Mathare in Focus

Happy Monday everyone!

It's back to business for me, with another busy week ahead of me. I'm posting this suuuuper behind schedule since work kind of took over and then I was busy running around doing some volunteer stuff, and then I got sucked into roomie hangout time. Which is always a good time if you ask me ;)

Mathare in Focus

Speaking of volunteer work, the organization that I work for - Canada Mathare Education Trust (CMETrust) - has an event on Thursday night at Pressed Cafe in Ottawa. Check out the event details here.

It's an annual event that we have that displays photos taken by the scholars that we support with scholarships for children from the Mathare slum in Nairobi, Kenya to go to high school. Pretty amazing. 

If you feel like getting fancied up (or not - it's not mandatory) and enjoying some refreshments, hear some awesome spoken word, see some beautiful pictures and have some good chats, I would love to see you all there!

I'll be back tomorrow with a recap from my sister spa date on Saturday (I know, I'm so behind!) and the recipe for my fav lentil and kale medley - you have already seen a picture of it if you follow me on Instagram :)

Have a great rest of your night!

11/24 Pics from the Weekend and Fitness for the Week

Hi friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! I was able to see a bunch of my fav people and have some good quality relaxation time and even a bit of dancing. Gotta love the dancing ;)

The perfect way to unwind after a long work week :)

Ottawa became a winter wonderland overnight

Playing with my parents dog, Bella, in Chelsea. Loaf her.

A yummy dinner at my parents place with my little sister, a friend and her little sister. 

Sister double date?

More on that tomorrow ;)

My oatmeal marathon continued (you will all be happy to note that I finally did groceries today)

Lunch date at Stella in the Byward market with my soon-to-be travel buddy!

We did NYC, now we're onto South East Asia :)

'Tis the season of...tacky Christmas trees?

I prefer the real deal - Christmas trees taking over the Byward market place 

The perfect way to warm up on a chilly day - spiked eggnog and good chats with a friend :)

Fitness for the Week

I'm pretty sure that this week will be just as crazy at work as it has been for the past little while, so I'm going to try to get up early (I know, such a strange concept) to get in my workouts this week - wish me luck ;)

Monday - Hiit

Tuesday - Pilates

Wednesday - Yoga

Thursday - Hiit

Friday - Pilates

Saturday - OFF

Sunday - Runday :)

You will notice a serious lack of running on my schedule for this week - the sidewalks are seriously treacherous around my place right now and super icy from the recent snow that we got in Ottawa, so I want to wait until it has cleared up a bit before I head out for a run. I'm okay with running in the cold, but I can barely even walk on the sidewalks right now - safety first!

Have a great week every one :)

11/22 Friday Faves

Morning friends!

Its...FRIDAY!!! I don't even care that it is slightly on the gloomy side here in rainy Ottawa, I don't think I've ever been this relieved to have two wonderful days off to rest and continue (start?) to organize my upcoming trip. Exactly a month away now - MEEP!

Breakfast

I had full intentions of finally going to the grocery store last night, but instead sat down for a some vino with one of my roomies. So, it was oatmeal (again) for breakfast.

I threw in some ground flax seed, cinnamon and sunflower seeds. I love putting chopped nuts and seeds in my oatmeal since it gives it a bit of a bite :)

Friday Faves

I'll keep it short and sweet today.

Clinique Facial Care

A few of my close friends swear by Clinique, and since my face has been a bit out of control - stress is an awful, awful thing - I finally broke down and got the whole kit and kaboodle.

[Momster and Popster, avert your eyes. I couldn't help it!]

Yes, it even came with the kaboodle. [Just kidding, I have no idea what a kaboodle is...]

I will give you a full review of it in a few weeks, but its pretty fair to say that I love it already :)

Kobo Glo

So, I've been pondering whether or not I want to get an electronic reader device for my upcoming travels. I've done a bit of research (okay, so I just googled 'what's the best electronic reader') and it seems like the Kobo Glo is a cheaper version of the Kindle, but also lets you read in low-lit places. Which seems ideal for travelling.

[Source]

I haven't decided yet, but I think I'm going to go for it. It seems like a much better. Now that I will be lugging huge bottles of Clinique face care around the world with me [I got the light face cream so that it will still work in humid climates. I know, I'm ridiculous], I need to save all of the weight in my bag that I can ;)

Question of the Day:

• Do you have an electronic reader? Any recommendations on which type is the best bang-for-your-buck?

