Had a great weekend. Good Christmas. Went for a nice walk to the park and enjoyed the warm weather on Chrismas day.
Sean enjoying a scarf mum sent. Looks great on him tbh!
Had a bbq with some friends on Saturday night. Was great to get out of the house after hibernating for a few days. We’d been in serious holiday mode watching movies and binging Netflix.
Not feeling so hot today. Feels like I’m getting a cold. Gonna rest up and keep this holiday mode spirit alive!
I absolutely love stories like this! Over the past few years I’ve had a few friends help me out and I don’t know if I’d be where I am without their generosity. Sometimes a little here is all you need to get on track or get closer to your goal.
It warms my heart to see generous people being surprised with a gift that helps make their dreams come true. I feel it’s important to give unconditionally, giving is it’s own gift! Seeing peoples faces light up when they open a gift or receive a surprise is so wonderful.
There’s a playlist of videos BMO created through this Help Given initiative. I love them all, get a tissue, I couldn’t help but have tears of joy.
Seeing how happy Arash is when they give him a day off here is so great.
A couple weeks ago I helped out a friend who was going through a tough time, I was able to help them but it involved using money I’d been saving for travel. Yesterday, out of the blue, I was invited on a trip to a sunny destination. The two things weren’t related but in the whole grand scheme of the universe, I feel I’m somehow being rewarded for my generosity. More details about that next week!
Sending my love for happy holidays, warm wishes for a great new year. To see more from BMO’s Help Given initiative, see here.
With love,
* This blog post was sponsored by BMO but the opinions & stories are my own!
This time is year is so hectic, ahhhhh! Lots of running around from now till Friday! Today mum is coming down to help me with some office elfing, aka getting presents ready and delivering to clients.
This weekend at home was so nice, a great start to holiday mode. With Christmas on a Friday this year, I think it’ll be easier to really take some time to relax.
I’m totally in in love with these little sweaters Telus sent over to help get into official #HolidayMode. The entire campaign is great.
I probably spend the most time on my gadgets around my family but this holiday season, my goal is to spend less time staring at my phone and more face-time with the ones I love.
I like putting on the (digital) fireplace, reading a book, or simply relaxing on the couch and staring at it. If you don’t have one via cable already, pop over to the Telus YouTube and put this one on your tv.
I love the Internet and technology and how it keeps me connected to the world, but, taking a break from it is totally awesome too. Your batteries need a recharge.
Thanks Telus for helping me get into holiday mode. Can’t wait to cook Christmas dinner later this week! OK, off to do my efling!
It’s Christmas week, again already. Crazy to think how time flies, feels like I was just saying this the other day. (Omg how old am I? I sound like my parents!)
Can’t believe it’s trench coat weather! Dug up this Ted Baker scarf today, reminds me of spring.
Spent most of the morning driving around doing holiday things. Ford hooked me up with an Explorer for the weekend to help de-stress my holidays, and it totally worked. Dropped off stuff to donation centres, picked up something from Umbra, holidays gifts for the office. Learned how much a two-four of Jack Daniels is. See Snapchat before tomorrow for that one.The stereo in this Explorer Platinum is amazing, also heated massage seats w/ screens for back seats.
In other news, I’m on the TV at Umbra. GO STOP BY THE STORE AND SAY ‘I KNOW HERRRRRRRRRRR’. There’s ton of gifts there and that’s why I was back today.
As winter starts to creep up on us I find myself looking back through old blog posts of my travels. I’m keen to book a trip for Sean and I for a little R&R under the sun early 2016. I’m thinking Dominican Republic, Cuba, or Costa Rica. I’m dying to feel sand on my skin and salt water in my hair! ??
Venice Beach, California
Over the last few years I’ve been to Thailand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and LA during the winter. I absolutely LOVE to travel but preparation is key if you want to have a good time for example, a travel shoe bag is a must for me and I don’t travel without them. Also, if you don’t manage your money right, it can be expensive. Up until a few years ago I didn’t even have a credit card because I was still paying off my student debt from school. This doesn’t mean to say that just because you’re at university, you can’t have a credit card; those studying away from their home country can still get a credit card for International Students. Having a card with travel rewards was really important to me now. I want to get something back from all the purchases I make on my trips. I’m also really interested in qantas credit cards which are another travel-based provider, as they offer rewards for frequent flyers which is certainly what I am!
I would rather take a great trip in the winter to boost my inspiration and pay it off my credit card, than not go at all and let the winter blues get me down.
You never know what’s going to happen, YOLO!
Koh Tao, Thailand
I’ve partnered with a Capital One Canada one to tell you about their new and improved line of Capital One Aspire Travel MasterCards. There are two to pick from that both offer great travel rewards and benefitsdepending on what you’re looking for. Here’s a quick summary and my fav features of each.
With this card you can book the hotel, airline or rental car of your choice, then redeem your reward miles to cover these travel expense and even pay for the taxes using your reward miles. There are no blackout dates or hidden fees. You also get 2 reward miles for every $1 on all purchasesand can earn a $400 bonus in travel rewardswhen you get a new card.
Once you spend $1,000 on purchases within the first 3 months, you earn a one-time bonus of 40,000 miles, that’s $400 in travel! There’s no limit to the mines you can earn either so start shopping! A couple other great Travel benefits include Travel Emergency Medical and Trip Cancellation insurance. I’ve stressed it before, never leave home without travel insurance!
With the Aspire Travel Platinum MasterCard, you get travel rewards on every purchase and there’s no limit to how the amount of miles you can earn. There’s a one-time bonus of 10,000 miles – equal to $100 in travel – once you spend $500 within the first 3 months. There’s also Platinum MasterCard benefits, including Travel Accident insurance, and Baggage Delay coverage.
Tortuga Island, Costa Rica
This photo was from a day sailing trip to Tortuga Island while surfing in Costa Rica. I would love to go back there! It was one of my fav trips and went there all by myself. I flew into San Jose and took an all day bus, ferry, then another bus to my destination, meeting all kinds of people along the way. I love that feeling of adventure you only get from exploring a new destination.
I’m dying to get on a plane and explore something new! I’ll be sure to document my travels, wherever they may be.
