Stylish Surprise FTW

Okay, so everyone knows how much I love, live, breathe Modcloth. It's my favourite clothing site and if I could buy everything from there I would (Hello Lottery Gods, are you listening?) So Modcloth has this promotion that is on and off every few months called Stylish Surprise. Basically you pick 'Apparel' 'Shoes' or 'Accessories' pay 10 dollars for one, it's 10 for each stylish surprise and you can buy more than one, and they send you a package. You have no idea what you're getting before hand. If you pick apparel it could be a dress or shirt or skirt ect, shoes could be heels, flats, boots. The promotion is always hit or miss because you don't pick what you're getting. This time was a huge HIT for me. I got the Born to be Wowed dress and the Sugared Rose Dress, both of which fit like a glove and are adorable to boot! I'm taking both with me on my trip to Cuba in a few weeks!

If you're strapped for cash but want something adorable to look forward to check out the Modcloth Stylish Surprise promotion, even if you get something that's not your style there are plenty of swap sites. But I guarantee the anticipation alone makes it worth it!

Me in the Born to Be Wowed dress!

My Life

My Life...The good, the bad and the sappy

Blogging seems to be all the rage these days so I decided to give it a try. Not that this will be seen by anyone besides myself but here it goes... My life isn't what I thought it would be. I know that's something cheesy that most millennials such as myself say, but that's the cliché truth. I've graduated from a Primary Care Paramedic Program in College, I passed my A-EMCA, I'm in university and I've worked my butt off my whole life, but can I get a paramedic job, hell how about a job above minimum wage? Of course not! Because that's just life. So i'm making the best of it, laughing, crying and never giving up.

I never gave much thought to my future when I was a kid. I had fleeting fancies of course... Doctor, Vet, Police Officer; you know, the usual. There was always One thing I knew I'd never be. When my friends were playing house, or babysitting I wanted nothing to do with it and now as I grow up and my friends are all getting married or having babies I am more sure than ever about that One thing I will never be... A mother. I'm sorry, maybe that makes me out of the norm but I want nothing to do with babies; having babies, cooing about babies, clothing for babies, none of it.

" I'm not broken. I'm not some psychodrama. My lack of interest in having a child is not some pathology that you can pat yourself on the back for having diagnosed. I like my life. I like it the way it is and I don't want it to change. why is it bad? Because its not natural, its not womanly, maybe I am cold and heartless and dead inside, or maybe I just like my life and want to do something great with it." -Arizona Robbins, Grey's Anatomy.

I love that quote because it's so typical of todays society, even if Arizona did cave and have kids with Callie, I was so upset about that one. But honestly, there is so much to do with your life and, especially at this age, having kids isn't even on the list. My biggest pet peeve: "Oh you'll change you're mind when you find the right guy". Um? Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were me! That's so strange, I didn't know you could see into my future! My bad! No guys, sorry but I know myself and if I find 'the right guy' he wont want kids either. And that thing about 'finding the right guy' why does everyone feel you need a guy to be happy.

There's so much more that I want to do with my life and that's what this blog is going to be about. My actual life, the good, the bad and the sappy.

The Mennonite in me

The Mennonite in me came out subconsciously in todays outfit choice. Just so you know, that's not a metaphor, I actually AM Mennonite, United Mennonite to be exact. I'll clear up some stereotypes right now, I'm not old order or Amish. We believe in electricity, TVs, the mall, heck we even use in Tinder. We're not back country or sheltered, I go to night clubs and wear short shorts. It's just the religious aspect, and I still even struggle with that. But whether my faith is being tested or not I am still Mennonite.

Anyways today all I was thinking was, 'It's snowing AGAIN? are you kidding?!'. I super wanted to wear a skirt and some snow wasn't going to stop me so I threw on my long black 'Essential Elegance in Black' Modcloth skirt over some basic black tights (Every girl should have some) and my 'Hosting for the Weekend in Merlot' shirt( Modcloth again). My hair was wet and I had a meeting at the bank about RRSPs -Senior citizen alert- so I threw it up in a roll with a headband. And Hello Mennonite girl.

But guess what, it actually worked and it's warm! Sometimes embracing the Mennonite in you works out!

Check out the Essential Elegance Skirt here!

Check out the Hosting for the weekend tunic here!

Aloha E Komo Mai

One of the biggest and most out of reach, or so I thought, things on my bucket list was to visit Hawaii. I always thought of Hawaii as a completely unobtainable goal, mostly because I knew it was expensive and I work a minimum wage job. But that's the magic of Google, you can be bored and searching random things and all of a sudden you find a golden opportunity. That's what happened when I searched 'Working with dolphins' and Google so fortuitously filled in 'In Hawaii'. One of the first websites that I clicked on proved to be my pot of gold, my life changing opportunity. I looked up their 'working vacation' program on the Big Island of Hawaii, in Kona. It was too good to be true, or so I thought. I applied for the program on a whim and within days had set up a Skype interview with the owner of the program. It turned out to be a company specializing in underwater photography and videography with Manta Ray night dives and Dolphin dives. And I got accepted.

Things moved quickly after that, I was leaving in just 2 short months. I needed to get Open Water Scuba Diver certified which I did through Dans Dive shop in my home town. I booked my flights and before I knew it, it was time to go. I had two layovers during my 15 hour flight time, in Chicago and Honolulu. Longest flight of my life, and it felt it. But then I was there, The Big Island of Hawaii.

I met another intern, Natasha, at the airport and she took me back to the house, a beautiful house up in the mountains over looking Kona. I was so excited and then BAM! Hello jet lag. I slept like a rock that night, let me tell you. 

I shared a house with my roommate Natasha and another awesome girl Brittany. I met another girl who worked for the company, Gina, and spent an awesome day down on Ali'i drive and going to see Kilauea, an active volcano on the island. I've never thought about going on a vacation by myself but i'm so glad I did or I'd never have met these amazing people.

I dove 4 times this trip with Big Island Divers and saw amazing coral, fish, Manta Rays, White tipped reef Sharks and swam with pilot whales! I learned how to surf and saw a Hawaiian waterfalls and my first ever volcano! It was the most amazing week of my life and it just shows what you can do when you put your mind to it.

I never thought something like this would be possible for a broke girl from Niagara, Ontario and my dreams came true. This trip showed me my passion in life; I want to see the world. There are so many things to see out there when you step outside your comfort zone and take a chance.