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Showing posts from 2017

New York City Trip + Blogging Break :(

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Hey guys. So, as I'm sure you have noticed, I have been missing from the blogging world for about a month now...and for that, I am very sorry. Now this is usually when I'd say "but now, that's not going to happen, I'm in it to win it!" And I really, truly wish I could say that. I do. I love this blog so much, and writing for it makes me so happy and excited. However, I have had to prioritize. Right now is a really important time for me with coursework, and it is extremely important that I do as well as I possibly can...and I don't want to just whip up random posts that aren't even good, just for the sake of posting. And so it is with a heavy heart that I say...I'm going to be taking a break from the world of blogging/wattpad for awhile. I'll probably be back over the Christmas holidays, because I'll have time then, and I'll reassess at that point whether I have time to do more in the New Year. My hope is that I will, but I won&#

Book Review - Love & Gelato

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Hey guys! Happy Sunday :)) So today, I am back, with a book review! This one is called "Love & Gelato" by Jenna Evans Welch. Let's get into it :) First off, I loved it, and would totally recommend it. It was one of the books I stayed up half the night to finish, and loved pretty much every moment of it. I'll try and briefly tell you about it without giving too, too much away (BUT MAY CONTAIN SPOILER ALERTS...just warning ya...) - It's essentially about this girl (Lina, short for Carolina) who's mother recently passed away from cancer. She's never known her father...until now. She finds out that her father lives in Tuscany, and her grandmother sends her to live with him. She thinks she'll be miserable there...but then she meets Ren (short for Lorenzo). They become best friends, basically. And then she is given her mother's journal, from when she was in Italy, and they begin to uncover some pretty big secrets (read it to find out what!). One

Life in Canoes - A Metaphor

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Hey peeps! It's Sunday...so I'm back! This weekend, I was really lucky and had the chance to go up to a lodge and do some canoeing, hiking, and just being outside in nature with my family. I really, really enjoyed it (as I always do) and it really gave me some time to think. In light of this, I'd like to share with you all a metaphor I came up with this year, about canoes and life. So let's get into it :) Life is like a canoe. You're in the bow, or the stern (depending on whether it's lake or river canoeing haha), and you are steering yourself wherever you would like to go. Wherever the bow of the canoe is pointing, that's your direction. At any point, any action you take has the power to change your whole course. You might get off track , wanting to take a picture of a bird or making some decisions that perhaps weren't the best. But you always have the option to get back on your feet and keep moving. It's 1% what happens to you and 99% how you

How To Turn Any Day Around - Top 6 Tips

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Hello everyone! Long time no see! I have been SO inactive lately guys and I am truly sorry. School has caught up to me and I have had a heck ton of homework every night, as well as a bunch of events that have happened in the last month, and so I just haven't gotten the chance to log on and post at all:( I have missed you all, and writing every week, very, very much. I hope to get back on schedule soon, but honestly, no promises, and I'm really, really sorry about that. As much as I love blogging, school definitely takes priority. ALSO. I am planning on trying to film a school routine video, but idk when that will happen unfortunately cause my schedule has been a bit unpredictable lately. Hopefully I will be able to fit that in soon and make it happen though!! Anyways, let's get into the post :)) Are you in a rut? Are you feeling lazy, but need to get things done? Or are you just having a terrible, no good, horrible, very bad day, like Alexander? NEVER FEAR! You

Life Chats

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Hello hello! Happy Sunday! So, y'know what I just realized? I haven't done a life update/chat on my blog since DECEMBER. I've shared little bits and pieces, but it's been a few months less than a year since I have done a life update! Needless to say, a lot has changed since then! So, I thought I'd do another one for you guys today :)))) ^^Posted this on my insta last week :))) This past week has been pretty hectic for me, as the first week of school always is. We only had quick, fifteen minute intro classes, but we had a bunch of activities that always happen during the first week or so. I was at school until late pretty much every day, and so unfortunately, I've come down with a bit of a cold :( Hopefully I will get better soon though, with tea and a few early nights :) As I said on my insta, if you have me on there, on the first day of school, we only had to be there till early afternoon, so one of my best friends and I decided to make a day out of

