You would think that after being away at the cottage for nearly two weeks I’d be clear-headed and ready to hit the ground running but I’M NOT. I’m distracted, frustrated, and wondering what I’m doing with my life!
I played this song yesterday and sang out loud in my room. I’m just not sure what to do! I thought a lot about what I’ve been working on the last while and I don’t really want to do the same stuff anymore. I need a shift. Change.
Check back in a week, maybe I’ll feel different, maybe I’ll feel same?
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 Ridge: Residential Alcohol and Drug Treatment Center to help me recover if I was completely dependant on alcohol. Thankfully, this isn’t the case for me, but I know plenty of people who are struggling with this sort of addiction, even if they can’t admit to it just yet.
The Pretty Elevated pop-up is presented by Irisa Cannabis and on until mid-September. They’ve got a whole bunch of workshops and talks happening, check out prettyelevated.ca for tickets and event times.
If you weren’t able to get a ticket to our talk (it sold out in 24 hours!), please come anyway! Tickets are free and we expect there will be a few who don’t show up. The panel is hosted the lovely April Wozny, a close friend, and advocate for mental health & addiction. She’s been sober since 2015 and will be sharing stories about sober life including sex, dating, and relationships.
I’m really looking forward to this event and being part of the conversation around living a sober-ish life! On that note, still a big fan of cannabis.! Mainly because it can be great at times when people have to deal with things like anxiety. You can Click here to read more if you want to learn how cannabis can help people deal with their anxiety so that they don’t have to deal with that issue anymore in their life. It’s a lot better than some other solutions. It’s not just anxiety that it can help with either, but there is so much more that it can help with! Definitely worth it if someone is struggling in their life. If you think medical marijuana can help you, then depending on which state you live in you could have access to medical cannabis strains that alleviate many illnesses as well as uplift one’s mood, fear not as there are now 33 states that allow for medical marijuana providing you apply for and own the likes of a Missouri marijuana card or the card of your residing state.
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!!!
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?
Last week I had a Biologique Recherche facial at Visage Medical Spa, a cult beauty fav The Olsens, Nicole Richie, and heaps of celebs. Honestly, my skin has been glowing ever since, it’s like I have a teenager face.
Biologique Recherche is from France and has alpha-hydroxy, salicylic acids, horseradish extract, and it exfoliates TF out of your skin. My custom facial included caviar, collagen, and placenta! ? Highly recommend!
The Visage Clinic space is beautiful. I am totally obsessed with all the designer wallpaper. The swans are GUCCI!
This is inside the FACE LAB where we used the Biologique Recherche tools to examine the elasticity and moisture (or lack thereof) in my skin. Visage Clinic is the only company in Canada that currently has these tools. I received a printout of my diagnosis and it will stay on file at the clinic for my follow up on a few months.
The magic!
This experience was a gift and I am so grateful! Thank you Ashton Marcus PR & Visage for the invite. I am down to try just about any beauty service. Anything to maintain a youthful glow!
This week is the calm before the TIFF storm that kicks off next week. Excited, can’t wait!
I can hardly believe it’s almost TIFF! It feels like we were just in France for Cannes! After our trip to France, I was so incredibly tired, I’d spent most of May traveling or at conferences. I posted a few photos in this Telus post about our Cannes adventure but I wanted to share more about the experience so I don’t forget anything. It was a really cool experience!
From the moment I saw the red carpet and Cannes main building I was in awe. I’ve been watching celebrities grace that carpet my whole adult life! When I picked up my badge, I had this moment of “omg, we’re really doing this!”. I was there in charge of content for The Holy City, a film co-produced by Sean’s company, Occupied VR.
I loved walking the streets and people watching. Cannes is full of character with old cobble streets, beautiful beaches, a merry go round on the main strip, huge yachts lining the harbor, and bustling patios lining the sidewalks. I was happy to learn there are multiple Zara stores in case you have a wardrobe emergency and a tuxedo rental place if you need one a hurry.
A couple of my fav moments were walking out to paparazzi behind Elton John, walking past Chloë Sevigny, and seeing Tilda Swinton sauntering down the street in a gorgeous muumuu. She was stunning!
Each day we walked or took an Uber down to the festival building. In order to get inside, we had to pass security including bag search and badge check. We spent most our time on the first floor of the building in the XR Hub, on the film sales floor, or at the international pavilions.
XR Hub, Festival de Cannes 2019
The Holy City premiere was on the 2nd day of our trip so the rest of the time was showing it to industry people, doing demos, and taking meetings. I was in charge of social for the film so I spent a lot of time walking around documenting. Totally in my element!
International Pavillions, Festival de Cannes 2019
The Canada Pavillion was just outside the main building and a good spot to take a break, get a coffee, sit on the beach, or charge my phone. They hosted a mixer on one of the nights, it was great to see some other Canadians in film.
