Hello from Vegas!! 

Okay so you know how I was complaining before about over-packing? SO glad that I did that. It is honestly just so nice to have options for things to wear lol. Especially in a crazy place like this. We have been spending our days at pool parties, and dancing our nights away at EDC. SO MUCH FUN YOU GUYS. Like, the most. 

Not going to lie though, I am so exhausted haha. Vegas is so crazy!! Nobody ever sleeps here lol. It will definitely be nice to get back to Vancouver on Monday and get back to my regular health/fitness routine. And be eating yummy nutritious food again. I have been eating lots of “vacation” food while I am here. Becauseeeee calories don’t count when you are on vacation (science.) hehe 😛

Anyways, just wanted to pop in and say hi! Hope you guys are having a great weekend 🙂

x,

IT’S VEGAS TIME!

I am one very happy camper. Right now I am sitting on my flight to Vegas, and getting SO stoked for the weekend ahead.

And also kind of worrying about what the hell I packed. Can we talk about packing for a minute? In most situations in life I verge on being OCD organized. But with my packing… I am honestly not sure what goes wrong in my brain but I start acting like it is the fashion apocalypse or something and that if I don’t bring SO MANY OPTIONS I might die. So I always end up with a way too full suitcase and just a ridiculous amount of clothing. Because…. WHAT IF I need to go on a tropical safari, or WHAT IF I need to change outfits 600 times a day because why not. This is my thought process while packing. AKA I bring way too much shit that I never use on the trip because…. “just in case.” Haha (<– insert like 100 crying/laughing emoticons right here) So anyways, I overpacked as per usual. But what else is new in my world. If anything, I like to be prepared for all situations so I am more than well equipped to go on a space mission to NASA if they so desire to request my presence.

Alright so back to VEGAS! There are quite a few things on the schedule this weekend. (Yes, I schedule everything. Because I am an efficiency queen.) My top priority is to sit my ass by the side of a pool with a drink in my hand at all times. It is supposed to be like a million degrees this weekend (fml) but I will keep myself hydrated on a very strict all-liquid diet. And by this I am vodka. 😛 LOL kiddinggggg (kind of but not really.) But in all seriousness I am going to be drinking a ton of water and wearing allllll the sunscreen this weekend so I don’t shrivel up and become a dehydrated prune in the sun. Dehydrated prunes are not cute. Water is key to looking and feeling great, so it will be my BFF this weekend. (Also check out this post on the top 5 reasons you should drink more water!)

Another thing that is on the schedule this weekend is EDC music festival. So stoked to listen to some great music and dance my little heart out. Apologies in advance to anyone who has to witness me and my lankyness dancing. It actually can be really scary.

So this is also my first time going to Vegas! If you guys have any good tips for restaurants/things to do, please comment below and let me know your fave places in Vegas. Help a sista out 😉

Okie talk soon!

x,

YAAAAASSSSSSS. All of this.

Welcome to my every morning. Seriously, this is the best breakfast you could ask for. Protein, fruit, amazingness. (<– amazingness is a key ingredient in any good recipe. It’s science.)

Smoothies sometimes can be a bit of a risky situation. I know I have done this many times, where I get really excited about all the awesome things I can put in my blender and then all of a sudden I have a 1000 calorie drink on my hands. It is important that you just put the things that you need in your smoothie, and be mindful of the ingredients so that the calorie content stays reasonable. This drink is about 220 calories (approx depending on how hungry I am lol) and has 20 GRAMS OF PROTEIN. I am all about the protein. It is SO key to not getting hungry like 5 mins after your eat. Which is what usually happens to me when I don’t include any protein in my diet haha. 

Alright. So down to the dirty stuff. What did I put in this bad boy?

• 1 scooop Vega One Berry Protein Powder
• 3/4 cup (approx) mixed frozen berries (I LOVE PC Organics Power Fruit Blend)
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I always buy Almond Fresh. It’s delish you should try it.)

So these measurements (except for the Vega) are all approximate. Usually I fill up my Nutri-Bullet with a reasonable amount of berries (3/4 – 1 cup) then put my protein powder in, and thennnn pour my almond milk over until the almond milk is just about an inch above all the other ingredients. I do it this way because I like my smoothies pretty thick. Like, need to be eaten with an actual spoon thick. So you can change up the almond milk and berry portions based on how you like your smoothies. 🙂

A note about Vega.

I. Am. Obsessed.

Like, I cannot remember the last day when I did not consume Vega in some form or other. It is 100% plant based protein, has 6 servings of greens, 50% of your daily intake of food-based vitamins and minerals, and SO MUCH MORE.

