Random Acts of Kindness

After all the horrible things we hear about in the news and the appalling behaviour I have to deal with from my customers on a day to day basis, it is nice to hear that there are some truly good people left in the world!

One of my friends was the recipient of a random act of kindness this week. Someone came knocking on her door with a ton of Christmas presents all wrapped up, a basket full of food and toiletries, gift cards for more groceries, books, clothing etc. She is a single mom with 2 children and she is in school right now as well, so needless to say she's got a few money issues right now. Somehow she manages, but this was just so awesome for her. I really couldn't believe it. I hear these stories once in awhile, but it's never really happened to someone that I know personally. She has no idea whose idea this was but she really appreciates it, and being her friend, I am really happy that someone thought to do this for her!! What a great Christmas present!!

My thought's on Rihanna

Last Sunday night I tuned in to Oprahs new network to watch the much anticipated interview with Rihanna. After seeing a lot of talk of this on the internet (Perez Hilton for example) and seeing it being mentioned on tv I thought I would just share my thoughts on the interview.

My overall thoughts are that it was a great interview. Rihanna seemed really comfortable with Oprah and seemed like she was able to really be herself. Oprah asked some good questions and some of her responses surprised me and I think surprised a lot of people.

One of the things Rihanna said that really rang true was that she doesn't like to be seen as a victim because whenever something really bad happens to someone, it follows them around forever and that's what people will always remember about them. I feel this is really true and probably explains why a lot of celebrities will hide the fact that they are going through certain situations because they don't want to be associated with that for the rest of their life.

The thing that a lot of people are talking about is that in the interview Rihanna said that her and Chris Brown still love each other and always will and are working on their friendship. He was the love of her life and she not only lost her love but her best friend. It is making me mad that people are writing nasty comments on Perez Hilton saying that she's an "idiot" or "stupid" for still loving him.  I think we can all say that those people have obviously never been in a situation like that, because if they had I don't think they would judge so harshly.

First of all, does anyone remember being young and your first love? Cause I sure do. And I think that I speak for most people when I say that person will always hold a special place in your heart, and even if it ended badly you will always remember the fond memories. I also know what it's like to be so head over heels with someone that everyone else thinks is a bad idea, but you don't care because "they don't know him like you do".

The fact that she said those things just shows that she is a normal, typical young woman with real feelings. I think it makes her more relatable to her fans. The only thing I wish Oprah had asked was whether or not it was the first time he had ever hit her. Who knows the answer to that but it could have been a game changer.

How do I feel about them trying to be friends again? Well I'm not really sure. I guess if they are able to be friends without it interfering with each other's future relationships, then I guess I don't see the harm. But on the other hand in some situations, it is better to cut them out completely. Who knows, she might cut him out completely too but it may take some time to realize if its the right thing, as it did for me.

Overall I gotta say that after watching this interview I am now a bigger fan of hers and for those of you who didn't watch it I recommend seeing it! I'm sure you can find it on youtube.

Monday Musings

Here are some things I'm loving lately:

Second Cup Frozen Hot Chocolate. 

There isn't one near my house so I don't go to Second Cup very often. But there is one in the mall so I usually stop in whenever I'm there. And this is what I always get. AMAZING. If you have never tried it you must run to the closest Second Cup now. Or look for a DIY recipe on Pinterest. 

I've really been missing the ocean air in Portugal since coming home, so I went to Yankee Candle in the mall in search of a scent. I knew I would be able to find something there and I came home with "Coastal Waters". It was $17.99! (Do people actually spend this much on candles on a regular basis?!) After trying it a few times I've come to the conclusion that it has more of an ocean smell when its NOT burning....weird much?

Ok, these are my new favourite crackers! Has anyone tried these?! They are so awesome. They have a bit of a "spicy" flavour and when you add cheese its super good!

Have you guys seen this new fad called the Smash Book?? It's basically like a scrapbook only its not meant to look perfect. That's really the best I can explain it. You've got to see them for yourself! At Michaels they are $19.99 but on sale this week for $16.99 (not much of a sale). I decided to wait until they are NOT on sale and use the 40% off coupon that always comes in the flyer. 

