My Music Playlist For Summer 2017

Anyone remember mixed tapes? Anyone??? I sure do.

Summer you have are going by so fast you should get a speeding ticket! These past few weeks there has been so much going on. Tim (husband) and I are getting our clothing business off the ground, all three of us had the stomach flu, we’re planning our holiday to Comox, British Columbia, a good friend of ours passed away, James (toddler) hit my neck out of alignment, until yesterday the weather has been rainy and cold, and I feel frazzled because I just need three hours alone to chill the heck out. Thanks for reading this because I now feel better getting everything off my chest.

*End Of My Pissmoaning*

Anyhow, I love music. It has helped me stay somewhat sane over these past weeks. I am not the biggest fan of current music so you will notice there are songs on this list from the 1970’s up until last year. So here are some the songs I am crushing on for the summer of 2017:

Don’t Dream It’s Over – Crowded House

More – Usher

Bad Blood – Neil Sedaka

Everybody Talks – Neon Trees

Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley

Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars

Things Can Only Get Better – Howard Jones

Too Much Time On My Hands – Styx

Dream Come True – Frozen Ghost

Welcome To The Jungle – Guns N Roses

Pompeii – Bastille

Already Gone – Eagles

Tears In Heaven – Eric Clapton

Pressure – Billy Joel

Let Your Backbone Slide – Maestro Fresh Wes

Angels – Robbie Williams

One Night In Bangkok – Murray Head

Panama – Van Halen

Knights In White Satin – The Moody Blues

All Fired Up – Pat Benatar

Happy – Pharrel Williams

You Should Be Dancing – The Bee Gees

Fire And Rain – James Taylor

Got For A Soda – Kim Mitchell

Goody Two Shoes – Adam Ant

Fall At Your Feet – Crowded House

Looking Out For Number One – Honeymoon Suite

Sing – Ed Sheeran

Hope you enjoyed my playlist and maybe found one or two new songs you will like. What’s on your playlist for summer? Let me know in the comments below!

Just popping by...

Just a quick note to say “hi”! And to announce that I will be having an awesome giveaway coming up hopefully next week. You will not want to miss this one. I also want to thank everyone who takes the time out of their busy schedules to read and comment on our blog. It means the world to us!

Thanks!

Joelle & Zeke

Blogging - The Dos And Don'ts Of Working With Brands

Looking to monetize your blog? Working with brands is a great way to do so. Am I ready to quit making money elsewhere in order to blog full-time? Definitely not. But along the way I have learned what works and what doesn’t when working with brands. Today I’m going to share my dos and don’ts with you.

Do A Check To Make Sure You’re Being Professional

So often I see bloggers swearing on their Instagram Stories or worse yet calling out other companies by name who have done something wrong. This is so not professional. Think about blogging like having a nine-to-five job. Would you swear at your job? Would you dress inappropriately? Would you bad mouth others? If not then don’t do it when you’re representing your blog.

Do Your Research

With the invention of the Internet, it has never been easier to get information on anything you need to know and yet people have never been lazier. I can’t count how many times I have been asked things that someone could just Google. Make sure you do your research before you contact a company to request working with them. They don’t want someone to represent them who comes across uneducated or needing hand holding.

Do Contact The Company First

I see it all the time. Bloggers who are sitting around and waiting for brands to contact them and work with them. Don’t wait! If you see someone you want to work with, contact them. Make sure to be professional and be ready with your blog information and statistics. You’ll be surprised by how many times you will get a “Yes!”.

Do Try And Be Patient

Success never comes overnight. The bloggers who are making good money have been working their butts off for many years. Getting in a flap about not making money when you been only blogging for a year is not going to help you out. What is going to help you out is posting regularly, having great content, and working prefessionally with others.

And now the don’ts.

Don’t Lie About Your Statistics

Definitely make a PR kit. There is lots of information on Google about how to put one together. However when making your kit, DO NOT lie about your blog statistics. Companies have ways of finding this information out and if you lie and they do find out, not only will that company not work with you but word will travel and you will find yourself out of many more jobs.

Don’t Over Promise

Sit down and think about what you will offer brands when working with them. Come up with something reasonable that you can provide 100% of the time. For example if you decide that what you will do for a brand includes a blog post and posting a pic to all of your social media, then that’s what you do every single time. Whatever agreement you enter into with a brand, make sure you hold up your end. I always like to go above and beyond what I promise and that has served me very well.

