Motivation fail.

I haven't done anything even remotely exercise related in a long time. I'm so out of shape, I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle holding my friend's newborn baby over the weekend.

Pants as limp as my intentions

I've stopped buying snacky foods, but find myself making cookie dough in "single serving" sizes, just to eat it raw (1 part butter, 2 parts sugar, 3 parts flour, a smattering of chocolate chips - doesn't bake up well, but so little effort, and tastes great raw. Shhh... don't tell Healthy Cara I told you the recipe!)

I've made Tim Hortons a fairly regular stop while I wait between buses.

These weekly "Wednesday Wellness" blog posts should have been decent enough motivation, but we all know how non-exercise related they have been as of late. Accountability? What's that? (Did anyone else get some Blink 182 stuck in their head just now? No? Just me who is stuck in 1999?)
I've even gone so far as to buy a pair of pants that SHOULD fit me, but are a smidgen too tight. Even knowing 8 glasses of water and a dozen or so squats a day will get me into these pants in less than a month is failing to motivate me.

Instead, I'm resorting to religious tradition. Today marks the first day of Lent. As penance for my lazy and slothful ways, I have decided that I'm going to use these 40 days as an opportunity to begin healthier, productive habits. Specifically, I am giving up my snooze button. Waking up and getting out of bed a full 30 minutes earlier (ok, 27. My snooze button only provides a 9 minute reprieve) should not only give me enough time to, say, get in a glass of water and maybe a dozen or so squats, it should also give me plenty of time to eat a balanced breakfast.

What do you do when even the best of intentions falls short?

Cardigans & Blazers Week

After doing a rather thorough tidy this weekend, I decided to count my blazers. Twice. I didn't quite believe the number the first time. Sure enough, both counts came to 15. When I recounted the tale to my mother, she commented that maybe I certainly took Stacey and Clinton's advice on creating structure and fit to heart. I mused on that thought as we perused my preferred Value Village location, carefully avoiding the oh so tempting blazer section.

Again, I mused on this point as I edited the outfit pictures from the last week. Of the four pictures, I had a strong preference for two outfits that featured blazers, which made me feel powerful and pulled together over the two outfits that featured cardigans that made me feel shapeless and schlumpy.

Today, I'll show you the cardigan outfits, taken out of comparison with the blazers, in order to examine them in their own merit.

And yes, the pink with the red belt was my Valentine's day outfit, worn in participation with EBEW - despite posting a week late, and therefore not eligible to link up, I still played along!!

Check back on Thursday to see the blazers. I will note, that since taking count, I did weed out 4 blazers... expect to see those on a Monday post soon!

What to Pack on an Extended Business Journey

Knowing what to pack on an extended business journey has never been an easy endeavor, and now with the stricter regulations on what you can take onboard an airplane it is more difficult than ever before. If you really want to get through security quickly and with no problems, then it is important that you understand how to pack efficiently. One important key to successful packing is to determine early on what you are allowed to take on the plane and what you will have to leave behind.

When it comes to packing for a business trip, there are certain things that are common sense, such as clothes, a first aid kit, and the required toiletries, but there are a few other things that are important to carry along which this article will discuss.

First of all, it is a good idea to bring along a backup charger as one is simply not always enough. This is especially important if you rely heavily on your gadgets and can't afford any downtime. It is a good idea to carry both a plug in charger and one that is battery powered, just in case the airport outlets are filled.

It's a no brainer that you need to pack enough clothes for the trip, but what you may not expect is for them to become wrinkly. You may not always have time to iron if you are on a tight schedule, and who likes to spend their precious free moments in a new environment stuck inside pressing clothing anyway? New sprays for relieving wrinkles can be a time saver as you only need to spray them on your clothing and hang them up in order to have them looking newly pressed. These sprays work best on business casual clothing, so if you have a suit that is wrinkled you may still have to press it.

Another thing that is good to take along on extended business journeys is copies of your travel identification, this includes passports, driver's licenses, green cards, and so on. These extra copies can really come in handy*if you lose the originals someplace, especially when you are travelling to a distant country. You might want to leave an extra set of copies at your permanent residence as well just in case.

It is also important to write down all your emergency and customer service telephone numbers, even if you have them backed up in your cell phone. If you lose your phone or the battery dies, you will not be able to retrieve your saved telephone numbers, so having them written down in a convenient location is important.

Last but not least, be certain to bring along a USB memory stick so you can back up important documents, presentations, and anything else that you may need on your business journey. You can even use it to have hard copies printed up at a print shop when necessary. One that attaches to your key ring is preferred to help you from losing it.