Ask, and thy shall receive...within 24 hours!

Has anyone ever used Shopbop?  It's A-MAZ-ING!

I was in NYC last week for work and found a great pair of black leather boots - exactly what I was searching for.  Now, I have a bit of an issue buying boots.  I have, what I like to call,  muscular calves :)  Translation, I have monster calves and relatively small feet.  This means, that the majority of boots don't usually fit me properly.

I found these Sam Edelman boots and fell IN LOVE.  Not only were they super comfortable, they had a great toe shape that let's me wear them with skirts.

I foundthem at Bloomingdales but they didn't have my size.  I tried on the 61/2 and the 71/2, but was pretty sure I'd need a 7.  Went back to my hotel and Googled the boots which brought me to Shopbop.  I ordered them - half expecting them to take a few weeks to arrive and unaware of how much I would have to pay in duties - living in Canada usually sucks for online shopping!

To my surprise, the boots were at my house before I even got home from NYC (less than 24 hours delivery)!  Delivery was free and there were NO...I repeat...ZERO additional taxes/duties.  LOVE.

This could be dangerous....

Diva it Up!

Have you heard of this?  Taken from the company's website:

"The DivaCup is a reusable, bell-shaped menstrual cup that is worn internally and sits low in the vaginal canal, collecting rather than absorbing your menstrual flow".

So yeah, it's exactly how it sounds.  A cup that collects your menstrual flow that sits inside you.  A couple of my friends have been using it - it comes with great benefits:

- 12 hour leak free protection

- More natural, free from colours, dyes etc

- Apparently very easy to use

- And most importantly, reusable so it's incredibly environmentally friendly

Sounds great - but could I do it?  I'm not so sure.  I love change, but when it comes to this stuff I like to stick to old faithfuls.  What happens if you're travelling for 15 hours straight??  Where do you empty and rinse this thing - in a public washroom...barf.

The environmental benefits and health benefits do add up - so much so I think I'll give it a whirl - stay tuned for my review.

Stomach Fat

I never gained a pound until the day I left University.  I could have pizza for diner, stay up drinking all night and wash it all down with poutine without gaining a single pound.  Yes, I was lucky.  Very lucky actually.  But the day I graduated, that all stopped.  It was instant.  Diploma...check!  Metabolism...ummm...hello?

Since then I've had to watch what I eat and exercise to keep fit.  I enjoy being active and have always been athletic, so that's not a bad thing.  I still don't struggle with my weight, but it's definitely not a walk in the park like it use to be.  Lately, I've found it particularly hard to keep weight off, especially in my stomach area.

According to this website, there are 5 factors that effect gaining weight in the stomach:

1. Age and hormones: Ok right, going on 35.
2. Diet:  Apparently meat eaters are more likely to gain weight in this area
3. Depression: Think I'm ok here :)
4. Alcohol Consumption: Why can't wine be good for you?
5. Stress: Check, got that

So here's the plan.  No carbs, cheese, deep fried foods, juices or desserts for the next 4 weeks.  I'm going to cut down on meat (and cut it completely out where possible).  I'm going to only consume alcohol on weekends and I'm also going to add running twice per week to this and yoga once per week (for the stress).

Will I stick to it?  I guess we'll see.  

You always hear people talking about Work/Life Balance.  Gotta have the work/life balance to be happy.  But really, isn't that a thing of the past?  When I think of work/life balance I think of going to work, leaving at 6pm and having your nights and your weekends free for the 'life' part of that equation.  But who operates like that?  With over 50% of Canadians now owning cell phones we are always connected...always!  And who's not going to respond to their boss when they email at 9pm asking an urgent...or what seems urgent to them...question?

I work at Google, and I'm super lucky to have access to the most amazing summits.  I recently attended a Women's Summit that was exclusively for Googlers (that's what we call ourselves).  They brought in the most AMAZING speakers - one in particular stood out to me - Wendy Clark.  She's the SVP of Marketing for Coke in the US and just a phenomenal person and speaker.  She talked about Life Integration instead - and I loved the idea.

Essentially, it's about integrating work and social life throughout your day.  There's no balancing, but what she emphasized is that you need to be fully present at whatever you are doing.  So, for example, if you're at work and your husband calls, give him your full attention.  If you're at home and you're playing a board game with your kids, don't be thinking about work.  But be ok with the fact that your personal life is going to come into your 9-5 day and that your work life is going to pop into your evening and weekends.  My boyfriend and I just renovated a house and we move in tomorrow.  We thought about the idea of leaving our mobile phones outside of the bedroom.  I love the idea.  The question now is, will we be able to stick to this?

Life integration - it's refreshing.  

Couple Syndrome

I was single for a long time.  Like a REAL LONG effing time.  Sure, I dated here and there.  Even had a couple of 6 month-ers.  But really, I've been single through the greater part of my late twenties and early thirties.  And when you're single for this long, you become a Single Expert.

There's a few things about couple friends that really irritate the average single person.  I like to call this the Couple Syndrome.

#1. Couples make plans with other couples and don't invite their single friends
#2. Couples would rather stay in then go out
#3. Couples lose touch with their single friends
#4. Couples would stop caring about their appearances

I'm now part of the 'exclusive' couple world and am scared to death of getting The Syndrome.  I don't want to fall into the trap, but am quickly realizing that YES, it's easier to plan events in couples and YES, I'd rather stay in with a bottle of wine then be unintentionally grinding some random dude on a dance floor.

So where does that leave me?  I'll never be the girl who ditches her single friends, cause quite honestly, they are the MOST fun.  And, I'll NEVER stop dying my hair or getting up in the mornings to run, just because I now have the guy.  But I do think I have to come to terms with the fact that I am in a relationship and that I can't keep trying to live both lives.

How do you juggle between your single and married friends?

Inspriration

I'm inspired.  And when one is inspired one should use that inspiration to try and make a difference... right?

I've always wanted to start my own blog cause I really love to write, but just didn't know what to write about.  This past week I was honoured to be chosen to attend a Women's Executive Summit with Google.  Two females from every office in North America were chosen to spend 2 days talking about women's issues.  I have never considered myself a feminist and don't think I ever would.  But something about this summit really inspired me to start making change....or at least burn my bra :)

So what am I going to write about?  All things women - hence the name To The Power of X.  Issues and challenges we face at work, in our social lives and in relationships.  Tips and tricks that I hear about and want to share with others.  Funny stories that make me laugh and hopefully make you laugh as well.  Am I an expert?  Hells no.  But I think I've learned some cool stuff along the way and would love to share what I do know - while learning from others.

So here it goes.  I hope someone tunes in at some point.... hopefully... Bueller?