Saturday 22 March 2014

SMASH*aholic

A couple of years ago I came across something called a "SMASH Book" on Pinterest. I was intrigued. I have always loved scrapbooking, and I've even gotten into digital scrapbooking recently. The only problem was I'm kind of a pack rat. I love keeping EVERYTHING. Tickets stubs, notes, letters, card, quotes, pamphlets, programs, you name it. Digital scrapbooking took away the heart and sole of my nostalgia. So I started keeping things in boxes (LAME!). Then SMASH Book surfaced. My prayers have been answered!! If you don't know what a SMASH Book is, here is a short video on how it works...


SMASH Book 101
Each SMASH Book has a theme
-cutesy
-couture
-tasty
-smart
-baby
-wedding
-international
-simple
-retro
etc!!

The pages inside the book reflect the theme and it's bound and coiled so it's READY. SET. PASTE! There is no rhyme or reason to it which is half the fun. The messier the cuter in my opinion :) The point is it should take significantly LESS time than scrapbooking so don't over think it! Just start! 

My Pages
Here are a few of the pages from my "wedding" SMASH book. (I took the pictures with my iPhone so they aren't the best...) I started it as soon as Nick got home from his mission (haha!) So It covers our engagement right until the day we got married. I kept and saved so many precious memories because I was making this book. I think it is my favorite SMASH Book so far!!












Here are a few of the pages from my "365" SMASH book. The pages cover all 365 days of the year, all of the seasons and holidays so I used it for our first year of marriage!





Supplies
You can spend as little or as much money as you want. I buy supplies at the dollar store or get SMASH accessories when they are on sale. These are the supplies I use the most:


SMASH BOOK
Where to buy:
*Walmart $14.97 (CAN)
*Target $12.49 (US)
*Michaels $19.99
-- I buy whichever book is on sale. I usually get mine for around $7-10

WASHI TAPE
Washi tape adds a bit of crazy to the book! Lots of fun colors and designs. Tape stuff in! Make Pockets or borders with it. You can never go wrong
Where to buy:
*Dollarama $0.99
*Michaels, Walmart, Target $4-10

SMASH LIST PADS
These are great for helping document ideas, memories and details you might forget otherwise. They add a lot of fun to the book! These are a MUST. I have probably 15 list pads and I use them on almost every page. 

Where to buy:
you can get them on sale for as cheap as $0.99
*Michaels
*Walmart 
*Target

STICKERS
Stickers help to fill up all the blank spaces and add a little more theme to each page. Like I said, the messier the better! They are a cheap and easy way to fill up a page fast.

Where to buy:
*Dollarstore $0.99

GLUE STICK
Where to buy:
ANYWHERE!
*Dollarstore $0.99


GIFT PACK

Gift packs are a great kick start. It comes with 1 SMASH book and a bunch of fun accessories to start playing around with!

Where to buy:
*Michaels $29.99
*Walmart
*Target
--I found one at Winners randomly for $19.99!

Alright SMASHbookers you are ready to get started!! Get out those junk drawers and start pasting. My next project is to start SMASHing all of our letters from Nick's mission - turn me on some Pretty Little Liars this weekend and I'm gonna SMASH all day! #bestweekendever

Friday 14 March 2014

Mexico Getaway

I have never been to an all-inclusive resort before and neither has Nick, so we were really excited for our trip this Winter! I was ready for a break from work and from the snow. We went over reading week because Nick had time off school. I ended up choosing Cabo solely because it was a direct flight from Calgary (we aren't huge travelling fans - more vacation fans :) It was fun just the two of us, but next time we hope to go with some friends! We'd love to go on another cruise... **hint hint** anyone want to come?!

Travel
Because Nick is so tall airplane rides can be tough, his legs are always super cramped and he ends up sitting like a grasshopper and taking up my leg room!! So we invested in Westjet's special seating, you pay an extra $45 dollar per person and you are upgraded to the first 3 rows of the plane. The leg room is very spacious and you get all the sandwiches & snacks that you want for free from their menu. Plus you are the first ones off the plane, TOTALLY worth it. Although he doesn't look it in the picture he was extremely happy about the upgrade :) Now that he's experienced such luxury we will never fly without it again...

Hanging out at the pool
It was huge! Fun swim up bar, everyone was so baffled why I would order virgin drinks, I eventually told one of the waiters I was pregnant so he'd get off my back!


Beach Time
loved playing in the waves and building sandcastles. I've never seen Nick's attention span last so long! I learned a lot from our last beach experience and I wasn't letting Nick get sunburned this time. 45 SPF sunscreen the whole trip! Did we get a tan? Barely... But better safe than sorry says the Cancer Clinic worker!


Whale Watching
this was the one thing I wanted to splurge on for the trip. I've heard so many amazing things about the whale watching in Cabo this time of year. We hopped on a little boat and headed out to the ocean in search of whales. I enjoyed just relaxing in the sun waiting for them to surface for air. They are so huge! It was amazing to see them in their natural habitat. We even got to see some baby whales! We sat in the front of the boat and when we would speed across the water it was like being on a tube ride! Our sunglasses acted like goggles and we got splashed in the face all afternoon

Look at this bed head!! I left him like this most mornings so I could go hit up the pool and start my sun bathing!

Entertainment
It was fun to have built-in dates every night. We would go out for dinner and then hit up the big show that was going on at the resort. The dancers and costumes were amazing! And the decorations and theme changed every night. It was so awesome to be sitting outside all night without a jacket! Such a nice break from the snow back in Canada...