How to travel with only a carry-on. April 29 2013, 1 Comment

I insist on travelling with only a carry-on. Today, I'll share what I packed to Costa Rica.

• 4 bikinis tops (In hindsight... I only used 3)
• 2 bikini bottoms
• 3 underwears (I only wore this when my bikini bottoms were digging in to much... which was twice the whole trip)
• 2 bras
• 2 pairs of socks
• 4 tops (Bad decision. I should've only packed 3)
• 1 dress
• 3 shorts (Definitely could've used 1 extra set)
• 1 pair leggings for aerial silk practice
• 1 pair of flipflops
• iPad/ iPhone
• purse (that was a stupid decision. It took up so much space and I never used it)
• beach towel (In hindsight, I should've left that in Costa Rica. It was a hassle to bring home)
• combination lock
• a pen for those custom forms

Toiletries

• toothbrush
• mini toothpaste
• mini contact lens cleaner that I've re-filled even though you're not supposed to
• face cream (stupid decision considering I smear sunscreen on it all over again)
• lots of hair ties and bobby pins
• deodarant stone (best $9 I have EVER spent. Go to Bulk Barn for readers in Canada)
• ** I forgot to bring those small shampoo bottles. They didn't have any at the hostel but I asked the front desk and the found some leftover stuff from another traveller **

Leverage what you wear on the plane.

I wore as much as I could when I flew to lighten my backpack. I sported a hoodie, 2 tops, leggings with leg warmers, my Puma runners and a winter vest. I looked retarded. I ended up dumping my winter vest in the San Jose airport because it was too bulky in my backpack.

Expect things to get confiscated.

My sunscreen got confiscated to and from Costa Rica. Now I know to email the place I go to before and see if there's leftover sunscreen I can mooch. I brought a book but I wish I hadn't. I didn't read it on the flight and listened to my Pimsleur Spanish audiolessons for 8 hours.

Gifts/Souvenirs.

I made sure to leave plenty of room for the 5 bags of coffee I planned on bringing back. 

Don't stink. Wash your clothes.

I handwashed my essentials every other day. I paid for laundry after six days. I totally forgot to include my towel so I had to use a stinky towel for the remainder of my trip. Good thing air-drying is an option in the tropics!

Try packing lightly for one trip. I also highly suggest this awesome YouTube video on how to fold clothes in a carry-on.

You're going to feel like a million bucks as you sail across the suckers that have to wait for their luggage!

How to do a headstand April 19 2013, 0 Comments

Step 1: Take the genie pose. That's the distance you want your elbows to be apart on the ground.

Step 2: Make a Jewish hat.

Step 3: Place your Jewish hat on the ground. Remember to keep your elbows the same distance apart as the genie pose.

Start walking your feet towards your face until your lower back is touching the wall.

Step 4: Do mini jumps to get your feet up.

Pro tip: Keep your knees bent, kind of like in a baby bird position. It'll be easier to straight your body from "baby bird".

Step 5: Get one foot on the wall and the other will follow easily.

Step 6: Straighten your legs.

Step 7: Point your toes so you look sexy.

I do a headstand a day. It's amazing to strengthen your core and side abs! Once you get comfortable on the wall, start increasing the distance between you and the wall.

Soon you can start freestand headstands OR practice fun inversions! Like your inverted splits.

Niice.co: Search for inspiration April 16 2013, 0 Comments

Using Niice.co to gather some ideas for my next tattoo. Beautiful web design!

Hilarious engagement photos April 16 2013, 0 Comments

This needs to happen more often. Click through.

A picture an hour in Costa Rica. April 15 2013, 3 Comments

7am

8am

9am

10am

11am

12pm

1pm

2pm

4pm

5pm

6pm

8pm

10pm

11pm 

I've been travelling through Costa Rica the last 2 weeks. My spiritual intention was to disconnect from the internet and find some peace within myself. The bigger elephant was that I was having a really tough time with Rosie and I needed a break from motherhood.

My hands have been hovering over the keys for the last 10 minutes as I debate what to write. How can I bundle this life-changing experience into a post?

My travel log won't be in order but I'll try to find a way and bring back of piece of my adventure to you :)

Pura Vida! (real living).

How to give hard feedback. March 22 2013, 0 Comments

Posterous, the platform I hosted my blog on, is closing down. Details here. I have literally spent the night copy & pasting over posts.

