24 March 2015

OOTW: Give 'Em Something to Talk About

Untitled #54

Today's outfit of the week is hopeful wishing for warmer weather, I guess you could say! 

I've been really stressed both with school and some personal things in life. These next five weeks are going to be a challenge to stay sane, I can already tell. But then it's time to head home for summer! 

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

Have a great week, loves! xx

PS - I've added a few things to the layout of the blog. I hope you like it! :)

Polyvore | Instagram | Tumblr

21 March 2015

THE UNIVERSITY SERIES: Now What?

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So you've done it: you've graduated high school. You've made it through those four hormone led, confusing filled years of teen angst and rebellion. You made it up to that stage to collect your diploma, posed for the photo mid-stage and got to the other side.

After the euphoria of finally getting out of the so-called prison, away from your teachers and all that horrid homework, you might realize you haven't a clue what you're about to do.

You might be asking yourself: Now what?

I remember being there. Wondering what the hell was going to happen next. Where I would end up, what I'd end up doing. I didn't know what I wanted to do, and I was even more frustrated at the fact that people actually expected me to know. I wasn't even eighteen, I hadn't even hit what is supposed to be middle age. How was I supposed to know for sure what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? How was I supposed to know what I wanted to spend thousands of dollars studying, to help me graduate once more and get an adult job and do adult things.

Some people are lucky. They know what they want, and they know how to get it. They're passionate and driven and have their eye on the prize. Some know by the time they hit sixteen what they were meant to do in their lives. That's all fine and dandy, but for the most of us out there, we simply play along and pretend like we're on the same page. In actuality, we haven't a smidgen of a clue.

And that's okay, too.

You don't have to know. You don't have to have a clear idea. Hell, you don't even have to have an idea. You're young, and you might be confused but I'm going to let you in on a little secret: we're all a little confused. Even now, at twenty-three, I'm not sure where I'm going to be and I'm almost done my second year of university.

So when you're sitting in your room, surrounded with school applications and job applications, and trying to figure it all out, I want you to consider a few things:

  1. You don't have to go straight to university. If you don't know what you want to do, spending thousands of dollars just to do something seems a little like a waste of time, right? University is a smart choice for some, but it most definitely isn't a one size fits all thing. If you don't think it's for you, you do not have to go. One of the smartest decisions I ever did was wait. I went and did what I wanted to do, because at the end of the day, it was me who had to live with myself. 
  2. There are amazing options that don't have to be university. There's community college, trade school, or getting a job. The great thing about not going straight to uni is that it will still be there if you decide at some point it's for you. Trust me when I say that you will never be too old to go to school. Education doesn't have an age limit, just like people who have been in the same career for twenty years can suddenly change their minds and quit their job. I have people in their forties and fifties in some of my classes, so don't be afraid to take some time to figure it out. 
  3. You should also consider the financial side. Unfortunately, university is expensive. It's the most expensive decision you may make other than purchasing a home (maybe even more damaging than purchasing your first home). If you do it just to please your parents, you're going to be 25, with a massive student loan weighing you down and an overwhelming sense of regret because you got nothing from it. If you're one of the lucky ones to have your parents pay for your education, it's still important to remember that even if you don't have to pay for it, you still have to do the work. 
  4. Is university the right road for the career you want? Are you doing this for you or for someone else? 
  5. Life experience is just as important. Travel for a year, get a full-time job, try new activities. These things could lead to you figuring out what excites you and what you may want to do. When I graduated high school, I barely knew who I was and was so afraid to tell people how I really felt or what I wanted, I never did. I spent two years studying acting after graduating, and I not only grew as an actor, but I grew as a person as well. Having the courage to take a road that nobody else was, and ignoring the negative comments from people who didn't agree with what I wanted is one of the things I'm most proud of. I don't think I'd be the person I am today if I didn't have that experience.
What I want you to remember is that this is your life. You have the control to paint that life as whatever you choose. Don't let others have the ability to keep you from chasing your dreams. You're the one that has to live with your choices, so make sure they are yours.

19 March 2015

Spring Style x Selena Gomez

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I'm a huuuuge fan of Selena Gomez's style. She's right on up there on my list of wardrobes to raid... you know, if I ever had the option. Unfortunately, we are neither besties nor on that level of friendship where it's acceptable to steal clothes and never give them back for months on end. So, I'll settle for making a blog post of some of the candid shots of her with some of my fave outfits. 

