Anyone else completely skip over the first 8 paragraphs on a food blogger’s recipe blog post? Like dang! I simply want the recipe and to know what to preheat my oven to! But as a fellow blogger I completely understand why these food bloggers tell a story before they hand you the recipe at the end of the blog post! So if you stay with me here I will briefly explain why food bloggers tell you their life story before they share their recipe… or if you have no interest in knowing that skip down to Matt’s famous chewy ginger snap cookie recipe!
If you are not a blogger, Google sorts through all the internets content (including blog posts) and ranks it when it presents it to you. One of the tools it uses to do this is SEO – search engine optimization. Bloggers love to be updated and include the best SEO tactics in their blog posts so that Google will like their blog post and show it higher up in your search results.
There are many ways to make blog posts SEO friendly, and a good one is to have a lengthy blog post. The lowest tier would be 300+ words, then next tier would be 500+ words, and the best is 1000+ words.
You can imagine it’s hard to write 1000+ words on an easy food recipe… so that is why food bloggers usually include a long description about where the ingredients came from, a funny story, a life update, etc.
You can support those bloggers by commenting on their blog post or engaging with their social media or simply sharing their blog post on Pinterest! I know it can be annoying to have to scroll all the way down the screen to find the recipe, but now you know why!
If you’ve made it this far, thank-you for reading! Back to Matt’s famous chewy ginger snap cookie recipe!
Matt’s Famous Chewy Ginger Snap Cookies
Looking for an easy Christmas cookie recipe? This is the one for you!
I have the ultimate secret (maybe I’m hyping it up too much, but I love using it…) on how to make any outfit breastfeeding friendly! Because breastfeeding is hard enough without having to worry about what you are wearing.
I learned the hard way that some breastfeeding tops are really, really ugly. I ordered a few nursing shirts with my last baby and they looked completely different on me than they did the model online. And then shirts were “meh” when it came to accessibility for breastfeeding! How lame, right?!
It sucks that I have so many clothes from in between pregnancies and pre-pregnancy, though to tell you the truth my pre-pregnancy stage was 6 years ago and I’m starting to completely purge my “pre-pregnancy” wardrobe because it’s not my style anymore. And that is okay! It’s okay to get rid of your pre-pregnancy clothes, if it’s not bringing you joy anymore!
But you’re here to find out what the secret is on how to make any outfit breastfeeding friendly! And here it is…
Nursing Camisoles!
I told you I was hyping it all up too much… but wearing a nursing camisole or tank top under any shirt helps me feel comfortable enough to lift it up and nurse while not exposing my stomach. Plus it makes the perfect amount of exposure for breastfeeding so I rarely use a nursing cover or muslin swaddle over top!
I ordered 3 of the same kind online when I was pregnant and I love them! One in white, one in black and one in grey so I had lots for coordinating with outfits.
It has made such a difference using nursing camisoles! With my 3 girls I used a Costco pack of tank tops and stretched the neckline with each of them so badly because I used them in substitution of nursing tanks. If you’re looking for a different option you can do that too, but at the end of the day I had to throw them all out as they were useless afterwards. It seemed like such a waste!
I hope you can gain some confidence with your nursing journey – you can wear non-nursing tops with nursing camisoles underneath! It’s the perfect breastfeeding trick for mamas who do not want to completely change their wardrobe to make it BF friendly.
How do you make any outfit breastfeeding friendly? Share your best style trick for breastfeeding friendly clothes in a comment below!
At first glance, you may be a little confused by the title of this post! And if you don’t live in the Edmonton, Alberta area then you are really confused about what the Sturgeon Hospital private maternity rooms are. Don’t worry I will be sharing how my hospital induction, labour and postpartum experience went – but there are a few things that I have been dwelling on over the past month that I wanted to share.
Writing this blog post has been difficult for me because I try to keep my blog as a positive space and I try to not complain a lot, but I also want to be honest about my whole experience at the Sturgeon Hospital.
