1.  Iced drinks! Slushies, iced coffee, mojitos. 
2.  Wonderland! Going fast on all the rides!
3.  Cooking every and anything on the barbecue. 
4.  Breezy dresses! So damn comfortable.
5.  Driving with the windows down! 
6.  The sun. It’s warm, bright and the days are longer. 
7. Going to the beach, packing picnics, the sound of the water and the warm sand!
8.  My hands and toes aren’t frozen!
9. Fresh herbs and produce in the garden! A few steps into the back yard and I’ve got some of my favourite cooking ingredients!
10.  Natural blonde highlights thanks to the sun.
11. Tan lines. Yep!
12. Double digit weather forecasts on the daily. 
What do you love about summer?

Typically the contents of my makeup bag are constantly changing, but over the past few months I’ve noticed myself carrying the same staple items. I keep these around for touching up my makeup after work, which usually means I’m going out for an impromptu dinner! I don’t always plan on heading out after a day at work, but I keep this collection of reliable, long lasting products on hand so that I can feel my best even if I’m going out last minute. Of course, for a last minute dinner decision I book a reservation using Open Table to be sure I get a seat wherever I want to go!

For my skin, I keep some of my favourite products at hand: Stila Stay All Day Foundation and Concealer is an amazing full coverage foundation & concealer that blends into the skin so smoothly and lasts amazingly well, so I know that if I need a boost of coverage, I can rely on this stuff! Plus it’s great that the colours match perfectly! MAC Studio Fix sets everything perfectly in place and keeps oil at bay if I need it. This has some great coverage too if I’m not feeling like wearing any liquid foundation.  Makeup Forever HD Powder is great for locking concealer into place without adding any more coverage. This stuff feels like silk on the skin and doesn’t look cakey ever! Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed to add some neutral colour to my cheeks. I can’t get over how much I love this colour for any makeup look! And to lock it all in place I love L’Oreal Infallible Makeup Extender Setting Spray!
I’m usually wearing at least a little mascara, but I do like to have my Shu Uemura lash curlers at hand and Essence Get Big Lashes Mascara. For an easy, one-step eyeshadow look, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Black Orchid, is perfect because it sets into place and doesn’t require any brushes or additional eye shadows!
I always have at least 5 lip products kicking around, but Maybelline Colour Whisper in Made it Mauve is my perfect everyday lip colour! I’ve nearly finished this one and will definitely be repurchasing!
What are your makeup bag essentials?!

As we’re now into the New Year, I thought I’d round up for you my top posts of 2014. If you didn’t get a chance to see them yet, these are the posts that were my most popular all year!

First off, oops that my last Loving Lately post was forever ago! I can’t believe my last post was 6 months ago. Yikes! There’s been many months to acquire new loves, but this may be a bit of a boring round-up, but I’m not feeling too exciting at the moment…. And today I’d like to share some of them with you, as well as maybe get back into the routine of doing these posts more often!

I recently added the First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads into my skincare routine. I use them nearly every morning, and I find that my skin feels cleansed and toned, but refreshed, never dry. The product comes on pre-soaked pads that are super convenient and easy to use, plus the product itself is really great!

The best birthday gift I received this year was this Night Vale Community Radio Mug (thanks Patrick!) which was a complete surprise! It totally makes me seem like a dork, but I really love it! At this time of year, I drink lots of tea, so I’ve gotten a lot of use out of it.

Bath and Body Works Pumpkin Apple 3 Wick Candle has been constantly burning in my room. The scent is so strong and sooo delicious and I just can’t get enough of it!

I’ve been wearing my hair up a lot, and find that the Garnier Fructis Style Deconstructed Texture Tease is the perfect companion to making my hair feel textured and add volume. I especially love that it only cost a couple dollars!

I wrote briefly about The Body Shop Color Crush Eye Shadow in Chocolate Linger when I did a guest post on Davina’s blog last week. It can either be used on the lids, through the crease or to define my brows. This matte shade is great to have in my makeup bag as it is multipurpose, I strongly recommend that everyone give this a shot. You can find deals always running at The Body Shop, so why not give it a try when there’s a great sale happening?
Lastly, a long-time love is this Topman Multi Ribbed Beanie that I have been living in since September. And through all last A/W and through the one the year before that. It’s such an easy hat, I love how it adds a bit of interest (and warmth) to otherwise plain outfits. 
What have you been loving lately? Have you tried any of these products?!

My first introduction to instant cameras was in February of this year, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 7s, an adorable novelty camera. I bought it on Amazon for $49 out of total curiosity. There’s something so satisfying about the feeling of an actual image in your hands right after it’s taken. No mysterious waiting game like my other film camera (not that I love my Lomography Diana F+ any less). I never considered purchasing another similar camera, but on the weekend, I went to the 400 Antiques Mall south of Barrie for the first time. There was tons of things to see, and within the first few minutes of being there we found a 1980’s Polaroid One Step 600 for $6.50. I had no way of knowing if it would work (or if I could find film for it), but for that price it was totally worth trying out. Such an exciting find! 
 
I am the dorkiest person ever, I think we already knew that though.
As you can see, the Polaroid works amazingly! The film is relatively expensive ($25 for 8 images), but I’m happy that I decided to grab it. Not only is it another fun thing to play around with, but it also looks so cool! The images it produces are more than double the size of the Fuji instants, but the camera itself is also a lot more bulky. Since Polaroid no longer makes the film, I had to purchase Impossible film, which takes 30 minutes to an hour to expose the images. You also need to be sure to keep the image in a warm, dark place while it develops. No shaking it like a Polaroid picture! Not so instant, but the physical image is great to have nonetheless.
I love this cat photo display that my sister bought for me earlier this year. Perfect for displaying all my Instax memories!
The Fujifilm, however, offers nearly instant images. Film comes in 20 packs for around $20 usually. Within minutes the shots are ready, and you can watch them expose in front of your eyes. I really like that feeling when you see the image slowly appear. 
These are both very different cameras and operate in different ways. I’m so happy to have them both and can see myself continuing to have fun and share memories this way. Both these purchases were a little bit impulsive and out of curiosity, but have proven to be great additions to my small camera collection. I’m currently lusting after the Fujifilm Imstax Mini 90 Neo Classic, but am going to wait for quite some time before I give into that desire. I’m more than happy playing with what I already own!
Do you have a love of instant cameras like me?