Valentine's Day Decor

As most of you know I'm a huge holiday freak. Every holiday makes me so excited and I absolutely love decorating and celebrating every holiday. I don't know what it is exactly, but holidays just make me beyond giddy. 

Here are some Valentine's Day decorations throughout my house.

 Love Bug Pillow: Chapters Indigo || Vase: Homesense || Candle: Diptyque || Mug: Dollarama 

Tall Vase: Hallmark || Diffuser: Saje || Marble Organizer: Chapters Indigo || Shorter Vase: Homesense

 Little/Big Spoon Pillows: Chapters Indigo

Boots: Hunter Boots

Mirror: Home Craft Decor (Toronto) || Boots: Hunter Boots 

Top Shelf from Left to Right

Vase+Plant: Ikea || @Sign: Homesense || Vase: Homesense

Bottom Shelf from Left to Right

Bowl: Dollarama || Vase: Ikea || Heart: Dollarama || Gold Car: Elte MKT

Bottom Cabinet 

Vase: Hallmark || Plant in Vase: Ikea || Diffuser: Saje || Candle: Diptyque || Garland: Dollarama

Heart: Dollarama || Marble Slab: Chapters Indigo (Similar) 

I will most likely be adding more decor as we get closer to Valentine's Day, but I wanted to update you guys on what I've done so far!! Always check out the latest on my Instagram-@syd.hoff

-Sydney Hoffman

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Protein Smoothies with Genuine Health

The best way for me to get back into shape and to start eating healthy and stay healthy is having a smoothie every morning. Even having one for lunch or at least one a day, is key to a successful healthy day for me. I make sure to jam pack enough nutrients and superfoods that keep me full and energized throughout the day. I use to never add any protein to my smoothies and I was always starving 10 minutes after drinking a smoothie. When I was introduced to Genuine Health protein powders my smoothie game completely changed. Not only is every scoop packed full of nutrients for my smoothies, but it kept me full and gave me so much energy for the day. Considering I'm working out as well, having the protein is crucial in my smoothies and in my life to help heal and grow my muscles.

I've had numerous messages from you guys asking what I put in my smoothies, so I thought I would give you two of my favourite recipes using Genuine Health protein powders.

Genuine Health Fermented Greek Yogurt Proteins+ (Natural Vanilla) and Genuine Health Fermented Whole Body Nutrition with Greens+ (Natural Acai Mango)

I use the same recipe for both these Genuine Health protein powders.

• One Scoop of Genuine Health Fermented Greek Yogurt Proteins+ (Natural Vanilla) or One Scoop of Genuine Health Fermented Whole Body Nutrients with Greens+ (Natural Acai Mango)
• One Banana
• 4 Frozen Strawberries
• Handful of Frozen Blueberries
• One Spoonful of Coconut Oil
• One Spoonful of Chia Seeds

Genuine Health Fermented Vegan Proteins+ (Natural Chocolate)

• One Scoop of Genuine Health Fermented Vegan Proteins+ (Natural Chocolate)
• One Banana
• Handful of Frozen Pineapples
• One Spoonful of Almond Butter or Organic Peanut Butter
• One Spoonful of Raw Cacao 
• One Spoonful of Coconut Oil
• One Spoonful of Chia Seeds

I'm always looking for more ingredients and suggestions to add to my smoothies. What are some of your favourite things to add to your daily smoothies!?

-Sydney Hoffman

Egg Muffins Recipe

Lately I've been trying to come up with ideas on how to make our morning routine quicker and easier. By the time we get up Shawn doesn't have a ton of time to make coffee or eat breakfast. The routine we have usually starts with me making coffee, while he showers and gets ready. By the time I've made the coffee (we hand grind the beans and use a Chemex which takes longer) I always forget about making breakfast or run out of time. We usually like to make scrambled eggs or omelettes, but even those extra few minutes we don't have time to spare. I was on my absolute favourite website the other day...Pinterest and saw this great egg muffin or breakfast muffin recipe.

Follow me on Pinterest (here)

The recipe is so simple and I knew Shawn and myself would love these little muffins. I just prep them at the beginning of the week and then we have a week of breakfast. I just wrap them with saran wrap or put into a zip-loc container into the refrigerator. Heat a couple in the microwave each morning and add a little bit of ketchup.

As I mentioned above, the recipe is so simple.

 I whisk together about 8-9 eggs in a bowl. I add a little bit of milk or almond milk. 