August Faves | September 2017

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Hey hey hey!! How are you all today?? (That rhymed, so I'm a poet, okay?! :P) Can we just take a moment to appreciate Harry Styles' vocals?? Cause BRO. He just released the studio/live version of Two Ghosts, and it sounds THE EXACT same as the original!! I forgot I was listening to the real version every now and then, during the video, LOL. Anyways. How is it already September?? That's crazy, but I'm not gunna lie, I'm kinda excited about it. I mean, beanies and sweaters! And tea, in a mug!! I walked to the library the other day to get some work done, and wore a beanie, a sweater, had ginger tea in a travel mug, with some good music playing on the walk there. MAN OH MAN, I couldn't have been happier :) But because it is the start of a new month, I thought it would be the perfect time to do a favourites post! I haven't done very many of these, so I thought, why not? It's fun, and I enjoy writing + reading them, so I hope you will too!! Let's get

Q&A + tag

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Hey hey hey! How are you all? So, it's Sunday! Meaning, I'M BACK :)))) Okay, so I thought I'd do a combination post, since I only got one question haha :D So first for the question from  +Paige Petrovsky  : What made you want to start a blog ? THANKS FOR YOUR QUESTION :))))))  I had always kind of wanted to do something like this, before I started. I loved (and still love) writing, and photography. I had just read Zoella's book, Girl Online, and so decided that it would be super cool to start a blog myself!! And here we are, two years later, still lovin' it :)) Alright. Now, I'm super excited to be doing a tag today!!!! The lovely  Sweet Treats  nominated me for the Mystery Bloggers Award!! A massive thank you to them, I'm honoured!! You should definitely go check out their blog cause it is pretty freaking awesome!! :) Also, the creator of this award is  Okoto Enigma , who is also pretty cool!! You should definitely check out her blog as well. I

How I Think The Weasley Family Describes Me

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Hello hello!! So I know on my insta, I said I was going to do a school q&a...but since I forgot to put it in my last post, I got no questions lol. So that will be next week. Please leave any and all school/life questions below!! Or email them, or comment them on any of my insta pics :) I like to think I'm pretty good at giving advice. And if there's anything you want to know about me as well, you can leave those questions as well haha. ANYWAYS, without further ado, let's get into this post!! Here's how each family member of the Weasley family describes me.  1.  Love of food (Ron Weasley) Ron is practically in love with food, and honestly, same. Though I probably couldn't beat him in an eating competition, the love of food is still strong in this one :) 2.  Awkwardness (Ginny Weasley) I always laugh out loud at this scene with Ginny coming downstairs to see Harry sitting at the table. She stops mid sentence, and stares

In My Thoughts - Sarahah

HELLOOOO!! How are you all? Okay so recently, this app, or website, Sarahah, has been going viral. I keep seeing snapstories of people linking them, and around the internet people responding to them, so I finally decided to look at it and see what it was. NO, I did not get one. I just looked it up on google haha. For those who don't know, Sarahah is this anonymous messaging app where, in their words, you can, at work, "enhance your areas of strength" and "strengthen areas for improvement" with feedback from your coworkers, and you can, in terms of friendship, "improve your friendship by discovering your strengths and areas for improvement" and "let your friends be honest with you". Now, see, here's my issue with that. WHY on EARTH do we need an anonymous messaging app to be honest????? Can't we just say what we want to say to people's faces? If you can't say something to someone's face, why is it okay to hide behind a

DIY Notebooks

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Hey guys! Happy Sunday :) So, as promised on my insta, here is a post about DIY notebooks! I made these ones since I was getting tired of the old ones, so I gave my current ones a revamp :D And you can too! So without further ado, let's get into it! 1. Find notebooks you can do this with. I used a standard moleskine blue planner, and some colourful duct tape for the first one. 2. Take the tape and scissors, and measure out strips as long as the notebook, and then stick them on. 3. Do this till it's completely covered (or at least as covered as you want it), and boom, your finished product is ready :) ****** AN OPTIONAL ADD ON: On my second notebook that I did, I included a quote. To do this: 1. Find a quote you really like. 2. Save it. 3. Drag and drop into a word document. 4. Readjust the size to fit your notebook. 5. Print it. 6. Tape it on. 7. BOOM BA DA BOOM, you're done! :)))) Here are some pics of my final products: That

