June is done, and so is half of 2024. This has flown by. This whole year is so crazy since I am for the first time in my life not working, but also doing school at home. It is all wild.

June was exciting, we had a little road trip, I spent two nights away from home, which I never do and I got to see lots of family.

Puppy time

I love puppy time, I get to spend my days with my darling Bradley, but for over two weeks we had his little wife stay with us, Sophie. Sophie is fun, cute, sassy and most importantly a good cuddler. She is a great study buddy for me.

We also celebrated Bradley's Gotcha Day. It is hard to believe this cutie has been our life for 8 years now. Here is a cute photo of him the day we got him, and now 8 years later with the same toys.

Niagara Falls

For Christmas we got Rich's dad and stepmom tickets to see Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at Fallsview in Niagara Falls. The concert was in June, so we booked an hotel for the night.

We got an early start to the day by dropping off the pups really early with a friend, so we ended missing all the traffic, so we went to the Niagara on the Lake outlet mall. I got a great hat at Colombia that has a spf of 50 and some Satsuma body wash at The Body Shop. I also got a few goodies at the Estee Lauder outlet (The Cosmetic Company Store), where I got 4 mac pan shadows for just $14. I also got some more Bumble and Bumble hot oil.

We then walked around Niagara Falls downtown area. It is super touristy, but we got fudge and that is all that matters. We also got soaked walking along the falls. I will never not be impressed by the beauty of the falls.

It then rained a lot, that we had a quick dinner with his dad and saw the concert. 

Frankie Valli turned 90 in May and well, it shows. The concert was about 75 minutes long and while he was impressive, I do not know how much he was actually singing. Sorry to say it.

We definitely enjoyed the hotel pool and hot tub, both that night and in the morning. 

Cross Border Shopping

The next morning, after having breakfast with Rich's family, we drove to the US side to check out Target, Trader Joe's and Walmart.

I am extremely neurotic and have lists made up before we go, but still got stuck for 2 hours in the line to get into the US. 

Walmart was a hit, got lots of food and goodies. Target was a bit overwhelming and I honestly did not have enough time to look around as I would like. I feel such pressure not to be there too long and the store is a mess to find things. I am actually really glad I have Shippsy now to get things shipped here from Target. 

Finally Trader Joe's was a huge success. I got so many yummy things as well as beauty items. 

I was a great weekend away.

Family Time

My sister had a girls pool party the next weekend. I got to have another sleepover. I had a blast and got some puppy love from my nephew, Stevie.

We also went and visited Rich's dad for Father's Day and the next day visited my brother and his family for diner. All very good family time. We also spent the Canada Day weekend Sunday at his father's with our nieces and nephews. So a lot of family time this month.

Neighbourhood fun

every year in June, my neighbourhood has a little street party. I went, paid my yearly dues for the community organization and got a bunch of tickets. I ended up with some cotton candy, popcorn, pizza and entered in some draws. I ended up giving most of my tickets to a neighbour who has 4 kids. I also got some goodies at some food trucks that came.

I also went to the Willowdale garage sale. Willowdale is where I grew up, and I am really close to it. They put together a listing of 50 garage sales but also had a parking lot set up with many vendors. I got a little cooler the hubs had said he wished he bought last year, so a good win for me. It is nice seeing communities all come out and gather like that.

That is about it this month. I had a good time and my weekends were pretty full. I am trying my hardest to keep up with my classes, but find it a little more challenging than I would like.

I hope June was good to you.

April flew by and May is almost over. I tired my hardest to get this recap done sooner, but my computer was acting up, and I just got it some new ram today, hopefully I t can give it a bit more life.

Here is my April Recap.

Exams and a Break:

First up, I am still in school. I had exams and final projects due in April, so I got those done. I got super stressed about a project, but got perfect on it, so that felt great. I also had two group projects, that royally sucked. Why do they always suck so much, and why do I have to get the same grade as people who honestly don't even the work right? Anyways, I got 3.8 GPA, which makes me excited, I only had my one grade dragged down by group projects, so I am still a bit bitter.

I also took care of Bradley's wife, Sophie and got a few weeks off at the end of the month before classes start up again.

The Eclipse:

The eclipse that happed, didn't really happen in Toronto. Right as it was going to start, it got real cloudy. We did get the fun experience of it getting very very dark in the middle of the day though. We also went to Krispy Kream and got their eclipse donut, which was very tasty.

Anniversary:

Rich and I celebrated out 24th anniversary in April. We went to a Hot Pot place near by to try out for out date. We have never got for Hot Pot before, and went to Hot Pot 9. It worked off a QR code on our phone and the staff explained nothing to us. The food was good, but we were incredibly clueless. We didn't have ladle or bowls, it just was a bit of mess. The staff also vanished. We couldn't figure out where to pay and weren't given our final items ordered because 20 minutes past and the staff was just gone. It was strange. We wont return there, but we like the idea of hot pot and want to try a few other ones in our area.

We then went to Mr. Puffs for desserts. They have such fresh puffs and I really like their dipped ice cream.

Volunteering for Earth Day:

Earth day was in April, my neighbourhood had arranged for a clean up. I spent 4 hours picking up trash and saving it from going into the Don River. 

Volunteerring for NudeStix:

Last year I went and did garbage clean up with NudeStix. I had a great time and felt good about it. THhs year it was downtown Toronto. We went to park and cleaned what we could up. 

After the two weeks of cleaning up, I am really thinking about volunteering with an organization that isn't too far from me to help clean up the Don Valley area at least twice a month going forward. 

The Lisa Cosmetic Sale:

The Lisa Cosmetic Sale is a favourite of mine, I go twice a year with my mom. This is the go to place to get fragrances, discontinued or gift sets. They have the best prices!! They pretty much sell the fragrances that have been taken out of stores to keep their in store stocks fresh as well as past gift with purchase or gift sets. They also have a lot of great makeup and other things. 

I didn't get much this time, but I may get more at their Xmas sale.

Burt's Bees 40th anniversary pop up:

for two days in April Burt's Bees has a pop up in Toronto. I got one of their new lip balms, a skin care item of my choice and cupcake. I also got to learn all about their skincare.

L'oreal Stand Up Pop-Up:

L'oreal had a pop-up in April (I went to this the same day as the Nudestix garbage clean up and the Burt's Bees pop-up), to help stop violence against women. It was at the Stacks Market. 

I wathced a little video and then took a little survy aimed to shut down agression to women in places like the subway. It was a noble idea. At the end I got to pick an item. I chose their hair gloss. I really am excited to try that out.

Nudstix and Knix:

I went to the Toronto Airport area to go to a Knix and Nudestix sale. I got such good deals on products. I mainly bought a lot of Nudestix that I really wanted. Knix is new to me and without change-rooms it made it a difficult challenge to make final sale choices. I ended up with 4 bras, and dislike 3 of them. Which honestly serves me right. I think it is 100% worth while going though if you already know what you like from the brand.

So that was my April, lots going on and I had a good time. Here is a photo of Sterling to leave you with.