Day 1: Social Distancing

It’s not often that I have nothing to say. I’m not sure how to handle everything that’s going on. It’s hard to believe this is happening. I feel like hitting pause on everything because our health is really what matters. How can life continue in any normal way? But things do continue like payments and deadlines. It’s hard to take a break when you need to monitor the situation. You know you should look away but you can’t because it’s right here affecting everything you do. On the computer, in your email, on social media, tv, every time you go to the fridge and think about your food. I should do something to make myself feel better. I haven’t gone to the gym in a couple of days and I don’t want to lose my mojo. I finally got it going after a struggle up fitness hill. Today I made a nice curry and cooked some of our favourites. Did a face mask and a hair mask but it didn’t take away the knot of anxiety in my chest. Last winter I spent a lot of time at home because of my injury and the insane amount of ice outside. Since then, I really benefitted from the work I did around the house during that time. I completely moved my room around so I had a nice workspace, organized my closet, sorted every bin, reorganized the cupboards, spice drawer. It gave me sanity in a time where I felt I couldn’t go anywhere and I didn’t feel like myself. It was hard but I made it through and learned a lot about myself in the process. I’ve been trying not to touch my face if I’m outside and it’s really hard to not touch your face. I wish I had…

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Happiness & Social Media/Life Balance

That’s a wrap on #TIFF19 for me! This week I’m working on a Vitamix commercial w/ 1188 doing props & set styling. I love it! Over the past couple of years, I’ve been all about JOMO vs FOMO (see this post). The joy of missing out is something I’ve come to love, I think it comes with age and experience. This is the first TIFF, I didn’t go partying, stay out late, or drink alcohol. I put my happiness and health first, yay adulting!  Finding Balance: The Telus Happiness Workshop This summer I spent a week in Vancouver for the Telus Creator Summit with the #Telus_Partner team from across Canada. It was 4 action-packed days of volunteering, adventure, food, drinks, and learning about the many sides of Telus business. I had heaps of fun and made new friends but by the last day, I was totally exhausted. Telus anticipated this and used it as an opportunity to bring us together for a Happiness Workshop. We put down our phones, learned about disconnecting, and finished with yoga, meditation, and lunch. Not something you would expect from a telecom giant but that just goes to show how Telus is different. During the workshop, something amazing happened… The whole group of bloggers, YouTubers, and content creators started talking about how much social media stresses them out. The pressure to create, stay positive, be healthy, have a clean house, great photos, have good engagement, make money, collect the money, have good relationships, be a good parent, be a good partner, AND remain sane while living this crazy internet life. IT WAS SO REFRESHING. It felt like a weight was lifted knowing we all have similar feelings about social media anxiety, it connected us. The Telus Happiness Workshop was developed with input from expert psychologists…

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Speaking: The New Clean @ Stackt Market

On September 12th, I’m speaking at a talk hosted by Irisa inside the Stackt Market. It’s a bit different in most talks I’ve done as it’s not about social media or marketing, we’re talking about alcohol, cannabis, sobriety, and sober curious. It’s no secret that over the last couple years I’ve stopped going to so many events and drinking as often. I made a lifestyle change to drink less in an effort to be healthier mentally and physically. There was a long period when I moved to Toronto and started going to media events where it was common to drink most weeknights and weekends. After work drinks, tweetups, long lunches, brunches, everything had booze and it was common to be at an open bar. I didn’t want to have that life anymore. Learning about the Sober Curious movement inspired me. I don’t want to completely cut alcohol out of my life but having a positive relationship with it puts me in control. I’m now more comfortable going to events sober and not using alcohol to deal with social anxiety. Obviously, there are those who do abuse alcohol and they are the sorts of people who might want to seek out Clean & Sober Recovery Services in order to get their lives back on track. I drink here and there but mostly with close friends or at home. As I’ve gotten older, it’s WAY harder to recover from a big night out and not nearly as cute to be totally wasted. I know that for some people cutting out alcohol (or even limiting it) can be incredibly tough, although I don’t believe that I had an alcohol addiction, I know that if I was unable to stop I would have had to look at going to a place like this Pacific…

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Interview: Vocab Comm Influencer Tuesdays