If You REALLY Knew Me

I'm jumping on this bandwagon a little late here but what the hell...

If You Really Knew Me:

-you would know that I laugh a lot. When I am happy, nervous, sad, mad, or just don't know what to say.

-you would know that I get super creeped out when my skin gets all wrinkly after being in the water. This is the primary reason why I hate doing the dishes. 

- you would know that I hate feet: looking at my own or other people's feet, when others look at or touch my feet. Needless to say I don't get pedicures

- you would know that I have a super good memory when it comes to prices of things. Like for instance you could point out almost any item of clothing that I'm wearing and I could tell you how much it was. This goes for more than just money like sometimes I remember things so well I'm worried people will think I am creepy! 

- you would know that I have never had the chicken pox or broken a bone

- you would know that I loooove the Olympics. I just love the whole excitement of it and I love to root for my country. During this time whenever I'm at home I'm pretty much glued to the Olympic channels on tv.

-you would know that my absolutely favourite show in the whole world is Friends. And my favourite show from my childhood that I still love watching is the Cosbys

-you would know that I love to watch the news

-you would know that I love to read and dream of having my own library in my home

-you would know that I used to take horseback riding lessons

"You know what they say about Paris? About France" ..."For Lovers Only"

When I learned that the main actress from my new tv obsession Castle, Stana Katic (who's Canadian by the way!) was in this indie movie called For Lovers Only, I had to check it out. I did a little research and it got really good reviews so I rented it from iTunes.

All I can say is...wow. This is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. It is truly a work of art and I have never seen anything like it! It was shot with a $2500 digital camera and no budget, and Stana used her own wardrobe. They used only natural light and sometimes the flashlight from an iPhone. Instead of releasing it in theatres, it is online only, with the news spreading by word of mouth and social media. You can rent or buy it from iTunes or Amazon.

Sofia (Stana Katic) and Yves (Mark Polish) are two former lovers who run into each other in Paris while both are there for work. She's a journalist and he's a photographer. They literally just run into each other in the streets of Paris. Sound romantic? It has been years since they have seen each other and they are each married to other people but running into one another just sets them into a whirlwind. They throw caution to the wind and take off together on a road trip across France.

The chemistry between these two is amazing and sometimes while watching you feel like you're intruding on their personal moment. It's not a movie about falling in love, but being in love. I think most of us have one of those people in our life who we consider to be "the one that got away" and I think watching this movie brings you back to that time, to thinking about what could of been, or what would happen if you were to run into that person. This movie still lingers with me and even though my rental period is done I am definitely going to buy it at some point. Oh, and also, the music in this movie is fabulous.

Colour Combo I'm Loving: Turquoise and Grey

Turquoise and grey is a colour combination I am really loving right now! I've been seeing it a lot on Pinterest and thought I would share some pictures with you.

Now here is a little project that I did a little while ago. I got some old frames from Goodwill, for super cheap and painted them. Can you guess what colours?!

Before:

After:

Thursday Ramblings

• Have you seen these funny quotes that are all over Pinterest from someecards.com? Some are pretty hilarious. If you go to their website there are so many to look through, you could entertain yourself for hours. 
• I finally did get that refund for my Luxe box after all!! My subscription ended in January and I asked to unsubscribe. They had already charged another $40 for another 3 months to my visa but they said they would refund it. I ended up getting another Luxe box for February which I wasn't supposed to get. Now they have finally refunded me which means that last one was free. So now I wonder, will they mistakenly send me one in March??
• I got my mark for an assignment in my online course and I got 100%!! I was pretty surprised. It brought my average up to 80% which is great!
• I went to a Hedley concert the other night. It was pretty fun. The opening bands actually got a lot of stage time which I was kind of surprised by.  I went with a girl from work and we both had a great time. 
• I'm getting so excited for the Hunger Games movie!!! These books are fabulous and if are looking for the next series to get obsessed over and haven't read them, DO IT. I got 2 girls at work into them, and a 3rd is currently reading it. I also got another friend of mine into them. We are planning to have a girls night out for dinner and the movie when it comes out. 
• I recently scored some chocolate whey protein powder on clearance at the grocery store and am looking for all kinds of cool recipes. 
• I'm going to Mexico!! More on this in another post :)

Hello Contacts! :)

Here is something a little exciting that I forgot to tell you guys..I am now a contact lens wearer!! I had been thinking about trying them for awhile and I had heard that at my work they give out samples for you to try so I went and asked about them. I booked an appointment and came back a few days later to be taught how to wear them. I was pretty nervous about sticking things in my eyes but I have to say it was all a lot easier than I thought and the woman said I did pretty well.