Ottawa Vlog

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Hey hey hey! Happy Monday! I am so sorry I didn't get this up yesterday, that was always the plan, but then we had family over last minute, so that took up most of the afternoon. However, that's summer for ya! And we had a really nice time, so that was good :)  How have your summers been? So this week, I am back with a vlog! I went on a trip to the city of Ottawa, Canada, for a couple days, and I have officially uploaded the vlog on youtube :) Unfortunately, since I took some video with my phone, some of it is rotated around. BUT ANYWAYS, here it is: Overall, I would absolutely recommend going to Ottawa, if you can! I really enjoyed the trip! Have any of you been to Ottawa? What did you think/where did you visit? I would love to know, so leave a comment down below! Anyways, if you haven't followed me on insta yet, you can do that  @getupandoutblog ! I'm trying to post every day, so give me a follow/like if ya want! It'd be much appreciated. ALSO. Do you

SURPRISE!! NEWS!!

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Hey guys! SURPRISE! I'm here! So I thought I'd pop on here for a second, cause I have something exciting to tell you all! Well, at least I'm excited haha. But first. Here's a pic of nature I just took on a walk, cause why not: Okay now for the news... I JUST GOT INSTAGRAM !! For this blog :))) I'm super excited to share my life with you guys through photos! It's gonna be a good time. I haven't posted anything on there yet, but I will in the very near future! So go give the insta a follow, if you like! It's  @getupandoutblog . I'll be posting on there very soon :) ALSO. This weekend, I am headed to the wonderful city of Ottawa. I am going to attempt to vlog it, which isn't something I've ever done for this blog before, so that should be exciting! I'll also try to post on instagram lots, and take lots of pics in general. I am SO excited and pumped for this trip, you guys have no idea! It'll be lots of fun, and hopefully lots of

Thoughts On: Beauty Standards

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Hey all! Sorry I didn't post this yesterday - I literally cleaned the entire day. We had brunch in the morning, got home around 12:30ish, and then from 1-11pm...I cleaned out my room. I'm redoing a little bit of it so I had to clean out those parts haha. If you guys want a room tour when I am finished, lmk in the comments!! I'm super excited for how it's going to look:) ANYWHO. When you're done reading this post, let me know your opinion in the comments below! I'd love to hear it. LET'S GET INTO IT! :))) For this post, I thought I'd share my thoughts with you on a certain word. This word is one that is widely used, and not for the right reasons. The word? Ugly. I don't particularly care for this word, as I feel it brings negative connotations to phrases where there shouldn't be any. I've been seeing it used a LOT lately, with hashtags such as #growingupugly, or #uglypeople. And these are POPULAR hashtags too! When we call people

Lion: A Review

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HELLOOOO! How are you all doing? So last night, I saw the movie Lion. OH. MY. GOODNESS. It was SO good, and SO sad and moving, and really well done. I cried throughout lots of it, to be honest. For those of you who don't know, Lion is a movie about a boy who is on a train when suddenly it starts to move, and he ends up being lost, away from his family, for 25 years. Oh, man. I'm honestly not sure how to put into words how and what the movie made me feel, but here goes. I'm going to try anyways. *MAY contain SPOILERS* It honestly made me feel grateful, for the life I have, and upset that this boy (and maybe others, I don't know) had to go through this. Cause it's based on a true story, and the main storyline and characters and all were real (well they were actors but the characters were real people). Which is crazy. Imagine being 5, and lost all alone in a big place like a railway station. And then, waking up and the train is moving. And THEN, when you fi

A BIG post of inspiration!

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Are you feeling that summer rut? You know, the one where you think you're going to accomplish SO MUCH this summer, when really, you're on your butt...day in, day out? Do you want to... GET OUT , of this summer rut? We ALL experience it, but never fear! For I have come with a big post of inspiration, which just might be the right dose for you to Get Up And Out, and start accomplishing your wildest dreams! Right here, right NOW ! So buckle up your seat belts, kids, for in this post, I'll be sharing tips, quotes, songs, and books, that will hopefully help you get inspired enough to accomplish everything you could ever dream of! So, what are you waiting for? LEGGO!!! Method #1. STOP the excuses. So, let's say you have this dream, of becoming a rock star. You dream of being up there on the big stage, singing your heart out. Or playing the piano. Or being a big soccer star. But when it comes to practicing your skills, you always seem to have an excuse rea

