Inspired by the Life in Leggings, I have decided to join the fun and start sharing my Friday top 5 favourites.

Here are 5 things that make me smile!  

1) Smoothies

So my hubby has made it part of his nightly routine to prepare our smoothies for the next day. While his inspiration comes from a variety of sources like Yummly, Pinterest, and others he really likes to add his own twist and always likes to ask me if I can guess what he added. He gets creative, with swiss chard, basil and ginger. Not your typical ingredients, but certainly adds an interesting taste to your average smoothie. On top of that, it adds some important nutritional benefits for both your mind and soul.

 

 

 

 

 

2) Homemade Pizza (and Secret Pizza Sauce)

Who doesn’t like to come home from a busy work week and enjoy a delicious slice of homemade pizza? My little one is obsessed with pizza, as you may recall from my post (What Promises Mean to a Toddler – Pools and Pizza). This past week I tried a new trick! We always make homemade pizza sauce (so simple and easy!) and this week I decided to add 1/2 of a sweet potato to the sauce. Yes, Sweet Potato! What an amazing rich flavour to a not so exciting pizza sauce.

3) Signs of Springtime 

Can you smell it? The freshness, the hint of something warmer. You know spring is coming when everyone begins to prepare for the time change, excited for that one extra hour of daylight!

More and more people are out running and biking (yes we still do that here, even when the ground is deeply covered in snow and the temps are at -15, remember this is “warmer”).

At this time each year, I love to walk just a bit slower to enjoy the new smells, the feeling of renewal and to soak up the sunshine. The changing of the seasons as you will learn are some of my favourite times of year.

4) Sick Toddlers

 My little one and I have been under the weather all week (here’s hoping it is the last cold of the year!). It isn’t that I love her being sick, but what I do love is the hugs and kisses she gives me because she just wants to cuddle. It’s the moments where you stay curled up on the couch and read and sing together.

I also love spending the one on one time with her, to watch her use her imagination and assert her independence (check out the outfit she insisted she wear!).  Mama of course is still sick, having tended to my little one all week I didn’t have much time to focus on getting “me” better.

5) Coffee Addictions

No matter how much I try to cut down my coffee intake or promise to stop my morning detour to Starbucks or our local coffee shop “Bridgehead” …. I just can’t let it go. I can’t break the habit, it is really one of my favourite morning routines. It sets the tone for the day, warms my soul,  keeps me focused and on track.

I can’t explain these feelings, other than the fact that growing up I always associated coffee with being an adult, with being a professional. As a child, my aunt would visit and treat us with homemade cappuccinos. We were young, but this was a real treat, one we enjoyed only during those summer visits (and it was likely just warm milk rather than a lot of coffee, but nonetheless is made me feel sophisticated and it fuelled my adult addiction to coffee).