Croisette Beach, Cannes
I ate a lot of baguettes in the first few days. ? After the novelty wore off, I was determined to find other options with less bread and butter lol. I imagine it might be a bit tough in France if you are vegan or vegetarian, lots of meat, cheese, and dairy.
We rented an Airbnb about a 15min walk from the main strip. It was a cute listing and had all the amenities we needed including a pull-out couch in the living room. That’s where I slept we had a big night our because I snore and move around a lot haha.
Our Airbnb in Cannes
Our place was the top floor od the building with a huge terrace. It was a nice place to come back to in between long days of being at the festival and then going out at night.
View from our Airbnb, Cannes, France
We had a couple fun nights out! Similar to TIFF, there’s big parties by production companies or film studios and a lot of premiere parties. We attended the party for a film that was up for the Palme d’Or (Portrait of a Girl on Fire) after meeting the costume team at a bar on the street. So fun! One of the other hot spots was Petite Majestic, a small dive bar that took over the street when it got late with all kinds of people drinking and talking loudly. It was my fav place!
Sean and the guys went to a couple of big premieres. Getting tickets when you have a pass was kind of like a lottery were you requested admission from the login portal. It was so Sean to see him all dressed up. What a babe!
I stated home and ordered Uber eats including BEER. I love France. Europe is amazing. Maybe one day we will have this in Canada? He did check my ID before handing over the goods from his motorbike.
People were dressed up at all times of the day, there were tuxedos everywhere! Patios were lined with people smoking and drinking wine, even the McDonalds patio was full with tuxedos grabbing a quick snack. I wish I had a photo of them! ?
There were also heaps of people dressed up looking for tickets to premieres with small handmade signs.
On the way home, we passed through Munich, Germany. Beautiful and clean airport, still can’t get over the smoking lounges though. Crazy!
Thankful for the experience to go to Cannes w/ Sean and work on the film. Hope we can get back to Cannes another time but if not, happy to check this off my bucket list!
We worked a lot but also had a few dinner dates and long walks under the stars. All around great time!
I’m excited for TIFF19! I’ve been to one pre-screening so far and have a couple more next week. Tomorrow I’ve got a pre-TIFF facial! I’ll be doing a wrap up of TIFF films & events in 2 weeks.
Making the most of summer until then! Have an amazing day!
It’s been years since I’ve had my hair long as it is right now. I can’t remember the last time I was able to put my hair up in a pony, do french braids, or pop in extensions. I love it! It’s so fun to be able to play around with barrettes and accessories to change my look. At the start of summer, I stopped into SassoonTorontoto brighten up my blonde and trim my little bob.
LET’S COLOUR
In this post, I’m breaking down some of the different colour options you can get at Sassoon and what they mean.
I use to do all-over colour (blonde) but in effort to grow my hair longer and healthier, I’ve switched to highlights. They’re
BALAYAGE
This popular technique is pretty low maintenance if you’re looking for a look that doesn’t need a lot of upkeep. At Sassoon, they mix freehand painting with foiled highlights meaning you can have a natural sun-kissed look or something more dramatic.
Commitment: 2-3 Months
Great For: Creating soft, sun-kissed hair that is natural-looking, wearable, versatile
I love this look and it is VERY Sassoon. This technique uses darker tones underneath laters of lighter colors to create depth and tone. It’s a bit more of a commitment than balayage but so stylish! It really accentuates a haircut like this one I had a couple of years ago.
Commitment: 6-8 Weeks
Great For: Adding depth and tone to an amazing cut
On set for a shoot w/ Umbra
FACE FRAMING
Face frames blend into your natural colour accentuating your face and can be a variety of colours. This helps to illuminate your look and brighten your face without a big commitment.
Chances are you have probably had highlights in your life. if you’re like me and were in high school in the 2000’s you might have done the old cap/pull-through method as a teenager. Don’t try this now! Sassoon offers highlights and lowlights to either and some lights bits to darker hair or a few dark slices for depth and dimension. Highlights are great for hiding grey or if you’re moving away from all-over colour (like me).
Commitment: 2-3 Months
Great For: Enhancing natural colour, adding contrast, works on any hair length
Highlights
Lowlights
I think the most important things when it comes to your hair is finding what makes you happy. For me, my hair has always been a big part of defining my style and personality. I love working with Sassoon, they know who I am and how important my hair is to my look. I’ve learned over the years that a bright blonde is best and if I stray from that, I won’t be happy. Trust me!
BOOK A COLOUR CONSULTATION
Sassoon Toronto is happy to work with you to find a new style or enhance your current look with a cut and/or colour. I have my colour done by Kim, a wizard with blonde and cut by Tricia, the salon manager.
