Planning for Life’s Unexpected Moments w/ TD Canada 

When I was growing up I didn’t really think about kids, marriage, wedding etc, but I knew I wanted to be in business. I like setting goals but after spending years what felt like forever paying off my school debt, I didn’t really have a nest egg. I mean, I never prepared for unexpected life events, buying a house, retirement. One of the things I’ve learned from working with TD Canada the last year is that it’s never too early to build a financial plan and set goals for your future. If you work for a business and you already have retirement on the mind, then make sure your employer has Employee Benefits so this process can be made easier for when the time comes and that you get what you deserve. Y’Know What I Mean? For many Canadians (especially us millennials) things don’t always go planned the way they did for our parents ex. finish school, get married, buy a house, have kids, get a boat, retire early, move to the Bahamas for a year. (OK the last part is actually what my mum did, except ‘retire early’) So if you’re soon to be retired, make sure you look around and make sure you’re planning enough to ensure you’re retirement ready. A recent TD Canada Trust survey found: – Nearly 6/10 Canadians have completed or are on track to complete their life’s milestones in a different order than they originally expected – Gen X Canadians are more likely to complete or be on track to complete them in a different order 64% than Millennials 52% – Only 4/10 Canadians say they’ve properly budgeted or are properly budgeting for having their first child (39%) and for retirement (41%) – Only 24% of Millennials and 33% of Gen X Canadians say…

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TD Canada + MusiCounts + Serena Ryder in Ottawa

Last weekend mum and I went on a trip to Ottawa. I was invited by TD Canada & TD Music to bring a guest to see Serena Ryder and attend a special ceremony where TD Cafe & MusicCounts made a music announcement. It has been a loooooong time since mum and I went on a plane together (NZ in the 90’s) so we made the most of every moment and it was so much fun. We flew Porter Airlines which involves taking the worlds shortest commercial ferry to the island. It’s a wonderful flying experience! MusiCounts is Canada’s music education charity associated with The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) to help keep music alive in schools across Canada. TD Canada has been working with MusicCounts since 2012. They support Community based organizations, schools, and picka  MuciCounts teacher of the year. This year’s winner was Steve Sainas from BC and he received the award at the JUNOS. TD Canada has worked with some great Canadian artists through MusiCounts including Arkells, Kevin Drew, and Tegan & Sarah. They’re excited to add Serena Ryder to the mix.  WThey also work w/ the JUNOS team to partner with artists. TD Canada is committed to music as an organization with a genuine interest in music and communities. They’re not just a cheque signing bank, they actually follow through and make communities better. Serena made a $25K donation to Musicounts.ca! These kids were SO EXCITED to hear the donation news, receive violins, and to find out they were performing on stage WITH Serena Ryder herself. It was a magical moment.  A photo posted by Gracie Carroll (@graciecarroll) on Jul 3, 2015 at 2:39pm PDT The concert was at TD Place in the new Lansdowne Centre and was opened by The Strumbellas. They were amazing. The 6 piece band rocked…

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Celebrating Canada’s 150th w/ the #TDCommonGround Project

This post is sponsored by TD and the TD Common Ground Project. Earlier this year I joined TD at The Harbourfront Centre on one of the nicest days in February to kick off the TD Common Ground Project. In recognition of Canada’s 150th this year, TD has joined forces with local organizations to help create a legacy by revitalizing over 150 green spaces to bring us all together. ????? How It All Started  Last fall, TD invited organizations across Canada to apply for funding from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation as a part of the #TDCommonGround Project. Now, they’ve picked 150+ local community‑driven initiatives to receive funding and help their goals become a reality. Projects range from science projects to trail building and heaps more including a new pedestrian walkway to Waterloo Park (Waterloo), improvements to an outdoor public library and rec space in Halifax, a 4.6-hectare green area in Montreal, and an outdoor celebration area & pollinator habitat right here in GTA (Scarborough). Learn more about individual projects by visiting commongroundproject.td.com.  ?   City of Toronto: The TD Pollinator Engagement Centre @ Morningside Park The Toronto / Scarborough flagship piece focuses on the revitalization of Morningside Park and they’re already planning! The park is an Environmentally Significant Area (ESA) and the new engagement center will feature an outdoor classroom and community celebration area, as well as a pollinator habitat. GTA residents will be able to go to learn about the park, attend the annual festivals, go to weekend seminars on local plants, and take part in stewardship programs. Schools who visit the park will learn about Morningside Park and its connection to the Scarborough community as well as pollination and how pollinators relate to the natural systems of the park. I love this initiative and I’m so happy to be working on another…

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#Takeoutday: My First Writeup on Muskoka411!