It's my first overnight shift at Shopify and I'm determined to finish what I've had on my to-do list for a month. I've been out of touch with blogging for one single reason. I've been reflecting.

Shopify has this amazing leadership coach, Cam Gregg. Cam is good. Very good and he pushes you outside of your comfort zone.

A month ago, my pod leads (fancy word for team lead) and I had to give each other Valentine's Day presents. The present was simple. 

Each Valentine was to include:

- 1 thing you would like 'more of' from this person and why.

- 1 thing you would like 'less of' from this person and why.

I'm going to share what my pod leads' feedback was to me. You may be asking, "Why the hell are you sharing something so private?" I like to keep things transparent, including my life. Think in terms of role reversal. If I am to report to someone for 40 hours a week and my company happens to be the coolest compay in Canada... I would want to know EVERYTHING about my boss. How do they work, how did they get here, what habits do they have, how do their brains process things, do they have any subconscious biases, etc.

It makes ideas, debates, executions more seamless if you know and trust the person you're working with. Less time for second-guessing.

My Guru team is experiencing hypergrowth. Hypergrowth is just as painful as downsizing, it's just not complained about as much. One of the hardest challenges I experience is trying to get to know each of my colleagues closely. It's virtually impossible. So I try and scale myself as much as possible to give everyone the advantages I was given. Information.

Ok, let's jump into the feedback.

None of my feedback was a surprise but it was the shove I needed to say, "Okay... communication needs to be my priority focus". What followed? A month of Googling, failed experiments and reading on ways to communicate better.

I tried many different things for weeks before I found a few things that seemed to stick with my team.

• Sitting in the most visible spot possible. My desk is right in the thick of things. I hear almost everything. This can be pretty distractig but I've found people are more comfortable coming over to ask questions than when I'm isolated in a room.
• Promoting Gurus to team lead roles. Shopify is a very flat organization so there are lots of considerations before adding a level of hierarchy. What sealed the deal was when we wanted to get back to our start-up roots. When you're stuck in a room with 5 people, there's a different social dynamic than in a hall of 30 people. Each pod functions as their own team. They run their own experiments, training sessions, etc to reach the Guru mission.
• Emailing more good news than bad. We love email at Shopify. Sometimes, to the chargin of a few, we treat it like a live-chat. I sent a various number of emails and tracked the number of replies I got back (whether in person or electronically). Good news was better at raising morale. Whenever I needed to lay down the hammer of Thor, I would wait until someone else spoke up and then agreed publicly. Sometimes, you can't avoid being the one that dishes the bad news... you just have to feel it out before doing so for high impact.
• Use paper. Outside of each pod they need to post what they are working on. I started the trend by posting a chalkboard that listed: What am I working on? Where are we going? Hold me accountable to this.... I added some fun things to entice the Gurus to read it every week. Ex. I have to do a headstand everyday. Not a day has passed where I haven't gotten hustled by someone.
• Relax. I try to stay out of the Gurus way as much as possible. I focus on the big picture stuff like making sure everyone knows what the big goal is. Leadership is really 70% communication and 30% strategy. Anytime I feel the need to pipe in and give suggestions, I stop and question myself, "Did they ask for help?" Most of the time... no one has said anything and I'm just being overbearing.
• Make time to take each Guru out on a date. Tobi Lutke did this for me way back. It was literally 10 minutes where he surprised me with, "Hey! Want to grab a snack?" We got a bagel, chatted lightly and I felt so important. Time to pay it forward. Each week, I make time to sit down leisurely with at least 2 Gurus. No time limit and we talked about anything. I love hearing stories so I mostly peppered people with questions. One Guru, Neil, convinced me to start running weekly. He made me a running program and hustles me to make sure I do it.

Guruland pictures March 22 2013, 0 Comments

Cooking Experiments: Authentic Italian tomato basil sauce March 06 2013, 0 Comments

Did you know that atheletes who suddenly stop training every day will go into withdrawl similar to that of a drug addict? Their bodies end up producing so much adrenaline that it's treated almost like a "high". True fact.

My apologizes for not blogging early. My excuse? I've missed 2 weeks of pole and aerial silks... this basically turns me into a very depressed individual. Not the same as an athetlete but my body depends on those two doses of adrenaline overdose.