All was well and good until about a month ago when I noticed my eyes were getting really red. I thought maybe I hadn't washed my hands good enough when I put them in or something and they weren't THAT red. After a few days of this I threw that pair out and started a new pair, only to have the problem come back again in full force. One day at work my eyes were so red I looked like I was on drugs. It was scary. But I felt no discomfort whatsoever so I couldn't figure it out.

I went to the optical department and after talking to the guy for a few minutes and having him ask me some questions he determined I was probably having a reaction to the silicone. He said some people can wear silicone ones for like a year and then suddenly have a reaction. So he gave me a sample of a silicone-free pair to try. And just like that, no more redness!!

So I was able to exchange the Acuvue Oasis ones I had for a different kind called Proclear. I'm really glad I was able to work out the problem because I love wearing contacts. Its so weird because I never really was self conscious about my glasses or anything, I just wanted to try something new. But once I started wearing contacts I felt like...somehow I wasn't hiding behind them anymore. It might sound strange but its the easiest way to explain it I guess.

Anyone else out there wear contacts?? How was your experience when you first tried them and what ones do you wear?

Blue Valentine

Tonight I rented Blue Valentine after work. This movie left me feeling so.....restless. It was heartbreaking to watch two people fall in love and fall out of love. The movie starts in the present day where Cindy (Michelle Williams) and Dean (Ryan Gosling) are married. You can see right away that their marriage is awful. It keeps cutting back to the beginning of the relationship, where they first fell in love. The beginning is cute but the present day parts are so....irritating. Its hard to watch because I feel its so relatable. I think so many people can relate to that feeling of waking up years later and wondering where your life went. Why you didn't do all the things you set out to do, and wanting more out of life. Its so real. The whole movie in general was kind of strange. Boring in a way. Quiet. No climax really. I still can't decide if I "liked" it. But it left me with with this sort of heart wrenching feeling of "god, I hope I don't end up like that".

I have a Happy Mac again!

Good news- my macbook is all fixed! I ended up calling Applecare and after awhile on the phone with them, they determined that my hard drive had most likely failed and I should take it to a store. So I brought it in this morning, and now I have a brand new hard drive and an upgraded operating system for free! It's like I have a new computer :) They also gave me my old hard drive to keep so that I can take it somewhere to have my data transferred over so I don't lose everything. So I'm pretty happy right now!!

While I was waiting for them to finish I had about an hour to spare, and I didn't even have any Christmas shopping to do. I went to Forever 21 which is a store I totally adore, that we don't have in my city. I ended up getting 2 tops (buy one get one free), a belt and a pair of earrings. I feel kinda weird, having bought myself something like a week before Christmas, but I'll get over it!

I'm still unsure about what to do about the RSP situation. As ideal as it would be to max out my company pension plan, AND also contribute to my own RSP, I don't feel that I can afford to do both. I also need to decide what to do with the approximate $2000 I have in RSP's from my old job. *sigh*

That second job that I spoke of a few posts ago is not so much anymore. He ended up getting a bunch of resumes and hired 2 girls. One full time and one part time which doesn't leave a lot of room for me. He asked me if I could work out with my main job to have like one certain day off every week but that's just not going to work.

I knew this day could come anytime but I was hoping it was not this soon. When I first decided to go work for him I told him I would help whenever I could but he would have to work around my schedule. He didn't have any other help so he was basically taking what he could get. I told him even if he wanted me to just help him until he found someone with better availability that would be fine. And now he has :( Anyways I don't think I am totally done there but its going to depend on what hours the other girls are working. Basically I will just try to fill in any way that I can. So basically I'm going from a few shifts a week to what is probably going to be a few per month.

