Random Thursday Update

Hey this week has been crazy! Long hours at work mixed with trying to buy some Christmas gifts, working out, and trying to keep on top of my chores...crazytown over here. But tis the season and it is all in good fun! Just means I haven't been actually home much. I thought I would update on a couple of goals and things from this year.

Running
I still have that half marathon training plan on my fridge, but my running has certainly not been consistent. I always have believed in listening to my body, but lately I have been wondering if my body is a lazy liar. I seem to have sore legs a lot :). I have also been super busy so working out 5-6 times per week is just not feasible for me to live a balanced life. However, I have been going 2-4 times per week, which is a huge improvement over 0 times per week, so that is good!

Eyebrows
When I ended my alopecia treatment I talked about doing something special for myself. I still want to look into getting a tattoo or a new wig, but in the meantime I ordered some new eyebrows! fake hair eyebrows! I did not even know these were a thing up until recently and I am super excited for them to come. I got notice that they had shipped out on the 2nd, but they are still in Chicago. I have a feeling that customs is questioning what kind of person spends $50 on freaking false eyebrows. hahaha

Iphone
I am looooving my new phone. It is like night and day from my evil Blackberry. I feel like I learn something amazing every day. I am a huge earphones user and it is amazing to be able to hear and answer my phone without removing them! And today I learned I can actually control my music with the earphones too! My cold hands appreciate that. I do have gloves that work on a touch screen, but I need to get nicer ones that fit my fingers a little tighter. It is impossible to text with my gloves on.

I also got this new case! I felt pretty nervous carrying my phone around without a case because I am cursed around technology (my work computer needs to be brought into the apple store for it's THIRD repair). I found this pretty one for only $10 at Winners. There are sooo many choices for cases so I will probably take some time finding the perfect one later :)

Vacations
I am currently planning a whole bunch of vacations and it is super fun. Nothing gets you out of the winter blues like the thought of vacation! Speaking of winter blues, I heard we are finally going to get snow this weekend and they are predicting a white Christmas. I can't remember the last time there was snow on Christmas, so that will be nice (well, as long as the weather is nice on Christmas day. I don't want to miss out on any turkey dinners haha)

Christmas Specials
I simply love Christmas specials, and while I own a lot of DVD, there is something magical about catching one on TV. However, the TV has been disappointing me! Where are all the classic Christmas specials? The only movie I ever see on TV is Home Alone 2, which must have had cheap rights to play this year because holy guacamole it is in a lot.  


Anywho, that is a tiny snapshot of what is rolling through my brain these days. You know, in addition to having my end of year work review (today! wish me luck!), scouring MLS for condos in my price range (still seriously thinking of moving next year!), dating (which has inexplicably increased recently), Christmas shopping (almost done!), etc. Life is busy, but grand!

Bathroom Reveal!

I finally picked up the last couple of accessories that I wanted for the bathroom (hand towel, garbage can and new bath mat) so I am calling this makeover DONE. It is crazy how I started this project 17 months ago and it is even funnier to look back on that post and all the lofty ideas I had about the depth of this project and how the final bathroom looks nothing like my inspiration. However, when you decide NOT to change your beige tile, you really have to rethink your white & grey theme :)

So, without further ado.....

I am soooo happy with my bathroom!!! It is just this real jewel in the condo and I love that I chose to go bold in here. It really doesn't make the bathroom look smaller and I think it gives it a lot more personality that the pale turquoise did. Plus, I even like the colour of the wood on the vanity and the beige tiles more. Who knew??

The biggest two changes in here were the vanity top and the paint. However, the new medicine cabinet, shelves, shower curtain, art etc all really help pull it together. I also think that moving all the shelving to one wall was a brilliant idea because it really opens the space up!

I thought I would quickly share some more "befores" and then just let you soak in the afters.

Ugh...enough of that! On to the pretty bathroom!

2013 Christmas Chalkboard!

I got the last of my Christmas decorating done this weekend! Just in time, because decorating any later than this is just unacceptable in my mind :)

First of all- I watched the Rockerfeller Christmas Tree Lighting in New York on Saturday night and I wrapped up all the gifts I had bought so far and put them under the tree! I just LOVE wrapping gifts (probably because I don't buy a lot of gifts so it isn't overwhelming). For years I was really against traditional Christmas wrapping paper, but these past couple years I have definitely been feeling it. This year I went all out with red and green and it sure does look festive under the tree.

