2013 in pictures ...

I'd like to share some random and some of my favourite photos each month of the year, 2013! Enjoy :) x

JANUARY

HAPPY NEW YEARS 2013! I screenshot this right when the clock strikes 12 on Jan 1!

 The night before my winter semester in uni starts, I slipped and fell and scraped my shin pretty bad I needed to go to the ER and got 4 stitches. Yup, this is my first time I've ever had stitches mind you, I was not impressed.

FEBRUARY 

 Valentine's Day 2013 :) My first Edible Arrangement. I wasn't disappointed! :)

The MAC Marilyn Monroe collection also came out. The only thing I bought was this lipstick that I am still obsessed with until today!

MARCH

We went on a construction site to see our new place we were moving into. I wanted to keep that hot pink helmet haha who knew construction can be trés chic?

I dyed my hair the darkest shade of brown this month. I naturally have really really dark hair (almost black) so this was almost as close to my natural hair colour as it can be. I don't normally dyed it this dark, but for some reason this month I decided I missed my dark hair.

APRIL

My birthday present from my friend, Jessica! She works at MAC now as a makeup artist and we both have a huge passion for makeup! :)

At the end of April-beginning of May, we were given the clearance to move into our new place! We finally got the keys to our apartment after a year of waiting. We were so happy!

MAY

This is our view from the roof of our new place! Breathtaking <3

And I celebrate the first night of moving in by taking a much needed and long awaited bubble bath

JUNE

It's officially summertime and I love that we have a balcony that I can tan on. Charlie likes to tan as well haha

We went out to a restaurant on the harbour one night. It was absolutely beautiful and the weather was amazing. I snapped this beautiful sunset and city/skyline with my phone of the city.

JULY

Me rocking my red and white on Canada Day (July 1)

And we went to a beach once that month. We don't go that often because it's always too crowded as you can see from the background haha

AUGUST

Poor little Charlie got sick so he had to wear the cone of shame for almost a month!

We took an end-of-summer vacation to PEI (my first time there!). This was taken on their famous red sand beach. I want to take my whole family to PEI when they come to Canada for my graduation. It is such an amazing vacation place and I loved it!

SEPTEMBER

I went lighter again with my hair and this is my 'Brat' beanie appreciation pic. I'm obsessed.

This month, I also interned for the Special Events team for the Atlantic Film Festival. I had to make flower arrangements and table and entrance decor. This masterpiece you see is the entrance to the Opening Night Gala. This is my biggest flower arrangement, my decor, my idea. I received so much praise and compliments and I was really, really proud :)

OCTOBER

Next to Christmas, Halloween is one of my favourite holiday ever! This year Mike dressed up as a Muskateer (he took pride in growing his moustache since the summer), Charlie is a little dinosaur or dragon (we couldn't decide), and I was a flight attendant :) (We always say we were going to dress up matching as a couple but we never ever do!)

Charlie the dinosaur/dragon

NOVEMBER

I dyed my hair bright red (the reddest I've ever been) and I loveeeee it!

We started decorating our place for christmas. This is our bedroom. I am obsessed with fairy lights. And I also had a baby white and pink christmas tree on my night stand :)

DECEMBER

This is my favourite pic of Charlie and I. We had a mini photo shoot one day and I was able to capture many silly faces Charlie always make. I friggin' love him!

Our little family on christmas morning. This pic sums up the whole year. It has all of us, my little family, and our silliness.

Thank you so much for taking time and journey back through this year with me! Until next time :) from Film with love, xx

Hidden Treasures

Hi guys! Sorry for being MIA the past week. I've just been enjoying my free time before my summer class resumes (which is this Thursday :'( boo, I'm so bummed out). Anyway I want to show you 2 of my all-time favorite books that I love.

