Oh this week. It will forever go down as a ridiculous comedy of errors. You know it’s been a week when yet another issue comes up and your colleague’s only response is, “of course”.
Unfortunately, between work and life this week I haven’t had a chance to turn my full attention to this space.
But for all that went wrong this week, there were some really wonderful highlights – here’s what I’m grateful for this week:
Travel
Excited to use one of my favourite bags again soon!
Meet Amber of Creating Light Studio
When I had the idea for this series I made a “dream list” of the women I knew who were doing incredible things that I wanted to profile – Amber was on this list.
I had the privilege of working with Amber a few years back. She is one of those people who leads with her heart. She’s smart, well-spoken and so passionate about her work. Coincidentally we sat down to chat about this profile on International Women’s Day and had the most incredible conversation about the power of supporting women, setting boundaries and dealing with perfectionism (she refers to herself as a “recovering perfectionist”, something I both admire and am striving towards myself).
I have been so inspired by her entrepreneurial #hustle and was thrilled she agreed to be part of this series. I learned so much from the hour we spent laughing, chatting and catching up over coffee. I learned even more when I read the insights she shares below – I know they will inspire you to think about your own journey in a new light (her ultimate career goal had me going 👏🏻). When you’re done reading, check out her beautiful Instagram feed – her ethereal photos will make you want to spend a day in front of her lens, creating light together.
I had some fantastic opportunities this week to try new things, meet some awesome new people and reminisce with some of my favourites. I’m excited to carry this energy into the weekend as I work on some projects for the blog, finish my first CrossFit Open (read about that here), and celebrate friends. On top of these wonderful weekend plans, here’s what I’m grateful for this week:
The view from the road on Paul and I’s first road trip together (Sea to Sky Highway, BC)
I actually had this post scheduled for a different day, but when I realized yesterday marked one full month of blogging, I knew I had to post it – keep reading to find out why.
Alright, I’m just going to put this out there – I’m really hard on myself. Yes, I can feel some of you rolling your eyes right now… and I can hear you thinking, tell me something I don’t know. I know. I know. It’s something I’m working on.
I put so much prep work into launching this blog and, even though the first post was about putting fear aside I was still scared to press the “publish” button and shout out to the world, “hey friends, I’m doing this!” But, I did it anyways. And I have been blown away by the response (a huge thank you to all of you).
Truthfully, I have also been a little inspired by myself – I am truly committed to facing my fears and have already gained so much from this experience.
Coinciding with the launch of this blog, there was a lot of talk in my life about something called the CrossFit Open.
CrossFit Open Swag
Beautiful Ha Long Bay, Vietnam on a hazy afternoon.
Six years ago this month, I applied for my first passport. Ever.
Those who know me, might be surprised by this. But in March 2011, I had only travelled in Canada and the US (ahhhh remember the days when you didn’t need a passport to cross the border?). I had never taken an international flight or been outside of North America. Travelling used to feel so unattainable to me.
I don’t care how cliché this makes me sound, who is ready for Spring? 🙋🏼 Saaaaaaaame. Since this is supposed to be a space where I reflect on what I’m grateful for, I’m not going to go on about how I’m so over leaving the house wrapped in multiple layers, all the wool, plodding through the snow and not feeling my face on my way into work – nope, won’t do it (okay, okay just a little bit – when will this winter eeeeend?!). Bright side – it’s going up to +4 today! Here’s what else I’m grateful for this week:
Tulips!
These Canadian beauties have been brightening up our space all week long.
(skwäd/ɡōl) (noun) (plural noun: squad goals): an inspirational term for what you’d like your group of friends to be or accomplish. Used best when placed at the end of a directional statement.
Credit: urbandictionary.com
While I’m sure many of us would love to be part of the seemingly perfect posse of girl power excellence T-Swift has assembled, I think assembling your own squad is so important. And I don’t just mean your BFFs.
There are SO many ways to brand ourselves online, but when it comes to putting our best professional self forward LinkedIn really has become the winner 🏆.
It’s such a simple and effective tool for connecting with people, finding interesting jobs and showing off your amazing skills. But you know that feeling of dread you get when you need to update your resume? And yet after you’ve updated it you feel like a professional rock star, ready to take on all of your career goals?
Yeah, that’s how I often feel about updating my LinkedIn profile.
This week I learned that answering a question with, “no, I haven’t been sick AT ALL this winter” means you’re definitely going to get sick. And I did – I spent the first half of this week lying on the couch wondering, how the heck did we entertain ourselves when we were sick as kids without Netflix? I also averaged about 10 hours of sleep a night this week (making it pretty hard to blog – I know I’ve been inconsistent in my postings this week, I promise next week will be better!)
Along with Rip Van Winke’ing and Netflix 🙏🏻 here’s what else I’m grateful for this week:
The dream team