Tessa and Scott

I am getting really excited for the Winter Olympics. I have even been sporting my Canadian Olympic Mitts everyday thanks to the freezing cold weather we have been having.  My favourite event at the Olympics is the Figure Skating which should become even more interesting this year with the introduction of the team event. It has always been a sport that I love and having grown up around and trained at the same rink as some of Canada's current Olympic hopefuls it makes watching the olympics even more fun. I am looking forward to watching the Canadian Nationals this weekend. 

There has been so much buzz around Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir lately (the 2010 gold medalists for ice dance). They have their own show on the W Network which I have really been enjoying watching. Its an interesting look into the lives of Canada's sweethearts. They make such a great pair on the ice and watching them skate is magical.  

While watching P&G's current video about moms I came across this one on Tessa and Scott which I thought I would share with you:

What event are you most looking forward to at the 2014 Winter Olympics? 

Jaclyn

New Year's Snapshots

During the day on New Year's Eve a few of us went skating. It was the perfect way to end the year, doing something I love. 

Showing off my new Canada mitts - getting excited for the winter olympics 

The restaurant where we had dinner had such pretty lighting. I couldn't resist taking photos. 

Our desert was a delicious molten chocolate lava cake (my favourite) and they lit sparklers to make it extra special. 

Outdoor Skating

I have a love of skating. When I am on the ice, I am free.  I am also probably the worst person to go skating with because I get so caught up in it that I forget that we came to spend time together.  Outdoor skating is probably my favourite thing to do in the winter and I try to get out as much as possible.  I cannot get enough of it. I love the feeling of the wind in your hair and the cold nipping at your checks (one time I can actually stand the cold haha). Here are a few photos from my latest outdoor skating adventure.

What is your favourite winter sport?
Jaclyn

Winter Checklist

There are just some winter traditions that are too good to give up. These are things that I have to do every year.

1. Make a gingerbread house.

Make it from scratch or grab a gingerbread house kit. It always means that the holidays are coming. The best part is using icing sugar to "make it snow".

2. Outdoor skating

This for me is a must! Every year I HAVE to go outdoor skating. I try to get as many people as possible to go with me. Usually it ends up being just one or two but it is so much fun anyways! Plus it makes for a great date. Just saying.

3. Peppermint hot chocolate

One of my favourite drinks. Its chocoately yet refreshing all in one. This usually follows outdoor skating. It is the perfect pair. Skating and hot chocolate.

4. Reading

Finals are done and I can read for fun without feeling guilty. Something about reading for pleasure when I am supposed to be reading textbooks makes me feel REALLY guilty. Even more so then when I am watching a movie. Strange, I know.

5. Baking

This year I am slightly obsessed with cookies and royal icing. I want to make pretty decorated cookies. Probably will get super frustrated and end up making cupcakes (got to stick to my strengths).

What are your favourite winter traditions?

Canada supports you...

Joannie Rochette.

For those of you who don't know, Joannie's mother passed away two days ago just after she arrived to watch her daughter perform at the Olympics. I have to say that Joannie's skate last night was extremely emotional and the strength that she had is inspiring. She is truly one of my idols. I wish her all the best in the free skate tomorrow and I hope she knows that Canada and the skating community are behind her during this tough time. She is a competitor and a fighter and her mother would be proud. I hope that she has the skate of her life tomorrow, not only for herself but for her mother.

Good luck Joannie and God bless.

Love,
belle

Valentines Day and Olympics

Hi Everyone,

Happy Valentines Day!

I don't have a real valentine, I never actually have, but for some reason I still love the holiday, I still maintain the childhood innocence of it all. Giving cards and candy hearts to friends, wearing red, white and pink and just enjoying the day. My friend and I decided to be valentines this year, I got her these really cute mini food erasers and she gave me a cookie gram!

If I were to get gifts for valentines day here is what I would like (they aren't exactly traditional):

Mod Cloth Fingerless Gloves $15.99

I am ALWAYS freezing. These would be prefect because they are cute and they would allow me to use my fingers. As it is now, typing with mittens or regular gloves, isn't always easy.

Fred Flare Rubber Ducky Ear Buds $ 15

I have a thing for rubber duckies. I have a sparkly key chain that I love and had to have as soon as I saw it. Next I want rubber ducky pjs.

Fred Flare Necklace $44

I love the quirkiness of this necklace, I just can't explain it. I love the randomness!

Mini Cupcake Lip gloss -Fred Flare $18










These are so cute! I have a thing for food like products. I love them. I have one, that I got at the toy store where I work. But of course they are sold by Fred Flare!

Its not too long of a list but its just a taste of what I like. Cupcakes and chocolate are always appreciated.