Randoms

-I recently went to a NARS/Shiseido warehouse sale. Got some great items including 5 hair care items, a Shiseido cleanser and moisturizer, 2 Shiseido foundations. I spent $88 which was under my budget of $100.

- I'm going to another warehouse sale next week. This one is called Lisa's Cosmetics and it has: Elizabeth Arden, Smashbox, Marcelle, Annabelle, and pretty much every fragrance known to man. I am more excited about this one because I regularly use a marcelle toner and exfoliator so I plan to stock up. The toner I used for years is discontinued and I am hoping maybe it will be there! I am planning on buying a bunch of stuff to make up a big gift basket for my sister for Christmas, and also for my best friend.

- My Luxe box has been shipped!!

-I just made these granola energy bites! They are totally delicious, and healthy (minus the choc chips) because they have: oats, peanut butter, flax seed, etc. I'm planning to have one or two tomorrow morning before work, and see if I feel any more energized than normal.

-I am obsessed with Pinterest. I have gotten so many ideas of things I want to make/try like hair chalking, cowgirl cookies, and DIY surf spray.

The other night I was using my computer when it started to freeze a lot. I got really fed up with it so I shut it off. When I went to turn it on again, it wouldn't. I was so mad! I thought what did I pay $1400 for? Macs are supposed to be the best!!
I made an appointment for the closest Apple store to my town which is about 40 min away. I was able to get one the next morning and I was in and out in about 2 hours. I was so impressed! Ok so it kinda sucked that I had to go that far but you certainly could never go to a place like Futureshop or BestBuy or any of those places and get that type of service!


I'm going to leave you guys with a picture from one of Ninja's blog posts. I think it makes a really good point.

Pinterest = my new obsession

Thanks to Amy, I am now officially addicted to Pinterest. What is this you ask? Well its basically a virtual "pinboard" of sorts that you share with others. You can have as many boards as you want for whatever type of theme you want. Examples: Home decor ideas, favourite products, fashion and beauty, items you are lusting after etc. You can follow people and if you see a picture you like you can comment on it. You can also "re-pin" anyone else's pins that you like. Its so super addicting. Here are some great things I have found so far:

Such a cute idea! Plus I love anything vintage.

This is pretty much the picture I have in my head of how I want my home library to look when I have my own place. With the ladder and everything.

Awesome DIY art project. You glue crayons to a canvas and blow dry them so they melt. I want to try this for sure.

Awesome quote.

Isn't this a great use for your shopping bags? Looks so chic.

Life Updates

• I just got a tuition rebate on todays paycheck for $184 which brings me to $482 dollars in my "course fund" which is more than enough to sign up for next semesters course.
• Speaking of courses we are wrapping up this semester, all assignments are submitted and now I just have to study for the exam in 11 days!
• I also got that retro pay that I told you guys about 2 posts ago. After taxes it was about $200 extra. In total for that pay, I put away $300 into my "Portugal Fund" which now has $1076!! :)
• I have heard a lot about how if you write a company about their products they will send you coupons. So I wrote to Marcelle, a Canadian skin care and cosmetics company whose facial toner I have been using for years. I told them how much I liked their products and also mentioned that I have noticed the toner I used to use was not at Shoppers Drug Mart anymore. I requested any samples they may have available and any coupons as well. They wrote me a nice reply saying that toner I was using had in fact been discontinued (which was what I thought) and suggested a suitable replacement. They also sent me 4 coupons each for $2 off ANY Marcelle product! Woo!
• I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but I got a coupon off Wagjag for a hair salon called Trade Secrets. It was only $35 for wash, cut, colour and style which is pretty good. I was a little nervous having never been there before, but the girl was great and I'm very happy with the colour. I had it a pretty bright red before, and now I'm closer to my natural colour, its a dark chocolate brown. It's a bit darker than my natural colour actually, probably darker than it's ever been. There is a still a tad bit of red showing through which looks neat actually so I'm super happy with it!