A smoothie without protein is just berries and some almond milk. I don’t know about you guys but I will be hungry again almost immediately after drinking that haha. The Vega is such a necessary part of the smoothie equation, because it makes it an actual meal. 

So there you have it!! That is one of my favourite breakfast meals to make. If you want to check out what other things I keep in my fridge, see my Skinny Belle Shopping List: Breakfast Edition post. It is a great guide to stocking your fridge full of the right items for a healthy and nutritious breaky. 

x,

I know a lot of you are graduating right now (congrats!!) so I wanted to share one of my favourite life mantras with you (that is very relevant to graduation.) Never stop learning. Today’s post is all about learning. After all, knowledge is power. 😉 Your education should never “start” or “stop” at any point in your life. A formal education is an extremely valuable thing. Knowledge really does give you power because no matter what happens in this crazy crazy world, nobody can take the things you know away from you! 

Which is why (even after graduation) you should make sure you are always seeking out opportunities to learn, grow, and discover. This can be applied to literally every aspect of your life. Thirst for knowledge is a conscious way of thinking. You always need to be looking at things like, “how can I learn something from you?” You guys feel me?

Okay so there are many ways in which I apply this perspective to my own life. And nowww.. (drum rollllll) here are 6 ways I always make sure I continue to learn (even after my graduation.)

READ

I am a total bookworm and I freaking love it. You get to borrow someone else’s mind and explore what they think is cool. Then, you can sound really smart when you recount the things you learned to your friends. (Win-win.)

POSTITIVE VIBES

Just making the most out of situations and seeing how I can learn something from a great, good, or crappy circumstance can make all the difference in the world. The way you look at a situation can totally change what you get out of it (or don’t get out of it.)

GOAL SET

Setting goals – and I mean with things I already do. For example, skiing! If I never set goals or just dribbled along as I always had, I honestly would probably suck right now. But if you set out to achieve a goal you will learn how much you are really capable of. Read more on staying motivated by clicking here and here. 

TRY NEW THINGS

Lately I have been all about trying new things! Just say yes. Like if someone asks you to go on a hike or take a course that frankly scares you shitless, JUST DO IT. (Nike’s genius slogan says it all. Except for the “if it scares you shitless part.” That was my genius creation 😛 ) You will learn something new and feel great about yourself in the process. And if you suck at whatever you are trying… than so what!! You tried it and probably had a great time in the process. 🙂

FAIL

If you mess something up, there is always an opportunity to learn. Mistakes are not mistakes, they are opportunities to better yourself as a person and assess how you can improve the next time.

“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn to walk by doing, and by falling over.”

 – Richard Branson

ASK QUESTIONS

This is something I am working on every day. If someone did something you think is awesome, or has a great point of view… ask them about it! Find that person who is in a spot you want to be in, and ask them about it. People have all sorts of great insights and sometimes all you have to do is ask to find out what that is.

As you are graduating I encourage you to seek out learning opportunities in your everyday life. This might be hard as you are starting (or not starting) an entry level job or even beginning the job of your dreams (go you!!) but make sure you take every situation and look at it as an opportunity to learn something new and better yourself.

And hell ya this is a scary scary time. I graduated recently too and I was a massive ball of stress. Stressy stress stress. All me, all the time. What I found to help was to stick with my mantra of to never stop learning. Every day I absolutely love what I do, and I am so happy that I get to share all the things I am learning here with you all! And hang out and have chats, because we are homies. 😀

Okay so tell me!! What are you going to do to make sure you are always learning? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts! God knows I have blabbered on enough for one day. Now it’s your turn <3

x,

Happy Sunday friends 😀 I hope you are all having a nice and relaxing weekend. It has been so crazy busy for me lately, honestly just feels like go go go all the time! Not that I am complaining, because I am all about that efficiency queen life. And I like to be busy. Busy is good. Until you reach the point where you are just completely exhausted lol. That is when you need to take 5 and relax a little bit. You feel me? I know you do. We are each others spirit animals. (You will never know if I am kidding or not with the weird stuff I say here LOL. On one hand I could be totally joking, and on the other I could just be a huge freak.)

Anywho, back to my story. So I have been super busy (yesssss I know I said that I just figured I kinda went on a random rant there so I would start again. Shit. I’m doing it again. Okay focusing now.)

