Hustlin'

This week I've had a few lazy days.

On my days off I met up with some friends for lunch to catch up. Tried the bento at Goro + Gun, and the Tanuki Udon at Sushi Bar Zipang. Both meals were delicious :)

I wasn't feeling great on Thursday. Had to take a reduced workload on Friday because my voice was disappearing. Not fun! I drank a lot of tea with honey over the last few days.

On Friday we went to Koto Sushi for dinner. Tried the miso sashimi salad, unagi roll, a roll with mango, salmon and cream cheese, a prawn roll, and a bc salmon roll plus some inari sushi. Yum! The unagi roll wasn't my favourite, but I liked the prawn roll a lot. I spent a bit of time trying to figure out where I wanted to work next Tuesday. They're doing a water shut off for some repairs, and I'm someone who washes my hands quite frequently because I go to the bathroom often. I can either fill up some tupperware/buckets with water and just use that, or I could go somewhere else to work for a chance of scenery. The latter is probably easier, so I've been looking at options.

My options are:

a) stay home and just go use the bathroom in the other building - this is okay, but it does take some time to walk between each building, this is also the laziest method for me, and probably a 4 level of comfort
b) go to a co-working space - I've got my eye set on one, and I've spoken with two, but then it's kind of weird because I asked if I could go there for free because I'm just there for a few hours/a day - I can then go to a coffee shop after or check out some places for lunch, this is a method that would require me to wake up earlier than I usually do so that I can walk to the co-working space without spending extra for transit, or just take transit there
c) work at a friend's house - I spoke with a friend but I feel weird as I don't really know them that well and I've never been to their place before
d) do a) and then also go to a coffee shop for the last half of my shift - will probably end up doing this because it's the least amount of effort, and I could use the bathroom whenever, but I would probably have to pack up my laptop with me and take it with me

so yeah... I think going with option a) the whole time would probably be the best idea if I want to be super lazy. option b) would be nice because then I would have a change of environment, so I'm seriously considering it. and option d) would take more effort too but it would be a change of environment.

I haven't 100% decided yet, but it's good to know I have several options.

On Saturday we watched some Cells at Work and then I went for a stroll outside. We also went to watch Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. After the movie I was sooo tired. Also started up a shopping bag full of Colourpop lippies as they were doing a 40% off liquid lipstick sale for National Lipstick Day.

Today we went to Tokyo Street Market again, with some friends and then also went to Made by Marcus. I was started to feel really weird and we went to Pet-a-Palooza and then went to True World Foods to grab some snacks and gum. I think I was getting dehydrated as I was feeling some stinging pain. I got some cold green tea and drank it and felt better after we got home and I laid on the bed for a bit. I probably spent about two hours trying to figure out what else I could get at CP to make our bag qualify for free shipping. It was tough but I realized that I had been wanting an orange blush for a while and that I did want to try some nude/pink liquid lipsticks, so I got some of those. Now to wait for them to come in the mail!

We then went to Cafe 16 for some bingsoo. We got the milk tea one and it was really good! I've never really had bingsoo before so I'm glad my first one was really good. It came with condensed milk, which always makes things taste great.

I also did some research this week on freelance video editing and other side hustles that I could do to have multiple revenue streams. I feel like I need to space out the time that I work on these projects and researching a bit more, as I feel a little burnt out each time.

I want stuff where I'm doing things I love, and at a casual pace. I'm going to apply to some freelance opportunities and keep working on my IG stuff and blog.

I also need to go to the gym. I've been saying that all the time on here but I'm just so lazy!! But I do get outside to walk around, so I'm getting exercise, just not bulking up. I need to bulk up though.

Weekend again

Saturday - We went to the mall in the evening and did another stroll of shopping. The boif got some clothes and I didn't get anything. We decided to get Korean cuisine for dinner and went to Migarock. I got some spicy cold noodles and the boif got a bibimbap. Yum!! We watched a bit of Batman vs. Superman as well.

Sunday - Checked out the new Made by Marcus location and shared a single scoop with the boif. I really liked the decor of the place, it's very farm-house/minimal like, and the ice cream was great. I'm not sure if I would try the rosemary fig again but I loved the goat cheese and the chocolate fudge brownie! We then went to Tokyo Street Market to actually try their food this time... got ramen and some chicken yakitori skewers and some pickles. It was pretty good! I also picked up my book (didn't get to on Saturday) and then finished the biography part of Michelle Phan, but I was pretty sad that there wasn't more to read. The book goes into some tips and tricks on makeup, etc. for now, which I haven't read yet, but I love learning how successful people got to where they are today. I hope she releases a new book soon that would cover this :) Watched more of our movie, still need to watch the last half hour.

Today we had dinner with the famjam, played with Tofu and checked out the new Lucky's Supermarket. It reminds me of T&T but with more Japanese/Korean items. It's super clean and spacious which I love! Didn't get too much stuff from there except some canned coffee and canned drinks plus some snacks. We're thinking of getting groceries from there eventually as they have a ton of food there. Not everything was set-up quite yet, so we'll probably go back once they've got everything ready to go. I edited and did a post on IG, helped the boif with some work stuff and now I'm just about to head to bed after typing up this post.

