Wedding Planning Update!

It's 10 months to my wedding in a couple of days, and I thought it would be good to take a minute to give you all an update on how planning is going!

So far we've:

• chosen the date (September 11th, 2016 - the 2 year anniversary of our first date!);
• chosen the wedding party (we're keeping it simple with just a maid of honour and a best man);
• created a budget (that we're seriously hoping to stick to!);
• booked the venue (a beautiful farm and forest in Rockwood, Ontario);
• decided on a preliminary menu with the caterer (100% vegan and mouth-watering);
• drafted the guest list (currently sitting at around 50, and we're hoping to keep it below 70), and;
• poured over Pinterest inspiration for hours on end!

What we have left to do in 2015:

• insure my engagement ring;
• choose an officiant;
• create our wedding website;
• make our save the dates;
• book musicians;
• finalize the guest list, and;
• start dress shopping!

I was starting to feel as though we hadn't done anything and were getting so behind.  It's great to see the done and to-do list together to realize that we're actually pretty on track!  We have almost 2 months to get those 7 items checked off, and other than choosing the dress (which I know is going to take a LONG time... how can I make a snap judgement on my wedding dress??) everything should be pretty easy to get done in a couple days of work.  

If you're planning your wedding and not sure where to start, check out my wedding planning timeline here.  It's a great guideline to follow so that nothing is left too last minute!

And for those of you who don't follow me on instagram (but why aren't you?  I thought we were friends!) I'll include a couple shots of our venue!

Until next time,

Are you on track with wedding planning?  What has been your favourite part so far?  Let me know in the comments below!

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Why My Home is a Vegan Zone

I've been thinking about this a lot in the last couple of weeks and really  wanted to share my thoughts on it with all of you.  The other day Jason was recording tracks for a friend of ours in our home studio.  Our friend and those who were singing on the tracks got hungry and decided they wanted to order a pizza.  They offered to order one to share with cheese, and to order a separate vegan one for Jason. He reluctantly agreed.  When I got home and he told me about it I expressed that if I had been there I would have said no, point blank.  He agreed with me saying that it made him very uncomfortable and he wished he'd said no.  Why would we feel the need to keep our home a 100% vegan zone?  Let me count the ways.

ONE Animal products have a strong smell that doesn't go away quickly.  Not only do I find this smell middle nauseating, but it is also a constant reminder of the pain and suffering of countless millions of animals.  Not really something I want to be thinking about every minute of the day, especially not in my own home.

TWO My house, my rules.  Some people don't allow smoking.  Some people don't allow drinking. I don't allow murder, of any species.  Plain and simple.  If you want to do it I won't stop you.  But try to bring it into my home?  That's a no go.

THREE I don't want to eat off of plates that have had dead animals on them, even if they've been scrubbed with bleach.  

FOUR I'm not going to support the exploitation of animals, even second hand.  If I don't allow animal products in my home friends and family may choose to eat vegan foods while they're here rather than going hungry, and every single vegan meal makes a big difference to the animals and our planet!

FIVE My home is my safe place.  Animal products don't make me feel safe.  

SIX I try not to say anything to people who eat animal products in front of me (They're living their lives according to them.  I have no right to judge them for where they are currently in their journey.  I ate  animals at one point, too!) but it does make me very uncomfortable.  Once you recognize meat for what it really is, the flesh of a slaughtered animal, and dairy, the products made from milk stolen from the babies who it was intended for (and who were brought into the world against the mother's wishes, then taken from her), it's not a pleasant experience to see them being consumed without a second thought.  When you live your life surrounded by these countless actions of secondhand cruelty, having once place that is free from them can be the difference between being constantly stressed and agitated, and being able to find a semblance of balance in your life.

Living in my home with my fiance is the first time since I went vegan that I haven't lived with a non-vegan.  Being able to say as a couple that our home is a 100% vegan zone feels good.  And that won't change any time soon.

Until next time,

Did any of these points surprise you?  Are there things you don't allow in your home?  Tell me about them in the comments below!

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6 Best Minimalist YouTube Channels

In honour of my picking up YouTube again I am sharing my 6 favourite minimalist YouTube channels for your viewing pleasure!  Go check them out and get inspired to make more steps towards minimalism in your own life.

Light By Coco 

Coco was the first minimalist YouTuber I started watching, and she's still my favourite.  Her life is so relatable, and her tips are extremely helpful.  Her video on digital organization was the inspiration for me to organize my computer and email!  I also love her aesthetic and calm demeanour.  

Exploring Alternatives

This couple actually sold their home and began living in a VAN.  Talk about inspiring minimalists!  They share great tips, snippets from their life, and other minimalists' stories.  They're actually incredibly relatable, despite their extreme lifestyle.  I've found them more recently but have found myself spending lots of time on their channel!  

Melissa Alexandria

Not only does she make really helpful videos on all aspects of minimalism, but she's also a vegan! (10 points for gryffindor!)  She's concise and very warm in her videos and I love her personal style (she wears almost as much black as I do - which is really not an easy task!).

