Toronto Mayoral Election

In case any of you in the GTA/surrounding areas have been living under a rock for the last few months, you may not have heard about the Toronto Mayoral Election that is taking place.  For the rest of us, it has been all we've heard about for the last several months. 

As the election is nearing voting day, the debates and press coverage has become more in your face than ever. You can't listen to a Toronto radio station, or open a newspaper without hearing or seeing something about the election.

Although to some people, this might be irritating or annoying, it really is rather interesting, and important in our society. Election time seems to bring out the best, and the worst in people. The great part about elections though, is hearing all of the interesting ideas and proposals that are planned for the city. 

Coming in to the home stretch before voting day, I thought it would be beneficial for some people to go over the main policies and proposals supported by the three main contenders for mayor of Toronto. 

Olivia Chow

ü  Create 3, 000 more child care spaces

ü  Expand student nutrition plans to include 36, 000 more students

ü  Don’t immediately proceed with garbage outsourcing

ü  Reject Porter Airlines proposal

ü  Reduce TTC cost for people on Ontario Disability Support

ü  Support ranked ballots

ü  Increase tax by 1% point on homes sold for $2 million or more

ü  Keep residential property tax “in line with, or around” rate of inflation

ü  Allow businesses to obtain licenses online, rather than only at single East York office

ü  Ask federal government to ban handguns

ü  Keep Gardiner Expressway

ü  Supports open streets (close some roads to cars on certain summer days)

ü  Cancel 3-stop subway extension

ü  Build 7-stop, fully funded LR extension

ü  Expand bus service by 10% at rush hour

ü  Build DT relief subway

ü  Proceed with LR lines for Sheppard and Finch

ü  Support Eglinton Connect

ü  Build 200km of bike lanes in 4 years

John Tory

ü  Outsource garbage collection east of Yonge Street

ü  No position yet for Porter Airlines proposal

ü  Spend up to $7 million more on tree planting

ü  Appoint environment advocate

ü  Keep residential property tax increases at or below the rate of inflation

ü  Work to double the number of companies participating in the partnership to advance youth employment program

ü  Make schedule public

ü  Annually double the number of data sets made available through the city’s open-data

ü  No handgun ban push

ü  Do not tear down Gardiner

ü  Pursue hybrid proposal to reconfigure

ü  Build 3-stop subway extension to the Scarborough RT

ü  Explore the use of water taxis

ü  Create a 53km, 22-stop, $8 billion surface rail line

ü  Proceed with light rail lines on Sheppard and Finch

ü  Supports the DT relief line, but also called it the “wrong line at the wrong time”

ü  Does not support Eglinton Connect

Doug Ford

ü  Outsource garbage collection east of York

ü  Approve the Porter Airlines proposal for jets, and an expanded runway at the island airport

ü  Cut the tax by 15% at first meeting of council, then by another 15% each year for the next 3 years

ü  Keep residential property tax increase below the rate of inflation

ü  Invest in the auditor general’s office

ü  Preserve eastern Gardiner rather than tearing it down

ü  Build the council approved, and fully funded 3-stop subway extension to the Scarborough RT

ü  Build subways on Sheppard Ave and Finch Ave W, instead of the LR line

ü  Build eastern portion of Eglinton Crosstown LR line underground

ü  Cancel Eglinton Connects street renovation project

This election, in my opinion is going to be hard on voters. In my opinion, none of the three major competitors are a shining example for what the mayor of Toronto should be. 

For those of you voting in this election, think hard about what kind of policies and proposals you would like implemented in the city of Toronto, but also the kind of person you want to represent yourself, and your city. 

Talk to you all soon!!

Bye :D

Camping in Marten River

Hello again,

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of escaping to Marten River Provincial Park (just north of North Bay) for four days. It was a much needed refresher for the lungs, being in the 'clean' air, with plenty of trees and other wildlife. 

While there, I did plenty of fishing. We rented a boat for three of the four days we were there, and used it to its fullest potential. I could spend endless hours just riding along the river, soaking in the sunshine (with appropriate amounts of sunscreen) and feeling the breeze! 

