Update: #goals, tattoos, MARKET and more

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 🙂

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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.

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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.

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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

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 PMstarted 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 onScreen Shot 2016-01-06 at 9.35.19 PMe 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 PMIt 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.

Apart from that, I just feel like I am not out of vacation mode yet. I miss Montreal, book shopping and hiking with C.

Goal #6 achieved for this week.

Passion to Paycheque – Lessons from Side Hustle Week 2015

 

IMG_3253I checked out one of the events for Side Hustle Week today. Organized by Secrets of a Side Hustler founder, Chivon John, it brought all the side hustlers together here in Toronto. I was pretty bummed to have missed the week’s events but was super happy to have made it to Artscape Young Place today! It is a beautiful community space located on 180 Shaw Street and all of you should check it out.

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So what is a side hustle?
It means different things to different people. For me it is my passion, something I do outside of my job. To be honest, my day job is the same as my side hustle and I feel blessed every single day.
We learnt a ton during today’s workshop, which was titled Passion to Paycheque, but I am going to share a few key learnings here. Led by LC Johnson and Shereen Ashman, the top learning is already shared in the quote above, which I created with Notegraphy (cause there is an app for that! :p I couldn’t stop myself haha)

The workshop was mainly about pitching yourself, be it to media, investors or a potential client. The following 5 steps are key pointers for that.

  1. Why should they care
    You need to nail your why down. As LC Johnson put it, “There is a reason why your work needs to exist in the world” but you need to be able to articulate why!
  2. Make your pitch as visual and tangible as you can
    Video pitches to media were suggested.
  3. Establish your credibility
    You need to know what you are talking about. LC recommended starting a blog or having a portfolio of some sort.
  4. Embrace what makes you unique
    You are you, so just be you.
  5. Leave them wanting more
    Your pitch doesn’t need to have EVERY TINY DETAIL about you and your business in it.

    LC also mentioned an activity she calls “In a nutshell” which basically helps you clarify your “why”.
    I help ___________________ do _________________ because ______________.
    Fill in the blanks to figure out your “why”!

    Here is mine:
    I work with startups to create communities online and offline because for any business to succeed you need a tribe, a community that gives a damn.

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    Do you have a side hustle? Share it with us!

 

 

Casa Loma and Other Weekend Things

So this weekend was incredibly amazing! C’s friends were in from out of town and we went to visit Casa Loma! Like finally! It was really awesome and totally lives up to the hype… wait there is no hype! Why is there no hype? The place is bloody amazing! There is a tunnel underground and you can walk from one end to the other.

We basically walked from the castle to the red building across that you see in the picture below.

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Won’t lie, the tunnel isn’t the best experience when you have asthma but it was worth it. Cause where the tunnel ended, a garage and stables began! I mean seriously, the man had way too many cars. Here are some of my favourites! (Apparently, he was the first one in Canada to have a motorized car and he crashed it on the day he got it because he didn’t know how to brake! waittt whaaat?!)

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Then we went on to see some other treasures in this humongous place that someone once called home albeit briefly. Henry Pallett only got to reside there for 15 years.

The place is basically secret passage galore and weird art. Pallett also loved animal skin rugs (someone call PETA) but then again that was the norm back then. Ewww.

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Saw this clock thingy (pictured above and had to take a photo).

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Also Lady Pellatt was awesome!

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More glorious views from the tower! Used to be slums and now it offers such a great view of the Toronto skyline.

Screen Shot 2015-08-02 at 9.54.40 PMUs ❤ ( Hubberz and I!)

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Yesterday I went to watch Inside Out with my sister but that’s a post for tomorrow because I want to do a proper review on that but I give it 4 thumbs up, you know with my hands and feet! Love you sista! #sisters4eva

Contest Time: For The Love of Fashion!

Read to the bottom for contest details!

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Top 5 Favorite Spring | Summer Trends

With the warmer climate right around the corner, it is time for a major overhaul of your winter wardrobe.  This year, stay fashionable and trendy with a little help from 3SHAHS and team! Here are our top five favorite fashion trends.

1. Colours:  Alongside emerald green, touted as the colour of the year, bold yet feminine shades such as tangerine orange, lemon zest and fuchsia are cult favorites too for 2013. Here is a boho chic dress from Versace’s latest collection that we simply adore. Complete this ensemble with a pair of long whimsical earrings.

 

Shades:  Popularized by Coco Chanel, black and white have been fashion staples in nearly every woman’s wardrobe for decades. We were thrilled to see these shades were ubiquitous and in vogue on runways across the globe.

