chihuahua photoshoot, part 2.

HO HO HO!

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season. Warm wishes from myself and these two nuggets!

-B

holiday wishes from two little chihuahuas!

Happy holidays! 

I can only imagine the struggle I will have when I eventually have kids (my wallet will never forgive me). I could not walk past the dog isle at my local Winners without picking up these adorable outfits. This past weekend I thought I would mildly annoy my dogs (Jenna Marbles style) and dress both up for a Christmas photoshoot. My brothers were less than impressed but there is no denying how cute they are!

This was at the end of the photos - Mia was so unimpressed and Miley was rejoicing as she would soon be out of the awful dress!

Take care!

-B

H&M 2015 Advent Calendar Review

Above is the H&M Advent Calendar. It has 24 days with a different piece of jewelry or accessory for each. I got this at my local H&M in the jewelry section. At $39.99 the price seemed steep! Even if there are 24 items $40 seemed like a lot compared to other calendars. 

I was super curious since I love a lot of H&M jewelry. It is always on trend and decent quality for the price. 

This calendar was disappointing to say the least! It wasn't good quality at all! I would expect to find better at a local dollar store. In addition is was tacky. Including Christmas themed products as well as regular. Above is a candy cane key chain that came in one of the days. 

Here are three other examples of products. One is a tiny moon charm. This is not the only charm so actually a few days combined make one 'piece' of jewelry. The dangling earrings have a clear bead on the end. I would not wear 90% of the products that this set came with. 

All in all I would NOT recommend purchasing this! Save your money and buy one or two pieces that are on trend and much better quality. 

-B

Dior So Real dupe!

I first saw the Dior So Real sunglasses on Amelia Liana in one of her vlogs. I fell in love! I immediately looked in the down bar and comments to see where she had purchased them from. I was disappointed to learn they were by Dior. Only because it meant I would never own a pair. I just couldn't justify the purchase!

I waited and waited in hopes that stores would be bringing out similar styles. By then I had seen them on celebrities such as Rihanna and Olivia Palermo. Forever 21 had a pair that were larger and nice enough (I purchased the tortoise shell pair). However it was this past weekend I stumbled upon a better dupe in my eyes (no pun intended). They were from Aldo. They are $12/pair or 2/$20. I bought the black and clear and with my SPC card got an additional 10% off! 

They are not exact dupes as you would expect. The main difference is the bottom of the frames are still plastic not wire like Dior's. 

My favorite are the clear. I love the mirrored lenses. 

What do you think?! I think it's a great option for a trend piece. Especially at $9/pair!

-B

erin condren deluxe notebook.

I recently applied for a certificate program at the University of Alberta. I received my acceptance and quickly enrolled. This obviously gave me a reason to purchase one of Erin Condren's deluxe notebooks.

When you purchase a deluxe notebook and then add the 12 month calendar option the price is $50! That seemed like a lot to me considering this was just a notebook - $50 can buy you a life planner. So when I got an email from Erin Condren saying that they were offering a free calendar upgrade (worth $15) I decided to take the plunge. In addition I had a gift card which significantly lowered my total. 

I went ahead with the 8.5 x 11 pink geodes print. I opted for my initials to be capitalized. The colors are beautiful and I feel this is quite a trendy cover. I also love the durable lamination and sturdy coil.  *Sorry for the awkward angle - the covers are laminated which creates a terrible glare.

You are able to choose the start date for your calendar option. This is great so you don't purchase a 12 month calendar and only use 10 months. I chose September as that is when school starts. I received the calendar date dots to label my calendar (as it comes blank). 

The deluxe notebook came with a clear page marker/ruler which I find very helpful! 

It also includes two sticker sheets, a folder and clear pocket. 

I love this notebook and although I don't recommend it for kids to use for back to school (just too pricey), it is a great option for post secondary/work. I'm happy with my purchase and look forward to using it!

Take care!

