Tag: ottawablogger

How Are those New Years Resolutions Going?

Posted on by shikachica in Home

We all wait for the first day of the year to promise our selves that we wil go to the gym four times a week, reduce the amount of sugar that we will eat/drink, save more money and various other promises. I am one that not only waits for the first year to start a new goal , however I tend to revisit my goals on a month to month basis. Now, that is just me. Not everyone can do that and I obviously can not expect that you will as well. That being said, I am on that gets motivated if I write down my goals and look at it day by day to remind myself what I promised I would achieve.

So this year what are my goals you ask? I have a few. Some personal, some career wise and others that are just ways to improve what I am doing now. So let’s have a look at a few:

  1. Get a stable career that I love– working for years in a family business is fun and teaches you a lot that you can apply to various areas of work and in working with the business, I have recently found myself wanting to find a career that I love to wake up early to work towards every day. That hunger for a career actually starts with this blog. I love social media, being able to connect with people from everywhere and changing my environment time to time. In 2018 I will work towards my ‘entrepreneurial’ dream career.
  2. Stay fit– I started my healthy journey seriously about 6 years ago when I noticed that my eating habits could possibly affect me in the long run. I go to the gym quite frequently ( as you can tell by my Instagram stories) and in doing so have found my love for fitness. In the new year I want to push myself out of my comfort zone and allow my body to explore its capabilities in ways that I probably could never imagine. I would like to try out a cross fit class, hot yoga ( again ), spinning class, pole dancing and bare class. I believe these are classes I always wanted to try but I was a bit intimidated to give it a go. Now time to face my fear!
  3. Work on my mental health- this is something that is a long term goal for me. I have been focusing more on it for the past two years. As someone who does not like talking about my feeling even with my close friends and family I have over time gotten a lot better. I want to ensure that I remind myself to be in the now, that it is ok to say you are not ok and to ask for help when needed.
  4. Grow the #shikachica fam– I started my journey last year in April and it has been a fun and exciting adventure. I meet so many people and made so many connections. with you lovelies. In the new year I want to not only grow the #shikachica fam I also want to connect with you guys more. I want to first start with the conference gathering in Toronto this Spring 2018. I will then be going to Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and many more cities along Canada. Eventually meeting you lovely chicas in Europe and the USA as well.
  5. Spend more time with loved ones– it’s that time of year where you start to go through your friend group and clear out all the negative energies. I really do believe that the people you around yourself with is 50% of what can impact you to be the best version of yourself. As hard as it is to let go of unhealthy relationships keep telling your self how rewarding it will be if you let go of them sooner rather then later.
  6. Travel to 10 new places– this is a big goal for my in 2018- I have a few travel destinations such as Cape Town, Bali, Amsterdam, Morocco, Germany, Colombia and more that I would love to visit in the new year. I really want to not only learn about new cultures however take my self out of my comfort zone. 
  7. Save more!- We all spend a ridiculous amount of money on buying our lunch and buying things that we really do not need. I want to save more money and be wise with my money in the new year
  8. Find  a great place to live– Weather it is a new city or new apartment, I want to start in some new environment this year in the Summer/Fall. 
  9. Live minimalist– the more I travel the more I learn I probably do not need half the things I own. In relation to a new environment I want to make sure I de-clutter all the things I do not need, donate them and stay simple with what fills my space. Clear environment clear mind right?

S o far things have been going well. I workout 4-5 times a week, I am starting to reach out to people if I need help, checking in with family/ friends more, being more active on my instagram story to connect with you guys more, I’m slowly cutting out the negative people in my life ( man is it ever hard). Things I need to work on? SAVING! I need to save more money. The amount of times that I have been buying food out is embarrassing. I am going to start looking at apps to help me budget my spending on a day to day basis. I also need to start planning my trip that I am hopping to take in February. It is slowly approaching and with saving that will allow me to have more options as far as destinations. Minimalist living is a project on its own. I will start going through my belongings on a monthly basis and donate any things I do not need or use.

There you have it! There are my resolutions for the year. I have been really trying to be focused on giving myself some self love lately especially with the new year. I think I tend to get too busy living the busy crazy life I forget about taking care of myself. This year will be a year to give myself a little bit of gratitude day by day. 