SO I HAVE BEEN SUPER BUSY. And I wanted to chill out this weekend, so I did that one of the best ways I know how…. the beach! There is something about looking out at the seemingly endless ocean that is so peaceful and relaxing. Love love LOVE it. Also as a bit of a side note I was at Wreck Beach in Vancouver. For those of you who don’t know it, it is a “clothing optional” beach. Needless to say I was probably the most modestly dressed person there haha! I mean, whatever floats your boat through… right? 

The swimsuit I wore was from H&M! Super into the obnoxious tropical patterns lately. Bright colours and palm trees? Sign me up. Also if flowers and parrots are mixed into the equation, even better. It is just so much fun to wear haha. I just bought another great little tropical patterned outfit that I will be sharing soon… so stay tuned! 

Okay! Nice chat friends. Thanks for listening to my random ramblings. Have a fab Sunday and enjoy the gorgeous weather! Love you 🙂

x,

SWEET. BABY. JESUS.

I really don’t need to write anything else down. This post could literally just say sweet baby jesus and that is all the description you would need. Except I love you guys, and you deserve more care and attention than just three words. I just wanted to make sure you know how serious I am about these bao/taco/crack creations made by local Vancouver geniuses, Bao Down.

So what are these stunning creations? Take an asian steamed bun, make it a bit flatter. TACO BUN. That’s right friends, steamed taco buns. (Okay that is definitely not what they are actually called but its the best way I can describe their amazingness. Taco. BUN.) Aight so you got your steamed taco bun thing. Top that with the freaking best ingredients ever, and you have absolute magic. 

I want you guys to get the best possible experience when you go to Bao Down, so ima tell you my fave 3 buns to get:

1. YVR –> holy GOD. Bao Down team, you nailed this SO hard. There is a reason I order the YVR every single time (except today when I took these pics because you were sold out and I was really sad about it… just saying 🙁 ) Think seared albacore tuna, avocado, and bacon.
2. Bao Chika Bao Bao!! –> Okay first off the name. YES. Whoever made that up I need to marry. Second, so yummy. Lemon grass and garlic FREE RANGE & LOCAL chicken. I like my chickens free, and I like em’ local. Bonus points fo sho.
3. Jaws –> Om nom nom nom. Vietnamese catfish crusted in coconut shreds. Yes, coconut shreds. Sign me up for all of this right now. Just amazing. 

Alright so it is pretty obvious how I feel about Bao Down. Basically, if you live in Vancouver and haven’t been yet. Go. Just do it. You will thank me, I promise 🙂 In Beyonce’s wise words…. Bao Down bitches.  😛

PS: Thank you to the kind people at Bao Down for running after me down the block when I forgot my iPhone at the restaurant. I literally would have started having panic attacks and severe separation anxiety had me and my sweet baby (yes, I am still talking about my phone) been separated any longer. 😉 haha

x,

Hey guys! How was your weekend?? Did you spend a your time lazing about in the sun like me? I sure as hell hope you did. And if you did, you neeeeed to go and check out the white sundresses at Urban Outfitters right now. Seriously those guys are killing it lately. I almost bought two last time I was there, but then I decided I should probably be an adult and not purchase two ridiculously similar dresses haha.

What do you guys think of this outfit? Will you be wearing any long white sundresses this summer? Comment below!

x,

Today’s post is dedicated to something so simple yet so vital. Not only is it good for our overall health but for our survival too. Water. If you and water are not already besties, become friends right now.

What motivated me to talk about something as simple and “boring” (it’s not actually boring its really freaking awesome if you ask me, which is why I cleverly put the word in quotations 😉 ) as water was the sheer amount of absolute crap drinks that are sold. There are tons of energy drinks, “fruit juices” that contain a whopping 10% of actual fruit juice in them, sport drinks that promise to enhance your performance, and beverages that are supposed to curb hunger. I could go on forever but I will spare you the pain. These drinks really are completely unnecessary. They are filled with chemicals that you nor I can actually pronounce, and are literally packed with refined sugars. Basically what I am trying to say is you don’t need to buy these things. They are a waste of money and calories. 

Which brings me to my main point…. here are my TOP 5 FAVE REASONS TO DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!! (these are my favourite reasons, obvi there are far too many to actually list.)

1) Water makes your skin look FAB by preventing excess moisture loss! Also dehydration makes you look like a prune, and nobody wants to look like a prune.

2) Helps energize your muscles! That is right my friends, you don’t need a sugar-and-chemical-filled energy drink to help get you moving. Water will do it for you! It is especially important to drink water while you are getting your fitness on.

3) Water will boost your productivity! Yasssss. Love this. I find just having a nice cool glass of water while I am working keeps me alert, focused, and productive.