3 Life Lessons That Can Be Learned From Harry Potter

HELLOOO!! Sorry this is late again  :( but ladies and gents, in light of the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter that happened last week, I bring to you...life lessons from Harry Potter!!  1.  true friendship wins over everything, so be loyal. Examples of this: fights that the three have (such as Ron and hermione in the Goblet of Fire), and all of their loyalty in pretty much every book, since they always come out alive in the end! Stay true to your friends who will stick with you till the end.  2.  believe in yourself and you'll do it. Harry had no idea how to get the Philosophers stone from quirrel/Voldemort, but he believed in himself and in the end, he did! He was also the youngest seeker in like half a century for quidditch, but he never doubted himself and he became an amazing quidditch player! Never doubt your capability, cause you can do ANYTHING you put your mind to.  3.  when in doubt, go to the library This lessons is

Sarah Dessen - Dreamland

HELLO!! Sorry I didn't post yesterday. :/ I meant to, but I'm here now, so that's what counts, right? :) Anyways. I've been reading much more recently, and this last book really hit me hard. So I thought I'd pop on here and do a quick review of it. *Warning - may contain spoilers* (I tried not to though). Sarah Dessen is one of my favourite authors to begin with. I love (and own) quite a few of her books. I was recently at the library, and borrowed like 4 or 5 more, and this last one - Dreamland - I finished the other night. Oh, man. First, I need to say, that at the start, I wasn't so sure about this particular book. A few chapters in, I wasn't all that into it. Probably had something to do with the fact that I couldn't really relate to the character. If I didn't want to become a cheerleader, chances are I probably wouldn't. But this character - Caitlin - let herself be pressured into it by her best friend. Yes, I get it. You're consta

Spontaneity

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Guess who's back? Back again? Iris is back! Tell a friend! (Lowkey had to look up the rest of the lyrics cause I didn't even know what the song was called. Solid. Google had my back on that one!) But yeah! If you couldn't tell, I'M BACK! ON SUMMER VACAY YO! I'm honestly so excited. This summer is gunna be fun, productive, and amazing! Part of why I am so excited is that I am finally in control of my life, and it's a great feeling. I'll spare you all the details, but basically there were certain courses that I was mandated to take but I didn't find interesting, and I really struggled in them, meaning they took up a LOT of my time in order to do well. However, I put in the time, so that next year, I am able to take only the courses I want to take, and am genuinely interested in. I am SO pumped, you have no idea. So now, I feel much more in control of my life. BUT ANYWAYS. That's not the point of this post. Today I wanted to talk to you all abou

Exam break :(

Hey guys. So, as I'm sure you have realized, though I have been trying to keep up with posts, it has been getting harder and harder as I get later into the school year - which is the busiest time. And so, I have decided to take a break from blogging - but don't worry, just till exams are over. I love blogging so, so much, but I just don't have time this next month and a half. I really need to focus and do well in these exams, and I decided that in the little spare time I have, reading is probably best, as it helps improve my vocabulary and knowledge for my english exam. I hope you all understand. I will be back as soon as my exams are done, and I have lots planned for the summer that I'd really like to do as well :) Hopefully the break will leave me feeling even more inspired and ready to rock this summer!! To all of you guys reading this, I'm really sorry, and also know that I love you all lots, thank you so much for reading my blog! I will be back and

How To Prepare For Exams Like Hermione Granger

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HEEEY Y'ALL. Sorry I didn't post last week :((((( I'm trying to get better, I promise!  BUT ANYWAYS. For this week's post, I thought I'd do an exams post, with a little harry potter theme (cause who doesn't love HP? And I've been rereading them lol). So, without further ado, let's get into it!  1.   Start early!   Hermione literally always seems to be studying, or doing homework of some sort. And I mean, it clearly works for her. So if you're looking to do well, it's time to take a page out of her book (or rather, JK Rowling's... *insert smirking face*).  2. Speaking of books, read everything you can. She literally reads everything, and you should do the same! If that means your whole textbook, well, that'll only help you out. Remember that. And reading will help you become a better writer, to boot!   3.  Don't lower your standards for yourself, rather, raise them. Hermione never expected less than perfection from