Olive Green Chunky Sweater Casual OOTD

Posted on by Shika President in Fashion, Home

It is getting bone-chilling cold in Canada and depending on what area you live, you are probably just as cold or even colder. Being someone who gets so cold easily especially during the winter months, I make it imperative to have a few chunky sweater in my closet that I can layer and throw on to almost every outfit while looking put together.

This olive sweater is vintage. One of my favorite things about knits is if you get an amazing quality knit sweater you can have it in your closet for life and it stays in an amazing condition such as this one. I added my light blue denim cut off jeans from Levis to brighten the look and my light brown suede jacket from Simons to match the warm earthy tones of the sweater.

For accessories, I added this gorgeous fedora with the silver detailing which really makes this hat stand out. I then added my black simple closed toes shoes from Call it Spring. You can also add black boots and if there have silver detailing even better so they can match the detailing on the hat. 

There you have it. A casual warm outfit that looks but together. 

5 Ways to stay Motivated during the Cold Season

Posted on by shikachica in Home

I don’t know about you, but as much as I love how magical snow is and having hot chocolate near the fireplace or going hiking being surrounded by a winter wonderland, with the daylight saving and the dry cold weather I find it hard to stay motivated. 

My life is always changing, especially being someone that is slowly making their side hustle a dream day by day. Being an entreperneur, sometimes you have good weeks and sometimes you have bad weeks, and unfortunately and fortunately, that all part of signing up for your dream. Nobody said it would be easy, and if it was easy, would it be worth fighting for? Probably not. 

So after a week of countless surprising events, writer’s block and feeling down, I decided to get back to my routine. Now everyone has a different way of staying motivated however here are five tips on how I stay motivated. You can always try it out and see if it works for you:

1. Get Organized

I know. Another generic tip that almost every blogger or life coach can say but seriously get your s$&^@ together! Who else is going to do it if you don’t? Now, to be honest, I as weird as it sounds, go to a cute bookstore, you know the one with the Kate Spade looking Pinterest stylish stationery accessories and find a journal and agenda that you find visually appealing or better yet has a life quote that you live by or you can connect to. Just having an agenda and journal that looks nice will motivate you to write in it. There is nothing more satisfying than going to a cafe and pulling out my journal and agenda and getting excited to plan out my life in something I am proud of owning. 

In your journal use the first page wisely. Write down your dream and where you see your self in the year. Now make sure these goals and achievements push you out of your comfort zone because the rest of the notebook is going to be your sketchbook to get to those achievements.

For the agenda, really it’s self-explanatory. You are 75% more likely to achieve a task if you write it down and don’t even look at it then you are if you just think about the idea. Putting it in writing is where you really make that goal official. This of it as a contract to yourself.

2. Get active

Now lucky for me I love breaking out a sweat and being drenched in it for that matter. I honestly feel like I can take over the world after a good sweat. Now if you are reading this and thinking ” I hate working out!”, “It’s so boring” they find something fun. Dance in your room for 30 minutes, do a workout class with a friend, walk your dog. Whatever you do get moving. If you can do it first thing in the morning. Why? It is the best thing to do to get your mind going and moving. You are getting your self mentally ready to start your day. Being active is also amazing to ensure you are more likely to be in a good mood for most of your day espeacilly when you look outside and its snowing. You want to make sure you are able to make the best of the weather and push yourself to stay active.

3.  Mentor

Mentor. Such an intimidating word sometimes, especially if you really do not know what it is. I will tell you what a mentor is to me and what I mean by a mentor. A mentor is someone that when you have coffee with them, you can leave the conversations fulfilled and with a fresh pair of glasses on a topic or opinion. A mentor will give you what you need to hear not what you want to hear. A mentor will be there for you if you have a question or need advice ( there are no such thing as stupid questions by the way). A mentor is your cheerleader in life. Everyone needs one. It can be a family member, friend, personal coach, manager. Someone you look up too when you are at your best and worst and make you the best version of your self.

I can tell you right now, without my mentor’s I would not be writing this post for you chicas. Without my mentor, I would not be going after what I want and rather going after what society tells you that you should have. Mentors remind you of your purpose and/ or ensure you know your ‘why’ in life. 