First and foremost, I have to say that the staff at the Sturgeon Hospital were great. You’ll see in my labour story that life can distract and make things less efficient, but overall the nurses and clerks and doctors at the Sturgeon Hospital did their jobs well.
navy hat, swaddle & name tag : Lulujo (similar white XO’s bundle, here) | white patterned swaddle: Lulujo
A little context to my birthing experiences (as Thaddeus is our 4th baby) – my first 3 were all delivered at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. And let me be clear, I loved giving birth at the Royal Alex – the staff were always great, and I always had a private maternity room with each birth.
Whenever I meet local moms they all have a negative connotation about the Royal Alex (whether they gave birth there or heard of a mother who had a bad experience) and I have to set the record straight that in all my experiences the Royal Alex has been the best hospital in Edmonton to give birth at.
My first was born naturally, my second I tried to do without an epidural but she was sunnyside up and I decided to receive the epidural, my third I was induced and it took 3 days but was by far my easiest delivery. So naturally I had an idea that my fourth delivery was going to be a breeze (and it was!). But just like when a mom gets too attached to her birth plan and it doesn’t go according to plan, there can be a sense of great disappointment.
And that’s what happened with the hype buzzing around local moms who praise the Sturgeon Hospital for being the best Edmonton area hospital to give birth at…
What is the difference between the Royal Alex Hospital and Sturgeon Hospital Labour & Delivery?
The Royal Alex Hospital is very similar in the protocol of the Sturgeon Hospital’s labour and delivery units – the Sturgeon’s triage rooms fit 2 hospital beds to a room that is divided by a curtain, while the Royal Alex’s triage area is a large unit made up of curtained off sections for each patient’s hospital bed. The area you wait in while being checked is the same size in both hospitals.
I personally preferred the Royal Alex’s triage area because it’s less intimate than the Sturgeon’s side by side beds with another mom who is labouring – but being in an intimate setting for labour was not an issue for me at all.
Then once you’re in active labour and 3 cm dilated, you are moved over to the delivery unit. I will say the Sturgeon Hospital’s delivery room has a lot more natural light. The Royal Alex has one small window, while the Sturgeon whole exterior wall was a giant window.
Does the Sturgeon Hospital have only private maternity rooms?
No. They may used to only have private maternity rooms at the Sturgeon Hospital, but with the growing demand of women who travel from all over the city to give birth at the Sturgeon hospital they can no longer accommodate private rooms. There are a few available (which cannot be registered for and are first come first serve) and the rest are shared.
Also the Sturgeon Hospital has started building a NICU in the delivery wing of the hospital, which also takes up room from the private maternity rooms. Where you may have been able to request a upgraded hospital room or suite for an additional charge if there were no private rooms available before, there are only private rooms and shared rooms at the Sturgeon Hospital now.
Let me tell you have incredibly frustrating it was to hear over and over again that women from far South, East, and West of Edmonton refused to deliver anywhere else beside the Sturgeon Hospital.
So be aware if you are choosing to deliver your baby at the Sturgeon Hospital based on the myth that you will receive a free private room during your stay, that is not accurate information anymore. The other hospitals around the city of Edmonton have perfectly good staff and facilities.
Back to Thaddeus’ Birth Story…
From the third trimester on, my OB/GYN knew that this baby boy was measuring large… 2-3 weeks ahead of where he should be. Though I did not have gestational diabetes, he was growing like a weed!
I anticipated, like with Adeline, that we would induce me at the hospital closer to my due date because my babies like to be overdue! Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post – Adeline took 3 days to induce me with Cervidil.
During my 38 weeks appointment, my doctor and I filled out the paperwork for me to be induced at the hospital at 39 weeks. My mother-in-law wonderfully took all 3 girls camping that entire week just in case our new baby took 3 days to induce… thankfully that didn’t happen again! But we wanted to be as prepared as possible.
Sunday: We sent our 3 girls off with my mother-in-law, then Matt and I did some chores and errands in preparation for baby’s arrival.
Monday: 6:00AM the Sturgeon Hospital calls to ask if I’ll be able to come in at 8:00AM for my induction. I was not prepared for them to be so on top of calling in early, Matt had appointments all Monday because we were expecting it to take a while to get to the hospital. So I quickly asked my mom if she would be able to come with me to the hospital while Matt worked.
