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The Best Products to Effortlessly get your SPF In

We all know we should be wearing sunscreen during the summer. We’ve been hearing it since we were kids, but actually remembering to put it on every day can be the last thing on your mind, especially while running a household.

Schools out for the summer, which means your busy mom life just got a heck of a lot busier!

Picture this: You’ve got all the kids home, it’s only 11 am and everyone has been awake since 6 am. The amount of coffee you’ve ingested (average 4 cups) is no longer working. To save your sanity you gather the crew, get them dressed and ready for outside and head to the park to let them burn off some energy and to give yourself a mental break. You get home a couple of hours later and realize, you forgot to put sunscreen on and now you’re as red as a tomato.

Sound familiar?

We all know we should be wearing sunscreen during the summer. We’ve been hearing it since we were kids, but actually remembering to put it on every day can be the last thing on your mind, especially while running a household.

Luckily for us, with all the skin health and sun safety awareness now, there are a ton of great products on the market that can help you can get your SPF in, effortlessly!

IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream SPF 50

What if I told you I could simplify your life by giving you a product that worked as your face serum, face moisturizer, foundation, concealer, and your sunscreen? No, this isn’t a magical product that doesn’t exist. The IT Cosmetics CC cream does just that! It’s filled with powerful skin antioxidants that heal and improves your skin while you wear it, it’s an ultra-moisturizing product that doesn’t make you oily or greasy, it has a full coverage but skin like finish that works as well as a foundation and concealer, and it has an SPF 5o to keep you protected in the sun!

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen SPF 60

This is actually the product that Jennifer Lopez’s makeup artist uses to give her that signature JLo glow all over her body. I know, crazy right?! This ultra sheer sunscreen spray goes on with minimal hassle, feels weightless on the skin, has an SPF 60, but leaves you with an amazing glow that makes your skin look healthy and moisturized. If it’s good enough for JLo, it’s good enough for me, amirite ladies?!

The Ordinary Mineral UV Filters SPF 30 with Antioxidants

There are plenty of SPF infused moisturizers out on the market now, but if you want one that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg with the quality of a high-end product, look no further. The Ordinary is an online-only brand that sells high-quality skincare products at a drugstore cost. This sunscreen is only $10! Plus it’s filled with all the amazing skincare benefits so you don’t have to worry about your sunscreen clogging your pores and breaking you out.

Super Goop Poof Part Powder SPF 45

Nothing hurts more than a sunburn on your scalp. This powder sunscreen can be applied on your part, without gooping up your hair (despite the brand name) and protects you from the dreaded part sunscreen. It’s small enough to be tossed in a purse or diaper bag so you can grab it while you’re on the go!

Shiseido UV Lip Color Splash  Broad Spectrum SPF 30

One of the most forgotten, but most sensitive, spots for sunburns is your lips. But the though of applying regular sunscreen on my lips makes my stomach turn. This Shiseido Lip Color is a tinted lip balm that has SPF 30 in it so you can apply it with your makeup and not have to worry about your lips getting burnt, or applying sunscreen to them!

The Best SPF beauty products - Elyse Morency for Nesting Story

By finding ways to incorporate SPF products into your daily routine you can protect your skin and in the most effortless way!

Happy summer and enjoy the sunshine, Mamas!

If you want to learn more quick makeup tips that you can add to your everyday makeup routine, check out www.elysemorency.com. You can also find Elyse on Instagram at www.instagram.com/elysemor/ where she talks about the real and raw life of motherhood and makeup!

Our DIY Mudroom Renovation Recap – Here We Go Again!

I feel like I am living a deja vu lately with our renovation progress. Have you ever gone through renovations? Actually a better question would be, have you ever gone through a renovation process that you, (but mostly your husband), is DIYing?

We are and ugh, it’s such a stop and start process.

I have to remind myself how far our home has come since the first time we walked through it seven and a half years ago. The entire kitchen and family room were dark brown. The kitchen counters were dark brown and even the zipper-looking backsplash… brown. The rest of the house was dark blue, and when you combine that with the dark stained staircase we have, well, it felt like a cave.

