Category: #LazyDays&Lattes

LD&L: She’s The Man

Fun Fact: I am ALWAYS down to binge and re-watch early to mid 2000’s movies. Anyone else like that?

The Review:

What’s not to love? You’ve got early 2000’s Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum portraying dreamy Duke Orsino. Not to mention, hilarious content. No matter how many times I could possibly watch this movie, I will always laugh at the same parts every time.

As I’m sure a handful of you already know, this movie was based off of Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night. I’m someone who enjoyed English and Drama throughout my schooling (and as I obviously still do), this movie is topnotch material. I love how they were able to bring Shakespeare’s work to life in a modern and hilarious way. 10/10, would recommend for your Saturday night feature. Real question though… is Gouda your favourite kind of cheese? #notmine.

Rating: 5/5 – Isn’t it always?

This movie will always receive the highest of ratings because it never fails to keep me entertained. Isn’t that why we watch movies, read books, go to live plays? Don’t listen to the downers over on the Rotten Tomatoes website (tough crowd…).

Let’s Chat:

Here in Ontario, it seems we forgot a season and went right from Winter into Summer. Had to pop on shorts already! Do you guys have summer plans? What are you looking forward to?

I’m so excited to be working on my first makeup post. Drugstore products for an everyday look is something so achievable at a reasonable price! I can’t wait to share the content with you all. If you were able to send suggestions of products I might like over on my Instagram account, thank you! I look forward to introducing some new products into my everyday routine. Stay tuned this week for the post!

LD&L: When Breath Becomes Air

This book was an emotional roller coaster. I’m not typically one for reading memoirs, but this found it’s way into my home. Literally. My boyfriend mailed me (yes, old school snail-mailed) a copy of When Breath Becomes Air with a simple message; “I love getting mail. People should get more mail, you know”? Knowing I’m a reader, and often a fan of Heather’s Picks at Chapter’s/Indigo, he made a great choice!

My advice to readers who still love holding the physical copy of a book…take time to “old-school mail” a new book to your friend, loved-one, parent, sibling. It will brighten up their day tremendously and it’s such a simple, fun, kind gesture that goes a long way.

The Review: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

As I mentioned, memoirs often do not catch my interest on the bookshelf. With that being said, this book was a lovely reminder that everyone one in life has a purpose. That even in times of struggle, and in this case illness, your purpose in life doesn’t shrink when you put into perspective what’s most important in your life. The memoir was beautifully crafted. It was well thought out from the prologue and introduction to the closure written by his wife.

I was hesitant to read this knowing it was going to be a sad read. A book about a patient with lung cancer is not something I would have selected to enjoy in my spare time, but I’m glad I did. It brought a new perspective on how to handle devastating news, much like Paul and his family experienced upon his diagnosis. The astonishing part about reading this book was… I wasn’t overwhelmingly sad reading it. Paul presented his cancer journey as a fact rather than an emotion. Reading this, you learn about the science behind his diagnosis, the cold hard facts. Emotion at times does play a role in his journey, but it was not necessarily the forefront of how he chose to present his story. It translated through Paul’s novel that he really lived his life to it’s fullest. Despite the trying circumstance in his last year, his life always had a clear purpose.

Rating: 4.5/5

What’s coming on the blog?

Lined up, my first Wales travel post will be coming this week! I’m also working on putting together an “everyday drugstore makeup” look (something like my picture below). Of course, some more movies, more books. Are you guys enjoying the book LD&L’s or movies?

Also in the works (hopefully for month-end or a post sometime in July), I’m working on my first collab with some fellow blog readers! This post is going to be so fun to create, I love that some of you want to be involved! Thanks for following along so far!

Let me know if you’ve read When Breath Becomes Air. What did you think?

Until next time, xx

LD&L: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

Zac Efron has come a long way from the halls of East High… This Netflix film follows the evolution of Ted Bundy and his relationship with Liz Kloepfer. I’ve mentioned before in the LD&L section that I’m not normally one to go for super scary content, but… Zac Efron. Realistically, this was more of a movie with extremely creepy concepts as opposed to feeling like you can’t sleep for a week after watching it.

