Fall…

Hello Fall,

Fall officially started on September 22nd, and well-being in Vancouver meant it rained and soon won’t really stop raining. And doesn’t everybody love the rain…

I personally hate the rain. I wear the biggest jacket I can when it starts to rain that goes from head to toe. My dogs don’t like the rain either. We go on some of the shortest walks during the rainy season. Just so they can go to the bathroom becasue if they get too wet, they freak out, which is adorable, but they aren’t the happiest.

Fall also means it is Gilmore Girls season! And back to meal prepping…

I am about to start watching Gilmore Girls for some back-to-fall rituals. It’s such a good show and just relaxing and doesn’t need any focus, which I love.

As well as coming into fall and getting back into routine meal prepping and regularly scheduled meals fall back into order. I have been loving making dinner lately and prepping meals for the week, which is something I have never done and something my mom never did, but I have found fun. Some of my favourite things to do is prep meat for a few nights, and then when I have some leftovers, I turn that into a StirFry, fried rice, etc.…

I also have been making granola bars. I have perfected my recipe, which is so so good it takes about 40 minutes to make and makes 12-14 bars, and it lasts me sometimes two weeks. I eat them for breakfast, or if I am starving and heading out somewhere, I love them when I am on the go.

And last but not least, the grocery shopping. With me being out of school, I have a lot more time on my hands. So, I fill it up with cooking, doing errands, working on my blog, and other fun and exciting things that I will be talking about in the next couple of blogs.

But until then keep on meal planning and enjoying the fall colours.

XOXO

Hadley

Back to School

We are in the second week of September now. School has started, and everyone is returning to their program routines. Summer has left, and fall is approaching. So many things come with saying back to school.

My favourite part is the routine that falls back into order, and you can follow a schedule daily. Whether it’s work or kids going to school with after-school programs five days a week, there is a schedule of what you will be doing.

My family’s back to school this year has been a bit different. I graduated in June, so I am not going to school for the first year since I was five, which is very weird. My middle sister started a new high school this year, and my youngest sister started a new elementary school this year. It has been a bit of a rough start for us, but I think getting back into the routines, going back to everything and transitioning back into life almost after a summer of doing whatever.

The next best thing about returning to school is fall, which comes with fall outfits. I know how everyone loves their pumpkin spice lattes and pumpkin pie and all that, but I do not like that. I am not a massive fan of fall flavours, but I am a huge fan of fall fashion.

I love vests, flannel, timberlands, bluestones, cute sweaters, etc.…

It isn’t too cold, so you can still look super cute and rock some amazing outfits. It is the perfect time.

SURPRISE

Hello beautiful people,

I missed last week’s post for a good reason…

My grandmother’s birthday was this past Saturday, and my sister and I wanted to throw her an amazing birthday party. So casually, a week before her birthday, we started planning like crazy and making decorations for a big surprise party for her.

We couldn’t do it Saturday becasue that would be too obvious. On Saturday, we took her out for dinner. And then to a concert she wanted to see, so she had no idea we had something planned the next day.

On Sunday, my mom took my grandma out shopping and did a whole bunch of stuff for the entire day so my sister and I could decorate and prepare. It took us 10 hours, but it was so worth it. We transformed our entire kitchen into a diner and the rest of the home into everything from the 60s. It was extremely fun to do it, and my grandma was surprised and happy with everything. She had no clue what she was walking into when she returned that evening.

It felt so nice to be able to give her a birthday party she has never had before, with everyone there who loved her, and it was made with love. We put so much work and thought into it, but it is becasue we love her and knew she would appreciate it, and sometimes you have to do things for other people.

We did our best to make everything perfect and very personal and right to the detail. In our family, we always go all out for birthdays, and this was our turn to go all out for my grandma.

It is totally worth it to fill other people’s buckets by making nice gestures for them.

XOXO

Hadley

Hello August

Happy August!

As fall approaches, I like to start to change things up…

Change up my hair, what I’m wearing, and my nails. Even if it is small, I still like to change it up. Changing things up every season is a way I like to keep everything unique and inserting, making it not boring. 

