It doesn't have to be New Years Eve to start anew..

New Years Eve, the "fresh" feeling that a new year brings.
Just like Septembers, month starts, week starts, day starts.
To me, it does somehow feel new and hopeful.

But I can understand how others struggle during this time of year.
Seeing people recap and boast positive forwards can be tough.
You might be living second to second - that's ok.

But I do need you to know, even in the bleakest of times it's never too late to start again.

No matter what mistakes were made, what stress you're under, what was lost.

From personal experience of trudging through the lowest lows, failing, disappointing, messing up, pangs of loneliness and despair.

It feels like life is progressing for others but just won't gift you that grand gesture of a "fresh start" and like you'll be stuck forever, like there's no point in continuing.

But trust me, there is reason and beauty and absolutely nothing you can't recover from.

Your fresh start is now.

Or whenever you need it.

You don't need a NYE to start again.



Suicide Prevention and Support in Canada
1-833-456-4566

Text:
START to
45645

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
1-800-273-8255

Anytime, Any day.

Thrifty Porch Updates For Fall

It has been a minute since I've decorated our front porch and I feel awful about it.

I LOVE adding some spice out there, I've had a small handful of people stop and tell me how much they enjoy my themes/decor/holiday spirit/chalk board notes.

It brings me pure happiness to decorate.
Its so easy, sometimes as simple as googling a fun chalkboard saying.
Its the one area of the house you don't have to see all the time so you don't get tired of the "holiday" theme (etc) as fast as I get sick of it indoors.

So now that I'm feeling a bit up to it, I'm about to go ham.
Fall is my very favourite time of year, I would buy 3000 pumpkins if Nick would allow it lol.

I love our yellow rocking chair but after 3 years its seen better days (rocker from Kent)
I will eventually spray paint it glossy black but once I go there its going to be black for forever (unless I prime and spray it another colour but I lack that ambition so I'm assuming it will be black forever!)

The sun has faded the yellow pretty severely but I'm not up to spraying it this year so I got the idea from my hair stylist (Hi, Rachel!) to check out the throw section at Value Village.

I would have never thought to browse there until she mentioned it!
I figured it was all old sheets and 80's curtain sets so why bother..
BUT you guys it is a hit or miss gold mine.

Now I always creep around the old sheet section!
I had the idea of covering up our rocker with a nice throw this year to carry through.

I was invited to check out the new Value Village that opened in Bedford Commons this week and I picked up this beautiful knit number.

All of our outdoor pillows are TRASH.
They have lived their life and may they RIP.
But as you can see I've left them outside for now as place holders because I've order some new pillow covers and I'm hoping my vision comes to life!

I ordered....
Black and white check/plaid!
Is it still called buffalo plaid if its black and white or is only red and black called buffalo plaid?
I am too lazy to google but you get the image!

Here are some options on Amazon
affiliate links!*





Gingham!!!
YES!
That's it, dang it, I knew that.
Amazon helping a girl out and not even knowing it. lol

I went with Gingham because it will transition into thanksgiving, then Halloween and even Christmas if I feel like it!

Buyer beware I didn't worry too much about what fabric these pillow covers are.

Our porch is covered so any old fashion indoor pillow will hold up in our conditions but if you have a space totally open to the elements you may want to invest in something a little heavier or weather resistant.

I can't wait for the pillow covers to arrive, I'm going to pop them over our faded old outdoor cushions and call it a day!

Large impact, small amount of work and $$!



I picked up this mean girls mat at winners/homesense and its the best!
They have tons of outdoor mat options right now, I can't guarantee this exact one but they had other funny sayings!



This blog isn't sponsored by VV in any way but they did gift me a gift card at the sneak peek opening so I thought I would share a little of what I learned!





We brought a bag of donations for Halifax Big Brothers/Big Sisters Tuesday night because the donations you bring to Value Village for the non profit actually gets bought from BB/BS and puts cash in their hand and the goods on the shelves of VV.



I LOVE KEEPING THINGS OUT OF LANDFILLS.
I am not near good enough at it but I enjoy doing what I can and will hopefully get better and better.



I got this wrap and I promise you, you will spend double the money for the same thing at winners.
And I LOVE winners!
But it just makes sense to check out VV first because they had lots of options and its legit the same stock as new item retailers.



I forgot to show you my new skirts on instastories!
The blue is a brand I don't know but the tags are still on it so I googled and it seems like its sold on QVC? lol and the price was upwards and downwards of $50 for something similar.

