What are your most do's for the winter & if you have anything you think I should add to my list let me know! I can't wait to attempt to enjoy this winter considering the fact that I was cold & avoiding going out last winter. I know it's cold af in Ottawa like - 40 but I think if your warm then winter at that bad so you know I'm about to get me all my necessities this year that will last me multiple winters.

till next time

xoxo

lamrou

RBC Bluesfest is a festival that takes place every summer for 10 days at Lebreton Flats. There is a lot of different people who perform with three stages with about 4 shows per stage (varies every night), it’s pretty busy every night. I don’t really go to this festival every year because I’m usually busy or no one I’m dying to see come; I went once in 2013 to see Marianas Trench & this year for Lauv & Shawn Mendes. 

Jenna Nation was one of the openers & beyond amazing. She was apparently a local talent too. the crowd was not ready for her thou & couldn't fully appreciate her but I was vibing so hard; I need to listen to her & see if she's as good produced as she was live. Must check her out though.

Lauv I saw back in February & the post for it is here. He was even more amazing this time with such a lively energy & the crowd knew a lot more songs then I thought they would. My friends & I wore our shirts too so he could see us supporting him & jamming to a lot more songs then the rest of the crowd was. My shirt was also a long sleeve & I was dying cause it was hot af but totally worth it because Lauv I'm sure appreciated it; I literally took off my shirt as soon as he was done.

Chromeo was the last performance we saw before Shawn Mendes. I had no idea who they were until they played Jealous (I Ain't With It) then I knew I heard them before; the song is a total bop & I need to listen to more of there stuff. I absolutely loved their stage set up that was all chrome & fit there name. Also learned they were from Montreal hey Canadian performers. 

Shawn Mendes. Where do I even start? He was like that radio artist that I actually liked and wanted to hear more of his stuff; over the three albums he has evolved so much and I wonder where he will head next. His voice is just amazing & what he can do with it damn (listen to ). So seeing him live after jamming to him so much was just surreal as hell. I was trying to take in the moment instead of trying to catch every moment; I took pictures & made sure I got a few good ones but some songs I just sang along and just watched him perform. 

His performance was amazing. He is just a happy go lucky kid singing his songs with a big ass smile in his face; he’s actually a cutie. Also I didn’t realize until that day that he’s actually turning 20 next month I thought he was about 21 or 22 but he’s still a teen loool. 

So as soon as the summer solstice happened aka first day of summer on June 21st, it came full force with temperatures as high as 38°C. It has been pretty hot the past week & the upcoming forecast is looking like there shall be quite a few heat warnings; Ottawa has been on both ends of the wild weather spectrum this year with - 40°C in the winter & now almost 40°C in the summers. Nevertheless, hot summer days call for a ton of pool days & cold showers. Plus so many things I have planned that I can actually do because it's not deadly cold to be outside. My summer bucket list is out of control long so I'm going to just keep it to the things I know I will make happen & some things I'd like to do. Here is my list:

watch the final Vans Warped Tour & try not to cry once it's over

get a season pass so I can make multiple trips to Calypso Waterpark

go to all the free yoga class at Parliament Hill, Ottawa Art Gallery & Lansdowne Park

check out as many used book stores as I can get to

do some berry picking at Shouldice Berry Farm

check out one of the many fairs (Navan Fair, Capital Fair, Richmond Fair)

go to a baseball game

visit one of the few Farmer's Markets in the city

eat on patios & rooftop patios

take a bunch of polaroids &

go on a trip somewhere

Here is to making this a pretty fun & memorable summer. I shall be posting these adventures on my Instagram of course & I'll do a summer recap with pictures of all the things I actually made happen. So it's time to enjoy this heat we've been begging for those freezing winter days & when winter just didn't want to end in April.

till next time

xoxo

lamrou

So it’s been about a week since City of Om (lowkey been waiting for them to post their pictures before I posted this post but I’ll add them in later). This was the third year of the festival; I missed it last year but made it the first year, check out that post here. 

From the first year to this year they have grown so big to have many new & different sponsors & vendors. They also are bringing all kinds of studios; yoga, fitness, barre, etc for all the attendees to discover local spots they might not have known about & most of them give out free class passes which is amazing. I ended up getting the VIP Yogi pass which was a bit more than the regular pass & got you pre registration for certain classes & a picture with the photographer. 

The day started at 8am & finished at 7pm but I definitely was not there for it all cause that’s wild. I had work so I showed up around 11am & stayed until about 4pm. I didn’t get to go to as many classes I wanted because a lot of them overlapped & the cool black light classes were all full but I still got to attend 2 classes & visited almost every booth. 

My first class was Goddess Yoga at 12pm at the great lawn & can I say I don’t think anyone could have taught that class better than Michelle. I left hella liberated after that class. She had us doing some crazy sounds & being all loose & feeling comfortable with whatever we are doing and not worried about people but just doing what’s right for us and our bodies. I think I’ll be going to another Goddess Yoga class after that. 

