Midnight flight to Heathrow

I love the app Timehop. For someone who has the memory of a goldfish like I do, it helps me remember life events and things I've done or seen in the past. Like this little gem from two years ago:

I was hopping on a plane to jet off to Europe for two weeks with a good friend of mine. I hadn't taken a real vacation like that in years and was so looking forward to getting back to Europe, with all its history and delicious food and fantastic sites. I think about the places I visited on that trip pretty often, and can't wait to get back there again soon.

2015: A Year in Review

It's that time of year again - my annual year in review. I've done this a few times since I started blogging and I like doing it because it forces me to reflect on the past 12 months and take in all that's changed in my life. So, let's go:




- I hit the big 3-0 this year and celebrated with family and friends in style with a fancy pink and gold sparkle party. The glitzy glam night was exactly how I wanted to enter into my next decade. 






- I spent some time in the hospital and had emergency gall bladder surgery! What a whirlwind three weeks that was. As painful as the experience was, I know I'm much better off now that the ordeal is finally over. 







- My wonderful brother married the love of his life and I finally gained a sister. The wedding was one of the most beautiful I've ever been to and I was so honoured to be involved as a bridesmaid. 

- Some of my girlfriends and I began a monthly brunch club, where we tried different restaurants around the city. It was so good to have a regular date with friends, to catch up over delicious food and of course, obligatory mimosas. We love brunch club!!

- After a hectic first half of year with work and surgeries, I finally took a vacation in August and went back to my second home, Toronto for a week of friends, food and familiar haunts. It was so good to be back and to get the city into my blood again. 

- I celebrated the ten year anniversary of the term that changed my life. I've mentioned time and time again in the blog how my experience in Harlow changed my life. During the autumn, I remembered where I'd been on a particular day or what I'd been doing during a certain period of time. It's hard to believe ten years has passed since I was with this group of people. 

- I took another last minute trip to Toronto in December, this time meeting up with my folks and taking my mother to a taping of one of my favourite television shows, The Social. We had a great time! 

- I also popped outside of Toronto and spent a weekend with two of my favourite gals, shopping and visiting wineries in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region. Lots of laughs were had those couple of days! 

- I enjoyed a magical Christmas break packed with brunches, lunches, coffees and parties with friends from home and friends from away. It's always a whirlwind time of year, but it's always so good. 

So there you have it. 2015 is in the books. It was a good year with me turning 30 and my brother's beautiful wedding, but I have a feeling there's big things to come next year. 

I usually like to come up with some kind of motto or quote to live by for the upcoming year. This year, the one I'm really feeling is one I've used before and even blogged about recently during my #NaBloWriMo challenge. "More fun, less fear" is what's going to push me through into 2016 and stay with me throughout the next 12 months. Let's see how it goes. 

Here's to new beginnings, new experiences, fresh perspectives. 

Welcome 2016: more fun, less fear!

More fun, less fear

As I wrap up my #NaBlowWriMo blogging challenge, I wanted my final entry to be a bit special. It's been a long November and there were days when I forgot to blog and had to write a couple of entries in a row, but I made it. So let's end off with something that I've been saving...

I've been using a hashtag over the past couple of years - #morefunlessfear. I didn't invent it myself but I can't remember where I originally saw it. What I do know is that I've been trying to apply it to my life ever since.

"More fun, less fear" seems like a pretty good motto for making sure you take the time to try new things, get out of your comfort zone and really live.

#morefunlessfear has encouraged me to take steps towards living more in my life - both baby steps and giant leaps. It's been the final push over the edge of making decisions that have led to interesting experiences that I know I would've regretted not trying. It's made me more of a "I'm glad I did that" person instead of a "I wish I'd done that" person, and I'm grateful for that. 

Regret is something that I try to avoid and as I get older, I'm more and more conscious of it. You only get one life, so don't live it on the sidelines. Take the trip, spend the money on that Kate Spade bag (no arguments here, I'll always spend the money on the Kate Spade bag) and rarely turn down an opportunity to try something new. You never know where it will lead you and how it will change your life.