Tomorrow is my day off so I'll be meeting up with a friend for lunch, and then I'll probably go to the gym and do some side hustling stuff. :D

I went to the gym again

My "early" weekend started again on Wednesday evening!

Wednesday - I was super exhausted so I took a nap right after work and just had a pretty chill day at home. We did check out an event going on but it rained so much we just walked back home.

Thursday - I slept in for about an hour and cleaned the house, had breakfast and got ready to go downtown to pick up some stuff from my old workplace. Then I walked back home, got to awe the Canadian geese for a bit as they were super fluffy and too cute to pass! I then went to the gym afterward as it's been a long time. Did some squats, running/walking on the treadmill, some weight lifting and some quad extensions. Pretty sore after the workout. I then took a short nap afterward and cleaned a bit more. Played Charterstone with some friends, and also had Boogies Burgers for dinner with an oreo and cappucino milkshake. Yum! I did some research on side hustles for a bit before going to bed.

Today I decided to sleep in a bit more an woke up around noon. Found out that Uniqlo now has e-commerce on their app and mobile site (yes!), but not the desktop site. :( I did a bit of browsing but couldn't really find a lot that I wanted to purchase, so I'll hold off for now until more things are in stock. I cleaned my desk, did some laundry, had croissants for breakfast, and had Poke for a late lunch. Went for a walk and went to check out the art store for a bit and Circle K to see if they had iced coffee. They don't, but they do have a lot of options for hot coffee! I'll have to try it sometime if I'm craving hot coffee. :) Went for dinner at the famjam's, played with Tofu, and also went to the mall to browse a bit before closing. The boif got some jeans and a few shirts. We're going to go back again tomorrow to return one of them as it's too big.

It's definitely tougher for me to get used to not having weekends as days off. It throws me off my schedule quite a bit, as I'm not in sync with the people I usually spend time with on weekends. It's okay though, my next few days off are in a few days and then it'll be back to having weekends off again. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to go pick up a book I ordered from Chapters. It's actually Michelle Phan's book that she wrote a few years ago. I've been super interested in reading books by Youtubers that I follow. It's just so interesting to read into where they came from and how they came to be content creators.

It's been half a year already!

Today I realized it's been almost half a year since I made the change from working in an office to working remotely. 

It's pretty amazing.

A HUGE goal of mine from years ago was to work at home, but I never really acted on it until one day I went to a digital/tech conference and was really inspired by one of the panels I went to, which covered the topic of working from home. When I saw that only two people put their hand up that they worked from home, FULL-TIME (like everyday!), I knew I had to do something. 

So I took a leap and that leap was a weird one. I started working from home in January as a virtual assistant, then I realized I wasn't making enough, so I made it my goal to find a full-time position working remotely. 

And I applied, interviewed, and got in. Now I've been working remotely for a while!

At first, it was like digging into a big box of candy. I was super excited to work remotely. Now that I've gotten used to it, it doesn't really feel like I'm working from home, but it does feel more like working in a really relaxed environment. 

I love having no commute. I love being in charge of my music selection. I also love the flexibility. I also really like how I don't have external factors (like food) to distract me and influence me to buy things while I'm on my breaks. I can focus on my diet more easily. I also don't snack that often lol because I'm always so busy! 

I tried working from home many times in the past, but it never worked out for me. But now I have more experience and a lot more focus than I did before, so it works really well.

I also save a lot of money while I work. However it is hard to resist treating myself after work... so hmm, am I really saving? I need to cut back! It's summer though, so I've been making a lot of effort to go out with friends and do stuff, so it can get costly. 

It's weird not being around people, but I'm always closely communicated online with my work and other people, so it's not so bad. 

I start to miss the outside world a lot now, so to alleviate that I am trying to go out for a walk outside every day! Since I was always going outside when I worked in an office, I have to continue doing that. 

It's also motivated me to do more on my free time. Like hobby stuff, developing myself professionally, and tapping into all sorts of interests to keep myself entertained since I don't game much anymore... 

I'll have to do another check-in at the end of the year! It's been a great experience working remotely. I miss office culture a teeeeensy bit.... though. I could do one day a week in the office, if presented with the opportunity. Haha. 

Carrying heavy things is not my forte

This week was pretty chill. I tried to go for a walk almost every day after work to get outside and enjoy the good weather.

Wednesday - I was planning to meet up with a friend on Saturday, but then we decided to meet up on this night instead. Had a Pineapple Infusion drink from Starbucks and sat down with my friend to talk about blog stuff. Then walked around the neighborhood for a bit to chat and catch up more. It was really nice! I stayed up a bit later than usual because my weekend had started. Made poke for dinner. Easy peasy and healthy!

