birthday fun

hello! we had a very busy weekend! here are some cool photos from friday night.

i don't like to plan things for my birthday...soooo, some of my awesome friends planned a super amazing night for me and surprised me! i knew we were doing something but i didn't know what.
we went to niagara falls and had a picnic with fruit, champagne and cupcakes (they even special ordered me vegan ones!). then we played with sparklers and watched fireworks! then we went to a haunted house! soooo fun!
i had a great time and it was soooooo nice of them to plan that for me :) thanks friends :)

what do you like to do for your birthday??

we also had a wedding this weekend, i'll share a few photos from that soon!

♥elycia

ps. in case you were wondering...i didn't show any photos of my friends because i didn't ask them if they minded being shown on my blog. maybe they don't want people to know we're friends, haha, no not really. but maybe they don't want to be on the internet :) i'm practicing my good manners, hehe.

5 fav friday

hi friends!
here are some things i love this week

5. roller skates

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i guess roller blades are more practical for outdoor use...but i am determined to break out my roller skates this year!

4. sunglasses from what the funk on etsy

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i am currently in love with vintage glasses...sun and otherwise.

3. gingham

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i really love gingham...especially red.

2. owl planters
i found one thrifting a while ago and i think i'm on the humt for more.

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remember...the owls are not what they seem.

1. my cute kitties enjoying the nice weather.

these guys love it outside! we take them out in the backyard for supervised exploring, haha. anakin is a good listener and he is more cautious so we can trust him off the leash. farva is a bit crazier so we use a harness and lease for him, hehe, so cute! he gets excited and starts meowing when we get out his harness!

this weekend is going to be fun! we have a friends wedding and the weather is supposed to be beautiful! hooray! enjoy the rest of your day!

♥elycia

and the winner is...

hi everyone! i had a great day today! it's over now though! ahhh! but i'm super excited to announce the winner of the giveaway. thanks to everyone who entered...i really appreciate your nice comments and hearing all the things you enjoy doing in the summer.

thanks to the random number generator i am pleased to announce that the winner is.....

kat of kei glass!

thanks again to everyone who entered! 

you are awesome :)

♥elycia

i wish...

i wish i was going here today.

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oh well...maybe soon :)

have a great day! annnddd i'll be back late with the giveaway winner! don't forget to enter!

♥elycia

i ♥ etsy - week 13

hi everyone!
 ivan and i had a very good day! the weather was beautiful and i scored a bunch of vintage clothes from ivan's dad's cousin. then we went for sushi. ahhh, perfect.  i think we'll go for a walk soon and enjoy the nice weather a bit more :)

this week i'm featuring fellow BESTeam member Bits 'n' Beads by Gilliauna. Gilliauna often uses 'cleaned and re-purposed as well as vintage jewelry parts and beads in many of her colorful creations.' that's a cool idea! check out some of my favourites.

i love wooden jewelry.

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there are lots of different types of items...not just these wooden bangles. they are definitely my favourite though! check out Gilliauna's etsy shop if you're interested in some pretty jewelry. she also has a blog...here.

♥elycia

ps. don't forget to enter my giveaway!!!

sooo delicious

hi! i'm so excited to see all the new faces around here and i can't wait to pop over and visit all of your blogs :) i hope everyone had a good weekend! on saturday i made something delicious...here it is.

they are vegan peanut butter cups! the recipe is from the book 'the kind diet'. it's a cookbook and it also has a lot of info on eating animal products. i like it :) this is the first thing i have made from it...and i think it's the least healthy thing in the whole book, haha. oh well it was super yummy...here's the recipe

Makes 12


1/2 cup Earth Balance butter (vegan butter)
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (unsweetened and unsalted)
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs or 10 graham cracker squares
1/4 cup maple sugar or other granulated sweetener
1 cup grain-sweetened, non-dairy chocolate or carob chips
1/4 cup soy, rice or nut milk
1/4 cup chopped pecans, almonds or peanuts

Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

Melt the 'butter' in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in peanut butter, graham cracker crumbs, and maple sugar and mix well. Remove the mixture from the heat. Evenly divide the mixture, approximately 2 tablespoons per cup, among the muffin cups.

Combine the chocolate and milk in another pan. Stir over medium heat until the chocolate has melted. Spoon the chocolate evenly over the peanut butter mixture. Top with chipped nuts. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours before serving.

**i used regular white granulated sugar (bad for you, oops), and i was a bit short on graham crackers so i had to put them in the freezer to get them hard...but...they were still sooooo good.**

there is also a blog/website related to the book that talks about eco/animal friendly products and has more recipes if anyone is interested :)

talk to you soon!
♥elycia

5 fav friday

hi! thanks to everyone who has been spreading the word about the giveaway! i love reading everyone's favourite things to do!
here are some of my favourite things this week...

5. this salt and pepper shaker, wow wow wow! so cute!!

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 4. purple! i'm working on a business card holder for a friend and it's all different shades of purple...it looks sooo yummy!

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3.  double finger rings

this one from  Pretty Birdie from Stephanie Teague is so pretty. anndd it's made out of scrap wood from a guitar shop. so cool!

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you can customize this one to say anything you want!

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2. typewriters

since i found my beautiful typewriter i've been admiring others

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1. this book

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to any indie business classmates out there...this book is awesome! i just got it and it is soooo helpful. it covers so many topics. this is the author Kari Chapin's blog. i'm not super familiar with her blog yet but the book is fantastic!

i hope you all have a great friday and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

♥elycia

giveaway!

hi everyone! i'm so excited to announce my birthday giveaway! here it is...

included...
♥ cute scratch and sniff stickers
♥ mood nailpolish - this stuff changes colour as your body heats up...so coooool!
♥ set of 3 recycled paper ecojot notebooks
♥ nerd glasses from RVA
♥ say something 'hello' headband from ♥elycia (that's me)

how to enter:
♥ follow my blog and leave a comment telling me your favourite thing to do in the summer!  
**leave your email address so i can let you know if you win!**

extra entries:
♥ tweet about this giveaway - include @loveelycia in your tweet 
♥ blog about this giveaway and post the link here

please leave a separate comment for each entry :)

the giveaway will stay open until 5:00pm on May 26th (my birthday!). i will announce the winner later that night! good luck!


thanks to everyone for reading my blog and being so nice!

♥elycia

EDIT: everyone can enter! i will mail to anywhere in the world!

every girl has a story - Mona

introducing...Mona

Mona is a girl who loves love. She believes in happy endings and always wearing your heart on your sleeve...or your headband. Word has it she's quite the heart-breaker, watch out boys.

♥elycia