Happy September friends! ❧

I am back to writing my own content after a fun and exciting month of some amazing collaborations with some rocking babes of social media. I hope that August's #CanadianCreativeCollab month brought you all some valuable insight into the lives of a few of my favourite female influencers. It was nice to learn from them, and to take a break from creating my own content, but now I'm ready to get back to the grind.

Little sidebar: For those of you who don't know, and who would love some bonus content from me, I am now also a contributing writer for View the Vibe! Check out my monthly Shazam and Spotify roundups, a monthly 'New to Netflix' column, exclusive fashion previews, and lots more exciting stuff to come.

With that, let's get into my summer favourites.

SKINCARE

We all know that I have been working my jumpsuit wearing butt off all summer, which means I haven't spent much time outside. Normally, a summer favourites of mine would obviously include an SPF of some sort because it is evident how important sun protection is to skincare. However, due to the fact that I have been indoors for most of the warmer months, my skincare has been reflective of that. I have been prioritizing my sleep/overnight skincare routine, and doing my due diligence to select only top performing products. I recently purchased D'alba Piedmont Peptide No-Sebum Balancing Toner and ATrue Spring Green Tea Watery Calming Cream from SOKOGLAM (from creator of The Little Book of Skincare, Charlotte Cho), and I honestly don't remember a life before these products. The toner is light, balancing and cleansing, and combats dull skin that is oily and acne prone. It contains Italian White Truffle Extract to moisturize and stimulate cell renewal, BHA to exfoliate and clean deep into your pores, and Pearl Extract to fight free-radicals and bring back your skin's natural radiance. Layer that with the calming cream that's packed with caffeine power houses - green and black teas, to help tighten pores, calm puffiness, and brighten pigmentation!

SCENTS

To continue on with the thread of staying indoors and working a ton, I have been making a conscious effort to create a relaxing and peaceful space to come home to after a long day at work. Whether I have been clocked in all day, or clocking major hours planning my written content, I have been feeling mentally exhausted by the end of the day. I have been alternating between the four scents in this Saje essential oils collection to help me decompress, and bring some creative inspiration back into my life. Think 100% all natural, therapeutic essential oils like inspiring orange peel and cedarwood, uplifting coffee and spearmint, sensuous patchouli and cinnamon, and grounding Indian neroli and rosewood. Depending on my mood, I add 10-15 drops of oil to my black Aromagem diffuser and let the room fill with the absolutely luxurious scent.

MUSIC

Don't ask me why it took me SO long to take the plunge and hop on the Spotify Premium band-wagon, but it did, and I can't believe I waited so long. Due to the fact that I am now writing a monthly music round-up for View the Vibe, it just made sense. Adrian has had a Premium account since I've known him, and now I can understand why he always raved about it. I can enjoy ad-free, personally curated playlists on any device, or choose from lists of playlists created by other users of the platform. Skip songs as many times as you'd like, shuffle them all or select which songs you'd like to listen to, and even download playlists to listen to your fave music offline (read: on your daily no-wifi subway commute). Some of my current favourite playlists are 'Morning Stroll' for those chill Sunday-morning vibes, 'Canada Top 50' so I can stay up-to-date with what songs are trending, and 'Clean rnb work' (by Chloe Mavropsi) for some major throwback jams to play at Indochino.

FOOD AND DRINK

My love affair with dairy is REAL (we're all aware Zoe..), but it's also REALLY hurting my overall health. I've been trying, and generally failing, to cycle a majority of dairy out of my diet because I have noticed a difference with how I look and feel when I don't consume any throughout the day. And while the struggle to break-up with mac and cheese, cheese burgers, and ice cream is hurting my soul, I have managed to adjust my habits when it comes to my morning coffee. For a while, my goal was to get to the point where I liked drinking my coffee black, but there is just something about a creamy tasting coffee that makes me excited to wake up in the morning. So, in order to still allow myself to enjoy such an experience, I have switched to adding non-dairy milk to my daily cuppa-joe. Coffee Mate recently introduced natural bliss milk creamer, and I am LIVING for the almond milk flavours. Opt for these dairy or non-dairy coffee enhancers that add a hint of flavour and sweetness. Choose from regular dairy, dairy sweetened with honey, almond milk, and coconut milk, and your favourite flavours such as vanilla, caramel, hazelnut, and more! They're made with all natural, non-GMO ingredients, so you can feel good about what you're putting into your body.

BOOK

It's been a minute since I've had time (or made the effort) to sit down and read a book. At the beginning of the year, I attempted to commit to reading instead of scrolling through social media before I went to bed. And while I have strayed from that path, I still love the feeling of picking up and reading a good book. Upon the recommendation of Alexis Bernstein, a fellow fashion-obsessed Sex-and-the-City-aholic and one of my best friends, I started reading Sex and the City and Us: How Four Single Women Changed the Way We Think, Live, and Love. Written by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, this extremely relatable, and whole-heartedly entertaining look into the world of Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte will have you laughing and crying your way to the closest Manolo Blahnik supplier. Armstrong provides readers with the inside-scoop on how the fashion-fueled phenomenon came to be, through her own eyes, as well as the eyes of creator Candace Bushnell and all of the people who inspired her along the way. You'll find on-set behind-the-scenes photos, pages taken from the script, and exclusive interviews with the cast, writers, and creators, all packed into the hardcovers of this book. If that's not worth the read, I don't know what is.

What have you been loving this summer? Hopefully you've spent more time enjoying the warm weather than I did. Share with me your summer highlights in the comments!