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pure happiness…

Pure happiness is…

Mother’s Day ~ a beautiful day I get to celebrate for the sixth time in my life.

I feel so blessed and grateful to have such a darling daughter who showers me with kisses,
reads in the sweetest voice and talks so much,
I loose track of reality and think we really will have a fairy come visit.
She skips along with me on our walks,
sings the most beautiful songs,
tastes every recipe and brings her own creative vision to our cooking already.

She is my Pure Happiness from the day I wake up to the time I go to sleep.

I often tell her… “mommy once made a wish, and you came true”

So, on Sunday, I woke up to little giggles and the sweetest words of a poem recited especially for me.

I was invited to the kitchen for a beautiful breakfast spread prepared by the great team of daddy + daughter.

There were hand picked tulips from our garden, fresh fruit and waffles! My favourite! ;)

Daddy made the best job of making awesome gluten-free and vegan waffles.
He says the recipe is secret, but I will try my best to get him to share ;)

We had a lovely breakfast when we just enjoyed the time stopping still for a moment of this beautiful thing called life.

Yes, in my perfect moment of life there is my family and waffles ;)

When we were all done eating… the Mother’s Day celebrating switched from being about me, to being about my mom.

Me + two of my sisters and our kids took a 1 hour trip out of the city to surprise our mom…

Our mom was stoked to see us and couldn’t stop smiling ;)

(a few days prior she said she couldn’t come out to see us, we didn’t really have a plan but hinted secretly between us that we could just surprise her.)
Our mom is a great hostess and we were worried that if she knew we were coming, she’s get so busy cleaning the house, grocery shopping and cooking that this could have worn her out. And that was far from the point. We wanted her to do nothing. So we came packed with groceries and food + my baking ingredients and we just went and showed up at her door ;)

It was a perfect day…

We made a nice light lunch and then I baked dessert with my little sister.

The best Mother’s Day ever, because we made it all about our mom.

She is one wonderful woman that I’m lucky to call my mom.

She raised six of us kids practically all by herself, as my dad died when we were kids.
If you look up Superwoman in the dictionary, her photo is right there, true story.
Love you mom and thank YOU for everything.

Happy Belated Mother’s Day to all, Please do share how your day was?

What’s making you happy right now?


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Mother’s Day Gift Guide : to your health & happiness mom

 

1. Natural Vitality : Natural Calm, The Anti-Stress Drink

Natural CALM®—The Anti-Stress Drink: Natural Calm is the multi-award-winning solution to both restoring healthy magnesium levels and balancing your calicum intake–the result of which is natural stress relief. It is the top-selling magnesium supplement in the natural products market.

2. Crazy Sexy Kitchen by Kris Carr

A cookbook from the fame of Crazy Sexy Life – Kris Carr has been my inspiration for years now and I love this cookbook – Moms of all ages will love it too – you don’t have to be a foodie to eat healthy and make green smoothies! Kris makes is easy and fun!

3. Eli’s Body Shop : (from left to right) Anti Aging, Spot Remover, Black Soap

Which mom wouldn’t love beautiful natural skin care products? And without any gunk or fillers or toxins – these products from Eli’s Body Shop are completely pure and natural and nourish the skin for a healthy glow.

Anti Aging Moisturizer is pure therapy for wrinkles and blemishes. Nourishes, revitalizes, firms and beautifies.

Spot Remover (night cream) is a unique therapeutic spot/mark moisturizer. Tones, fades, firms, nourishes, revitalizes and beautifies.

Black Soap Facial Cleanser is a unique antibacterial and antimicrobial deep facial cleanser. Therapy for oily skin, acne, eczema, wrinkles, dead skin cells, blemishes, rashes and other forms of facial conditions. It revitalizes, energizes, rejuvenates, restores and firms.

4. Katie Daisy : LOVE print – hand painted print

Katie creates happiness with her beautiful floral and nature inspired prints. Any one of her prints will surely put a smile on mom’s face every morning.

5. Natural Vitality : Energy 28 – Energize Naturally

Energy28—Whole‐Food Energizer: Energy28 delivers sustainable plant- based natural energy from whole‐food and herbal sources. It supports your body’s energy needs without the ups and downs and strain on the nervous system of caffeine-based energy drinks.

