How to spend the holidays alone and still have fun

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Good morning loves.  If you are like me then you far away from your family and you most likely spent Easter weekend alone.  Some people may be depressed or sad if they can’t be around their family during the holidays, but not me.

Since the breakup of my family almost three years ago my obligation to go home during the holidays is non-existent.  So I guess I should say that I don’t want to go home during the holidays, not that I can’t make it home.  Let me tell you that it’s very relieving not to have the pressure of trying to see all of my family and friends in such a short period of time over the weekend.  I never thought that I would say this but I actually like spending time alone during the holidays.

If you can’t afford to go home for the holidays or if you don’t want to, I am here to tell you that you can enjoy being alone, you just need to find something fun to do.

Fun activities that you can do alone:

- Go on a road trip.  A long weekend is the perfect time to take a getaway.  Find a city that you want to visit within driving distance, hop in your car and get on the road.  Exploring a new city on your own can be a great adventure; you get to do what you want, when you want. I love travelling alone.

- Go for a walk.  Yesterday afternoon I spent two hours walking around my neighbourhood.  None of the stores were open, but I had a great time getting outside and breathing in some fresh air.  It was a great way to spend an afternoon and I enjoyed being outside in the brisk spring air.  Afterwards I came home and jumped into a warm bubble bath with the newest issue of SELF Magazine.  What a lovely Sunday afternoon!

- Find a new restaurant or store.  If you have been waiting and wanting to eat a new restaurant or shop at a new store then now is the perfect time to try it out.  If you find yourself alone on a weekend with nothing to do then why not try something new?

- Have a movie marathon.  I can’t think of a better way to spend a day than in bed with a long lost TV series on DVD.  This weekend I started watching season 1 of the original Beverly Hills 90210, ah the good old days aka the 90s. I always wanted to be Brenda Walsh when I was a teenager, now I look back and think OMG I can’t believe that I dressed in those clothes and wore my hair in a scrunchie. What is your favourite thing about the 90s? I think mine is the music.

- Workout hard core.  There is no better way to relieve stress and clear your head than with a hard core workout. Take a class, go for a walk and get out of your comfort zone. I really want to try soul cycle, but I can’t find a studio near my apartment in Montreal.

What did you do for fun Easter weekend?

Love Always,

Photo by praktyczny

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Friday Faves: My fave pics and being on the radio

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Happy Friday Everyone. I am feeling great today because I had a great week. Lots of good things happened to me this week and I definitely feel the need to share.

I just got back from an awesome trip to Boston (it was my first time), I had a second job interview with a really great company and I was on the radio! Oh yes that’s right. This week I was featured on the Daybreak Radio Show; I was also featured on the CBC News  in Montreal (my segment starts at 8 mins 37 seconds) as I talked about overcoming debt and shopping tips to stay of debt this holiday season.

Here are some pics from my day in the media:

  

   

Love Always,

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I support The Montreal Children’s Hospital

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On Saturday November 3 I volunteered for the 3rd time at the Splash n Dash event in Montreal.   Splash n Dash is a run-swim-run relay where teams race to raise money in support of The Cedars Cancer Center and the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

I am very pleased to say that this year we raised over $149,500.

I love volunteering for this event because it has a little bit of everything. It is a fun-filled day of activities for kids, good food fromgenerous sponsors and fundraising for a good cause. The relay teams can be made up of family and friends, schools, corporations or celebrities and heroes.  This year the celebrities and heroes included members of the Canadian Olympic team as well as local firefighters. All I can say is hot, hot, hot.

If you would like to participate in or volunteer for Splash n Dash please visit their website.

Love Always,

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Friday Faves: Bon Jovi, Tony Danza and Christmas

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Happy Friday Everyone. I am super excited to tell you that as of tomorrow at noon I will be the proud owner of Bon Jovi tickets for the show in Montreal on February 13, 2013. I love Bon Jovi but I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know who he was until I saw him on Sex & the City.

My thoughts go out to everyone who has experienced the wrath of Hurricane Sandy.  I hope that you are all ok. We are getting a lot of rain and a lot of strong winds up here in Montreal.  It’s cold and rainy outside, so why not stay inside and read some great blog posts?

Don’t forget to enter The Blogger Book Giveaway for your chance to win 3 great new books from my fellow bloggers. Speaking of great books, has anyone read White Girl Problems by Babe Walker? I am reading it right now and it’s totally a great book.  Full of funny dialogue and real life situations that everyone can relate to. The review will be out soon.

I will be inside this weekend staying warm and reading my book. What are you doing this weekend?

Here are my favourite posts this week from some of my lovely lady blogger friends:

- Add Vodka – How To Avoid Premature Wrinkles (P.S. I love the new website design)

- Blonde on a Budget – Cait’s Christmas Gift Card Giveaway (just in time for the holidays, I already entered)

- Serendipity’s Guide – Someday Dream – Owning A Small Business (motivation for everyone)

- The Bloggess – Hold me closer, Tony Danza (I am in the middle of writing a post about how jealous I am, it will be up on Thursday)

Love Always,

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Happy Birthday to Me!

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My Birthday Haircut

Many people make positive changes in their life on January 1 to celebrate the New Year, but I personally like to start making positive changes on my birthday.  New Year’s Day is a new beginning for many people but I like to measure my personal growth and happiness each year on my birthday. On October 9 I turn 32 years old and honestly I am a little bit excited about it.

My last two birthdays have been really crappy but this year I am excited to celebrate my birthday because I am finally in a semi-happy-place. Two years ago on my 30th birthday the psycho step witch (aka my dad’s alcoholic girlfriend) violently attacked me.  I was so upset by her violent behaviour and by my dad’s decision to stay with her that I basically slept through the rest of the year; I spent 2010 in a perpetual state of emotional instability.  Once I finally woke up from my self-loathing I continued to replay the events of the step witches violent behaviour over and over again in my head. Why did she attack me? What could I have done differently? Can I live a life without my family? I spent all of 2011 in a state of uncontrollable anger.

In 2012 I decided that I can’t change what happened that night, I can’t make the step witch sober up and become a better person, and I can’t change the fact that my dad chose to stay with a woman who physically hits him. So I decided to start making positive changes in my life, I made a list of all the things that make me unhappy and I started making positive changes towards loving life and learning to love myself.

This year I went to two blogging conferences (and blogged way too much about them), I started exercising on a regular basis, I began trying new experiences to get out of my comfort zone (which I usually never leave), I decided to go back to school in a journalism program, and I made blogging daily on My Diary Entry my ultimate priority. I am currently working on my first book “A Better You” and I hope to have it finished, or be close to finished, by December 31.

Happy Birthday to Me! This is how I spent my 32nd birthday:

New Jeans from American Eagle. Artist Cut and Regular Boot Cut.

 

My birthday gift from Sephora’s Beauty Insider club.

My birthday gift from The Body Shop’s Love Your Body club.

My birthday cheesecake from Broadway Cheesecake in Montreal.

 Photo: Oh yes happy birthday to me

Love Always,

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