Coziest Playlist

I'm a playlist person. 

I am always creating playlists for various occasions, from the shower to a long car ride, or getting ready for a night out to a cozy night in. 

I am totally ready for snowy, winter nights with candles lit and music playing. 

Here is my cozy, winter playlist:

• Incomplete - James Bay
• We Don't Eat - James Vincent McMorrow
• Like Real People Do - Hozier
• She Used To Be Mine - Sara Bareilles
• Playing With Fire - Thomas Rhett (ft. Jordin Sparks)
• Don't Go - Rae Morris
• Vandalizer - Sam Hunt
• Shooting Star - Air Traffic
• Till Kingdom Come - Coldplay
• Thank You - Amber Run
• Miss Your Fire - Casey James
• Hank - Ben Rector
• You Are My Rock - Beyonce
• Shelter - Birdy
• Midnight Girl - Casey Abrams
• Wrap Me Up - Leddra Chapman
• Windows - Lewis Watson
• Weathered - Jack Garratt
• Suitcase Full of Sparks - Gregory Alan Isakov

Let me know what you'll be listening to on those snowy (hopefully) winter nights, 

Love Always, 

Laura

Month in Photos: November

As it is almost the end of December, I thought I would share my favourite photos from November (oops).

I have an excessive amount of love for Christmas and anything festive or wintery. However, we still don't have any snow here so I am very disappointed to say the least. 

My friend and I went on a blustery evening hike. I celebrated a birthday for my friend from high school. And then went to the Christmas Market for the first time (and loved it of course!)

Month in Photos: October

It's almost Christmas so I am clearly a little behind.

This is my month in photos for October! 

I celebrated Thanksgiving with both my Mom's and my Dad's families. Then had a blast at my work's 'staff appreciation' event. Went to my first NHL hockey game. Celebrated my boyfriends birthday and then went to two Halloween events!

I have never really been a Halloween person but two of my good friends threw a Halloween Stag and Doe party so we had to go of course! 

Here are some of my favourite photos from October... and then I will do November... and then December and we will finally be caught up! Woot woot!

Favourites No 3.

Poetry!

Forgive me, this weeks favourites will look and feel similar to the last. It's because this week I chose to share my current favourite books of poetry. While technically books, these are not in anyway similar to the likes of Harry Potter and his adventures with Ron and Hermione or the plight of Hester Prynne. 

Lets dive in.

• Love by Lang Leav
• I Wrote This For You: Just the Words by pleasefindthis
• No Matter The Wreckage by Sarah Kay
• Unwritten Letters To You by T.B LaBerge
• Lullabies by Lang Leav
• The Lovers Dictionary by David Levithan (I know this is technically a novel but I group it in with my poetry books because to me, it just flows like poetry)

Hooray for poetry.

Love always, 

Laura

Favourites No. 2

Books!

I am a total bookworm. I often much prefer the company of the characters from my latest book over anyone else. I still find myself picking up a book a after climbing into bed and suddenly it is many hours later and I am willing the book not to end. 

Here are a few of the books of which the characters and story had the biggest impact on me.

• Fall on your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
• The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (This might by considered cheating, oh well)

These are honestly some of the stories that helped establish my love of literature. 

Honorable mentions go to: Charlotte's Web, Harriet the Spy, and Emma

Bookworms unite!

Love always,

Laura

A Bit of Frustration

I always struggle a bit with Mental Health Awareness Week. It's not that I don't think it's important to bring awareness to a part of life that is often frowned upon, hidden away, or dismissed altogether. It's that it seems that for one week out of the year, people are really talking about the lack of awareness, lack of understanding, lack of services. But then it all ends. 

I struggle because people who live everyday with some form of mental illness don't get to just living with it. We don't get to stop dealing with it or stop acknowledging it. There are so many examples of mental illness being used as a scapegoat for other issues in the media lately - watch John Oliver talk about this, more eloquently then I ever could here - if politicians are going to blame metal illness for causing social issues, then why not try to create avenues to help people who need those services. 

I guess the reason that I don't jump up and down for Mental Health Awareness week, is that when it's all said and done, I still have to go through everyday with the stigma attached to having a mental illness. I still go through every day expending all of my energy keeping my anxiety and negative thoughts in check while going through everyday activities and staying upbeat. It is exhausting. And yet, I wouldn't trade it for anything because I know that it has made me the person that I am today, it has taught me to feel through my emotions, to follow my heart, to embrace positivity. 

Mental health awareness deserves more than one week a year. People who live every day, both good and bad days, with mental illness deserve more than one week a year. 

Okay, rant over. 

Love always, 

Laura

Favourites No. 1

Music!

Music holds a very important place in my life and my favourite artists/songs/albums are always changing but a few are steadfast 'top of the list' contenders.

• Air Traffic
• Sara Bareilles
• Ron Pope
• Missy Higgins
• Sam Smith
• James Bay 

I always have a new favourite song of the moment so I am always up for new discoveries. Let me know what sorts of music you listen to.

Love always, 

Laura