Happy Friday! We’re heading into a super busy season around here (just like everyone else is, I’m sure) but I have just so many projects and ideas that I want to share with you right now. This back-to-school season is just so motivating and inspiring, isn’t it? I’m hoping that I can still squeeze in a good amount of blog work time here and there between photo shoots, kids’ sports, and school activities. You have to take advantage when inspiration strikes. 🙂 Here’s what we’ve been up to around here!
I guess summer is unofficially over now? Summer weather sticks around for quite a few weeks after Labour Day, so it feels a bit weird that we’re supposed to switch into fall mode as soon as September hits, but it can be really nice to have some warmer days for apple picking, corn maizes and all that too. We sent summer off properly this year with one last beach day on Labour Day weekend, so as of right now I’m feeling like we did a pretty good job of filling our summer with enough summery things and I think I’m ready for it all to come to an end. Not Jack though, we almost had to drag him off that beach when the week was done. That kid would go swimming in January if we let him. 🙂
Both kids went back to school this week! Don’t worry, I didn’t send Jack to school in his PJs, the high school just starts about an hour before the grade school here, so he wasn’t dressed yet. 🙂 It’s hard to believe that this is the last year that I’ll have two doing the whole back-to-school thing. I feel like I’ve just really perfected my bad to school organizational processes and now I guess I won’t be needing them as much. Isn’t that the way it always works? Although, next year’s back-to-school season will probably be pretty challenging in its own way with Kennedy heading to University. Anyway, for this year, it feels great to have a very normal, on-time, organized entry back into our usual school time routines and schedules.
We did a little “practice” waterfall trail just before we headed out on our trip out west. It seemed like it was probably a lame idea to waste time going to a little Southwestern Ontario waterfall just days before we went to BC and got to see the “real” thing, but actually it was a lot of fun even if it was a big smaller in scale. The moral of the story? Just get outside and enjoy some nature any way you can. You don’t always have to go on the most epic BC adventure to enjoy the outdoors.
Fiddle Leaf Fig Update! Remember how I shared how I like to fix a leggy fiddle leaf fig a few weeks ago when my little plant had gotten really tall and skinny suddenly? Well, I followed the process that I had shared in my blog post, and also moved the plant to a location that worked better for the summer season and I have five good new leaves when that had appeared while we were gone! And and extra branch that had formed rather than just the skinny, straight up growth that I was getting before. It’s just so delightful to see your houseplants thriving isn’t it? Especially when it’s because of something you did. 🙂
We harvested actual real apples from our trees! This is the first year where we got a real, usable harvest from our trees since planting them quite a few years ago, and it’s especially excited because we’ve been watching and waiting and hoping that we weren’t doing something wrong for so long. Dare I say that these apples are almost just as big and beautiful as the ones from the real orchard? I always had this vision of a perfect fall experience of walking down to the orchard with a basket to harvest our own apples for all of our fall baking and it’s pretty thrilling to see that coming to life. Of course, we’re still going to go apple picking at the orchard too, because that’s become a pretty ingrained tradition around here, but having our own apples too is so fun.
NEWS AND FINDS
-So, clearly, apple season is here and I’m excited about it. I like to try new recipes every now and then, but I have a few traditional recipes that I just have to make every year. I always do a big batch of homemade apple sauce, and here’s a list of a few other favorites!
–Our Favorite Apple Harvest Cake
–Three Ingredient Apple Danishes
–Slow Cooker Apple Pie Junk Pile Cake
Pictured above: Cropped Hoodie | Jeans | Sunglasses
-I’ve been on a bit of a lululemon kick lately. I ordered this cozy cropped hoodie for our trip out west and I was so glad I had it. Such a good, cozy basic, but with a bit of an updated fit so I didn’t feel like a slob all the time. Perfect for high waisted pants and jeans. The black pictured above is sold out now, but I’m hoping they bring this one back this winter in more colors. I sized up to a 2 and it was just right. I’m looking at this cropped crew neck now as well, which looks very similar without the hood. I also tried their Cates T when it was on sale because they had it in a stripe and my striped t was on its last legs. Loved the overall fit, the fact that it’s virtually wrinkle free and dries super quickly for a cotton t, but would probably size up again next time because I found the sleeves on the zero a bit tighter than I like them to be. Anyway, just thought I’d share some handy and reliable September-ish staples that I’ve found!
-My friend Shannon from Home Made Lovely has a book coming out next week on the 13th and it’s on one of my very favorite subjects: clutter free living. 🙂 I had the chance to preview a digital copy of the book in the spring and I just loved it. I thought that it was just brilliant how she approaches the whole decluttering process in terms of different clutter and organizational personalities. So smart, and actually so fun too! You can pre-order The Clutter Fix here and it will ship out to you when it launches on September 13th!
-Came across these really beautiful modern wine glasses for a great deal on Amazon. They’d be so great for shelf styling in a kitchen, but of course you could actually use them too! Also eyeing up these black candlesticks. A great deal and would be amazing for shelf styling with or without candles.
-Because I’m always looking for another cookbook to browse on a lazy Friday night, and because they have to be beautiful enough for me to use for styling kitchens for photo shoots, here’s my cookbook wishlist of the moment: The Maman Cookbook, Pacific Natural, Eat With Us
MORE RECENT POSTS
- Seven Days in Smithers, B.C.
- How to Fix a Leggy Fiddle Leaf Fig
- Seven Hosta Mistakes That Everyone Keeps Making
- Five Things on a Friday 8/19/22
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