The Review:

I have to say, Zac Efron surprised me in this one. There were some moments where you really saw an “extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile” look in his eyes. The story was an interesting take on the famous serial killer’s story; less about his individual victims, more from the perspective of his one true love with Liz. The story maintained the alarmingly easy charm of Bundy and how he smoothly lured his victims with ease. I liked that the movie made it very clear which State and year they were focusing on when Bundy attacked. This made it easy to follow the story, the tragedies, and the personal evolution of not only Ted himself, but also his long-time girlfriend Liz.

Rating: 4.5/5

Let’s Chat:

I’m so excited that summer is just around the corner. I need some sunshine in my life! As you can see by this section, I do love my coffee and tea, but I wouldn’t mind switching it up to a patio drink every once and a while.
I’m happy Instagram is an outlet for us to chat about what I want to put out on the blog, but also what you want to see. Here were some suggestions:

  1. How I style my hair. Though not as long anymore, I would love to put out hair content. Perhaps places you can still donate hair would be a good post?
  2. More travel – yes, yes, yes. Even if it’s a mini-road trip this summer, you can bet more travel posts are in the works.
  3. More books, more movies. Every week I look forward to a lazy Sunday where I can unwind by putting out an LD&L post. I’m so happy you are all loving this sections as much as me!

What’s Coming on the Blog?

  1. Well, we’ve tackled every inch of the UK except one country… Wales. I’m working on some content to complete the whole United Kingdom on the blog.
  2. I know I’ve been slacking in one particular section. Outfits. First outfit post coming soon: 3 ways to wear a white bodysuit this spring. Keep an eye out for the post this week! Here’s a little sneak-peak:

Let me know in the comments what content you want to see. How are you liking the blog so far? Talk to you guys next week!

LD&L: Lilac Girls

One of my favourite types of books to read are historical fiction novels. My sister would disagree, but even I think she would love this one! I follow another blogger who suggested this read, so naturally, I had to go out and buy it that day. While in the book store, I had to control myself not to pick up one of everything. Who else knows that all-too-familiar feeling?

The Review: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Lilac Girls was a book that held my interest from the first few pages in. I’m a sucker for novels that feature more than one person’s story at a time; Lilac Girls was no exception. Martha Hall Kelly was able to portray the story lines in a way that were not confusing at all. I know some people who are hesitant to reach for books set up in this way because they really have to think about what’s going one, who connects to who, and what time your in. This book presented the characters in a way that made you excited to keep reading. As the reader, you didn’t want to go too long before being reintroduced to the other characters. When you were reading about Kasia, you were excited to get to Caroline. When reading about Caroline, you were wondering about Herta. This was genius and very well executed.

This historical fiction focuses on the lives of three women during WWII – each with very different roles and representations. I truly loved this book. If I can walk away from a book having learned something, it automatically deserves a 5/5 star rating. This book has it all – compelling characters, intriguing story lines, and researched based writing to back up her facts. This novel quickly climbed to one of my favourite books ever read.

Rating: 5/5

What’s coming on the blog?

As mentioned in my last LD&L post, I’d love to get some more travel posts out. One will be coming next week, so keep an eye out for something Irish!

What’s new with me?

May has been quite a busy month for me! I launched my blog (and am having so much fun creating these posts) and celebrated my 25th birthday. This has borderline turned into a “birthday month”… oops! The weather is finally starting to cooperate a little more which means…wedding season is here! To kick it off, I’m helping my friend Emily “day-of-coordinate” an event. How do you guys prepare for wedding season? Let me know all your tips and tricks in the comments below or on any of my social media links!

I’d love to know what you all think of Lilac Girls if you get a chance to read it. I hope you like it as much as I did. Bye bye bye (cue Justin Timberlake, it’s gonna be (a busy) May), for now. xxoo

LD&L: You

Welcome back to the lazy days and lattes section! I type this as I’m finishing up my late-morning latte, how fitting! This week, I’ve decided to feature the first book entry for my fellow readers.

Feature: “You” by Caroline Kepnes

Rating: 3.5/5

Whether you read the book or watched the Netflix show, I’m sure most people have hopped on the bandwagon to discover this story. I’m not normally one for “scary” books, and I also do not normally watch the show before reading the book… Netflix reeled me into the crazy life of Joe Goldberg, and the oh-so-naive Beck. Seriously girl, you live in NYC – get some curtains.