Also, my family totally makes fun of my excessive ribbon use. I am fairly certain if I showed up with Pinterest-style presents wrapped in hand-stamped kraft paper with tags I got off etsy they would probably laugh their pants off. So I stick to dollar store ribbons, bows, and tags :). The paper was bought from Hallmark- I love their paper! The stripes one and dots one are actually a reversible roll. Two for one!

Then on Sunday morning I finally got to work making over my chalkboard wall. I actually only update this thing every couple of months and it still had a giant ghost on it from Halloween. Yikes!

Now it is all festive for the season!!! I got the idea for the sleigh from some Google image searches, but I free-styled my Santa, which probably explains how he must be kneeling to fit in that sleigh. Or perhaps Santa has really short calves (I am going to go with that one). Either way I liked how he turned out and he is much more in line with the season than a ghost drinking a martini! Well, unless there is some remake of A Christmas Carol out there with drunk ghosts.
PS- Last year I drew a holiday-themed fireplace on here.

Finally on Saturday afternoon I headed over to Mom's house to help decorate her tree! They buy a real tree so it usually doesn't go up until early December. I must say the tree they got this year is one of the best yet- very full and a great shape! They had a fire roaring and we had a great time decorating. I still hang all my "baby's first Christmas" decorations front and centre and I even manage to sneak on a few of the hilariously bad decorations I made as a kid :) The tree just wouldn't be complete without them!

Are you done with your Christmas decorating yet? How about shopping? I just need one good trip to Walmart/Toys R Us and I think I will be pretty much done!

iPhone High-5!

Guess what people!

I have left the world of the blackberry and moved over to an iPhone 5! I am sooo excited! See, my work pays for my cell phone, which is really awesome but I was kind of stuck with the Blackberry Bold they originally bought me. The problem was the phone kept on freezing, which drained the battery and made me an angry Casey. Not to mention it refused to sync my work calendar, which is pretty important.

I wanted to get an iPhone since we work on Macs and iPads in the office, so it would be nice to have everything sync nicely between devices. However the new iPhone 5s was really expensive so I felt a little guilty asking for one and then having the nicest phone in the office. But then I came up with the plan to upgrade my boss' phone to the iPhone 5s (using some upgrade credits we had), and I took his old iPhone 5! It is only a year old so it is in great condition and he told me he loves his new phone so everyone is happy.

But you know what the most exciting part of getting an iPhone is?

I can play Boggle on my way to work!!!!

Haha no....I now have Instagraaaaam!! Please follow me here: http://instagram.com/wafflingblog

Be careful if you click over there, though, because the only photo is this one of some shortbread cookies I made last night. They turned out a little dry (boo), but they look positively delicious. I am convinced icing fixes all baking sins.

The camera on this phone makes my old one look like an 8 bit video game

I also need to go buy all the cute cases I have been crushing on for years now.

Please let me know what your favourite apps are (well, besides Boggle).

Vionic Shoes Spring Preview!

Last night I was invited to the a preview event for Vionic Shoes (recently rebranded from Orthaheel). It is a great company that works to mix supportive shoes and still allowing my feet to look cute! Their current line is kind of small and simple, but they are expanding next spring into TONS of adorable sandals.

I have talked before about my foot problems and how my arches fall and my right foot pronates. I have no issue dropping some cash on a comfortable shoe (if I am wearing them every day I intend to be comfortable!), but I have been let down by my last couple of pairs of "good quality" shoes. Therefore I was very excited to check out this company and see what they have got to offer.

A tiny selection of the ladies sandals that had on display

The event was at Hotel Ocho and was soo nice! The drinks and food were very yummy and I even got a free pedicure and foot reflexology session. Um yes, my feet were feeling pampered! I was nervous about going and not knowing anyone, but I ran into a couple of bloggers that I knew so I often had someone to chat with.

The mens line- loved those navy boat shoes!