-B

Happy Planner 2015-2016 Review

Hey there! Today I am featuring my latest planner obsession! I had originally ordered the Erin Condren  life planner for 2015-2016 but since it was delayed by over 2 months (gold foil process took longer than expected), I ended up cancelling my order. 

In the mean time, I ordered this planner (the Happy Planner) from Me and My Big Ideas website. Shipping was $27 internationally which isn't cheap but was comparable to Erin Condren. In addition the planner was cheaper ($24.99) and it had a tonne of cute stickers and accessories (most of which were $4.99 each). 

Above are some of the sticker books I purchased. Each book has 6 pages! Each book was $4.99.

I ordered two planners one for myself and one for my sister. Each planner was $24.99.

Monthly spread - nice colourful layout. 

The weekly spread is set up in a vertical layout, which is my favourite! As well it has an amazing colour scheme/theme. 

Cute monthly tabs accompanied by a monthly summary page. 

Pros:

-Disk bound

-You can remove/add pages

-Beautiful theme/color scheme

-4 different planners (all with a unique theme)

-Paper quality

Cons:

-Tabs for the first batch were not laminated. MAMBI has since started laminating the tabs

-Not extremely durable if you are taking your planner on the go (works great for me as I leave mine in my office)

All in all, I really don't have anything negative to say about the planner. At first I though the disks looked a little childish, but i have since come to really love their purpose. They allow the pages to turn so smoothly and you can flip the planner completely in half, if you wanted to. For my needs, it works great! I love the style and functionality! I can't wait to see what changes and new designs they come up with for next year. 

-B

Ban.do 2015-2016 Planner Review

Hello! Today I am doing a brief overview of the new Ban.do 2016 agendas. I fell in love with the aesthetic of this agenda last year! With it's beautiful and quirky design I lusted over the small personal sized planner longing for it to be released in Canada (Ban.do offers shipping online but unfortunately it is quite expensive to Canada). My wishes were answered when Chapters/Indigo started carrying some of their products including the 'I am very busy' planner. This year when I saw that Ban.do had released a larger size I had to order both - perhaps one for everyday and one for work. Below is the light pink/rose gold personal size and the florabunda large size. 

Please note the inside of both of these planners are horizontal layouts. They are very similar on the inside. 

above: light pink personal size planner

above: one of my favourite monthly designs

above: weekly layout

above: florabunda large planner

above: gorgeous sticker sheet (found in both sizes)

above: beautiful month cover

above: typical month layout

I did a brief pros and cons list, please keep in mind these are simply my opinions. Also I am used to using the Erin Condren planner (with a vertical layout) which I also adore. 

Pros:

-beautiful design

-color palette

-two size options

-cost

-stickers

Cons:

-thin to medium paper weight

-coil came bent in large size

-horizontal layout (personal preference)

All in all, I definitely recommend this, it is a great option for the price! Good for an experienced planner user and a first time user. 

Take care!

-B

Fanjoy - Hilary Duff - Breathe in. Breathe out. Unboxing

Hello everyone! Today I am doing my Fanjoy unboxing! I am so excited to share this with you. Fanjoy is a service that offers celebrity curated boxes. This box was centred around Hilary Duff and her new album Breathe in. Breathe out. 

The box came packaged in a larger brown box. It was packaged very well and nothing was extremely damaged. 

Inside the package was the themed box. It was very nicely styled and appeared to be very sturdy.

When I opened up this box this is what I saw. What I noticed right away was the autographed CD. Hilary was kind enough to sign 1000 copies of her CD. Those went to the first 1000 people who placed their order. I was lucky enough to receive one!

Here is an overview of the box. It included: a Breathe in. Breathe out. t-shirt, 4 exclusive Fanjoy tracks, a handmade bracelet, an EOS lip balm, temporary tattoos that mirror Hilary's own, Photo Booth style prints of Hilary and of course, her new album! For the price and the merchandise I think that it was a great deal and service. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the next artist. On the website it appears to be one of my favourite artists - Christina Perri! 

Take care!

-B