2013: Looking Back

2013 is almost over, but before we say goodbye I want to take a look back at the year.

So here is my giant recap of 2013.

I discovered new places. 
I was lucky enough to travel and see amazing places. I went to Riviera Maya, Mexico with my bestie, ErwanBoy and I just came back from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with my girlfriend, Vee. Both trips were awesome! (and yes, finally you get to see my face :P) 

Blogging
I started this blog. I'd been wanting to blog for years, and hadn't gotten around it. I'm doing this because I like it and it's my own way to be creative and having fun. I'm so glad I took the plunge. 

Baking & Cooking 
Okay, so I'm no Martha Stewart... I never thought I'd say this but I'm starting to enjoy cooking. I cooked a lot more this year, resulting in more recipes on the blog. And judging from your comments (thank you!), you liked them too. 

Bring Sexy Back
Hmm... no comments? People, being frugal is HARD. I'm not perfect. I try and try and try... So on January 2nd, you will definitely find me at the gym. 

Girl meets debt

A BIG Fail. I don't even have to say something. You can all figure it out by reading some of my previous posts. 

Sigh. Depressing, right? 

Friendship
On a brighter note, I'm so thankful to have amazing people around me. Tons of wonderful memories with friends and family. 

This reminds me of what this Tarot card reader told me last summer. I've always been skeptical about esoteric, but at the same time I wanted to have this experience. She told me that I will get in touch with old friends and make few acquaintances that will eventually become close friends. This is so true. :) Oh well, she also told me that I will enter a new phase of my life filled with stability, calm energy and love. Yes, love! Ah, I guess I'm not a lost cause after all. Who knows, maybe I will find Prince Charming in 2014?

Life is always full of surprises, no way around it, it all depends on what choices you make, a good or bad one and still have to face consequences either way. I'm thrilled to see what 2014 will bring. 

Happy New Year everyone!!

Online Shopping & Me

Dear journal, 

On a recent morning, I woke up and scrolled through emails on my phone, my eyes still bleary and unfocused.   

Future Shop wanted me to know about its Boxing Week Sale. Kiehl's told me I could have a $15 gift certificate. Hudson's Bay offered me 70% off Samsonite luggage. 

I didn't even need a suitcase, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. I'm a loyal Samsonite customer. And no, this is not a sponsored post (how I wish it was). Almost any luggage will work for those who do one trip a year. But if you are like me, a frequent traveler, you use luggage (a lot!). Every Samsonite comes in a little hefty price, but it lasts and lasts. I've been all over the world with my Samsonite and it's still going strong...Enough with my sales pitch...So yeah, too good of a deal to pass up. I bought it with two clicks as my credit card info was already in its system. All this before even getting out of my bed. 

My inbox wants me to spend. 

Lately, I have been obsessed with home décor. Don't ask me why. My colleague is renovating her house so we have been looking for online deals for quite awhile. Yup, totally obsessed ever since.  

I bought a duvet cover from West Elm (yes, finally in Montreal). The store is located in a very up and coming part of Griffintown. 

I also ordered a canvas print of Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace (I kind of have a soft spot for Van Gogh). I bought it on Joss & Main. LOVE this store. If you're unfamiliar with Joss & Main, it's a flash sale site that offers new curated sales each day many times at up to 70% off retail! You are sure to find unique piece that you won't see in any home. 

I also ordered this Tangiers rug in ivory (Joss & Main). 

Last but not least, I bought this black console table @ Kasa Living. I actually went to the store to get it. Note: their customer service is horrible (and trust me, I'm not a difficult person). 

Sigh. Victim of marketing? Yes, that would be me. 

I'm so screwed (and so very broke). 

Easy snack: No-Bake Granola Bites

Busy day? 

No time for breakfast? 

These no bake granola bar bites are perfect snack. 

photo: melskitchencafe.com

I got this recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. They are incredibly easy to make!! You don't even need to turn on the oven. All you do is mix the ingredients together, roll into balls and refrigerate. 

Ingredients:
Note: Feel free to play around with the ingredients (adding dried fruit, coconut, chocolate, etc...) 

1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup quick oats
1/3 cup roasted cashew nuts
1/3 cup crunchy almond butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Just love these granola bites! They are so easy to make and are very tasty. 

