The other day, Cory Lee and I went to HideSeek, a “pop-up experience inspired by childhood nostalgia“. We spent over an hour taking photos, changing outfits and laughing our heads off and got to meet the team behind the experience. It was heaps of fun.
DYK I’ve never had Trix or Lucky Charms?! Suer fun to take so many photos with my girl Cory Lee. See her post on thefashionset.net.
I’ve been to a bunch of Instagram friendly pop-ups over the last year (Happy Place, Museum of Ice cream, Museum of Illusions) and this was was my favourite one in Canada so far. There are 15 installations with multiple photo ops in each. Grab your BFF, kid, parent, partner, or a date and go back in time. I have heaps of photos from the experience so if you follow me on Instagram (HERE) you’ll see some of these rolling out over the next few weeks.
HideSeek is at 305 Dundas St. West. Toronto and you can find them on Instagram at @gohideseek. It’s running until June 2nd so you have a little while to get in on the action.
When you get invited to have lunch with Kim Kardashian’s BFF, you go! A couple weeks ago I joined a suite of media babes for a late lunch at Square One Mall’s soon to be epic food market. The almost 40,000 sq ft Food District opens later this month is now OPEN and aims to provide shoppers with an elevated culinary experience.
There’s a few downtown Toronto favourites like Pie Commission, Hale Coffee, La Carnita, Sweet Jesus, and other options including Italian, Indian, bbq, Danish, and DIY cupcakes. There’s also a fresh flower shop. The space was still under construction during our visit but it’s now open. For more info about the Food District, check out Blog TO and read about the opening on Toronto Sun.
You have to write the thing. You have to sit down at our computer and type your fingers along each key forming words into sentences. It sounds easy but it’s hard if you ‘ve been thinking about it for a while and you know you can do it, but time is running out. You’re already a day late and you don’t want to hand it in at the end of the day tomorrow. All you need to do it sit down and not get distracted. Drink some water. Sit up straight. Open a window. Check the fridge. Sit back down. Your anxiety grows to form a mountain range that now you have to climb over before you reach the spot where you can just sit down, and write the thing. Sit down, start writing.
Sometimes just writing about writing helps the worlds start flowing.
Over the past two months, you’ve read my reviews of AfterShokz wireless headphones and how they’re great for walking, working out, and so lightweight you’ll forget you’re wearing them. This is part 3 of my 4-post series and today I’m going deeper into the tech specs and my thoughts after 2-months of use.
Headphones are a really personal thing. They’re part of your style but also serve a different purpose for each person wearing them. For example, Lauren O’Nizzle is one of my friends who’s almost always wearing headphones, whereas me, not nearly as often. However, this year I’m growing into new habits and working out more.
I mentioned earlier that one of the reasons I really like Trekz Air headphones is you can hear the world around you. I tried over the ear noise cancelling any they’re not for me. I need to be able to hear my environment to stay calm. I do a lot of walking outside and will soon (come on Spring!) be doing outdoor workouts so it’s important to hear what’s around me.
As for comfort, the Trekz Air headphones wrap around the back of your neck and hang over your ears. I can’t speak for long hair but they’re totally fine for my short hair. You forget they’re there and the fit is fine with a hat and/or glasses. They’re a really great workout fitness headphone if you want something that will stay put, not get in your way, but keep you aware of your environment.
The new AfterShokz Treks Air have improved bass from previous versions which improves dynamic sound range. When you turn up the volume you can feel a tiny vibration in your cheekbone. It’s pretty cool and not distracting, Ilike it.
As a tech lover, one of my favourite things to do is test out new gadgets. I am so impressed with how these deliver sound into your head without going through your ears. Think about that for a second! The doors are open for new developments like this and it makes me excited. I think one of the areas we’re really going to see a lot of new tech in the next year is audio devices and voice commands.
In my best effort to give you an honest review, here are my most favourite features and 2 things I think could be improved.