6. Naosap Harvest – Canadian Wild Rice

The Naosap Harvest wild rice is a stable item in our pantry, and as a mom myself I appreciate quality food that is pure and nutritious. This certified organic wild rice is gluten-free, has NOT been genetically modified and is very nutritious. Canadian organic lake grown wild rice is a great source of fibre and iron and  protein – because only 1/4 cup provides you with 7 grams of protein. And it also triples in volume when cooked – so just 1/2 cup of wild rice will give you 1 1/2 cups of cooked wild rice. Here is a great recipe I did for a No-Meat Loaf with Naosap Harvest Wild Rice.

 

All these products can be purchase online, (follow the links above). Or they can be available through your local retailer of health products for Natural Vitality, check retail stores for Naosap Harvest or order online, Katie Daisy’s prints are available through her etsy shop, Eli’s Body Shop can be purchased online through their website or some local shops in the Toronto area.

This post has been partially sponsored. All opinions are 100% my own.

 


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I must nourish my soul…

 

I am learning to connect the dots around me to figure things out…
Figure out why I feel stuck, what’s holding me back and why I can’t spring into bloom…
into happiness and radiance so bright you could see projecting outside of me.

 

I know it’s in me – it’s been seen… living outside of my heart, body and mind before – where is it now?
Right now, my radiance is gone. Blocked, dimmed almost to nothingness.

 

Creatively I feel so powerful – but creativity isn’t power – it’s freedom, the exact freedom I can’t feel…
I feel trapped in my own walls with self-destruction mode on.

 

How much longer will I feed this misery?
I keep inviting it over for tea and sweet cake – I guess that’s what bittersweet means…
a sweetness in your mouth that tastes bitter on your tongue.
And when you swallow, each gulp turns to misery feeding your soul.

 

How can I nourish my soul and taste the sweetness like once before?
How can I nourish my soul and feel free once more?

 

I know it’s the rain whispering these words…
But what does it say, it’s not clear to me yet.

 

And yet, I know, inside these walls I cannot live anymore.
I must nourish my soul… I must nourish my soul…

 

♥ Ella

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Daily Motivation Quotes

 

 

Wishing you all a great week. xo Ella

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Happiness is… sleeping in, friends and cupcakes

Hello and Happy Monday my friends!

Things have been quiet here for a reason. Quiet on the blog that is. Not so quiet in real life. I hope this post will fill you in on some of the details in my happiness list…

Happiness is…

march break!
a week of sleeping in
pyjama days

seeing lots of friends
one trip out of the city was with my friends I knew since I was in grade school and  high school
we all sat down for tea/coffee, sweets and cake pops which I brought ;)

the three of us mamas watched three of our daughters play together…
it was quite the moment to just sit quietly and smile, realizing the years that have gone by so quickly
and us; talking, laughing and nodding to wise mom wisdom that we occasionally shared
then bursting out laughing because it would remind us of what our moms would say…

laugh out loud moments

so many of them…

good times
but no pictures of that day…
it just went by too quick and then we rushed out the door for almost an hour drive back to the city
(next time)

the rest of the week was filled with more playdates,
I invited two other friends with their daughters over – more fun.

because one of the play dates ended up at our house at the very last minute
I had nothing to really serve to my guests
(I kind of get bummed about that (yes, call me martha! ;))

so I skimmed through my cabinets and made sure I have all the ingredients to make cupcakes…
oh yes I did, and it was the best idea ever to set up all the ingredients for the girls to make their own cupcakes!  (photo #6)
You know I love nothing more than a little DIY baking station! ;)

even way better than pre-making them and of course way better than store-bought!
they of course were dairy free, egg free, gluten/ wheat free – of course ;)
and my friend was a little impressed with how they came together with such simple ingredients
and the girls were overjoyed with the little treats at the end (photo #7)

my sister also came over for a sleepover… we stayed up late and watched Water for Elephants
one of my favourite movies

we had a great big lunch the next day with collard green wraps, bohemian fish pie, veggie and tofu plates
and other randomness that came together so deliciously in the end (photos #1, #3, #4)

the kids played (photo #2)
I spilled a bag of lentils (photo #5 )
and we read lots of books, cuddled and relaxed (photo #8)

 

Other than that… spring cleaning is on my list to do
but much easier said than done.
and speaking of spring – that is no where in sight
I’m kind of done with winter by now
and daydreaming of warmer days…
spring, where are you?

I hope you’re having a good start to your week…

Please do share…

What’s making you happy right now?

.

 



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