The first day we were there was probably the best, weather wise anyways. Was also the only day that I got to wear a bathing suit (in July, yes I know). Did a little bit of fly-fishing that day, which was awesome (except didn't catch anything). 

The weather did get a bit cooler (I actually wore pants most of the trip...in July, I KNOW!) after that first day, but I prefer it that way anyways. Summer is probably my least favourite of the seasons. It only rains one night, and we've set up enough tarps that it really doesn't affect us all that much--except that we were out in the middle of the river when it started raining!!

I managed to catch 1 pike, 3 good-sized perch, and a BUNCH of smaller bass, perch and of course...sunfish! However, we didn't end up eating any of the fish because they all had parasites...which is terribly sad (for the fish, not for me...I had other food). Even the 'cleaner' bodies of water are becoming more and more polluted-which is incredibly unfortunate. 

All in all, the park was beautiful and the river was even more so. Such a shame that is a 5 hour drive (with good traffic) away from me! I'd love to be there every weekend. But, I will have to try new places!

If you want to see some of the pictures I took on the trip, have a look below:

Traumatizing people since 1996 (just kidding...I actually have no idea how long this little devil's been at it).

The work of a strong beaver no doubt. I actually saw a beaver when I was on the river...and plenty of beaver dams to go with them!!

Such a stunning view.

Where do you guys like to go to escape the city?

Bye!

Nostalgia

Hey guys,

So this past week I've been feeling a little nostalgic, and a little blue. You might ask yourself, "Why? Why could she possibly be blue?"...or you might not. Either way, I'm going to tell you. 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I LOVE school (understatement of the year). One might even say I'm a bit of a nerd. I've loved going to school since kindergarten, and I'm not about to stop now (you can't make me!!!). 

Having recently graduated from university, I'm now left without class to go to. Although I'm thankful that I got a job so quickly out of school, I am also still quite sad about not going back to school this September. 

I was at Target this past weekend, and as I was perusing the aisles, I stumbled upon the 'Back to School' section. Filled with the joy of back to school season, I walked over and continued to look at all the cool new products, and wanted to start adding items to my basket. That is when I realized that I wasn't going back to school this September. This will be the first September since I was four years old (YES....FOUR!!!!) that I will not be going back to school. 

Some of you might think that's silly. I think it's odd.

I've spent nearly 83% (yes, I did say I loved school...didn't I?) of my life at school. Nearly 20 years people! That's the most time I've dedicated to anything really...aside from breathing and eating!

So for all of you going back to school this September, be grateful! 

Not only for the fact that you get to see your friends, and "have something to do"...because you're just "SOOOO BORED" with your summer, but also because you should be thankful for your education. Many people do not have the opportunity to receive one at all, and would give anything to go to school. 

So, the next time you are grim about heading back to school this September, think. Try and learn at least ONE new thing each day. That might be the easiest assignment you do all year.

Keep me posted!

Bye!

Scene Fest 2014

 Hello!

This June, my sister graduated high school, and so I thought it would be fun to buy her tickets to a 2-day concert in St. Catharines called Scene Fest. I bought us passes for the Saturday (because I didn't care much for the bands playing on the Sunday) and off we went! 

The concert was an all day event, but we didn't really want to spend 12 hours there, so we decided to head over around dinner time. We made a pit stop at a restaurant called Jack Astor's and then popped over to the venue. 

I was most excited to see two bands: Monster Truck and Matthew Good. I found out though that Abandon All Ships, Rich Aucoin, and Black Collar Union were also playing, and that was quite exciting!

There was one "main stage" and then several other concerts going on throughout the downtown area at bars (which were all ages until 11pm). We were in the second row to see Monster Truck, which was pretty amazing, and made for some great pictures! Unfortunately, since Matthew Good was at night, the pictures did not turn out as good! 

Here are some of the pictures that I snapped throughout the evening:

This last one is a picture of my sister (right) and I (left).

We had such an amazing time and stayed out much later than we had anticipated! 