Don’t Get Used

Time and time again I see bloggers being taken advantage of by companies. The latest trend is “The Brand Ambassador”. Yeah that may sound really cool and official but it’s a total joke. The company wants the blogger to buy their stuff at a “discount price” and then promote said stuff for free on the blogger’s social media and their blog. So let me get this straight. Despite the “discount” the company is still making money off the blogger. Then the company gets their stuff promoted for free. Wow! That sounds great! For the company that is. What exactly is the blogger getting? Discounted product. Am I missing something here because that totally sucks! The product should be free and in a dollar amount that represents how much the blogger wishes to be paid per hour. Then and only then is it worth it. And never pay for shipping or duties.

Don’t Be Underpaid

Sadly this happens way too much! I was just approached to promote a company for a $12 product. After I received said product I’d have to post three photos on my Instagram. Oh I’d get it for free, but let’s take a look at why this is a bad idea. My photo shoot of the product would take an hour. Then I’d need to choose the best three photos. Then I’d need to edit them. Then I’d need to plan when each photo is to be posted in my Instagram schedule. Then I’d need to post each one over the next few weeks. My time spent in total for these three photos posted on my Instagram feed is approximately 2.5 hours. Take $12 and divide by 2.5 hours and you get $4.80 which is the amount I’d be making for two hours of my time. What the heck?!? That’s way less than minimum wage! Yet I see many bloggers doing this all the time. Something is dreadfully wrong here. Needless to say I turned down their offer. And you should never waste your time on such things. Know your worth and don’t settle.

Hope this helps you out when working with brands. Have I missed something important? Please let me know in the comments below. Happy blogging!

Saying Good-bye

There are lots of articles regarding death. It’s been written about so many times over the years that I’m not even sure I have anything relevant to add. Am I a stranger to it? Definitely not. I lost my very good friend and Grandmother when I was four. Then I lost my best friend and Grandfather when I was twenty-one. But it never gets easier saying “good-bye”. It’s because every person is a unique, unrepeatable expression on God’s love. I miss everyone who has gone before me but in different ways.

Why am I choosing to write about death today? It’s because my husband’s mom had a major heart attack and is going to pass away at any moment. It’s been hard to know she’s dying soon, but what’s been harder for me is watching Tim go through trying to let go of his mom. And the whole ordeal makes me think too much. “What am I going to do when my Mom dies? How could I handle Tim dying? What if something happens to James?” (my toddler). Needless to say there has been a huge amount of anxiety kicking around for the past week as I realize how fragile life is.

I converted to Catholicism ten years ago this past Easter. It was the best decision I ever made. It is truly my faith and Tim’s that is keeping us going through this difficult experience. We unquestionably believe that we will see those who died in the faith again in heaven. We just have to keep up our faith and live Christ-like until we die! This is easier said than done though – especially with my temper! Siiiiiigh.

But I’d be remiss not to mention how much beauty I have seen throughout this whole ordeal. The way the family has come together to care for her, the loving talks her children have had with her, the reconciliations that took place, and Tim’s family pushing past their grief to look after James so Tim and I could have a break and sit with her. Such compromise, caring, and love all rolled into one circumstance! So moving and wonderful.

I will always be so grateful to my Mother-in-law for taking me into her home when I had no place to live, for all the meals, for telling Tim to marry me (haha!), for being a loving Babcia to James, but mostly for raising the most terrific friend, husband, and father this girl could ever hope for. 

And I know in my heart that she will be going to heaven soon where there will be no more illness or sadness. And I told her the other day to say “Hi!” to my loved ones who are there and to put in a good word for me to Jesus. ‘Cause hey, it can’t hurt. And we will have another person looking out for us from above where everything is visible unlike we who are still on earth. We don’t understand why things happen or fully know Jesus. But one day when we see him face to face in heaven we will understand and know Him fully. 

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 & 13

In the meantime, please send good wishes and prayers our way. And thanks for hanging out with me by reading this post. Another day goes by…

Can we get real?

First off a big congratulations to the winner of FOUR tickets to the Mom, Pop & Tot Fair:

Christine B!!!

I will be emailing you the details today! Thanks to everyone who entered! There is still time to enter to win FOUR tickets to The Edmonton Home & Garden Show. Enter here.

I look like this right now – except I have shorter hair.

I know it’s only 8:15 pm but I feel like it’s 1 am. I used to start my party-filled evening at this time and now I’m ready for bed. How did I get so old? I am freaking exhausted and I still need to blog. Arrrrrrgh.

James my two-year-old has been in bed for an hour and I’m still wiped out. Tim (husband) had today off but we filled it with errands. And now as I sit here to blog, I’m soooooo tired. It’s not like I don’t have awesome ideas for a post, I just am too tired to do any of them. So here we are.

