“When night comes on with song and tale we pass the wintery hours;
By keeping up a cheerful heart we hope for better days.
We tend the cattle, sow the seed, give work unto the ploughers.
With patience wait till winter yields before the sun’s fair rays.”

The Seasons by Loreena Mackennit

 

As the end of the year nears I find myself contemplative about 2017.  This past year has been one of big changes. Positive ones . It has also been a year of discovering through these changes, that my own inner strength and faith in a universal plan are intact.

But this entry today isn’t about going deep. It’s about the pleasure and happiness that mundane material goodies bring to our lives.  I don’t mean this in a shallow way.  I still meditate every day. I donate to charity.  These things (some I received for Christmas) are things I’ve been loving, using and enjoying this month.

 

SNOW

We rarely get snow in Vancouver because we’re at sea level.  It’s a great selling point about the city, the warmest in Canada.  Our winters are mild and so are our summers.  This year however, an arctic vortex blanketed us with a few snow storms and although our city is not equipped for this kind of weather and although many people weren’t able to get to work for lack of winter tires and problems with public transportation, seeing the snow fall was so peaceful. It’s sheer magic to be warm indoors and watch the trees and the city transform into a winter wonderland.

 

Snow Globes

A couple of years ago I decided to start collecting snow globes because I’ve always found them to be magical.  Something about them, the scenarios, the music box melodies, suck me in. I find them very relaxing.  I started asking for one for Christmas and I now have 5. This year my sister gifted me this owl one based on the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. This and the others below are ones that adorn my mantle.

 

 

 

 

The Art of John F. Carlson

We recently moved and I’ve been shopping around for some nature art for our bedroom.  During my research I came across these forest paintings by  John F. Carlson, a Swedish born American impressionist painter.  I haven’t however been able to find any prints of his work sadly.  I would really love one or both of these to adorn my walls.  The first is titled Forest Silence. The one below is Brooding Silence.

 

Amazon Kindle

I consider myself an avid reader.  When I’m not reading a book, I’m reading 2 or 3 at a time! I do love and will continue to purchase physical copies of books that I really want to keep in my library, especially occult books which I have an extensive collection of. But for the road I’m excited to have gotten a kindle and have already purchased 3 books that I’ve wanted to read for a while.  Thank you to my sweet boyfriend.

 

Tea

I always look forward to getting tea in my Christmas stocking.  As a non coffee drinker, I sip tea all day. Both at home and at work, one of my most common choices being peppermint.  I also love chocolate (not tea but just in general lol). My favourite ice cream flavour is mint chocolate chip.  When I found this Mint Chocolate tea in my stocking this year I was very curious to try it.  It smells exactly as it should; warm, chocolately with deep peppermint undertones.  It tastes even better!

 

Fab Fit Fun Box

I read about this subscription box a few times throughout the year in a few fashion magazines. Then I saw some celebrities unboxing their Fab Fit Fun boxes on Facebook.  I wasn’t sure if I should subscribe or if it was too good to be true. After seeing their Autumn box my curiosity got the best of me and I added it to my Christmas list.  I was so excited when my boyfriend told me he’d bought me a subscription! Basically you pay a yearly subscription of $179 and receive a box each season.  The one below is the introductory or “editors” box.  I will then receive the Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter boxes for a total of 5 boxes.  As you can see below, all the products are full size (no samples) and are focused on fashion, fitness and fun!  Everything in my Editors box is amazing and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year brings.  You can also purchase just one box for $49.99. The total retail value of the items in each box surpass $200 so it’s a deal which ever way you choose to go.

 

The editors box includes:  plaid blanket scarf,  “happy” engraved necklace, ORG skincare full sized facial exfoliant (retails for $44 alone!),  Zoya nail polish, Anderson Lilly body butter, Marrakesh argan oil hair treatment, lip tint, “Good morning gorgeous” coffee/tea mug, colouring book and pencil crayons.

 

I hope you enjoyed my last edition of favourites for 2016.

Love,

Jennifer