4. Eat healthy

Being someone who is doing one hundred and ten projects all the time making sure I take care of my temple is key. The number of times I will have a rough week and the cycle begins where I start eating all my meals out, binge eating and then my motivation also goes down. Esepaclly with the cold weather you want to make sure your body is getting all the nutrition it needs to stay concentrated, alert and well rested. 

5. Be happy

I know I say this all the time but be happy. Find something that makes YOU happy. That is what is going to make you smile to your self on rough days. Happiness will make you celebrate those personal milestones. Happiness is going to allow you get the most that you can possibly get in life. 

As I get older and hear the story of others, I find out how many people really are not happy and how much happiness can really put a huge effect on your thoughts, and your thoughts control you. 

I have attached an amazing TED Talk by Lori Harder  that I love where they are taking on of the concepts I discussed, staying active, and how you can apply it to life and stay motivated. 

A Walking Disco Ball- OOTD

Posted on by Shika President in Fashion, Home

With the holiday season just around the corner it makes me so excited for all the family and friend gathering that I will be attending. One thing is for sure, sometimes finding a outfit or three for all your gathers can be stressful and sometimes I will spend hours at the mall going from store to store, struggling to find a look that I like to wear to the next reunion. 

This gold sparkly number from Rent Frock and Repeat is perfect to wear for a Christmas party or a fancy wine and cheese event with the girls. Rent Frock and Repeat allows you to borrow the latest designer dresses for a special event that you need to a event for not event a fraction of the cost. It allows you to have a endless closet without taking up all the room in your closet and making a hole in your wallet.

 I love how this beautiful dress is figure fitting however not too much so where you can’t have a food baby.. The best part is the back detailing. I love the big scoop at the back it really gives a sexy touch to this classy look. 

I then added my simple black shoes from Call it Spring. I wanted all the attention to be on the dress so I kept the shoes as simple as possible.

Orange Patterned Cardigan- OOTD

Posted on by Shika President in Fashion, Home

I have had this cardigan for quite some time now though I always seem to come back to this number once the fall comes back around. I bought this cardigan from Forever 21. I love the geometric patterns and the pop of orange that really stands out against the grey.

With such a crazy pattern you want to make the rest of the outfit simple. I added my fur vest to add texture to the outfit. Not only is it fashionable but really warm as well. I then added these mom jeans that I thrift way back as Vien Avec Moi made by Levis. They are so comfortable the cut hem gives it an edgy trendy twist to simple light wash jeans.

For shoes, I played it safe and added my closed toe Call it Spring shoes. I use these pairs of shoes for everything! Work, a special event or a girls night. It really gives enough height to be used for special occasions yet casual enough to wear during the day. 

Fall OOTD- Pumpkins, Cozy Sweaters and Plaid Scarfs

Posted on by Shika President in Fashion, Home

So I decided to take advantage or the fall weather, beautiful leaves and go to a pumpkin patch. Yes a pumpkin patch. What says fall more then that. I wanted o wear an outfit that was comfy and what says comfy more then this wool sweater I bought ages ago from Zara. Even though I bought it so long ago, it is one of my favorite sweaters in my closet. Year after year I go back to it and year after year it stay trendy and an amazing laying piece as well. 

I then added these simple dark wash skinny jeans from Zara. These are another on of my favourite beacuse they are one of the most comfortable jeans I own and they make my but look good if I do not say so myself.

For the shoes, I wanted to complement the oatmeal color sweater, so I added these high knee suede boots from Call if Spring. You all know I love this store. They always have amazing style for boots and you truly can not go wrong. 

Now to add some color, I added my Zara orange plaid oversize scarf. I honestly do not like orange 99.99% of the time but for some reason I love this scarf. Since Orange is not usually a popular color when it comes down to plaid over-sized scarf I thought why not. It will be different. 

Lastly for the bag , I added a leather vintage bag with a gold detailed buckle on the strap. Kept it simple.

OOTD- Twiks a Little, Dance a Little

Posted on by Shika President in Fashion, Home

With Canada’s 150th around the corner, what better way to celebrate than to style these upcoming couple weeks in Canadian fashion. There are so many talented designers and brands in Canada that do not get as much credit as they should.