From Cupcakes Take the Cake. I love browsing this blog to see all the amazing cupcakes that people make.

A side note:
I watched the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on Friday! I am so excited to watch the figure skating, I can't wait to cheer Team Canada on. I got myself a pair of the red mittens that everyone seems to be wearing, they are really warm.



I hope that everyone has an amazing Valentines Day. I am going to see the movie Valentines Day tomorrow, I can't wait! Hopefully it will live up to the hype!
Enjoy the day with your sweetheart or friends or family.
Love,
Belle

Experience is something you get, after you need it.

Hey Everyone,
I kept meaning to post, and then I would put it off, and say oh maybe later and later turned into never. I have some ideas floating around in my head, that I will share with you soon, but for now, I apologize for my random ramblings and partially incomplete thoughts, that I am about to share with you.

My title is what Rachel Flatt's coach said to her in the kiss and cry after her skate at the World Figure Skating Champions this past week, in LA. (I know, I know, I'm sorry for another skating related post.) Let me just say this, I'll get it all out of my system, and then I will move on. Canada medaled in 3 out of the 4 events, and we have a very strong team going into the 2010 Olympics. Patrick Chan was amazing, as was Joannie.

I have been back at school only a few days now and already am loaded down with work. It is hard to believe how quickly this year went by. Its April already! You can tell spring has sprung and the weather has finally begun to warm up. All the snow has melted, and you can see buds beginning to grow.

Here are some outfits that have inspired me lately:

I love Rachel's cardigan, its so bright and cheerful.

I really want Katie's shoes.

I love Blake's entire outfit. It's very gossip girl.

I love this entire outfit, but I really love the scarf.

I really like the pop of colour in the belt.

I hope that everyone has a great week,

Belle

March Break

Heyy Everyone,

Its finally March Break, so I have sometime to relax and post! Something I haven't been able to do in a while. The weather is getting much nicer out, the snow has pretty much all melted, and the temperature is rising, which meant that I got to ditch my winter coat this week which was kind nice. I am excited to catch up on every one's blogs, as well as on my movie watching. Plus Gossip Girl is back on this week!

I finally got a chance to go into American Apparel the other day to try stuff on, we just got one at the mall near us a few months ago. I didn't end up buying anything but I now have a super long wish list. I love their cardigans, they are super soft.

There is this Canadian Designer Hoakon/Helga, and they have really cute bags. The bags are all made out of recycled leather. I love their photo shoots. Here are some of my favourites. But check them out here.

The Figure Skating Worlds are coming up soon. (March 22 -29) They should be really exciting and I can't wait to watch them. I want to wish everyone good luck, especially the Canadians. Hopefully we will bring home some medals.

I hope everyone has an amazing week.

Love
belle

Thoughts and Nationals

Heyy Everyone,
It is finally the weekend. Yay! Although I have a lot of work to get done, I am looking forward to sleeping in.

Please bear with me, I have been wanting to post about this little girl I met at work, and yet for some reason everything sounds better in my head, and way cheesy when I type it out. So there is your warning. It's not really writers block because I know what I want to say, the real problem is how to say it. Part of me thinks that I should wait until it sounds right and part of me feels like I should just write it from my heart and leave it. I think that I might go for a Goldilocks compromise and meet somewhere in the middle. Okay well here goes:

I teach skating, and working with young kids is fun, but sometimes they can really get on your nerves. I teach this one little girl who caught my attention right away. Sometimes I forget that I am with kids a lot younger, who need a lot of encouragement to keep motivated. While I was given my group corrections on how to do a certain move, she said yes but at least I got part of it right. It made me stop and think that while it was my job to give them corrections it was also my job to praise them when they did something correctly. It helped me to make sure that I congratulated them on what they had done right as well as help them fix what they had done wrong. Throughout the entire lesson she never complained or whined about what we were doing (And even if she did, she was really an angel next to some of the others in her group). As a skater one of the things that shocked me the most was she had new skates on that day, and hardly complained about them. She fell countless times that session and I remember her saying "well the one good thing about falling down is at least I am good at getting up." That honestly blew me out of the water, while most people would have been discouraged, she just looked at the positive side. It is strange sometimes where your life lessons come from, she has taught me to be more patient and that if you look you can see the positive side to a situation.

Keeping with the skating theme, as I mentioned in an earlier post Nationals were a little while ago. I was going to post about them that week but there weren't any great pictures up. So I decided to post about them now. Those that placed well at Nationals will be moving on to compete at Worlds in L.A. in March. I think that Canada has a pretty strong team and I can't wait to see how they do internationally. I would like to congratulate all those who competed in Nationals.

Here are the winners of...