Taylor Swift Concert

Last weekend I went to see Taylor Swift at the ACC in Toronto. I have been a fan of hers for a long time and when the tickets went on sale last winter, I had to jump on the chance. How can I even explain what the concert was like? Well, it was absolutely amazing. It wasn't just your every day concert. It was a whole production. The set changed for every song. There was ballet dancers, a tap dancer, acrobats hanging on ropes, even fireworks!! At one point she left the main stage and walked through the crowd to a smaller stage at the back and sat underneath a light-up tree and played a few songs. She played guitar, banjo, ukulele and piano. She also "tested our Canadian knowledge" with a small medley of songs by Canadian artists, which we all recognized and sang along. This included Avril, Justin Beiber and Nelly Furtado.

I thought the Bon Jovi concert in February was amazing but this topped it by far. Her fans are even wilder and more dedicated. There was quite an array of light-up signs that fans made (mostly young girls) and it was cool to just look around and see all the lights. For the last song which was "Love Story" she floated over the crowd in a very Juliet-style floating balcony. Towards the end of the song as she made her way back to the stage there was a burst of confetti! The whole thing was soo....magical. It was like I was living in a fairy tale. That's really the only way to describe it. Overall I was very impressed!! Our seats were in the 300 section which is waay up high. So, not close at all, but still worth it!! I would go again in a heart beat and pay double if I had to.

Random Updates

• My work is long overdue in giving me my raise so on this Friday's paycheck I will be getting an extra $240 or so. At my work we automatically get a raise for every so many hours worked which the computer is supposed to update automatically. For some reason it forgot me or something, so I'm getting all my retro pay. I'm going to put this in my portugal fund (which already has $700 btw)
• I'm also got approval to be reimbursed for the last course I took. Its 70% which ends up being about $180 that I will get back to put towards the next one!
• Take a look at this interesting article "Why we don't work overtime"
• I recently celebrated a birthday which means I am 25
• I also recently saw Taylor Swift in concert, which constitutes it's own blog post. :) To come later.

Five things

I found this on TeacHer Finance and wanted to do it as well so here goes:

Five things I'm proud of:

1. That I've paid of my student loans and have no debt now except my car which is only $9000 and very very manageable payments.

2. Where I am in my career. I have worked hard to get where I am now, and even though I don't make a lot yet I am finally working for a company where I CAN make a lot.

3. How I turned out. Sounds kinda weird but I think I turned out a pretty good kid. LOL I never really got in big trouble and have always been responsible and hard working. I don't expect anything to be handed to me in life.

4. My car...Probably the best and most educated decision I've ever made. I wanted one so bad but waited until I paid off student loans. I researched like crazy and ended up picking the perfect car for me, style wise and financially, and still love my car as much as I did when I first got it.

5. I think I'm a pretty strong person.

Five things I'm ashamed of:

1. I'm so unfit

2. Fear of commitment/laziness about dating/finding a future spouse.

3. Need to learn to "enjoy the moment"

4. That I haven't been to Portugal yet even though my relatives there own 2 hotels?!

5. Always wanting "more" (working on it though)

Five things I'm trying not to care about right now:

1. Loneliness and fear of being along forever

2. My parents and their problems

3. Work and it's problems

4. Money and saving for all kinds of things

5. My shitty-ass cell phone that I really want to get rid of

Ps. If the owner of this blog: http://yuppieinthecity.blogspot.com is reading my blog I am wondering if I can get your password as I would love to continue reading your blog :)

Summer Loves and miscellaneous

One of my favourite things about summer is garage sale-ing!!! When my mom and I both have a Saturday off we will get up early and drive around to garage sales in our area of town, usually pre-planned by looking at the classifieds in the local paper. We are not those early birds who go out at 7 or 8 am we usually go out around 9 or so.

This past Saturday was the first garage sale day for us this year and I found something great! As some of you may know from previous posts, I adore Hello Kitty. I collect Hello Kitty items, like stuffed dolls and things. I'm not one of those crazy people, I only have maybe like 10 items max. I found this adorable BUILD-A-BEAR Hello Kitty doll in mint condition. If you have ever been inside a Build-a-bear store you would know that by the time you pick out your doll and add clothing etc it can be well over $50. I got this HK doll for $1!!!

