Last Empties Video and Sample Challenge Results

Post-TIFF blog catch-up continues! In today's post, I'll be sharing my latest empties video, featuring products I used up in June, July, and the first half of August. I didn't include any foil packets in this video because I was still on my 3 Month Beauty Sample Challenge at the time. If you've watched this video, you'll know that this will be the last empties video on my YT channel for the time being. Instead, I'll be experimenting with posting my empties on this Instagram account. There are a couple of reasons for this: (1) I'm starting to get into a groove with products so I feel that my empties videos have become a bit tedious and repetitive, and (2) I'm trying to live more simply and I don't want to hold onto empties for months at a time. I still want to share my empties and what products worked (or didn't work) for me, so I'll be employing a more just-in-time method via IG.



Now that we're well into September, it's also time to see how I did with my 3 Month Beauty Sample Challenge! I made a nice dent in my collection of foil packets:

• I started out with 182 samples.
• In the month of June, I finished 83 samples.
• In the month of July, I finished 37 samples.
• In the month of August, I finished 27 samples.
• I finished a total of 147 samples or approximately 80%.
• At the time of this video, I was in the process of using up 7 samples.
• I tried and decided to discard 2 samples because they didn't suit me.
• I lost track of 2 samples.

Overall, I'm really happy with my results, and I'll be continuing to post empty foil packets and minis on my Instagram account. Hope to see you there!

What I Bought This Week #37

TIFF is officially done, and I'm starting to catch up on my freelance work and personal projects! I started re-learning the flute, caught up on my memoir writing project, finished recording and editing several videos, and (finally) cut my hair. I also started a new volunteer position today. I'm only helping out with two shifts, so I'm already halfway through! This blog post is a bit late because... erg... quite frankly, it totally slipped my mind. But I'm here now! In Week 37, a few of our online orders arrived, including a huge bag of hay (which Truffle isn't eating), a bottle of Argireline solution, and Lysine (helps prevent cold sores and cankers). The rest of the things that came into our home are just the usual. That's it for what I bought last week. :) Hope you're all enjoying the beautiful weather!

What I Bought This Week #36

It's time for another installment of What I Bought This Last Week! TIFF is in full swing and I rarely have more than one consecutive hour in the condo. When I do, I'm in all likelihood sleeping. But I've been in high spirits despite running around like a chicken with her head cut off. Working at TIFF has been a lot of fun and I can't believe I only have three shifts left.

Heading into the film festival, I was preparing myself for 11 days of convenience food, but Costco saved us. Since I was scheduled to work last weekend, Hubby went to Costco on his own to pick up a short list of grocery items and we've been able to eat relatively healthy this week. The salmon in particular provided us with several nourishing meals that were also quick and easy to assemble. We've since eaten it all, so we plan to have convenience food for the next two days. Between a WhatsApp convo with my sister and the screening of Parasite last night, a large part of me is severely craving instant noodles.

What I Bought This Week #35

Happy September, everyone!

It's tomato harvest season and a couple of my good friends generously shared some of their garden bounty with me. The tomatoes have been delicious! Hubby and I have eaten a bunch, both fresh as part of a cheese & nibbles board, as well as cooked in various dishes (a yummy garlic shrimp pasta with garden zucchini & tomatoes and an uber delicious tomato risotto). Such good, clean, and healthy food! Of course, we've been indulging outside of the home as well, especially this long weekend.

Fun fact: I left my full-time job exactly one year ago as of this long weekend! That's cause for celebration, but we'll hold off until after TIFF. We've had a few mini-toasts here and there though. :)

In terms of groceries this week, I took advantage of an Amex Shop Small promotion to buy two varieties of La Croix: peach-pear and berry. La Croix is in its heyday right now. I've heard so much about it but never tried it until a couple days ago. It smells INCREDIBLE but tastes similar to other flavoured sparkling water. I do like the flavours we purchased, especially the peach-pear and I'm curious to try some of the other flavours. Have you tried this drink? What flavours would you recommend?