I learned a lot about their shoes and I was SUPER impressed with the support. There is amazing arch support in the shoes. Their basic premise is to give you the support of custom orthotics for less. They design the shoes to give us back our natural footprint, which is taken away from walking on flat, hard surfaces all day.

I had a great talk with the reflexologist (Sally from Esthetics by Sally) about how a lot of our health manifests in our feet and how the feet support so much of our body! It was amazing how much she can tell about your health from your feet- she was even able to tell which of my feet pronates and that I was feeling a bit bloated. Another person said she was able to tell she had recently had a cold! So yes, happy feet= important. Good shoes= happy feet.

My favourite pair

Biggest surprise- at the end of the night they gave us all a free pair of Tide II Toe Post Sandal! Ah-mazing!! I got them in Pewter Metallic and they actually feel amazing (I wouldn't promote this if I didn't like the product). The arch is very solid, which I love because I can really feel it giving me support and evening out my posture. I have had shoes with soft arch support before and it always deflates over time and leaves me with flat shoes and no support :(

Ignore the sock indent :)

The pedicure was super cute- they used stickers! No dry time and they are super adorable!

I am very excited to check out the full line when it launches and I will be sure to give you a review of the shoes that I get!

Please note I was invited as a guest to this event, but I was not asked to write about it. This post is entirely my opinion on Vionic Shoes. I really was that impressed!

Debating the Big Move

I've been waffling about the idea of moving to a new condo for about a year. On one hand, I love my small home and the low cost of ownership that goes with it. It allows me to save, to travel, to treat myself to fun new things, and to basically not worry about money. Not to mention- less to clean! But more and more I have been wondering if the time is coming to move. I've been here four wonderful years, but I am not the same 23 year old who moved in here with only two camping chairs and an air mattress. Maybe it is time.

Recently I started crunching the numbers- calculating my net worth, my accessible cash (I will not have the option to access my RRSP this time), my equity in this condo, and my monthly expenses. I was surprised to learn that a bigger place might actually be an option for me! I have enough saved up that even after the "costs" to selling, I might even be able to have a mortgage pretty close to what I originally took out for this condo, yet have a bigger place! hmmm....

I have been floating this idea around with friends and family and a lot of people ask if I am buying a house. Nope. Houses in Toronto are double (minimum!) what I can possibly afford on my income and I have no desire to move to the suburbs at this point in my life. Even if I wanted to, the houses out there are STILL tight to afford on a single income. People have also asked if I plan on moving to the subway line. Probably not. I would love to, but basically I would be buying another bachelor with my budget if I wanted subway access.

So I think I may creep a bit more towards the downtown core, but overall a streetcar line neighbourhood is more affordable to me. I also intend to get a real bedroom; No lofts or anything like that (even though I love the look of a loft!). PS- I hate how MLS doesn't let you search for homes with zero bedrooms. I want to see my comparables without a bunch of 1 bedrooms muddled in! My list for a new place is basically:
- 1 bedroom
- Good layout (seriously...some of these places I've seen...)
- Newer building
- Concierge
- Amenities or close to a gym (I don't need a pool)
- Somewhat private windows
- Near TTC stop
- Washer/dryer (shouldn't be an issue in a new build)
- Closer to shops and restaurants

Right now I am working to save more and checking MLS for what is available in my price range to get an idea of where I will end up price-wise. I am contemplating maybe another year here? It is tough because I know my area is growing fast and property prices might skyrocket in 2-3 years, but I am not sure I want to be entering my 30s in a bachelor condo... I need a grown up place. No offense to any 30 year olds in bachelors, though! I bet if I lived in New York this condo would be a palace :) However, you can't hold out forever for a "maybe" and there is no guarantee where prices will go.

Oh, and I think I would go for a 30 year mortgage (not get bit by the CMHC again) so I would need 20% down- hence the saving for a bit longer. Plus, it really is smart to put down as much as possible to save on interest. Right now I have a 35 year mortgage and I love the flexibility the low monthly payments has offered me. Right now I only have 15 years left on it so I have clearly been taking advantage of extra payments when my wallet allows!

There you are- my plans for the next year or so. It will definitely change where I focus my money on upgrades in the condo, but we shall see where I end up! I am constantly changing my mind!!