Summer is winding down and despite the heat wave this past weekend, I noticed the leaves falling from the trees, scattered, brown, crunchy leaves on the ground during my walk to work. The subtle change in the season has begun.

These are the things I’ve been loving in August.

What I’m Reading – Green River Falling

We camped up in Northern Vancouver Island for my birthday. To get there you take a ferry from the city of Vancouver, a 1.5 hour crossing. The ferry has a great gift shop and looking through their collection of BC books I found this novel and have been in it’s grips from the first page.  Not only is it beautifully descriptive, conveying the true feeling of the geography of our soggy emerald green coast, but the story is dark and shrouded in the mysterious mist that lingers here. Set on the north coast between Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii,  Green River Falling is part of a series about an RCMP officer working from his sail boat following the trail of a serial killer who hunts pipeline workers.

 

Where I’m Eating – Hapa Izakaya

For two years, I’ve hosted my birthday dinner at Hapa Izakaya. A Japanese restaurant with a flair for the eclectic.  Their hot rice dishes served literally in a steaming rock bowl that cooks as it arrives to the table and the downtown modern city feel have been the perfect location to get about 15 – 20 friends and family around the table for a night of hot sake, great conversation and even greater food. Try their halibut tacos or the avocado salad.

 

Feeling Healthy – Probiotics

I rarely weigh myself then decided to recently and (to my horror) I was about 10lbs heavier than I had been about 2 years ago. How did this happen? and why?  Oh, right! I’d spent the last years driving every day to a job I didn’t enjoy and sat up to 6 hours a day.  In a past blog I mentioned the cabbage soup diet. Although fad-y, I lost 4 lbs in 1 week.  More than focusing on weight loss, I used it as a diving board toward a healthier lifestyle. I quit my job (with the support of my loving boyfriend), found a great new job that supports my knowledge as a Certified Aromatherapist, walk to and from work everyday and now stock my fridge with raw and probiotic food. I’ve lost  6lbs in the past month.  I feel great, energetized and inspired.  To be honest, it’s been quite easy with these small changes.

 

I Feel Pretty – Tanya Burr and Clinique

I really love make up. It’s a creative artistic thing for me.  I’m interested in recent trends and love watching make up tutorials online.  Tanya Burr is a vlogger I’ve followed for years so when she launched her own makeup line I had to try it and it’s so lovely! This month I’ve been wearing her Enchanted line of eyeshadows.   The palette comes with 4 easily blendable shades some matte, some with shimmer.
Another cult favorite is Clinique.  I’ve been faithful to Clinique ever since I learned they don’t use Colophony/Rosin in their line.  I’m terribly allergic to it and wasn’t able to wear lipstick at all for 13+ years because most lines use it.  I adore their Chubby Sticks and own so many of their shades.

 

Where I’m Going (and how Im getting there) – Garmin GPS

I take as many road trips as I can.  I’ve traversed the BC province from Revelstoke to Tofino. I usually hand-write my directions because I don’t have a cel. phone (I know.. Im weird)  and drive with my scribbled directions on the back of a napkin. My very observant and thoughtful boyfriend got me a GPS for my birthday and it should come in handy during my trip out to the Olympic National Forest this coming weekend.

 

A Place of Worship – Altars

I need a place designated to quiet contemplation at home.  A place  where I can sit and shake off all worries and concerns from the day, light a candle, breathe and just be.  I create altars each season. They can be about a period of change or representative of new ideas. They help me focus my intention.  As a Pagan I especially enjoy creating altars for the  Equinoxes and Solstices.  I have a corner near the window in my living room precisely for this and these are some of the altars I’ve made.

 

What I’m Watching – Chef’s Table on Netflix

After finishing Stranger Things, we stumbled across Chef’s Table one evening while searching for something new to view.  And what a wonderful find!  We’ve only watched 4 episodes so far and the first and third have blown my mind.  Chef Mallman is a very creative, unique, passionate Argentinian chef who cooks with fire.  He keeps true to the gastronomy of the area. Living in a cabin in Patagonia, he creates earthy dishes with meats, root vegetables and seafood with unusual methods of cooking such as fire pit steaming food as well as the traditional parrillada that Argentina and Uruguay are famous for (cooking food over hot coals). Watch it if you love to cook.  Even if you don’t, you’ll still love this show.

 

So Excited About – Autumn Leaves by Yankee Candle

This scent is Autumn in a jar and I’d been waiting to buy my years supply for months. When I saw it included in their new Fall line, I immediately bought a few which I’ll save until the temperature drops and I can cozy up in my living room under a fluffy blanket, a good book in hand and float in the crisp aroma that this candle brings to my home.  A blend of maple leaves, juniper berry, birch and pomegranate. It’s so good.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my August favourites. What have you been loving this month?

Love,

Jennifer