If you’re looking for a new look, they’re often looking for hair models for the Sassoon Academy or give the salon a ring at (416) 920-1333.
I was the opening keynote where I spoke a little bit about my career and how building my personal brand helped create opportunity.
In this video, you’ll hear 3 examples where my personal brand helped me get booked for jobs.
Excuse the audio, I was using a handheld mic and this is recorded on my iPhone. I will note that Sean wanted to shoot on a camera with a lav mic but I insisted on using the phone. Next time I will let the pro handle it!
Thanks, Bobby & the LinkedIn Local team for having me!
Looking for a speaker or host for your upcoming event? Send me an email or contact my speaker agent at The National Speakers Bureau.
I had to look up what day it was, Wednesday! The last week has been so nice. A great mix of perfect weather, bathing suits, casual clothes, no makeup, naps, and sitting. It’s just the two of us up here and we’re on day 6 of 12.
I’ve spent less time on my computer than I thought I would and more time making things in the kitchen, driving the boat, and reading by the lake. We got a couple of new small appliances recently and this week I made ice cream, hummus, and buttercream frosting in the food processor. Sean is really into cooking meats with the sous vide. I didn’t understand it at first but then he made me a sous vide steak and I fell in love. I even look online for the best home sous vide to get him for his birthday so he would cook me sous vide meals more often! He’s used it quite a few times and I’m always really happy when I see him pull out the machine.
Have had lots of fun with cottage friends, wakeboarding, surfing, and sunset drinks on the dock.
This is the all-star lake surfing team, a double wakeboarding mother-daughter team, Sean’s first wake surf, and Scott surfing behind the boat. I have wakeboarded but tbh, I’m most happy in the boat and being the photog.
Tomorrow is Sean’s birthday and I’ve been giving him one present each day since we arrived. Today I’m decorating a bit and then will attempt to make a magical birthday cake! Yesterday I made a cute HBD stencil and painted the walkway. I haven’t used this stuff before so I really hope it comes off lol. The pressure washer should do it. ?
Reminding you today to take time for yourself, create space for personal projects, and slow down a bit. It’s not a race, the joy is in the journey, not the destination.
I’ve been going through old hard drives up at the cottage and wow, I’ve taken a lot of photos. There are multiple drives with hundreds of folders and nothing is organized properly. Many people would be stressed TF out by this but I’m really trying to take inspiration from my chaos. I’m finding so many things, texting old photos to friends, making notes, and making a new list of old ideas.
Each morning here, I get up, make coffee, some type of snack, and sit down at my computer in the kitchen overlooking the lake. I’m often wearing big noise-canceling headphones with nothing playing, I like silence or muffled sound when I’m trying to concentrate. Searching my drives is an endless adventure of, what could this be?! Folder names go from date_nameofclient to ‘iPhone2014 dump’ or ‘new folder4’, it’ a mess!
I love having all my memories in photos and videos, it’s so easy to forget the daily details of life. One of the things I’ve really noticed is just how many selfies I take in relation to how many get posted. There are a lot of deleted selfies.
Yesterday, after putting the boat in the water I came back and was feeling cute. Grabbed my tripod and set it up outside, snapped a bunch of photos with my remote and voila, the ones you see here. To be honest, I looked at so many of them, hitting delete and not feeling happy with how I looked. Yes, it was early morning no makeup, but how I felt before the photos (cute) vs how I felt after the photos (not cute) didn’t match up. This happens all the time but I’m trying to not be so hard on myself. Today, looking back, of course, there were some bad ones, it was self-photography in thenatural morning light!
DON’T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL. We all go through this and trust me if you feel that way today, you are not alone. Not one bit. Going through all these old photos I’m seeing how many different hairstyles I had, how skinny I used to be, and the story behind every selfie.
Archives, the Art Hives
I originally started my blog as a way to keep memories. Having a diary is one of the best things, I feel, you can do to move forward, learn, and grow. I’m on a mission to be a better human, to love myself more, and to consistently find happiness in simple things. I’ve always been a pretty positive person but this past winter with my shoulder injury, nerve damage in my face, a mishap with my hair, and some other stuff, I got really down in the dumps. HOWEVER, THE TIME IS NOW. I’m crawling out, finding my creative spirit, my strong Taurus energy, and sunshiney vibes.
Having a diary is one of the best things, I feel, you can do to move forward, learn, and grow.
Loving yourself is a daily process and becoming your best self takes work. The last few days, I’ve been listening to the Papaya Podcast by Sarah Nicole, aka @thebirdspapaya. Although I don’t exactly relate to the postpartum mom stuff, I enjoy the talk about self-love, body confidence life in general. You can find the podcast on iTunes here.
Sending you love and sunshiney vibes. I’m about to go drive the boat and take Sean wakeboarding.
