Merry Merry Chritsmas!

to all our dearest family, friends and the ones we love- both near and far, may you completely enjoy and savour every moment of incredibleness this season has to offer!

Love, the Thorburn family
xxoo

my favourite christmas song

despite being up to our eyeballs in boxes and not really having a 'home' to set up anything christmassy this year, i have still somehow managed to stay pretty excited about the season. we have a tiny little tree perched on our counter, surrounded by packing tape and sharpies, but still holding its own and reminding us when we see it to take a minute and reflect on all thats good in the world. (thanks for this steph.) and we have definitely managed to keep our fridge stocked with yummy festive treats compliments of a few wonderful friends (thanks becky and aviv!)

one of my absolute favourite musical groups of all time is the carpenters. karen's incredible voice has always reminded me of my moms singing voice - sweet memories of sitting in the living room while my mom happily sung along with every song lyric come flooding back. something about every carpenters song gives me goosebumps from head to toe. so with that, here is my favourite christmas song for all of you to enjoy!

xo

 

jasmin rose himalayen bath salts

every christmas i usually opt to make a few handmade goodies. this year with us moving on december 15th, i knew whatever i made had to be easy and had to get done right away.  i had quite a few amber glass bottles left over from the wedding, and thought that jasmin and rose (two of my favourite scents) mixed with himalayen sea salt would blend perfectly to become a wonderful cold winter treat! so SO simple to make but so beautiful and relaxing to receive!

:: ingredients ::
himalayan sea salt (epsom salt would also work well, but i love the soft coral pink colour of himalayan)
dried rose petals
jasmin tea balls (optional)
jasmine essential oil (i used a blend with neroli - i wore it on my wedding day!)
a pretty container to house it all

:: directions ::
add the sea salt and a small hand full of rose petals and jasmine tea to a mixing bowl. add around 10-15 drops of essential oil (more or less to your scent liking) and mix well. pour into a sealable container and enjoy!

a few notes: i used a cheap (re: disposable) plastic bowl to mix everything up in as, even after washing, the jasmine oil will likely linger in your good dishes. i also used chop sticks (again, disposable) to stir it all together. i purchased most of the ingredients in bulk from soap and more here in calgary (including the amber glass bottles) and the jasmine oil came from favourite essential oil shop, sage natural wellness. of course you could use any scents or little additives to make your own unique bath salt blend- get creative and make something the speaks to your senses. i bought a 3 kg bag of himalayan salt and it made x11 250mL bottles of bath salts with just enough left over for me to have one really wonderful bath!

(you can see last years posts on homemade lipbalm, deodorant and another variation on bathsalts HERE)

wild teepee

finn and i met with our sweet friend paula and went for a little inner city hike today. we found an incredible teepee made from old branches and a fallen tree. the sign above it reads 'no hobos'.