My next class was #bodiesbyphil at 1:30 at the great lawn as well. I’ve done his classes before but it’s beeeeeen a while since & the way I died AND there wasn’t even any weights (my legs were dead for like 3 days later). I came for yoga & got a helluva workout instead which I wasn’t mad about. 

After those classes thou I just went on a hunt for food & checked out the booths. I wasn’t really feeling anything at the booths so I looked for like a snack & got a chia pudding. Lemme tell you it was weird as hell and I ate half only because they had fruit on top but I’m not cancelling them out maybe I’ll try it again & see how I feel. I think I ended up going home to eat something. 

I was gonna check out a 5pm class but after heading to The Movement’s booth where they were doing some manual therapy & active release therapy treatments (the line was long but it was definetly worth it, it was kinda of like physio but so much more adjusted & pain relief.  After visiting their booth I decided it was time to go home I was already hella tired & couldn't wait till the 5pm class. 

Overall it was great & I can’t wait to get back into yoga so I can do all these advanced poses & be able to call myself a true yogi. I also ended up signing up for the Lolë White Tour when I saw the girls from Lolë at their tent & they told me there was only a few tickets left (I got a ticket for $23 with a mat & goodies, what a steal). I’m excited for it cause it looks amazing with everyone in all white on yellow mats. To more yoga & being zen. 

till next year City of Om

namaste

lamrou

I created a spring bucket list & this is what it consists of so far:

These are the main things I wanna do & so of them may leak into being a summer bucket list if I don't complete them or if the weather wanna throw another ice storm our way. My insta is where you can keep with the happenings of this bucket list & I have a foodstagram where I plan to eat my way through the city so make sure you follow that @dafoodieplug.

What's the weather like where you live? Hope you've been blessed with spring already. Fingers crossed for us Canadians thou.

till next time

xoxo

lamrou

Buying clothes is the one thing I hate to do but it’s a necessity, plus I can be all cute & shit. When I’m rolling through the store, spending three hours in one trying on so many things, hating half of it & buying something only to see that 5 other people are wearing it- it’s hella annoying. I want to be able to be unique in the way I dress & sometimes that’s not possible shopping at the same popular stores in the malls Ottawa has. 

So this year I’m going to take myself on a mission to adventure out to these cute boutiques we got all around Ottawa & see what they have to offer. Yes, yes I know their shit is sometimes expensive as fuck but their deals are pretty nice & for first-time visits, you can get accessories & see what they have in their stores that you would even want. 

Out of all the boutiques I’ve seen in Ottawa, I’ve only shopped at a few. So this year I’ll attempt to buy some cute pieces that hopefully *fingers crossed* no one else has as well. 

These are the local Ottawa shops I’ve been to or discovered:

                             Top of the World                Trustfund & Roadtrip (sister stores)

               Viens Avec Moi                                                          Victoire 

                              

                  Nrml                                                              Zargara Label

                    JV Studios                                         Schad Boutique 

                      

                                      Vincent                                                Tallow   

        

Common Girl & Common (for mens)

                   

These stores are all only found in Ottawa & have some pretty sweet stuff. I follow all of their Instagram pages & creep all the nice things they have & I need.

So this is how I'm gonna challenge myself for this year. I'm going to visit these shops & try to see the other options we have out there. I'd like to buy at least one piece of clothing from these stores since they are kinda pricey BUT these stores have pieces that are statement pieces. I can't wait to find some clothing that is unique,  is great quality & something I'm sure others won't have.

till next time

xoxo

lamrou

After attempting to go  to Elevate Yoga about 3-4 times a week with my unlimited summer pass; that was 2 months of unlimited yoga, I hate to say I failed & didn't make as much use of the pass like I could've. However though, I definitely will be coming back to go for a whole month and make use of an unlimited pass. It's so hard to commit to exercise when it's a mission to get there, I had to pause my pass when I went on vacation & was preoccupied for a bit to go back. Let's not make excuses though & use this as a lesson.

I still did get something out of Elevate. First off, for whatever reason, I was able to make it to quite a few Monday evening classes. I think something in me was like you HAVE to go to those classes because those were one of the few Hot classes during the week that I could make out to. I would feel so amazing after that hot, sweaty class because all those toxins in your body come out in the sweat & then you’re soo refreshed after a shower. My first hot yoga class I came without a towel or change of clothes because I had no idea what kinda hot class it was going to be; I felt so disgusting going home but I learned that I had to come with things to take a shower & change since there is a place to do so.

Yoga is such a peaceful & calm form of exercise because you get to clear your mind & forget about everything for the hour you are there & be present in your practice. I usually feel so at ease & a lot calmer after my class & just leave all that negative energy behind. I might try to practice at home with my Smart TV or download an app on my phone or MacBook.

till next time

xoxo

lamrou

If you've been or know any other good things on the menu, comment down below so I can try them. Crust & Crate is looking to be on my list of favourite go-to restaurants in Ottawa.

till next time

xoxo

lamrou