I cook an entire bag of bacon, or you can just buy bacon bites to save you time. Once the bacon is cool I chop it up into little pieces. 

Before adding anything into the muffin pan, make sure you grease or spray with non-stick vegetable oil. 

Evenly pour eggs into muffin cups. Throw in a couple pieces of bacon in each cup and top off with some cheese. It's so simple.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Bake the egg muffins for about 18-20 minutes. They will puff up in the oven, but will settle down a little, once out of the oven and cooled off. Make sure to wrap them and throw them in the refrigerator and they should last you the week.

We only added eggs, bacon and cheese, but you can honestly add your own ingredients. I know some people add chopped up vegetables or even hash browns as a base.

 It feels so good to wake up in the morning knowing your breakfast is already finished!!

-Sydney Hoffman

HelloFresh Delivery

I have been wanting to try food delivery for so long, but just never knew where to go and what to do. When I came across HelloFresh and found out it now ships nation-wide (minus Quebec) I knew that I had to give it a go. 

I don't know about you, but I'm so clueless when I walk into a grocery store. I instantly panic and just leave or I will spend over an hour looking at everything and leave with a jar of pickles, chocolate milk and Crispy Minis. I kid you not that actually happened once. I love that HelloFresh does all the thinking for me. As you can see in the above photo they label and separate everything for each meal.

When you are ready to make your meal they also have super easy directions on how to properly make your meal. I panic at a grocery store and in the kitchen, so these sheets helped me so much.

 Here is what two meals would look like before cooking anything.

This is a finished meal that I was very proud to make all by myself...well with a little help from HelloFresh ;)

What's great is there are a couple of different packages you can choose from. Either a family pack or just serving for two, whatever works for you!!

I want to make sure all of you get a chance to try out HelloFresh so make sure to use the code TREATS60 to get $30 off your first box and $30 off your second box.

-Sydney Hoffman

Hairfinity Vitamins

I started my journey with Hairfinity vitamins six months ago and it was truly the best thing for my hair. I've used tons of products to achieve healthy, shiny hair and I kept getting so frustrated, because nothing was really working. I achieved healthy, shiny, long hair with Hairfinity.

I didn't cut my hair during the six months using Hairfinity and usually that's not possible because my hair gets so ratty or stringy. I was so shocked that didn't happen using Hairfinity. I was actually amazed after months of not cutting my hair, just how healthy my hair looked. I also felt like my hair was growing like crazy. I've always wanted super long hair, but always had to cut it because it looked so dead. With Hairfinity vitamins I actually achieved the long hair I wanted without cutting, and it still looks so healthy. I'm going to continue to grow it out because now I can!!

It's so much fun looking back at the last six months, and I'm so glad I was able to try out the Hairfinity vitamins. I will absolutely be continuing to use Hairfinity vitamins and I'm so happy with the results.

Follow Hairfinity on Social!

Instagram- @hairfinity 

Twitter- @hairfinity

Facebook- Hairfinity

-Sydney Hoffman

Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market

I was thrilled to check out the new Andaz Ottawa hotel in the ByWard Market a few weeks ago. I love Ottawa and had so much fun shopping in the market and of course lounging in the new Andaz hotel.

My room was so modern and gorgeous, with the most spectacular view of The Parliament Buildings

Great place for a glass of wine or group hangouts

The front lounge lobby is bright and cozy with amazing marble accents

The gold details in the bathroom were my favourite

Marble wall = a bloggers dream

Perfect place to grab a coffee or sit down and enjoy a delicious meal

I find that a lot of places in the ByWard Market are a little bit older, so the Andaz Ottawa is a refreshing new, modern hotel. I had so much fun exploring the ByWard Market and everyone in Ottawa is honestly so nice!!

Follow along Andaz Ottawa on Instagram(here) and Twitter(here)

-Sydney Hoffman

Best of 2016

Here is a look back at some of my favourite memories of 2016.

Cannes, France with my parents

Miami for Valentine's Day

Italy 

Amalfi Coast

Rome

Florence

Venice

Kentucky Derby with my best friends

Finishing my first Half Marathon 

My new home

I would have to say that this year, was probably one of the best. I travelled more than I have ever in my life. I'm now living downtown with my boyfriend in a beautiful condo that I have so much fun decorating. My blog is my business and that's something I never thought could or would ever happen. I trained with Nike and ran my first Half Marathon and met some amazing people this year. I'm looking forward to 2017 and can't wait to work my ass off and accomplish even more this year :)

What were some of your favourite memories of 2016?

-Sydney Hoffman