Found myself shopping my heart out while on vacation in Florida. Outlet shopping is what I live for. I planned on shopping for a new pair of summer pajamas. With my goal in mind I stopped in the Maidenform outlet store. No luck with the pajamas but decided I wanted to get a bra fitting. Thinking since 80% of women are wearing the wrong bra size. The sales lady told me that she knew I was wearing the wrong sizes because she could see how my bra was digging into my skin. I was wearing a tank top. She measured me right on the spot right in front of the cash register. I was horrified with the size she told me. She just confirmed that I’m curvy. Blushing..lol I have been wearing 2 bra sizes to small for years. She told me all women should be measured every 6-12 months. Then from pajama shopping to basics shopping I went. I could believe the difference. Bras are really comfortable. The right bra will also help with your posture. It’s important to take care of the foundation so you can be your best at all times. Oh I did find 2 pairs of summer pajamas on sale at Macy’s too. Score!!!

I was flipping around station to station current commercials while watching one of my shows.  I stopped on a show called Jessica Simpson’s The Price of Beauty.  The show was so interesting.  Made me think what does beauty means to me.  Jessica Simpson and two of her friends, Ken and CaCee travel the world to see how other cultures define the term beauty and what lengths women go through to achieve it.  Visits include Paris, Thailand, India, and Tokyo.  In each country Jessica’s group is met by a beauty ambassador to educate them on the country’s beauty customs.  Northern Thailand has a custom of young girls wearing 20 pound rings around their necks.  The rings are a sign of beauty and wealth and will attract a better husband.  In Paris the pressure to be thin to be a model in the fashion industry is the norm.  Jessica talks to an anorexic model about her brave journey.  I can’t wait to wait the rest of the season.  Catch Jessica on Muchmusic Thursday’s at 8pm.

I’m back from my vacation and unfortunately back to everyday life.  It took a while for me to come back to my life.  I needed to runaway again to unload and shift my perspective.  I was in Orlando playing tourist for a week.  I love visiting down there.  It’s so different from Canada. Here are a few things that I noticed.  Florida loves Toronto!!  I made a point to talk to as many people as possible.  When I told them I was from Toronto the first thing that was brought up was baseball and not hockey.  They are still a bit sore about the Blue Jays winning the World Series in 1993.

Tourism is hurting badly.  The big story on the local news was the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  The anticipation that it was going to be bigger than Magic Kingdom opening in 1971.  The deals you can get at the attractions if you’re a Florida resident are unheard of.  Just supports that people are not vacationing there.

Real Estate is very cheap down there.  You can own a very basic simple home for $50,000.  That’s a good downpayment here.  There are signs at every traffic light about cheap Real Estate.  Overheard many locals talking about bank foreclosures.

BP had tons of commercial positioning themselves as caring and commented to helping people affected by the oil spill.  Orlando had radio ads encourage tourism to the Gulf Coast.  Fishermen who can’t fish are hired by BP to help in the clean-up.  Big debates on the health related problems of these Fishermen in the future.

I had a private surfing lesson at Cocoa Beach.  Don’t think it’s easy because it’s quite a workout.  I had 30 minutes of classroom practice and 1 hour on the water.  It’s hard to get your balance and if you don’t enjoy your salt water drink.  One hour of surfing equals 200 push-ups.  I’m going to practice my surfing moves so next year I can ride more waves.

Thanks Orlando for your warm hospitality.  You’re always a good host!!  xoxoxox

I watched a great movie called One Week staring Joshua Jackson. I saw this film when it was in the theatres but I rented it again. It’s a great film that asks you all hard questions about life. Joshua Jackson’s character, Ben is terminally ill with stage 4 Cancer. He decides not to have treatment right way and go on a motorcycle road trip across Canada. His fiancés doesn’t agree with his decision. Ben just wants to see Canada and live his life in the present. It’s one of those movies that teach you life lessons. What would you do if the doctor told you only had a day, a week or a month to live? What would you do? It makes you think about living everyday to fullest and how each day is a gift. I recommend this movie to anyone. It reminds you how beautiful our country Canada is and helps recharge your soul too.