I was checked and had not dilated at all, so I was given one dose of Cervidil. After I received the Cervidil I needed to stay at the hospital for one hour for them to watch me and check again at the end of the hour. The end of that hour was rough! I was starting to feel like I would need a shot of morphine or something to take the edge off because labour went from 0 to 60.
Thankfully it was only a short while of intense contractions because then I was good to be released, and once I stood up to walk around the contractions went away.
I was to call the labour and delivery unit every 4 hours, where they ask the standard questions like has your water broke? Are you bleeding? How far are your contractions apart?
I felt good and a little relieved that I wasn’t dilated at all so that I didn’t have to worry about Matt being at work. From the hospital my mom and I went straight to West Edmonton Mall to buy some wee preterm baby clothes for a cousin who had a preterm baby the night before and then drop off the present at the Misericordia where she was staying in the NICU.
Then we grabbed some lunch and decided to get pedicures. During the pedicures I was definitely having some low intensity contractions but they were similar to the Braxton Hicks false ones I felt all through my third trimester.
After pedicures I was exhausted so I headed home for a nap, and Matt was finally home. We had supper and relaxed at home that evening. At around 11PM the contractions were consistent but not too crazy, so I had a glorious hot shower and then back to bed.
I didn’t sleep too deeply since I was having contractions but nothing that was intense
Tuesday: At 6AM check in call, I was asked to come in to the hospital again at 8:00AM for another check and possible dose of Cervidil.
And hooray! I was at 3cm without needing a second dose of Cervidil! When I look back I think taking that long hot shower definitely helped with relaxing and prepping my body for the day ahead.
I was able to call Matt (who was at work, my mom came with me again) and let him know that today was the day!
The irony of every time I am induced into labour was that my assigned nurse cannot get my IV in. Matt can attest to it – for me, getting the IV was by far the worst part of giving birth. Every single induced birth they have to bring in a second nurse to put it in! It’s either my veins are too small, or my epidermis is too thick…
But once the IV was in with the drip set low, everything was relaxed in my room.
When the nurse asked what my birth plan was I asked for, what my mom calls, “the no pain plan”. I knew that my body dilates super slow, and wanted an epidural as soon as possible. After a taste of the contractions with the Cervidil on day 1, I knew what I wanted.
The strange part is that as we waited for the contractions to intensify, my pain didn’t increase as I waited for the anesthesiologist. I could feel the contractions squeezing my stomach but there was no pain associated with it. The nurse called me stoic, but I’ve never screamed or cried or wailed in labour. Plus, this time I truly was not in any pain – it was strange to me!
As they increased my drip, the pain associated with the contractions that I remember with Annaliese’s natural birth did not appear. My nurse offered me laughing gas – I tried this with Abigail’s birth when I was trying to avoid an epidural, and the gas didn’t seem to affect me – but wow did it ever affect me this time!
The laughing gas for labour used to be administered with a mask that goes over your mouth and nose, since then they’ve changed it to a mouthpiece that looks like a breathalyzer. You put it in your mouth and breath in normally.
At first I didn’t think anything of it, but after my nurse told me to take 3 normal breaths in and out she paused. “Do you feel dizzy?”, while she asked me that I wasn’t but as soon as I took a second to think and feel if I was it hit me so hard. I couldn’t stop smiling and giggling, because I really did feel dizzy and euphoric.
I continued to use the laughing gas, even though I wasn’t in any pain yet, until the anesthesiologist arrived. He was quick and thorough, applied the epidural with ease. And I know I sound like a broken record but the worst part of the epidural was the local freezing.
The anesthesiologist told me it would feel like a little mosquito, and then I winced as he put it in. “More like a baby wasp?”, he asked. YUP! That’s more accurate.
As I lay back down on the bed, I low key was freaking out because I could still wiggle my toes with the epidural – but that is normal! They don’t want you to be completely numb, just in a centralized area so that it can wear off quicker after you have your baby.
Then we waited calmly for baby boy to make his way through the contractions for a couple more hours. Eventually, he was already in the birth canal and with every contraction he would be a little in distress and his heart rate would dip a little.