Linking up with: Simply Lulu Style

Rasmusson Visit

Hi all!

Hope you all had wonderful Thursday :)

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Elisabeth Rasmusson today, who is the Assistant Executive Director of  the UN World Food Programme (WFP). I was coordinating her schedule with her assistant, so it was super amazing to finally meet with her and hear updates about WFP's response to the Philippines, the crisis in Syria and the region, as well as recent private-sector partnerships that WFP has initiated.

I let my inner international relations dorkiness shine ;)

Here is a picture of her [in the middle with the yellow scarf] at an event yesterday with representatives from the Micronutrient Initiative, EarthGroup, Tilda, DSM, McCann Global Health and BSAF, along with some colleagues of mine, including the Assistant Deputy Minister for my branch, Diane Jacovella [lady with the awesome power skirt suit, curly hair and pearl necklace].

So, after a rare moment of relief that I had finally conquered something on my to-do list, it was back to business for me ;)

Workout

I did another HIIT workout tonight. Woot. Check it out here.

Also, my roomie and I now have a challenge going where we do 100 sit-ups when we get up and 100 sit-ups before bed. Because...why not?!

Food for Thought:

Surprising foods that have more sugar than a Krispy Kreme doughnut

Oatmeal for Days

Morning friends!

I had a skype date with my friend in Japan this morning, bright'n'early. It was great to hash out a few of the details for my upcoming trip with her - its handy that she knows how to navigate the Japanese airplane websites ;)

I'll be giving a bit of an update on my travel plans later today...getting excited / nervous / scared / PUMPED!

Oatmeal for Days

I didn't do groceries yesterday. Oops.

Right in the peanut butter jar :)

Oatmeal for breaky again today. Hopefully it will keep me powered up for the whole morning - Elisabeth Rasmusson, the Assistant Executive Director for WFP (the UN World Food Programme) is visiting our office later this morning, and I have been coordinating her meetings...fingers crossed everything runs smoothly!

I'll be back tonight with an update on my travel plans and a recap from the day - is it ridiculous that I'm excited to meet her?! Dorky international relations moment :)

Dinner at Saigon

Just in case you were wondering, the video that I posted under the recipe for chocolate pomegranate clusters really does work [see post here]

I tried the technique last night and it was AMAZING. I was able to de-seed a pomegranate in about 2 minutes. Whereas it would usually take me about...half an hour. Now I want to eat them all the time!

I had some as a snack today. So delish.

Dinner at Saigon

A friend of mine called me just as she was finishing work at 5pm and asked me if I wanted to meet at Saigon in the Byward market for dinner.

Um, is that even a question..?

I took this as a sign that I should leave work at a somewhat reasonable hour and have a delicious shrimp vermicelli bowl and have some good girly chat time. A wonderful taste explosion.

Workout

So, call me crazy, but I decided to do another workout today. I signed up for the latest Bodyrock 5 day challenge and the first workout [find it here] looked so awesome that I couldn't resist.

I only did 3 rounds, but here are my times - try to beat me ;)

Round 1 - 3:51

Round 2 - 3:27

Round 3 - 3:15

I really gave'r at the end...a quick little sweat session :)

Day of the Child

If you didn't already know, today is the Day of the Child: check out UNICEF Canada's webpage for more info, if you're interested!

Have a great night!

Health Break

Morning friends!

Did you get a chance to check out some WASH-related videos from the post last night? The Matt Damon one. So good.

Breakfast

I really have to do groceries. Like, real bad. I am so thankful that I froze some chili that I made the other week [see the recipe here] since it has been keeping me going this week for lunches. I have been making oatmeal all this week - I can't really complain, though, since I could have it for breakfast pretty much every day and still be a happy camper :)

I went all out this morning and splurged on some Zico coconut water, latte flavour, instead of coffee - deliciously hydrating and still has a bit of a caffeine boost. Loves it!

I wish I had a stockpile of these...

Health Break

I had full intentions of being an eager beaver this morning and get up bright'n'early to go out for a run.

...that didn't happen.

I made the executive decision that a bit more shut-eye was better than running around in the pre-sunrise chill outside. The extra sleep felt amazing :)

I brought my running gear to work, knowing that it would be crazy busy, and then thought what the heck, I'ma go for a run! It was wonderfully sunny outside, so I decided to take a bit of a health break - both physically and mentally - and get away from my desk for a bit.

I came back to the office feeling rejuvenated and ready to tackle the rest of my to-do list!

Have a great day!