mélange + a contemplative season

Hey friends! It's been a while since I've posted a mélange post and I do have a few links I want to share with you, as well as other posts I'm currently writing in the coming days and weeks, but first a reason why I've stepped back. The truth is, I was at a family funeral out of province all last week, and I've been slow to respond or do much on social media ever since. Some days there seems to be so much interesting, inspiring, and altogether good things happening online that I'm bursting to share and create, other seasons like the one I'm still in, I'm more contemplative and need more time to process before I can create and share. I know all types of seasons blend together to make this beautiful thing we call life (the book of Lamentations has been such a teacher and comfort to me lately!) so I'm embracing that this has been and probably will continue to be a quieter time for me online. Thankfully I have a lot of guests lined up in my A Day In HER Life series while I sit back a bit. And for today, here are a few systems, products, articles, and images that I've loved, tried, or been inspired by.

source: 600 sq ft

• My friend Alison, aka my minimalist heroine, recently wrote about vacationing without purchasing and I was so inspired. I have written about minimalist souvenirs before, but she pushes things to the next level. As I wrote way back when, I usually love to get something thrifted or found (aka my secondhand Royal Copenhagen tea cup from Denmark or our sea glass collection from PEI) when we're traveling, but what if we challenged ourselves to make mental memories exclusively, instead of stocking up material ones? 
• We don't eat out often as a family, it's usually more of a take-out or picnic situation when we do treat ourselves to food from a restaurant, but I still loved these tips to avoiding the kid's menu (something I feel very strongly about!) when you do dine out with your clan. 
• Montreal's winter seems to be creeping back after a few days of Spring-like weather, and I have to share these merino wool socks with you - they have a lifetime warranty and they are SO cozy. I'm seriously wear them every other day (and wash them alternatively, duh!).

source: the Everygirl

• I loved this honest article about the struggle of feeling inadequate and why it's so important to celebrate other women's successes.  
• How Netflix perpetuates modern anxieties. I think this has a lot to do with the content you watch, not the medium itself, but a really interesting read nonetheless. 
• Really excited to try this super affordable skincare line. 
• One father's memoir of his miscarriage. I've never given a lot of thought towards the father in light of a miscarriage, but this moving article opened my eyes. Both parents suffer and need to be supported.

• Sina's tutorials for creative photos are so cool! Also I love that this European family makes their home in Toronto! Her posts are always a treat :)
• I saw this recipe for roasted sunchokes a while back and saved ti to try - I love incorporating new flavours and textures into our meals and I've never tried a sunchoke in my life! Once I saw the photos I know exactly what they were - they actually sell them year-round in at my local grocer I just never knew what they were!
• How to teach boys to respect women. One of our top priorities in raising our son!

Have a great week everyone! I'll be spending most of next week holed up in a little farm house in Ontario with my BFF and our five combined kiddos (6 if you count the one in her belly!) for the kid's March Break, which reminds me, I really need to post about our last two adventured together (PEI with our kids and London, just the two of us!). As the season allows, I will :)