So instead of waiting for him to be pushed majority of the way out by the contractions (like I was able to do so with Adeline) it was time to push!
15 minutes later and he was here! It turns out Thaddeus was sunny side up like his big sister Abigail while making his way into the world!
Though Abigail was born with a flattened nose, that reset after a couple hours, and Thaddeus was born with some bruising on his forehead from being pushed up against my pubic bone as he came out.
He was 7 lbs 8 oz and we fell in love with him instantly!
After we were all checked out and cleaned up, we were prepped to move over to the Sturgeon Hospital maternity rooms…
They wheeled us down the hallway and to our maternity room, and as you can guess it was a shared room. I was quite shocked because all the moms I had talked to about the Sturgeon Hospital raved about how amazing the private maternity rooms were. There were no options – we were told it was shared rooms only available.
Guys, I wanted to get out of there ASAP and sharing a room was awful. The couple was sound asleep when we got into our room, the bathroom is shared, there is literally no room. If you have delivered at the Sturgeon Hospital before, I want you to imagine one of the private maternity rooms split in two with a curtain with two hospital beds, two pull-out chairs, and two bassinets crammed into one room.
That is what the shared maternity rooms at the Sturgeon Hospital are.
Plus, I felt like crap and was so emotional because Thaddeus would cry in the middle of the night and I would be stressed out of my mind trying to not wake the other couple and their baby. I was trying to not make a mess in the bathroom (I don’t think I need to go into too much detail here, that would be TMI) that we shared. I didn’t feel comfortable to shower at all during my stay there.
It was a completely different experience than any of my other 3 postpartum hospital stays.
The next morning we were itching to get out of the hospital – it had been a rough night!
Another thing that I remember that was odd was that the hospital cart was not stocked (diapers, vaseline, wipes), so I wish we knew that in advance because the Royal Alex Hospital always had those things. The Sturgeon Hospital uses face clothes, that you need to wet, instead of wipes.
While we were ambitious to leave the hospital immediately, we had to give our nurse a little grace. We could tell she was distracted while we were trying to expedit our discharge, and we found out as we were leaving the hospital that her grandpa had died that morning.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, the staff at the Sturgeon Hospital took care of us well. Life happens and we don’t know what is going on in a stranger’s life.
I am glad I had the experience I did at the Sturgeon Hospital and with their shared maternity rooms! I can now educate Edmonton moms and hopefully help them avoid the disappointment I had with the lack of private maternity rooms there.
I’m curious, have you given birth at the Sturgeon Hospital? What was your experience with the Sturgeon Hospital private maternity rooms?
Easy, quick and beautiful hair tutorials are what my Pinterest history always looks like! I have so much hair – it’s thick, heavy, and long – bun hairstyles are how I usually wear my hair, and whenever I want to change it up from my usual top knot (read more about how I create my signature top knot in my most popular blog post here) – I will wear this easy, quick half top knot hairstyle!
Please make sure you click the links in this post to ensure you have the exact products to create the perfect messy half top knot!
Marc Anthony sent me these Grow Long hair styling products in a press package, I love the hot pink packaging! I’ll take you through my easy half top knot tutorial in a moment – if you have trouble growing your hair, you need to try the Marc Anthony Dry 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner spray!
This dry shampoo is sulphate-free, paraben-free, alcohol-free and phthalates-free! Although, you know I have to mention it… it is not fragrance free. Hopefully one day one of my favourite brands will release a dry shampoo that has no fragrance! That would be the best.
The essential ingredients in the Marc Anthony Grow Long 2-in-1 Dry Shampoo and Conditioner are caffeine, ginseng, and rice starch. The formula helps fit excess oils and dryness, while give volume and lift to your hair.
So, after learning more about the dry shampoo here are my tricks to a easy, quick half top knot:
The dirtier the better! I know it can feel gross to go multiple days without washing your hair, but that extra grit from not washing combined with dry shampoo will give your hair the lift you want for that perfect half top knot look.
Use as many elastics as you need! Sometimes the only thing that can keep your half top knot looking perky (instead of sad) is 3 or 4 elastics.