When I first came back to blogging after a two year hiatus due to health challenges, I wrote that this time around my blog is going to talk about real life. So here I am walking the walk instead of just talking the talk. 

Lately I haven’t felt motivated, am on a very restrictive diet for health reasons, am dragging my sorry butt out of bed each day, and feeling like I’m on some sort of treadmill or going through the motions. I gave up shopping for Lent and am trying to spend more time with God. So far so good. I’m hoping to get my fire back soon but am not sure when that will be. 

I often feel guilty for taking a break. I feel that I’m only as good as what I get accomplished. I have to drill into my head that I’m a Child Of God and as such I don’t have to do a darn thing to be loved.

So I am trying to carve our more time for me. I’m watching Riverdale on Netflix, taking baths, drinking tea, looking at all the cool fashion items for spring, singing solos at church, planning my summer vacation, focusing on all the blessings in my life, reading, and spending more snuggle time with James. I want to start meditating but I find it so hard to sit still!

Do you guys struggle with setting aside “me time”? What do you do to nourish your soul? Let’s get the discussion started in the comments below.

Snapchat vs Instagram Stories

It may seem like I am a bit late to the party as Instagram Stories has been up and running since August, however I wanted to give myself a couple of months to try it out. Here’s what this fashion and beauty blogger has to say about both platforms.

First off I’ll discuss my feelings regarding Snapchat.

When I first started using Snapchat I was immediately in love! What fun I had with the filters, emojis, etc. It runs really smoothly and it’s great that you can use old photos and videos from your camera roll. It’s also cool that you can send a snap to just one friend if you have something private to say. Just recently you can now choose what order you’d like to watch people’s stories in.

Now for the not-so-good things. I find the Snapchat interface not very user friendly. It took way too long for me to figure everything out and I had to Google how to work it more than once. Not very fun. And the ads are extremely annoying and can pop up during a snap at any time. I also feel that it is difficult to find friends on it unless you know their user name or scan their snap icon. And the last thing that bothers me about Snapchat (at least for me) is getting followers is near to impossible. And it’s not a matter of what I’m posting because I posted the same content on Instagram Stories and got lots of views.

Now to discuss Instagram Stories.

One big pro is that I am having lots of people view my content. And out of that there has been more interaction and views to my blog. You can also choose what order you want to watch people’s stories in. I found it really easy to use – only had to Google one thing. And that’s pretty much all the pros.

The con list is bigger. Instagram Stories has very limited filters and emojis – only different colour filters (no being a bee, deer, etc.) and whatever emojis you can use in a text message. It is often slow to load and freezes during videos. You can’t send a story to just one recipient you can only limit who sees what. A big bummer for me is that you can’t go into your camera roll and send whatever you want. It does allow you to choose from your camera roll, but only something taken in the last 24 hours. No throwbacks allowed! My only consolation is that I can upload whatever to Snapchat, then save it to my camera roll, then post it on Instagram Stories. What a pain though! That is also the way you can use all the fun filters on Instagram Stories too.

So it would seem that Snapchat is the way to go, however I have chosen Instagram Stories. Say what?!? Let me explain. I don’t want to spend my time trying to get followers on Snapchat. Believe me I tried for two months and I have under ten followers. I would rather spend time creating fun, interesting content on Instagram Stories and importing the stuff from my camera roll, filters, and emojis via Snapchat. It’s still a pain, but now I have the best of both worlds. I am simply waiting until Instagram Stories gets better filters, emojis, allows me to grab anything I want from my camera roll, and starts running more smoothly. Then it’s bye-bye Snapchat.

Hope this helps you out if you’re still on the fence about these two apps. Which one do you like best and why? Let me know in the comments below.

Wowzers time has flown by...

Hello everyone! I know that this is not a giveaway but it’s a Wednesday. It’s also been two whole years since my husband made this very sad post on my behalf. I don’t know where to begin or what to say. It surely has been a long time and so much has happened to me.

As you know I gave birth to the cutest baby boy in the whole wide world, yes I am that biased. But if you look at this photo you can see what I’m talking about. He is definitely a living room baby.

(Here’s what I’m talking about when I say “living room baby”.)

The downside though is that I got hit badly with what I thought was postpartum depression. In the end I found out it wasn’t postpartum depression, but just a lame term that doctors slap women with. What I actually had was post partum anxiety and it was extremely debilitating. Breast feeding was a nightmare. I couldn’t even move out of my bed sometimes. I wasn’t sleeping at all. Yeah, I stayed up for 48 hours once. I had horrible visions of hurting myself and my child. I checked on him numerous times to make sure he was breathing. I experienced anger, sadness, happy bouts or what I like to call one bout of “hapangsad”. I felt detached and not bonded to my baby. I had shame and humiliation of having other people look after my child for me because I was too incapacitated to look after him myself. Physical health challenges plagued me as well. 

