2020 Home Renovations: The Plan

It’s happening! We’re starting renovations on our house and I am so excited. This past summer a good friend reached out to me about her client to see if we had any plans to renovate our bathrooms at home or the cottage. After a few months of talking, making plans, and sign-off, we’re renovating both bathrooms at home with American Standard. I am 100% at the age where things like this give me great joy. I loved picking out fixtures, toilets, sinks, and faucets. For years, Sean and I have been thinking about doing renovations but it can be kinda overwhelming. We’re also planning to paint and make some changes to the kitchen. I’ve been building a Pinterest board with ideas and DIY tips for ages. All the current bathroom fixtures and accessories will be moved to the cottage to update that space and saved for our future shipping container project. During our staycation at Hotel X Toronto, I was admiring the nice toilet in our suite when I noticed the brand, American Standard. This is the Townsend Vormax toilet we are getting! Yes, I ‘m excited about a toilet, this is my life now. For the upstairs full bathroom, we’ve picked out matte black fixtures from the American Standard Studio S Collection. They’re modern and similar to the ones below. I can’t wait to paint, tile, and install everything. I’ve been looking up a nice radiator to keep it warm and found some good heating tips. We’re planning to do most of the work ourselves, both Sean and I are pretty handy. We’re starting with the downstairs bathroom in February and making our way to the second larger bathroom next. If you have any tips or thoughts to share about home renovations, I’m all ears! My goal is to…

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Beat Winter SAD: Take A Vacation

Last winter was really hard, we had one of the coldest seasons in ages, there was ice everywhere, and my arm was messed up. I spent most of the winter inside our house going Marie Kondo through every cupboard and drawer. This winter, I’m determined to find joy in simple things and actively make an effort to warm myself up and beat winter SAD. I wrote a few posts with ways I’m trying to combat Seasonal Affective Disorder with the hope it will help make our days a bit brighter. Some take a little more money/planning but others you can do at home right now. I’ll update this post with a link to each so you can scroll once they’re live. Vacation The easiest way to boost your mood in winter? Take a vacation. I know this isn’t an option for everyone with work/family/finances but if you can do it, it’s so nice. This year, I took a 7-day all-inclusive trip to Cuba with a friend. We have been talking about doing a low-key beach getaway at the start of January for 2+ years and finally did it! Cuba was a good option because we were not going for luxury, our conditions for the trip were affordable, beach, sun. The beach was beautiful and the sun was hot. The food wasn’t luxe but we managed to eat simple, the main things I ate were bread, rice, fruit, pasta, and eggs. I read an entire book, took heaps of photos, and finished the week well-rested and refreshed. We went to bed early (and sober) most nights. I stuck to Amy’s 1K a day challenge and did some type of activity each day (long walk, dance, NTC). It was just what I needed and a perfect reset to start the year. I…

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We All Wear Crowns ?

Feeling excited today! The sun is out, it’s layering weather, and I’m expecting mail. I’m really looking forward to the weekend, Sean and I are going to the cottage for five days, just the two of us. I’m planning to cook, read books, have a fire, relax, it’s going to be so great., The photo above is my outfit from the Booby Ball ‘Under The Sea’ event on Friday night. Thank you Ryan Emberley for the snap! I went as a mermaid queen and made a crown + shell phone to complete my look. I’m so happy with how it turned out., This winter will be all about DIY projects in my little boudoir studio at home. I got a couple of shipping notices today for stuff I ordered recently and I can’t WAIT for them to arrive. These Chloe glasses are on their way from SmartBuyGlasses.ca. I wanted these in the summer and when they reached out about doing a post on the blog, I was so happy to pick these out! This weekend I finally ordered a hat from Lack Of Colour Australia. I’ve been creeping the website and Instagram for months and have wanted one of these for ages. I’ve also found a few great hats on Amazon lately like this black boater hat. See my store here! Two weeks ago I went to a plant event with Native Shoes and was given a gift card. I finally decided on these super cute, warm, waterproof boots ‘Chamonix Junior‘. They fit a bit big so I went for the kid’s ones. They’re out on the truck for delivery today! We have an exciting meeting today at 1188 and I really hope it all works out. Here’s to good vibes and great things happening!

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Just Make The Thing

A couple of months ago, the guys at Occupied VR and I got really into AR filters on Instagram. The first one approved in the app was for The Holy City VR at Cannes Film Fest. The Spark AR program is now out of Beta and now anyone can submit filters to Instagram to be approved. Monday I submitted my first filter to the app! IT IS NOW LIVE!!! TRY MY ‘HELLO’ FILTER HERE! I had been wanting to make one for ages but hit a couple of roadblocks as developing a filter involves learning Spark AR, a program from Facebook. About a week ago I decided to send Sean some text I’d made on iPad to see if it would work for a filter. It totally does! He made the background pink and they added the same hearts you see on this very blog. I was so excited to try it for the first time! Big thanks to Sean & Daeve for helping me. Check out Daeve’s other filters here! Earlier this month, I started a blog post called ‘make the thing’. For the past few months, I’ve been very tired, uninspired. I needed to take a break to get my mojo back. I spent heaps of time at the cottage this summer and also declining events to stay home. It feels good. September feels like a new start. There’s 4 months till Christmas and 2020. What’s your 2020 plan? Make it happen. Start now. Buy Zithromax online Strattera no prescription buy Cytotec online Buy lasix

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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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Ok, Tuesday.

The sun was setting and I thought wow you should really go out for a walk. I looked out the window and since we moved the couch it’s easier to see out. Neighbourhood watch. I decided against the walk and wondered why am I so tired? I started going through the things I did today and realized, whoa, no wonder. I feel like I should keep going but I had a video shoot, pulled an event outfit, signed a contract, made burritos, and we switched our internet plan today. Add in a bunch of emails and remembering a script. I need to charge my batteries. I don’t know if Daylight Saving has anything to do with it but I’m definitely tired. Couch time. I grabbed my iPad, put on the show, and made some food. Caprese salad, banana on toast, simple, delicious. This weekend I finally set up another pair of Phillips Hue lights so we can dim the front door and entryway lights. I tackled the mess that was the entryway over the weekend and it feels nice now. The living room is tidy and filled with coloured balloons from the shoot. It’s still light out at 7:30pm. I can’t wait for spring.

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