Pull out the tightness of your bun! Just like with braids, to make them look fuller you can tease or pull them out a bit, you can pull out your bun to make it more voluminous and messy.
There is no perfect length of hair for top knots! If you have short hair, long hair, medium hair, thin hair, thick hair, permed hair, etc – you can do a top knot! Don’t be afraid because you think you don’t have enough hair (girl, use all the bobby pins you need!) or you have too much hair. It takes a bit of practice, but I personally think everyone can pull off a half top knot and look amazing doing it.
If you’re wondering what steps I do to create this easy, quick top knot hair tutorial in the photos above, it’s so simple:
Brush out your hair and generously apply the Marc Anthony Dry 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner spray.
If you want extra hold and volume throughout the day, massage a quarter sized amount of the Marc Anthony 10-in-1 Everything Foam into your roots and downward.
Section the amount of hair you want for your half top knot and secure it with an elastic. Make sure the elastic is tight.
Curl your hair – I used the Nume 25mm Curling Wand.
Twist the mini pony tail you created for your half top knot, and wrap it around the base of your mini pony tail, then secure the mini bun with another elastic.
Add another elastic if you need, or tease the bun if you need more volume to it. Secure it further with these amazing bobby pins or the traditional bobby pins, whichever works best for you.
Lightly spray with hairspray at your curls and half top knot. Voila!
I hope my easy and quick half top knot hair tutorial helped answer any questions you have about this hairstyle! It really is simple for even beginners to try – and like I said before, I think everyone can pull it off!
Do you prefer to wear a full top knot or half top knot? Let me know in the comments below!
When living in Alberta, you know that the winters are going to be tough but at least you can look forward to the short 2 months of summer-like weather! Well, that was not the case this year… like I said in my latest Instagram post, it felt like July and August this year were a combination of rainy Spring or cool Fall weather! This year’s weather was not ideal for a day trip to the beach but it doesn’t hurt to know where the best spots are! So, check out below for the top 3 beaches close to Edmonton, AB!
I was born and partially raised in British Columbia, so my lake standards are pretty high. I can safely say Alberta Beach does not impress me, but thankfully that’s not one of the top beaches close to Edmonton, AB!
Here are my favourite (and clean) beaches close to Edmonton:
Every year Matt and I take our family to Sylvan Lake for family camp. But this year Thaddeus’ due date was too close to the dates we would be away in Sylvan Lake, AB so Matt’s mom took the girls for the week while we were at home in St. Albert waiting for baby boy to arrive.
Sylvan Lake, the town and actual lake, are one of our favourites! I would drive the whole way there just to visit the Big Moo Ice Cream store. The beach is long and there is plenty of (paid) parking.
But like I said, Thaddeus was to be born too close to our annual Sylvan Lake trip so instead I took our big family (without Matt, he was at work) to…
Gull Lake is great for kids because similarly to Sylvan Lake it can be quite shallow (depending on when you visit) and that is awesome for children that cannot swim yet or are beginners.
There are a few campgrounds around the southern end of Gull Lake, which is right across the Queen Elizabeth 2 Highway from Lacombe, AB. I saw that the Brewers Campground (I believe it is also called Aspen Beach Provincial Park) had a super fun in ground trampoline this year – the same ones you see at the Edmonton Corn Maze – the perfect way to let your kids burn off their energy on cold or hot days.
Another campsite is the Lakeview Campground, adjacent to Brewers Campground.
Insider’s tip: if you’re able to get a spot in the “B” section of the Lakeview Campground, you’ll be closest to the beach. But if you’re closer to the main road in the “B” section, you are closest to the only showers in the campsite. Just a few things I learned while visiting!
The closest out of all 3 beaches close to Edmonton – Ma-Me-O Beach at Pigeon Lake is great for families with young kids! And it is only an hour out of Edmonton, which is doable for parents with toddlers that do not fair well in the car.
You can spend all day outside at the beach or at the park! Ma-Me-O Beach, Alberta offers park programs every morning from 10am-12pm all week long during the summer.