This Friday I decided to style this amazing floral peach wrap dress from Simons, a Quebec born and raised retail store that holds a lot of great quality brands (majority of them are from Canada). This wrap dress is designed by one of Simons in-house brands, Twik. Twiks has a lot of casual, fun patterns that are great for summer at the moment. I then added these amazing Ferragamo sunglasses from Point of View Opticians. I then gave this look a nice edgy yet sexy spin adding these strappy black chunky heels from Call it Spring which is currently one of my favorite shoes at the moment. As mentioned before, they are so comfortable and simple. You really can never go wrong with some cute strappy heels in your closet.

 

OOTD- Just A Casual Band T- Shirt

Posted on by Shika President in Home

As much as I love looking amazing every day, some days I honestly get lazy to make a whole outfit but I still want to look like I am put together. What better way to do that but to wear a Beatles band t-shirt like this one from Forever 21. 

To keep the overall look edgy I added light washed seamed stairs hemmed skinny jeans. This is a huge trend this summer and spring. Adding these jeans is a settled way to still be trendy. Also, these jeans were such a great deal at H&M for $20 (Crazy right?! Can’t go wrong with that). Number one tip with any trend that may not stay long in fashion, buy a cheaper version so you don’t end of spending a ridiculous amount on a trend that will only last one season. 

I then layer this band t-shirt with my yellow motor jacket ( do you believe me that it is my favorite item at the moment yet haha). The jacket brings a pop of color to the overall outfit.

Now the final touches I added are these amazing Porch Aviator sunglasses from Point of View which I am so obsessed with. These 80’s cop inspired glasses literally give me life to this whole outfit making me feel like I should be an undercover agent in the 80’s/ 90’s. I then added these amazing laced up black heels from Call it Spring. The heals polish the whole look still giving a bad ass vibe to the ootd. May I also add how they are more comfortable than most considering that they are chunky heels.  

There you have it! A casual easy outfit that doesn’t looks casual for Sunday errands, going over to see friends or even in the house. Let fashion be a way to express who you are and sometimes that can be done casually as well. 

Back to the Basics- LBD

Posted on by Shika President in Home

Sometimes it’s good just to go back to the basics. An LBD never goes wrong for any occasion. You can wear an LBD for work, a wedding, dinner with the family, out with the girls. Really it just comes down to the style of the dress and the accessories you decide to pair it with

I got this slip lace detailed dress from Marshalls. I love how simple the dress is but the lace detailing gives it a classy, delicate and sexy touch to the overall dress. I then decided to add my black closed toe shoes that I bought from Call it Spring. There is something about an all black look that really keeps the look sleek and classic so when you are looking at your photos ten years from now you can still say  “I can wear that dress again”.

Now the accessories are where the dress really comes to life. The dress is like the crust, sauce, and cheese of the pizza and the accessories are the toppings. For this look, I added the Tom Ford cheetah sunglasses from Point of View Boutique. The pop of color and pattern really brings the whole look together. These glasses are definitely crowd stopper. If you really want to go all out or might be going out at night time when it cooler, add a duster jacket or motor jacket to keep the look classy yet add some color to this all black ensemble. I added my yellow suede motor jacket from Mink (why not? I feel so bad ass with this jacket). There’s something about a motor jacket that makes me feel like I should be on a motorcycle in style.

Yellow Motor Jacket Meets Poka-dot Blouse

Posted on by Shika President in Home

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Can I just say that this book is for the books? I will be officially be adding a few of these photos to my polaroid collage. This superstar jacket is amazing for the spring and summer season for a great statement piece and layering item.

I got this suede Mink jacket from a vendor at one of my local flea markets, 613 Flea, in Ottawa and I will defiantly say this will not be the last that I go vintage hunting for statement pieces. The suede material makes this jacket to Lux and the color brings such a bright fun addition to any outfit.

I then pulled out my polka dot white and navy blue collared top that I bought from Marshalls a couple months ago. The best trick is to add pattern and color to any outfit when in doubt. In this case, I added the vibrant jacket to compliment this classic polka-dot blouse.

Lastly, I added my white denim cut off mini skirt to match the top and keep this look crisp and clean.

For shoes, I got these amazing kitten heel black suede shoes from Call it Spring. You can never go wrong with a simple classic black shoe. They are a staple that never gets out of style in your closet.

To finish this look, I added these amazing Tom Ford aviator glasses from Point of View Opticians. I love the look of the glasses as they are so clean and crisp though they bring a sense of 70’s to the whole look which I absolutely love.

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