But as this house sat on the market, scaring perspective buyers away with it’s unappealing palette, I saw potential. We have customized our builder home to exactly fit our family of six’s needs. You would have to pry me out of here now.

But sometimes it’s hard to forget how much you’ve done and it’s easy to focus on the never ending to-do list. Our home is bright and airy now with light grey walls. We have expanded our living space to include an outdoor dining and living area. We finished our basement creating a lot more space for our kids to play and watch movies.

But one of the best decisions we have made is creating a beautifully and very functional basement laundry room.

laundry room renovation
basement laundry room

Moving our laundry room to our basement is allowing us to create a dream mudroom nestled between our kitchen and our garage. This dream mudroom will house a dog shower, lots of storage, and an area for all of our kids’ school bags, shoes and snow gear.

dream mudroom
I cut this photo out of a magazine years ago of a mudroom/laundry room by Muskoka Living as inspiration for our mudroom.

Although I wish I could say this blog post is a big reveal of our mudroom, it’s more like a reboot. You see, we got going on it last summer with demolition, new floor tile and the framing of the dog shower and then our brutal Canadian winter hit and we had to put the whole project on hold until the warm weather came again.

Last week I spent some time moving all of our stuff to our front hall closet and doing a big declutter to prep for the completion of this renovation. Watch as this all unfolded…

In case you missed it, here is our mudroom journey up until this point…

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The Easiest Tomato and Avocado Summer Dip

Growing up in an Italian household, we were lucky to have parents that poured, and continue to pour their heart and soul into harvesting a garden from spring into fall.  Fresh vegetables and herbs were only a few minutes walk away, which at the time we didn’t realize how spoiled we actually were. Tomato and cucumber salads were a daily staple in our kitchen….and the juicier the tomatoes, the better. The combination of vegetables, extra virgin olive oil and feta-such simple ingredients, but a flavour explosion in your mouth!

My father would stop and pick up fresh Italian bread on the way home from work for us to tear apart and dip into the juices.

Fast forward to my kids, they love it and request it just as much as my siblings and myself did, and it being so healthy and simple to make, I can’t say no.

I’ve done a few different variations of this recipe but my most recent has turned into a new favourite of my families.  Combining our two favourite dips, guacamole and tomato salad seemed like an obvious recipe to create. It really couldn’t be easier to make and I guarantee people will be asking you for the recipe.  The sweetness of the tomatoes, the creaminess of the avocado and the saltiness of the feta-magic. Best served with a chilled glass of white wine or a delicious margarita.

You can use corn chips to dip into this variation of guacamole, as a side dish, or my personal favourite, spread on toasted sourdough bread.  

Now that we are into the warm weather of summer, the vegetables are local, fresh and easily accessible.  What’s better then sitting in your backyard during our long summer days and nights enjoying a healthy dip that’s bursting full of flavour?

Tomato Avocado Dip

2 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup onion, choose your favourite, red or yellow

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 Tablespoon Basil, chopped

4ounces feta, crumbled

2 avocados, chopped

salt and pepper to taste  

This dip is best made ahead of time, stored in the fridge, allowing the flavours and dressing to marinate.  Chop and add the avocado just prior to serving the dip. Turn up some latin music, pour yourself a refreshing drink, and just sit back and relax.  Maybe even close your eyes and pretend you’re on a beach in Mexico.

I hope you guys give this recipe try and love it as much as I do.

Lori xo

Lori is a thirty something year old mom of four, living in the little town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Her passions include her family, fashion, and food. She loves preparing simple and delicious recipes that both kids and adults will enjoy.

A DIY, New-Mom, No-Money, No-Time Home Tour

The day my husband and I moved out of the city and into our new suburban home was a very big day for us. Yes, moving is a huge undertaking, but it’s also the day I found out I was pregnant with my first (and only to date) child.

When I bought the house I had many grand ambitions for design and renovations for this square white box of a cookie cutter home. I now look back at those ambitions and laugh at myself for how far off I really was. With crippling morning sickness right up till the day I delivered (lucky me), and every other fun thing about pregnancy that slows you down, I would have been thrilled to even get paint on the walls. Spoiler alert: we did not accomplish that.