#TakeOutDay is a nationwide effort to help our favourite local restaurants by ordering takeout. The national campaign was started by Canada Takeout in an effort to help Canada’s hard-hit food industry and is now being co-signed by celebrities, chefs, and notable Canadians nationwide. I chatted with a few notable Canadians to find out their fav spots to eat in the Muskoka region. See tweet below or read it here. Last week we ordered takeout from Muskoka Beer Spa, they’re offering pizza from pie Muskoka, beer & food from Clear Lake Brewing, and several other local items. We even got meat pies! ? For more information on how you can help, visit CanadaTakeout.com.

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Sharing the Love w/ Ford Canada – Weekend Getaway at JW Muskoka

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. it’s amazing what a weekend away can do for your happiness, health, relationship, and spirit. Over the winter we don’t get away too often so when Ford Canada offered up the new Ford Expedition and hotel stay, I was so down. We stayed at the JW Marriott Muskoka, one of Canada’s top 10 luxury resorts as voted by Conde Nast. I’ve wanted to stay here for ages and tweeting back in forth about Muskoka and cottage life for years. The staff were nice, the food was good, it was quiet. We didn’t do much other than eat and sleep but it was just the relaxing 24 hours we needed. The lobby is quite modern and the whole place has a country house vibe. There was warm apple cider in the lobby, complimentary snowshoeing, snow bikes, and valet. We were upgraded from a standard room to an apartment style suite which was verrrrrry roomy. A family of 4 could have stayed here no problem. It had a full kitchen, fireplace, two tvs, a private bedroom, washroom with 2 sinks, and a separate toilet/bath/glass shower, so you could use each independently. I could have honestly stayed there for a week working on the great Americancan novel, or my blog. Inside the JW Mariott Muskoka The hallways feel a bit like you’re in a movie. We’re definitely going back in the summer to take in the outdoor spaces and activities. The weather wasn’t great and neither were the roads. I was happy we were in a vehicle with 4 wheel-drive. The 2019 Ford Expedition Platinum is huge, especially when you are only 5’2 driving an SUV that seats 8! It’s also rollin’ on 22’s so you’re seated above most cars on the road. Great for…

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Helping Communities Grow w/ the TD Common Ground Project

This post is sponsored by TD and the TD Common Ground Project On a sunny Sunday afternoon, I took a drive to Morningside Park in Scarborough. This year as part of Canada 150, TD is revitalizing over 150  community green spaces across Canada. It’s so nice to adventure and stroll through a new park discovering things along the way. I took some time to sit in the sun, watch the water, and admire the light shining through the trees in the middle of the forest. ???? When I was a kid in Cambridge, Ontario  I spent heaps of time at Riverside Park near our house. Playing there as a kid, volunteering for summer camp in high school, riding bikes, and watching friends play baseball when I was a bit older. To this day I always take a drive through the park when I go home to see how it changes and go for a walk if I have some. Sometimes I just sit in the car and listen to music with a friend like the good old days. So many memories.  A park is such a big part of a neighbourhood and city. TD’s Common Ground project encourages Canadians to come together in green spaces across the country. The scale of projects varies and there are 7 flagship projects, the outdoor gathering space at Morningside Park is one of them.  There are 82 projects in Ontario, with 7 in Toronto, find them all here. Next time I’m in KW I’ll be checking out Waterloo Park to see the new bridge connecting the two universities, provided through the TD Common Ground Project. Step Into the Forest – 360 Photo of Morningside Park, Scarborough I hope you’ll look up your local TD Common Ground revitalization project (here) and see what spaces are changing near you. For more information about the project find my…

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Long Live the Weekend – Love You Canada!

Been having a pretty relaxing weekend. Can’t believe it’s already Monday. Back to the city tonight or tomorrow. I love being up here but I’m looking forward to going home. Feels like I’ve had more time at the cottage than home lately! My friend Steph is here from New York City. Sean and I met her last year at Anamaya Resort in Costa Rica. [Read about it here!] The weather has been a bit meh but it’s finally nice and sunny today. We created a super tasty wine spritzer with Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc mixed with La Croix, strawberries, and a bit of juice.