Last fall, I changed my hair and went completely blonde, then dyed it temporarily pink in the winter, and now this time, going into the fall, I went darker caramel/honey colour with my hair, and I am obsessed with it. I love changing my hair colour. I like to keep one hair colour for a bit, but then I get bored and need a change. 

As a person, you are always growing and changing, and some people have a hard time growing and moving on. And others don’t; they can grow, move through things and make their way through life where, as some people may still be stuck in a space they were in five-ten years ago. 

Seasonal changes would be good if you are one of those people who may find it hard to grow, change, or move on from things.  It gives you a way of changing something that can be small or large if you want and help you grow and change.

Start with something small, getting up earlier or trying something new. Doing 5 minutes of meditation every day, getting up and working out, changing your wardrobe or hair as I try to do. This will allow you to learn to adapt to change. As well as think about your mindset when you are changing something. If you go into things with a negative mindset, the change will be more difficult than if you enter it with a positive mindset.

With any changes people go through because they are constantly happening, you have to keep a positive mindset towards it all. However, you can find that for yourself and keep that positive mindset, even if that means you are making changes or just rolling with the changes that happen.

XOXO

Hadley

Makeup A Better Day

I started wearing makeup when I was in Grade 7…

I remember being told that when I got to Grade 7, I would be allowed to wear makeup to school, and I remember the day I got all of my makeup, and my mom showed me how to use it. I was so excited, I had been waiting for this for ages. 

From then on, day after day, I got up at 6 AM every single day to do my makeup and get ready for school. At that point, my makeup was not very good. My foundation did not match my skin, and I couldn’t blend anything, but I was so happy and doing my makeup every day made me feel even more confident in myself, more than I already was. 

I did my makeup every morning for three years, and after becoming homeschooled, I didn’t feel the need to do it as much. I made sure when I did my makeup, I did it becasue I wanted to, not becasue I was doing it for someone else. And every single time I did it, I got better and better and every time I even just put on a bit of makeup, it made me feel better, happy and confident in myself and what I was doing. 

And it doesn’t do that for everyone I know. However, for the people it does give confidence too, I think they should take it for advantage. It doesn’t make you bad or whatever comes to mind when you think of someone who wears makeup daily. It means you found something that makes you feel like you, and you will embrace it. 

Some days now, I may not be feeling my 100%, but I know when I go to do the things I like, like put a little makeup on, make my hair look cute and maybe throw some cute sweatpants on, then I know my day will be just a bit better than when I woke up. It won’t fix everything, but it is a start to having a better day. And sometimes you have to find what does that. Do whatever it takes to make you feel good, proud and confident in yourself.

XOXO

Hadley

A Little Bit About Me

I have an About Me page on here, but I think it only hits the surface of the things about me. You would need a book to get to know me, but I will give you the cliff notes here on some important facts.

I was born and lived for 16 years in a small town in Nothern, British Columbia. This last year my family and I moved to Vancouver, which was a change and not at the same time becasue we had a vacation home and had been travelling here for multiple years. So to us, it was a second home, and now we are just living here full-time.

I have had a pretty busy life doing a lot of different things…

One huge thing that has been a part of my life is dance. I have been to dance camps, working one-on-one with instructors, then eventually moved on to open my own studio where I first started private lessons, then I moved on to doing full classes. After about a year of teaching, I soon moved to a bigger space, had around 50 dancers, and taught a half dozen to a dozen classes a week. When I started teaching, I found it amazing to show people how to dance, show them a form of movement, exercise and a way to express emotion. I started teaching as young as two-year-olds and seeing them advance each week was so fun.

I adventured off between dancing and teaching and wanted to try something different.

I entered the Miss Teenage Canada Pageant at the end of Covid when people were allowed to reunite. So, it was a bit different from other people’s experiences. I entered the pageant, not sure what would happen, thinking it would be a fun thing to do.

It was postponed a couple of times when Covid hit, as the first stage of the pageant was supposed to happen in April. Then It finally took place in July 2020. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, and it was so much fun and sort of scary.

