• Carry On: I think this might be one of the most important points which is annoying because I had this on my last trip & it made things so much easier for me but this time I struggled to find a nice new one & instead just opted for the shittier alternative. A backpack is an ABSOLUTE MUST as a carry on bag. When you are checking in your bag, going through security, getting food, looking for your passport & boarding pass, leaving the airport during your layover etc. Life is sooo much easier hands-free. I had a purse with a long strap but it was heavy & a nuisance; I was also carrying another bag on the way there & a carry on bag on the way back so my hands were full.  Speaking of carry on, I don’t know why I didn’t get myself one of those cute ones that roll around & don’t need to be lifted unless you are putting it in a bucket for security clearance or into the overhead when you board the plane. I tried to take the easy way out & just take my gym bag because it was easily available at home; carrying that bag was a bitch & walking down the aisles of the plane with it & my purse was just a hot mess.
• Suitcase: Cheap should never be your first thought when getting things for your trip because for one, if you get a good one the first time you won’t need to get another one for the next trip, especially if it’s gonna be something that bugs you during your whole trip. I wanted to get this suitcase but it wasn’t in my budget & I ended up finding a decent one for $5o which I thought was a steal.  My one thing with choosing a suitcase was that it needed to have 360 wheels so that it would glide next to me as I walked. I was over the age of dragging a suitcase behind me & wanted to make life easier. The day I left my house for my trip, I regretted my choice immediately. The wheels went whichever way they wanted to go & never went the way I needed them to go; sometimes they would get stuck & not move & I’d almost fall over the suitcase. I ended up getting bruises from it and the zippers inside ripped. So much face palming & regret.

• Planning: RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Very important part of travelling. You need to have some sort of a plan per day, you shouldn’t depend on people to always take you out & show you all the cool things you want to see because they might not know what & where there are or the type of things you are into. A detailed itinerary isn’t what you need but you need one big thing you want to do for each day you’re there. It gives you a pinpoint of where in the city you’ll head to for the day & it'll give you some sort of plan for the day. Winging it is an option as well but depends on if you are solo or the type of crowd you're with. Also if you're in a big city & there is so much to do, it could be very overwhelming; some days I wasted time trying to decide where I wanted to eat & what I wanted to do.

• Packing: Everyone told me I was over packing & that I didn't need 7 pairs of jeans, 2 sneakers, heels & all these tops but I refused to listen to any of them. I didn't need any of it. I hated majority of what I packed and I barely had space to go shopping & bring things back. I learned a lot about how to organize outfits & how it's better to just leave things behind & buy things I may need, later on. 

till next time




xoxo


lamrou

• Wheelhouse Cycle 

• The Dailey Method 

• OCR Academy

• Iron North Studio

Next up on my fitness journey is yoga. The month of July & August was spent at BodiesbyPhil which was amazing & probably going to be a place I still go to once a week because I'm too obsessed to leave but, I still want to try other studios because Ottawa is filled with a bunch of great ones.

I happened to have also stumbled upon Elevate Yoga where they have a summer special which is $67 for TWO MONTHS of unlimited yoga which makes getting fit look even better. I was gonna pay more elsewhere for a month of unlimited, but this sounds like a waaaayy better deal PLUS they throw in towel service too; perfect for those hot, sweaty yoga classes. I just wanted to do one month of daily yoga but this deal is going to have me going for 2 months which is still gucci & I can put it on pause if I need to as well which is nice.




After those two months of being dedicated to being active, I will switch it up to a different studio (yoga, cycling, personal fitness, gym etc) & do reviews of the different ways you can work out in Ottawa. It shall be a fun adventure & when you're a new member to a studio you get to sign up at a cheaper price that includes unlimited access & maybe some extra perks to probably let you see how you like it before committing at the regular price. Each studio is priced & designed differently.

I look forward to starting on this yoga adventure & will update you at the end of month number one on how it was & which classes I enjoy more. I hope to be more flexible than I was before & understand what all the poses are & how they are done a.k.a. not be confused when they tell you to get into a certain pose (at Parliament Hill Yoga everyone around me was confused on the pose that was asked of us & just waited to get into the next one that we all knew ahaha).