I recently did an interview w/ Chrissy, longtime friend, OG PR, and founder of Vocab Comm. I talk about the social media landscape, influencers, and my career. I included part of the interview below, read the whole thing here. Chrissy used to host MMVA and celebrity gifting lounges at the beginning of social media, we worked together on a few. This was a fun one. Tell us a little about yourself. I grew up in Cambridge, Ontario. My parents immigrated here from New Zealand and my dad had a custom Hot Rod shop growing up. I created my first business in grade 2 and at 14 I wrote a book and started a publishing company. I went to Conestoga College and last year was given an Alumni Award for my work from the President of the college. I went to university in Australia and have a B. Com in International Business. I have lived in Toronto since 2005 when I started my blog. Through my blog, I’ve built some amazing brand partnerships (Pepsi, Telus, Aeroplan, Sassoon) and traveled to incredible amazing places in the world (Thailand, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Disneyland). How do you define an influencer? I think the word ‘influencer’ has really taken on a whole new (kinda negative) meaning with the rise of Instagram influencers. To me, influence is a product of something someone does. It’s not something you get by having a lot of followers. My influence has grown from being a pioneer in a new industry and constantly innovating. I share my life with the world and love discovering new things, my influence comes from building trust with my audience. What advice do you have for other people looking to become an online influencer? Don’t do it. Find something you love and do that! Don’t…

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CBD: What Works For Me

I’ve been asked about CBD a bunch over the past few months so I’ve finally put down some thoughts. This post is IN NO WAY medical, I am not a professional, this my personal experience. You should 100% consult some kind of professional before trying something for medical purposes. You can’t go wrong with someone who can tell you the difference between cbg and cbd, and their different medical uses. On the other hand, if you are already familiar with the cannabis plant or have been self-medicating for some period of time, you’ll enjoy this! The photo above is from Sugar High Love Stoned and I bought the sweater while I was writing this post. ? I’ve tried a bunch of products and these are my favorites. There are HEAPS of products out there, my recommendation is to get any cannabis product from somewhere credible or recommended by a trusted friend. If you are using CBD for a specific reason such as your an athlete, then I suggest you go to aethics for specialist products. A lot of beauty, health, food products are coming out claiming to have cannabis or CBD, where it could be low-grade CBD or hemp seed oil. You can also get help derived CBD products, which can be confusing. My friend Ama Scriver wrote a great piece on cannabis and the beauty industry for healthline.com here. CBD To Calm Down + Focus + Sleep Aurora CBD Liquid Gels Product: Small gel capsules, each with 8.5mg of CDB and 0.3mg of THC. You can find them at Nova Cannabis on Queen, OCS, or through your accredited Licenced Producer. They look like mini Advil. Thoughts: These are great. The THC content is pretty low (0.3mg) so they don’t make me high, just relaxed. I find they’re good when…

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The hardest part of writing is writing.

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.

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A Morning Walk for Good Health

As part of my 4-month test of AfterShokz Trekz Air, I’m sharing how I’ve grown to really love these headphones. Also, save $50!

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Happiness & The Benefits of Light Therapy

It’s a bit more work stay my sunshiney self during the winter. Today we had freezing rain that looks and feels like kosher salt. The last few weeks have involved a lot of staying inside and I wrote about a few ways to boost your mood here. Today I had my first Light Therapy session at MOCA Toronto. It was cool!  Light Therapy is included with your museum membership unless there is a private session booked. I had purchased a membership because I thought it was only open to members. I booked weekly sessions for the next few weeks and today I found out I have the room ALL TO MYSELF for each one! There’s a cafe on the first floor and drinks are permitted inside the installation. There’s parking across the street and coat check on the first floor. If you are interested in coming to check it out, please let me know. I have the room booked weekly and can bring a few people each time. We can chat or you can do your own thing! What is Light Therapy? Light therapy involves exposure to intensive light under controlled conditions. The installation is designed to simulate a bright, sunny day with LEDs generating 5,600 K of low Ultraviolet, full spectrum daylight-balanced light. Everything in the room is white and you’re encouraged to wear a lab coat and white shoe covers to maintain the brightness. I am very into the lab coat. Light therapy can help with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder). In winter we lack vitamin D from the sun, our skin is dry, and sometimes, depression sets in. This installation is an experiment as part of the Art in Use project and Light Therapy is by Apolonija Šušteršič. History of Light Therapy Light Therapy was originally produced for the Moderna Museet in Sweden in 1999, to…

