Travel Essentials: Don’t forget these on your next trip!

I’ve been travelling a lot this year and have a routine when I pack.  I never forget, a hat, an eye mask, thongs (aka flip flops), multiple pairs of sunglasses (no matter what the temperature), a couple scarves, insurance, and my passport. Wardrobe and accessories always depend on where I’m going. Something  REALLY important people often forget is INSURANCE. Millennials, I’m lookin’ at you. Apparently, we’re more likely to hop on a plane without insurance (55%) than without our cell phone (45%). Raise your hand if this is you?! In a recent TD Insurance survey, more than 1/3 of Canadians forgot to purchase travel insurance at least once (37%) or said it’s the last thing they think of (36%). Over a third of Canadians think they have travel insurance with their credit card (37%) or their job (37%), but don’t check what coverage they really have. You should definitely double check before you get on that airplane and consider buying a supplemental health insurance policy if you don’t have out of country emergency medical coverage. We’ve all heard stories of people having accidents on trips and you don’t want to rely on a GoFundMe to get you home safe.  Almost half of Canadians travel outside the country/province more than once a year. It’s important to have Canada-wide coverage as well as international. DYK that government health plans won’t always cover out-of-province emergency expenses like bringing a family member to see you in hospital, returning you home, or ambulance rides? If you travel heaps like me, check out the TD Annual Plan that covers you for unlimited trips of 9, 17, 30 or 60 days throughout the year. This will save you from *forgetting* insurance again and save you unwanted expenses in the event that something bad happens.

View Post

You remind me of a sunshine the way you light up a room.

I used to post a lot of collage photos of my faces, different faces, expressions. I mean, used to as in the ‘old days’ of social media, pre-Instagram, early Twitter. I love taking photos of myself and documenting them. I love myself and I want you to know that. You should love yourself too. What else can I say? You gotta love yourself first because the more love you have, the more love you can give to others. Love and kindness are infinite. I always thought it was fun to take a million (ok, a hundred?) photos of my facial expressions and post them. As a kid, I spent heaps of time making faces in the mirror, ask mum. Honestly, I take about 50+ sometimes before I get one I want to post. I’ve always had an expressive face. When I was a kid, I did a lot of dance competitions across Ontario, New York, Myrtle Beach. At one competition my adjudicator was Patsy Swayze, Patrick Swayze’s mum. She trained him for Dirty Dancing in 1987 when I was 5. It was circa 1990 when she recorded a tape about me.  Back then, judges used to record their comments on tape while you were dancing and give it to you after the awards. I still have the tape of her talking about me. She said, “it’s too bad we don’t have lighting from the audience to show this child’s facial expression because she really does deserve it”. To this day, that is one of my proudest moments. “it’s too bad we don’t have lighting from the audience to show this child’s facial expression because she really does deserve it” I will never stop showing who I am. I’m too damn old to try and pretend to be someone else, gah, imagine how much work that would be? I am who I…

View Post

Encouraging Women in Tech w/ Ladies Learning Code + Booking.com

Last week I attended a Women in Tech Panel hosted by Booking.com to kick of March which includes International Women’s Day. It was nice to see some of my fav ladies and be inspired by powerful women on the panel. The panel included: Melissa Sariffodeen, CEO & Co-founder of Canada Learning Code; Helen Papagiannis, Ph.D, a world-leading expert in the field of Augmented Reality; Huda Idrees, the founder and CEO of Dot Health; and Ioana Popa, Strategy Manager at Booking.com. It was refreshing to hear their stories of creating new things, fighting stereotypes, and career struggles. “Surround yourself with good people, be confident, and don’t be afraid to ask for what you want.” Closing advice from an excellent #womenintech panel #BookingFEMpowers @bookingcom pic.twitter.com/lqnjjFEqDY — Women of Influence (@WomenOfInflnce) March 1, 2018 This year, Booking.com is honouring International Women’s Day with a month-long series of events in partnership with Canada Learning Code. I’m quite familiar with Canada Learning Code, it was Ladies Learning Code was founded by some awesome Toronto Women. Since 2011, LLC has had over 17,500 participants and held over 600 events. The organization is dedicated to ensuring all Canadians – particularly woman and girls – are given equal opportunity to access education in tech, a field still mostly run by men. Yes, ladies!  March Workshop w/ Ladies Learning Code Booking.com has a two-part Ladies Learning Code workshop on March 21st and 28th. For $65, you’ll learn basic coding skills and build your own website in a positive and encouraging environment. It’s totally a-ok if you aren’t a code whiz, this workshop is perfect for beginners. There’s more! Everyone who takes part in the workshop is has a chance to win a $500 Booking.com travel credit which can be used at any of the 1.6 million properties available on the site. PLUS, you’ll receive a professional one-hour mentorship…

View Post

Interview w/ CASACOM: How do you maintain authenticity as an influencer?

I recently did an interview with Toronto based PR firm, CASACOM. They invited me to the office to have a candid chat about the current state of social media, the world of influencers, and my career in digital over the past decade. You can read the interview here or scroll down for a little snippet. READ THE INTERVIEW HERE  2. How have you maintained your authenticity over the years as the digital landscape changes? You have to stay true to who you really are. Sometimes bloggers and influencers make themselves look a certain way and portray a life they don’t actually live. It’s hard to live up to those kind of standards you set for yourself and you’ll burn out if you’re not yourself. I’ve heard of younger people wanting to starting a blog or ‘be an influencer,’ but influencer isn’t something you can just decide to be; influence comes from DOING something that gets recognized or influences the ideas and thoughts of people. You can’t buy your way into being influential, establishing yourself as a brand or thought leader takes time. For me, authenticity is more important than perfectly curated Instagram. I think the best way to be authentic is to be yourself and tell stories, to be a real human. One of my favourite ways to tell stories is going on adventures and exploring new things. I also only work on things that I like, have tested, or experienced first-hand. How can you share your honest opinion on something if you haven’t tried it?! [Read more]

View Post

How to Make a Difference In Your Life

Wake up and smile at yourself. Look at the sky. Take some deep breaths. Think about what you are grateful for. Think about who you love and who loves you. If there is no sun, think about how you can be a sunshine that day. Wear something that makes you feel great. Use your best products you’re saving for a ‘special day’, each day is special. Put on your favourite makeup. Smile in the mirror. Keep that smile and flash it around to people in the street, in a store, at work. You will feel better about your life if you spread your smile around. Eat food that makes you happy, healthy is best but you got to live a little. Share. Write handwritten notes. Drink more water. Go for a walk. Look at the sky. Take some deep breaths. Think about your future. Set goals, write them down. Make your lunch. Think about travel. Dream of adventure. Call someone in your family to say hi. Feel warm sunshine on your face. Ride your bike through the park. Drink some water. Surprise someone with flowers. Thank your friends. Smile at yourself in the mirror. Inspired by this quote today: Smile in the mirror. Do that every morning and you’ll start to see a big difference in your life. Yoko Ono Female Cialis

View Post