Here is a clip of the movie

I love taking workshops and seminars anything that gives me a new experiences.  I’m on a mission to have fun.  I think I’m trying to make up for it since I noticed it’s lacking in my life.  I signed up for an introductory 2 hour workshop at Scratch Lab DJ Institute.  Learning how to spin the tunes on vinyl like they do in the clubs screams fun to me.  I never took any type of music lessons before so I was up for the adventure. 

 The class I attended was small with just one other person and myself.  My teacher, Mark made the class educational but fun.  I was surprised I could name all the parts of the turn table.  A had a bit of trouble finding the kick and snare beats to spin Drake and Alicia Keys songs to sound like they would in the club.  I figured it out and those songs will never sound the same to me after I kicked it…lol

 I have already signed up for a class I never in my wildness dreams I would take.  Once I have taken it I will let you know.  Filling up your life with memories that make you smile helps balance the day to day craziness.  Remember it’s not about the destination but the journey on how you get there.

Setting Boundaries are very important.

I was visiting my sister this past weekend.  I love spending time with my baby niece who is 17 months old.  She is the first baby within my immediate family.  I love watching her grow and develop into a little person.  She lights up my heart every time I see her.  I can’t wait until she calls me Auntie.  I am looking forward to that day very much. 

 I was in the kitchen eating dinner with my sister, my niece and my brother-in-law.  Out of the blue I was asked by my brother-in-law when am I going to have a baby so my niece can have a cousin.  I told him when I am good and ready.  My sister told me to tell him to mind his own business in PG terms.  I had another incident a few years back.  I was visiting my dying uncle in the hospital.  My cousin, Joe and I were the only two people in the room together.  We were having a nice visit I thought since I don’t see my relatives very often.  There has been too much that has transpired and I need to concentrate on myself to heal.  Joe asked me detailed questions about my personal life.  I gave it right back to him in a stand up comedian way. 

 I have no idea why people within my family think it’s alright to ask me whatever questions about my personal life they like.  I would never ask anyone those kind of questions.  I think their intentions are maybe good but I don’t like to be judged just because I am not married or have children.  It’s my choice when and if I decide too.  I want different things out of life.  I am very different from all the children in my family.  I think there were two storks flying in the sky at the same time.  They collided above my parent’s house and dropped me by accident at the wrong house.  That would explain a lot of things.  Setting boundaries with people are so important even more important with family.

Does this happen in all families or just mine?  Please tell me I am not alone!!     

*image from Weheartit.com

Summer is right around the corner.  It’s hard to believe we made it though another winter.  It was a mild winter but no summer.  The warmer weather is coming soon which means BBQ’s, Pool Parties, Flip Flops, Outdoor Concerts, and go out for Ice Cream.  

 Bryan Adam’s song Summer of 69 brings me back to when I was 16.  I was so excited to find a summer job with the City Recreational Department at one of the local swimming pools.  All past summers I would live at the pool with my friends.  I learned  how to jungle 2 jobs since I had a part-time job at the local movie theatre.  I worked as a cashier which had a fair deal of responsibility.  I would have to do all the banking at the end of my shift. 

Once the main part of my job was done I hung out with all the lifeguards.  There were always 4 lifeguards on duty.  If it  rained we would just sit around and chat for the whole shift and get paid for it.  All the guys would take turns throwing me into the pool too.  I thought I was so smart by bringing an extra pair of clothes to change into.  Well just when I changed I was back in the pool again.  I even had a summer romantic with one of the lifeguards, Derek.  He was a couple years older than me.  He went to a different high school than I did.  He lived across the street from house and 3 houses down and the first house on the next street.  I never met him before.  He flirted with me all summer and chased me around the pool…lol  Derek even grabbed the fire hose and sprayed me down one hot afternoon.  He got in trouble for doing that but how many people can actually say that happened to them.  At the end of summer we ended up going out on a few dates and then we broke up.  He had to concentrate on school since he was working towards a scholarship to go to MIT.  He broke my heart back then but he gave me my best Summer Memories.  Thank you Derek.  You still always make me smile when I think about our special summer.                     