The Men's Event:

1st - Patrick Chan
2nd - Vaughn Chipeur
3rd - Jeremy Ten

The Women's Event:

1st-Joannie Rochette2nd
2ed-Cynthia Phaneuf
3rd- Amélie Lacoste

The Pairs Event:

1st - Jessica Dubé / Bryce Davison
2nd - Meagan Duhamel / Craig Buntin
3rd - Mylène Brodeur / John Mattatall

The Dance Event:

1st - Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir
2nd - Vanessa Crone / Paul Poirier
3rd - Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje

*all photos from Skate Canada Website: here.*

My school's semi formal is in a week, so I should have some pictures of my dress within the next week or so. I hope that everyone has a restful and relaxing weekend (or an exciting and action packed one, if you so wish).
Love,
Belle

Granted

Heyy Everyone,

I have had a very busy past week. I am in my school play and we are getting into the thick of rehearsals. I was hoping to post this earlier this week but I didn't get the chance. The Canadian Figure Skating Nationals just ended, they were in Saskatoon this year. It was a very exciting year, and I spent the entire weekend watching skating. It is freezing here! My hands are all chapped from the cold. The weather makes it seem like an appropriate time to post about Canadian Designer Granted.



Granted produces all handmade products right here in Canada.

This sweater looks super warm and soft. When I am freezing all I want to do is put on a warm cozy sweater, like this one.

These leg warms are really cute, and the look warm. I would love to get a pair.

If you would like to see more check it out here.

I hope that everyone has an amazing week.

Love,
belle

Merry Christmas

Hey Everyone,
I love the holidays! No school is bliss. I spent all day yesterday in my pjs, rereading Breaking Dawn. It was great! We have gotten lots more snow, it is a winter wonderland out there. It makes me want to go build a snowman, but its not packing snow which kinda sucks, but its also good because it makes shoveling a lot easier. It was Skate with Santa and the annual ice show last weekend which was a blast as usual. Its so much fun to see all the little children freak out about Santa and skate with their parents ( I think its the first time I didn't here anyone cry because they wanted their mommy or daddy... which was nice) I had a lot of fun with all my friends, we drank hot chocolate and cheered on our fellow skaters in the show. I love to watch everyone perform and do what they love best. It is one of my favourite parts of the holidays.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope that everyone has an amazing, fun, and safe holiday. Enjoy spending time with family and friends.

Merry Christmas... Only one more sleep until Santa!
Love,
belle

Cozy Winter Days

Heyy Everyone!
It is really starting to feel like Christmas. Now I can't help but love the snow, often I complain about it, (I don't really like the cold much) but I love how pretty everything looks. I have been outdoor skating a few times now, and I can't wait to go again! I have been baking Christmas cookies, they smell so good.

I love just wearing pjs all day. My favourite thing to wear is extra big pj bottoms and my brother's ae shirt (that I steal on a regular basis) Here are some of my favourite lounge wear (I might have posted some of these before but they are just so comfortable):

From Arie:

I always have freezing feet. I love these they are so warm. I also love wearing wool socks.

These pjs really cute, and they are grey.

From AE:

Everyone should own this shirt. Guys clothes are so comfortable. I love this shirt, I wear it all the time. I would suggest that you buy it a size bigger to allow for maximum comfort.

From Roots:

These pjs, are super thick and soft. These trackpants are probably my favourite. The track pants from Roots green line are even more comfortable. They are really soft, and are made with organic cotton.

From Pink:

These pjs look really warm. I would love to get a pair.

This shirt looks really warm and comfortable.

Tonight I just want to curl up with either a book or a movie and some hot chocolate.

I will hopefully be able to post more often over the break.
Love,
Belle

Skate Canada International

Heyy Everyone,

This weekend was the Homesense Skate Canada International. This year it was held in Ottawa, and the Canadians did us proud. We brought home medals in every event. Gold in the men and women competition and silver in dance and pairs. I personally love to watch the skating and I am so proud of the Canadian team. It looks like we are well prepared for Vancouver 2010.

Jessica Dube and Bryce Davidson are amazing. I don't love them as much as I loved Jamie and David, but I still find them a joy to watch.
Patrick Chan showed what he could do when he beat Jeffery Buttle (who recently announced his retirement) at the past Canadians.I don't know much about Ice dance personally, but I love to watch it because it is "pure" skating. It is more about the edges since there are no jumps. It was Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier's first time competing at an international senior event, and they did amazing.

Joannie Rochette blew the competition out of the water, winning by about 20 points. She has grown so much in the past year. The women's event is the one I most identify with (since I skate singles).

Congrats to all the skaters, and good luck in their next competitions.

I haven't done a Canadian Designer post in a while, so I will do one within the next week or so.

I hope that everyone has an amazing week.
Love,
belle