I won Miss Nothern British Columbia and made it to Miss Teenage Canada, where I competed with 30 lovely other girls and made it to the top 10 in the competition. And I could probably say I was so happy with that, and it was good enough, but I was pretty upset. I remember leaving that stage and holding back my tears becasue I was so upset I didn’t make it any further. And I walked back to my hotel room, and then I just started crying, and my mom was there for me becasue I did not want to be upset becasue it was stupid, but I just was.

I got over it and then moved on to the next Pageant because that is what you do in the pageant world. I made it in that one and was supposed to go to Florida; however, Covid again postponed it, and then when I was supposed to go, I chose to stay with my family becasue it was more important.

And then I took a step back and looked at the pageant world and everyone in it and decided it was not for me. The people, the competition, it just really was not for me. So, I decided to stop and retire the crown. It was a good three years. And that was good enough for me.

Dance and pageants were a big part of my life, and dance is still huge.

There is so much more about me, but these are two big things.

XOXO

Hadley

Who Am I (2023)

I wrote what I would like to say my first blog post after I competed in my first big pageant back in August 2020. Then life got away from me.

I was getting into my last couple years of high school, I got a job that required a lot of hours and was just busy. So my social life took the back burner. I wouldn’t say that it is terrible because I got to do a lot of other things and made memories, but now coming to the end of High school. Graduation…. I need something to fill my time. So, I am going to start here.

Who Am I? That is what I wrote as the title, so you would think that is what this would be all about. But that is a question many people ask, and nobody knows the answer to it. At least, I don’t think anybody really has an understanding of who they really are.

So many people have two personalities in one, I think. We live in this weird age where we try so hard to make people happy on social media with posts we make or if we go out to the grocery store. You are having a bad day, but you see someone you know, so you put on a smile that says my life is good, and I am happy because you are worried about what other people think. And you never really show your true self besides when you are alone or with your family or maybe not at all.

How many people do you run into that are so happy and bright and full of joy, but have you ever taken a second look at them and thought maybe they are having a really tough time? Maybe their life is falling apart. Maybe somebody just passed away that was really close to them. Maybe they are trying just to put on a front so nobody knows what is actually going on in someone’s life, even if they look happy. They could really be happy, but I just think you never really know.

Okay, but who am I?

Am I going to talk about who I really am? Or just who I make myself out to be for social media and everyone else…

I don’t think I know who I am yet. These last three years have been stressful, crazy, life-changing, and a time I won’t understand entirely yet and maybe not ever.

However, I have made the most of it even though it has been challenging and sometimes like there is no end to the challenging times. I accomplished a lot under pressure because I knew I couldn’t stop everything. I had to push through and keep getting my stuff done.

I am still figuring out who I am and will continue to figure out who I am forever. Because I am always growing and changing and figuring out more of who I am.

Who I Am (2020)

Hello everyone,

I am a 14 year old girl with 2 younger sisters, and a amazing supportive family. I am Miss Teenage Northern British Columbia; I won this title in July 2020. I have had the opportunity to travel to Toronto Canada, where I competed in Miss Teenage Canada National pageant and made it to the top 12. It was such an amazing experience. I got to meet so many people and made great friends. I gained self confidence, and confidence in public speaking.

I love to travel to different places and experience different cultures and try new foods. I have travelled to 6 different countries. I recently travelled to France where my mom and I did a one week cooking class, we got to try new foods and got to see all the historical sites. My favourite place we visited was the Eiffel Tower because you can see the whole city from up high.

I have danced since I was 18 months old, as I got older I started to dance competitively and won several medals. This year I opened my own dance studio where I teach ages 18 months to 12 years old. In my classes you will learn discipline, technique, different exercises you can do at home. I love teaching young children about the different styles and the different exercises you can do.

I want to be a role model to young girls and show them you can do anything you want if you set your mind to it. No matter where you come from or what your background is, you can do anything. I want to also teach girls that pageants are not bad that they can actually teach you so many life skills, self confidence, public speaking and many more things.