various work projects while upholding my values is not a risk, it’s an integral part of who I am and how I choose to function within this world.

& as I close on this first day of the New Year,

by learning how to ‘curate’ in both my personal and professional life, I will be finding the proper footing to keep my feet actively on the ground while also gaining insight on how to adjust wherever 2019 puts me / us.

Happy New Year!

This past week it rained everyday.

I love rain. For me, it’s a little permission slip to pause, watch it fall and reflect.

Not much in life can make me do that to be honest.

I am a reflective person in nature, sure, but I am one in constant motion. A lazy day for me consists of sitting or indulging in something frivolous for over an hour.

Anything past an hour and I get annoyed and ready to move to the next thing.

Being still and reflective for me, is a practice. My mind whirs and isn’t very willing to not be processing the next task, project, event etc.

There is something very true that happens in reflection.

A sense of understanding and clarity we don’t often find in the busy.

Understanding

For what we do not yet or may not ever understand

Clarity

For what we have needed the space to see. It is hard to truly comprehend something when you are nose to nose with it. Having space, allows one to take in it’s entirety.

I am a reader. 

A book dragon, as some might say. 

My biggest accomplishment in Jr.High was graduating one of my jr. high years with a certificate for being the student who read the most books along with a gift certificate from my English teacher to a book store in my city.  

Yeah... Book nerd! 

Looking back, I am proud of that.  I may not have been the popular kid but so much of that silly social school dynamics never truly mattered, even if I thought they did.  I was a reader, and this meant my view of the world was already wider than my peers by just opening myself up to various perspectives.  

As an Adult my reading life looks like this:
I make a point to read from these categories:

- Fiction
- Plays / Scripts
- Non Fiction
- Graphic Novels
- Memoirs / Biographies etc.
- Magazines
- Newspapers

This usually means I have various types of reading on the go.

Currently:

- China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle
- A Real Simple Magazine
- Ms.Marvel - Mecca - G.Willow Wilson
- An Illustrated History of Nova Scotia by Harry Bruce & Dan Soucoup

I would like to better document what I am reading in some artistic manner and am still grappling with how...until then, I thought a little post would do. 

Spring Reads!!!

In a nut shell:

I Capture the Castle | Dodie Smith

For the spring romance and the whimsical way of describing life.

The Secret Garden | Frances Hodgosn Burnett

For the nature and beauty around us.

Peter Pan | J.M. Barrie

For the imagination and pure delight. 

The Tale of Peter Rabbit | Beatrix Potter

For the child in us.

Big Magic | Elizabeth Gilbert

To shake us up, to inspire and absolute come alongside our own journey.

We | Gillian Anderson & Jennifer Nadel

For the reminders of how we should treat each other.

Once upon a time I believed that in a yard full of three-leaf clovers there would be at least one four leaf clover.  

I believed that I could find it if I just tried.  Despite the lawn mower trimming them all down, despite the surplus of them.  

Once upon a time, I considered that the thousands, if not millions of three-leaf clovers were a blessing.  For the more of them there were, the higher the chances of finding the one four-leaf clover.

I believed.  I trusted an inner knowing.  

It was more of a promise whispered in my heart.  If I looked for it, it would be there.  It might take a long time, but I would go and find it before the lawn mower was done it's job.

I mused aloud.  My mother shook her head.  Attempting at discouraging such a thought.  

"You don't just go and find one.  And they are all three-leaf clover.  You know that."

I knew that, but I also knew something deeper.  

That my faith in that one clover was bigger than a worldly truth.

So I looked.  With the lawn mower gaining ground on it's already cut grass.  I started in the uncut portions.  I sat and looked at each clover one by one.  

I don't know how long I sat there.  I don't remember. 

But I do remember finding my four leaf clover.  The one I knew that was promised to me.  

My sass has never left me and I admit I was proud to prove my mom wrong.  That I found one and I knew it all along. 

She was floored.  She dropped what she was doing and called her mother, she recalled that story many times to anyone who would listen.  She celebrated with me.  Over this promise I found.

And that is the thing with our faith.  It just has to be bigger than what we already know.  

And when God whispers a promise in your ear, you don't gaff at it, you listen.  You let yourself fill up with excitement and you dare to believe that this incredulous faith is all it takes for that promise to be fulfilled.

There are promises that may not be fulfilled in our time, ones that create an ache in our spirits we are not capable of understanding.

What is important, is not that we see every promise / hope that we have fulfilled, but that we live our lives with a faith that is hope filled, joy filled and grace filled.  

This Clover, for me, is a symbol.  That when it comes to the dreams I hold within my heart, all I am being asked of is to have a Faith Like This

I am not sorry Winter is coming to a close, but I do believe that digging into some Hygge values inspired me to enjoy the reasons for cozy and winter outdoor activities as much as I could.  

Kicking Horse Coffee

There is something about a warm cup of coffee when the winter blues is knocking.  A bit of energy and a reminder that some places are still warm, even if it is just your insides.

Aerie Yoga Pants

My two yoga pants were both cut off mid calf and didn't keep me warm when doing yoga in the wee hours of the winter morning.  These pants are stylish but long and keep my whole leg warm while I stretch for the day.

Jackson Figure Skates

 Now with a two year old, we were able to introduce her to skating and I had a chance to love my skates again.  SO thankful I invested in professional figure skates as a teen.

Moleskin Notebooks

Jasmine Alexander introduced me to moleskin notebooks years ago but I never knew how I would use them.  Then, I realized that I could use them for themed field notes: Here I have field notes for Spiritual, Professional  and Wellness life.

Essie Penny Talk

I adore this rose gold nail polish and it is a perfect pairing with festive parties and events.

Quo Best Dressed

A new addition this year, another chrome to add for parties and it really just makes me feel a bit edgy.

Newfoundland caramel sea salt Chocolate Bar

Finding a good rhythm for my work is a seasonal challenge, and I found this chocolate bar is a perfect item to have stowed away in my desk.  Every work session I allow my self 1/4 of the bar and replace it when it is gone.  Motivation is key.

Throw Back printed photos 

Getting our photos in order so that our little can pause and reflect on who her parents were before her was important to me.  Finishing the pre Z days little photo album of highlights was a great feeling and I can't wait to complete the 'Little Bedford Family' album this Spring and Summer.

Soft Moc Boots

The truth is, you don't know how wonderful a pair of boots are truly going to be until you are using them day in and day out.  These boots are still in excellent condition after buying them last year and I am thrilled to see how they make me feel during the autumn and winter months.