Also it is with a very sad heart I need to let you know that our co-blogger Boston Terrier Cooper had to find a new home as I couldn’t handle looking after two dogs and a baby. She is now way too busy to blog so she won’t be handling Monday’s Meme any more. But thank goodness my son, James will be taking over. I will miss sharing my house and my life with my beloved fur baby but she is doing great in her new home and has three kids to play with. We miss you, Mini C! xo

Nowadays, I’m doing way better. However, I’m still not 100%. I don’t know if I ever will be, but going through all of this really showed me that I need to make some changes on my blog.  Blogging is very cathartic for me. I’ve always loved to express myself with the written word. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way I got lost with trying to keep up with the “Jonses” or maybe the “Chanels” of the blogging world. I became more concerned with followers and people noticing what I was doing rather then just enjoying blogging. So this time I’m going to do everything possible to quit running myself into the ground trying to make everything perfect. This time our blog will reflect more of who and what I believe in. My faith is the centre of my life and got me through hell so it will now be a part of our blog as well. Also our blog is going to have mistkaes and not be purfect. There are days where I’m going to look like this:

And days when I look like this:

The bottom line is that I missed writing and connecting with all of you on my little piece of the internet. I never knew if I would be able to come back and continue doing what I love. But even in my darkest hours the new ideas I wanted to possibly implement on our blog went through my head hundreds of times. A voice kept crying out, “You gotta do this, Joelle! It doesn’t matter who comes along for the ride, or if you have to stop blogging again due to health challenges, it just matters that you be you. If you keep struggling with poor health you can just keep taking breaks. It’s your blog! And Zeke doesn’t seem to mind. (Bacon is a great bribe!)” So I’ve decided that like a weed, I will just keep coming back. For better or for worse, here I am.

Because that’s real life and real life is beautiful. It’s as if my freshly bathed toddler knew I was writing this and took a dump on the floor. Note to self: Do not blog while James is awake and running around in his bathrobe.

“Whatcha doing, Mom?”

Got to go and put him to bed. One moment please…

Okay I’m back. *chomping on chips and salsa* So great I can write with my mouth full. Well let’s see. These are a few of the events in no particular order that have occurred while I have been away: Snapchat was created (join me at clothesbnquite – yeah shameless plug!). China’s economy crashed. Kate Middleton had an adorable baby. Lots of fighting in the Ukraine and Crimea. Trudeau became Canada’s Prime Minister (I’m not so happy about that!). Many people have passed away like Robin Williams, Joan Rivers, Philip Seymour Hoffman, David Bowie, Glen Frey, Merle Haggard, Nancy Reagan, Abe Vigoda and Mother Mary Angelica. Florals and stripes have been in style two more times. ISIS was created and caused a lot brutal of terrorist acts. Mom jeans are now in style – never thought I’d see the day. A Malaysian plane went missing. Everyone and their dog is Kon Mari-ing their spaces. A major Syrian refugee crisis is ongoing. Fleek is a word. France and Belgium had major terrorist attacks. Fuller House has been created and is on Netflix.

So have you noticed something? For every good thing I wrote, I put a bad thing after it. And that’s life! Good stuff and bad stuff sandwiched together like an Oreo cookie with creamy white tastiness and a hard black crunchy outside. “But, Joelle!” you say, “All of the Oreo is good!” And you would be right. So then why did I use an Oreo as a comparison to good and bad events in the world? It’s because if you look really, really, really hard you can find good things in even the most horrible situation. For example, in the sadness and loss of both the Paris and Brussels attacks I saw love, faith, support, bravery, and strength. Something so awful and wrong can bring out parts of us that we may never otherwise connect with or even know we possess. On a much lesser scale, my year of hell showed me what I’m made of. I am forever changed, can share my heart with others better than ever before, and help others because of what I went through.

So my question now is are you with me? Then please come and be a part of this journey. Yes there still will be Monday’s Meme, Tuesday’s Outfit Of The Week, Win It Wednesdays, This & That Thursdays, and Zeke’s Friday’s Faux Paw. But there will be some changes. Some big. Some small. And some you probably won’t even notice that I will still be obsessing over by the time you read this! But there will be me and hopefully you. Sound good? Then let’s catch up.

What have you been up to lately? Anything you’d like to share? Please let me know in the comments below.