I paid $12.49

The stripped skirt is Old Navy and I think it could be styled so. many. ways.
with tights, without tights, with booties, with tall boots, worn just under my boob, worn on the hip.

Cost $6.99!



We also found some goods for Nick, stay tuned to see what he wears to our family photo shoot!

Value Village Bedford opens Thursday!
See photo above!

TooDAloo!!

Day Dates For The Entire Family, Featuring The TD Summer Reading Club

It's so hard to believe it’s August already! How many of your little ones are feeling the summer slide?!


We definitely are.


With school right around the corner (eep! the first year of school! I can't believe it!) we've been trying to up our brain activity and give Elliott little goals to work towards, like reading and writing, which he has been enjoying so much.


Elliott loves to read, and we’ve been avid readers from the time he was in the womb.
I remember our first book purchase was titled Grumpy Cat. It always reminded us of Luna and it’s still go-to read with both Elliott and Noelle.


It’s so important to develop early reading habits with kids. Studies have shown pre-schoolers and toddlers who are read to regularly have a larger vocabulary, a better understanding of everyday life and wider knowledge of different topics that can help them embrace school life down the road.

I really believe our enthusiasm for reading has rubbed off on Elliot because he is already a book worm, which has helped him get better at writing each and every day.


Example: He is great at spelling his first name, but his last name needs some work. I have a family photo hanging in the kitchen that says, "The Clarkes" and I kid you not after I pointed out that our last name was right there, he caught on to the Clarke spelling in two days!


He’s so eager to learn, he’s gone through our personal book collection at home a few times over.
To help us expand our current book collection, we decided to join the TD Summer Reading Club. We’ve also been looking for a family-friendly day date, something educational and fun for all ages so we spent the day at the local Sackville Public Library.

As soon as we arrived, we were warmly welcomed at the reception desk and lead to meet Shelby, the youth programmer and library assistant, who is also a TD Summer Reading Club librarian.
Shelby was very sweet and had already set aside a few books she thought the kids might like -Thanks, Shelby!


Babies and animals for Noelle - she was so engaged from the get-go! (that's when I realized we need to make this a weekly date) and superheroes and dinosaurs for Elliott.


Both the kids were able to sign up for library cards which made them feel so special, swiping their very own cards at the checkout. It was such a great day for the whole family!


Before leaving we made sure Elliott picked up his TD Summer Reading Club booklet to record the books he reads. The library staff were all so friendly and patient, they encouraged him to sign his name in the booklet and talked to him about setting reading goals to help build excitement about learning.



If you haven't heard of the TD Summer Reading Club, I'm going to break it down super quick so you can get involved and keep it on your radar for next summer!


The TD Summer Ready Club is Canada’s biggest summer reading program. Even better, it’s FREE (bonus, there's also incentives for kids to join!).


It’s offered at over 2,000 public libraries across Canada, and celebrates Canadian authors, illustrators and stories. It’s designed to focus on helping kids stay engaged and explore reading in their way, creating that lifelong love of reading.


The best part is you can participate in the TD Summer Reading Club almost anywhere!
At local libraries, at home, and even online. There is something for everyone including individuals with disabilities and preschoolers.


Kids can:
· Join activities happening in libraries
· Read books online and get reading recommendations
· Track their own reading progress, collecting stickers and online badges
· Connect online to share jokes, stories, book reviews, and more with other kids across Canada

You can learn more about the program by clicking - here 


The TD Summer Reading Club is an initiative supported by The Ready Commitment, TD's corporate citizenship platform, with the mission to help create a more inclusive and sustainable tomorrow.TD's corporate .

 You can read all about the TD Ready Commitment by clicking - Here 


*This Blog Post is in Partnership with TD

18 months to become a homemaker!

I haven't really mentioned much about Nick and my plans for our upcoming maternity/paternity leave.  It all seemed like such a distant dream but we are officially getting down to the last 2 weeks before baby arrives and as unreal as it seems, everything is full steam ahead!

It is annoying because you can't file for mat/pat leave until the baby IS born so I have this constant feeling like someone is going to tell Nick, "NO! you cannot take that much time off" but realistically I know that's not going to happen, I just can't believe we are both going to be off work for such a long time - concurrently!

In Canada you can take a paid mat/pat leave for up to 18 months, this has been in the political talk for quite a while and I was waiting for it to go into effect before we had any more kids.

I think it officially started in Spring 2018 or sometime around then, Noelle was still quite young so we had some time to think it over.