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Money Mindfulness

Last week I went to a wellness workshop hosted by Capital One for Credit Education Week. This year’s theme is ‘Money Mindfulness’ and at the event, we meditated, did yoga, and learned that being mindful about our everyday expenses can help related stress and anxiety. Stress and anxiety are all too often experienced in this day and age so it’s no wonder people search for the best CBD oil in the UK and around the world to help them deal with it. The event was held on the top floor of the Broadview Hotel and included a joga class by Jana Webb. We enjoyed a Smoothie Station and were sent home with a Mindfulness package. It was very relaxing! The location was perfect for a gloomy day with huge skylights to brighten the space. It was nice to spend the morning with a bunch of the blog gang doing something other than being on our phones. I don’t know about you but money stresses me out on a regular basis, waiting for cheques, people not paying on time, bills, taxes, rent/mortgage. Life is expensive and if you don’t have a handle on your finances, your other problems seem much bigger. Even if you have money, mo money, mo problems! To get a better handle on your personal finances, you may want to start reading articles that cover topics like banking, credit cards, and loans, etc. to help you equip yourself with the knowledge to become a money master! You might find sites like this useful – https://myinforms.com. According to Capital One, 44% of Canadians say credit, debt, and finances negatively affect their mental health. Capital One Canada organized a session on mindfulness with the Centre for Mindfulness Studies, where we slowly ate a strawberry, thinking about how it felt to…

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High Tea: You Can Roll With Us

You walk past a group of beautiful, stylish ladies outside a cute and classy coffee shop in a quiet neighbourhood. Everything looks normal until you get a little closer and see a cloud of smoke big enough for a rap video and realise what’s up! ? So much so you might be tempted to grab your TONIC rolling papers and join us! The other week I had a really cool experience of attending an event called ‘See You Next Tuesday‘ hosted by the fine ladies of the High Tea podcast (listen here). It was a rolling salon and flower side chat where we had an in-depth lesson on rolling the perfect joint and talked about cannabis. As you can imagine we also spoke about some of the lesser known cannabis infused products out there such as moonrock canada. We each took home a few goodies and fresh cut flowers. It was fun! The High Tea podcast was started to create ‘high-vibe entertainment, for women who also love weed‘. Each episode is a ‘blunt and thoughtful exploration of pot and its magic‘. I love the play on words you’ll find in everything they share including the name of the event series. Thanks for hosting a fun night! Over the past few months, I’ve spent more time having great conversations with amazing women over cannabis vs. late nights with too much wine. It’s so much of a healthier lifestyle, I’ve cut down my drinking significantly and even lost weight. The side effects of cannabis are much more positive including increased creativity and less pain/anxiety, instead of a hangover. When talking about the effects of cannabis, many often wonder, “are cbd terpenes important?” When it comes to people’s experience with the drug, it does look that way. There are lots of different reasons…

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Head in the Clouds: Altavie & The Art of Now

Not long I went to an event at Only One Gallery featuring a reading by NYC poet Cleo Wade hosted by MedReleaf‘s brand, Altavie. It was one of the first cannabis-focused events I’d attended, it stood out with its classiness and the incredibly cool group of mostly women in attendance. The night started with a guided meditation where everyone closed their eyes to take a few minutes for themselves. The panel was hosted by Briony Douglas who’s art was displayed around the gallery with a few other artists (Alpo Snow, Tahsin- The Good and Enzee Creative. Briony is one of my favs I have couple pieces from her recent show MOUTHPIECE in my room. AltaVie by MedReleaf aims to help make mindfulness more attainable Altavie is a high-end cannabis brand with a movement towards mindfulness, being present, and living in the now. Cannabis products are becoming more and more well known for their mental health benefits, for example, in helping with anxiety, depression and insomnia, and there are many different kinds of products out there, from CBD vaping cartridges (check out this CBDFX discount code if you’re interested in those) to products like Altavie. I was there thinking, ‘wow this weed brand is so ME right now, how is this really happening‘. Life is such a dream. It’s amazing how so much has changed – now there are more cannabis brands reaching customers with the help of an SEO agency specializing in the cannabis industry which once upon a time, not too long ago, would have been totally unheard from. How times have changed, and for the better too, I would say! The only product currently on the website is a cannabis-free a nut bark that looks pretty good called Cannabis Crunch. It’s infused with cannabis inspired flavours (toffee, cinnamon,…