Colour Me Impressed - Colouring Your Hair At Home

Today I want to talk about something that many women (and some men) are afraid of – colouring your hair at home. I started going grey at twenty-five so I have been colouring my hair ever since and have gotten rather good at it. So good that no one notices, so let’s just keep this between you and me. 😉  Here are some important things to know if you’re thinking of taking the plunge:

 

1. If you want to just cover grey and you don’t have a lot of grey, or just want a temporary change, then choose a temporary colour stain. I love Clairol Natural Instincts Level 2 Non-Permanent hair colour. Because this is not a permanent hair colour, it will not change the colour of your hair from brown to blonde. However, if you have blonde hair, it can colour it a darker shade ie. brown. Even though it’s temporary be careful! If you’re blonde and decide to change your hair to a dark brown, it could permanently stain it that colour. Contact this hair transplant nyc company for more information about hair treatments.

2. If you want to actually change your hair colour, then go for a permanent hair colour. My favourites are Perfect 10 and Nice N’ Easy – both by Clairol. Both are great options with easy instructions. It’s important to know that with these products you cannot go from black or dark brown hair to blonde. For dramatic lightening, you need to first buy a colour lifting bleach (I like L’Oreal Paris Perfect Blondissima Crème) and take your natural or dyed hair colour out. When done, your hair will look white, light grey, light orange, or light pink. Make sure it dries completely and then colour your hair with the colour of your choice. I don’t recommend doing something this elaborate if you have never coloured your hair before.

3. The best way to keep roots from constantly showing is to stay within three shades of your natural colour. Otherwise you will have noticeable roots within two to three weeks.

4. When colouring hair for the first time or trying out a new shade, do it when you have lots of time and not before a big event. By lots of time I mean five to seven days at a minimum before your event. That way if something goes wrong you will have time to head to your nearest salon for some help.

So, have you ever coloured your hair at home? If you never have, would you try it now?

Some Exciting News!

I’m absolutely delighted to announce that our blog has made it into the top ten Canadian fashion blogs in the Made In Blog Awards for 2013! A HUGE thank-you to all of you who voted for us. We couldn’t have done it without you! Three blogs will be chosen out of the top ten to win some great prizes. Now we await the judging from the industry professionals…

Now for some more exciting news! I have drawn a winner for our Bubble Necklace And Jewelry Giveaway. The lucky winner is: Verena! Congratulations!! I will be emailing you soon to get your mailing address so I can send you your prizes. Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway.

I’m all fresh out of good news so I will be heading off now.

Enjoy your Wednesday. See you tomorrow!

 

Products You Need To Try

I love writing reviews to help others spend their money on products that actually work. I also am not paid or given products for free when writing my product reviews, so you can be assured that I speak the unbiased truth. Here’s what I’m crushing on these days:

Zombomb Pineapple Mango Body Butter

This stuff smells amazing! But the best part is that it sinks into your dry hands leaving them moisturized and not a trace of greasiness. It’s not listed on her website, but you can ask for it. It’s sold in a small tub for $3.

Kevin Murphy Fresh Hair Dry Shampoo

A few months ago I went for a hair cut and colour. My colourist suggested I try dry shampoo because if you wash your hair less, you keep your colour longer. I tried this product and loved it! The smell is wonderful and it zaps the oil from my scalp so well that I get two extra days of not washing my hair. It’s $30 for 5.25 oz.

Satin Hands Pampering Set – Peach

Living in Canada I get really dry hands in the winter. Luckily I found an awesome solution to my dilemma. Using this kit once a week my dry hands are a distant memory. This package contains a scrub, hand lotion, and more emollient hand softener for $51. If you’re not into the peach scent, it also comes in unscented. I’m not into a lot of scented things, but this peach smell is amazing and reminds me of a summer day which will also help get me through the long winter ahead.

CoverGirl Lash Perfection Mascara

I expect a lot from my mascara. It must not cost much, dry quickly, add volume, and have no clumps, flaking, or stupid oversized brush. Enter CoverGirl Lash Perfection. It lives up to my mascara expectations and I don’t leave home without it. It costs anywhere from $5-$7.

e.l.f. Brushes

No, I’m not talking about tiny brushes for magical critters. I’m speaking of the line of inexpensive brushes made by a company called e.l.f. (it stands for eyes, lips, face). I can’t review all of them but the three I own are wonderful. I use the e.l.f. Essential Eye Shadow Brush for eye shadow, e.l.f. Essential Eyelash & Brow Wand to brush my lashes, and e.l.f. Essential Defining Eye Brush to fill in my brows. At $1 each what are you waiting for?

Hope my reviews help you!

 

 

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