 How far would you go to understand the opposite sex?  I know the more you know the better.  I feel I am always a work in progress when it comes to men.  Nick Waters married for 7 years came up this experiment 30 Chick Flicks in 30 Days: One Guy’s Exploration of Romance Through Movies Loved by Women.  This exercise began on Jan 15, 2010 and ended on Feb 13, 2010.  That’s exactly 30 chick flick in 30 days straight. 

 Some of the rules for this plan:

 The movies must be 2007 or later since there are 100’s of movies that go back outside this time frame.

Suggestions will be taken from his readers.

Selections will be chosen from www.random.org to help in the selection process.

A different movie will be viewed each night and a review will be posted each morning on his site.

The movie must be a first time view to Nick.

Nick will pick 5 movies and 10 movies will be picked by his women panel of his wife, his mother and his mother-in-law. The rest of the picks from his readers.

I liked the list of movies that were on Nick’s list.  A few of them were Waitress, It’s Complicated, and 27 Dresses.  What did Nick learn from watching all those chick flicks forgiveness, friendship and vulnerability.  This makes me think what experiment can I do to understand Men better?  It would be an interesting project do you think??  I would be up for any suggestions.  Post below or email me at Linda@brokenheelmoments.com  I might be up for the challenge…:)

Check Nick out at www.30chickflicks.com              

*image taken from Thefilreel.files.wordpress.com

(not my actual vision board)

What’s your life road map look like?

I’m always signing up for seminars, workshops and on-line courses.  I’m very excited about learning and always inspired to make changes.  I have been working with a Feng Shui Coach since January.  I can’t believe the changes that have happened to me in such a short period of time.

One of the exercises I was asked to complete was a Vision Board.  A Vision Board is everything you want in have in your life or a visual wish list.  You use a piece of bristle board and cut out pictures of items you want in your life.  You can also include inspirational words and affirmations.  I was busy for about a week gathering catalogs and magazines.  I had so much fun with this project.  I never thought I would fill the whole board but I did.  My Vision Board is orange with fabric hearts in all shapes and sizes as a boarder.  I liked the hearts because I wanted them to be used as a frame and to symbolize all the love that went into my requests.  The top of my board is cover with pictures of destinations that I wish to visit.  A celebration corner with balloons and Champagne glasses.  A romance area with a couple in a romantic embrace.  A money area with a cheque maded out to me with unlimited amount.  The last part is my house.  I picked out everything I could from the front of my house to what each room looks like to all my dream appliances.

I have placed my order to the Universe.  Let’s see what is brought to me.  I can’t wait to see.

Last week I was shopping at a bookstore.  I always hit the same sections to see what’s new and to get ideas for my reading list.  I was looking around in the Self-Help section.  I looked down and saw this little paperback book called Acts of Kindness by Adam Mayers.  I read the backcover and found out it was written by the editor for thestar.com.  It’s a collection of local Act of Kindness stories from the Toronto Star readers.  I read a few of the stories quickly in the book.  I couldn’t believe that I did not hear of this column sooner.  It just proves that Toronto isn’t a cold heartless city but the opposite.  You can submit stories and check out their webpage at http://www.thestar.com/kindness

Here is my Act of Kindness story that happened to me yesterday.  I brought my car into an auto shop to have an unexpected flat tire fixed.  Melissa told me it would be about 30 minutes and it would cost around $30.00.  When I came back I went to pay for my service.  Melissa told me that she overcharged me for my service.  The tire didn’t need repair but it was a loose valve.  She told me there was no charge for the service.  I thanked her and went on my way.  Melissa could have charged me but decided not too.  Thank you Melissa for your Act of Kindness.

*image from TheStar.com