Onto the cooking.

Last Saturday, I invited my long friend, LB, and her gal pal, Anto, over to dinner. The deal: Sam and I would be responsible for appetizers and dessert. Dinner guests had to choose what they wanted to teach us how tocook and we would make it all together. When the girls arrived, we had wine and baguettes ready. With my camera attached to LB, we took lots of shots throughout the night.

The Wine.

The Malbec was super yummy. The Cabernet Sauvignon had a smoky taste to it that we didn't like.

The Prep.

Sam diced up a lot of garlic that night. Secret: Slice up the garlic and then smash it with the flat of your knife. It'll make dicing much easier.

The Sauce.

I poured about a 1 cm layer of olive oil into this pot. 15 minutes later, it looked like this!

The Meatballs.

While the sauce simmered, we made meatballs from scratch!

Rosie wanted to help out too. I let her spoon in the Parmesan cheese.

And then she tried to straight-up eat garlic.

It was fucking hilarious.

Dinner is served.

Recipe: Classic Italian Tomato & Basil sauce.

Ingredients:

olive oil
whole onion
2 garlic cloves 
fresh basil 
tomato paste
2 cans of tomatoes (whole not diced or pureed)
---> Lauren recommends Unico's San Marzano Tomatoes
chili flakes
salt
pepper

1. Add a shit ton of olive oil into your pot. Stove should be medium high. If you think you've added enough oil... add 1/2 cup more. 
2. Cut a whole onion in half and place flat-side down. Leave until oil starts bubbling.
   Adding the onion whole is more of a time saver to still get the flavour in the sauce without having to chop it up!
3. Remove pot from stovetop until the bubbling stops. Lower the heat. Throw in diced garlic. 
4. Remove the onion halves.
5. Add in tomato paste and whole tomatoes. Use a potato masher and teach those tomatoes a lesson. Smash it!
6. Add the onions back in. Salt and pepper to taste. 
7. Let the sauce simmer while you make your meatballs and pasta. When meatballs and pasta are ready, throw those into the sauce.

Meatballs

Ingredients:

Extra lean ground beef
two eggs
breadcrumbs
3 garlic cloves
fresh parsley
parmesan cheese 

1. Put beef into a big bowl and start mushing it with your hands.
2. Crack your eggs right into the bowl and keep mushing.
3. Have someone else sprinkle in breadcrumbs until the mixture feels really grainy.
4. Add diced garlic, chopped parsley and parmesan cheese (whatever you can handle). Keep mushing.
5. Roll the mixture into balls. Work those arms! 
6. Put into a frying pan that has... you guessed it, more olive oil! Don't worry if they aren't cooked all the way through. They'll cook more once you've put them into the sauce.

Sam's AWESOME salad dressing (from Alice Waters)

Ingredients:

1 small garlic clove
salt
fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar (we ended up just using balsamic vinegar)
3 to 4 tabelspoons olive oil

Needed: mortar & pestle

1. Put a peeled garlic clove and 2 big pinches of salt in a mortar and pound into a puree (no chunks left).
2. Add wine vinegar, grind some black pepper and taske for the balance of salt and vinegar.
3. Allow to macerate for a few minutes and whisk in olive oil.
4. Taste the dressing with a leaf of lettuce. It should taste bright and lively.

Free Printables! February 26 2013, 0 Comments

Darling build-your-own-cupcake printables!

Pretty pantry printables.

DIY geoball!

And more pantry printables!

Conversation Heart Nails! February 25 2013, 0 Comments

Wish I could do this. Need to own nail polish first.

Never sleep alone February 23 2013, 0 Comments

Starbucks made me feel famous February 23 2013, 0 Comments

I'm on a blogging spree and meant to write this last week when I was in Toronto. I had an incredible experience at Starbucks and it really stuck with me.

Now, I know that Starbucks is no longer front headlines. One of my first non-fiction books was Pour your heart into it by Starbuck's CEO. It's a fantastic biography on the beginning growth of Starbucks and I've always had a soft side for them (even though their mark-up on coffee is huge). Great book that everybody should read.

Here's the story:

So I walked into this nice looking Starbucks mid-afternoon. I had just finished a successful meeting and was stretching my feet. I order a Chai Latte and the barista asks me for me name.

