Welcoming a New Season!

Summer has come and gone and it wasn’t at all what I expected it to be.  I said to myself at the beginning of the summer that I wanted to work less and enjoy my family more.  It’s been such a busy year (a blessed busy year) and I wanted to spend the summer reflecting on my accomplishments and how far I’ve come.  That’s what usually happens though, right?  When you plan something, the universe has already made other plans for you.  That was the case for me this summer.  I found myself working most weekends and constantly trying to catch up.  I was inefficient and very scattered.
We are coming up to a very busy food blogging season, and instead of feeling rejuvenated and motivated, I feel like I should sit back and really focus in on what makes me truly happy and have a much more realistic outlook on things.  When work comes to you, it’s kind of like an evil temptation.  Even though you know it may not be worth your time or worth the time you have to sacrifice to get it done, something obscures your better judgement and makes you the “yes” woman.  Events, get-togethers, everything!  I did it all and it left me feeling not-that-great because everything that I planned to work on got pushed way down on my to-do list.
My chef’s garden updates never happened.  I was really happy and excited with my garden this year – it was a great first attempt, I think.  Due to the crazy amount of rain, my tomatoes barely turned red, but I did get zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries, onions, garlic, and cherry tomatoes.  I learned a ton about how to properly plant and maintain a garden and I’m excited to do it all over again next year.
I did, however, play around in my kitchen a little bit with my DIY ketchup video using the Smoking Gun, recipes for Kombucha cocktails, my #blendandextend Beef and Portobello Mushroom Tacos recipe.  Oh!  And, I finally posted (almost a year after trying it in Montreal) my Mortadella and pistachio pesto pizza recipe.
We spent a week on Lake Simcoe, enjoying some cottage time, finally!  Now we are looking for lakefront homes — seriously, it’s magical.  I wish we could have spent more time there.
 
I told you guys about some great festivals I visited like Taste of Toronto and the very first Big Feastival Canada.  I also went on CP24, my son Dean joined me (his first time on TV!) to talk all about the Big Feastival Canada!  It was such a fun segment and the Big Feastival was an amazing weekend!  I hope some more of you can join me next year!
I did some cooking with my favourite hosts on CTV’s Your Morning.  It was a tomato-rific segment!  Watch it HERE.  I have more cooking segments coming up on my favourite morning news show, so stay tuned!!
I checked out some really cool new restaurants like my friend Claudio Aprile’s new Copetin restaurant.  It is so spectacular and I can’t wait to go back!
I partnered up with DuBreton again, to tell you guys all about why I call myself an Ethical Omnivore and why they help me out with feeding my family.  If you are interested in learning more, I wrote about it HERE.
I watched one concert this summer with my friend Roxanne of Bonjour Bliss Blog.  We went to watch my high school crush, John Mayer!  And, I stayed at the beautiful Hazelton Hotel in Yorkville for the first time.  I’ll tell you guys all about that within the next week.
And last but not least, I teamed up with Vaughan Mills mall as their new ambassador for their urban beekeeping initiative.  I participated in their very first honey harvest this week and it was really amazing to watch.  I’ll be putting together a video and a post about it very soon!  Nothing is better than working with great companies in the community that I grew up in!  And seriously, beekeeping is fascinating!

September is here, and a new school year always has me feeling very motivated and focused.  I love what I do and I want to continue doing it, but I want to work on things that I’ve had on my to-do list for way too long.  You’ll see tidbits of what I’m talking about if you follow my socials and here on the blog, of course.
My Breville Canada work is continuing, because I love working with them and their appliances.  Stay tuned because I have an amazing giveaway coming in October for all you coffee lovers!  You don’t want to miss it!
I’m leaving for Manitoba tomorrow with my friends at Canola Eat Well for their #canolaconnect Farm Camp.  I’ve worked with them for a while now and I’m so excited to hang out with them all for a few days, and we are staying in a cabin in the bush of Manitoba – I’m looking forward to it!  It’s going to be a great few days connecting with farmers and learning about things that are truly important to the well being of Canadians.  I will tell you guys all about it when I’m back!
I hope you had a satisfying summer and I look forward to connecting with you soon!
With Love,
Julie