I was browsing a local bookstore (oh God…) and found the novel along with it’s sequel, “Hidden Bodies”. Have any of you read the second? I’m quite intrigued… I might have to put it on my list. The show stayed pretty true to the representation of the characters in the book, though I will never see Daniel Humphrey in the same light ever again. Well done Penn Badgley, well done. I thought reading it from Joe’s (the stalker) perspective made the story so much more ominous and eerie. Though not always a story I wanted to read before bed, it was an easy read and hooks you from page one.

Rating for me came in at 3.5/5 stars. I don’t necessarily think it’s quite that low, but not a full 4 either. I loved the story, and did thoroughly enjoy reading this novel. Why the reluctant rating for a great story? Some parts of the book I found myself comparing the story line to the one portrayed by the Netflix show (this is why I read the book first…shame on me); I found myself favouring the show at times based on how situations were presented, played out. It felt as though the show was more realistic, more creepy, and more sinister, and let’s face it… when you sign yourself up to read a thriller this is what we expect. I found myself wanting to read those scenes in the book that just never came or were written a little different. Not necessarily a bad thing, but my own observation.

What’s coming on the blog?

First of all, I owe a big thank you to everyone who has checked out my content so far! I hope you’re enjoying it, I know I’m having so much fun creating it. Here’s what’s coming…

1. Travel posts from Ireland. I’m thinking of starting off with Dublin. We can get into the smaller towns in a different set of posts – believe me, I’m not short of content for that magical place!

2. A Lifestyle post on Spa Days! I went to my first Spa in Toronto to celebrate my birthday with some close friends. The experience was fabulous and spa’s are certainly not in short supply of #aesthetic.

3. Outfits…I know this content has not yet been explored, but I was thinking of doing an affordable mini-haul for the first post. I’ve seen so many bloggers share their Amazon finds, and I have to say I’m intrigued to know for myself how the quality of the clothes translates.

4. LD&D: more movies, more books. If you have book suggestions especially, I would love to know what to keep an eye out for!

What do you want on the blog?

Let me know of anything you would like to see on the blog in the comments below! Lifestyle, travel, more lazy day content and inspiration? Let me know on any of the social media link or shoot me an email with some suggestions.

Introducing: Lazy Days & Lattes

Feature: Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (1 & 2)

There is nothing I love more than getting cozy at home by curling up with a blanket(s), hot drink(s), and watching a movie(s). In my world, all three items are often the plural versions. Let’s break this blog section down… Each post will highlight a movie/ tv show/ book as inspiration for what to what to watch, read, and drink. Using the suggested feature as a guide for your lazy day, the post itself will keep readers up to date with things I have planned for the blog. I’d love to interact in this section, so be sure to reach out via the social media links scattered around my pages. Ask questions, spark convo topics – I’d love to hear from you! I decided adding #lazydays&lattes would be a fun segment to really connect with my readers and attract more readers to the blog. I couldn’t think of a better way to do this than surrounding myself with the things I love and sharing them with you. After all, who doesn’t love unwinding after a long week? For me, I’ve accepted the fact that this means Netflix binge-ing (#sorrynotsorry) and hoarding excessive amounts of things to make me feel exceptionally comfortable (#reallynotsorry). So… grab a drink, pile on the blankets, hit play and…of course let me know what you think!

Feature number one is a little throwback, and you know I couldn’t stop at just the first one. Double-feature days are my favourite kind of days. I have officially moved Greece even further up my travel list (thanks Lena Kaligaris). As if her character needed a backdrop like Santorini to make us even more jealous of Alexis Bledel’s stunning blue eyes, right?

Don’t underestimate the second movie friends, it’s 100% underrated. The characters, the story line, the laughs and tears; this sequel has it all. Once again… Greece makes a few appearances and once again the Sisterhood had me online shopping for blue/white clothing and browsing airline websites. Not to mention, who doesn’t love a little Blake Lively pre-GG? These movies are the perfect fit for girls-night in. I certainly watched my fair share of these travelling pants with my rommies at uni.

I hope this new section excites you as much as me! I can’t wait to hand-pick all the wonderful movies/books/shows to share with the blog. Until next time friends! Speaking of Greece…has anyone been? What should I add to my list? Can’t wait to hear from you.