Debt. Almost everyone has it, and it’s usually credit debt. (If not a student loan or two!) Mine was credit debt, and I’m very pleased and proud to say that, after almost four and a half years of (sometimes backbreaking) monthly payments, as of March 8th (International Women’s Day!), 2018, I’m officially DEBT FREE. Woot! And I finished early. Double woot!
Continue reading “How I Got Rid of My Credit Debt and 23 Things I Learned While Paying It Off”
Mercury is in retrograde: my laptop died on Easter weekend, work’s been a bit crazy, and my left rotator cuff is telling me it needs a little more love. Aside from that, it’s been a pretty good week. But I’m definitely ready to put my my feet up and have a glass of something lovely.
I’m mostly a red wine and dark beer girl, but every now and then I like a fancy cocktail. A Gin and Tonic is usually my favourite, but I’ve come to love whisky cocktails in the last couple years. (This is what happens when you visit Scotland many, many times, and visit a fair amount of distilleries.) Continue reading “City Girl Whisky Diary: Unique Whisky Cocktails and Recipes from The Distillery Bar in Vancouver”
Travelling is wonderful. But if you get sick in any way while there or right after you get back, not so fun. Some of this can be attributed to jet lag and recycled air on the plane. But over the years I’ve realized that the biggest reason much of the above happens is that while we are doing ourselves a favour by taking a break to go away (for however long), we tend to stop mindfully looking after ourselves when we travel.
Continue reading “How to Stay Healthy & Happy While Travelling”
I love tea. I particularly love having tea with friends. I’ve mentioned the Blog Pod that I belong to a few times; these ladies have become a lovely group to get together with, and some of us recently had the opportunity to spend a hygge afternoon enjoying Secret Garden Tea Company‘s High Tea together. One day, all ten of us will be in the same room, but for this day we had me, Karlie, Emily, Po On, Melissa, and Orla.
Continue reading “Blog Pod Fancy Tea at The Secret Garden Tea House”
We were recently in Seattle, and coincidentally, we were there for the city’s Museum Month. What’s special about that? If you are staying at participating Downtown Seattle hotels, you get a card that entitles you to two admissions to world-class museums for the price of one… for the whole month of February. To state the obvious, it’s an excellent deal, people – #GetThrifty for the win!
Continue reading “Six Museums You Must Visit in Seattle and a Budget Friendly Way to Visit Them”
Winter in Vancouver is down to your bones cold. I’m in the middle of some Sunshine Coast drafts but the windy, rainy weather and the cooking shows I’ve been watching on Netflix have my thoughts straying to the dry heat of Barcelona. As close to a tropical vacation as I’ve had a while, June in this Spanish city was perfect for the girls and me after the unexpected and pelting rain in Paris.
Continue reading “7 Budget Friendly Ways to Experience Barcelona”
Um, it’s December 1. What?!
While I’m gob-smacked at how quickly December came, this is one of my favourite times of year. I tend to contain my excitement until about December 5 and then let it loose; but because I’ve been planning some holiday season blog stuff since mid-October, my excitement started early. It’s partly the Brit’s fault. He sent me a link in October for a Christmas light event that was starting November 24 and it all snowballed from there…
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are upon us. Are you ready? have you been exploring the pre-sales? Love it or hate it this retail weekend is a fantastic opportunity to Christmas shop in a #GetThrifty manner; particularly online. This year, I’ve decided to a significant portion of my shopping from the comfort of my own home or on my lunch break. I briefly touched on online shopping in my Holiday Season Survival Guide last year, but wanted to expand on it a bit (and share some ideas and deals!). It’s a philosophy that ingrains itself more firmly for me every year – convenience, no people mowing you over to get that last pair of shoes, and it takes a fraction of the time.
But it’s very easy to get carried away because everything is on sale. Are you buying five scarves for gifts because they’re on sale, or are you buying them with purpose? It’s like grocery shopping when you’re hungry. Making a list on my phone is helpful in either shopping scenario, and keeps me on track and on budget.
‘Tis the Season Tip – Something I didn’t do this year, but I like the idea of for next year, is amp up my list by saving things to a private Pinterest board so that I can have images and links for everything all in one place.
Here are some fun, practical, and unique gift ideas for the special people in your life. Since they all can apply to anyone, I’ve listed them in categories as opposed to by type of person.
Gifts That Give Back | Create and Experience | Capture a Memory
Create Choice | Stocking Stuffers |Travel
GIFTS THAT GIVE BACK
These are thoughtful options that make an impact as a big family group gift, or if you are buying for someone with a philanthropic heart, or to honour someone’s memory.
In a world where we are trying to be ‘greener’, and also trying to offset the ridiculousness
‘Tis the Season Tip – To plump up what I would call an ‘envelope gift’, make some tasty cookies or other holiday treats and package them up in a cute tin. Or add a nice bottle of wine. Always a winner.
I know gift cards and e-gift cards seem impersonal, but hear me out. A gift card doesn’t mean you didn’t put thought into it. Yes, there is convenience, but more so, they are great if you know where they like to shop, but don’t know what to get them and also make fantastic stocking stuffers or nice appreciation gifts for staff. We are living in a world where things are very expensive. Helping your college age sibling or your assistant fuel up their mornings with a nicely summed Starbucks card or to buy something nice for themselves from a favourite shop is pretty great.
Some good gift card ideas are:
‘Tis the Season Tip – For how you want to package gift cards, for my 30th a couple years ago, one of my friends (who is very crafty) made me a beautiful card and it had slots for three gift cards, each for $10. I thought I’d taken a picture of it but here is something similar on Pinterest!
I love going through my stocking at Christmas. Partly because my mum makes beautiful stockings (and will one day finally let me open an Etsy store for her) that hold a lot, and partly because I like the tradition of it. My step-mum is really good at stocking stuffers.
Friday Sock Co.(https://www.fridaysock.co/) is my new favourite place to get socks. They are a Calgary based company owned by a friend and her husband. They purposefully mismatched socks for adults and kids that are designed in Canada and ethically made in Italy out of soft cotton yarn. The designs are clever and there’s something for everyone. They are having a Black Friday sale with 40% of select styles – check them out! I love mine and may or may not have added a couple pairs for myself when I made submitted my order last week…
You can check out my my Travel Essentials post for my favourite things, but here are some quick links for things to get your happy traveller!
has great luggage sets on sale right now and Away has some great sets that are good value for money. (Their carry-on has a USB outlet in it so you can charge your phone!)– Compression bags, packing modules, iPhone Battery Case, travel toiletry sets, you name it, Amazon has got it. Really, you could just do all your shopping there. 😉And that’s my download – phew!
Sometimes shopping needs to be a bit more sensory, but that’s what lunch break scouting trips are for so you can check out the goods in peace before they go on sale. Then you can purchase from the comfort of your own home or office, usually ON SALE, and in way less time and stress than in store.
And if you happen to be away from home at Christmas, or are visiting family but don’t want to take everything on the plane? Send everything there! Boom.
Good luck, everyone! May the shopping force be with you! 😉
