memory lane, eh?

Now most of you may know from reading this blog, that I am Canadian. I was born in Canada, my parents grew up in Canada, and the majority of my extended family is from and lives in Canada as well. Even though I grew up in California, I have this love for my home country. Some Canadian traditions and things obviously found their way into our household growing up. One of those, was the love for the Royal Family. For those of you who don't know, Canada is a commonwealth country, which means the British Royals, are the Canadians Royals as well. You bet me and my mother were on the phone talking about William and Kate's wedding for days :)

Anyways, me and my mother spent some time in London after my graduation, and I loved it there. This is a long round about way to tell you why I was so excited to go to these two shops here in Salt Lake City. I have lived here for four years and drive past these shops all the time. So when my parents were up for my graduation I decided we all had to go together. It ended up being a real treat, and we all had a blast.

The store was like memory lane, because so much of the British candy is the same as in Canada. We had so much fun wandering through the store and reminiscing over our favorite candies, and things me and my parents grew up eating. I normally don't get to see this stuff unless it is in a Christmas package from my grandparents.

Then imagine our surprise when Trevor started recognizing foods and snacks on one of the shelves. He kept saying how they had this on his mission, and that, etc. Then I noticed the sign on the shelf, it was a South African corner! Trevor served his mission in the Johannesburg South Africa Mission. He got so excited he ended up getting some jerky he use to eat all the time down there, which was nasty by the way, haha. Then we headed over to the other shop which was a bakery with English goods, we got us some Cadbury Hot Chocolate, which me and my mama enjoyed.

You got to love the William & Kate flag :)

Trevor excited to find the South Africa corner!

"Mind the Gap" made me think of when me and my mother were traveling around London :)

My Dad with a Harry Potter wand :) haha love him.

I drank Ribena a lot when I spent time in Scotland, and other parts of Europe. Love this stuff.

Meat pies and pastries galore!

I remember eating these as a kid :)

Me with my Cadbury hot chocolate and free British Newspaper :)

If you are in the Salt Lake City area and you are interested in going the stores they are the London Market and Elizabeth's Bakery & Tea Shop!

It was such a fun afternoon, and brought back memories for all of us!
Speaking of Europe you all need to enter this amazing Paris giveaway!

glasses blues.

So remember this post about how I am an old lady and can't see anymore? Well I went with the tortoise pair if you were wondering, and when I got them in the mail... they were even prettier in real life. I put them on my face... held my breath... and.... no. sad moment. I know the bigger framed, dare I say "nerdy" glasses are in right now... but these were NOT flattering. I knew I had a very small and petite face, but I didn't realize just how small. These things were pretty funny, and I had got their smallest pair. If you don't believe me you can check out the skype chat I had with my mama to get her opinion....

I have always had a beautiful pair of Coach glasses that I love. But wanted to try something new that had spunk. The second I took the Ray Bans off I tried on my Coach ones and fell in love all over again. They just suit my face so much better, and something I wouldn't be embarrassed to wear in front of a bunch of young students in the classroom haha. So it looks like I am keeping it simple and classic ladies and gents.... I guess I shouldn't be surprised, that really seems to sum up my style anyhow.

But on a happier shopping note...

I wanted to share with you a site that was sent to me called  Zestii At first I thought this sounded too good to be true, but guess what? It is just that good. I have already bought items through it and I am loving it. Are you ready for this? First and foremost, it is totally FREE to sign up. Then select stores, which they have a great collection of them by the way, you can actually earn a percentage back from what you spend. Does that make sense? Here is the breakdown... 1. SHOP Click through their partners for the store, brand or product you are looking for and earn $ based on how much you spend. Each store has a different percentage you can earn. 2. REDEEM Check back a few days after your order has shipped and redeem $ for cash, products and gift cards. I usually just use mine to pay me back through pay pal. Some of these stores I shop online at all the time, so why not get a few dollars off every time I do? It adds up!

I bought two pairs of shoes at LuLus and got $10 back! I like the sound of that. I always think if you have found something great, share it, so here you guys go :) Oh and when you sign up, you instantly get a $5 credit, so they are basically paying you to sign up, a win win :)

a day at the lake...

There is a really cool lake by my sister's house in Calgary. Believe it or not when it isn't winter in Calgary, it gets pretty dang hot! So the girls took the kiddos and some snacks and we all hit the lake :) It was such a fun day. The kids loved the water and the sand. It was a nice relaxing morning. Later my brother and Dad came to join and we took the canoe out. Evan though he was on a pirate ship :)

It was a great morning and afternoon, and I loved eating away on some good ol' Canadian snacks. It felt like Christmas (because Christmas is the only time I get Canadian goodies.) It was a grrrreat afternoon day!

an extremely large Cheezie :) YUM

such a happy girl

Brandon showed up acting like his usual self

Sarah's eyes were closed in almost all my pictures hahaha

 

a lovely perfect day with the family in the sun :)

P.S. LAST CHANCE TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY! ENDS AT MIDNIGHT!

Lilith Fair

Our first day in Calgary was a blast! Justin had got all the girls tickets to the Lilith Fair! Boy was that a treat. So along with all my sisters my mother and the women on Justin's side of the family we had a blast. We walked around and got free samples of everything and then headed down to enjoy the show! I was super stoked about Colbie Caillat, Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, and Sarah Mclachlan! Sugarland was the big surprise to me... I had heard their music but hadn't given it much attention, BUT BOY do they know how to put on a show! By FAR they were the best performers. Everyone else was amazing of course... except I would suggest Sheryl wear a bra next time she is on stage bouncing around singing and playing her guitar, just a suggestion. We all danced and got up as close to the stage as they would let us and it was a fun fun day! We were so hyper that on the way back home we blasted the radio and sang and danced the whole way home. I love how much fun my family is to hang out with :) It was a great way to kick start the trip! 

 Colbie was great :)

Sheryl Crow's son came out and played on the stage with her. It was priceless! 

Leavitt Girls....

.....and our long long legs.

 Sugarland Rocked :)

Hot Dogs the size of my head....yum.

Canadian licorice is the best.... it is so different then American.... it is SO MUCH BETTER!

Sarah killed it.....of course.

Such a FUN night :)