The Honest Life by Jessica Alba and Treasure Yourself by Miranda Kerr

I've had Treasure Yourself for several years now, since it first came out back in 2010. I ordered it through Miranda Kerr's organic skin and body care line Kora Organics website because I wanted to try her skincare products as well (which I will be dedicating a whole blog post towards in the near future so watch out for that ;)). Treasure Yourself is a self-improvement book written by one of my role model, Miranda Kerr, filled with fun and personal stories and advice. The second half of the book finishes off with many positive affirmations. Treasure Yourself became my bible and it is because of this book that lead me to live a positive life. I currently have 2 copies. One is here with me in Canada and one is back home in Thailand, where my family can enjoy it as well. I love this book so much. Not only because it is a light, beautiful and fun book to read, it will also change your life. I cannot wait for Miranda to write another book. I will be first in line to pick it up!

Positive Affirmation

The Honest Life: Living Naturally and True to You is a lifestyle book written by Jessica Alba. It is a collection of tips and tricks on how to create a happy and healthy lifestyle and covers everything from healthy food recipe in under 20 minutes, to what non-toxic and safe household products to use, some organizational tips to great beauty how-tos. 

This book is mainly geared towards families with kids but since it's just my boyfriend, my puppy, and I at the moment, this book is an amazing read to educate and prepare me for the future (when the time comes for us to have our own children :)). But kids or not, The Honest Life contains heaps of useful information I now utilize in my everyday life. The Honest Beauty section is my favorite :) (forever a beauty lover!). Living a positive lifestyle is good, but that combined with a healthy lifestyle is great!

 Beauty Tips

I highly recommend both of these books. If you like self-improvement books like I do, these two are on top of my list! So swing by your local bookstore and give these books a peek. I guarantee you won't regret it!

from Film with love

xx

Mid-month INs & OUTs

It is currently mid-July and I figure I will just go ahead and do my ins and outs of the moment.

INs

• This beautiful weather = 25+ degrees, the sun, the beach, going out on the boat..... summer, in general ;)
• Blogging! Need I say more? :) I am absolutely head over heels in love with writing my blog. It's my little baby!
• Planning for a road trip! No better way to end the summer with a road trip. We (my boyfriend, his parents, and I) are going on a weekend getaway at the end of this month! I am so excited!
• The Sims 3. Childhood favorite, forever a favorite. In the beginning of the month I rediscovered my all-time favorite game and almost every evening after I get home, I'll hop on the game for a couple of hours and play. Total relaxation time and it's always nice to reminisce good ol' memories ❤
• Tanning. I believe everybody looks better a little sun kissed ;) Nothing like a golden glow and bronze skin to enhance your natural beauty (& wearing less makeup in the summer).
• Being lucky. Or rather, having good karma. I don't know what water it is my boyfriend is drinking but I want some. Every single day, something amazing happens, and everything seems to be working out perfectly in his favor. I have to admit, I am kinda jealous.

OUTs

• Being unlucky. While my boyfriend is being rained with good fortune, I am cursed with bad luck. For the past 3 days things have happened to me (that I don't ever want to repeat) and left me extremely upset and confused with the general human population (see below, 'outs' #5).
• Tanning. Don't forget your sunscreen. Or else you will get burn. And getting sun burnt is NOT fun. Plus you don't want to be tanning for too long (hello pre-mature wrinkles and leathery skin. non, merci!)
• Having no air condition in my apartment unit (... but they somehow have air conditioning outside my door, in the hallway area). Last night around 3 AM I legitimately got out of bed, went outside my apartment unit, stood in the hallway for 5 minutes just to cool off. There is absolutely nothing worse than sweating in your sleep!
• Being inconsistent. Whether it is going to the gym and working out or sticking to 'clean eating' habit. I will do it for 3 days straight, then I will take 5 days off. Then I will start all over again (usually on a Monday) and repeat.
• Rude and mean people. I will never ever ever understand why people feel the need to be rude and mean for absolutely no reason (this ties in with my first 'outs': bad luck). I try so hard everyday to live life in a positive light, do good, and surround myself with only positivity and good vibes. Lately I have been attracting negative energy and bad vibes and I have absolutely no idea why. I strongly believe in karma so maybe I've just been hit with bad karma so whatever it is I need a good cleanse by reevaluating myself so I can see what I did wrong. 

Remember: life is short, smile often.

So that is it for this month's ins and outs. Feel free to share with me your current ins and outs! Until next time :)

from Film with love,

xx

Summer Essentials

So we are currently in the heart of summer (hi July! I can't believe we are already more than half way through this year, 2013! Crazy!), I would like to show you guys what I called my summer essentials.