I don’t doubt there are many places in the world that it is easier to grow fiddle leaf fig trees or bushes… but living in Canada and trying to grow fiddle leaf figs here can push you to your plant loving limits! If you follow me on Instagram or have been reading Honey & Betts for a while, you know I am not good with plants and the less maintenance the better – so how did I fall in love with taking care of my fiddle leaf fig in Canada?
The 3 plant images are of my first fiddle leaf fig plant (I bought in June 2018 at the south side Edmonton Ikea location, I’ll talk more about that in this blog post) – slowly growing it’s first leaf in my care. It took 2-3 weeks after I bought this fiddle leaf fig bush to push out it’s first tiny little leaf – but I was a proud plant mama and so happy it finally happened after nothing growing for nearly a month!
So you may have read above that I bought my real fiddle leaf fig from Ikea, for a whopping $28 CAD! Don’t assume it was in mint condition – it was very sad looking when I bought it but I was determined to nurse it back to health. And now a year later, I snatched up a second fiddle leaf fig from Ikea and they are my beautiful plant babies.
If you are wondering if your local Ikea has fiddle leaf figs in stock, I believe they have a pattern of only selling a handful (around 30) fiddle leaf figs in mid June at the Edmonton Ikea location. I have many followers who stalk the Ikea website refreshing the fiddle leaf fig page to see if their Ikea finally has them in stock, and it took a whole year before they had them again from when I bought mine.
Just thought I would share that little secret if you’re looking to add a cheap fiddle leaf fig to your plant collection!
Though if you find that your nearest Ikea location does have them in stock, run! When I arrived the site and internal stock site showed that there were 6 fiddle leaf figs left in their store but there were none left in the plant section of Ikea… then an employee shared that if the fiddle leaf fig plants are damaged they throw them away. What is on the palettes is what is available in store!
So run to your local Ikea before they sell out if you really want one!
Back to my 3 tips on how to make your fiddle leaf fig grow in Canada:
The best sunlight is a south facing window – I have my two fiddle leaf figs in my front living room that is a south facing window. In Canada, summer brings so much sunlight but winter presents the challenge of getting them enough sunlight in the short daylight available. With it being south facing window they get the morning and afternoon sun!
Water your fiddle leaf once a week – I am so strict about this! I have successfully nursed that sad Ikea fiddle leaf fig back to health by only watering it once a week. It’s hard to calculate how much water to give it, since I moved it to a much bigger pot when I first brought it home. I use a small 1L (4 cups) watering can, and I use 3 for my big pot. Then 2 full watering cans for my smaller pot. Your plant will let you know with yellowing or browning leafs if it’s getting enough or too much water. Just watch for the signs!
Fertilize your fiddle leaf fig – I did a little research when I bought my first fiddle leaf fig and it was suggested that a liquid fertilizer would help them grow a lot. I have been using this liquid plant food available in Canada, and my fiddle leaf figs have grown so much! I give them each 2 mL mixed with their weekly water. I measure the liquid plant food out with a plastic baby Tylenol syringe. I stopped using fertilizer for a couple weeks and my plants were not happy – the leaves they grew the following weeks were sad and I knew the only thing I had changed was not giving them their liquid plant food. So, I never forget now!
Dust all your fiddle leaf fig’s leaves every 2-4 weeks – it’s tedious once your fiddle leaf has lots and lots of leafs, but in Edmonton, AB it is dry and the dust accumulates easily. I’m always surprised the amount of dust that comes off their leaves, especially in the little clusters and close to the stem. I’ve heard of other plant parents using a bit of beer on their cloth while wiping the dust off but I haven’t experimented with that yet.
Rotate your fiddle leaf fig’s pot, from daily to weekly – especially in the winter, I find rotating the pot a quarter daily helps them get an equal amount of sunlight when there is not a lot of sunlight for them to reach. I tried rotating them a quarter around every week and the leaves grown those following weeks were smaller than the ones with the daily rotation. But if daily rotation isn’t achievable, just make sure you’re rotating them in the best schedule you can!
Those are my 3 must-know tips on how to make your fiddle leaf fig grow in Canada! You can do it! Aside from making sure to not water them too much and not water them too little – follow these 3 tips and your fiddle leaf should thrive.
What are your tips on helping your fiddle leaf fig grow in Canada? Let me know in the comments below!
