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,