4) Calorie control. Having a big glass of water before a meal will make you feel less hungry when you start eating, and help avoid overeating when you are super hungry and have low blood sugar levels.

5) Digestion! Drinking water is a great way to make sure your insides stay healthy, if you catch my drift. 

As you can see water does really awesome stuff for your body, but it isn’t necessarily the most exciting thing to drink. What I like to do to spice up my water is drink it with copious amounts of lemon, frozen cranberries, and cinnamon! Soooooooooooo good. Learn about my classic hot lemon, ginger, and water cold-cure by clicking here. 

So yes! Make your water exciting so you can be sure to drink as much as possible throughout the day. I always have a massive mason jar on me wherever I go that is filled with water, lemon, and cinnamon. Just having it on you will encourage you to drink it 🙂 (<— seriously such a good trick.)

Hope you guys found this post helpful! Start downing that water like it’s first year university and you just discovered there was a free keg in your dorm. (Or…. like you really like water….. ehem.) Okay that is really enough out of me for one day. KBYE <3

x,

Each summer I like to write down what I want to do for the following few months. The simple action of writing it down is enough to make me actually do the things I want to do. So today, I decided I would share that summer bucket list with you so we can compare and contrast! With this post I hope to inspire you to set yourself up for a summer of fun in the sun. 😀

Hereeeee we gooo!!

CLIMB MOUNTAINS

I ski down them, so why shouldnt I hike up them? That is the fun of mountains when they are not covered in snow! There is something about climbing to the top of a mountain and looking at the gorgeous view that is just so rewarding. It feels like you conquered it!

LEARN TO… SAIL

Learn to sail a boat! Why? Sailing is betchy. It is something I feel like I should already know how to do but for some unfathomable reason I don’t know how haha. And being out on the ocean is one of my favourite things to do, so hell yea I want to learn to sail!

READ

Read at LEAST 6 new books (I mean come on…. I will be spending my weekends lazing in the sun if I am being real so I should be reading!!) It is really important to me that I am always learning and continuing my education throughout my entire life, so this is a great way to do that! <— post on always learning coming soon 🙂

TRAVEL LOCAL

Travel… locally! One of the things I love most about living in Vancouver is the gorgeous summer. And the best part about it is getting outdoors and exploring it! And really not just Vancouver. I am talking about beautiful British Columbia. Basically my goal is to explore as much as possible, and see places I have never traveled before. This can be applicable no matter where you live. There are so many places that we never take the time to explore and discover… so get out and travel local!

NO TV

Honestly such a waste of time. I can literally think of a million better things you could do after a long day of work to wind down, that are far better for you than rotting infront of the tv. Instead of watching tv, try things like: going for a walk, meeting a friend for drinks, relaxing on a patio, going for a swim… anything! That being said I do love to relax infront of my favourite shows once and while. How I make sure it stays at a reasonable amount is only letting myself only watch 2 shows at once, and keep it to 2 episodes a week. This way I still get my TV indulgence and it is guilt-free. My favourites (both will be forever and always so don’t judge me cuz if you are a judge wudgy you can gtfo right now lol) are Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Top Gear. Yup, pretty much opposite ends of the spectrum, but thats how I roll. Diverse tastes ftw. 😉

COOK

Okay so I think by now it is obvious to you guys that I LOVE food and I LOVE cooking. If you read my blog on the reg (which you should cuz Skinny Belle is awesome if I do say so myself hehe :P) you will know I am in hot, steamy, and passionate relationship with food. I dream about it, I talk about it all the time, and I think about it when I am doing pretty much everything. The reason this is on my summer bucket list is because I want to expand my knowledge of cooking. I would like to challenge myself to go outside my comfort zone and start creating some things that are a little more complex! And obviously when they are killer recipes I will share them with you guys. Friends who eat together stay together. You feel me?!

All I can say is I am SO stoked for this summer! In my opinion it has already began, so let the fun times begin. Can’t wait to spend time having fun in the sun with the people I love most 🙂

NOW TELL ME FRIENDS! What do you guys want to do this summer? Do any of our summer plans match up or are yours way different? Comment below <3

x,

Hi guys! Okay so last ski photos for a while here. Today was my final day skiing up Whistler (Canada) for the season and oh my lorddddd was it great! If you can’t tell by my huge smile, I was pretty stoked about the day. But now it is time to put my skis away for a few months, and start getting my fitness on in other ways!

Do any of you have seasonal fitness preferences? Comment below! <3

x,