Here's the result: 

Optional: I processed all my dried ingredients in the food processor for few seconds.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!

You know, some people go bananas over Christmas.

They put up their decorations the day after Halloween, they play Christmas music all day, every day. Well, I'm not really one those people. Okay, I'm not a scrooge..I do enjoy Christmas, but I'm not as much crazy as some people.

But I must say - I do love a good Christmas movie. I love sitting on my couch, in my pj's, slapping on a pair of wool socks, sipping on my coffee and watching whatever classic is on TV at the moment. You know there's something about watching it on TV vs DVD. 

So there are a few movies that I love to watch. Here's my list of movies that I can't go a Christmas year without watching. 

Some oldies but goodies:

Home Alone

The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Miracle on 34th street

While you were sleeping

Die Hard

I also love Hallmark Holiday movies:

A princess for Christmas

Christmas with holly

Annie Claus is Coming to Town

There are just so many! 

Happy holidays everyone!

Music Around The World

I love Indie/pop music. 

It's fun, it's different and it gives you something to smile about during the long winter days. Here are some of my favorite songs that always bring me a happy and comforting mood. Check this out. 

From Canada

Feist and Coeur de Pirate are my favorites.

 


USA

Need to be uplifted? Take a dose of Mindy Gledhill. I just LOVE her. It's happy music. It makes you want to cuddle up in a blanket and drink hot chocolate. Her music makes me feel like things are going to be okay (and sometimes we just need to be reminded of that). 

 

I've been crushing on Pharrell for years. I just love him!

UK

South Korea
Okay, I REALLY love anything from South Korea. Kpop, Kdrama, Korean BBQ, you name it. I'm kind of obsess... I just love their MV. 

I'm back!

I'm officially back!! 

Sorry guys I have been MIA for a while. I'm seriously surprised at the hits I still got. It lets me know some of you love this thing I do enough to keep checking on me. Thank you. 

So what's new? A lot. (and to answer THE question: I'm still single)... I'll tell you all in my next posts but first thing first... I'm off for two weeks! yay no more work!! woot woot. 

Okay, so it's Sunday and I woke up to a blanket of snow. Let's say that today is a staying-in-my-pj's kind of day. I made my peanut butter hot chocolate (recipe from missglamorazzi) and I'm ready to watch Christmas movies. :)

Feel guilty? Ah! Here's the healthy version: 

More to come!!

The Happiness Project (part 2)

Like you all know..after reading Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project, I decided to do my very own happiness project. 

So here's my list so far:

November: Play
- take time to be silly
- try new things
- step out of my comfort zone

December: Friends & Family
- spend more time with my parents
- do randoms acts of love (do things without telling people about them)

to be continued...

Success stories (part 3)

I have to start this post with simply saying OMG - Wow! 

Meet X-factor Australia winner, Dami Im. Let me tell you this girl can sing. I mean really sing. She looks like a goofy Japanese cartoon character with a shy personality. But when she sings, her whole body posture, face, voice, personality - everything changes. Suddenly she becomes a different person, a world class superstar. 

This is something amazing. Check out her journey. 

{My Happiness Project} October: Health

It's nearly the end of October and let me tell you... I'm so proud of myself :) Yeah.. So you all know about my quest of wanting to bring sexy back? Well, I've finally done some concrete actions about it. 

So earlier this month, I decided to join the YMCA. I know...I said that I won't join any gym...like ever again (girl meets debt, remember?). But hey, winter is almost here and it's not like I'm going to jog outside, right? I think this membership is good for me. I can cancel anytime I want or I can put it on hold. Plus, I have access to all the classes and even the swimming pool! So, why am I so proud of myself?  I've been going to the gym at least 4 days/week!! (And I even do swim laps, crazy huh?) 

Here's my weekly schedule: 

My other resolution is to get more sleep. Yes, I have trouble getting my zzz's! So here are some things I've been doing for a better night's sleep:

• Avoid caffeine 4 to 6 hours before bedtime. 
• Keep a regular sleep schedule - even on weekends. 
• Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. 
• Get regular exercise and keep a healthy diet. 
• Use a sleep tracking device. I use the SleepBot app. It helps you track your sleep. 