Most Favourite
Lightweight, hardly know you’re wearing them
Allow you to hear the world
Convenient for busy lifestyle, parents, fitness
Least Favourite
The volume isn’t super high as the headphones don’t cover the ears
Sound quality not as good as regular headphones
In my fourth and final post in this series, we have a giveaway and I’ve asked for a second opinion on these headphones from a tech aficionado. I gifted a pair of AfterShokz to my friend Dan Levy and I’ll be sharing some of his thoughts on them. Dan is really into music so I’m interested to see what he says!
If you’re looking to get a jump on your own pair, us this linek for $50 off. Now that I’ve hit publish, I’m grabbing my headphones and heading outside.
LMK if you have any questions & have an amazing day!
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From January to April 2019, I'm reviewing AfterShokz headphones in a paid partnership with PTPA (Parent Tested Parent Approved). All opinions experiences are my own, obvs. Stay tuned for a contest in the next post where you can win a pair!
Follow #ShokzSquadCAN to see what the rest of the review team is saying. 😊
A couple of weeks ago I sat down w/ the crew from Get Into The Weeds at Post Office Sound. It was really fun and the light was amazing! I shared stories about how I got to where am today and the weird/wonderful path I took.
We talked cannabis and if you swipe you’ll find a snippet of a story from when I was in college. I haven’t sent it to dad yet! The podcast ep is full of stories & lulz. I‘ve posted it on the blog and put the link in Stories/bio.
I love this interview and I hope you enjoy it too!!!! Thanks to the guys for having me! ✌🏼😊🍃🍃
Last week, my bffLauren O’Nizzle and I were on the Jones Media Podcast – Keeping Up with the Joneses. It was super fun! If you know Lauren and I or have been on the internet for a long time, you’ll enjoy this.
We talk a lot about influencers, brand partnerships, and how social media has changed over the 10 years we’ve been friends.
This week on Keeping Up with the Joneses, we have Casie Stewart and Lauren Neil in conversation about starting as OG bloggers, tweet ups, their first paid gigs, how they transitioned into today’s influencer culture and tips for parents on how to engagement their kids in conversations about the internet.
Memory Lane – Stuff Mentioned in Podcast
Photo from Strombo’s TIFF party we mentioned in the podcast. Back there it was super rare to be invited to mainstream media parties. We were always ‘the bloggers’ around celebrities, actors, tv, and media people.
The original Blondetourage, blonde blogging girl gang: Lauren O’Nizzle, Me, Raymi, Keri, Carly. Photo from GENYTO event back in the early days of Twitter. The vibrating mascara, one of the first things I ever received from a PR company. Read more here about some of the first stuff I received and some thoughts on disclosure.
Thanks for tuning in!
I’ve opened up comments on this post to feel free to leave one if while listening!
Over the last few years, I’ve had some amazing adventures with Aeroplan. In this post, I’m excited to share that Aeroplan has a booking tool that will help you earn more miles, faster.
Making Memories with Aeroplan
Looking through travel photos gives me so much joy. I was browsing iCloud finding photos for this post and was reminded of how travelling is truly one of the greatest things in life. You learn so much about yourself, other cultures, and it enriches your life, leaving you lasting memories.
Portugal 2018: On this day I took a bus tour around Lisbon by myself, listening to facts about history and architecture. I went shopping, ate a fresh Portuguese egg tart by the Belem Tower, and had ice cream on the beach. I took heaps of photos of the city and hardly any of myself. When I think back to this moment I was so warm and free, happy in the sunshine. It was one of my all-time favourite adventures with Aeroplan. If you’re heading to Lisbon and looking for some tips, check out this post.
Aeroplan’s Booking Tool
In addition to earning Aeroplan Miles on flights and purchases, Members can earn miles with 250,000 hotels and more than 11,000 car rental locations in 50 countries. You also earn miles on bookings made through aeroplan.com when you book using cash.
“travel has never been easier and more achievable”
They’ve made it super convenient and enhanced the online experience so you can add multiple items to your shopping cart and check out with ease. One of my favourite ways to earn is through my Aeroplan-affiliated financial card. I love logging in to aeroplan.com and seeing what purchases earned the most each month. I’m more likely to shop somewhere if I know I can earn more miles!