"Theresa," I say.

"Theresa with an 'h' or 'no h'?" Barista asks.

"With."

So they write my name. Normal procedure albeit amazing considering half of Toronto's population is asian and who knows how to spell their non-westernized names.

I go to wait and a new barstia making my latte asks, "So, how's your day going so far, Theresa?"

OMG, she said my name. And she said it so casually as if I was a regular. Like she totally knew me. We chit chatted and I felt like a celebrity. (Don't make fun. I'm being honest.)

The next day, I ran into a different Starbucks all ready to have the baristas call my name like I'm famous. Nothing. So disappointing. A new morning rolls around, I went back to the original Starbucks to see if it was a 'per office' regime. Nothing. It was just that one employee and she totally made my one Starbucks experience blogworthy. Rare find and completely priceless.

47 Days in Guruland February 22 2013, 0 Comments

Guru twins. This is what happens when you work next to the same person for 2 weeks.

46 Days in Guruland February 22 2013, 0 Comments

45 Days in Guruland February 22 2013, 0 Comments

44 Days in Guruland February 22 2013, 0 Comments

Old Guruland is all moved out :(

43 Days in Guruland: Photobombs February 21 2013, 0 Comments

Photobombing

Guru PowWow for some advanced training.

We had some lovely baristas from Bridgehead come show us how to make pretty lattes.

Things learnt at Shopify February 19 2013, 0 Comments

"Stars are a perfect example of a random distribution."

- Ben Doyle
Shopify Data Master

41 Days in Guruland February 11 2013, 0 Comments

While @dylanblanchard and I are visiting the Toronto Shopify office, we have 9 new Gurus starting this week. WHATTT!?

Also, here's what @sumitsehkri was caught shopping ;) Fake balls for everyone!

February, the month for "Feel the moment". February 11 2013, 0 Comments

I like themes. It's 11 days into the month and this motto has really helped when I'm feeling overwhelmed or rushed.

7 Homemade Valentine's Day gifts February 10 2013, 0 Comments

Reusing materials to make 7 Homemade Valentine's Day crafts.

Over the last 2 days, Rosie and I have been hard at work making gifts for everybody. All we used were:

• Red and pink paint
• Cardstock paper from Michaels
• Random letters
• Permanent Marker

Begin with handprints cut out of cardstock paper.

Re-using the leftover paper from the hand cutouts, we mixed up the colors to make unique cards.

We still had leftover cardstock so we whipped up a stained glass heart using tissue paper. I used parchment paper I had lying around but white tissue paper would totally work.

This is one craft I saw on Pinterest. I didn't have dollies lying around so just used more leftover cardstock. Woot Woot! Rosie had a blast writing her messages. On the heart to her other grandparents, Rosie added some creativity: "I WANT TO HUG YOU 10 TIMBIT TIMES!"

This DIY postcard was inspired from here. Using the same paint for the handheart, Rosie went ape-shit over fingerpainting plain cardstock. We made about six postcards from two sheets. Keep an eye on your mailbox friends!

Just some My Little Pony that Rosie will be coloring ;)

Here are some more Valentine's Day crafts I didn't get around too.

Valentine's Day fortune cookies.

Lipstick art.

This is just friggen hilarious.

Melted heart crayons.

Love the photo here.

38 Days in Guruland February 08 2013, 0 Comments

The view as I presented during Shopify's lightning talk. Topic: What to do if you discover your boss or employee does pole dancing.

Myself with the 2 Shopify giants. I tried so hard to be taller.

Swammi hard at work.

What to do if you discover your boss or employee does pole dancing. February 08 2013, 0 Comments

First off, you should probably not make this face.

Or this face.

Today, I'm stepping up on stage at Shopify team to smash some stereotypes and talk out the realities of pole dancing.

Let's start with this video because pole is best described visually.

This is one of my favorite pole performances from the 2012 Pole Art international competition in Stockholm, Sweden.

Hard to believe that performance wasn't the winner... until you see Oona Kivelä.

And I think that sums up pole dancing nicely. Happy Friday!

37 Days in Guruland: More owls February 07 2013, 0 Comments

Meet our newest Guru.... Swanni the Owl. Well, we haven't completely agreed on a name yet. Just something that would give our Owl a complex.