I see how only one month in, my little goals are making a huge difference. They've become part of my lifestyle, so I'm not even worried about carrying them over into the upcoming months. 

Stay tuned for November's goal...

My Happiness Project

Are you happy?

Okay, I know it sounds so cliché... but are you really happy? 

I've been reading Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project and I have to admit that I was skeptical about it. Really. Another self-help book promising the secret to a better life? Oh god. 

For those who haven't read The Happiness Project, it's a story of one's woman's search for happiness. For each month of the year, she picks an area of her life where she wants to improve her happiness (work, marriage, parenting, etc...) Then during each month, she strives towards accomplishing a handful of resolutions related to the theme of that month. 

The whole idea behind The Happiness Project is that it's about the little things in life. It's about not letting life whiz past you without stopping to appreciate everything you have. It's about not wasting time, energy, and resources on things that fill your life with negativity. It's about setting tangible goals for yourself and feeling great once you've accomplished them. It's happiness, really. 

So I decided to start my own happiness project... Each month will have a theme and will focus on a different area of my life that I want to improve. 

what i'm loving right now.

lorde. Love love Royals. Can't you believe she's only 16?!

inspirational blogger. Michelle Phan. She's a blogger, entrepreneur and a Youtuber famous for her makeup videos. Dreams do come true (you know I'm a sucker for a good story!). Her career began in 2007 where she, like many others, logged onto Youtube and started to post makeup tutorials. Years later, her net worth is estimated to be around $3 million! Now she has released her very own makeup line with L'Oreal. Ah! for those of you who have big dreams, don't give up!

Check out her videos: 





vampire diaries - season 5. Love this season but I'm sick of elena/damon/stefan. Ah! I just want Caroline and Klaus together (a Klaroline fan here). 

long weekends. 

Peanut butter & Banana Smoothie

Happy Sunday everyone!

Okay so for me, some mornings are milkshake mornings... These also tend to be kind of mornings that also require old-school Mariah Carey blasting into the bathroom while you belt it out in the shower. Okay, maybe that I'm only speaking for myself here. Surely you're more refined in the morning with your black coffee and classical music. 

I have this smoothie recipe that could best satisfy my morning milkshake craving. My new favorite right now is this peanut butter banana smoothie, which tastes like a milkshake so even though it is packed with protein it is almost like having dessert after working out! 

Ingredients:
- 1 cup soy milk
- 1 medium banana
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- Optional: add almonds + raisins (really good!)

Direction:
Add ingredients into the blender. Blend until smooth. 

Voilà! Enjoy this cool drink for a quick breakfast. Or have it as a snack after working out. 

Oh, and here are some throwback Mariah Carey songs that will eternally make life happy. 

 

30 day Squat Challenge!

Hi everyone, 

I came across a squat challenge, and thought I'd give it a try. Today was Day 1. 50 squats, how hard can it be, right? Ah! Can you say: jelly legs!

Join me and get your body in shape! Tone up your legs, bum and stomach with this great 30 day squat challenge. 

So what's the 30 day squat challenge? 
It's a simple 30-day exercise plan, where you do a set a number of squats each day with a rest day thrown in every 3rd day. You start by completing 50 quats on Day 1, and slowly increase to a maximum of 250 by Day 30.

Check out this video:



Let's get this started and keep with the program!

I've Been a Bad, Bad Girl (part 2)

Dear Journal, 

I think I went a little overboard with my spending lately. Blame it on Amy! This friend of mine started her new job not long ago. We were sooo happy since her office is just next to mine. Great thing, right? Well, up until now, I didn't realize that shopping was her favorite hobby. I swear this girl is worst than me!?

Together. We shop. We eat..like there's no tomorrow. 

This is not good people. Just the other day, she called me after work and wanted to stop at Sephora to buy something. Just 5 minutes. 

One hour later... we were still there. You know the phrase "like a kid in the candy store"? This kid is me, and the candy store is Sephora. This is not just a beauty store; it's heaven for those who love makeup, perfurme & skincare!! So my cart was full of products...

I bought:

The Smashbox The Master Class Palette II. C$68

Make up for ever HD Complexion Starter Kit. C$92

Make up for ever Lift Concealer. C$29

BITE Beauty Lush Lip tint ~ color juice. C$26

I think I'm a lost cause.