Stay tuned for the tweets & instastories that will take place during that one month of commitment & stretching EVERY day for a month, actually like a few times a week, let's keep it real. So make sure you're following my Twitter & Instagram.

Summer is almost over & I've been saying I'm going to get fit since Jan yet it's August now & I'm still not fit. However, it's never too late & I finally figured my shit out & got all the necessary things needed to workout because you know without it all, working out doesn't feel right & you're not comfortable. So once I signed up for a place to workout & got my bus pass & my yoga mat, it was time to get the rest of the important things.

First off I needed a pair of all black leggings. I had Lululemon ones that I lost somewhere in my house or god knows where & have been desperately missing them. When I went to the mall to get new black ones I decided to get something cheaper that is just as good too so I went for a pair of Under Armour ones. I've heard good things about them & I was told right cause they are comfy as can be & just the right amount of stretchy. I love colourful & patterned leggings so there shall be more added to my collection especially the more I workout. 




After that pair, I had to step up my leggings game & get another, so the next time I was in Toronto, I hit up the Adidas store & found this beauty. 



These leggings are my absolute favourite ones & the colour is just so perfect; the best kind of blue there is out there. This is where my leggings collection starts because you know I will be wearing nothing less than crazy colours & patterns because that's how I roll.
Shoes. I joined a personal fitness studio & they have a rule of only indoor shoes & I have no idea where the one pair of working out Nikes were so that meant I needed to get a new pair that were just perfect. I don't think I've spent more than $100 on shoes before but I realized that I didn't wanna get a basic pair & hate them while I worked out so I took the plunge & invested in the perfect pair. I went to Sport Check, Foot Locker, Little Burgundy & finally Nordstrom, where I found the perfect associate who helped me find exactly what I was looking for. I needed a pair that was perfect for training & wouldn't give me crease marks when I was bending my foot in the shoe. I was debating between the pink & the black but black was the way to go especially with the different types of leggings I'm always wearing.

While at Sport Check, I found a pack of Under Armour headbands that I grabbed so quick because if you guys follow me on Instagram you will see me with my crazy hair sometimes & when I'm working out it's even more wild so I needed some headbands to make it look somewhat controlled. They had the cutest patterns & colours too with a non slip lining inside to make it stay as best as possible on my head. They won't stay there perfectly, they slide back & move around depending on how long you have it on for & what you are doing but nonetheless they are perfect.

That's all I have currently obtained but my workout clothes shall be more than that. These are a few things I have my eye on at the moment:

Kingston was an absolute adventure & I can't believe I've never gone before when it's just an hour & a half drive away. I decided that enough was enough & it was time to go discover this HUGE province of Ontario that I live in. My goal would be to one day discover a least a good chunk of Canada but that starts with the province I live in.

The drive there was pretty chill except a stop to fill up a flat tire which some wonderful citizen yelled out her window to let me know about it, bless her soul I had no idea. That drive there however made me realize I need an abundance of playlist as well as one that's a minimum of 4 hours because I need to music to not stop & to please my soul of all kinds of genres I want to jam to; sing alongs, scream alongs, mellow vibes, & so much more.

The first thing we noticed as we drove into Kingston is how small the city is because you know we are used to these huge buildings & just a big city living in Ottawa & basically living in Toronto. Then we saw the Tragically Hip Way street & died laughing. Canada out here representing the big names we have & Kingston had to let everyone know they from their city; it was pretty cool that they are a street in their hometown.

First stop on our adventure in the small town was to get some food cause we was starving even though we got a little something from Starbucks before we left Ottawa, we needed real food. We were trying to get brunch but the wait was too long so we wandered until we found some place the looked good & stumbled upon a cute little italian restaurant called Olivea. I kinda regret not getting actual food but for some reason I just wasn't hungry anymore. I did however get a side of fries with this amazing aioli; I just wish I could remember what kind it was cause it was blessed. I also shared the grilled squid with spicy red sauce & aioli which was pretty good. My sister got the Penne Pomodoro & added chicken was good. Once we all ate we were ready too go explore downtown of the city.