it's bbq season + rufus teague!

B B Q   S E A S O N   I S   *F I N A L L Y*   H E R E!

I'm absolutely loving this beautiful Spring weather here in Toronto. I've got to say one my favourite parts about Spring & Summer is cooking delicious meals on the BBQ! Pete and I are so lucky to have our cute little back patio that gives us the opportunity to hang back there, host and of course cook up some delicious food on the BBQ for ourselves and our guests.

Last week I was lucky enough to attend a blogger event at Barque (one of my favourite places to eat in the city!) for all things BBQ. In other words, this was the event of my dreams! I loveeee BBQ, in fact I'd say it's probably my favourite type of food.

I got to learn all about Rufus Teague BBQ sauce and ohhhh baby, am I glad I now know it exists. The chefs cooked up all kinds of delicious plates using their BBQ sauce, and they were all incredible in their own ways. Also, how can I not mention the fact that their was a fountain of BBQ sauce! I mean, seriously? The best! Chicken Fingers dipped in Rufus Teague = heaven on earth.

The three flavours we tired were Honey Sweet + Touch 'O Heat + Whiskey Maple ♥

Everyone at the event left with some sauce and spices and Pete and I have basically been putting them to use every night! On Sunday night we made fajitas on the BBQ with Touch O' Heat. They! were! so! darn! good!

Follow Rufus Teague on Instagram + Twitter for some serious BBQ inspo for the Summer!

I thought I'd share a little somethin' delicious to make with your Rufus Teague BBQ sauce!:

BBQ BLTA WRAP:

Brown Sugar Bacon 

8 pieces thick cut bacon

1 cup of brown sugar

1 tp of rufus teague meat rub

1 whole wheat tortilla

1 beefsteak tomato, sliced 1/2' thick

1 head of boston lettuce

1 ripe avocado, sliced

1 tbs rufus teague honey sweet bbq sauce

Directions:

set oven at 400 Degrees

massage bacon with brown sugar and rufus teague meat rub (allow to sit for 3-5 minutes)

set bacon on wire rack + place in oven. allow bacon to crisp up and get crunchy

while bacon is cooking in the oven, slice up veggies

remove bacon from wire rack, cover with foil and retain heat

warm up tortilla in microwave.

once tortilla is nice and warm, slather on a heaping tablespoon (or more!) of your rufus teague honey sweet bbq sauce

add your bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado. wrap it up + serve up with some more bbq sauce!

Photography by Josh Tenn-Yuk courtesy of Rufus Teague

 + this is a sponsored post. please note that jules only chooses to work with brands that she loves, believes in and best reflect her personal brand & blog +

self love + smithery style!

o h      h e y    g o r g e o u s !!! 

It's me, Jules! I'm alive & well and keeping busy as a bee as per usual. I've been wanting to do this post for weeks but it was a very special one and something I did not want to rush!

In February I was lucky enough to be chosen by the incredible ladies from Smithery Style to take part in their Spring Photoshoot! I was beyond honoured to be asked to do this, and was so intrigued because of what Smithery is all about.

Self Love is a phrase I've been hearing a lot of lately, along with Self Care. They are both so important to living a happy, care free life in the skin you're in. This is definitely something important to me and something I've also struggled with for a long time. I've always been more of a curvy lady and on some days I embrace it and love it, and others I feel sad and disappointed with the way I look. It's definitely easier said than done to feel confident and proud of the way you look at times. Places like Smithery help women feel confident and proud about what they wear - and I just love that!

Mavis and Rena are the beautiful and inspiring women behind Smithery Style and I am beyond thankful I've connected with them and learned what their brand is all about. It was nice to try something new and step outside my usual fashion choices (dresses!)

You can use the Shape Finder on their website to find out your shape and learn more about the best, most flattering styles for you. I loved learning more about my shape and different pieces that would be a good fit for me. 

Who are Smithery? "We're a Canadian e-boutique where the best Go-To's for every body shape are curated, styled, and modeled on real women. As stylesmiths, we're taking the guesswork out of style, size, and fit by supplying the measurements for every model and every item in every size. Our favourite part? Each Smithery box comes with styling tips for your new finds."

When the ladies asked me to be a model for their Spring shoot, I was over the moon! I was so inspired by all the creative, sweet and inspiring women who were there that day! It was a full day of fun with pretty outfits, photography, laughs and confetti! I got to wear a number of different outfits (including PANTS which I never ever wear) I loved playing dress up, and trying new things.

We had such a blast and I left feeling better than ever. I got to meet lots of amazing (new) boss babes too, all these beautiful humans were a part of our wonderful day:

Leisse from Leisse Wilcox

Natalie from Nest Design Studio

Lisa from Le Dolci

Laurel from Mint Floral Co

Photos by Lauren Miller 

Hair by Aylin Carolina

This day and the whole experience was super uplifting. I am going to continue to embrace my curves and body and make taking care of myself and feeling (and looking) good a priority for me. I signed up for a gym membership and am taking weekly classes at work too. I've also been doing some meditating (which I am loving) and am just trying to spend more time relaxing, unwinding and being unplugged.

Oh, and the best part? I am offering you $20 OFF any purchase $100 or more - head to Smithery Style and use the code HEYJULES at check out! 

penguin books fall lifestyle preview (+ a little tour of their office!)

Hello & Happy Monday!

I had a very jam packed weekend this past weekend. So many good times were had and that is what Summer is all about! Looking forward to taking it easy this week and spending some quality time with Pete before we head up to visit family at the cottage for the long weekend ♥

Something on my Summer Bucket List was to read three books (and just spend more time reading in general) and I have to say that so far I have definitely been doing this. I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Jodi Picoult's new book from Penguin Random House and I am absolutely loving it. I've also got about five more books lined up for once I am done this one! Just trying to spend less time on my phone and computer and more time reading, creating and crafting!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting the Penguin Random House office for a Fall Lifestyle Preview! There were so many delicious snacks and treats made from the upcoming cookbooks and everything looked beautiful. Their office is absolutely gorgeous! Open concept, with nothing but beautiful books around every corner. It was even more great because I got to see where my big brother Dave works every day.

Books make everything better. I love reading them, looking through them, and styling them in our home. I am so looking forward to my list of upcoming books to read and am going to continue to make extra time to read every week. I am even thinking of starting my own book club (I've wanted to for a while and honestly how fun would that be?)

But for now, here are some snaps from the Fall Lifestyle Preview. I've definitely got a bunch of these on my Christmas Wish List! (five months today by the way! hahaha)

design your summer(!!!)

So, we're home! We're married and it's SUMMER time. Best Ever.

Lately I've been listening to the "Happier" podcast with Gretchen Rueben, who wrote The Happiness Project which I read a few years ago. It's been really fun and interesting to learn more about happiness and tips and tricks for little things we can do to live a happy life. I am really loving it.

One podcast was all about Designing Your Summer! I've done Summer Bucket Lists in the past but I am even more excited about this Summer for some reason. It's so true that you have the ability to design your life (and Summer!) so let's do this.

(  d e s i g n   y o u r    s u m m e r  )

I just took a look at our calendar for the Summer and realized quickly that we're booked up with fun plans for almost every weekend. We've got a bunch of cottage weekends (yay!), some bachelor & bachelorette parties, some Toronto adventures and celebrations and lots of good vibes. 

I always love to make plans and fill up our Summer because it gives me so much to look forward to. Summer is great because while we may be really busy and away on weekends, there's always lots going on through the week in the city so we make time for friends & family then too. 

Here's my summer to-do list (I will probably add some more to this too!)
- make our own sangria!

- go on an adventure with my DSLR camera

- re-vamp our patio

- go to the toronto flower market!

- go to a toronto FC game
- get ice cream from bang bang 

- make our own iced coffees
- host friends over for a delicious meal
- go visit chantal & steve's new house!
- go up to a cottage!
- sing by the fire
- buy goodies at a local farmers market
- have a family cabin weekend of fun

- spend LOTS of time at the park (bellwoods)

- go on a coffee shop tour of toronto with pete (& blog about it!)

- go to the ex!
- hangout in sarah & jay's backyard (& drink sangria)
- make homemade lemonade
- go rollerskating!
- try 3 new summer recipes

- spend as much time outside as possible!

- eat, drink & be merry on our patio more often

- read 3 books!

- go to toronto island
- get a new helmet & ride my bike in the city
- visit the toronto waterfront for the day
- make a fresh fruit salad
- go for after dinner walks in our neighbourhood

Robbie Burns Day Event

Happy Monday! Today is Robbie Burns Day!: the annual celebratory tribe to the life, works and spirit of the great Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796) Celebrated on, or about, the Bard's birthday, January 25th, Burns suppers range from stentoriously formal gatherings of formal gatherings of esthetes and scholars to uproariously informal rave-ups of drunkards and louts.

Last week Pete and I were lucky enough to attend an incredible Robbie Burns celebration at Brassai in Toronto. We sat with wonderful bloggers and influencers and made new friends while tasting the most delicious whiskey. We enjoyed tastings of Auchentoshan, Bowmore and Laphroaig and Glen Garioch. We fancy, huh?

Pete is a big whiskey fan and has always loved the drink. Since I am more of a sweet drink kind of girl, I like cocktails instead of my drinks neat or on ice. They were making absolutely delicious whiskey cocktails, read on for one of the recipes we got to try at the event!

We got to taste a three course meal that was absolutely incredible. Each course was paired with an extremely delicious cocktail. We also did a tasting of six different types of whiskey. It was so interesting to hear about how the whiskey is made and all kinds of ingredients in each kind. We detected the flavours in each by smelling and tasting every one (it was a very entertaining Wednesday night!) 

Here are some beautiful photo's from our night, captured by Rick Vyrostko Photography

Auchentoshan & Ale (this one was my favourite!)

Ingredients: 

• 35 mL Auchentoshan American Oak
• 30 mL Lemon juice
• 30 mL Honey syrup
• 90 mL Citrus Pale Ale
• 1 Lemon wedge for garnish 

Directions: 

• Combine Auchentoshan, lemon juice and honey syrup in a shaker filled with ice.
• Shake vigorously and strain into a collins glass with or without ice. 
• Top with beer and garnish with a lemon