It's not an easy decision to make because although you get 6 more months off work, you actually don't get any more money than if you had taken a 12-month leave.

People are already stretched thin on mat leave as it can work out to be about half of your paycheque vs physically being at work.

If you're lucky you get a top-up, my work tops up our mat leave to 93% of your paycheque for 17 weeks and then you drop down to the EI portion only which is like I said, about half your regular pay.

Nicks work tops up for much longer, Nick can take 9 months off work (pat leave) and receive 93% pay for that entire time.

As parents, we had 12-18 months to play with for mat/pat leave and we can share, split, take separately or overlap that time off.

We decided Nick will take 9 months off 93% paid, I will take the 17 weeks 93% paid and then I will take the remaining 14 months off as leave without pay.

Confusing, I know lol

There will be around a 5 month period where we will only have Nicks 93% income coming in.
(After that he will return to work and can pick up some overtime to balance my missing income on the remaining months)

That's a scary move, we're millennials we've had student loan debt and poor housing markets, high cell phone bills (lol) for as long as we can remember, saving mass amounts of money or choosing to be a stay at home parent isn't exactly an option we ever thought we would have.

But at the end of the day, we both decided we could work through a tough few months of budgeting, downsizing etc because it will be sooooo worth it in the long haul.

Getting that time with the kids will be irreplaceable and let's be real, 3 kids, daycare costs, it hardly makes sense to have 2 working parents in that situation. 

18 months!
What are we going to do with 18 months! (Nicks only getting 9! hahah sucker!)

I really want to take this time to enrich my life.
I could very easily sit down and watch Netflix for 18 months, call it a day!
(obviously, I will also be taking care of the kids lol )
But, since I do have a small case of adult ADHD I know that won't be enough.

When Elliott was born I started the blog.
When Noelle was born, I still did the blog and I started insta-stories.

Both of those things bring me so much joy, I know some won't see blogging or "influencing" as a great talent but I am telling you, I put a lot of time and work into this little slice and it fills my creative outlet in ways I didn't know I needed.

I can't imagine what I would be doing all the time if I didn't take the leap to start this bloggy, the post office is fine but it wasn't exactly my life long dream (papercuts and parcel pushing lol) and fueling any creativity...just a 100% NO WAY JOSE.

Since I've grown the blog/social media angle, I'm ready to develop some more personal habits/hobbies.



Reading!
I can't wait to get back into reading, I've always loved books, I love holding them, smelling them, turning the pages.

I haven't had much time in the last few years, if I read anything its usually a blog but I am determined to read at minimum 6 - 10 books while off work.

I already finished my book about Laci Peterson.
It was written by her mother and she felt a little bit like she was cashing in on a terrible tragedy by writing but she donated the money to a victims charity and used the book as a platform for victim services/awareness which I thought was very sweet.

I already knew EVERYTHING about this story, its one of those never forgotten stories, she was so beautiful, 8 months pregnant, seemed like an all-around lovely wonderful person.

For that, I give the book an 8/10 because I just couldn't put it down,  the personal details lead me to know both families so much better.

But if you do already know the story inside out, you may find it a little bit draggy, there are no bombshell moments, we still don't know exactly what happened to poor Laci.

If you are interested, you can buy the book here >







I am DYING to learn how to knit!
You saw me sew those little leaves on the anniversary gift Nick had given me many years ago and my pathetic little stitches are something else...

It looks like the Etsy shop where Nick bought the anniversary tree is still up, its called Tailorbirds.
Search on Etsy or click right here for the link.

My Nanny is great at knitting and I can't believe she hasn't passed down that talent to ANY of us!
She use to make me so many sweaters and hats and mitt sets growing up, I loved it.

I still love it!
At 85 she just made Noelle this ear warmer last week and I want her to make a matching set for me and the new babe!

She can't see very well anymore and can only do patterns from memory >>>>>






Marley and Me walking in Newfoundland wearing my Poppys horse sweater that my Nanny had knit him years ago.



Cooking/baking is also high on my to-do list!
I'm not bad at these things, I just don't have the time!
So, I'm hoping we can work out a better meal schedule, maybe even make a food calendar we can loosely follow to simplify the stressful "WHAT'S FOR SUPPER?!!?!" routine.

I made this blueberry lemon cake last week, you can find the recipe by click-a-licking right here!



Ok, what else should I do on this little post office hiatus??
I need to finally live up to my Holly's Housewife Life namesake and do the damn thing!

What would you learn/do if you had the time???

Underused but not unknown names for baby girl...

I've been thinking of names my whole life, whether I would be a baby momma, dog mom, cat mom, fish mom, I knew I would eventually be naming something!

The names have changed a bit over the years but for at least 10 years I had my girls' names set as Noelle and Charlotte.

I mean, for years and years and years these were in my brain...
Then came the Royal Baby #2!

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge

Came in and spread the good Charlotte name like wildfire.. (Good Charlotte.. 15-year-old me flashback LOL)

I knew then and there my plans had to change. 

I love names that are known but not overused, names that have been heard of but not caught onto the trending list... yet.

Now, no one take offence to this!
Charlotte is a gorgeous name!
I think tons of the top names on the trending lists are!

Olivia, Sophia, Emma.
All considered and adorable.

But I am stubborn and determined to find that sweet middle spot.

Don't DM me about Elliott and Noelle, I know they're not groundbreaking in any capacity but I feel like we did get them both named just in the knick of time!

Elliott and Noelle are starting to rise on the list so hopefully, they will go to school with name twins but not be in the same grade as them LOL

*I was going to name my firstborn Elliott whether we had a boy or a girl, that would've been pretty special in 2014 but since then Elliott has risen in popularity for girls. 

Onto the list!
(in no particular order)




1. McKinley (this is Nicks grandmothers maiden name, a big contender on all our kids' name lists)

2. Eden (I LOVE E & N names)

3. Jupiter (Nick loves space)

4. Willow (we love Buffy but its trending now)

5. Drew (I love Barrymore)

6. Rowen

7. Tatum

8. Bryn

9. Noah

10. Halle

11. Malia (Nick and I both googled strong women and wanted to name her Michelle for Obama but its too common so we turned to their kids)

12. Veronica (Nick wants this, I like it but I don't feel it goes with Elliott & Noelle)

13. Juliette or Julianna

14. Nellie (but Noelle is nicknamed Nellie at daycare)

15. Brielle

16. Luelle/Luella

17. Ivy

18. Joy (goes with our Christmas theme!)

19. Wrenn

20. Blayke/Blake (I want this, Nick does not)

21. Blair (same as above)

22. Nora/Norah

23. Poppy

24. Andie

25. Tess/Tessa (this is one of my favourites, Nick doesn't agree)

26. Nyree (Nyree if you read this, its because I met you at Sunnyside Mall! :))

27. Nova/Novalee

28. Navy

29. Naomi (but then she would be Naomi Clark from 90201 LOL)

30. Neve (I LOVE N NAMES. Most underused names imo.)

31. Billie (my childhood dog)

32. Shirley

33. Jessie

34. Evelyn

35. Annie (Jillian Harris took it from me, Leo was also on my boy list because it's my
Poppy's middle name. I can't recycle names I hear daily on Instagram LOL)

36. Elle

37. Juniper (see Jupiter)

38. June

What I bought on Amazon this month, July 2019...

Ok, I think this is going to be a regular series..

Things I bought on Amazon!

I happened to get A LOT this month.
I will try to do these more regularly and keep them smaller but for now, this is a pic and link dump.

This post contains affiliate links.

You've seen me wear and talk about everything on Insta-Stories so here are the links! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Kimono, you can wear daily or as a beach coverup/extra layer for those sunny vacays!
I ordered 2, turquoise and red, $24.99 each
see below >






This is my FAV! $23 >
Its a one size fits all and would truly fit a wide variety of shapes and sizes!











I wanted some inexpensive earrings and these are PERFECT for that!
4 pairs for $14





I was taking a picture of my eye makeup ^
Sometimes I find it helpful to take a photo so you get a real life impression of your makeup LOL
But this is perfect to show off the size of the earrings.





The Pedi perfect!
I had a few of you say $29 for this is a good price because they can run double that in stores!
I really like it, its a luxury item, I'm not using it daily but it does the job when I need it to.
I follow up with a foot mask immediately after.







This is the foot mask I love. $3.99 each









I've been testing razors and I've found a new favourite,
Schick!
Currently on sale for $6.98!!! I ordered 3 more packs!





Two items I purchased last month but really love are the satin pillowcases and eye mask.
The eye mask is MY FAV and the pillowcases are great but the jury is still out on what they're doing for my hair.

I flip and flop around so much at night I don't stick to a single pillow and I'm not getting the full satin experience but I like it a lot none the less.

Pillowcase $9.49




EyeMask $11.99