Lavendaire

I have a serious hair crush on this girl.  Oh, and her videos are great, too!  Aileen's a big fan of the KonMari method, just like I am, and I really enjoy her videos about her journey with decluttering using Marie Kondo's book as a guide.  Her channel is wonderful for those of you who are just beginning your journey with the KonMari brand of minimalism as she has quite a few helpful tutorials on methods from the book!

Mademoiselle

Jaime-Lee's capsule wardrobes are on point, and really helped me while I was in the planning stages of mine!  She is definitely very style focused, so if you're a self-proclaimed shopaholic her channel might fulfill your urge to shop without actually having to buy anything.  (A major pus when you're trying to reduce your belongings!)

Inspiroue

Cynthia's another great one to watch for fashion inspiration.  She's all about sustainable fashion, which really aligns with my perspective on clothing.  She also does capsule wardrobes and encourages thrift shopping!  Her videos tend to be on the longer end with a LOT of helpful information!

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Who's your favourite minimalist to watch on YouTube?  I'd love for all of us to find more quality YouTubers to pull inspiration from on our minimalist journeys!

Until next time,

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Happy Halloween!

Hi, guys!

Halloween is one of my favourite holidays.  I mean, that's not overly surprising, given I'm an actor (so duh, I love dressing up), but ANYWAY... dressing up for Halloween is the best!  I love crafting, but almost never have time for it, so Halloween is the perfect excuse to get creative.  

So from my happy ghoulish heart straight to yours, 

The month of October has been pretty crazy for me, but Jason and I still made time for our second annual Autumn Date!  It's becoming a tradition for us to go pick out pumpkins, grab supplies, and carve them in a park, then have a fun photoshoot.  I hope we keep doing it every single year!

Here are a couple of the shots from the day (I worked hard on that kitten pumpkin!):

But on to the fun, creative, DIY part of Halloween.  The costumes!  Last year I was Jessica Rabbit:

I bought the dress at a vintage shop and cut off the straps, bought gloves and a wig, and had loads of fun with the makeup!  It all worked surprisingly well, especially the dress which I taped to myself with approximately 29 pieces of double sided tape!

The year before that I was a unicorn:

My favourite parts were my homemade horn out of rolled up foam paper glued to a headband and my tail made out of 3 pastel boas tied to a fanny pack!  Any excuse to wear a fanny pack and I'm there.

And the year before that I was Minnie Mouse:

I had the dress already from a dance costume, but painted the trim, added the bow and buttons, and sewed it up into a bustle over my tutu!  I also made my ears from foam attached to a headband.  Anyone sensing a trend?

What am I this year, you ask?  I've been dressing up for the past couple of weeks at work, since I work at a costume shop, and have been having lots of fun trying on the wigs especially!  

I LOVED this green one:

And I had fun with this little Miss Monroe cut:

But my very favourite costume was this one:

Here's the caption I wrote on Instagram for those of you who don't do the whole Insta thing!  Though you should.  Really.

"Spokescow to the rescue! Just casually being the voice for the voiceless today at work. 🐮 Cows are beautiful, loving, and intelligent animals, just like you and I. I want you to imagine that your neighbour, a woman you don't know well but seems nice, was forcefully artificially inseminated. Would that make you angry? What if, after nine long months, she gave birth, only to have her baby taken away from her forever so that machines could be hooked up to her breasts to extract the milk meant for her child. Would you be angrier still? And what if as soon as her milk dried up she was artificially inseminated again, and so on, until she was unable to conceive. I bet you'd be fuming. And what if, when she was finally unable to become pregnant, she was killed and her body parts used to make clothing and glue and other products. I bet you'd be disgusted. And what if you learned that her female children were subjected to the same fate, while her male children were killed to be eaten as a delicacy. I bet you'd stand up. I bet you wouldn't be able to stay silent. So how come when it happens to a female cow it's ok? What is it about a cow that makes us feel justified to systematically torture? The dairy industry is NOT blameless. Far from it. If this post makes you angry, as it did several customers at my store today, ask yourself why. Why should someone pointing out the obvious, that a cow's milk is meant for that cow's children, not for human consumption, make you so mad? Is it that you don't like thinking about it? Does it make you feel guilty? It's time to look inside yourself and decide if you can be responsible for the immense physical and emotional suffering that these beautiful creatures experience every single day of their lives. And you are responsible if you're consuming the result. It's not ME you're mad at. It's you."

But what am I going to be today, for the real Halloween?  You'll have to watch the video below to find out!  I wanted to take this opportunity to finally talk to you (out loud!)... in my first YouTube video in years!  Check it out below and don't forget to subscribe as I plan on uploading more videos for you in the very near future :)

Until next time,

Do you have a YouTube channel?  I'd love to subscribe!  Comment below and let me know a bit about you and leave your channel's name and I'll check it out :)  And subscribe to each other, too!  I want us all to get to know each other :)

Also, I REALLY want to see all of your Halloween costumes!! Tag me @elizabethturn on instagram and twitter and Plant Based Bride on Facebook!

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Oh, and also: