My Favourite Things of 2023 -

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As the year comes to an end, I love to look back at my favourite moments. This year was a special one! We completed our biggest renovation to date – the laundry/multipurpose room. We *almost* completed our backyard (fingers crossed we finally finish it in 2024). And we welcomed our baby boy in June! We spent countless days lounging by the pool and my girls learned to swim like fish! It was a great year.

As I was rounding up my favourite memories, I started thinking about the things I couldn’t live without this year. So let’s round up my favourite things of 2023!

Dyson

I won’t lie, I never understood the Dyson hype. So when we replaced our vacuum in 2022 we bought an off-brand vacuum that still cost over $500. I thought it would be amazing but was honestly underwhelmed. Not to mention my husband complained about it every single time he used it. It sucked. Not in a good way.

Dyson reached out to me when my husband was at his whits end with our vacuum so I decided to give it a shot. And OMG. I can’t believe how life changing this vacuum was. Incredible suction and battery life. An all around winner. Now I can’t imagine my life without it. Not an ad at all, I’m just fully obsessed. I will also admit this vacuum is stupid expensive but if it lasts me 5 years it’s already a better deal than the $500 vacuum that I couldn’t stand after less than a year!

Jyll with Dyson Gen5Outsize vacuum in kitchen

Stella & Grace Eye Patches

If you follow me on Instagram (which you should!), you will know I am fully obsessed with these eye patches. While I don’t necessarily think they do much for my wrinkles, they 100% work to reduce puffiness. I have found the key is to pop them in the freezer for 4 minutes (no more, no less). They feel SO GOOD. They de-puff and just make me feel more awake and ready for the day!

A follower suggested that I pack them in my hospital bag for after birth and OMG I am so glad I did. They felt so great and made me feel more human after being exhausted from labour and delivery.

New mom in hospital bed with newborn baby wearing Stella & Grace eye patches under her eyes.

YNAB

We have always been pretty good with our money. We save, we don’t take on debt, and don’t make frivolous purchases. That being said, we sucked at following a budget. Don’t get me wrong, we MADE a budget every January. And while this was helpful to see what we could afford we never actually held ourselves accountable. We never cross referenced our actual spending to see if we were on budget.

This year I decided to try YNAB (You Need a Budget) and I loved it. Categorizing all of our spending and tracking literally every single penny that we spent, was pretty life changing. As I’m making our new budget for 2024 it is even more helpful. I can see exactly how much I spent each month on every. single. category. It has helped us find categories that we under-budgeted/over-spent on and vice versa! And since we hope to renovate and build a primary bedroom & ensuite in our lower level in a couple years, figuring out how we can save more money is GOLDEN!

Simple Modern 40oz

A while back I did a comparison of Yeti and Stanley Quenchers which you can find here. I LOVED my Stanley (and still do!). But then I tried the Simple Modern 40oz tumbler and I think I’m converted. It is honestly VERY comparable to the Stanley with the only big difference being the gasket around the straw. My kids are constantly knocking my water over and the gasket around the straw on the Simple Modern does a much better job of preventing spills.

I actually got our girls mini versions of my fave tumbler and they are also obsessed! And the colours are SO CUTE.

Woman smiling holding multiple Stanley Quenchers, Yetis and Simple Modern drinking tumblers.

Sunscreen

I spent summers teaching sailing as a teenager and rarely wore sunscreen, something that I seriously regret now in my 30s. We spent a LOT of time by the pool this year and I came to love a couple different products.

On days I am wearing makeup, I love this sunscreen for my face. Its silky smooth like a pore-refining primer. But for lazy days by the pool, I liked this version, which gives your skin a beautiful glow.

For my body I am actually obsessed with this kids sunscreen. It was recommended to me by a doctor because it stays on so well while swimming. I tried the adult version however the kids version rubs in SO easily. A must when you have littles that are in and out of the pool all day!