Another thing I love about summer is ice cream :) Presidents Choice has this awesome line of ice creams with soo many flavours! They were on sale for $3 so I picked up Chocolate peanut butter (pictured) and Sprinkle party cake which is basically vanilla with sprinkles and pieces of vanilla cake inside. Its amazing!

I've decided to get a summer project after being inspired by this blog. I'm going to find an item of furniture at a thrift store or garage sale such as a dresser, chair, desk, etc and make it my project to paint it and fix it up nice! I may start my search tomorrow.

On a financial note, I just switched my car insurance today! My policy renewal date is June 30th. My current company gave me a renewal rate of $2600 for the year and the company I switched to is $21oo. So I am saving myself $500 for the year. :)

"We got a whole lotta money but we still pay rent cause you can't buy a house in heaven"

The title of my post is a quote from a Lady Gaga song called "You and I". Actually it's "U&I". It's probably my favourite song on her new album which is, by the way, amazing. Anyone that is a fan of her previous works needs to get this album!!

Anyways, on to some update on what is going on with me.

-I recently redeemed some Air Miles for a $25 gift card to Rexall and another $25 gift card to The Gap. I already used the Rexall one, getting some much needed razors and a new mascara. The mascara is L'oreal Voluminous Millions Lashes and I HIGHLY recommend it. I actually had a customer tell me she loved my lashes. I think Amy recommended it on her blog which is what made me get it. I haven't used my Gap one yet though. I want to use it to get a new pair of black dress pants, because the ones I have right now I have been wearing for years! They are looking pretty worn. I'm waiting to combine my gift card with a sale. I check this blog every day to see who's having sales!

I also recently made my first WagJag purchase! The promo was you pay $15 for $30 voucher to a used clothing store here in my city. But I had a redemption code for $5 off my first WagJag purchase so I only paid $10 for that voucher. Today I went and got 3 tops and 2 bracelets, and paid $1.13. So I got about $30 of clothes for about $11. Not bad!

In other news, my car insurance is going up! :( My policy renewal date is June 30th. I just logged into my online portfolio today to see what my new rate was going to be and it's gone up by about $26 a month. So my rate is going from $199 a month to $225 a month. Don't get me wrong, I know that is not a bad rate, it just irked me a little because after my first year, my rate went down, so I was hoping after 2 years it would go down again. So I called them to find out why, and it's basically because of the general increases in rates in Ontario due to all the changes that the government made. The only way I could get it lower would be to get a winter tires discount, or make my deductible higher. Right now my deductible is $500 collision and $300 comprehensive. I feel those are comfortable amounts for me and don't really want to change them.

I think I am going to do a little research and see if there is anything lower out there, although I have a feeling I may not find anything. What do you guys think?

Major Clothing De-Stash

So on Monday it was a holiday here in Canada and I decided to do a super closet clean out. I literally took all the clothing I own and sorted it into piles on my bed. Pants in one pile, tank tops in another, skirts, sweaters etc. Then I went through each pile and discarded items I haven't worn in awhile or stuff that was just plain worn out.

So here is a breakdown of what I had before and after the clean up:

Plain tank tops:

11 Before and 8 after

Cardigans:

10 before and 7 after

Long sleeve shirts:

3 before and 0 after

Leggings:

4 pairs before and 3 pairs after

Skirts:

7 before and 6 after

Shorts:

3 pairs before and 3 after

Dresses:

8 before and 5 after

Jeans:

5 paris before and 4 pairs after

Other pants (dressier ones):

4 before and after

Capri pants:

1 pair before and after

Summer tops (fanciers tanks and strapless):

12 before and 10 after

T-shirts and misc tops:

27 before and 18 after

Pullover hoodies:

6 before and 3 after

Zip up hoodies:

10 before and 8 after

So in total I got rid of 31 articles of clothing! I have it all in a garbage bag and I'm thinking of donating it. I might see if anyone wants to look through first and pick stuff out then donate the rest.