The only problem with lusting after Spring fashions is that I'm living in a place where it just snowed 30+ centimetres just last night. I think I've forgotten what Spring even feels like. 

Mother Nature, calm yourself, please. I beg you.

(Just 35 more days, then I'll be back on the west coast. I. Cannot. Wait.)

Anyway, here we go...

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fashion blog, fashion blogger, fashion, spring fashion, spring style, style, style blogger, style blog, spring style blog, spring style blogger, spring, floral, flowers, blog, blogger, what to wear, wardrobe, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty, selena gomez, selena, gomez, disney, cosmetics, forever 21
fashion blog, fashion blogger, fashion, spring fashion, spring style, style, style blogger, style blog, spring style blog, spring style blogger, spring, floral, flowers, blog, blogger, what to wear, wardrobe, beauty blog, beauty blogger, beauty, selena gomez, selena, gomez, disney, cosmetics, forever 21
** All photos are taken from here.

Winter always seems to be filled with neutral and dark colours -- which is what most of my wardrobe is comprised of. Black, black and some grey with added black. 

But I associate spring with florals and those colours you find along with the blooming flowers. I'm all about the black with a pop of colour. 

Selena's choice of colours and patterns never disappoint. I'll definitely be stealing some of these outfit ideas, even if these photos were from last year.

Who's your fave celebrity with A++ style? What's been giving you the most Spring feels lately?


17 March 2015

OOTW: No Sign of Spring Here

Untitled #52

I was going to post something St. Patty's inspired, but I love this so much I had to post it instead!

Happy St. Patty's Day! Please celebrate responsibly, and have a great Tuesday!

13 March 2015

Fitness Friday: Weekly Report #2


Sunday, 03/09
  • 3 x 6 plie squats
  • 3 x 6 leg swings ea. side
  • 3 x 6 side lunges ea. side
Monday, 03/10
I was totally feeling laying in bed all night and watching the Canucks game, but somehow managed to push myself off my arse to workout. It was a killer, but felt so great afterwards. Getting started is always the hardest part.
  • 45 minutes, Nike Training Club
  • 2 x 10 modified pushups 
  • 3 x 10 front lunges ea. side 
  • 2 x 7 side lunges ea. side 
  • 2 x 11 plie squats
Tuesday, 03/11
  • 5 x 10 squats
  • 5 x 10 plie squats
  • 5 x 11 leg swings ea. side
  • 5 x 11 side lunges ea. side
  • 2 x 11 crunches
  • 3 x 6 modified pushups
  • 3 x 40 jumping jacks
Wednesday, 03/12

  • 1.5 hour walk
Thursday, 03/13

  • 45 minutes, Nike Training Club
Hope you all had a productive and healthy week! Let's keep this going!  

Lesson of the week: "Fall in love with yourself first." 


* All images found on Tumblr.

12 March 2015

YAY OR NAY: Revlon ColorStay ShadowLinks

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From left to right: moss, lime, sand, copper

I bought these because I had a certain colour combination I needed, and there was no pre-made palette that contained all colours necessary. The price was good, so I grabbed 'em. 

This was mistake number one.

I bought the first three (colours moss, lime and sand - the first three in the above photo), and they were terrible. Applying layer upon layer didn't even seem to help with the fact that none of the shadow appeared to stick. The colours didn't show at all

Another problem? The fallout from the shadow was horrendous. I had more shadow on the top of my cheekbones than I did on my actual eyelid.

Despite all this, a couple of weeks later, I figured I'd give it another try. I figured that maybe it was just because the colours I had were too light and were just too glittery.

This was mistake number two.

Each eyeshadow is categorized into four "finishes", and generally there's a little booklet to help you pick which shades go with which. From the colours I purchased, moss and sand were from the pearl finish, lime from the satin finish and copper was the metallic finish.

While the metallic category of these shadows showed up a tad better, it still wasn't enough to impress. 

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From left to right: Moss, Lime, Sand, Copper

What you see on my hand is about how well they showed up on my eyelid. The darker colours obviously had a better pigment to them, however the lighter green and gold only show up glittery with a tinge of their colour if you're lucky enough to hit good lighting.