So whether I am going to the beach or simply up to my roof to tan (I live in a beautiful apartment building and even though I have an adorable little balcony, it is simply too small to lay out), these are what I take with me.

First and foremost, a beach towel! I got mine from Winners. It is by Cynthia Rowley. I absolutely love the print and its fun colors. This is by far my all-time favorite beach towel to date!

Next is probably one of the most important thing you should always bring (and use!) when you're out and about in the sun: sunscreen. That's right. I know, I know, everyone have preached the importance of sunscreen over and over. But to be totally honest with you, I myself have never been one to use it. They are so thick and sticky and I just hate them .. especially when you want to lay out on the beach ... hel-lo?! I don't want to roll around on my towel with a sticky body where sand is going stick all over you. Nuh-uh. No thank you.

But behold .... after much researching (yes, I actually researched for sunscreen) I have come across this : 

This baby right here is by a brand called Coola. It has SPF 35, is a spray (easy to use and non sticky!), smells totally delicious (Pina Colada! Who doesn't love the smell of coconut?), and on top of it all, ORGANIC! (score!)

This 180 ML bottle of goodness cost me $25.30 CA (it was so hard to find around where I live, but luckily I found one at a local massage and spa place. It was on sale as well! (good timing or what?). But you can find it online here. I wanted to try their other scent Citrus Mimosa too but they didn't have them at the place I went to. That's okay though because I love my Pina Colada one :) Oh, they also have an unscented one if you like yours to be completely au naturale! 

Now, I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about tanning by laying out in the sun. Since where I live, we only get to see (and feel) the sun for a total of 2 months (3 if we're lucky ... 2 weeks if we're talking about this year so far) in a year, I like to lay out as much as I can. I don't go to tanning beds but I do use sunless tanner during the colder months. When I do lay out, these are the products I use.

Hawaiian Tropic Dark Tanning Oil is what I reach for before I lay out. I'm not too crazy about tanning oils and have not used it enough to tell a difference so I wouldn't worry about it too much when it comes to summer essentials but I thought I'd mention it anyway!

At the end of the day when I got home from the beach or wherever I laid out I usually take a quick shower to wash off all the sweat and the occasional sand that might stick on me. After I get out of the shower, I reach for my Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration After Sun Lotion. This stuff is hands down the best ever! I love the smell (coconut papaya!) and how hydrating it is. Most importantly, it does not leave my skin feeling sticky like most lotions do afterward. As you can see, I am almost all out of it. I love and use this stuff so much - this is my second bottle this summer!

Next, you can't forget your sunglasses and a big floppy beach hat! They are a necessity as you need to protect your face and eyes from the hot sun!

My sunglasses are Ray-Ban Aviators from the Sunglass Hut. I got my wide brim floppy hat from Icing. Turquoise/mint is my new favorite color and I love the color accent and rhinestone trim (very Kardashian! ;)) the hat has.

I always bring lip balm with me everywhere I go and I really like EOS lip balm in Summer Fruit. It keeps my lips hydrated and smooth and taste oh-so-good as well.

I also like to bring something light to read with me. I usually go for magazines. They are always fun. I recently picked up the latest issue of Teen Vogue. I don't remember the last time I read Teen Vogue but Emma Watson was on the cover and I've always love her so I figure I might as well pick it up.

Sometimes I'll take my ipod with me. But I always listen to music on my phone anyway, so ipods aren't really necessary. I found this beast recently (I've had this classic ipod forever ago and I thought I lost it but nope, it's been in my gym bag all along!) I decided to throw it in my beach bag.

Last but not least, we must never forget to bring water with us! This is more important than sunscreen in my opinion. Remember to always stay hydrated :)

PS. Can you see one of my hair on Emma Watson's face. LOL, major fail. I swear, I shed soooo much you could make a wig out of how much hair I shed everyday. It drives my boyfriend absolutely crazy. My hair is everywhere and pretty much in every thing. Hahaha, oops. Well .. what can I say, long hair don't care? ;)

Until next time,

                        from Film, with love
                          xoxo