Have you guys gone to any fun concerts/festivals this summer?

Bye!

Graduation

Hey everyone,

I have some serious catching up to do on here. I've been up to a lot recently, and figured I should do some posts about all of it! Starting with my graduation...

In June, I graduated from Brock University (not in English...clearly) and it wasn't really a huge deal to me...but my Mom made a monster deal out of it (being proud of me, and such...I guess?). She took way too many pictures, but I'll share only a few from my "special" day and from a few family celebrations following. 

This is how they had the gym all set up for the ceremony...made me feel a little fancy dancy. It was overwhelming how many graduates there were, and how many friends and family members were there to support. Brock did an amazing job at having everything timed and set up perfectly. 

This was my last look at the main tower before I graduated. Doesn't seem like much, but this was definitely a sad experience for me. I walked through this building almost every day when I was there, and spent many hours studying in there as well (as it is a 10 floor library...my dream!)

Enough with the boring school pictures, let's get to the food...am I right?! My family is so incredible, and my Mom made an awesome meal that night. To top it all off, pumpkin pie (my favourite!). The next night, some of my cousins surprised me with an awesome cake, and more food :) I am so blessed!!

Lastly, my cousin's super cute dog with his graduation cap on...he's an electrical engineer (of course!). My cousin also has a "blackboard" wall in her kitchen, and she wrote me this congrats! :)

All in all, the weekend was really great. Although, I'm extremely sad that I'm done school now--I'm one of those weird people who actually LOVES school!

Let me know if any of you guys graduated this year (from high school or post-secondary) :)!!

Bye!

Update: Playlist

Hey guys, 

So I thought I would do an updated music playlist for you, since I literally change this ALL the time. Hope you enjoy!

Beyonce-Drunk in Love

Big Sean ft. Kanye West and Jay Z-My Clique

French Montana et al-Pop That

Jay Z-Tom Ford

Kid Ink ft. Chris Brown-Show Me

MKTO-Classic

Sam Smith-Stay with Me

DJ Snake ft. Lil Jon-Turn Down for What

Trinidad James-All Gold Everything

Clean Bandit ft. Jess Glynne-Rather be

Theory of a Deadman-Drown (NEW!)

Red Hot Chili Peppers-Snow

Third Eye Blind-Semi-Charmed Life (FAV!)

Cage the Elephant-Come a Little Closer

I Sat by the Ocean-Queens of the Stone Age

Keep your Eyes Peeled-Queens of the Stone Age

Have a super day!! 

Bye 

Post Vacation Move Desire

Hey guys,

So I just got back from vacation to Florida about a week ago, and I can’t be the only person that has the overwhelming urge to move after a vacation.

Living in Canada during the winter makes anywhere tropical/warm feel like a great place to move, but the warmth has nothing to do with my desire to move. I could go to Alaska on vacation and still want to move after my return. Not necessarily to ALASKA, but somewhere other than where I am now.

When you’re on vacation, everything seems so much easier. You think to yourself, “I could get used to not working, doing as I please all day, and sleeping until noon.” You go home, back to working, alarm clocks, and deadlines and you think back to your vacation, wondering why you still live here and deal with this?! Why stay here and work when I could go there and relax?! Then...you put some serious though into this...that’s where the obsessive searching for houses on the Internet begins, and planning your new exotic destination life.

Then you wake up to reality, and realize that even the people in these dream spots work. There really is no escaping it, even if we think we can.

Besides, what fun would vacations be if you were on a permanent one? You’d have to start taking “work-cations”, where you went to work for a week as a break from all the relaxation. Thinking to yourself, “man, I’ve been relaxing TOO much lately...I could really use a work-cation.”

Anyways, for the time being I’m still in my “I want to move somewhere fun and amazing” phase. In a few days I’ll be back down to reality. I’ll see you all then.

Actually I’ll probably see you tomorrow, but you get the point.

Bye!