Limited Time Offer: Get double the miles
Book, earn, repeat!Enjoy a special double the miles offer until April 14, 2019, and earn an additional 4 bonus miles per dollar spent. That means you’ll get a generous 8 miles per dollar spent on hotels and car rentals booked with cash through aeroplan.com! Kick off your earning with an Aeroplan-affiliated financial card and with just one booking, you could earn enough miles for a short-haul round-trip flight reward. How amazing is that? Before you know it, you’ll be back on a plane!
Years ago Sean and I went to LA and we rented a convertible, as you do! Earning miles on things I’m already doing or buying is my favourite. I love logging into Aeroplan and seeing where I earned the most on my purchases that month.
I’m taking advantage of this double miles offer myself and planning a family vacation. Where should we go next?!
My connection to the Aeroplan started a loooooong time ago when mum got me my first Aeroplan card as a kid. I’ve been earning miles for 20 years! If you missed my video about this from last year, watch it here or below.
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This post is in partnership with Aeroplan. If you’re not a member yet, what are you waiting for?! Sign up at enroll.aeroplan.com.
Your life is your movie. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You decide who plays a starring role, what kind of movie it is, and what path you take. Make a path leave a trail.
Take up space. Take up as much space as you need. Be proud of who you are. You are unique, there is only one you. Your stories matter. Share if you like or hold onto them for safekeeping.
Do what makes you feel good. The seasons are changing and you can change anytime you want to. You don’t need a day, a new moon, a new year, you just need to shift. Move in the direction you want to go. Make little steps each day or take strides. You got this.
Have faith in yourself and the universe will listen. You have to believe in yourself 100% in order for the universe to respond. Let go of self-doubt, don’t carry it with you anymore, it’s heavy and doesn’t serve you.
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Open doors for yourself.
We’ve been watching S3 of Queer Eye the last few days and I feel like this season is really personal. It’s the first time they’ve done makeovers on women, sisters, a wedding. It gave me all the feels, it’s hard not to cry. Since watching, I’ve found myself internalizing a lot of what they were saying.
Themes that really stuck out to me were about celebrating yourself believing in yourself, not talking negatively about yourself, to yourself. We all do it and I’ve been pretty hard on myself lately.
We all have things to be grateful for. We should be celebrating each day we wake up, our challenges as opportunities. Celebrating the bodies that carry us, the brain that all allows us to do things, the smile that greets strangers. We’re capable of so many things, so why do we stand in our own way?
In one episode a father mentions he wants to cook better food for his kids and that one of them is a little rounder. Right away, Antoni said, “who’s feeding her?” RIGHT? Like hello, an eye-opener. So simple but this stuck with me. Do I want to lose weight and be more fit? Yes. I am in charge of feeding myself and doing exercise? Yes. Ok well,do it then!!
The other day I called up a friend and we shared all the good things that happened to us lately. Who don’t we do this more? You should surround yourself with people who want to hear that stuff, who will embrace and encourage you. If you can’t share with the people around you, you’re around the wrong people. This week I started work on a film with 1188 and have been asked to give the Alumni Address at Conestoga College School of Business Convocation in June.
A little while ago I wrote a post titled “Be thankful where you are. This is once where you wanted to be“. I think about this a lot. Years ago I would be happy to be doing one of two of the handful of things I’ve got going on now. We need to remind ourselves of the small wins each day. This week I’ve been grateful for the warmer temperatures, living near the West Toronto Railpath, working from home, cooking good food, and all the Kon Mari I did over the winter. Has made spring cleaning a breeze!
Tonight I’m going to a Spring Equinox Sound bath hosted by Becca Lemire and I am SO Looking forward to it. A few years ago in LA, I went to my first sound bath (see post) and it was a transformative & life changing experience. I took a much-needed break and after that experience had a week of clarity and realization. Who knows what might happen tonight!