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DONT KILL YOURSELF

Don’t give up. Don’t quit over your job. Don’t die over money. Don’t bottle your feelings up. Don’t stay inside and hide. Don’t give up. Don’t hold it all in. Don’t put on a smile and act like everything is fine when it’s not. Don’t write your last letter. Don’t plan your exit. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Don’t be selfish. Don’t kill yourself.  PLS ASK FOR HELP. Yesterday I posted the suicide hotline after hearing about Kate Spade. I felt sad. Her death was a reminder that no matter how much money, fancy clothes, cars, businesses, health, family, no matter how much you have, you can still have dark thoughts. None of us are immune to feeling like we’re backed into a corner. We all go through love, loss, money, no money, jobs, no jobs, depression, anxiety. Life is hard. No matter how much it seems like someone has a perfect life, THEY DON’T.  They might have an even more fucked up life than you think you do, trust me! We all go through it. We all have days, weeks, months, years when we wonder why we are still doing it, or not making it, or are we just faking it? Life is hard. We’re constantly bombarded with challenges, tests, to see if we can make it to the next level. We all have the strength to deal, to fight, to call on each other, to make it through. You are never alone. There are lots of people around you even though you might not feel like it sometimes. It’s easy to isolate yourself, to put on a smile and act like everything is a-ok when you feel like dying inside. Reach out to someone around you. People care, people at work, home, on Facebook, and right on the other…

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New Year New You!? Same Me!

I mean new me kinda because you’re like,  you’re always changing. Right? Maybe you’re looking to make some changes in your life this year and there is no time like RIGHT NOW. Tomorrow you’ll wish you started today. I really want to get fit this year. I’ve been home a couple days and made yoga + hit the gym. I feel good. I’m not sure when or IF jet lag is going to kick in but I’m ready for it. Update: I feel it today. I don’t have heaps planned this week in an effort to maintain self-care and get a fresh start on 2018. When I go to the gym I don’t stay for a super long time but I’m proud of myself every single time I go. I’ve had gym anxiety my whole life, until now. I hated going up until I had my breast reduction last summer. It took a while to be emotionally ready to workout, but last summer I signed up for my first every gym membership. YAY ME. Before the operation, I hardly ever worked out and when I did never wore anything with cleavage to avoid getting unwanted attention. I used to wear 3 sports bras to keep those bad boys still if I wanted to run. I was always fully covered in t-shirts for yoga and tank tops were out of the question. For years, I had a hard time getting dressed in the morning or for events. It gave me anxiety. Sean used to be like ‘are you ready yet?‘ and there were so many times I was upstairs in tears or not wanting to go anywhere. I would try on a million things and nothing would fit those big boobies and don’t even get me started on working out. This year I’m excited to…

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Rest in Peace, Betty

Last night when the plane landed I received a text saying that nana had passed away. Mum and I left SF and I guess around that same time in NZ, Betty passed peacefully.  In a message from my auntie, she said ‘we were all in-flight together’. It was hard being there and seeing her struggling to eat or sit up. Nursing homes have this old smell and it is sad seeing people in their last days of life. It was my first time experiencing that and I felt sad but I wanted to be there, yet part of me wanted to run away from it. It gives you all these conflicting feelings about life and death, sprinkle that with a bit of family drama and it would give anyone anxiety. I’ve spent my whole life on the other side of the world from my family and not been there for any death or sickness. This trip was the first time I’d been there to experience something like this with relatives. We visited nana each day I was there in Palmerston North and mum stayed an extra week to be with her. I took photos and printed one of her and mum, then put it in a frame to put beside nana’s bed. Mum went through some of nana’s things and we all took a few mementoes to remember her. I painted her nails and did her lipstick. We told stories about Canada and our families here. Mum put some nice cream on her frail dry hands. I’m so glad we were able to be there with her in those final days, especially mum. I can only imagine how hard it was for her. Seeing her, and also leaving her. Betty was a strong woman. Always dressed well and wore lipstick. Her hair was always permed with…

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