Thursday - I went to Nellie's Break The Fast Cafe with some work friends. I got the Ukranian breakfast, which consisted of boiled perogies, poached eggs, some sausage, hashbrowns and toast. It was a pretty filling meal, and shortly after I met up with a friend to have lunch and catch up. I didn't get any food for lunch since I was still full lol. I did get a free A&W root beer, though! I wanted to try their new Beyond Burger item on the menu that day, but I was already so full from breakfast. Next time! I also ran some errands and pretty much spent a 6+ hours downtown.... I bought tea from my work friend as well, and then decided to take the looooong way home. It was a really nice walk but my feet were so sore. Next time I will definitely wear more comfortable shoes (I had sandals on). We had onigiri balls for dinner with the leftover poke ingredients. Turn out our seaweed sheets are a bit old, so we'll probably have to get some new ones very soon. I was pretty tired after a long day and napped for the night.

Friday - We went to the Stampede with a friend! Watched the canine stars dog show, checked out the vendors (boif bought a clothing steamer!), watched the boif and our friend play some games. Also played the rollerball game at the WestJet booth as well. Went on the skyride too and tried out an elk stick, pizza corn dog, teriyaki poutine and a mojito lemonade! Was pretty tired around 8pm so we decided to wrap it up after the skyride. A huge gust of wind blew by and the rest of the night was filled with super strong winds. We managed to get some iced tea samples before leaving, but it was so windy that I'm pretty sure I ate some dirt in the process... lol. I went for a walk after we got home. Also made a tiny wrap as we didn't really have dinner and ate some mango.

Today - Woke up super sore. Yup, carrying a bag of two water bottles with the bag hanging down past your back is not a great idea. Also it's not a great idea to walk in uncomfortable shoes. Went to the famjam's for dinner, played with Tofu and then went to get a couple of groceries. Eating some blueberries now.

Back to weekdays off

I'm now on my 4 week rotation where I have to work on weekends again, but get two weekdays off, so my weekend shenanigans were pretty much very limited this weekend, but I made the most of them!

Friday - We went for dinner at the famjam's and played with Tofu. We then went home and the boif went to go play disc golf and I went to the gym to get my workout. Refreshed my hair colour that night as well and then we watched a bit of Finding Dory.

Saturday - In the morning we went to get some vegan pancakes, then I went to a Stampede party with my friend and networked with some people from the realty business. 'twas a crowded party and so we couldn't find a place to sit so we just left after a couple of hours and got sushi at Point Sushi. Went home and then hung out with my friend around Inglewood and went to Dandy as well as LDV for some pizza. Had a few good chats about stuff. I also got my pineapple dole whip soft service from the Inglewood Drive In place. It was amazing, and only $1.04! My legs were super sore after the night.

Today I worked and then we went to Espressocafe for some lattes and some pastries. I got a charcoal fusion latte which was really interesting! For dinner we made some wraps and now I'm just writing this post and I'm going to catch up on some YouTube and then unplug for a few hours before bed. It's part of my app that I use, so I'm going to occupy that time with some journaling, colouring and magazine reading. Just keeping it super chill.

I kind of want to go to the gym today though... hmmm.... maybe I'll go do that! (Maybe.)

The plan for this week is to focus on going to the gym, eating as healthy as possible, going for walks, and continuing my freelance ventures!

Laid back

This week has been a really bleh kind of week. I didn't feel so good for a few days, feeling sluggish and had some cramps. :/

So this weekend was a bit of a recovery one, but managed to do a few things:

Friday - Went to my family's for dinner and then went to Starbucks for their buy one get one frappucino deal that was going on for the evening. Got a matcha frappucino and a triple mocha frappucino :D

Saturday - Went to try the new bullet train sushi place in town with a friend. The sushi was decent and the fried/hot food was pretty good. It was a really cool experience and it reminded me a lot of the conveyor belt sushi places in Japan. I was super happy. We then walked around downtown for a bit, I returned an eyeliner from Sephora and got store credit, we tried to find some blotting sheets for my friend but couldn't find any good ones. Showed my friend Mari bakeshop and she got some choux and rolls, it was nice to catch up with her! We went home and I took a nap on the couch. Watched Coco with the boif after.

Sunday -  We went to Dandy Brewery for some brunch and sample sizes, pretty great brunch spot. Had the bubble and squeak and our friend had the classic eggs benedict. We walked to the place and then walked back. I'm glad there was more walking involved this weekend rather than driving, it really makes me feel good when I can walk to places instead of getting a ride there or taking transit. It's pretty much my exercise, haha. The boif went to go play disc golf with our friend and I just relaxed and rolled around at home for a bit. Had fried rice for dinner with some kimchi and also ate some cake and icecream. Went for a walk to downtown for a bit, then went back home to watch the fireworks from our window. It was a nice view and the fireworks last for a long time for Canada Day.

Today I woke up feeling pretty shitty again. Took the morning off to sleep and stay hydrated, checked in again in the afternoon but during lunch I still wasn't feeling great. I decided to talk to a health concierge RN about my symptoms and it looks like I might have an infection of some sort (ahhh!) but the RN advised I should go see a doctor to get some bloodwork done if the symptoms still persist. I'm feeling much better after resting pretty much the entire day, now I just have my usual menstrual cramps so I'm ok. I have tomorrow off as a vacation day to do whatever, but if I need to go to the doctor I will.

Ate dinner at my parents house and bought a bunch of food/juice to help my cramps for the next few days. My leg muscles aren't feeling tightened up anymore, so that's good.