30 Day Challenge: No Online Shopping

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This may be a seemingly ridiculous and easy goal but my January challenge is to not buy anything online. December was an expensive month. I did a lot of Christmas, Boxing Day shopping online. I bought things I may not have needed because the holidays gave me an excuse to be impulsive. Holidays are also when online marketing for the strangest and most unnecessary stuff is at an all-time high.

This January I will keep all my shopping offline. It will allow me to save money because it’s harder to plan time to go to a store compared to clicking on a digital shopping cart. This will also encourage me to support brick and mortar local stores, which are the future of the local economy.

Stay tuned for more 2016 planning and resolutions!

Happy New Year!

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Yesterday we rang in 2016 with our friends. We dressed up and had low key hangs that involved sitting on the floor and eating a box of cookies.

It was perfect.

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I’m super excited for what the New Year will bring and have already begun planning a whole new set of goals and adventures.

This is Post 365 in a Row

I did it. This is my 365th post of the year- in a row. It’s a feat that in previous years I thought would be impossible. I had previously tried in other years to blog for entire months, but failed to get over that hump. 365 is an awesome personal goal and I will continue this streak. I have no intentions of stopping now!

How did I accomplishing blogging everyday? Well, there really isn’t any concrete tips on doing this besides: just do it. There were weekends where I was too busy, weeknights that I was too tired but if you really want to accomplish something, it will make it into your schedule no matter what. I blogged while I was travelling from music festivals, commuting, as dinner was cooking, any time I could find. I’ve documented so many adventures this year that I can’t wait to re-read the entries at a future date.

If you’ve been thinking of starting a blog, don’t think, just do it.

Hot Star Fried Chicken

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One hangover morning Nash and I hit up Hot Star fried chicken. Originally from Taiwan, it recently set up a Canadian location in downtown Toronto.

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There weren’t many choices on the menu yet. A BBQ option was coming and so were plum taro fries, but upon my visit they were still listed as “coming soon”. I opted for the regular fried chicken in medium spicey and a strawberry soda. The chicken was fried to a nice crunch but still super juicy on the inside. It was just as advertised: Surprisingly extra large and delicious. There’s no way one person could’ve eaten an entire portion!

Eagerly awaiting more options.
Hot Star Large Fried Chicken Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

I Bought This Because It Looks Like My Friend

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This necklace is actually a combination of Norm Kelly’s face and Drake’s facial hair but it somehow magically also looks like my friend @shmeeli so I bought it.

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I purchased it on a crowdfunding platform  named Tilt that funds smaller scale projects and services (like Groupon sort of). It came vacuumed sealed (by mouth according to the label).

Light Up Happiness

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I’m one of those people who when there are too many clouds outside, I feel like I’m under an emotional cloud as well. It’s been especially bad November and December this year when I’ve been working so much I don’t see the sun shine. I decided to invest in one of those weird fancy energy lamps. I settled on the Verilux Compact Happy Light which was both inexpensive and still pretty if it didn’t do anything.

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So far my experience has been positive. I feel like I have much more energy after 30 minutes sitting near the lamp. I wouldn’t recommend sitting in front of it for more than an hour as it makes you feel as if you drank like five cups of coffee (and possibly find it difficult to sleep, especially if used in the evening). Placebo or not, it’s working for me!

I’m so excited to be energized, and happy.

Crazy Christmas Houses

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Last night, Dad and I drove around the neighbourhood to take some photos of crazy Christmas houses we had heard were around somewhere. These nearby houses decked their entire yards out and even were so detailed as to have stuff going on in the windows of the house. Here are some photos of our adventure:
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For a better perspective I also decided to Vine both of them:

My First Kobo E-Reader!

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For Christmas, my parents got me my first dedicated e-reader. Previously, I travelled with real books or I had read e-books on my phone or iPad but that became cumbersome and uncomfortable on the eyes. Until now, I always had thoughts like who would buy a device that just reads books?, but I don’t think that way anymore.
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My new Kobo Glo is just the right travel size, easy on the eyes and has a backlight for reading in the dark. The first book I put on it was Aziz Ansari’s Modern Romance and I’m already more than halfway through it. This will definitely make my goal of reading more a lot easier.

Teddy’s Christmas Morning!

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Merry Christmas! Teddy was probably the one with the most presents to unwrap on Christmas day. He has been waiting patiently for them ever since we put them under the tree. He’d stare at them every day but was nice enough not to touch them until Christmas morning. Here are some random photos of him digging into his presents.

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Merry Christmas Eve!

  
I am currently out for Christmas Eve dinner with the fam! Here’s a photo of Teddy as Santa for your viewing pleasure.

Merry Christmas!