Over all, they weren't worth the money I spent on them -- even if they were cheaper. I guess I should have figured the price mark to have been a better tell as to what quality they were. 

We can call that my strike three.

The only thing Revlon got right about this is the idea. Being able to pick the colours you want, rather than having to buy multiple palettes just to get all the colours you want, is a grand idea. The execution however, needs some serious work.

07 March 2015

Ring in Spring with Forever 21 x Florals

1. Romper, $26.90 / Hat, $22.90 

Spring fashion is in full swing and the amount of florals I'm seeing is almost overwhelming.

Growing up, most of my wardrobe consisted of flowers. My mom had a very serious obsession with floral patterns. Not only was it floral dresses, skirts, shirts, but also floral curtains and bedding and even floral kitchen plates. So once I was able to dress for myself, almost out of principle, I declared my closet a floral free zone! 

Now that I've started wearing florals a little bit more, I never hear the end of it! (It's still not floral overboard like my childhood, though.)

I was window shopping online last night and found a bunch of bright and lovely floral pieces, so here's nine cheap floral pieces from Forever 21 that I will probably purchase at some point

1. Romper, $17.90
2. Skirt, $21.90
3. Pants, $18.90 

1. Dress, $22.99
2. Skirt, $27.90
3. Skirt, $10.99 

1. Romper, $27.80
2. Leggings, $10.99
3. Dress, $15.90

06 March 2015

Fitness Friday: Weekly Report #1


This week’s been pretty stressful; I haven’t been able to workout as much as I’ve liked. I had five midterm exams and now all I want to do is lay in bed and watch Netflix allll day.

I'm impressed I didn't turn to eating junk just to get through the day though, so there's a positive out of this week ha!

Saturday:
  • 45 minutes, Nike Training Club
Sunday:
  • 30 minutes, Nike Training Club
  • Modified push ups, 3 x 7 reps
  • Crunches, 3 x 11 reps
  • Squats, 5 x 25 reps
Tuesday:
  • 45 minutes, Nike Training Club
Thursday: 
  • 15 minutes, Nike Training Club
  • Glute Bridge, 2 x 35 sec. 
  • Plank (on elbows), 1 x 18 sec.
  • Plank (on hands), 2 x 15 sec.
  • Plie Squats, 1 x 20
  • Squats, 2 x 20


* Images are all found on Tumblr.

04 March 2015

My Caribbean Adventure VLOG


I made a short 2 and something minute video of clips I had on my camera from my trip! I hope you enjoy, even if it's a 'lil amateurish. 

Feel free to subscribe to my channel as well, if you'd like! I'll check out all your channels as well if you comment back! 

Happy Wednesday, guys! I'm off to hopefully finally fall asleep. (It's 6:30AM - eep!)

** Be sure to watch the vid in HD!

02 March 2015

Ready. Set. Sport.

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VSX Sport / Victoria's Secret
A couple of days ago, I posted a photo on Instagram of some veggies and captioned it with an explanation of a sort of "Healthy Pledge" that I was going to do. I figured this could possibly help me stay on track if I publicized it and made myself accountable to really going through with it 110% this time.

And since this is my blog, I figured I could get away with incorporating it here as well.

I'm hoping to post photos that help me put down the gigantic plate of poutine and get my butt up and working out! I might also do a post of some pics of healthy meals I've been eating -- hopefully this will keep me from turning to the junk too many times in a week.

It's also a lot more fun eating food that looks appetizing. If you play with your food and make a fun visual plate out of it, I've found it a lot easier to trick yourself into thinking it's much better than that chocolate bar. ;)

I stopped weighing myself a while ago for personal reasons (and also because I don't have a scale here at school), so I'm forcing myself to focus more on how my body is reacting to these everyday changes and also how my clothes are fitting.

I've got until the end of April until I head back home, so let's start the races!!

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VSX Sport / Victoria's Secret



01 March 2015

Trip Review: Embassy Suites San Juan - Hotel & Casino

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Hiya everyone! It's Saturday night/Sunday morning, I've got five exams coming up this week so naturally I'm not studying and instead I've decided to give the first post on my trip!