My little girl is now nearing 2 and though we are still stuck with that horrible quality builder’s paint. With the purchase of a few key design pieces, and a lot of Annie’s chalk paint for furniture, I am confident to say “yup, an interior designer lives here”.

Let’s walk through my “DIY-new-mom-no-time-no-money” home:

Family Room:

A DIY, New-Mom, No-Money, No-Time Home Tour

· Never underestimate the power of plants. They bring much undervalued life to a room. 

· DIY floating shelves and some décor go a long way. (Literally we used old beer jugs, a couple picture frames and plants. No need to reinvent the wheel here.)

· Drapery! Even if you don’t need them for privacy, side panels make a huge impact on the overall look of a room.

· Furniture acting as storage to hide the many toddler toys is an easy way to feel human when baby goes to bed.

I can’t say my couches are high design, but hey they were 50% off at The Brick and seem to hide toddler spills pretty well, so they will do for now.  To counteract this white box and uninspired furniture I rely heavily on décor items to do the work for me.

Kitchen – Before and After:

A white kitchen is not going out of style anytime soon, but never trade that look for personality. White cabinets can be a slippery slope to a very bland space. Make sure to accent the plain white cabinets with the warmth of wood and other natural materials.

Bland white kitchen BEFORE DIY design
Before
A DIY, New-Mom, No-Money, No-Time Home Tour
After

· Taking out the under cabinet range (and cabinet)  and replacing it with a chimney style vent makes a HUGE impact, for as little as $300. 

· Don’t be afraid to go bold with a kitchen backsplash. This 2’x2’ slate tile packs quite the punch and really makes the space what it is.

Dining Room:

A large dining room needs statement furniture to appropriately fill the space. We had none, and only a small budget for it. Thanks to the Habitat for Humanity Restore and Homesense we furnished this whole space for around $1500.

using plants/ side panels to design an entertaining space
DIY dining table design that looks more expensive than it really was

· We were lucky to find this dining room table TOP only on clearance for $100. Nobody was buying it because it had no legs. After a very easy leg purchase online we now have a statement dining room table that would sell for $3000+, which we spent $300 on. 

· Hutch and coffee table were dated, orangey pieces found at the Restore. With a couple coats of white chalk paint and new hardware they work in just about any space. 

· Don’t forget the plants/ drapery side panels and you have yourself a space to entertain in.

Master Bedroom:

This master bedroom is such a painfully square and boring room. With grand ambitions to one day put in hardwood flooring and do a wood statement wall, a rug and some décor items are doing the trick for now.

Master Bedroom home design ideas and tips

 · A plush rug takes your eye away from the builders grade carpet.

· Move the eyes upand away from the plain wallswith decor. A headboard, wall art, lamps, plants etc. 

· End tables are refinished logs with legs bought on Etsy. 

· Makeup vanity, chair and mirror were all literally found on the side of the road. HELLO spray-paint and new hardware! 

I’m not suggesting that décor items are cheap, but I am suggesting that they are cheaper than a full blown renovation when you’re not ready. It’s always nice to dream of your perfect home, but until time and budget fill that dream there is plenty you can do to make your home design an inviting space that you are proud of.

Lara Young is the Principal of Lara Young Design, and also a new mom. Like many of us Lara is trying to find that quintessential work/life balance. Being her own boss is bringing Lara one-step closer to her dream. You can read Lara’s full bio, or contact her to help with your next design project here.

Our Family Almost Didn’t Make It To Summer Break

We just crawled to the finish line. Our last month before summer break was a doozy! We had such a healthy year and then crashed and burned in June. On top of our family having one illness after another, we were forced to face some big time parenting problem solving.

Having four kids… you can always expect a wobbly plate. You focus on that kid and get them sorted, then triage the family and move onto the next wobbly plate and so on. Well, somehow, some way we had four wobbly plates for an entire month before summer break.

It was so draining for me mentally and emotionally that it began to have a physical affect on my body. Phew. Despite the stress we pushed through and I am happy to say we have restored the peace in our home in time for the summer break. Watch as I share our journey and then implemented a system that helped us changed the narrative in our home and created a positive atmosphere…

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