Maybelline's "The Rocket" Mascara

Hey guys,

I recently picked up Maybelline’s “The Rocket” mascara from my local drugstore, and was excited to try it because I’ve heard so many great things about this product. Most people I’ve heard talk about it love how it feels and looks on their eyelashes, and that it looks very natural. I however, did not have this wonderful experience.

Before I get started though, let me first say that I do like the packaging of this mascara. I need to get me some nail polish in that blue!

The brush itself is quite fat really, and I found it a bit difficult to apply it to my lashes without nearly poking myself in the eye! I might just be extremely inexperienced in mascara application, but it just seemed TOO big for a mascara wand.

The product itself was a total flop for me. My eyelashes generally fall flat within an hour of application, so that’s always been a bit of a concern of mine when purchasing mascaras. Even after curling my lashes, I found this mascara was so heavy that it just weighed my eyelashes down, and made them droop. Not to mention that I had spider lashes because it made them all gloop together. I might just be spoiled now that I’ve tried the ClumpCrusher, but I’ve never had a mascara make my eyelashes look that bad before.

To top it all off, and this is likely my own fault, but I bought the waterproof version. This is great when I go swimming, because it literally does not budge, but when it comes to taking it off at the end of the night, it’s a nightmare! I scrub and scrub with no end in sight...not to mention the mascara pieces that fall in my eye in the process and result in my temporary lack of sight.

I might just be really behind on mascara application and usage, but this product was not the one for me!

Let me know if you have any recommendations for some awesome mascaras!

BYE =)

Current Playlist

Hey guys,

So I was listening to music today, and thought I’d share my current playlist with you all, and hopefully you can suggest some more awesome songs for me to add! Keep in mind that this is a totally random list, because I have a huge variety of interests when it comes to music.

Aerials-System of a Down

Curbside Prophet-Jason Mraz

Party-Beyonce

Magic-Coldplay

Adore you-Miley Cyrus

Classic-MKTO

I Wanna Dance with Somebody-Whitney Houston

N/A Ok-USS

Heaven nor Hell-Volbeat

Lola Montez-Volbeat

Do I Wanna Know?-Arctic Monkeys

Battle Born-Five Finger Death Punch

Fly-Sugar Ray

Afraid-The Neighbourhood

Wish you were here-Pink Floyd

Breakdown-Seether

Rise Above This-Seether

Island in the Sun-Weezer

Chat with you soon! Bye =)

Moving...oh NO!

Moving. That dreaded six letter word.

I don’t think there’s a person out there who really enjoys moving-except maybe moving men. I don’t think even THEY enjoy moving.

There’s nothing fun and exciting about having to pack all your items in boxes. It involves too much organization for my taste. You have to put all the plates in one box, label it PLATES. Don’t forget to write FRAGILE on there too, or else you won’t have those plates when you open that box again.

I’m moving this weekend, and I’m dreading every moment of it. Is it bad that I haven’t even started to pack yet? That has to be bad I think...

There are numerous elements of “the move” that aren’t enjoyable. First, you have to consider your weekend is completely wasted. You work hard all week, expect to kick back, relax...oh WAIT...you have to carry large amounts of boxes and couches all weekend.

Then, you have the actual packing. I come home from work (again, expecting to relax), and I have to take all my belongings and shove and cram them into boxes. Then write clever little things on the box so I can remember what I just shoved in there.

Most importantly, and possibly the least pleasant part of the entire thing-physically moving your things. I’m incredibly weak, so I get to just carry boxes mostly...but I have been known to carry a couch or two in my time (I’m completely joking, I haven’t carried a full size couch ever). Up and down the stairs, all day, no end in sight. You go upstairs, expecting one box to be left, and there’s a whole other room full of boxes you forgot about.

Wish me luck guys. I’m going to need it.

The Body Shop Seaweed Pore-Cleansing Facial Exfoliator

Hey everyone, 

So in a recent post about "Feeling Blue" (read here), I mentioned The Body Shop's Seaweed Exfoliator. I have been using this product for about three months, about two-three times per week, and have been loving it. There is a faint smell to it, but nothing that overwhelms you or sticks on your skin after you have washed it off. 