2. Geometrics:  Stripes are a popular choice this year. They were seen all over the runways by designer ranging from Dolce & Gabbana to Marc Jacobs. Stripes are fun, flirty and with the right accessories can be made to look chic or girly.

 

Optical prints are making a massive comeback and were seen supporting the striped brigade down the catwalk. Did you know that vertical stripes make you look slimmer!

Due to the bold nature of geometrics, we recommend keeping accessories to a solid colour when wearing necklaces which layer over these patterns or opting for more intricate and colourful pieces when adorning cocktail rings or earrings.

3. Patterns:  From resolute figurative to forward floral prints this year’s prints are more gutsy than girly. Be it Sicilian puppets or Japanese dragons, nearly all the prints this season give out a strong and fierce vibe. Here are a few adventurous patterns from Dolce & Gabbana’s SS13 Collection.

 

4. Nautical:  Oscar de La Renta kept it classy yet playful with his nautical inspired ‘Ready to Wear’ line. 3SHAHS Yacht|Resort collection is one of our most versatile lines. It looks fabulous paired up with an evening dress or with a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt for a day of boating under the rays of the sun.

 

5. Trapeze-Shaped:  Inspired by the trends of the 1930s, trapeze-shaped skirts are making a comeback. We love the feminine and elegant feel of this style. Ralph Lauren’s SS13 collection displayed a combination of this trend lovingly married to a Spanish vibrant flare.

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Wrote this for 3SHAHS. LOVE THEIR CREATIONS!
Contest details:
Let me know which is your favorite piece on their site by 14th February and I will pick one of you and send a little something your way! It will be something from 3SHAHS’ site!
xoxo

Thoughts on the Subway at 8 in the AM

This happened…

 

8AM: *boards the subway*

OMG! Is he kidding me right now? If only he moved his fat arse an inch I could be sitting.

Ok CRAP! I am so hungry right now, should have listened to mum this morning and had my breakfast.

I wonder what will happen at work today. What will we do? Merchandising or calling? Hmmmmm

8:15AM:

I need to do something about my life. What am I even doing? What happened to my dream?

YOU are working on your dream. It’s just taking some time. Relax!

OMG! Tonight when I get home, I am so going to start those Japanese lessons again. I can’t even remember most of the words.

*TTC announcements* Great! Not like we already didn’t know that the TTC has to freaking break down everyday.

TODAY LOOKS LIKE IT’S GONNA BE A GREAT DAY LA DE DA!

OH LOOK! A text from him! YAY!

OH NO! It was from someone else. BLAH!

Am I there yet? Why is this subway taking forever? MOVE DAMN IT!

Composure. I need to be in my happy place right now!

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That’s right! Channel your inner Audrey Hepburn. GOOD!

8:45AM:

Almost there! OMG! How on earth am I supposed to get out of this subway?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Aristotle said, humans are rational beings but this a**hole is blocking the whole doorway. how on earth is that rational? MOVE MOVE MOVE!

Why am I reading this book on philosophy? Want legit advice? I’ll give you great advice. DO NOT STAND IN DOORWAYS ON SUBWAYS! It is a major nuisance and someone may just push you one of these days!

Also, another great advice, if you are dating someone and they put in a lot of effort into you then the least you can do is to put a little effort and at least make a card for them on Christmas/ Valentine’s Day and don’t give them that cheap crap about it being too commercial. You are just being freaking lazy. THAT IS ALL!

*reaches work*

His name was Ben, or at least he looked like a ‘Ben’ and hence I just convinced myself that his name must be Ben.

I don’t know what his real name was. I never asked and he never told.

It was like playing a never ending game of dumb charades, a game at which I, just for the record, suck.

Maybe it’s my inability to keep my mouth shut or my crazy need to vocalize my emotions that led to that night…

For months…

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pepto

ah sh*t… now I am bored… no more blog post for tonight. This is a story for another time.

ooooh and I finally bought a copy of The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom! YAY!

Also reading The Elegance of The Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. Will review it… well maybe! I THINK!

What are you guys reading?  I need to populate my booklist for 2013! Get suggestin’ lovely people!

Oh and by the way anyone in the TO area wants to do a book swap? I have a copy of Cloud Atlas that I absolutely want to get rid of! You read that right! Damned book! I am not selling it very well now am I?

Funny that there is also a book called The Cloud Atlas by a certain Mr. Liam. They should just not allow authors to publish books with the same names. Saw such a beautiful copy of Little Women today and totally want it! On my list of books to buy for next month!

Ok now I am just rambling! Off to bed I go! Night all!