I love coffee! And I can spend 2 hours (minimum) sitting in a coffee shop talking with my friends over coffee – it is one of my favourite times to connect with my people. But I bet a lot of Edmontonians don’t know where the best independant Edmonton coffee shops are! I’m going to help guide you to find your favourite Edmonton Instagram-worthy coffee shops before the end of this post – just promise me you’ll try at least one and let me know what you think!
My favourite cute coffee shops in Edmonton are:
Block 1912 | 10361 82 Ave | I have been coming to Block 1912 for almost 8 years – even before they renovated their space into a string light emporium! And if you’ve ever heard me talk about it or make plans about it, you know I always confuse the name by saying Block 1812 (like the Canadian war… if you’re into junior high social topics). It is located on Whyte Avenue, you can usually find good parking by the Shoppers Drug Mart south of Whyte Avenue or city street parking. They have decadent gelato, a huge selection of desserts, and you have to try their lavender lattes! Yum! P.S. Block 1912 is the perfect Edmonton date night spot!
Awake Coffee House (photos above)| 11019 9 Ave | I love going to Awake Coffee House because it is so far removed from the busy areas that you often have the place to yourself – and if you’re shy about taking coffee photos in crowded spaces this place is for you! a) the floor tiles and natural light are amazing and b) it’s very far south but if you’re travelling on the Henday it’s a piece of cake. It’s a cool space because on one side is the coffee shop and on the other side is a pharmacy! I love their vanilla lattes and cinnamon rolls – I highly recommend them!
Little Brick | 10004 90 St | I adore this space because it is so unique! The house, the location, the food – it’s warm and comfy in the winter, and airy and breezy in the summer. The outdoor garden space is great for kids where they can explore the plants and enjoy a snack at the tables. Their vanilla lattes are delicious, the breakfast sandwich is amazing, and my kids love their selection of scones! It’s a great brunch spot!
Leva | 11053 86 Ave | Leva is chaos during the summer months, Edmontonians love Leva! It’s not one of the Edmonton coffee shops that is open late, it closes at 8pm, considering it is located in the University of Alberta area. But if you’re able to try their margarita pizza or bread pudding with a side of gelato, do it! You will not regret it!
Credo | 10134 104 St | 104 Street is great in general, but I really enjoy people watching at Credo because it’s always busy. You can also get some super cute photos outside the coffee shop in the boutique-esque downtown street! I’m a fan of any of their lattes (vanilla latte, honey latte, dark chocolate mocha latte) and their delightful cookies!
There are so many different independant Edmonton coffee shops out there, and the numbers continue to grow, so don’t just stick to these ones once you’ve tried them all! Keep searching for new ones to try and support those local businesses!
Have you tried these Edmonton Instagram-worthy coffee shops? Which one was your favourite? Let me know in a comment below!
** this Support Local Edmonton Yo Mama Maternity Boutique blog post has been updated as of March 2021 with current links **
1 week before I gave birth to Thaddeus I made a last minute visit to Yo Mama Maternity Boutique in West Edmonton (just north of West Edmonton Mall) to try on some of their latest and on-sale maternity wear!
The local Edmonton maternity store is run by Schoena and Tara – regardless of your budget or size or shape, they are determined to help you find maternity clothes that make you feel beautiful and comfortable.
Yo Mama Maternity Boutique had the most chic selection of maternity wear I have ever seen – especially in a store in Edmonton, AB! I was in heaven!
Some of my favourite outfits were their gorgeous maternity dresses (this tie dye maxi dress is to die for!) – they would be perfect for a baby shower or for attending a summer wedding!
Check out these 5 gorgeous Spring maternity dresses from Yo Mama Maternity Boutique:
If you’ve been searching for a pair of stylish maternity overalls or jumpsuits, you need to stop by their store! They had a range of different styles and materials for you to choose from (long denim, shorts, and nursing friendly). I fell in love with this blush maternity dress, and I know I’ve seen Jillian Harris wear something similar to them on her Instastories! I was obsessed!
Do you shop local when you are looking for maternity clothes? What are your favourite local stores? Tell me in a comment below!