The actual product is clear/tan with brown beads inside it. These beads are actually exfoliators and the product begins to lather slightly as you massage it into your skin. Although there are particles within this, it is not harsh on the skin, and gently removes any dead skin or residue left on your face. 

From the photo you can see that the particles are quite small, and therefore create a gentle feeling on your skin, as opposed to many of the harsh exfoliators that I've tried in the past. In general, I would recommend this product highly to those of you looking for a more gentle exfoliator for your routine. I have oily and sensitive skin, and this product does not damage my skin in any way. 

Great job The Body Shop!

Cheers and see you soon!

Being healthy rut

Hey all. 
Lately, I've been continuously mentally reminding myself that I need to get back into a healthy routine of working out and eating right. HOWEVER, thinking something doesn't always translate into actually doing it. I can think all day about what I will eat and how long I'll run or work out. When I get home from work however, all of my mental plans fall through and I'm far too quick to sit on the couch and catch up on some TV shows or watch videos. 

So, amid my healthy thinking, I started thinking of how you can actually start DOING all of these amazing plans. I'm not sure about any of you guys, but I'm super guilty of searching through Pinterest or workout blogs and liking just about every post that I see, and thinking to myself "Dang, I can do that". Ya, I CAN do that...but I DON'T do that. So, I decided to make up a little list of tips to actually get on track and be committed to your goals! 

1. Write things down. My hugest mistake while on sites like Pinterest is just "re-pinning" something I like and never going back to it or not actually reading it. What I find helps is to actually write down either websites that you found helpful, or recipes, or workout routines that you liked. This way you can actually physically see the idea and are more likely to put it into action.

2. Continuing with the writing it down, put it somewhere noticeably  (and if possible big). When you write it on a sheet of paper and tuck it away in a drawer, or through it into a bag, you are likely to lose it or forget about it. Writing it on a calendar or posting it on your fridge, etc. are great ways to remind yourself of the goals that you have set for yourself, and how you can attain them!

3. Pick out REALISTIC ideas and plans for yourself. If you know that you LOVE chips way too much to quit eating them, don't go pick a plan for yourself that has you completely exclude them. You will likely never reach your goals if you are constantly restricting yourself. Allow some freedom for the foods and activities that you know you love and won't likely give up in the long run!

4. Have fun. This, in my mind, is the most important part. If you decide to start running, and you absolutely hate the idea of running, and it bores you to no end, then why start in the first place? Doing something that is not interesting to you will only result in your lack of motivation, and likely, eventual quitting. However, if you pick an activity that you know you will enjoy, say hot yoga for example, you are more likely to stick with it, and potentially even develop a long-lasting hobby. 

5. Lastly, don't stress yourself out or over-do it. All too often we see people jump into diet or workout plans and completely overwhelm themselves with rules and restrictions that just end up stressing themselves out. If you work 9-5 and you know that yoga class you love is at 5:15 on the other end of town and you'll never make it because you have to stop and pick your friend up first, DON'T DO IT. Don't commit to things you know you can't hold true to, or that will end up in your eventual quitting. Make reasonable and stress-free goals for yourself that you know you can attain without overworking yourself, or burning out. 

Now, if only I can follow some of these tips, and take my thoughts and make them into plans.

See you guys soon!!

Feeling Blue Lately

I've been feeling blue lately...but not in a bad way! I've just been using a TON of "blue" products. The other day as I was going through my daily routine I started to notice that a lot of my products were blue (the remainder being mostly white...odd) and thought I'd make some posts about my "feeling blue" products! 

More posts to follow about  these awesome products, minus the Mattifying Day Cream that I already wrote about (read here: MDC). The products I've been "feeling blue" about lately are:

1. The Body Shop's Seaweed Pore Cleansing Facial Exfoliator

2. EOS Blueberry Acai Lip Balm

3. Clinique's Anti-Blemish Solutions Spot Treatment Gel

4. The Body Shop's Mattifying Day Cream (Seaweed)

See you guys soon for reviews of products 1, 2 and 3!