Browsing Articles Written by

Scarlett Ballantyne

Scarlett Ballantyne is a freelance writer, makeup artist, designer, and business owner. Married with children, she is an active dance-mom of two teenage girls. When she isn’t chauffeuring kids around, she is passionate about photography, cooking healthy meals and Dancing with the Stars. Scarlett’s musings on parenting have been published on Scary Mommy and the Huffington Post Canada. You can also catch her sharing musings, beauty tips, mompreneur advice and photography on her blog, www.scarlettballantyne.com.

inner calm

Busy Mom/Chill Mom: Finding Your Inner Calm

FAM, LIVE, nourish, self By June 13, 2016 Tags: , , , , No Comments

Whether you have little ones running rampant, or teenagers getting social all on their own—most moms will tell you that their household is running a busy schedule. Between carpooling and household duties, combined with working outside the home, or the never-ending battle that is being a stay-at-home-mom—coordinating a family’s activities is something that many women are balancing very, very carefully. It’s easy to forget to enjoy the journey, there’s often not enough time, but there are some easy ways to avoid succumbing to the ongoing state of ‘being busy’ and find your inner calm. Here are five simple ways to help bring the joy back to the chaos.

Share:
Moms and wine. How many glasses is too many?

Moms and Wine: Best Frenemies?

FAM, LIVE, nourish, self By May 19, 2016 Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Like many women, as I entered my 40s, I began fighting with my weight just a little bit more. My jeans are too tight, even my clothes from last year are snugger than I’d like. The worst part (and one I hate to admit, but I will to you guys) is that I know that what’s really responsible for the added pounds is wine consumption.

I definitely enjoy the occasional glass of wine here and there, but when I’m stressed (this happens often), I tend to drink even more than usual. Obviously, a lot of us do: Moms and wine have become a boring cliché, a too-obvious meme. We use wine as a crutch when our lives get out of hand, as a symbol to make us feel like we’re in control. Just glancing at a few wine labels at the liquor store, it’s frighteningly obvious that too many wine companies are marketing to the ‘stressed-out-mom’ demographic, like me.

Share:

How the Clorox ToiletWand Made Cleaning Easy for My Kids

GEAR, home By March 18, 2016 Tags: , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I am not a gal that likes to clean toilets. Actually, I’m sure no one does! But cleaning bathrooms is unfortunately just one of the necessary evils of life. We all have better things to do with our time – things that produce income or make memories with our families. When we moved into our current house nearly 2 years ago, we went from 2 bathrooms to 4. More toilet paper, and more to clean!

Share:

Three Essential Workout Items to Keep You Happy

fitness, GEAR By March 18, 2016 Tags: , , , , , 4 Comments

After turning 40, I knew that it was going to be time to start getting serious about working out. Being a naturally thin person for most of my adult life, I was really able to keep my weight down, and a pretty decent amount of muscle tone, even though I wasn’t working out very regularly. I’ve never cared for getting sweaty, and 18would rather spend my time window-shopping or writing or crafting. But after hitting the 4 decade milestone, I noticed that my pants started getting a little tighter, that muffin-top got more pronounced, and generally I just didn’t feel as tight anymore.

Share:
What to do when your pet is sick

What to Do When Your Pet is Sick

FAM, pets By February 18, 2016 Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

As a pet owner, at times you may experience great pain regarding your pet. When people post to social media their heartfelt tributes to their pets that have passed away, they affect me so profoundly that I have to quickly scroll by! Owning a pet is like wearing your heart outside your chest everyday. It is part of the beauty, and pain of being a pet-owner. And it can be devastating when your pet is sick.

Share:
6 Simple Ways to Treat Yourself

6 Simple Ways to Treat Yourself

beauty, FAM, GEAR, self By February 7, 2016 Tags: , , , , , , , 7 Comments

As multi-tasking moms, often times we put ourselves last on the list. As Teri Hatcher wrote in her best-selling book, Burnt Toast, the matriarch of the family often has a tendency to say, ‘please take the good toast and leave burnt piece for me.’ Everyone else’s needs come first, and ours second.

Share:
Survive breaking up with your bff

How to Survive Breaking Up With Your BFF

FAM, self By January 20, 2016 Tags: , , , , , 14 Comments

I’ve always just been the girl that had separate pockets of women that I connect with – some far away and some that live close. Some of them are from the workplace, and some are parents from school. More often now, many women I know have a larger circle of online friends. We may not be Snapchat-ting all day like our kids, but these online friends are just a quick text away.

Share: