February in Review – Favourites and Lessons

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 / riainthecity / Leave a comment

screen-shot-2017-03-03-at-12-24-30-am

Where did February go? It all passed by so quick!

I was really good at blogging regularly in January but then February rolled around and it all went down the crapper. But all things considered, Feb was a good month.

Favourite things and moments from Feb

1. C & I celebrated our second wedding anniversary and prepared for a major life change.

Colin and I This is a photo from our civil ceremony. LOL check out my $16 Forever 21 dress… ooooh so fancy!

2. I read 3 books this month (or finished reading)

Virginia Woolf in Manhattan by Maggie Gee
Genre: Fiction
Review: Highly Recommended

screen-shot-2017-03-03-at-12-48-57-am
The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
Genre: Fiction
Review: Recommended but more of a YA feel to it

Screen Shot 2017-03-03 at 12.47.27 AM.png

Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew
Genre: Non Fiction
Review: Is this her real life? Cause WOW! recommended reads…

screen-shot-2017-03-03-at-12-49-45-am
P.S: As you can see, I am sticking to my resolution of solely borrowing from the library and I have been really good! Super proud of myself for that!

3. Started my novel writing course – which I am really enjoying and highly recommend.

4. Hosted the inaugural event for Community Builders with some amazing community builders. – creative baby that I have been working on for almost 2 years now.

_rsm1764

5. Finally got comfortable with calling myself a founder – even though I have shied away from the term for the longest time because I didn’t want to make others feel uncomfortable. But I realized that me taking credit for shit that I have done does not take away from others and if people feel like it does, then that’s not my tribe and I do not want to collaborate with folks like that. Thank you Karen with helping me with this. ❤

6. Received my first ever Once Upon a Book Club Box and I am so stoked to experience it for myself!
(soooo I did splurge on books here ;))
screen-shot-2017-03-03-at-1-03-20-am
So what is this book box? Well, it is a phenomenal reading experience.
In each box, you receive a book and several gifts. Throughout the book there are post it notes that correspond to gifts. Once you reach a page with the note, you open a gift that is labelled with that particular page number & each gift has something to do with the story.
See? HOW COULD I NOT?

I’ll let you know how it goes!

7. Hosted another successful MARKET for work
I am so incredibly lucky that I get to hang out with incredible marketers and get to call it work!
Shout out to Reba and Regan (my colleagues) for working on some dope swag for this event too! LOVVEEE!

rightsleeve-shayne-gray-web-1681

8. Got to hang out at Honest Ed’s one last time!

honest

For those of you that don’t live in Toronto, Honest Ed’s was an iconic bargain store from the 40’s, that is now being torn down to make way for condos. Think of it as dollar store on some pretty good crack.

My work a.k.a RIGHTSLEEVE Marketing designed the merch for the farewell party and as a result I got to hang out there on a weekend with some amazing folks.
Funnily enough, everything I own from Honest Ed’s is Elvis Presley themed. Go figure!

Lessons

1. Setting boundaries is extremely important – not just for others but also for myself.
It is so easy to lose yourself in all the hubbub of every day life.

2. Speak the fuck up
Most people have no clue how you want to be treated or if you don’t like something – so speak up!

3. Self care is as important as breathing
Love yourself and everything else will fall into place!

Things I hope to do more of in March

1. Read more

2. Blog more

3. More bookstagram photos

4. Get ready for April! EEEEEKKSSS

That’s it on my end for now! I am incredibly excited for March, there is ton of work to be done but there are some really exciting things and projects on the horizon. What a time to be alive!

The Importance of Setting Personal Boundaries

January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 / riainthecity / Leave a comment

I am happy to report that my sleep schedule is back on track now! 8 hours of sleep looks so good and I have managed to get in to work before 9:30am all of this week except one day when I had a medical appointment.

One important thing I am doing this year is setting personal boundaries for myself.

Given that my work is in the digital realm, I have to consciously disconnect for a few precious hours at night. I do a lot of volunteer work, which I love, and as a result sometimes I end up working into the wee hours of the night.

I have also noticed that in the past few years, I have gotten so involved with my work and volunteer activities that I have neglected my loved ones. On several occasions, people have pointed that out to me, and I’ve always just laughed it off and said, “yeah I love work!”

And while that is true, I think I really need to work on having time for myself and those I love. The world is not going to end if I don’t reply to an email at 11pm.
Even when I am at home with my husband, more often than not, I can be found working. May 2017 be the year of no more of that shit. Putting this here, so I am constantly reminded of it.

Some of the ways I am going to do that is by not answering emails, calls or messages that are either not scheduled in my calendar or don’t require my immediate attention.