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Bachelorette Canada Best Tweets via Twitter Moments

Well, well well, did you watch Bachelorette Canada last night?! I watched most of it by myself and then Sean came home. He always says ‘urghhh, not this show‘ but then he watched it with me and his commentary was some of the very best. Last night there was another helicopter date, the guys did ‘manly’ things like carry logs and chop wood, they gave Jasmine massages, and went in the hot tub. It was pretty steamy! Was funny watching them struggle doing outdoorsy jobs, Sean does that stuff at the cottage all the time!  As you know my FAV part about the show is tweeting along with the hashtag and posting comments as the drama unfolds. It’s so funny. I love how fast the internet reaxting to things with memes, GIFs, and jokes. Years ago when I worked at Much/MTV I thought I had the best job watching TV and tweeting all day at my desk. Now through my partnership with Two Oceans Canada, my job is to sit on my own couch, drink wine, and tweet the show. Lesson to be learned: FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS GUYS!  Yesterday I went to the Twitter Canada head office and one of the things I learned is everyone can now create Moments on Twitter. Until recently, this feature was reserved for Twitter and major news outlets. So, I created a Twitter Moment of my fav tweets from show last night. Best Tweets from #bacheloretteCA! ? For next week’s ep I’ll be in Arizona so I wont get to watch live but I’ll tune on online for the recap. Check out the Watch Kit for downloads and recipes to whip up a perfect cocktail to go along wth the show, or whenever really! For info on Two Oceans Wine Canada visit twooceanswines.com. Until next time, keep fit & have fun! ?????   *…

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Your Story Your Future TD Speakers Series with Cheryl Strayed

Last week Gracie and I had the opportunity to attend TD’s Your Story Your Future Speakers Series with Cheryl Strayed at the AGO. Name sound familiar? Cheryl Strayed is the author of WILD, which was made into an Oscar nominated film starring Reese Witherspoon. The story documents Strayed’s solo hike up the Pacific Crest Trail. I’d watched the movie before attending the talk but hearing her stories in real life was really inspiring. Something that stood out was Strayed’s advice from her mum that reminded me of something my mum would say ‘this is character building’ in regards to getting through hard times. TD’s “Your Story Your Future” program combines workshops and inspirational speaker events to help women feel confident about setting and achieving their financial goals. I’ve written about a few of my financial accomplishments over the last few years (read those here). I feel it’s really important for us as women to grab the reigns of our finances and set goals so we can prepare for our future. I remember when my parents got divorced, I was a teenager, and my mum was going back into the workforce after 16+ years. She stressed the importance of having my own money, not getting into a position where I had to rely on someone else when it came to my finances. Only 3 out of 10 women have a financial plan for their future and TD’s Women Investor Program wants to change that. The program was created for the growing number of women who influence a growing share of wealth in Canada and might be looking for a more personalized investment experience from men. According to a representative from TD Bank: “One of the key differences between men and women investors is a desire for a more holistic financial advisory relationship – one that is…

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Simple Summer Hosting Hacks for Outdoor Dining

Last weekend at the cottage Emily helped me put together lunch for the fam. It was so fun to do this together, she’s 8 now and a great little helper! She was also quite stoked to help with the blog. ? Scroll down for a few ‘hacks’ we can up with using stuff you just might find around the house, the kitchen, or the garage.  It was all pretty simple and not too expensive, BUT when we put it together, it looked great! I guess that’s why they’re called HACKS. On the Menu We made mini sushi-style BLT wraps, a hot dog bar,  and mini bacon grilled cheese using products from Butterball Canada we picked up at Loblaws. Simple Summer Hosting Hacks for Outdoor Dining   Make an outdoor table using an old door.  Use wrapping paper to decorate the table. Makes for easy cleanup!  Organize your napkins or cutlery with Washi Tape. There are HEAPS of colours/prints! Freeze lemons to use in cocktails. ??? No need to water down those drinks with ice!  Use a muffin baking tray for condiments.   Raid the dollar store for plastic plates and stack them. These same items were more $$$ at houseware stores.  Baking cups inside little mason jars for sauces. Heaps of colours in these making mason jars even cuter.  Put skewers in watermelon for easy snacking. I put them in the freezer so they were MAD CHILL. ☃️ If you loved this post LMK! Was fun putting it together. It was my first time trying turkey bacon which is 50% less fat than using bacon from pork. Found that it cooked a bit faster and made our meal a *little* healthier. The following day we used some leftovers to make cracked pepper maple bacon  that I’ll share in another post soon!   * post sponsored by Butterball Canada but Emily and I totally did this all ourselves!

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