What to Pack for Kids – Resort Vacation Edition

Packing efficiently for kids is a skill. I always find myself feeling unsure about whether I am over- or under-packing. We recently went to a resort in Mexico as a family and it made me realise how much planning goes into packing properly for beach vacations.

Here is a list of things that I took for my kids (ages 7 months and 6 years). I am basically pasting this list straight from my iPhone notes. I have left only what I felt was essential and removed anything that I didn’t end up using. In short, this is a super list as far as beach and resort vacations are concerned. (more…)

Our Family Getaway to Mexico

Grand Bahia Principe Coba Resort Review

Last week we went to Mexico for an all-inclusive resort vacation – our first as a family of four. If you are following me on Instagram, then you probably saw Story clips from my trip while I was there (early April 2019). The weather was perfect (between 25-30C) and we loved this time off!

With our baby son sitting up now at 7 months and eating solids well, we felt it was a good time to get away from the daily routine of life for a bit. We had done an all-inclusive vacation in Cuba about four years ago, so the experience wasn’t brand new for us. But I have to say that our vacation in Mexico was much better on so many levels! From the food to the resort to the weather and the facilities, everything was great! Let’s get into all the details! (more…)

Work-Life Balance for Working Moms

Work-life balance. I always say it doesn’t exist. At least not in the sense that most people expect. Let me tell you why.

On any given day, I can either be a great mom, a great homemaker, a great blogger, or a great accountant at my job. I can’t be great at everything everyday. If I try, I’ll end up being mediocre. Everything that we do takes energy. If you try to do something really well and put all your focus into it, know that it will take that much more energy. Yes, some people may have more energy than others (combination of body type, metabolism and the foods we eat etc), but everyone’s energy is limited. We all have only 24 hours in a day and need to rest in order to function well.

Once you accept this and know that you can’t do it all, you can go through your days with a certain peace of mind. If you’re focusing on your kids today, the laundry might not get folded and there might be dirty dishes in the sink. If you’re trying to deliver on a tight deadline at work, you won’t have much energy left to come home and spend quality time with your kids.

To me, work-life balance happens over a period of time. There are seasons of life when you put more energy towards your career, and other seasons where family comes first. Looking back at your life as an 80 year old (hopefully), you wanna be able to smile and say, “I did my best every day to do what was needed.” 🙂 And how you spend each day will make up the ‘Story of your life’ ❤️

What is work life balance to you?

My Favourite Baby Products

Braun Thermometer Review

Hi guys,

As requested on Instagram, I am linking for you a bunch of products that I have bought from Amazon for my baby. I literally went into my order history and pasted them here. I would recommend all of these products as I use them quite often and have no complaints. Click/double tap on the picture to view the product on Amazon in detail.

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Part I : How to Find & Work with the right Instagram Influencer for your business

“Can you give me a shout-out?”

This is a very common question that I get in my Instagram Direct Messages or email. It is followed by a link to a business page or a Instagram profile, and if I’m lucky, I get a good description of the product, service or project that is being promoted. Sometimes it’s so well done that I want to reply back and work with them right way, and sometimes I am straight up confused as to what my role in such an engagement would be.

I get it. This whole social media marketing business is still fairly new and good resources on how to effectively use social media are limited. If you are a business owner who is looking into utilising the powerful world of Instagram to market your business, this three-part blogpost is for you. I’m writing it from the perspective of an Influencer who has received and dealt with hundreds of collaboration requests and hope that it can give you some good food-for-thought.

In my opinion, there is some homework you need to do before you even think about approaching an Instagram Influencer for marketing. Then, you need to find that ideal Influencer for your product, service or project. And lastly, you need to know what an influencer expects in return from you. Yes, it is always a two-way commitment. Sometimes it’s a barter transaction and sometimes it is monetary and rightfully so. We will get into all the details.

Summary of what you will learn:

I. What you need to know before you approach an Instagram Influencer
II. How to find the right Instagram Influencer for your project
III. How to reach out to and work with an Instagram Influencer (more…)

Mindfulness & a Spiritual Podcast

Anam meditating at great wall of China

As many of you would know from my Instagram stories, I’ve been looking into mindfulness and spirituality recently. I have barely scratched the surface. I haven’t done any meditation or exercise. But just by enhancing my knowledge in this area, I have already noted a huge change in myself. Imagine the possibilities!

Crying, feeling self-pity, being overwhelmed, arguing, experiencing anger and reacting – such moments for me have become far and few in between. Definitely still there but much better. And when I do feel such emotions, I catch myself, reflect & learn from the experience.

I’m a lot more conscious of what’s happening around me and inside me. I have learned what can trigger me and feel better equipped to manage it. I find it harder to rant or complain about situations or to roll my eyes at someone’s seemingly ‘ignorant’ remark. Mindfulness has allowed me to come from such a great place of understanding and I’ll forever be grateful for it. (more…)

How to Combat the Cold & Flu Season with Kids

Vicks Humidifers

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Braun Thermometers & Vicks Humidifiers. All opinions are 100% my own.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! I absolutely love the joyful, festive feel of this season and wait for it all year. What I don’t look forward to is the sickness that comes with it. Winter in Canada is prime time for cold and flu viruses to thrive. I have two little kids – a daughter who goes to kindergarten (which basically means that she enters viral territory on the daily), and a three-month old son who is about to experience his first winter on earth. While I’m trying my best to take as many precautions as I can, I also know that some sickness is inevitable. In fact, my daughter has already spent one week at home with a bad cough and congestion. Let’s just say I’ve never wanted to spring to arrive sooner!

When my daughter was 11 months old, she had a febrile seizure due to a very high fever. It’s one of those moments that I will never forget. I don’t mean to scare any new mom reading this. Febrile seizures are not too common – only 2% – 5% of children between the ages of six months and five years have them. Nevertheless, they are a possibility that I think parents should be aware of. When my daughter had it, I panicked, didn’t know what to do and couldn’t even think straight. It only lasted for about 40 seconds, but those were the longest 40 seconds of my life… After that incident, I made it a point to obtain the necessary knowledge to recognize symptoms of fever, take proper temperature readings and to equip myself with tools that would help me get through this season as smoothly as possible.

Today I’m sharing some tips on how you can manage fevers and tackle the lack of humidity in the air for better health during winter time. (more…)

My Labour & Delivery Story

Hi guys!

I finally got a chance to film my Labour & Delivery story. Check it out:

In this video, I talk about my VBAC attempt at the end of my second pregnancy. Although 75% of VBACs are successful, I fell in the remaining 25% category and had a C-Section. In any case, my baby came out healthy and I recovered well from the C-Section, which is what matters. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below! Remember, if there’s anything you can learn from listening to a birth story, it’s that everyone’s experience is different, and the best thing we can do is be open-minded about it all. Dont forget to check out my blooper on Instagram haha! Enjoy <3