August 2023 Recap

by - Monday, September 04, 2023

August is officially over and September has begun. While I love doing 5 on Friday posts, they don't often work for my work schedule or the fact my life often is lackluster in events. With that being said, I thought I would give monthly recaps a whirl.

I have chosen to do this of course on the most hectic month I have had in years. So, there is going to be a lot in this post (...sorry?)

First Up: Goodfood Boxes

The people over at Goodfood asked me if I wanted to try a box for free in exchange for an honest review. I said yes, because honestly I am kind of in a cooking rut. Also, I have been swimming every night when I get home from work and that means I don't even start diner until about 9 pm, and I want quick food (or at least easy to follow recipes). 

I so far have loved the boxes, that I have gotten more. In fact one of the best ideas I've had in a long time is ordering a bunch the week before our vacation so I don't have to think about food, groceries and having leftover produce rotting in  my fridge when we are away, Great idea, 

If you want a free Goodfood box email me at beautyvixenca@yahoo.ca or dm on Instagram

Next up: Off to the North!!

The hubs and I finally went to visit his mom in the Yukon! She's lived there about 18 years and this is our first time seeing her up there. She lives in a tiny town of 900 about two hours from Whitehorse. 
We has such a great time there in her town, in Whitehorse and then on a 3 day road trip to Alaska. We drove from Haines Junction, to Whitehorse, where we stocked up on some traveling supplies and then headed down the Klondike Highway towards Skagway, Alaska. Our plan was to do a bunch of road side stops, but....we got a flat about 45 minutes out of Whitehorse. A very nice couple stopped, changed our tire and we headed back to Whitehorse. About an hour later we were back on the road. 
We stopped at Emerald Lake, which is gorgeous. Due to the delay we skipped Carcross city, but did stop at the roadside for Crarcross Dessert, the worlds smallest dessert. 
We were then going to do a few more stops, but we were tired and wanted to see a bit of Skagway, and as we approached the Alaskan border my mother-in-law said " I forgot my passport". I have zero words for how this made me feel. We pulled over at the Welcome to The Yukon sign and drove back home. 

250 km later, we were back in Haines Junction, had a bathroom break and refilled on gas and we back on the road. I think we all felt really defeated at this point, we were tired, it was getting dark and we weren't sure we would get to the border before it closed. Luckily everything went well and we got to our hotel safe.
Sadly, Skagway pretty much closes at 6 pm and nothing was open, so muffins and jerky we brought was our dinner.
The next day we got up early to catch the Fjord Express to Juneau, Alaska's capital. This was a stunning day trip. We saw humpback whales, Dall porpoises, sea lions and sea otter as well as lots of neat birds. 

We explored Juneau before heading back to Skagway. 
We spent much of the next day in Skagway, which was great, before catching the Alaskan Marine Ferry to Haines, Alaska.  The highway is a ferry system that helps connect all the communities that are along the water, some have no outside road access.
We has a quick fish and chips in Haines, I popped into an IGA and got junk food we can't get in Canada and headed home. It was a great drive, we drove through so many terrain and even clouds.

On the Road to Stratford:

After returning to Toronto, I went the next weekend with my aunt to Stratford for some plays and an overnight stay.
We took the Stratfest bus to Stratford and stayed at the Best Western Arden Park Hotel, which was very nice. We saw King Lear which was the big draw this year with Paul Gross  as the titular roll. It also has my friend Andre Sill in it. It was a great production. Later that night we saw Rent. I have never seen rent, it was definitely a great production of it. 

The next day we saw Margaret Atwood and Emma Donoghue talk about adapting their works to film. It was really interesting, their back and forth was fantastic. Then later we saw Les Belles-Soeurs, a 1960s Quebec play about women and their lives. It was very interesting, and I really enjoyed it.

Finally, a PR Event:
I haven't actually attended a PR event since March 2020, the day the pandemic was declared. I have been invited to a few, but I either had to work, or they got cancelled last minute (there was a Halloween one that was going to be at a drive-in, but a thunderstorm had to happen). So this was pretty exciting for me. I knew no one, but it was fun, 

Brill Communications hosted it as a showcase of their clients. You walk around the penthouse of the SoHo hotel and talk to reps for each brand and get to take home products, have drinks and eat food. 

I really love the people at Brill, they represent some of my favourite brands, Yardley London, Real Techniques, Eco Tools, Panoxyl, Dr. Teals, The Face Shop, Belif and oh so many more. My favourite part is actually talking to the reps and learning about what is new, its always so exciting to see what is happening out there.

That was my August, it was a lot, but I had a great time. I hope you all had a great month.

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