I have also noticed that because I reply to stuff right away, I get really annoyed when other people don’t and I don’t want to feel that way. People have lives and so do I!

When I die, and we all do, that’s just the reality of life, I don’t want to be remembered as the person who did a shit ton of work and then just dropped dead. I want to be remembered as a person who loved and lived a full life – both on a personal and professional level.

Hope your week was amazing!

Update: #goals, tattoos, MARKET and more

February 17, 2016February 17, 2016 / riainthecity / Leave a comment

January whizzed by and February is threatening to do the same. It has been a busy albeit a productive year thus far!

Launched MARKET – Powered by RIGHTSLEEVE and got to chat with some brilliant marketing minds in Toronto. This will be a quarterly series and promises to be good. If you don’t know what I am talking about, click —> HERE <—
The feedback has been amazing so far and I am eternally grateful for that 🙂

All of my other goals that I had set up in January have gone down the crapper just due to the fact that I have been busy. SILLY RIA! This is why you set goals, remember. I know, I know. I ought to be more realistic. So starting this week here are my rejigged goals;

1. Do yoga once a week – So everything on top of that will be gravy!
2. Eat one home cooked meal a week.
3. Read one book a month – I tend to read a lot faster in the summer but start of the year is brutal for a reader.
4. Blog Once a Month – I think I can do it 😉
5. Relax

What am I reading right now?

Still trying to finish “The Sun Also Rises” by Hemingway but also started reading an excellent book titled “Everybody Writes” by Ann Handley, which is about content marketing and for those of you who know me personally, know that I live and breathe marketing.

I don’t like sharing photos of my kindle because book pics look like crap on it. So here is one I found on Craft of Marketing.

Here is a picture of my beautiful copy of The Sun Also Rises. I had to travel to Montreal to get my hands on this copy. True Story.

Achievement Unlocked

Spoke at a Women in Tech event a week ago and I know this may not be a big deal for some but hey it was pretty fun for me so yay! go me! LOL
The most interesting part of the evening was that it made me more aware of my own privilege, which is awesome! Go mum! Go dad! and thank you for everything you have given me and done for me!

Local Products I am loving at the moment

I am going to give Inkbox, an organic tattoo, a whirl! Going to try it out this week and let you know how it goes! Check out their website for more! If you are so inclined, you can use the code #RSxMARKET for 15% off. I don’t get a cut from it but I just have a discount code so use it if you want!

What are you up to!?

Week 1 of 2016 – Progress, Food & More

January 7, 2016January 7, 2016 / riainthecity / Leave a comment

Middle of the first week back at work and I thought that it was time for some reflections.
Goals wise, the week is going pretty well. I have achieved two of my standalone goals and I am on my way to achieve the ongoing goals. Not doing so good on the yoga goals but I am going for yoga at the AGO tomorrow and am pretty stoked about that.

~~1. Cook a meal at home once a week.~~
2. Launch my etsy store
3. Learn one new recipe from my mother
4. Do yoga twice a week.
5. Read The Sun Also Rises
6. Blog once a week
7. Do one book review a month
~~8. Try out a new cafe per month~~
~~9. Write in my diary every morning~~
10. Relax

Downloaded Sloan Crosley’s “The Clasp” on my kindle and Screen Shot 2016-01-06 at 9.35.35 PM started reading it on my train ride to work this AM. So far, so good. I think it is going to end up being my book review for the month. It is basically chick lit & I can’t believe I am starting my year off with that but oh well I do enjoy a good romantic comedy once in a while.
Note to self: Kindle books don’t photograph half as well as real books… ok NOT AT ALL!

For the food goal, I pan fried rainbow trout! It is simple but delicious. It was my first time trying it out too. I didn’t want to do anything too complicated, so I used a pinch of sea salt and some ground black pepper for seasoning and ta da!

I bought only on Screen Shot 2016-01-06 at 9.35.19 PM e fillet because I didn’t know if the taste would suck but then I realized that C had to eat too 😉 so I improvised. Made spinach, mushroom omelette to go with it! Strange I know but delicious yum yum!

And then there was the matter of trying out a new cafe per month and I did! My friend Jaclyn was in town from Vancouver and we decided to check out Te Aro cafe in Leslieville.

Admittedly, I had a cup of green tea and an apricot biscuit (DELICIOUS) but hey! you can tell a lot about a place from the type of tea it serves. Contrary to popular belief, you can indeed fuck up a cup of tea.
Screen Shot 2016-01-06 at 9.35.06 PM It is a cute little cafe in Queen East and is definitely worth a visit. I imagine in the summer it will be even nicer with the patio and all that jazz. Reasonable prices, not a ton of space so I don’t really know if I will take a book along with me on my next visit.