Now for some big news. Hubby and I found our new favourite flavour of ice cream! It's rare that hubby and I have the same favourite flavour as our tastes are rather different, but we agree that the Haagen-Dazs chocolate peanut butter ice cream is our winner. It's basically Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream with ribbons of peanut butter. The salt in the peanut butter provides the perfect contrast to the sweet ice cream. I love that there are no actual peanuts, chocolate chips, or chocolate chunks in the ice cream itself. Mmmmm!

What I Bought This Week #34

Long time no blog. I've settled in nicely to life at TIFF and I'm happy to report that I feel energized by the atmosphere and interaction at work. It's nice to learn something new, be in a high energy environment, and speak with so many different people on a daily basis. That being said, I'm also thankful this is a contract position because I've fallen very behind with my creative pursuits. This blog post is two days late, I haven't vlogged in three days (so much for Vlogust), I haven't finished editing my August podcast episode, and the list goes on. I'm going to take it day by day though and enjoy the experience. I'm incredibly excited for the buzz in the city when the film festival starts -- and this time, I'll be even more immersed in it.

I can't believe we're a stone's throw away from September. This month has gone by extremely quickly, but I've spent a lot of quality time with family and friends. I hope you've been enjoying the last bits of August! Without further ado, here is the latest installment of what I bought this week.

What I Bought This Week #33

This was my "reset week" following last week's food-laden staycation. I got back to relatively healthy eating and finally started feeling hungry -- just in time to indulge again this weekend! A few things of note that I brought home this week:

Oxbow Joint Support. The last time we took Truffle to have his teeth trimmed, the vet suggested we start giving him a joint supplement now that he's a bit older. We bought him a bag of Joint Support tablets from Amazon and he has been loving them! He's quite a picky bunny so we weren't sure if he would actually eat them. I haven't noticed any behaviour changes yet, but I did have a dream that he was doing massive binkies and running around at warp speed.

Delta Faucet Thing. I have no idea what this is but hubby noticed one of the faucets of the bathroom sink leaking a bit of water. He's fixed this issue before so he bought the part we need to get this resolved.

Treats! Hubby and I went to our friend's place on Saturday for a pizza party and there was so much food that she sent us home with a nice goody bag. We took the rest of the spicy chips and the spicy hummus, since no one in her family is into spicy food. She surprised us with a deliciously chocolate-y cake for our 10th wedding anniversary, which was beyond lovely. Her family isn't into chocolate-y goodness either, so we happily brought the rest of the cake home. Our friend's sister also has a thriving vegetable garden and she gave us one of her HUGE zucchinis. Amazing!

This summer's been so much fun and it's not even over. I feel very lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life, and I am incredibly fortunate to have the freedom to enjoy so many new experiences. The gap year fun continues from late August into early September! I'll be working at TIFF this year with one of my very good friends. My schedule starts next week and it's rather intense, so I'm going to have a bit less time over the next three weeks. That being said, working at TIFF was on my list of fun jobs I wanted to try during my gap year, and I'm super excited to see how I'll like it. :)

What I Bought This Week #32

Staycation week was a huge success!! We'll definitely be doing that again. We spent most of our time exploring different neighbourhoods and trying a variety of eateries. As a result, we didn't bring much into our home this week -- but there were a few things.

We went trampolining for the first time at Sky Zone and had a blast!! You have to buy Sky Socks (regular socks but with grippy stuff at the bottom) to be allowed on the trampolines so hubby and I each added a pair of socks to our collection. They weren't too expensive at $3.50 per pair and we'll be able to use them the next time we go to Sky Zone.

We bought a few groceries as we had family over yesterday -- after a successful escape from Bad Blood: Death Row at Escape Manor, we played Catan on our building's terrace while munching on mostly healthy snacks. One of my sister's friends brought durian so hubby was a very happy camper. I didn't like durian the first few times I tried it but this one was sweeter, creamier, and less pungent so I didn't mind it at all! My sister gave us all souvenirs from her recent trip to Portugal -- the five of us choosing which key chain we wanted was entertaining in and of itself.

Overall, hubby and I had a great staycation week, but it's back to our regular routine after one more family dinner tonight. I plan to catch up with a lot of my creative endeavours, meet up with friends, and get back to healthy eating. My first August vlog will be posted very soon! Hope you've all been enjoying your August!