I figured to begin this off with, I'd give a little bit of an insight of the hotel we stayed at for the first couple days whilst waiting for the cruise to start.

I flew into San Juan, Puerto Rico on Friday night and met my mum at the airport. We hopped in a cab and it was a veeerrryy short ride from the airport to the hotel. Which was wonderful since I had been up for longer than 20 hours and had only eaten a poorly made sandwich at the Miami airport.

We stayed at Embassy Suites San Juan - Hotel & Casino. (xx)

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The hotel was great. The rooms were clean, the staff was nice and the complimentary breakfast you get when you stay there is great. I do remember wishing for more selection of fruit for my oatmeal, but beggars can't be choosers or something along those lines!

They have a full on little atrium as soon as you walk through the lobby. There's also a little convenience store for some snacks or pizza, drinks and if you forgot to pack your toothbrush - you can grab one down there. There's a bar/restaurant along with a steakhouse inside the hotel. We didn't dine in the bar, however all nights we stayed there, we waited the long wait to eat at the steakhouse.

This is just a guess, but I'm assuming due to the fact that it's the only restaurant within the hotel, they get super busy at dinner time. It's an Australian themed restaurant, Outback Steakhouse, but it's got general American cuisine. I was overall very pleased with the service and the food there!

However the first night, we waited a good hour to get in and eat (we didn't end up eating until 9:30pm). The second night was better, I think we only really waited 20 minutes. They give you a buzzer though, so you can walk around or go and sit out by the pool outside while you're waiting.

Everyday, they've got happy hour where you can go and grab some mixed drinks, tortilla chips and some salsa or some popcorn down in the lobby. And it's all free!

If there's one thing I can take away from this trip, it's that they do not skimp on the rum!

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I can honestly say I spent about a full six hours inside this pool. At night, it's all lit up with coloured lights in the pool and around it, and looks wonderful. I swam so many laps and just floated around, it was wonderful. 

If there is a pool, I will jump in it and it'll take an army to pull me out.

Overall, I really enjoyed my stay here. It's always a gamble staying at new hotels, but I'm pleased with our choice. They've got all the amenities you might possibly need, and it's all just an elevator trip down to the ground floor. The guests were all incredibly kind and clearly happy to be on vacation! Free WiFi, happy hour and breakfast = all wonderful perks. I would definitely recommend it.

Atmosphere: 4/5

The people were incredibly friendly and kind, which of course just helps make your experience so much better. The atrium is a wonderful addition, with its mini waterfalls and the sound effects of birds. I'd recommend if you have trouble sleeping or can hear everything, you bring ear plugs as you can hear the chirping and the action going on downstairs in your room. It tends to fade the further into the bedroom you go, though, so it all depends on your own hearing ability ha! After living in residence last year, I can fall asleep to just about anything given enough time.

Staff: 3.5/5

The staff was generally helpful and welcoming, however there were a few times I came across some that just seemed indifferent to their job. Overall though, there was more good experiences than horrid. 

Rooms: 5/5

When you're travelling with someone who snores, it's amazing to have two rooms with a door to close and block out the noise of said snorer. It saved me a couple nights of having to smother my head in between two pillows in order to fall asleep. The suites were spacious, clean and had a very generously sized TV (not that we spent much time watching it). ;) The beds were comfortable enough, and the room has a thermostat to adjust the room temperature for your comfort.

Cleanliness: 4.5/5

Pretty self-explanatory. The only thing I had to take half a point away for was that the shower head was falling apart a little and the flakes of paint surrounding the tile were falling because of it.

Location: 3.5/5

It's a very short cab ride from the airport, and about 10-15 minutes from the cruise ship docks. We were more focused on this than how far it was from any of the other attractions within San Juan. The Isla Verde Beach is a block away (Click here to read some reviews on this beach.) and they have their own section of the beach for the guests of the hotel. You don't need to lug a chair or a towel with you, as there's an attendant there who will bring the chair wherever you would like it and will give you a fresh towel to use. However, it's a pretty long bus ride into Old San Juan so you've got to pick what's more important for you during your trip. 

Style: 4.5/5

The style of the hotel is very modern. It's clean and crisp, and just simply visually appealing.

Overall: 25/30 

Grade: B